Saving The Planet

     One Turtle at a time!

We have all been curious children in our lives so I have to understand, right?

 

This morning I stepped out of the elevator of my apartment building on the garage floor to find an aquarium smelling up the place.  Yes, right there on the ground directly in front of the elevator doors was this aquarium with about four inches of water.  Upon further investigation I could see two San Antonio River turtles laying in the bottom of this horrible smelling water.  I got a cardboard box and some plastic bags for my hands.  When I returned I was picking the two turtles up one at a time, rescuing them from this watery grave, and placing them in the box.

     I quickly jumped in my truck with turtles in tow, and transported them back to the river.  As I drove and heard the turtles scratching at the sides of the box I was getting angry.   Then I thought to myself, I was a child once, and kids will be kids.  However, I then thought of the weight of this aquarium grave where the turtles were left to slowly die.  No child brought this aquarium and placed it on the ground.  Some parent in my building could not stand the smell in their apartment any longer and they thought they were teaching their child a lesson. 

Some lesson I would say!  Not only did the child not learn to keep the aquarium clean to care for another living creature.  The parent failed again by not only not returning these creatures back to freedom, but by example that these lives aren't worth anything and can just be cast out to die.

The long and the short of this story.  I got to the river, placed the box containing the two San Antonio river turtles on its side, and patiently waited for them to run to freedom like only a turtle can do.  They are both now happily eating watercress and catching minnows once more in the city of "The River Walk."

So the moral to this story is why are we so worried about saving the planet if we aren't teaching the next generation that every life is precious?

The Soup Line

     The furnace has been on the past two nights pumping out it's warm air, taking the chill off from a San Antonio Texas night that can barely be called cold by any measure.  Yesterday I didn't get a chance to blog as due to the recession I was standing in the modern day soup line.  This was the second such occurrence for me to experience poverty in my life.  The last was just after the horrible mud slide that hit my parents home in January of 2005.  I want to start off by saying that the Great State of Texas has California beat in the manner it takes care of its people.  My experience back in 2005 was horrible.  I was homeless, while my mother and I stayed with a friend as I worked to restore her home.  I was dirty from 12 hour days of digging the mud out of my parents home, and I was sick with what they were calling at the time, Valley Fever.  I had to be subjected to some Ventura County worker who thought it was their business to be the moral majority.

Texas on the other hand has been great.  Last Saturday when I received notice in the mail from the California EDD that they were not sending me my unemployment check because I failed to mark a box, I wondered what I was going to do.  It had been three weeks already without a check and my pantry was bare.  I thought about going to a food bank or the local Church, and then went online.  Texas had an online intake form which was easy to complete.  Then on Tuesday the state called me and explained to me that I would have a telephone interview on Thursday in the morning.  Sure enough, Thursday morning I received a phone call from my case worker Angela.  She went over my application for food stamps and I explained that I needed temporary help as California Employment Development Department (EDD) was not sending my unemployment insurance checks.
She gave me the address of the nearest office to pickup an EBT card, a type of ATM card that is linked to a government bank account.  She was even nice enough to ask me if I had transportation before ending the phone call.  Wow!  They were treating me like family, not some unwanted trash the way I was made to feel in California.

When I arrived at the office I would say it was like most government offices such as the DMV or IRS.  I put my name on a waiting list and had a seat with the other citizens who needed some assistance.  The sample of people waiting alongside me I would say was very representative of the population of San Antonio.  The majority were Mexican-American, then White, followed by African-American men and women.  I saw only one Middle Eastern woman and one man.  There were no Asians.  The active Sociologist in me wanting to make a statistical sample.  I waited my turn for a couple hours; a major difference between this and standing in a soup line back in the 1930's was that I could be looking for work on the internet using my cell phone and I saw others possibly doing the same, or checking email and one lady even had a laptop computer.

It was my turn, I was called to the window.  We exchanged some pleasantries and the nice woman behind the counter gave me an EBT card.  I signed a document and was on my way out the door.  I drove to the nearest grocery store and purchased a couple cans of lentil soup and a pound of ground hamburger, a yam, some fresh broccoli and a spring mix of salad greens. 
Thank goodness that we have unemployment insurance!

I am happy that Texas is being so helpful, but at the same time I feel it is a shame because it isn't their fault.  I wouldn't be unemployed if it were not for USAA.  And I would not be in Texas if it were not for USAA.  Then that is probably California's fault since the economy in California has been horrible for years due in part to the housing bubble that finally burst.  The following photos is from the blog Ramona's Voices.  For other opinions on unemployment, check out her blog.

1918 Flu Pandemic

It has almost been a month since my last post.  I had wanted to create a post prior to Veterans day.  A chronicle of my ancestors who fought in the many wars.
Unfortunately, I came down with the flu this year so I have barely had the energy to research companies and send out resumes as my unemployment continues past three months now.  I took this down time to read and re-read the letters between my Grand Uncle Gordon Philip England (1901-1992) and his mother, my Great Grandmother Nettie Martha "Smith" England (1870-1963).  The letters revealed the era and the history of the time.  World War I was taking place and the Spanish Flu as it was called was about to kill 3% of the worlds population according to Wikipedia.
(Translation of a letter attached below. I have attempted to put in clarification where possible).  Gordon England was 15 years old at the time he wrote this letter.

