May 2008 Your Stories
Fostering
Susan Herget
When you open your home to a child in need you receive so much more than you give. This is just one of the things I and my family have learned since deciding to become a licensed foster home in 2005. Over the past 3 years there have been 10 children who have stayed in our home, either as a placement or for respite care and each of them have brought with them their own lessons for us to learn. Yes, these children were all in need of a safe, stable, patient, and loving place to stay while their biological families worked out their issues and we as a family were happy to give them such a place. However, we never expected that we would receive so much in return. I was a stay at home parent who really missed working and “contributing to society”, well I have learned that being at home and caring for children who are displaced is the greatest contribution to society that I can make, I could never put into words the sense of worth I have gained from fostering . For my husband this experience has proven to be an opportunity to help those less fortunate (both the children and their parents). Our children have learned lessons that we would never have been able to teach them on our own. For example, one of our placements was an infant whose parents were young teenagers who really needed guidance and time to grow-up themselves, our children learned about teenage pregnancy from this situation. We had a brother and sister in our home, about the same age as our children. For the first 2 weeks that they were in our home they slept huddled together on the floor, even though they each had their own bed to sleep in. These children had been living in a homeless shelter and had only known how to sleep this way. From them our children learned what it means to be homeless. Another child, a 4 year old boy, was born to a mother who had a drug addiction. He was drug affected and challenging (to say the least). This was a difficult placement. From him the children learned about drug abuse, and how to tolerate someone – even if you don’t like them, an important life lesson for all of us. Some placements are short and some are long. Some are challenging and some are less challenging. Some children we are happy to see reunited with their families, others are harder to let go of. We are very fortunate to have a supportive, compassionate, and giving extended family and from them the children placed in our home have learned what family is – you know grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and good friends that are family too. These “foster” children have experienced little things like backyard picnics, holidays, birthdays, and vacations, things that so many of us take for granted that are huge and wondrous to them. We have friends who are also foster parents and they are a great support. Even though we were already parents, fostering is a special type of parenting and it’s good to have people who can relate to the issues that we and the children placed in our homes are facing. We like to say that being a foster home is contagious, we “caught” the “fostering bug” from one set of friends, and unknowingly passed it on to another set of friends and hopefully they will pass it on too. There is such a need for homes in Connecticut, yes even here in our nice towns of Wallingford and Meriden. At any given time there are as many as 6,000 children in our state in care. May is National Foster Parent Appreciation Month and it is our greatest hope that while reading this letter you will consider opening your heart and home to a child in need, for you will truly be changing a life, yours and the child(ren) you’d be helping. If you are interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent please call (203) 583-9312, we did. In closing we would like to say, that we feel honored to have been selected as “Foster Parents of the Year” and would like to add that we are not the foster parents of the year but rather the “Foster Family of the Year” because without our son, Samuel, and daughter, Gillian, our parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and friends we would not be the foster family that we are. – Jeffrey and Susan Herget , Meriden DCF Foster Family
My husband dreamed of a larger family, but I wasn’t up for another pregnancy so we compromised and decided to become foster parents. We made the decision rather quickly and I don’t think realized what we were signing up for, but we saw what the experience had brought to the Herget family; so we jumped in. In the year that we have been licensed we have had 5 wonderful children in our home; from a 2 day old infant to a 4 year old. While each child had his/her own story each one has enriched our lives. Foster parenting has taught us that we are part of a system designed to protect children; it is not our job to judge the parents but to help heal a family. We often hear people say they could never foster, because they wouldn’t be able to return the children to their birth parents. I won’t lie and say our hearts haven’t broken when a child leaves; but knowing that my family help put another back together somehow makes it worth the heartache. Clifford, Amy & Haley Kennedy Meriden DCF Foster Family since 2007
The best thing about being a foster family is, “that you get to help other kids”. The worst thing about being a foster family is that “sometimes you don’t like the kid but you still have to be nice”. – Samuel Herget, age 7 - Meriden DCF Foster Family
The best thing about being a foster family is, “having kids to play with”. The worst thing about being a foster family is, “when the kids leave”. – Gillian Herget, age 4 – Meriden DCF Foster Family
Fostering children is one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences my husband and I have ever taken on. We began this journey as a couple with no children of our own. In the past four years we have opened our home to nine children ranging in age from three days to fifteen years. We now have a biological child as well as an adopted child. As a foster family we are able to provide hurt children with a safe haven where there is always a warm bed and someone to tuck you in at night. We are able to redefine family for these children. In our family, there is a mom and a dad who love you and care about you. Somebody is always there to check your homework and scare away the monsters at night. Our foster children are provided with a true sense of family. There are grandparents to spoil you and uncles to chase you around in the yard. These children have given my family, both immediate and extended, so much more than we have given them. They have taught my family tolerance, acceptance, and compassion. For my husband and I fostering is our way of giving of ourselves. People often ask us how and why we are able to do what we do. For us, knowing that there are kids out there in need of a safe, loving home is reason enough. Our question is not why foster, but why not? Amy and Scott Aresco – Meriden DCF Foster & Adoptive Family since 2004
Susan Herget program coordinator P.O. Box 2303 Meriden, CT 06450 (203) 583-9312 www.mandmfaces.org Meriden & Middletown's Foster care Adoption and CommunityEducation Services "keeping the faces of children in foster care in the forefront of our community"
An Experiment Called ARGUS
While serving in military I was temporarily assigned to the Bethesda Naval Research Hospital where I volunteered for an experiment called ARGUS, (Advanced Research on Groups Under Stress) that created unusually stressful environmental conditions. Six subjects from thirty volunteers were selected to live in six tiny isolation chambers. After completing a battery of psychological tests, I was selected to spend seven days in extreme isolation ensconced in what looked like a cozy bank vault. Each of the six cells was soundproofed, and when once sealed, would not be opened again until after the end of the seven-day experiment. We learned to live on a sparse diet of survival crackers, pressurized canned cheese, processed meats, protein pills, and two gallons of water. Lighting, heating, virtually everything was regulated from a control room. All sound and motion were recorded; nothing went unnoticed. So hermetically tight was the seal that I could feel air pressure change when the vault-like door latched closed. What impressed me most the instant the door closed was how utterly dark and eerily quiet my chamber became. I immediately began the process of acclimating to these unusual conditions. I had never experienced darkness and total lack of sound to such a degree. The researchers could hear me, but I couldn't hear them unless they switched on an intercom and spoke in what sounded like a computer generated voice. They never revealed if we were also observed with night vision cameras. The reason I am recalling the ordeal of this psychologically arduous experiment is to share a revelation that I will never forget. Besides being pleased with myself for having endured the entire seven days alone, (although at the time I thought it was longer) I learned it is possible to get new perspectives through meditation. Had it not been for this strange experiment I would not have made some amazing discoveries.
After a couple of days in extreme isolation, the mind and body attempt to adjust for lack of sensory input. All of the senses become sharper so that the act of chewing and breathing sound louder, tactile sensation becomes more sensitive, and even the sense of smell becomes more acute to whatever is wafting about in a sensory deprived environment. Biting into a thick survival cracker sounds like a pane of glass breaking, chewing it sounds like a rock crusher at work, and the aroma is reminiscent of dry dog food. I really didn't object to my conditions because we were a nation at war, and our captured soldiers and airmen were caged like animals in huts no bigger than my chamber; the difference being, I wasn't physically tortured and knew I would be getting out in seven days.
I soon became introspective and began to meditate, although at the time I didn’t realize I was meditating, because I had never done it before. Meditation became a means to occupy my time; it gave me something to do. I became enthralled with the idea of using my mind for a new purpose. While meditating I imagined myself floating to the outer depths of space where there is nothing to see, hear, touch, smell, or taste. I realized how supremely hostile space is to life and how precarious and vulnerable our earthly environment is. It also occurred to me, in a rather profound way, how earth is situated in perfect proximity to the sun as it orbits like a shimmering jewel in an otherwise inhospitable void. Who can say there is no God?
I found it easier and easier to turn off the noise in my mind by maintaining a focus. To get to deeper levels I would concentrate on being enveloped by wave after wave of velvety darkness. A point of light appeared in my minds’ eye when I reached a certain depth, akin to noticing the first star to grace the night sky, and immediately I would rouse myself with a start. After a few days, I learned to trust this mental exercise and it no longer frightened me. I began to know when to expect that point of light and used it as a marker. I didn't realize it then but I had achieved a relaxed meditative state where I could control the depth of my trance. There were times when I frightened myself, because I wasn't sure of what I was doing. I began to think that maybe the protein pills they told me to take twice daily were really something else. I thought that what I was experiencing was actually the result of what I was taking. For a while, I stopped my mental exercise to see if I could maintain focus on mundane thoughts. I actually started to miss meditating and completely lost interest in doing any physical exercise. Out of extreme boredom, and after assuring myself that I was still in control, I resumed meditating for the peaceful feeling it engendered. If I had to stay in that chamber longer, I think I would have tried peeking beyond that serene point to experience what lies beyond.
After leaving service, I would occasionally repeat what I had learned to see if I could still get the same result. What I discovered amazed me. I found that it is possible to project one’s emotional thoughts while in a meditative state. I know this is true. I also realized that the transcendent state achieved through focused prayer, which is a form of meditation, makes personal communion with God possible.
Ed. Note: This story is an excerpt from Bob Biancur’s recent book, “Finding God in a Godless World” Xulon press ISBN 978-1-60266-986-4 and depicts an actual experiment for which he volunteered at the beginning of his four-year enlistment at age 18. Later, he trained as a communications technician serving two years in Japan.
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BY Heather
8th Grader at Wintergreen Magnet School
What person or event has had an impact on your life? Why is this person or event important to you?
My mother has had a very strong impact on me. She has taught me so many things, and I will always remember those things. For one, she has dedicated herself to the Wallingford Emergency Shelter. Since I was four I have worked there, and it has shown me the other side of our world. The people have no homes and some have no jobs, but they still act like they have everything they have ever wanted. But some of their stories of war and life getting older are heartbreaking and I think society needs to do something so that people like my friend Eva, who was 78 years old and living at the shelter because she could not find senior housing does not happen.
