Trendsetters

Fashion trendsetters we are not. Some of us wear clothing that was donated by others partly because it was no longer in style. We take what we can get.

Nor do we start trends of electronics technology. Most of us are satisfied with the basics, or none at all.

Most of us are not at all interested in keeping up with the trends that others indulge in.

Yet, somehow, we inadvertently started a culinary trend that we probably should have kept as our secret.

Black elderberry had already become a culinary and medicinal fad. It started with medicinal black elderberry products, such as herbal extracts and tinctures, to stimulate the immune system. From there, black elderberry tea, syrup, candy and (cooked) juice were popularized as more culinarily appealing options for exploiting the health benefits of this rediscovered fruit. Even old fashioned products made from the flowers became trendy.

All the while, the black elderberries that these products were made from came almost exclusively from eastern North America and Europe, within or somewhere close to regions that they are naturally native to. Black elderberry plants that are grown for fruit production are quarantined from import into California.

No one seemed to notice the native blue elderberries that grow wild here. Well, no one noticed until our blue elderberry jelly started wining ribbons annually at the Jelly & Jam Competition of the Santa Cruz Mountains Harvest Festival several years ago. Winning ribbons was no big deal when there were only a few entries, but it did bring attention to the formerly ignored native blue elderberries.

Suddenly, blue elderberries are getting harvested so thoroughly that it is not so easy to get enough to make jelly for the Jelly & Jam Competition this autumn. Besides jelly, people are making syrup, wine and even a distilled brandy like concoction from them. We can only hope that fermentation of the wine denatures the toxins of the raw juice like cooking does. (Raw elderberries are toxic.)

Those who had invited some of us to collect berries from their properties in the past are finding that the berries are getting collected by neighbors before we can get to them. After seeing the berries ignored for as long as anyone can remember, the neighbors are not likely aware that blue elderberries are now in demand. Fortunately, we have multiple sources, and we do not need many.

NPD

Narcissistic Personality Disorder – NPD – is a chronic behavioral pattern that involves exaggeration of self-importance, strong desire for admiration, and lack of empathy. Those afflicted with it obsess over the achievement of success and power, and are notoriously exploitative of others. This is of course a very brief description of a very complicated disorder. A bit more information can be found at Wikipedia.

This may not seem to be relevant to many of us, but it does seem to explain some of the more typical behavior that distinguishes haters and collective hate groups. The symptoms associated with NPD are eerily consistent with their standardized craziness that is so very irrational to us, but seems to be quite appropriate to them. These are the main symptoms:

– grandiosity of self-importance.

– indulgence in fantasy that is consistent with delusions of grandeur.

– craving for constant admiration

– sense of entitlement

– shameless exploitation of others

– frequent demeaning, bullying and intimidation of others.

Assigning a name to the disorder certainly does not make the behavior that it causes any more tolerable. In fact, it is saddening to consider it to be a disorder that is doubtlessly more difficult for those afflicted with it than their victims. Nonetheless, it is impossible to deny how accurately this brief list of symptoms describes some of the behavior that we encounter with haters and hate groups.

Furthermore, it is odd to notice that haters often accuse us of exhibiting some of these same behaviors. We are regularly accused of ‘entitlement’ and ‘bullying’, but without any explanation of how we exhibit such behavior. Some might describe this technique as ‘psychological projection’. We are more likely to perceive it as more hypocritical bullying. Sadly, it is easy to not recognize it as mental illness.

Trona

Trona is the sort of place than not many of us have ever heard of, even though it is only about 275 miles away in the Mojave Desert, right here in California. It does not look like much from satellite. It must look like so much more to the nearly 2,000 people who live there. It is their home, just like Felton is ours.

Trona is suddenly in the news, after the moderate but significant earthquake that occurred there on the Fourth of July, and the even more significant earthquake that occurred there yesterday morning. The second of these two earthquakes was stronger than the Loma Prieta Earthquake that destroyed so many home here in 1989. Aftershocks will continue for a long time, and there is a potential for even more significant earthquakes.

