Wolf Creek Lodge Newsletter

Cohousing in Grass Valley, CA since 2012

September 2024

It is not often that there are two homes available at Wolf Creek Lodge but there are now. They differ: one is a one-bath/one-bedroom home and the other is a two-bedroom/two-bath home. We should be able to satisfy everyone's needs. Details are below.

In this newsletter we recognize that, over time, things evolve. We are going to revisit Wolf Creek Lodge's exceptional EV chargers and the McKnight shopping area across the street. Both are trending in a positive direction.

Bob Miller - editor,

Suzanne Marriott - commas and columnist.

Two Homes Available

There is a one-bedroom/one-bath home and a two-bedroom/two-bath home.

We recommend you explore them on our website at:

www.wolfcreeklodge.org

Open House

Find out more at our Open House, in person or by Zoom, on Saturday 14th September at 2:00 PM.

You can contact us by replying to this newsletter or sending an email to info@wolfcreeklodge.org.

You can also call us and leave a message at: (800) 558-3775

Our EV Chargers

Wolf Creek Lodge is exceptional in having Level 2 EV chargers at all 30 parking locations. PG&E is clearly interested in EV charging. If everyone had an EV, they would replace the oil companies as the providers of energy.

For those with single-family homes, with an attached garage, the provision of charging is straightforward. Pay an electrician to install a charging station and you are good to go. However, in what PG&E lovingly refers to as MUDs (Multi-Unit Dwellings), there is a challenge. The parking spaces are usually far from the vehicle owner's home and, even if there is an electrical supply, it's not on the home owner's meter.

PG&E embarked on a grand experiment. They decided to install charging stations at selected MUDs and monitor the adoption of Plug-in vehicles, essentially asking the question "If we provide chargers will the residents buy Plug-in vehicles?"

Note that we are using the term plug-in vehicles which includes both pure EVs and plug-in hybrids. The former only have an electric motor, while the latter have both an electric motor and a gasoline one. For trips around town, say up to 40 miles, they only use the electric motor. When the battery approaches depletion, they start up the gasoline engine. We will return to this topic later.

So what happened?

In 2021 when PG&E installed the chargers where were 3 Teslas, a Chevrolet Volt, a Bolt, and a Fiat 500EV. The Bolt and the Fiat were charged using extension cords, which somewhat appalled PG&E.

Further adoption was slow. Most Wolf Creek Lodge members were happy with their current gasoline car and often referred to it as their "last car". However, over time, plug-in cars arrived: a Kia Niro, Two Rav4 plug-in hybrids, two Bolt EVs, and, last month, a plug-in Prius.

So we now have 10 plug-in vehicles and an eBike.

Three Bolt EVs

Kia Niro

The newest arrival - a plug-in Toyota Prius charging

I guess PG&E would have preferred faster adoption, but at least their experiment has produced results that will guide future planning.

Another noticeable trend is that people often prefer a plug-in hybrid rather than risk running out of juice with a pure EV. Maybe over time, as fast highway chargers become common place, the trend will reverse. PG&E will sell more energy but we will require more lithium-ion batteries.

Do you have an EV or want one? Buy one of the available homes in Wolf Creek Lodge and enjoy convenient charging. Maybe that's the name of our football team - The Wolf Creek Chargers.

McKnight Crossing

Another exceptional feature of Wolf Creek Lodge is Walkability. We are three-minutes walk from the Wolf Creek Trail and two-minutes walk from shopping - as recently certified by your editor.

Across Freeman Lane we find the SPD Supermarket, Target, and other stores - most importantly Baskin-Robbins, a fish and chip shop, and Daily Do'nuts.

Note the mural on the left in the distance

On the arrival of the Target store, the owners of the shopping area embarked on a major upgrade. They spiffed up the outside of the buildings, including the roof and the pillars. They commissioned murals and erected a garrison Star-Spangled banner. They added three outdoor dining areas,

World War II airman

Seating area

Outdoor dining near the Royal Dragon Chinese Restaurant and the Afternoon Deli. This is a gold mining theme.

If you proceed in the other direction, across McKnight Way, you access another shopping area with a gym, Raley's, and much else We certainly have walkability!

Social Hour

Every Friday we have our social hour at 6:00 PM. We are expected to bring simple finger food and perhaps a glass of wine. However, some people over achieve and the food offerings can be quite substantial. Here we see Gayle preparing Quesadillas on her electric grill. Jimmy is supervising.

Jimmy is an excellent cook. He attended the University of Chicago and undertook to provide appropriate nourishment in the common house while people watched the Democratic Convention. This, of course, was from Chicago.

On Thursday we received the following invitation:

What is a Chicago-style Hot Dog?

Ingredients:

• All-beef franks (Vienna Beef when you are local)
• Poppy seed buns (also only available locally)
• Yellow mustard
• Neon green sweet relish
• Sport poppers
• Kosher dill spears
• Sliced tomatoes
• Diced white onions
• Celery Salt (essential)

Preparation:

• Hot dog steamed or water-simmered
• Bun steamed

Prohibited:

• Ketchup

Barack Obama said ketchup should only be used in childhood. In Chicago, an adult will be mocked for putting ketchup on a hot dog.

Jimmy 

Richard checks out the Chicago fare.

Getting the Work Done

The Landscape and Open Space Team has been working diligently to protect our apple trees from the squirrels. They enclosed the trees in cloth and wrapped the trunks with slippery sheeting.

We understand that this was somewhat effective. The squirrels were certainly annoyed, and the loss of fruit was much reduced.

Gayle and Norma decided to pick the fruit. They were Empire and Golden Delicious apples.

They were placed on the counter and members encouraged to help themselves.

Gayle made apple crumble for the social hour.

Letter from 104

More on McKnight Crossing

By Suzanne Marriott

According to Naturopathic Doctor Deb Harding: “New research highlights the benefits of having ‘weak social connections’ for improved health and well-being. Weak social connections are the recurring acquaintances in our lives such as the servers at a favorite restaurant, the people who frequent the same gym or church. Research shows that a diverse network of both strong and weak ties with others leads to greater social, emotional, and physical health.”

Wolf Creek Lodge cohousing certainly provides us with “strong ties” As we work and play together, we develop close connections to our fellow cohousers, leading us to, in the words of our developer, Katie McCamant, “know our neighbors well.”

Perhaps the developers of McKnight Crossing’s revisioning may have had in mind the growth of weak social connections with recurring acquaintances when they created the three gathering spaces located throughout the shopping center. Sharing space with fellow shoppers and customers might well invite conversations with strangers and even lead to forming new connections.

These gathering places remind me of the many ways in which our architect, Chuck Durrett, planned the layout of Wolf Creek Lodge to encourage informal connections. On each floor we have gathering nodes intended for spontaneous conversation and get-togethers. Certain areas in our Common House were purposefully designed to promote casual interaction, including the mailbox area, the sitting room, and (originally) the laundry room. Even the garbage/recycling enclosure can serve this purpose. Krista once laughingly said that her husband left to empty the garbage and didn’t come back for an hour. Most likely Mike ran into a neighbor or two and had a fun time chatting. Our beautifully landscaped interior courtyard, with its large tables and chairs, presents another venue for informal chats, as well as common meals and other events held outside in the summer. Our Pétanque court, too, has been known to inspire spontaneous interactions.

There are many ways, both at McKnight Crossing and at Wolf Creek Lodge, to make weak or strong connections – the former with strangers or acquaintances in the shopping center and the latter with our own, well-known neighbors at WCL.

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