She also dedicates her life to her kids. She is a single mother with three kids, living in a two-bedroom condo. She has to deal with all of our fights and arguments. She brings us everywhere we need or want to go. She is always thinking of us, even when she is at work. She never has a vacation, when she has a day off of work she has to take care of us and makes sure we get done what we need to do instead.
She has taught me how to be confident and hardworking. For example, I took violin when I was younger. I was going to quit because I didn’t see the fun in it. She told me that I had to be confident, and she would get me another teacher. Now I am playing violin and viola; and I am working so hard on all of my instruments. I have always wanted to be a scientist; my mother said if I wanted to be a scientist I had to work hard. For any of my dreams I had to work hard for what I wanted. I have worked hard most of my life and I have had so many successes in my life since.
In conclusion, my mother is my hero and she has taught me so much. I will always remember what she has taught; I will also remember her forever. I may get mad at her sometimes but I will never stop loving her. That is impossible for me, no matter what.
“Sheltering an Animal’s Perspective”
by
Gregory M. Simpson
If life is to be preserved on this planet, then humans as a species must go beyond caring just about their own companion animals. As Chief Seattle of the Divamish Indians said in 1855, “Whatever happens to the beasts happens also to us. All things are connected.”
Imagine waking up one day to learn that every pigeon on Earth was gone. Not likely, you may think, as pigeons seem to be everywhere. Actually, it has already happened to one species of pigeons – the passenger pigeon – probably once the most common bird in the world. These birds lived in enormous flocks, as large as a mile wide and 300 miles long.
As estimated five billion lived in the United States alone, but on September 1, 1914, the last passenger pigeon, named Martha, died in the Cincinnati Zoo. Billions of passenger pigeons had been hunted and killed in the U.S., never to be seen again.
An interesting historical fact, you may say, but this must be an anomaly. Sadly, it is not. According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), in the last few centuries, the rate of extinction has grown 100 to 1000 times the normal pace. Although scientists do not agree on the exact rate of extinction, Harvard biologist, Edward O. Wilson, believes that if extinction continues at its current rate, half of all species could be extinct within one human lifetime. Most telling is that the vast majority of recent extinctions are anthropogenic, i.e., influenced by humans.
Did Man learn a lesson with the extinction of the passenger pigeon? Hardly. Consider the beautiful emerald green Carolina parakeet. At their peak, they existed in numbers exceeded only by the passenger pigeon – until they, too, were hunted to extinction. Less than four years after the passenger pigeon became extinct, the last Carolina parakeet, named Inca, died in 1918 at the same Cincinnati Zoo.
A 1995 United Nations report cites the total known number of animal extinctions in the last four hundred years to be slightly under five hundred. According to States of the Union: Ranking America’s Biodiversity, Hawaii leads the states with the most extinction. Of the remaining top ten states with the highest rates, seven are in the southern U.S. California and Ohio comprise the other two states with the most extinction. Hawaii also leads the list of states with the highest ratio of threatened species, followed by California and Nevada.
According to state wildlife agency records, more than 100 million animals are killed by hunters each year. That does not include the millions of animals killed for which there are no reports. According to statistics provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, doves and squirrels are America’s most hunted animals, with almost twenty-three million of each killed in 2001. The next largest groups killed are ducks (12,740,000) and rabbits (10,942,000). The remaining almost thirty million of America’s most hunted animals include grouse, quails, partridges, deer, pheasants, geese, and raccoons.
The above statistics also do not reflect the millions of animals that are trapped annually in devices that cause excruciating pain accompanied by frequent tearing of tendons and ligaments and breaking of bones. Many animals chew or twist off their limbs in an effort to escape. Remarkably, the U.S. is one of only a handful of developed nations in which trapping has not been outlawed. According to a report by the USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service, in a year’s time 368,000 wild fox were clubbed, suffocated, or shot after being caught in leghold traps, strangled by snares, or hunted and shot. Almost half a million coyotes and over two hundred thousand opossums are just two other examples of wildlife that shared the same fate.
The late Cleveland Amory, founder of Fund for Animals, wrote in his book, Man Kind? Our Incredible War on Wildlife, “To single out the most persecuted animal on earth is not easy. Man has persecuted them all, and with almost equal abandon.” Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, between 1967 and 2002, a total of 1,318 species were listed as endangered or threatened. Of those, nine have become extinct.
For those who care about the slaughter of wildlife, Cleveland Amory ends Man Kind? with the following charge: “The hour is late and the animals’ need is great. It is past high time for all of us to be a voice of the voiceless, to speak for those who can’t, to work together for the most oppressed minority of them all.”
A report based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment estimates that 10 to 30% of known mammalian, amphibian and bird species are at risk of extinction. At the Bronx Zoo, there is a plaque which speaks to this risk and the need to respond. It reads:
In the end
We will conserve
Only what we love
We will love only
What we understand
And we will understand
Only what we are taught
The lesson for today is this: extinct is forever.
For the animals,
Gregory M. Simpson
Gregory Simpson’s animal welfare involvement spans over 25 years, having provided leadership for several Connecticut organizations, as well as having served as state advisor to the national Friends of Animals. Currently a Board member of Protectors of Animals, Inc., he was chosen by CAT FANCY magazine as one of the ultimate cat lovers in the U.S. He is also a member of the Cat Writers’ Association.
Great Backyard Bird Count Sets New Records Bird watchers flocked to annual winter survey
Bird watchers outdid themselves during the 2008 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. Participants submitted more than 85,700 checklists during the four-day event, February 15-18, surpassing last year’s all-time record by several thousand. Participants also identified a record 635 species and sent in thousands of stunning bird images from around the continent.
Birders who had heard about the massive seed production failure in trees across northern Canada were expecting a huge influx of northern finches coming south to look for food. “As predicted, there were record numbers of GBBC reports for Pine Grosbeak,” says Rob Fergus, Senior Scientist with the National Audubon Society. It was also a banner year for Common Redpolls and Evening Grosbeaks, reported in their highest numbers in several years.In this year’s GBBC, Yellow-billed Magpie numbers hit a new low. Magpies, crows, and jays are especially susceptible to the West Nile virus. For the past few years the population of Yellow-billed Magpies has declined following the spread of the virus to California. Nationwide, American Crow and Blue Jay numbers appear to have stabilized somewhat, but bear continued monitoring as the populations of these birds continue to adapt to the presence of this new disease. The GBBC charts the explosive geographic expansion of Eurasian Collared-Doves. The species has spread aggressively since it was introduced in Florida in 1980 and made new inroads this year. For the first time, GBBC records of this bird came from British Columbia, Manitoba, and Oregon. Some species showed up in Great Backyard Bird Count reports for the very first time, including a Masked Duck in Texasa bird that is usually found in the tropics. An Arctic Loon, seldom seen outside Alaska, was spotted in California. An Ivory Gull wandered down from the high Arctic to show up on a checklist in South Dakota. “Each year, awareness of the GBBC seems to spread,” says Cornell Lab of Ornithology Citizen Science Director Janis Dickinson. “Committed individuals, nature centers, parks, and schools adopted the GBBC as their own in an unprecedented way this year. They held bird walks, ID workshops, and many other events tied to the count.” Preschoolers built feeders out of milk jugs. An artist painted a mural of urban birds in Hollywood. One participant commented, “Participating in the bird count has given my children a little taste of what it is like to be a scientist."For an even more detailed summary of this year’s results, visit the GBBC web site at www.birdcount.org. You can explore maps, see beautiful photos, prize-drawing winners, and the list cities and towns that topped their state or province for the number of checklists submittedour “checklist champs.” The Great Backyard Bird Count returns February 13-16, 2009!
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Top 10 most-reported birds in the 2008 GBBC:1) Northern Cardinal 2) Mourning Dove 3) Dark-eyed Junco 4) Downy Woodpecker 5) American Goldfinch 6) Blue Jay 7) House Finch 8) Tufted Titmouse 9) Black-capped Chickadee 10) American Crow
STATE OF CONNECTICUT TAX RELIEF PROGRAM
The Wallingford Assessor’s office is now taking applications for tax credits for Elderly & Totally Disabled Homeowner’s February 1st – May 15th.
To qualify for this program applicants must be:
1). 65 years of age by December 31, 2007, the widow/widower age 50 or over of a previously approved applicant, or totally disabled and receiving benefits under a federal, state, or local retirement program (e.g. Social Security Disability).
2). Individual must have lived in Connecticut for one year.
3). Income not to exceed:
$29,800 – single
$36,500 - married
Documents needed for applications:
1). All sources of income for 2007. For example: Social Security Form 1099, wages, commissions, pensions, interest, dividends, proceeds from sales of property, veteran’s pension, etc.
2). 2007 Income Tax Form (if filed).
3). If you received an application and have any questions, or need help filling out your application, our office can assist you at the Town hall (Room 101).
For more information, call (203) 294-2001.
JOHN SHONECK SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Dear Friends,
It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to the organization that is taking over control of running/continuing the John R. Shoneck Scholarship. The Ladies Auxiliary of the Silver City Detachment 45 of the Marine Corps League has already instituted a Fundraising Committee as well as a Scholarship Committee and as you can see, is hard at work in making the John R. Shoneck Scholarship a continued success. A reminder to you; over the past 19 years, the Meriden Vietnam Veterans Association (M.V.V.A.) has awarded $28,000.00 to graduating high school seniors in pursuit of a college education! These good works will continue with the new Scholarship leadership.
SHONECK SCHOLARSHIP FUND TO MAKE THREE $1,000.00 AWARDS IN 2008
The John R. Shoneck Scholarship Fund of the Marine Corp[s League, Silver City Detachment #45 has increased the awards available from three (3) $500 scholarship awards to three(3) $1,000.00 awards for graduating high school seniors. Two of the scholarships will be available to a senior in any high school whose parents derived from, reside, or work in the city of Meriden and a descendant or relative of a man or woman who served in the Armed Forces of the United States. A copy of the qualifying relative’s DD-214 (Proof of Honorable Discharge) must accompany the application to receive these special considerations.
The third “Open” Scholarchip award will be given to any graduating high school seniors whose parents derived from, reside or work in the city of Meriden. The number of each type of scho9larship award is determined annually by the Board of Trustees.
