Home is where the heart is.
It would be negligent to not share this update to a slightly earlier article about exactly what the title above describes. The topic is unpleasant, which is why it was not mentioned here sooner. Only these links are shared here, without associated text. The update links back to the original article.
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/09/05/18826005.php (update)
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/27/18825766.php (original article)
How disappointing it is, that after so many historic atrocities performed by various hate groups throughout history, some of us continue to find such primitive barbarism to be appealing. We should be better than this. Yet, some of us continue to be prejudiced against those who are even slightly different from us. A few use this prejudice to justify discrimination and even violence.
Not too long ago, violence directed at local homeless people, although rare, was not as rare as it should have been. Until about 2014, people were still getting attacked and beaten up as they tried to sleep. One was shot at in her camper. Another was shot at with a flare gun, and a few weeks later, covered with paper and ignited as he tried to sleep. Verbal assaults were common.
What is such behavior supposed to accomplish? Why do minor social groups condone and even encourage such behavior? Why do these very minor social groups believe that they represent the rest of civilized society that wants no association with such barbarism? There are so many questions. Unfortunately, hate groups innately lack proficiency with providing logical answers.
Back in about 2014, the car of a homeless lady was vandalized repeatedly. After each occurrence, pictures were promptly shared online among those affiliated with hate groups who target the homeless. It is how they believe that they benefit society, by vandalizing a car that a homeless lady needed to make a good impression with when she went out to try to find employment.
Not long prior to that, immediately after a hate group claimed to be concerned that homeless encampments were fire hazards, one such encampment was soaked with gasoline and ignited. Predictably, before and after pictures were posted online. The homeless involved were still homeless for about a month afterward, but relocated farther out into the more combustible forest.
Why do those who hate the homeless so much want to make it more difficult for the homeless to improve their situations, and perhaps eventually not be homeless? Is their consuming hate that precious to them? Do they really thrive on such dysfunction? Again, there are more simple but unanswered questions that haters are not concerned with providing relevant answers to.
Felton is no place to go hungry. There is too much generosity and abundance for that. Those of us who need more produce than we can afford might get the rest of what we need from ‘Food Distribution‘. Neighbors and local stores regularly bring surpluses to the homeless. There is very often excess that must be taken and stored by those of us with freezers and refrigerators.
The big pile of goods that was delivered to the Graham Hill Road Bridge over Zayante Creek almost two weeks ago has not yet been completely distributed to those who can use it. It will most certainly be distributed as the message that was delivered with it instructed. It will just take a bit more time for such a generous contribution. It included so much more than groceries!
Clothing and bedding are often donated to those who can use them. They are not perishable like fresh groceries are. In fact, there is presently some minor clothing and a little bit of bedding in storage. Recently, someone who was emptying out a barn brought a pickup full of bicycles to Felton Covered Bridge Park for anyone who could use one. Yes, the generosity is astounding!
That is not even the total extent of it! (But wait! There’s more!) People sometimes seek out the unemployed around town, whom they can hire for odd jobs around the farm or home. On rare occasion, some are offered more permanent jobs. Over the past many years, a few of the homeless here have even been offered temporary shelter until they found more permanent homes.
Perhaps we should not be surprised by such generosity. Many of us were generous when we had resources to share with the less fortunate. Besides, we all know what sort of Community Felton is.
This is not another of several updates to the original ‘Honk If You’re Hateful’. This is an explanation of why that series of posts was deleted. The title is the same merely to put it into context.
The original post was about someone who regularly honked the horn of a vehicle when driving over a local bridge, presumably to annoy the homeless who were believed to live underneath. The honking was executed on such a precise schedule that it was recorded on sequential videos, which were shared within the context of the original post, as well as the subsequent updates.
A previous request for deletion of these videos, by the person who had been honking, had been denied.
However, something happened this morning that compelled compliance to that earlier request. A big pile of bedding, canned food, ramen, hashbrowns, bottled water, a jacket, a water bottle, a tarp, a flashlight and perhaps a few other items, was left at a gate near the bridge where the honking had been occurring. This message was with the pile of goods:
Aug 12
This is a peace offering. Please give these items to anyone you think needs them. I am not hateful, just upset and frustrated about some things that relate directly to this bridge. I won’t explain further because I just want to resolve this in a peaceful manner. I saw that you took down that misc. info today so this is my peaceful reaction to that. I would like to say that I have been randomly helping people in Felton who needed it for years with sandwiches, coffee ect. My most recent act was Easter morning at 6:45 am to an older gentleman who had no jacket. I gave him the 120.oo jacket off my back (in front of the coffee shop). We may or may not agree about a lot of things but I gave it some thought. What you are doing is sticking up for the little guy and that is something that I admire actually. [peace sign]
We all know what it is like to be ‘upset and frustrated’. We also know that we all sometimes express such frustration inappropriately. I posted the videos and associated unpleasantries online because I was frustrated by what was happening, but lacked a means for constructive expression of that frustration. That is no excuse, but merely an explanation.
