Katzen-jumper kids: Three generations of Katzen women took leap year seriously. Sydney Katzen, 18, and mother Cheryl Katzen, 43, both of Rocklin, and grandmother Jan Katzen, 64, of Loomis each had a birthday within a few weeks of leap day. So they hopped in a plane Sunday and hopped back out when it was thousands of feet in the air – a skydiving family tree. Sydney's boyfriend had taken her up for her 18th birthday in mid-February. "He wanted her to do something special," Jan said. Afterward, Sydney told her grandmother about it. "She said, 'It was thrilling, it was exciting, it was beautiful. I want you to go with me,' " Jan said. It appealed to Jan, too. "Everybody has a bucket list," she said. She agreed to do it if her daughter-in-law Cheryl would go, too. So they took the leap in Lodi. "It was maybe just the best thing I've done," Jan said. What about her husband, Allan? He was on a business trip in Brazil and only heard about it after the fact. Good thing. "He doesn't necessarily approve," Jan said. …
Doh! A deer! If you work in a public setting, you're bound to come across some odd ideas. Justin Nartker at Rocklin Public Works said a caller once contacted the department, asking for a signal on Park Drive, to "help the deer cross the street better." This raises a number of issues. Would the deer have to push a button, or could there be a sensor that detects when they want to cross? That's an engineering challenge, since many road sensors work on the basis of metal in cars and motorcycles. Most deer don't contain metal. (Except John Deere.) Also, how do you predict where the deer want to cross? Do you issue tickets if they jaywalk? "We have enough trouble getting our kids to use the crosswalk," Nartker said. …
Go for the bronze: Identical copies of a large sculpture by Ruth Coelho were installed last year in two very different places. One is in Auburn, at the Sisters of Mercy Auburn Regional Community on Sacramento Street. That makes sense, since it depicts Mary Baptist Russell, who brought the sisters and their mission to the Sacramento area 150 years ago. The bronze also shows some of the heroic medical and social efforts of the order. The other statue is at the state Capitol. That's not often considered a particularly devout spot, but the sisters owned that land in the 1800s before the state bought it for the Capitol. A monument moratorium made it hard to put the monument there, Coelho said, but "miracles just kept happening."…
Side issues: Frank Yoschak of Rocklin had another rhyming suggestion to go with Bayside (church) and Wayside (religious book store.) He suggested Strayside, "for all the little puppies and kittens who've lost their way." (I once was lost but now I'm found.) … Roseville PD's Dee Dee Gunther also suggested Strayside but said it was for "lapsed Catholics." She added, "Brayside, for devout Democrats (and) Payside, for a chapel at Thunder Valley." As for the puppies, she said, "if the strays make it to the SPCA, they'll soon be attending Spayside." … Larry Kavanaugh of Rocklin couldn't help offering some more. He also came up with Democratic Brayside. Also, "Stayside, a combination church and columbarium; (and) Belayside, a church in which most of members are sailors or fishermen." (Or rock climbers, perhaps.) "Clearly, I should have more strenuously resisted temptation," Kavanaugh said. (There will be Helltopayside.) … That's Todayside's installment of Wordplayside.
Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá at (916) 773-6847. Back columns, www.sacbee.com/alcala.