The awards will be made to applicants who display scholastic achievement, potential for success in their chosen field of study, outstanding character and citizenship, a record of service to their school and community, and financial need.
Applications for these awards are available in area high school guidance offices. The names of the awardees will be announced on or about June 2, 2008.
The scholarship awards are granted annually to perpetuate the memory of U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sergeant John R. Shoneck, a Meriden, CT native, who was declared “MISSING IN ACTION” in Vietnam when his aircraft failed to return from an Air/Sea rescue mission over the Tonkin Gulf in North Vietnam on October 18, 1966.
The two restricted scholarship awardees must meet the above criteria, be intent on continuing their education at an accredited college and who are also related to a person who served in the Armed Forces of the United States or its allies. A copy of ;the relative’s “DD-214 (proof of honorable discharge) must accompany their application.
A brief essay must accompany all applications on the applicants’ knowledge of any of America’s Wars as it relates to them, their parents or other relatives, and any effect or influence on them.
Applications are to be submitted to the fund trustees via the Meriden Board of Education or in care of the:
Marine Corps League, Silver City Det. #45
Women’s Auxiliary
20 Clinton Street
Meriden, CT 06450-4517
If I can be of further service in this matt4er, please call me or write. (203) 272-6560 or tduhig@cox.net.
Yours truly,
Tom Duhig
Tom Duhig
Spokesperson, J. R. Shoneck Committee
To the editor:
I come from a generation in which most of my colleagues and I had to face the draft and served a couple of years of active duty, reserve, or guard. It was Vietnam, and unless you were rich, connected or 4F, you went. Those who saw combat and their families often paid a big price; the rest of us and our families paid a much smaller but memorable one.
Today, with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have an all volunteer army, and aside from the impressive young men and women of our service academies and ROTC pro-grams, the majority of the fighting and dying is being done by the youth of the lower middle class of our citizenry. These young men and women, often minorities, may be enlisting for the opportunity to find some dignity and respect, to find a way out of failing neighborhoods and school systems, or even, in the case of some, to find a way to come out of the shadows and get citizenship. Their motives are mixed, but their courage is not. They are facing an experience as complicated and unappealing as that of the poor marines who faced the toughest fighting and dying in Vietnam. And their families are sometimes faced with their sons and daughters returning in shattered states, physically, psychologically or both. To the rest of us, sheltered from the horror by restrictions on the press, understand little and pay practically nothing, today at least, for the sacrifices of these young people and their families.
The military has a term “Stop Loss..” It was unfamiliar to me, but I now know it refers to the policy, under extreme manpower needs, in which an honorably-serving soldier’s contract may be voided, and instead of mustering out, as expected, after whatever combat tours he or she has served, that soldier is involuntarily sent back to the combat zone. For some troops, it is acceptable; for others, it is not.
The other night my wife and I and another couple went to see a movie with the title “Stop Loss,” which claimed to portray how the policy might affect several military families. It was not a heavy-handed attack on the military and its policy. Rather we thought it was a thought-provoking look at both the rigors of the combat situations and the difficulties of those who faced these difficult times and then the involuntary extension. While not a perfect film, this celluloid drama was certainly the choice we were later glad we had made over other offerings that night, such as Leatherheads, “21,” and such lighter fare.
The audience Saturday night for “Stop Loss” was relatively sparse. It will probably be sparse every night for the next few weeks until the film is pulled in favor of an offering more appealing to the younger set, the main purchasers of movie tickets. This is a shame, but it is the reality of the movie business and of life. I would just encourage you to pay a small price, in discomfort during the combat scenes, and perhaps in melancholy during these damp, unseasonably cool Spring days, to help with just a little more of your understanding of their sacrifice and future needs, these young combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Amazing Coffee Beans
Grinding to the Music in Meriden - AN UPDATE
By Jeff Caillouette
It is time for an update on my progress with the coffee trees growing in JC Music on West Main Street in Meriden. The People’s Press had a front-page article in August 2007 related to the trees. First of all, let me summarize that story for you.
Sixteen years ago, I planted several coffee beans (obtained from an Arabica tree in Hawaii) and after several months of watering the dirt (which contained traces of lava), the trees germinated. The trees were kept as very small desk plants at JC Music for many years. I eventually started to repot them into larger and larger pots. They now stand about 15 feet tall.
The reason the last story came about was because coffee trees generally only grow and produce beans between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Along with needing to be close to the equator, they also need to be at an elevation of 1800 to 6300 feet. Meriden sits about 140 feet above sea level.
In February 2007, I hooked up a new blowing gas heater in JC Music. On the very first night, the heater turned on and blew hot air at the trees all night long. I thought the trees might die as the soil became as dry as dust. Then, after a thorough watering, the trees produced white flowers and it actually appeared as though I would be producing real coffee in MERIDEN!
Shortly after my story in August, the flowers died off and green cherries appeared on the trees. The cherries then turned a deep red color and I have been picking these ripe cherries ever since. Each cherry contains two coffee beans. I had hoped to collect enough beans to brew my first pot of homegrown coffee, and was then planning to roast them in a home type roaster. What ended up happening prevented that from taking place. After the August article was printed, people from all over central Connecticut came to JC Music to see the trees and I ended up with a waiting list of customers who wanted a bean from them when they were ready. I have not heard of anyone else having success yet, but there are plenty of people trying to germinate coffee trees in the area!
I still have some beans saved in a jar on my desk and have many more growing on my trees. I am no longer giving them away so that I can hopefully brew a pot of homegrown Meriden coffee in the near future. I am offering a promotion this month for JC Music’s 20th Anniversary. Anyone who spends over $200 can pick their own coffee cherry and try to grow their own coffee trees at home. (See front-page coupon).
Even if you are unable to get the trees to flower and produce beans, they still have beautiful dark shiny green leaves, which will make them very decorative house plants. If you are as lucky as I was and they produce flowers and cherries, you will certainly gain an appreciation for the work involved in producing coffee. You will also find them to be a great conversation piece all year, especially during the flowering and cherry development stages!
Sooner or later I will have saved enough mature cherries to harvest, pulp, ferment, dry, roast, grind, brew, and drink a real cup of Meriden grown coffee. I will make sure Andy is there for a taste and I am sure he will take pictures for my final follow up story.
For all those people trying to grow coffee trees in this area, here is some helpful advice from the experience and knowledge I have gained over the years!
v
v The trees cannot be expected to produce flowers and beans for at least four years.
v My trees took 15 years with tremendous care and then a freak problem with a gas heater to get them to produce!!
v The low altitude we are at may not make our coffee taste the same as the worlds’ finest! (Just need to be realistic here). Maybe I will get lucky and find it is even better!
v Coffee trees will thrive under artificial indoor plant lights.
v They cannot be left outside as they will turn black and die if the temperature reaches freezing.
v The trees will require rich soil, plenty of water, and humid conditions. I run humidifiers at JC Music for the guitars and this must have helped the trees in producing the beans!
v Water the trees less in December, January and early February and then shock them with lots of water in late February. You may then convince the trees that they are in the tropics and spring is coming. If you get lucky, the trees will begin to flower!
I know Andy was hoping to be sitting with me at JC Music enjoying a cup of Meriden grown Java by now, but I promise that will be happening in the near future! After I have collected enough beans, I am sure my final article will include the process of how I roasted them. At the same time, several of my friends, including Andy, will likely let you know what coffee grown 41.53 degrees North of the equator tastes like!
35 Ways to know if you drink too much coffee...
1. You answer the door before people knock.
2. The only kitchen appliances you own are made by Mr. Coffee.
3. You ski uphill.
4. You get a tax cut for all the coffee you bought.
5. You get a speeding ticket even when you're parked.
6. You speed walk in your sleep.
7. You haven't blinked since the last lunar eclipse.
8. You grind your coffee beans in your mouth.
9. The nurse needs a scientific calculator to take your pulse.
10. You sleep with your eyes open.
11. When you open your dish cabinet, and you only find mugs.
12. You can take a picture of yourself from ten feet away without using the timer.
13. You spend every vacation visiting "Maxwell House."
14. You're the employee of the month at Dunkin’ Donuts and you don't even work there.
15. Your eyes stay open when you sneeze.
16. You chew on other people's fingernails.
17. You're so jittery that people use your hands to blend their margaritas.
18. All your kids are named "Joe".
19. You don't sweat, you percolate.
20. You go to AA meetings just for the free coffee.
21. Charles Manson thinks you need to calm down.
22. Every shirt or blouse you own has a coffee stain on it.
23. The Taster's Choice couple wants to adopt you.
24. Starbucks owns the mortgage on your house.
25. Instant coffee takes too long.
26. When someone says, "How are you?", you say, "Good to the last drop."
27. You want to be cremated just so you can spend the rest of eternity in a coffee can.
28. Your hand is permanently shaped to hold your mug.
29. You go to sleep just so you can wake up and smell the coffee.
30. Your lips are permanently stuck in the sipping position.
31. You have a picture of your coffee mug on your coffee mug.
32. You don't even wait for the water to boil anymore.
33. You think being called a "drip" is a compliment.
34. You introduce your spouse as your coffeemate.
35. Your first-aid kit contains two pints of coffee with an I.V. hookup.
Barbara's Bountiful Bouquet
Some gardeners at the Wallingford Community Garden have begun working on their plots, getting them ready for planting. Compost was delivered several weeks ago, and I managed to shovel compost into a wheelbarrow, three times, and dump it in my garden. The poor wheelbarrows are in kind of rough shape. The first one I tried had a wheel that kept falling off. The second one, when I went to pour out the contents, fell apart. The part of the wheelbarrow that you load up is not attached to the frame. It just kind of sits there. Needless to say, we could sure use a donation of a wheelbarrow.
My garlic and one lonely jonquil popped up a couple of weeks ago, and my lily and catnip are showing signs of returning to life. It is really too early to plant anything except lettuce, peas, spinach or radishes, and since my garden is not fenced in, I have no luck with lettuce because it gets eaten up by some critter. It's funny, but because Easter was so early this year, people are thinking it's time to plant tomatoes, and a lot of customers at Cheshire Nursery, where I am a cashier, are asking for tomato plants already (April 21st). A week ago I did buy a six-pack of tomatoes at another nursery, which never has tomatoes this early, and I transplanted them into two pots, but I have them inside in my "sun room" for now. The soil is still too cold outside for their roots. But I am as anxious as anyone for the growing season to begin. I did such a good job of haying last fall, that very few weeds are appearing, knock on wood. I have three bird feeders in CJ's garden, and have been feeding the birds for over eight years now. However, the price of bird seed has sky-rocketed, and I'm not sure that I'll be able to continue supplying the birds with this special treat.