Although vague in this regard, the letter seems to indicate that there is a possibility that the honking was not necessarily intended to annoy any of us directly, but was merely an expression of frustration ‘about some things that relate directly to this bridge’. I believe that we all know how justifiable that is!
There is nothing vague about the jacket given to one of our veteran friends on Easter morning. If I remember correctly, it included coffee and doughnuts.
In the picture below, of the goods delivered this morning, there are four big cans of beef stew to the upper right. These cans may seem to be too big for those of us who lack refrigeration. However, with a bit more added, they will work nicely for luncheon at Felton Presbyterian Church at noon on Tuesdays. There is always plenty to go around, and everyone is welcome.
This is the best season so far! Because this is the first update on this blog, there is nothing here to compare the progress of this small Memorial Tree to; but links to older updates on another blog can be found at the older (reblogged) article, ‘May 2‘. Some of those updates link to even more updates. This little Memorial Tree has had quite a history in Felton Covered Bridge Park.
It is actually the fourth tree in this particular spot. The original black oak was run over by a car many years ago, leaving the site vacant for a long time. An Eastern red cedar was planted on New Year’s Day in 2013, but later the following summer, succumbed to what dogs do to small trees. A bigleaf maple was planted the following winter, but also succumbed in its second year.
In the last few years since then, this little valley oak has contended with major difficulties too. Until recently, it had been gouged regularly by weed eaters when the weeds around it were cut down, even though we regularly pull the weeds around it so that the weed eater does not need to get so close. Before it could recover from getting gouged, it got gouged again, several times!
This is why it is still so puny. Every year, it puts out only a few inches of new growth. In fact, that is how it started out this year, with only a few inches of new spring growth that blinded out too early in the season. Then, for no apparent reason, it put out a second phase of summer growth, with an abundance of vigorous shoots that are about a foot long! This is very encouraging.
Although still puny, the little Memorial Tree is exhibiting the sort of resilience and vigor that it needs to survive in this less than optimal situation. As the bark of the lower trunk matures, it will be less susceptible to damage caused by weed eaters. As the tree grows up and above pedestrian traffic, the limbs will be less susceptible to breakage. The next few years will be critical.
No more growth is expected this late in summer, although the small new leaves will likely continue to expand for a while. Terminal buds are likely in the process of blinding out for the year. When the tree is dormant and defoliated in autumn, lower limbs will get pruned away, and the main trunk will get bound and staked. There will be no rush, as long as it is done before spring.
The picture above shows how long the new growth is. The picture below shows how this new growth looks on the small tree. The picture at the bottom shows how much smaller the tree was not too long ago. It also shows that weeds are pulled around the tree.
Happy 54th! It was a great Sunday afternoon yesterday, for a birthday party in the shade of the big cottonwoods of Felton Covered Bridge Park. A 54th birthday may not seem like justification for a birthday party, but we so like to entertain. The birthday girl came from Quail Hollow. The hostess brought the cake and table full of sweets from Capitola. Other guests came from Boulder Creek. It was not a big crowd, but it was enough for us.
It is amazing how much of life happens outside. Even those of us who live in homes that could accommodate our small group would prefer to come here for such events as birthdays, and the occasional picnic luncheons and diners. It is where we celebrate the lives of those who are no longer with us, and those who have merely moved away but sometimes come to visit. It is where we meet new friends and catch up with those we met long ago.
Some of us still miss the vacant field with piles of road debris that was here before. We are too old to be hotdogging around on bicycles and motorbikes anyway. The grand sycamore is still here, for now, on the western edge of the parking lot. So is the other big sycamore closer to Felton Covered Bridge, as well as the big cottonwoods that shade so many of our celebrations. Memorial redwoods are newer, but will eventually be old too.
Yesterday afternoon was about neither the past nor the future. It was a brief celebration, just because that is what we sometimes do.
Peewee, who lives with the guest of honor, believed that she was the guest of honor. Of course, no one argued with that.
Buttercup, of Boulder Creek, was pleased with here beefy treats, and was not at all interested in cake.
Moose, who lives with Buttercup, does not seem to understand that he is not a chihuahua.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Felton League 