There is not as much damage in the Trona region as there was here after the Loma Prieta Earthquake, but only because there is less to damage. We all know that limited collective damage does not make our own individual losses any easier. Some will be without their homes, at least for a while. Many will be without electricity for a while. A lack of air conditioning can be dangerous in the severe heat of the Mojave Desert in summertime.

People will help each other out. They always do. It may not be easy. It may be downright difficult for many. Nonetheless, the best of humanity comes out at the worst of times.

After the Loma Prieta Earthquake, many people throughout the region were homeless, even if only temporarily until their homes were made safe. Many camped out in their yards, parks or parking lots. What was not discussed much afterward was how some who found it necessary to do so were helped through their difficulties by those more experienced with camping out; namely, the local homeless people.

Needle Mania

They seem to be everywhere. Needles, or carelessly discarded used syringes, are supposedly found everywhere, especially where children play, and on beaches.

There is no doubt that carelessly discarded used syringes get into some very inappropriate situations. Nor is there doubt that such syringes are very dangerous because of their potential to inoculate innocent victims with communicable diseases.

However, credible and relevant information about such problems is scarce. This certainly is not because there is any deficiency of information. It is because the credibility and even relevance of available information is limited by certain predictable patterns in how it is discussed on social media. It is impossible to know what to believe.

These are a few examples:

All homeless people are blamed for all carelessly discarded used syringes. Are we expected to believe that all homeless people inject illicit narcotics? Furthermore, are we expected to believe that everyone who injects illicit narcotics is homeless? There are presently only a few people in Felton who are homeless. If every homeless person here carelessly discarded used syringes, and no one else did, it would not be such a serious problem.

No one seems to know exactly how dangerous carelessly discarded used syringes are; but we all talk about them as if they are actively killing people. Has anyone here actually contracted a communicable disease from one? Has anyone died from such a disease? We know that communicable diseases are transmitted by promiscuity, but no one seems to be complaining about it.

The same few but very vocal people constantly find almost all of the carelessly discarded used syringes. I do not know many other people who have ever seen one. I work in landscapes in some of the most notorious neighborhoods in San Jose and Los Angeles, and occasionally in San Francisco and Oakland, but have NEVER found just ONE! Why is the problem so exclusive to those who enjoy bragging about their scores?

Some of the pictures of carelessly discarded used syringes are simply ridiculous, and sometimes recycled. One such picture that was supposedly taken on the shore of the San Lorenzo River in springtime showed a syringe laying on freshly fallen autumn leaves of quaking aspen, which is not endemic here. Another showed a syringe laying on an outcropping of serpentinite, a geologic formation that is likewise not endemic here.

Crime Report

Law enforcement agencies, such as our Santa Cruz County Sheriffs’ Office, tend to report crime accurately. Those who write such reports are trained on how to do so, so do not embellish with speculation or bias. Because their reports are available to everyone in the Community, they are likely to be confronted with even the slightest of inaccuracies, or anything that can be remotely perceived as an inaccuracy. It can not be an easy process.

Many law enforcement agencies, such as ours, share some of their information about crime on social media. They sometimes ask the Community for information that might be useful for a particular investigation or locating a missing person. Sometimes, they just want to alert the Community to an escalation of a particular type of crime in a particular neighborhood. Sometimes, they merely want to share a bit of what they do to protect and serve.

Unfortunately, as useful as social media and networking is, it is where all the work that goes into accuracy without speculation or bias is ignored, as anyone with any random gripe can respond with disturbingly vitriolic and typically irrelevant accusations, judgments, criticism, threats and name calling. The creativity of such comments is as impressive as the ridiculousness. The unhappiest and most hateful of people have very active imaginations.

Of course, the homeless and societally oppressed are almost always the victims of their creative imaginations.

When the Ox sculpture in Felton Covered Bridge Park was vandalized, the homeless were immediately blamed. In fact, Felton League was implicated specifically, without explanation. What was even sillier was that after witnessing the crime, one of our associates went to find someone with a telephone to call for a sheriff deputy, while another pursued the vandals until deputies arrived. The vandals, who were not homeless, were arrested.

Yes, there are a few doozies out there.