By the end of May, I definitely will be starting to plant. I tend to wait until Memorial Day until all chance of frost has passed. I will continue to make weekly trips to the garden, though, to ensure the weeds are under control (and they can get out of control in a heartbeat) and to move some more compost into my plot. All of the perennials throughout the Community Garden and at the entrance are starting to come back, and we do have some tulips in bloom as well. The weather is starting to warm up, finally, and it's truly beginning to feel like spring. Hooray! I'll see you all next month. Happy May to you!Barbara Sherburnebarndt49@yahoo.com
TREASURES OF THE SEA
By Dorothy Gonick
It was late afternoon and the long drive was over! We piled out of the car for a brief walk on the beach before quickly setting up our tent at Salvo Campground, near Cape Hatteras on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. All through the night we were soothed as we listened to the ebb and flow of tidal waves as they washed the shore in measured rhythm, creeping higher on the incoming tide, leaving its treasures as it flowed back across the sand on its way out.
Early the next morning we wandered along the beach with our children, Peter, Marie and Diane, excitedly filling their pails with shells found among the flotsam scattered about. Marie gleefully held up a long, stringy thing that looked like a bleached swirl of spiny backbone. The wet, rubbery ‘thing’ was dumped into her pail among the varied shells of many colors and shapes. We’d be sure to look that up in our Seashore Guide.
Then we settled ourselves by a nearby dune to admire the many finds tumbling from their pails. There were smooth and ribbed clamshells, large quahogs and tiny coquinas, blue mussel shells with pearly linings, fan shaped scallop shells and oyster shells that looked like weathered concrete with tiny holes made by oyster drill snails. We were amazed that such small snails could drill through those thick oyster shells. There were other large and small snail shells of periwinkles, conches, whelks and moon shells to admire, and hold to the ear, listening for the roar of the ocean. Slipper shells of creamy pinks and lavenders amused us as we wondered what tiny feet could fit inside. The starfish were special as we noted their abundant feet along each point and the mouth centered underneath. We would like to have watched one gripping a clam and feasting on it. What a creative God we have, who fashioned all these creatures that live in the sea, equipping each one with protection and the ability to move and to garner its food.
Marie toyed with the spirally strip of flat pouches that looked like a strange lei or the curling vertebrae of a backbone. Each pouch had a tiny hole and seemed filled with sand. Our Seashore Guide book told us that she’d found a Channeled Whelk egg case. Peter pinched one of the pouches apart and we stared in fascination at the many very teeny tiny whelk shells that tumbled out. We counted forty that fell from it—and were amazed! Each tiny sculptured shell was meant to house a living creature whose shell would continue to form into a large spiral beauty, housing that squirmy creature that many people find delectable as scrungili. Picking up a larger whelk shell for comparison, Peter was surprised to see a live hermit crab inside, using it as its home. Back to the sea he carried it and watched it scurry away.
We checked out other shells and found a small crab within a round moon shell. When Diane hurried to the shore with it and bid it goodbye, we became distracted by the sandpipers that were skittering along the edge of the beach. It was delightful watching them snap up morsels of sea life, then scurry back with their wings flapping as more waves were flung ashore. We then decided to mimic them by scurrying down to the shore and search for other sea treasures, leaving footprints in the sand. So began our week of wonder; exploring the beach and the sea under the summer sun.
Dear Housewives – Central Connecticut’s Know It All Gals
Dear Readers,
Do you have a question regarding family life, budgeting, customer service issues, DVD or book reviews, or home organization? As stay at home moms we have seen and heard it all. We will give you our candid advice to any question you may have. We don't always agree but we care. We are the real housewives.
Contact The Peoples Press by e-mail or phone with your confidential question and we will answer it in the next issue. Keep the questions coming and thanks for reading. Enjoy the spring season. -Flora and June
Dear Housewives,
My niece believes it is okay to download music from her computer. She sometimes downloads it off websites she doesn't pay for. Is this common practice these days? I think it is wrong. What do you think?
- i tune her out in Wallingford
JUNE: Dear i tune, I don't personally download music but just about anyone under the age of 30 does or has it seems. The twenty somethings and tween scene is most prevalent in this area.
Think of the 80's, before computers were common place. We heard a song we liked, we taped it off the radio and played it over and over until we knew each song. We bought a tape and lent it or made a copy for a friend. We have all done it unless you lived in a dungeon. The computer is the modern day version of that. Times have changed and instead of borrowing your friends album or tape kids send it via computer.
I don't think it has impacted many negatively. In fact, many artists find it is a way to get their music out there. Some allow a few songs to be downloaded for free off their sites. In addition, some of the biggest downloaded names like Jay Z, Eminem, Ozzy Osbourne, Madonna and so on are certainly not hurting for money. They cry foul but they live like kings and queens many times over. I don't think P Diddy as an artist or a producer or a record label will ever hurt for money from the downloading craze. Tommy Matola, Clive Owen, Death Row Records are as rich as can be. Tom Cruise is still rich even though some kid downloaded Mission Impossible 3. If her parents don't bother her about it then leave her along; it is not your business.
FLORA: Flora does disagree. Most very successful musicians started out playing in school events, had garage bands or took lessons at a local music shop. They worked their way up to the top of the ladder of success and they deserve each penny they earned. The singers with music on the radio did not wake up in a 12,000 sq. foot home and have daily massages and drivers, for many it took years. Downloading music illegally is stealing. Plain and simple.
You are right June in that some do live as kings and queens...perhaps the problem is the enormous record contracts and high priced concert ticket prices. But, we live in a free market economy (and wise guy-free market doesn't mean 'free downloading'...) and the successful artists of our day make a lot of money. They also work very hard.
So, share this information with your niece and inform her. Tell her that when she illegally downloads music from the internet, she takes not only from the artist's work, but the sound engineers, the song writers, producers, managers and all the support staff.
JUNE: Looks like we have a debate. I am sure we could go back and forth with good points on both sides for pages. Hard work and luck really did help make stars huge. They should spread some money to the support staff although I think they do pretty well too. In our world nothing is plain and simple. Okay kids, get the old record button ready on your tape decks (are they around anymore?) and tape off the radio. They don't call that illegal.
Dear Housewives,
I work third shift on the weekends. My husband just needs to watch the kids for two days (Sat. and Sun.) while I sleep in the day to go to work at night. Problem is he and the kids are so loud that I can not sleep even though I am upstairs and they are down. He can't control them for two days and I am exhausted all night through work. Any ideas? --Desperately seeking snoozin'
FLORA: Sound blocking earphones may do the trick. Set up the house downstairs so that everything they need is down there so they don't go up and down. You can always ask around at work and see what works for other parents in your situation.
But, if this is a discipline situation, you and your husband need to talk about how to manage this. You can also practice with the children during the week to develop the behavior you want. Training,is needed.
What happened to 'outside voices'? Oh, if they take the voices outside, make sure it is not under your bedroom window!
JUNE: You can put him in the paper and sell him. "Husband for sale, to a good home..." Okay, so you can't do that but you can tell him that it is important that you get some sleep and that he needs to do a better job of keeping the kids quiet. If a simple "suggestion" doesn't work set up some places that he can take the kids during the day once and a while. You can use ear plugs. You can put on a TV or music so you get used to the background noise rather than paying attention to what the kids are doing. Good luck. If all else fails try to find a job during the day on the weekends. Your husband will still be watching them but they can be as loud as they want.
DVD Review
JUNE: Flora, I watched the movie Perfect Strangers with Bruce Willis and Halle Berry. This was supposed to be a thriller but it was more like a dud. I thought the writing was bad and the acting was worse. Don't waste your money on this one. And definitely don't download it. (wink, wink).
FLORA: I haven't seen Perfect Strangers but I did see Running With Scissors and aside from the fact that the content was a bit strange, I enjoyed the quality acting. It was a memoir and told the story of a young boy growing up with an alcoholic father (Alec Baldwin) and a mentally ill mother (Annette Bening) who abandons him and he is to live his teen years with her therapist.
I am still reading Book of Names. I am so tired at night that even though it is a 'page turner', I fall asleep.
Home Country
Slim Randles
Delbert’s at it again. You know Delbert McLain, our local chamber of commerce? He’s the guy who wants to bring lots of people here so the place isn’t quite as nice as it is now.
Well, ol’ Delbert zipped into the Mule Barn truck stop the other day, plopped down at the empty Round Table, and motioned for those of us at the philosophy counter to join him. We did.
“Boys,” he said, when we were seated and sipping, “I want to bounce an idea off you and see how it goes.”
He almost whispered, “Two words … knife sharpening!”
“Sure,” said Dud, pulling a diamond steel from a holster on his belt. “I’ll sharpen it for you, Delbert.”
“No, I don’t mean I need a knife sharpened,” he said, “I mean … a knife-sharpening contest. Actually, a knife-sharpening fiesta!”
His face beamed, he spread his arms, his hands palms up toward Heaven as the sheer Divine magnitude of the idea settled in. Doc reached for another sugar packet.
“Just think of it, guys,” Delbert said, “A veritable bevy of blade bevellers descending on our community, spending money in our restaurants, buying the latest in knife gear from the hardware store, filling the rooms at the motel.”
He looked around. Steve’s coffee made him cough. Doc chuckled into his hand. Dud put his diamond steel away.
“Sounds like a sharp idea to me, Del,” said Doc. “I like the way you came right to the point.”
“An edgy proposition,” Dud said, “but one that whets the appetite.”
Steve recovered from his coughing fit. “You could hold it out in the pasture and call it ‘Hone on the Range.’”
Delbert ignored the groaning and smiled. “That’s it, boys. Think on it. Let’s come up with some good angles.”
And Doc said, “I hear 10 to 15 degrees is best for a really sharp blade.”
Cracker packets flew.