Sunday February 13, 1916, Derby, VT. Oleans County.  Gordon wrote to his Aunt Mary Chastina Smith. (1859-1942).

"Dear Aunt Mary,  How are you and all the rest.  I am feeling about as usual.  Have you heard from Harvey lately?" (Harvey William Smith).  "I wanted to go to a masquerade Friday night, but did not have anything to wear.  (Costume I mean). Bailey and Cecil went.  Esther was Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary.
My grade gave a prom and candy sale lately.  We took in $8.65.  I brought it home in that nice little coin purse you sent me.  Our class pins are to cost $2.25 a piece.  I am getting on well at school except in Arith and Writing.  I got a higer average on my report card than anyone else in ninth grade for one month.

The Diea basket ball first team won from Newport team 19 to 17.  Twenty have enlisted lately at Beebe." (He is speaking about the war). "Els boy took Ruth's strap and hid it in the barber's shop and Harold Elder and a bean boy found it and cut it up.  Tell Aunt Sarah (Sarah Maria Smith) I am coming to see her next summer.  Mrs Kelley gives us a test in Arith every week.  Has Willie got a gun and is there any hunting around there?" (Mary's grandfather was William Ewins.  I don't know if Gordon is referring to him as Willie or Mary's brother Harvey William Smith).  "There is nothing here except a few English sparrows.  I shoot a few once in a while to keep my hand in.   What is Teddy doing now?" (Unknown who he is referring).   "Wasn't it mean of the German's to destroy our Parliament Buildings?"  (I had to research this statement. What I found was on February 3, 1916, just ten days before Gordon wrote this letter.  Right in the middle of World War I, the Center Block of the Parliament Buildings caught fire and the whole complex burned to the ground, with the exception of the library which is the large domed building that still stands today in the rear of the current Parliament building.  It is told that several people burned to death.  People cried sabotage, and blamed the Germans of Ottawa, and crowds went looking for German stores to trash and burn.  German Canadian's quickly responded.  The large concentration of Germans in Berlin, Ontario, demonstrated their Canadian patriotism by changing the name from Berlin to Kitchener, Britain's famous Minister of War.)  "I wish you would send me some Montreal Papers.  I haven't seen any for a long time.  I still firmly believe that U.S. will fight against Britain.  I may send you a few posts to show you my side of the question.
With Love,
Aurevoir Gordon.
P.S. Be sure to write to me soon."
With Gordon Philip England being a famous Canadian Author and the historical significance of this letter, I am sure that if Mary Ginn took it to the Antique Road Show it would be worth "Millions"... 
Gordon also included a very nice poem:

"A MOTHER'S PROUD OFFERING"
Take our sons, O England,
They were born and bred for thee;
Take our sons, O England,
And save our Liberty.
To you we yield them proudly
As oft mothers did of yore;
Dear God, please protect them
And guide them through the war.

"Tis for a righteous cause
Our boys have gone o'er the sea
To fight this tyrant Hitler
And nobly die for thee.
We know they'll do their duty
Whene'er it on them fall
To fight for their dear country
And give their might and all.

Although we sadly miss them
And our hearts are bleeding sore
We give them to you proudly
How can we give you more?
Take our sons, O England;

Gordon Philip England

The letters spoke of the normal day to day as well.  What vegetables grew in the garden and who was getting married.  Many letters also spoke about my Great Grandfather Reverend Clarence Philo England and his poor health.  He had gone through a recovery for some type of surgery that I did not discover in the letters and was ill for many years until his death much later in 1953.   I also found tucked away in Gordon England's letters some newspaper clippings.  As you can see above at fifteen he was very interested in reading newspapers,  and he later went on to write stories to be published in them as well.  Two of the clippings talk about how sick everyone was.  They are from the Stanstead Journal one is dated Feb 26, 1920 and the other Dec. 23, 1920.  They are title Barnston.   And lists The family of Rev. C.P. England, consisting of his three sons, is suffering from influenza, with Dr. McCurdy in attendance.  Fortunately, for me and my family, my grandmother Ruth Augusta England had already moved out, completed college and had just got married to William Rider Howie August 19, 1916 and moved to Beebe Vermont.  Otherwise Helen, Clarence and Arthur may have never been born.
So, the above blog was inspired by me catching the flu, and is dedicated to, according to Wikipedia statistics, the  50 Million people around the world who died from the Spanish flu and the other 500 Million who were infected by the Spanish Flu during that time.  To read more on the Spanish flu or the fire click a blue link above.

I am very interested in this as I am checking into DNA research and genealogy.  Helen, Clarence and Arthur and their descendants probably have some DNA marker for resistance to this type of influenza.  Where-as my parents were born after the Spanish flu and may not have past down any marker.  This is all new and very interesting to me.
There are many letters that Gordon saved as well as some photos.  So my hope is to add them slowly over time to this blog.  I have also heard that there are some diaries on my Grandmothers, Nettie England that our in circulation within the family.  I hope if they one day come my way, that I will be able to forever capture them to my blog for all to enjoy.  So here is the Million dollar letter...