One of the all time oddest was more than a year and half ago, when the Sheriffs’ Office described on their Facebook page how they had apprehended the man who started the Bear Fire by burning down his home. Someone, who likely has serious issue with the classic ‘chicken or the egg dilemma of causality’, actually replied to that very same post by blaming the fire on the homeless!

Hypocrisy – Mugshot

There is a reason why no illustration accompanies this post. The picture that I wanted to use is just too unflattering.

It is a mugshot of an old friend who had been arrested for trying to get into a car that he believed belonged to his nephew, and then getting combative with Santa Cruz Police Officers who tried to stop him from doing so. He had been missing for three days prior to that, after escaping from the post acute care facility where he lived near the end of his life as he succumbed to a variety of ailments, particularly lung cancer and dementia.

We do not know where he had been or what he had been doing during those days that he was missing. He could not explain any of it. He was very tired and very hungry, and looked ghastly by the time he was found. Fortunately, the Police Officers who arrested him were quick to determine who he was and that he was missing, and then return him to the post acute care facility from where he had escaped. It was an efficient process.

He would have been located much sooner if only the haters had helped. They found his mugshot immediately. Within hours, they had paraded it thoroughly over Facebook and perhaps other social networks, complete with the typical vitriolic accusations, blaming, judging, criticizing, threatening and name calling that they are so proficient and indulgent with. Is dementia really that serious of a crime?

Perhaps it does not matter. To get the process started, haters need only a mention of a crime that includes the names of the perpetrators to find their mugshots online. They often take useful information that is posted on the Facebook page of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, and embellish it for their own sadistic entertainment. The rest of us simply want to know about crime in our Community, and maybe, who to be wary of.

After noticing the potential beginning of another display of public ridicule following a post on the Facebook page of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office a few months ago, a former neighbor questioned one of the main participants in this routine derision, in regard to particular mugshots that she had neglected. This particular hater had always been the most proficient at procuring and exhibiting mugshots for public disparagement.

The hater immediately became hostile to the former neighbor who questioned her, and predictably initiated the typical vitriolic accusations, blaming, judging, criticizing, threatening and name calling that only haters employ to demonstrate their exemplary civility and concern for the Community. Despite her attempts to redirect and end discussion, the former neighbor limited his questions to the topic of the neglected mugshots, but to no avail.

Just as predictably, after failing to dissuade the former neighbor from continuing to ask why the neglected mugshots were not discussed, the hater blocked him from responding, without acknowledgment of the mugshots.

The mugshots in question are of a young lady who had been arrested for DUI (Driving Under the Influence of an inebriant), which really seems like it should be a more serious crime than dementia. I mean, those who drive while inebriated sometimes kill people! However, the young lady who was arrested for DUI is a daughter of another main participant in the routine derision and disparagement of ‘other’ people with mugshots.

World Wide Web

We never know who will read what we post online. It is not like old fashioned newspapers that could only be read as far away as the printed pages got dispersed. Everyone with access to the internet has access to this.

Nowadays, there is nothing unusual about that. Just about everything is online. What is unusual is that so many outside of our distinguished Community are interested in reading about us.

This ‘blog’ (Gads! I hate that word!) is not even a month old, and contains only a few brief posts that are not particularly compelling. Yet, posts have been read by quite a few visitors, including some who are nowhere near here. There is certainly nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is rather gratifying. It is just unexpected.

Many of the issues that concern our minor local Community are common concerns that affect many other Communities all over the World. Nonetheless, different societies contend with such issues in their own unique ways. Are our techniques somehow relevant to other cultures and other societies? How similar are they? How are they different?

It will be interesting to see where outside of America our posts get read. So far, they have been read in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, France, Switzerland and China. If it were possible, it would also be interesting to see where within American the vast majority of those reading our posts are located.

Furthermore, all this interest in our distinguished Community stimulates interest in others who are concerned with some of the same issues that concern us, but from within the context of potentially very differnt cultures. Is homelessness really as tolerable in India as so many of us believe it to be? How do the homeless of Switzerland survive the dangerously harsh winters? That is what the World Wide Web is for.