Susan Herget
When you open your home to a child in need you receive so much more than you give. This is just one of the things I and my family have learned since deciding to become a licensed foster home in 2005. Over the past 3 years there have been 10 children who have stayed in our home, either as a placement or for respite care and each of them have brought with them their own lessons for us to learn. Yes, these children were all in need of a safe, stable, patient, and loving place to stay while their biological families worked out their issues and we as a family were happy to give them such a place. However, we never expected that we would receive so much in return. I was a stay at home parent who really missed working and “contributing to society”, well I have learned that being at home and caring for children who are displaced is the greatest contribution to society that I can make, I could never put into words the sense of worth I have gained from fostering . For my husband this experience has proven to be an opportunity to help those less fortunate (both the children and their parents). Our children have learned lessons that we would never have been able to teach them on our own. For example, one of our placements was an infant whose parents were young teenagers who really needed guidance and time to grow-up themselves, our children learned about teenage pregnancy from this situation. We had a brother and sister in our home, about the same age as our children. For the first 2 weeks that they were in our home they slept huddled together on the floor, even though they each had their own bed to sleep in. These children had been living in a homeless shelter and had only known how to sleep this way. From them our children learned what it means to be homeless. Another child, a 4 year old boy, was born to a mother who had a drug addiction. He was drug affected and challenging (to say the least). This was a difficult placement. From him the children learned about drug abuse, and how to tolerate someone – even if you don’t like them, an important life lesson for all of us. Some placements are short and some are long. Some are challenging and some are less challenging. Some children we are happy to see reunited with their families, others are harder to let go of. We are very fortunate to have a supportive, compassionate, and giving extended family and from them the children placed in our home have learned what family is – you know grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and good friends that are family too. These “foster” children have experienced little things like backyard picnics, holidays, birthdays, and vacations, things that so many of us take for granted that are huge and wondrous to them. We have friends who are also foster parents and they are a great support. Even though we were already parents, fostering is a special type of parenting and it’s good to have people who can relate to the issues that we and the children placed in our homes are facing. We like to say that being a foster home is contagious, we “caught” the “fostering bug” from one set of friends, and unknowingly passed it on to another set of friends and hopefully they will pass it on too. There is such a need for homes in Connecticut, yes even here in our nice towns of Wallingford and Meriden. At any given time there are as many as 6,000 children in our state in care. May is National Foster Parent Appreciation Month and it is our greatest hope that while reading this letter you will consider opening your heart and home to a child in need, for you will truly be changing a life, yours and the child(ren) you’d be helping. If you are interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent please call (203) 583-9312, we did. In closing we would like to say, that we feel honored to have been selected as “Foster Parents of the Year” and would like to add that we are not the foster parents of the year but rather the “Foster Family of the Year” because without our son, Samuel, and daughter, Gillian, our parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and friends we would not be the foster family that we are. – Jeffrey and Susan Herget , Meriden DCF Foster Family
My husband dreamed of a larger family, but I wasn’t up for another pregnancy so we compromised and decided to become foster parents. We made the decision rather quickly and I don’t think realized what we were signing up for, but we saw what the experience had brought to the Herget family; so we jumped in. In the year that we have been licensed we have had 5 wonderful children in our home; from a 2 day old infant to a 4 year old. While each child had his/her own story each one has enriched our lives. Foster parenting has taught us that we are part of a system designed to protect children; it is not our job to judge the parents but to help heal a family. We often hear people say they could never foster, because they wouldn’t be able to return the children to their birth parents. I won’t lie and say our hearts haven’t broken when a child leaves; but knowing that my family help put another back together somehow makes it worth the heartache. Clifford, Amy & Haley Kennedy Meriden DCF Foster Family since 2007
The best thing about being a foster family is, “that you get to help other kids”. The worst thing about being a foster family is that “sometimes you don’t like the kid but you still have to be nice”. – Samuel Herget, age 7 - Meriden DCF Foster Family
The best thing about being a foster family is, “having kids to play with”. The worst thing about being a foster family is, “when the kids leave”. – Gillian Herget, age 4 – Meriden DCF Foster Family
Fostering children is one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences my husband and I have ever taken on. We began this journey as a couple with no children of our own. In the past four years we have opened our home to nine children ranging in age from three days to fifteen years. We now have a biological child as well as an adopted child. As a foster family we are able to provide hurt children with a safe haven where there is always a warm bed and someone to tuck you in at night. We are able to redefine family for these children. In our family, there is a mom and a dad who love you and care about you. Somebody is always there to check your homework and scare away the monsters at night. Our foster children are provided with a true sense of family. There are grandparents to spoil you and uncles to chase you around in the yard. These children have given my family, both immediate and extended, so much more than we have given them. They have taught my family tolerance, acceptance, and compassion. For my husband and I fostering is our way of giving of ourselves. People often ask us how and why we are able to do what we do. For us, knowing that there are kids out there in need of a safe, loving home is reason enough. Our question is not why foster, but why not? Amy and Scott Aresco – Meriden DCF Foster & Adoptive Family since 2004
Susan Herget program coordinator P.O. Box 2303 Meriden, CT 06450 (203) 583-9312 www.mandmfaces.org Meriden & Middletown's Foster care Adoption and CommunityEducation Services "keeping the faces of children in foster care in the forefront of our community"
An Experiment Called ARGUS
While serving in military I was temporarily assigned to the Bethesda Naval Research Hospital where I volunteered for an experiment called ARGUS, (Advanced Research on Groups Under Stress) that created unusually stressful environmental conditions. Six subjects from thirty volunteers were selected to live in six tiny isolation chambers. After completing a battery of psychological tests, I was selected to spend seven days in extreme isolation ensconced in what looked like a cozy bank vault. Each of the six cells was soundproofed, and when once sealed, would not be opened again until after the end of the seven-day experiment. We learned to live on a sparse diet of survival crackers, pressurized canned cheese, processed meats, protein pills, and two gallons of water. Lighting, heating, virtually everything was regulated from a control room. All sound and motion were recorded; nothing went unnoticed. So hermetically tight was the seal that I could feel air pressure change when the vault-like door latched closed. What impressed me most the instant the door closed was how utterly dark and eerily quiet my chamber became. I immediately began the process of acclimating to these unusual conditions. I had never experienced darkness and total lack of sound to such a degree. The researchers could hear me, but I couldn't hear them unless they switched on an intercom and spoke in what sounded like a computer generated voice. They never revealed if we were also observed with night vision cameras. The reason I am recalling the ordeal of this psychologically arduous experiment is to share a revelation that I will never forget. Besides being pleased with myself for having endured the entire seven days alone, (although at the time I thought it was longer) I learned it is possible to get new perspectives through meditation. Had it not been for this strange experiment I would not have made some amazing discoveries.
After a couple of days in extreme isolation, the mind and body attempt to adjust for lack of sensory input. All of the senses become sharper so that the act of chewing and breathing sound louder, tactile sensation becomes more sensitive, and even the sense of smell becomes more acute to whatever is wafting about in a sensory deprived environment. Biting into a thick survival cracker sounds like a pane of glass breaking, chewing it sounds like a rock crusher at work, and the aroma is reminiscent of dry dog food. I really didn't object to my conditions because we were a nation at war, and our captured soldiers and airmen were caged like animals in huts no bigger than my chamber; the difference being, I wasn't physically tortured and knew I would be getting out in seven days.
I soon became introspective and began to meditate, although at the time I didn’t realize I was meditating, because I had never done it before. Meditation became a means to occupy my time; it gave me something to do. I became enthralled with the idea of using my mind for a new purpose. While meditating I imagined myself floating to the outer depths of space where there is nothing to see, hear, touch, smell, or taste. I realized how supremely hostile space is to life and how precarious and vulnerable our earthly environment is. It also occurred to me, in a rather profound way, how earth is situated in perfect proximity to the sun as it orbits like a shimmering jewel in an otherwise inhospitable void. Who can say there is no God?
I found it easier and easier to turn off the noise in my mind by maintaining a focus. To get to deeper levels I would concentrate on being enveloped by wave after wave of velvety darkness. A point of light appeared in my minds’ eye when I reached a certain depth, akin to noticing the first star to grace the night sky, and immediately I would rouse myself with a start. After a few days, I learned to trust this mental exercise and it no longer frightened me. I began to know when to expect that point of light and used it as a marker. I didn't realize it then but I had achieved a relaxed meditative state where I could control the depth of my trance. There were times when I frightened myself, because I wasn't sure of what I was doing. I began to think that maybe the protein pills they told me to take twice daily were really something else. I thought that what I was experiencing was actually the result of what I was taking. For a while, I stopped my mental exercise to see if I could maintain focus on mundane thoughts. I actually started to miss meditating and completely lost interest in doing any physical exercise. Out of extreme boredom, and after assuring myself that I was still in control, I resumed meditating for the peaceful feeling it engendered. If I had to stay in that chamber longer, I think I would have tried peeking beyond that serene point to experience what lies beyond.
After leaving service, I would occasionally repeat what I had learned to see if I could still get the same result. What I discovered amazed me. I found that it is possible to project one’s emotional thoughts while in a meditative state. I know this is true. I also realized that the transcendent state achieved through focused prayer, which is a form of meditation, makes personal communion with God possible.
Ed. Note: This story is an excerpt from Bob Biancur’s recent book, “Finding God in a Godless World” Xulon press ISBN 978-1-60266-986-4 and depicts an actual experiment for which he volunteered at the beginning of his four-year enlistment at age 18. Later, he trained as a communications technician serving two years in Japan.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
BY Heather
8th Grader at Wintergreen Magnet School
What person or event has had an impact on your life? Why is this person or event important to you?
My mother has had a very strong impact on me. She has taught me so many things, and I will always remember those things. For one, she has dedicated herself to the Wallingford Emergency Shelter. Since I was four I have worked there, and it has shown me the other side of our world. The people have no homes and some have no jobs, but they still act like they have everything they have ever wanted. But some of their stories of war and life getting older are heartbreaking and I think society needs to do something so that people like my friend Eva, who was 78 years old and living at the shelter because she could not find senior housing does not happen.
