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!

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.

Moving Day

This will be very brief. I must be on my way to collect the belongings of one of our members who is homeless in Felton, put some of it in storage, and relocate some to a new campsite.

This will also lack pictures. I will not show the new site, and will not be going to the former site. I will be collecting what I must nearby, but only as near as I can get the car.

It is always nice when someone who had been homeless moves into a new home. So much of the formerly homeless lifestyle gets discarded and replaced with what goes into a domestic lifestyle.

Moving camp is nothing like that. It involves leaving one bad situation only to move into another. The rush to vacate interferes with the ability to sort and discard what will not be needed at the new site. Everything must be moved collectively, and then sorted later. Organization is very difficult without a home. Bedding is the biggest part of it. Although lightweight, it is bulky. It is not easy to be discrete while schlepping trash bags full of bedding.

Moving into a new site without being pursued by stalking haters is another difficulty. At least they are not as bad as they used to be. Those who merely have issue with homelessness seem to have realized that such behavior does not make homeless people any less homeless. Only those who enjoy the sadistic sport of it continue, even if it involves trespassing onto property that they do not want the homeless trespassing onto.

As unpleasant as homelessness is, the homeless situation here has improved significantly in the past few years. Because more homeless people have found homes than formerly homed people have become homeless, there are fewer homeless people in the Community. The Community is just as generous as it has always been, with the same abundance of resources.

Well, it is nearly 2:30, so I really must be on my way.

Hypocrisy – Reefer Madness

It is a standard component of the culture of modern hate groups that target the homeless, as well as every hate group that has tormented society throughout history. I could make a meme of it – ‘Hypocrisy’.

The first hateful comment ever on my gardening blog reminded me of an essay about hypocrisy that was posted on, and then promptly deleted from, the Facebook page of Felton League more than a year ago. It was deleted because someone found it to be objectionable, even after it had been edited for appropriateness of content at least twice. The hateful comment can be found here, as the seventh of the original reader comments (not including replies).

There is not much original material to the essay. It is merely a collection of seventeen reviews from Yelp, which were written by the same yelper, preceded by the excerpt that is posted below. Only the portion that is posted below was written by the author, not by the yelper who posted the reviews. This portion simply explains the significance of the seventeen reviews on Yelp. It is difficult to follow since it was so severely edited here.

The seventeen reviews from Yelp are not included here because they are not as important as what the original essay is about, which is clarified in the last paragraph.

If, after reading the excerpt of the essay below, you are wondering what was so objectionable about the essay, you are not alone. I should explain that the single person who found it to be objectionable was the same who wrote the reviews on Yelp. Yes, they are on Yelp, for everyone to see, but apparently not to be quoted as seventeen examples of hypocrisy.

This is the excerpt:

This is how haters roll.

ALL SEVENTEEN of these reviews of marijuana dispensaries are from the same Yelp account of (name deleted)! Yeah, that’s a lot of marijuana dispensaries for one person! There could be more that she didn’t leave reviews for. Four were updated, and one was updated twice. Review #8 says, “(deleted)” Review #14 says, “(deleted)” (name deleted) goes through a lot of marijuana! By the way, (name deleted) is (age deleted) now, so so was in her early teens in the early 1980s when (she said) she started going to (business name deleted) that she left review #16 for. She turned (age deleted) in 1980.

This isn’t the first long list of reviews for marijuana dispensaries from (name deleted). She did it on Facebook too, but deleted the reviews when asked about her marijuana and alcohol use. Yeah, she also wrote reviews for some of the bars and clubs that she frequented, and talked jokingly about getting stumbling drunk before driving home. Yeah, so not something to joke about. Anyway, those reviews are gone now, and the Yelp reviews pasted here will probably get deleted too now that she knows that we know who she is. We’ve known since she left a unique review for one of our friends some years back. She went by (name deleted) for a while, and then (name deleted). FFE keeps a fat file on her.

So, why is this important to us? (name deleted) publicly accuses all homeless people of constantly smoking marijuana, and it’s one of many reasons that she and her few hater friends want the homeless exterminated. HYPOCRISY!

Incidentally, the Yelper who left these seventeen reviews for marijuana dispensaries supposedly left reviews for four more marijuna dispensaries just since this essay was posted about a year ago, although I did not bother to confirm this report. Seventeen is already way too many for someone who accuses everyone within a targeted group of excessive use of marijuana.

Luncheon at Felton Presbyterian Church

It is THE place to be, and a few of us will be there in just two hours.

Lunch is served at noon every Tuesday at Felton Presbyterian Church.

Everyone is welcome. There is always more than enough to go around, and some of us take leftovers for later. It is usually nothing fancy, but sometimes it is, and it is always appreciated.

Some might think of it as a weekly luncheon for the homeless who lack adequate food or the ability to cook decently. Some of us receive clothing, toiletries, bedding or even tarps or tents that are donated by parishioners. Some get referrals for employment or housing. However, only a few who attend are homeless. Many attend because so many of our friends are there. It is a great place for social networking and catching up on local news.

It really is the sort of Community that a Church should be, even though only a few of us who attend luncheon are parishioners of Felton Presbyterian Church. The generosity and compassion are astounding. I would mention a few more examples, but do not want to promote exploitation of the realistically limited resources.

Luncheon at Saint John’s Catholic Church is around noon every Thursday, just after Food Distribution at Community Bridges (or Mountain Community Resources [MCR]), but that is a topic for another time.

Well, as I mentioned above, lunch will be in about two hours. Some of us get there as much an hour early for coffee and pastries. I like to get to town about an hour prior to that, shortly after ten or so, just to catch up on the goings on, and to see if anyone is in need of anything that we can track down. Therefore, I should be on my way. Good Day!