China Town is not merely one town. It is a designation for particular districts of several Communities throughout the World. Many of such China Town districts were developed to accommodate immigrants from China who were unwelcome to inhabit portions of the same Communities in which they worked. China Town of San Francisco, which is the oldest major China Town in America, originally accommodated immigrants from China as they transitioned from mining and railroad construction to shipping and industrial work within San Francisco.

Such institutionalized discrimination confined development of many China Town districts to regions that were undesirable to others within their respective Communities. The last China Town of Santa Cruz was located within the floodplain of the San Lorenzo River, east of Front Street, mostly between Soquel Avenue and Cooper Street. It developed as a residential neighborhood after a fire destroyed a previous China Town in 1894. For the following…

According to a scant but annoyingly vocal few within Society, homelessness is necessarily synonymous with crime, violence and a variety of social deviancy, as if everyone who lacks a domestic situation conforms to such stereotypes. Similar misconception implies that such deviancy is mostly exclusive to the unhoused Community, and therefore less applicable to those who inhabit domiciles.

Simple omission of facts and data requires less effort than falsifying facts and data. It is not difficult to portray the most notoriously villainous or disreputable of the unhoused Community as representative of the entire unhoused Community. However, doing so is about as logical as associating everyone who inhabits domiciles with the most notoriously villainous or disreputable of those who inhabit domiciles.

These are some examples of unhoused people of historical significance who do not represent any more of the unhoused Community than any other component of Society:

Jesus Christ and His Twelve…

Homelessness is expensive. It costs significantly more than twice as much as public education! More specifically, for each beneficiary, the average annual cost of services for or associated with homelessness is about two and a third times as much as the average annual cost of public education for each beneficiary. It is very understandable that so many are concerned about such expenditures of tax revenue.

Homelessness is also relatively rare, however, and therefore substantially less expensive collectively than public education. Because less than half of a percent of the populace is homeless, services for and associated with homelessness in California had been limited to approximately six billion dollars annually. Because approximately fifteen percent of the populace attends public schools, public education in California costs more than ninety five billion dollars annually. Therefore, public education costs almost sixteen times as much as homelessness.

Nonetheless, it is very understandable that a few…

Anyone can complain. Almost all of us do at one time or another. Some complain more than others, and a few complain much more than they should.

Conversely, anyone can be grateful. However, more of us complain than express gratitude or appreciation for countless privileges that are easily taken for granted.

Privilege becomes more obvious after observing cultures or lifestyles that lack such privilege. Refugees from Ukraine demonstrate how difficult deprivation of a stable lifestyle is. So do the houseless within our own Community.

This article, ’40+ People Are Sharing the Signs of Privilege That Often Go Unnoticed’ by Dawn Schuster, August 12, 2021, lists several privileges that are commonly taken for granted within almost all of modern American Society. It is difficult to imagine life without some of them. Nonetheless, some within our Community presently survive without several of the most basic of these privilege. These are a few…

Melinda Davis is one of six people who were killed in the Sacramento Shooting, shortly after two in the morning of the third of April. Like all of the other victims of this crime, she has her own unique story, as well as a few common characteristics. Everyone is someone’s daughter or son. Everyone is someone’s friend or neighbor. Most are someone’s sister or brother, or wife or husband. In other words, everyone is someone.

Melinda Davis was also unhoused. She was a member of a minor Community that includes less than half a percent (>.5%) of the populace of America, but is now almost seventeen percent (16.7%) of the deceased victims of the shooting. Without a home to be in on that night, she was innately as vulnerable to this sort of random social violence as those who were out being intentionally social.

Tim Langer was likewise there at…

Aberdeen in Washington is known more for nearby tourist destinations outside of town than for that which is inside of town. It is a convenient source of supplies for exploring and hiking in the Great Outdoors. It is, after all, the Gateway to the Olympic Peninsula.

The Kurt Cobain Memorial Park is a unique tourist destination that happens to be within town. It is not for everyone, but appeals to those who appreciate who Kurt Cobain was. Many within our Community do. Some of us have much in common with Kurt Cobain, and can identify with his difficulties prior to his untimely death twenty eight years ago.

These pictures are from the Kurt Cobain Memorial Park. They are likely and perhaps fortunately unimportant to many of us. Nonetheless, their significance and relevance is obvious to some.

Job interviews necessitate a certain degree of decorum. I was over it. I had left work that I never should have left, and a revered colleague, for what he and I thought was a better opportunity. It was disastrously nothing like it was supposed to be, and left me in no hurry to accept another so-called job. I could have been satisfied with my work as a garden columnist. When I resigned to interviewing for another secondary job, I did not put much effort into the process. Instead of explaining my credentials, expertise and qualifications, I explained what I would NOT do. After my previous experience, I had quite a list to present, and was quite a jerk about doing so. It worked for me.

Within the context of Community discussion of issues regarding homelessness, someone occasionally feels compelled to explain his (or her) experiences, observations or even opinions as…

Felton Covered Bridge has not changed much in the last half century or so. The new roof looks very much like the roof that was replaced. The extensive repair of damage caused by the flood in 1982 is difficult to discern from original materials and technique. A picture that my Pa took of my siblings and I in the southwestern window of the Bridge when I was just a little tyke, and too short to see over the sill, demonstrates that the particular window looks the same now as it did half a century ago. In fact, much of Felton looks somewhat as it did back then, or is at least somewhat recognizable.

Other towns have not been so fortunate, or unfortunate, according to perspective. Some of us perceive change as an asset or improvement. Others perceive it as a loss of original assets. Both perceptions are both variable and…

“In the browser game Forge of Empires you can build your own city and experience all of history from its perspective – from the stone age on through the centuries. Explore new technologies that ring in a new era. Leave a mark with unique, contemporary buildings and establish a gigantic metropolis that is unparalleled anywhere. Increase your empire with sophisticated strategic campaigns and skilled actions in Forge of Empires. Create your own world: Forge your Empire!”

That certainly sounds compelling. I can think of all sorts of features that I would want to incorporate into a Community if I were to create it. I can think of almost as many features that would not be incorporated. Of course, it is all very unrealistic. No one person can create a city or any other Community. That requires the cooperation of countless others, particularly the members of the particular Community.

More than…

Rain is forecast to possibly begin after noon on Tuesday, and possibly continue for a few days. Although the forecast is not definite, with only a chance of rain for most of the next few days, rain is likely for Wednesday. It is no surprise. It happens at this time of year.

Within the context of my other blog of horticultural topics, I write about weather as an asset to horticulture. Plant life needs it. Some prefer warmer weather to cooler weather. Others need more of a chill through winter. Some can survive longer than others without rain. Others want more moisture. Various plants require various combinations of weather, but they all need some sort of weather.

People are very different. We do not need any particular weather. We can enjoy weather while it is pleasant, but can choose to not do so. Furthermore, if weather gets to be too…