She also dedicates her life to her kids. She is a single mother with three kids, living in a two-bedroom condo. She has to deal with all of our fights and arguments. She brings us everywhere we need or want to go. She is always thinking of us, even when she is at work. She never has a vacation, when she has a day off of work she has to take care of us and makes sure we get done what we need to do instead.
She has taught me how to be confident and hardworking. For example, I took violin when I was younger. I was going to quit because I didn’t see the fun in it. She told me that I had to be confident, and she would get me another teacher. Now I am playing violin and viola; and I am working so hard on all of my instruments. I have always wanted to be a scientist; my mother said if I wanted to be a scientist I had to work hard. For any of my dreams I had to work hard for what I wanted. I have worked hard most of my life and I have had so many successes in my life since.
In conclusion, my mother is my hero and she has taught me so much. I will always remember what she has taught; I will also remember her forever. I may get mad at her sometimes but I will never stop loving her. That is impossible for me, no matter what.
“Sheltering an Animal’s Perspective”
by
Gregory M. Simpson
If life is to be preserved on this planet, then humans as a species must go beyond caring just about their own companion animals. As Chief Seattle of the Divamish Indians said in 1855, “Whatever happens to the beasts happens also to us. All things are connected.”
Imagine waking up one day to learn that every pigeon on Earth was gone. Not likely, you may think, as pigeons seem to be everywhere. Actually, it has already happened to one species of pigeons – the passenger pigeon – probably once the most common bird in the world. These birds lived in enormous flocks, as large as a mile wide and 300 miles long.
As estimated five billion lived in the United States alone, but on September 1, 1914, the last passenger pigeon, named Martha, died in the Cincinnati Zoo. Billions of passenger pigeons had been hunted and killed in the U.S., never to be seen again.
An interesting historical fact, you may say, but this must be an anomaly. Sadly, it is not. According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), in the last few centuries, the rate of extinction has grown 100 to 1000 times the normal pace. Although scientists do not agree on the exact rate of extinction, Harvard biologist, Edward O. Wilson, believes that if extinction continues at its current rate, half of all species could be extinct within one human lifetime. Most telling is that the vast majority of recent extinctions are anthropogenic, i.e., influenced by humans.
Did Man learn a lesson with the extinction of the passenger pigeon? Hardly. Consider the beautiful emerald green Carolina parakeet. At their peak, they existed in numbers exceeded only by the passenger pigeon – until they, too, were hunted to extinction. Less than four years after the passenger pigeon became extinct, the last Carolina parakeet, named Inca, died in 1918 at the same Cincinnati Zoo.
A 1995 United Nations report cites the total known number of animal extinctions in the last four hundred years to be slightly under five hundred. According to States of the Union: Ranking America’s Biodiversity, Hawaii leads the states with the most extinction. Of the remaining top ten states with the highest rates, seven are in the southern U.S. California and Ohio comprise the other two states with the most extinction. Hawaii also leads the list of states with the highest ratio of threatened species, followed by California and Nevada.
According to state wildlife agency records, more than 100 million animals are killed by hunters each year. That does not include the millions of animals killed for which there are no reports. According to statistics provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, doves and squirrels are America’s most hunted animals, with almost twenty-three million of each killed in 2001. The next largest groups killed are ducks (12,740,000) and rabbits (10,942,000). The remaining almost thirty million of America’s most hunted animals include grouse, quails, partridges, deer, pheasants, geese, and raccoons.
The above statistics also do not reflect the millions of animals that are trapped annually in devices that cause excruciating pain accompanied by frequent tearing of tendons and ligaments and breaking of bones. Many animals chew or twist off their limbs in an effort to escape. Remarkably, the U.S. is one of only a handful of developed nations in which trapping has not been outlawed. According to a report by the USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service, in a year’s time 368,000 wild fox were clubbed, suffocated, or shot after being caught in leghold traps, strangled by snares, or hunted and shot. Almost half a million coyotes and over two hundred thousand opossums are just two other examples of wildlife that shared the same fate.
The late Cleveland Amory, founder of Fund for Animals, wrote in his book, Man Kind? Our Incredible War on Wildlife, “To single out the most persecuted animal on earth is not easy. Man has persecuted them all, and with almost equal abandon.” Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, between 1967 and 2002, a total of 1,318 species were listed as endangered or threatened. Of those, nine have become extinct.
For those who care about the slaughter of wildlife, Cleveland Amory ends Man Kind? with the following charge: “The hour is late and the animals’ need is great. It is past high time for all of us to be a voice of the voiceless, to speak for those who can’t, to work together for the most oppressed minority of them all.”
A report based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment estimates that 10 to 30% of known mammalian, amphibian and bird species are at risk of extinction. At the Bronx Zoo, there is a plaque which speaks to this risk and the need to respond. It reads:
In the end
We will conserve
Only what we love
We will love only
What we understand
And we will understand
Only what we are taught
The lesson for today is this: extinct is forever.
For the animals,
Gregory M. Simpson
Gregory Simpson’s animal welfare involvement spans over 25 years, having provided leadership for several Connecticut organizations, as well as having served as state advisor to the national Friends of Animals. Currently a Board member of Protectors of Animals, Inc., he was chosen by CAT FANCY magazine as one of the ultimate cat lovers in the U.S. He is also a member of the Cat Writers’ Association.
Great Backyard Bird Count Sets New Records Bird watchers flocked to annual winter survey
Bird watchers outdid themselves during the 2008 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. Participants submitted more than 85,700 checklists during the four-day event, February 15-18, surpassing last year’s all-time record by several thousand. Participants also identified a record 635 species and sent in thousands of stunning bird images from around the continent.
Birders who had heard about the massive seed production failure in trees across northern Canada were expecting a huge influx of northern finches coming south to look for food. “As predicted, there were record numbers of GBBC reports for Pine Grosbeak,” says Rob Fergus, Senior Scientist with the National Audubon Society. It was also a banner year for Common Redpolls and Evening Grosbeaks, reported in their highest numbers in several years.In this year’s GBBC, Yellow-billed Magpie numbers hit a new low. Magpies, crows, and jays are especially susceptible to the West Nile virus. For the past few years the population of Yellow-billed Magpies has declined following the spread of the virus to California. Nationwide, American Crow and Blue Jay numbers appear to have stabilized somewhat, but bear continued monitoring as the populations of these birds continue to adapt to the presence of this new disease. The GBBC charts the explosive geographic expansion of Eurasian Collared-Doves. The species has spread aggressively since it was introduced in Florida in 1980 and made new inroads this year. For the first time, GBBC records of this bird came from British Columbia, Manitoba, and Oregon. Some species showed up in Great Backyard Bird Count reports for the very first time, including a Masked Duck in Texasa bird that is usually found in the tropics. An Arctic Loon, seldom seen outside Alaska, was spotted in California. An Ivory Gull wandered down from the high Arctic to show up on a checklist in South Dakota. “Each year, awareness of the GBBC seems to spread,” says Cornell Lab of Ornithology Citizen Science Director Janis Dickinson. “Committed individuals, nature centers, parks, and schools adopted the GBBC as their own in an unprecedented way this year. They held bird walks, ID workshops, and many other events tied to the count.” Preschoolers built feeders out of milk jugs. An artist painted a mural of urban birds in Hollywood. One participant commented, “Participating in the bird count has given my children a little taste of what it is like to be a scientist."For an even more detailed summary of this year’s results, visit the GBBC web site at www.birdcount.org. You can explore maps, see beautiful photos, prize-drawing winners, and the list cities and towns that topped their state or province for the number of checklists submittedour “checklist champs.” The Great Backyard Bird Count returns February 13-16, 2009!
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Top 10 most-reported birds in the 2008 GBBC:1) Northern Cardinal 2) Mourning Dove 3) Dark-eyed Junco 4) Downy Woodpecker 5) American Goldfinch 6) Blue Jay 7) House Finch 8) Tufted Titmouse 9) Black-capped Chickadee 10) American Crow
STATE OF CONNECTICUT TAX RELIEF PROGRAM
The Wallingford Assessor’s office is now taking applications for tax credits for Elderly & Totally Disabled Homeowner’s February 1st – May 15th.
To qualify for this program applicants must be:
1). 65 years of age by December 31, 2007, the widow/widower age 50 or over of a previously approved applicant, or totally disabled and receiving benefits under a federal, state, or local retirement program (e.g. Social Security Disability).
2). Individual must have lived in Connecticut for one year.
3). Income not to exceed:
$29,800 – single
$36,500 - married
Documents needed for applications:
1). All sources of income for 2007. For example: Social Security Form 1099, wages, commissions, pensions, interest, dividends, proceeds from sales of property, veteran’s pension, etc.
2). 2007 Income Tax Form (if filed).
3). If you received an application and have any questions, or need help filling out your application, our office can assist you at the Town hall (Room 101).
For more information, call (203) 294-2001.
JOHN SHONECK SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Dear Friends,
It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to the organization that is taking over control of running/continuing the John R. Shoneck Scholarship. The Ladies Auxiliary of the Silver City Detachment 45 of the Marine Corps League has already instituted a Fundraising Committee as well as a Scholarship Committee and as you can see, is hard at work in making the John R. Shoneck Scholarship a continued success. A reminder to you; over the past 19 years, the Meriden Vietnam Veterans Association (M.V.V.A.) has awarded $28,000.00 to graduating high school seniors in pursuit of a college education! These good works will continue with the new Scholarship leadership.
SHONECK SCHOLARSHIP FUND TO MAKE THREE $1,000.00 AWARDS IN 2008
The John R. Shoneck Scholarship Fund of the Marine Corp[s League, Silver City Detachment #45 has increased the awards available from three (3) $500 scholarship awards to three(3) $1,000.00 awards for graduating high school seniors. Two of the scholarships will be available to a senior in any high school whose parents derived from, reside, or work in the city of Meriden and a descendant or relative of a man or woman who served in the Armed Forces of the United States. A copy of the qualifying relative’s DD-214 (Proof of Honorable Discharge) must accompany the application to receive these special considerations.
The third “Open” Scholarchip award will be given to any graduating high school seniors whose parents derived from, reside or work in the city of Meriden. The number of each type of scho9larship award is determined annually by the Board of Trustees.
The awards will be made to applicants who display scholastic achievement, potential for success in their chosen field of study, outstanding character and citizenship, a record of service to their school and community, and financial need.