Minimal Turnout

Big crowds are proportionate to the popularity of an event. They are sort of expected at exhibits of famous art, important baseball games, and Aaron Tippin concerts. There was quite a crowd at the Felton Remembers Parade and Covered Bridge Festival.

Smaller events draw much smaller but relatively significant groups. It is always nice to see children celebrating birthday parties in Felton Covered Bridge Park. Community Bridges (Mountain Community Resources or MCR) still does play dates for children there as well.

Our group is very unique. We get good turnout for our special events too, if we plan ahead for them, and extend invitations. Otherwise, for regularly scheduled events, such as lunch at Felton Presbyterian Church on Tuesday, and lunch at Saint John’s on Thursday, minimal attendance is an indication that more of us are doing well, and are unable to attend because we are at work, or busy with other responsibilities.

It is not as if we are an exclusive group that others want to be members of. Although just about anyone can join, most do so only out of necessity, but prefer to move onto better situations.

There were more of us in 2013 than there are now. Those who have joined our group since then have been less numerous than those who have found homes and employment. There are now fewer of us than there have been in a very long time. In that sense, minimal membership is a good thing.

It is unfortunate that this is not a common trend in most other places. Some of the same social difficulties that are less prevalent here than they had been are instead becoming more common elsewhere, particularly in more substantial towns and big cities, such as San Jose, Watsonville and Monterey. Are we doing something differently here?

Food Distribution

No one goes hungry here. Many of us live in poverty. Our lifestyles would be considered to be substandard to most. Yet, we have it pretty good. The generosity of our Community is astounding! Not only is there plenty of food available, but some of it is abundant enough for those with kitchens to can and freeze some of it.

We know how fortunate we are. Not all Communities have the resources to be so generous.

Some of the food that we get is donated by local supermarkets and stores. Sushi that is leftover from the day before gets delivered to Felton Covered Bridge Park a few mornings through the week. It may not be much, but it is often more than enough for the few there to take it. Bags of bakery items do not arrive as frequently as they used to, just because it got to be so overwhelming. Sometimes, there are a few fruits and vegetables.

Neighbors bring surplus food too. Some of it is just canned and dry goods that are getting close to their expiration dates. Some is surplus produce from home gardens and fruit trees. Leftovers from parties and barbecues are always nice!

The most reliable and most abundant source of food is the ‘Food Distribution’ between 11:00 a.m. and noon every Thursday at Community Bridges, which most of us know as Mountain Community Resources, or simply, MCR. Much of the produce there is surplus or culls from local farms. Some canned and dry goods are just getting too old for stores to sell. Of course, there is never a shortage of bread that must be cycled out.

It is unfortunate that there are so many in our Community who can not afford sufficient food. However, it is gratifying that no one goes hungry.

Moving Day II

Trail leading down from the vacated camp site

One would think that moving camp would be easier than relocating from one home to another. In some ways, it is. Obviously, there is less to move. Almost everything in a well outfitted camp can fit into a few large boxes or trash bags. This particular site involved a bit more than that, since it stored extra bedding and clothing for others. Nonetheless, we moved it all with only two partial loads of a tiny station wagon. It was reasonably efficient.

The difficulty is removing the baggage discretely from a location that is not easily accessible, and then relocating it even more discretely to another site that is even less accessible because the trails are not yet cleared. Moving out is of course easier than moving in, not only because the trail is somewhat cleared, but also because discretion is not quite as important. By the time someone complains, and deputies respond, we will be gone.

Yes, there are those who complain while we are moving out. Deputies don’t mind. They are accustomed to it. If they have time, and they know we must park on the side of a busy road, they might even come out to park behind the station wagon with their red and blue lights on for safety. In the past, they have helped carry the baggage to get us off the side of the road more efficiently! Seriously! We have some AWESOME deputies here!

It is more important to be discreet while moving into the new site. We typically wait a few hours before doing so, just because stalking haters like to pursue the station wagon after leaving the abandoned site, in order to identify the location of the new site. Even if the new site is on private property with the permission of the property owner, haters want to know about it, and often trespass onto such properties just for the sake of stalking.

Anyway, we are sort of done for now. We just need to sort through the baggage so that some of it can be put into storage, and only what is necessary can be taken to the new site.