Applications for these awards are available in area high school guidance offices. The names of the awardees will be announced on or about June 2, 2008.
The scholarship awards are granted annually to perpetuate the memory of U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sergeant John R. Shoneck, a Meriden, CT native, who was declared “MISSING IN ACTION” in Vietnam when his aircraft failed to return from an Air/Sea rescue mission over the Tonkin Gulf in North Vietnam on October 18, 1966.
The two restricted scholarship awardees must meet the above criteria, be intent on continuing their education at an accredited college and who are also related to a person who served in the Armed Forces of the United States or its allies. A copy of ;the relative’s “DD-214 (proof of honorable discharge) must accompany their application.
A brief essay must accompany all applications on the applicants’ knowledge of any of America’s Wars as it relates to them, their parents or other relatives, and any effect or influence on them.
Applications are to be submitted to the fund trustees via the Meriden Board of Education or in care of the:
Marine Corps League, Silver City Det. #45
Women’s Auxiliary
20 Clinton Street
Meriden, CT 06450-4517
If I can be of further service in this matt4er, please call me or write. (203) 272-6560 or tduhig@cox.net.
Yours truly,
Tom Duhig
Tom Duhig
Spokesperson, J. R. Shoneck Committee
To the editor:
I come from a generation in which most of my colleagues and I had to face the draft and served a couple of years of active duty, reserve, or guard. It was Vietnam, and unless you were rich, connected or 4F, you went. Those who saw combat and their families often paid a big price; the rest of us and our families paid a much smaller but memorable one.
Today, with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have an all volunteer army, and aside from the impressive young men and women of our service academies and ROTC pro-grams, the majority of the fighting and dying is being done by the youth of the lower middle class of our citizenry. These young men and women, often minorities, may be enlisting for the opportunity to find some dignity and respect, to find a way out of failing neighborhoods and school systems, or even, in the case of some, to find a way to come out of the shadows and get citizenship. Their motives are mixed, but their courage is not. They are facing an experience as complicated and unappealing as that of the poor marines who faced the toughest fighting and dying in Vietnam. And their families are sometimes faced with their sons and daughters returning in shattered states, physically, psychologically or both. To the rest of us, sheltered from the horror by restrictions on the press, understand little and pay practically nothing, today at least, for the sacrifices of these young people and their families.
The military has a term “Stop Loss..” It was unfamiliar to me, but I now know it refers to the policy, under extreme manpower needs, in which an honorably-serving soldier’s contract may be voided, and instead of mustering out, as expected, after whatever combat tours he or she has served, that soldier is involuntarily sent back to the combat zone. For some troops, it is acceptable; for others, it is not.
The other night my wife and I and another couple went to see a movie with the title “Stop Loss,” which claimed to portray how the policy might affect several military families. It was not a heavy-handed attack on the military and its policy. Rather we thought it was a thought-provoking look at both the rigors of the combat situations and the difficulties of those who faced these difficult times and then the involuntary extension. While not a perfect film, this celluloid drama was certainly the choice we were later glad we had made over other offerings that night, such as Leatherheads, “21,” and such lighter fare.
The audience Saturday night for “Stop Loss” was relatively sparse. It will probably be sparse every night for the next few weeks until the film is pulled in favor of an offering more appealing to the younger set, the main purchasers of movie tickets. This is a shame, but it is the reality of the movie business and of life. I would just encourage you to pay a small price, in discomfort during the combat scenes, and perhaps in melancholy during these damp, unseasonably cool Spring days, to help with just a little more of your understanding of their sacrifice and future needs, these young combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Amazing Coffee Beans
Grinding to the Music in Meriden - AN UPDATE
By Jeff Caillouette
It is time for an update on my progress with the coffee trees growing in JC Music on West Main Street in Meriden. The People’s Press had a front-page article in August 2007 related to the trees. First of all, let me summarize that story for you.
Sixteen years ago, I planted several coffee beans (obtained from an Arabica tree in Hawaii) and after several months of watering the dirt (which contained traces of lava), the trees germinated. The trees were kept as very small desk plants at JC Music for many years. I eventually started to repot them into larger and larger pots. They now stand about 15 feet tall.
The reason the last story came about was because coffee trees generally only grow and produce beans between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Along with needing to be close to the equator, they also need to be at an elevation of 1800 to 6300 feet. Meriden sits about 140 feet above sea level.
In February 2007, I hooked up a new blowing gas heater in JC Music. On the very first night, the heater turned on and blew hot air at the trees all night long. I thought the trees might die as the soil became as dry as dust. Then, after a thorough watering, the trees produced white flowers and it actually appeared as though I would be producing real coffee in MERIDEN!
Shortly after my story in August, the flowers died off and green cherries appeared on the trees. The cherries then turned a deep red color and I have been picking these ripe cherries ever since. Each cherry contains two coffee beans. I had hoped to collect enough beans to brew my first pot of homegrown coffee, and was then planning to roast them in a home type roaster. What ended up happening prevented that from taking place. After the August article was printed, people from all over central Connecticut came to JC Music to see the trees and I ended up with a waiting list of customers who wanted a bean from them when they were ready. I have not heard of anyone else having success yet, but there are plenty of people trying to germinate coffee trees in the area!
I still have some beans saved in a jar on my desk and have many more growing on my trees. I am no longer giving them away so that I can hopefully brew a pot of homegrown Meriden coffee in the near future. I am offering a promotion this month for JC Music’s 20th Anniversary. Anyone who spends over $200 can pick their own coffee cherry and try to grow their own coffee trees at home. (See front-page coupon).
Even if you are unable to get the trees to flower and produce beans, they still have beautiful dark shiny green leaves, which will make them very decorative house plants. If you are as lucky as I was and they produce flowers and cherries, you will certainly gain an appreciation for the work involved in producing coffee. You will also find them to be a great conversation piece all year, especially during the flowering and cherry development stages!
Sooner or later I will have saved enough mature cherries to harvest, pulp, ferment, dry, roast, grind, brew, and drink a real cup of Meriden grown coffee. I will make sure Andy is there for a taste and I am sure he will take pictures for my final follow up story.
For all those people trying to grow coffee trees in this area, here is some helpful advice from the experience and knowledge I have gained over the years!
v
v The trees cannot be expected to produce flowers and beans for at least four years.
v My trees took 15 years with tremendous care and then a freak problem with a gas heater to get them to produce!!
v The low altitude we are at may not make our coffee taste the same as the worlds’ finest! (Just need to be realistic here). Maybe I will get lucky and find it is even better!
v Coffee trees will thrive under artificial indoor plant lights.
v They cannot be left outside as they will turn black and die if the temperature reaches freezing.
v The trees will require rich soil, plenty of water, and humid conditions. I run humidifiers at JC Music for the guitars and this must have helped the trees in producing the beans!
v Water the trees less in December, January and early February and then shock them with lots of water in late February. You may then convince the trees that they are in the tropics and spring is coming. If you get lucky, the trees will begin to flower!
I know Andy was hoping to be sitting with me at JC Music enjoying a cup of Meriden grown Java by now, but I promise that will be happening in the near future! After I have collected enough beans, I am sure my final article will include the process of how I roasted them. At the same time, several of my friends, including Andy, will likely let you know what coffee grown 41.53 degrees North of the equator tastes like!
35 Ways to know if you drink too much coffee...
1. You answer the door before people knock.
2. The only kitchen appliances you own are made by Mr. Coffee.
3. You ski uphill.
4. You get a tax cut for all the coffee you bought.
5. You get a speeding ticket even when you're parked.
6. You speed walk in your sleep.
7. You haven't blinked since the last lunar eclipse.
8. You grind your coffee beans in your mouth.
9. The nurse needs a scientific calculator to take your pulse.
10. You sleep with your eyes open.
11. When you open your dish cabinet, and you only find mugs.
12. You can take a picture of yourself from ten feet away without using the timer.
13. You spend every vacation visiting "Maxwell House."
14. You're the employee of the month at Dunkin’ Donuts and you don't even work there.
15. Your eyes stay open when you sneeze.
16. You chew on other people's fingernails.
17. You're so jittery that people use your hands to blend their margaritas.
18. All your kids are named "Joe".
19. You don't sweat, you percolate.
20. You go to AA meetings just for the free coffee.
21. Charles Manson thinks you need to calm down.
22. Every shirt or blouse you own has a coffee stain on it.
23. The Taster's Choice couple wants to adopt you.
24. Starbucks owns the mortgage on your house.
25. Instant coffee takes too long.
26. When someone says, "How are you?", you say, "Good to the last drop."
27. You want to be cremated just so you can spend the rest of eternity in a coffee can.
28. Your hand is permanently shaped to hold your mug.
29. You go to sleep just so you can wake up and smell the coffee.
30. Your lips are permanently stuck in the sipping position.
31. You have a picture of your coffee mug on your coffee mug.
32. You don't even wait for the water to boil anymore.
33. You think being called a "drip" is a compliment.
34. You introduce your spouse as your coffeemate.
35. Your first-aid kit contains two pints of coffee with an I.V. hookup.
Barbara's Bountiful Bouquet
Some gardeners at the Wallingford Community Garden have begun working on their plots, getting them ready for planting. Compost was delivered several weeks ago, and I managed to shovel compost into a wheelbarrow, three times, and dump it in my garden. The poor wheelbarrows are in kind of rough shape. The first one I tried had a wheel that kept falling off. The second one, when I went to pour out the contents, fell apart. The part of the wheelbarrow that you load up is not attached to the frame. It just kind of sits there. Needless to say, we could sure use a donation of a wheelbarrow.
My garlic and one lonely jonquil popped up a couple of weeks ago, and my lily and catnip are showing signs of returning to life. It is really too early to plant anything except lettuce, peas, spinach or radishes, and since my garden is not fenced in, I have no luck with lettuce because it gets eaten up by some critter. It's funny, but because Easter was so early this year, people are thinking it's time to plant tomatoes, and a lot of customers at Cheshire Nursery, where I am a cashier, are asking for tomato plants already (April 21st). A week ago I did buy a six-pack of tomatoes at another nursery, which never has tomatoes this early, and I transplanted them into two pots, but I have them inside in my "sun room" for now. The soil is still too cold outside for their roots. But I am as anxious as anyone for the growing season to begin. I did such a good job of haying last fall, that very few weeds are appearing, knock on wood. I have three bird feeders in CJ's garden, and have been feeding the birds for over eight years now. However, the price of bird seed has sky-rocketed, and I'm not sure that I'll be able to continue supplying the birds with this special treat.
By the end of May, I definitely will be starting to plant. I tend to wait until Memorial Day until all chance of frost has passed. I will continue to make weekly trips to the garden, though, to ensure the weeds are under control (and they can get out of control in a heartbeat) and to move some more compost into my plot. All of the perennials throughout the Community Garden and at the entrance are starting to come back, and we do have some tulips in bloom as well. The weather is starting to warm up, finally, and it's truly beginning to feel like spring. Hooray! I'll see you all next month. Happy May to you!Barbara Sherburnebarndt49@yahoo.com
TREASURES OF THE SEA
By Dorothy Gonick
It was late afternoon and the long drive was over! We piled out of the car for a brief walk on the beach before quickly setting up our tent at Salvo Campground, near Cape Hatteras on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. All through the night we were soothed as we listened to the ebb and flow of tidal waves as they washed the shore in measured rhythm, creeping higher on the incoming tide, leaving its treasures as it flowed back across the sand on its way out.
Early the next morning we wandered along the beach with our children, Peter, Marie and Diane, excitedly filling their pails with shells found among the flotsam scattered about. Marie gleefully held up a long, stringy thing that looked like a bleached swirl of spiny backbone. The wet, rubbery ‘thing’ was dumped into her pail among the varied shells of many colors and shapes. We’d be sure to look that up in our Seashore Guide.
Then we settled ourselves by a nearby dune to admire the many finds tumbling from their pails. There were smooth and ribbed clamshells, large quahogs and tiny coquinas, blue mussel shells with pearly linings, fan shaped scallop shells and oyster shells that looked like weathered concrete with tiny holes made by oyster drill snails. We were amazed that such small snails could drill through those thick oyster shells. There were other large and small snail shells of periwinkles, conches, whelks and moon shells to admire, and hold to the ear, listening for the roar of the ocean. Slipper shells of creamy pinks and lavenders amused us as we wondered what tiny feet could fit inside. The starfish were special as we noted their abundant feet along each point and the mouth centered underneath. We would like to have watched one gripping a clam and feasting on it. What a creative God we have, who fashioned all these creatures that live in the sea, equipping each one with protection and the ability to move and to garner its food.
Marie toyed with the spirally strip of flat pouches that looked like a strange lei or the curling vertebrae of a backbone. Each pouch had a tiny hole and seemed filled with sand. Our Seashore Guide book told us that she’d found a Channeled Whelk egg case. Peter pinched one of the pouches apart and we stared in fascination at the many very teeny tiny whelk shells that tumbled out. We counted forty that fell from it—and were amazed! Each tiny sculptured shell was meant to house a living creature whose shell would continue to form into a large spiral beauty, housing that squirmy creature that many people find delectable as scrungili. Picking up a larger whelk shell for comparison, Peter was surprised to see a live hermit crab inside, using it as its home. Back to the sea he carried it and watched it scurry away.
We checked out other shells and found a small crab within a round moon shell. When Diane hurried to the shore with it and bid it goodbye, we became distracted by the sandpipers that were skittering along the edge of the beach. It was delightful watching them snap up morsels of sea life, then scurry back with their wings flapping as more waves were flung ashore. We then decided to mimic them by scurrying down to the shore and search for other sea treasures, leaving footprints in the sand. So began our week of wonder; exploring the beach and the sea under the summer sun.
Dear Housewives – Central Connecticut’s Know It All Gals
Dear Readers,
Do you have a question regarding family life, budgeting, customer service issues, DVD or book reviews, or home organization? As stay at home moms we have seen and heard it all. We will give you our candid advice to any question you may have. We don't always agree but we care. We are the real housewives.
Contact The Peoples Press by e-mail or phone with your confidential question and we will answer it in the next issue. Keep the questions coming and thanks for reading. Enjoy the spring season. -Flora and June
Dear Housewives,
My niece believes it is okay to download music from her computer. She sometimes downloads it off websites she doesn't pay for. Is this common practice these days? I think it is wrong. What do you think?
- i tune her out in Wallingford
JUNE: Dear i tune, I don't personally download music but just about anyone under the age of 30 does or has it seems. The twenty somethings and tween scene is most prevalent in this area.
Think of the 80's, before computers were common place. We heard a song we liked, we taped it off the radio and played it over and over until we knew each song. We bought a tape and lent it or made a copy for a friend. We have all done it unless you lived in a dungeon. The computer is the modern day version of that. Times have changed and instead of borrowing your friends album or tape kids send it via computer.
I don't think it has impacted many negatively. In fact, many artists find it is a way to get their music out there. Some allow a few songs to be downloaded for free off their sites. In addition, some of the biggest downloaded names like Jay Z, Eminem, Ozzy Osbourne, Madonna and so on are certainly not hurting for money. They cry foul but they live like kings and queens many times over. I don't think P Diddy as an artist or a producer or a record label will ever hurt for money from the downloading craze. Tommy Matola, Clive Owen, Death Row Records are as rich as can be. Tom Cruise is still rich even though some kid downloaded Mission Impossible 3. If her parents don't bother her about it then leave her along; it is not your business.
FLORA: Flora does disagree. Most very successful musicians started out playing in school events, had garage bands or took lessons at a local music shop. They worked their way up to the top of the ladder of success and they deserve each penny they earned. The singers with music on the radio did not wake up in a 12,000 sq. foot home and have daily massages and drivers, for many it took years. Downloading music illegally is stealing. Plain and simple.
You are right June in that some do live as kings and queens...perhaps the problem is the enormous record contracts and high priced concert ticket prices. But, we live in a free market economy (and wise guy-free market doesn't mean 'free downloading'...) and the successful artists of our day make a lot of money. They also work very hard.
So, share this information with your niece and inform her. Tell her that when she illegally downloads music from the internet, she takes not only from the artist's work, but the sound engineers, the song writers, producers, managers and all the support staff.
JUNE: Looks like we have a debate. I am sure we could go back and forth with good points on both sides for pages. Hard work and luck really did help make stars huge. They should spread some money to the support staff although I think they do pretty well too. In our world nothing is plain and simple. Okay kids, get the old record button ready on your tape decks (are they around anymore?) and tape off the radio. They don't call that illegal.
Dear Housewives,
I work third shift on the weekends. My husband just needs to watch the kids for two days (Sat. and Sun.) while I sleep in the day to go to work at night. Problem is he and the kids are so loud that I can not sleep even though I am upstairs and they are down. He can't control them for two days and I am exhausted all night through work. Any ideas? --Desperately seeking snoozin'
FLORA: Sound blocking earphones may do the trick. Set up the house downstairs so that everything they need is down there so they don't go up and down. You can always ask around at work and see what works for other parents in your situation.
But, if this is a discipline situation, you and your husband need to talk about how to manage this. You can also practice with the children during the week to develop the behavior you want. Training,is needed.
What happened to 'outside voices'? Oh, if they take the voices outside, make sure it is not under your bedroom window!
JUNE: You can put him in the paper and sell him. "Husband for sale, to a good home..." Okay, so you can't do that but you can tell him that it is important that you get some sleep and that he needs to do a better job of keeping the kids quiet. If a simple "suggestion" doesn't work set up some places that he can take the kids during the day once and a while. You can use ear plugs. You can put on a TV or music so you get used to the background noise rather than paying attention to what the kids are doing. Good luck. If all else fails try to find a job during the day on the weekends. Your husband will still be watching them but they can be as loud as they want.
DVD Review
JUNE: Flora, I watched the movie Perfect Strangers with Bruce Willis and Halle Berry. This was supposed to be a thriller but it was more like a dud. I thought the writing was bad and the acting was worse. Don't waste your money on this one. And definitely don't download it. (wink, wink).
FLORA: I haven't seen Perfect Strangers but I did see Running With Scissors and aside from the fact that the content was a bit strange, I enjoyed the quality acting. It was a memoir and told the story of a young boy growing up with an alcoholic father (Alec Baldwin) and a mentally ill mother (Annette Bening) who abandons him and he is to live his teen years with her therapist.
I am still reading Book of Names. I am so tired at night that even though it is a 'page turner', I fall asleep.
Home Country
Slim Randles
Delbert’s at it again. You know Delbert McLain, our local chamber of commerce? He’s the guy who wants to bring lots of people here so the place isn’t quite as nice as it is now.
Well, ol’ Delbert zipped into the Mule Barn truck stop the other day, plopped down at the empty Round Table, and motioned for those of us at the philosophy counter to join him. We did.
“Boys,” he said, when we were seated and sipping, “I want to bounce an idea off you and see how it goes.”
He almost whispered, “Two words … knife sharpening!”
“Sure,” said Dud, pulling a diamond steel from a holster on his belt. “I’ll sharpen it for you, Delbert.”
“No, I don’t mean I need a knife sharpened,” he said, “I mean … a knife-sharpening contest. Actually, a knife-sharpening fiesta!”
His face beamed, he spread his arms, his hands palms up toward Heaven as the sheer Divine magnitude of the idea settled in. Doc reached for another sugar packet.
“Just think of it, guys,” Delbert said, “A veritable bevy of blade bevellers descending on our community, spending money in our restaurants, buying the latest in knife gear from the hardware store, filling the rooms at the motel.”
He looked around. Steve’s coffee made him cough. Doc chuckled into his hand. Dud put his diamond steel away.
“Sounds like a sharp idea to me, Del,” said Doc. “I like the way you came right to the point.”
“An edgy proposition,” Dud said, “but one that whets the appetite.”
Steve recovered from his coughing fit. “You could hold it out in the pasture and call it ‘Hone on the Range.’”
Delbert ignored the groaning and smiled. “That’s it, boys. Think on it. Let’s come up with some good angles.”
And Doc said, “I hear 10 to 15 degrees is best for a really sharp blade.”
Cracker packets flew.
Labels: meriden wallingford newspaper, meriden wallingford newspaper news connecticut
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