Why some people don't need dogs

I'm really upset about some man-on-dog behavior I witnessed on my walk this morning.

These people who moved in a few months ago have two smallish dogs that are often (not always) tied outside. And today, which is rather warm, they were tied on the front porch, sheltered from the hot sun. Good.

They bark when we walk by. Almost every dog in the neighborhood barks when somebody walks by. That's what dogs do. They serve as an early warning system for their owners.

And we usually hear "SHUT UP!" yelled from inside the house.

Today the guy came out on the porch and was screaming at the top of his lungs out of control at them for barking. And then, I think he hit one of them. I had turned the corner and didn't see it, but I heard a yelp. And then he screamed (at the other dog, I assume, hopefully not his wife), "YOU WANT SOME TOO?"

I think I'm mostly upset with myself for not walking right up there and offering, "If you don't want to deal with these dogs, I'll take them off your hands right now."

But he was a scary, screaming dude. What the hell, maybe he's protecting an illegal home enterprise. And what right do I have to intervene anyway?  Do dogs have the same rights as kids? And aren't people allowed to yell at and spank their kids?  Back in my days of adventures in social volunteering, I wasn't sure that children's rights were anything but words on a piece of paper. I knew a mom whose toddler helped herself to garbage from last night's dinner plates in the roach-infested kitchen while Mom slept in. The same mom sold her 15-yr-old's virginity to a crack dealer for the price of the monthly washer/dryer rent. And I remember the overwhelmed caseworker telling me, the kids are clean and clothed, there's food in the house, there's nothing I can do.

I'll keep an eye on those dogs when I walk past that house. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm watching.

So, how does your garden grow?

I forgot what this is. But I like it.

Bonica

America

Good, dependable Knock Out

The peas are very tall

It's a jungle out there

One of my pots

A nice spot to sit in the afternoon

Feeling summer

Tom and I attended a public input meeting this week at which consultants presented a draft of the City of Jamestown Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan. Coordinated by the Chautauqua County Health Network's Creating Healthy Places to Live, Work, and Play project, which promotes a more healthy and active lifestyle,  the focus of the plan is finding out how to safely and comfortably connect key destinations (for cyclists and pedestrians) such as schools, shopping, services and parks with neighborhoods and downtown Jamestown. There was a good-sized crowd there, including Team Hollyloft, and it seems quite possible to quickly implement some of the recommendations if interested parties work with city officials to make them happen. (Too often people sit back and wait for somebody else to do something.) Enhanced crosswalks with more visible paint and additional signage, for instance, are an easy and inexpensive way to increase pedestrian safety. The "walking school bus," where children walk to school together with an adult chaperone, just needs volunteers to come forward. Other things like bike lanes, and especially a bike track that traverses the city, will take extensive effort and the location of funding sources in order to be accomplished. The vision is there, and now we need to see some follow-through to put the usual grumbling naysayers in their place.

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I wanted to say something about the "working poor," since I see quite a few of them around these days and the stereotype of  "lazy, unmotivated" people who get food stamps is just WRONG.  In fact, I know some very hard-working young people who piece together two or three part-time jobs (because full time hours with benefits are not offered) and perform important (but low paying) functions like assisting disabled and elderly persons, or standing on their feet for hours and cashiering/bagging to help you on your way with your groceries.  Some of them take classes in addition to working, although one cashier told me she doesn't have the money to spare for college right now (it has gotten quite expensive, if you haven't noticed). Some of them are frightened off by the crushing debt some of their peers are incurring in pursuit of degrees which no longer guarantee employment that will cover both living expenses and loan repayment.  Oh, the two or three part time jobs these "lazy" people are working don't amount to a living wage either, so they find themselves accepting food stamps as well in order to feed their children. But of course they make just a little too much to qualify for Medicaid, so if they get sick, they're on their own.

Why have we become so mean-spirited towards those who don't fit some arbitrary definition of financial success?  I think about this a lot, because I grew up in a hard-working family, in a different time. My father came from a large family with immigrant parents. His father died when he was still a child and he had even younger brothers. So when the Great Depression came, he was forced to quit school after the 8th grade to help support the family. Fortunately for him, our government came to the aid of its struggling people with civilian jobs and job training, and a military that taught marketable skills in exchange for service, and he was eventually able to support a family of his own, become a homeowner, and build a successful business.  Because life handed him some formidable challenges, he lacked formal education, and he accepted government assistance, but nobody would have called him lazy and unmotivated. Nowadays, life is still handing out all kinds of challenges, but rather than extending a hand (via our tax dollars, which we would rather see spent on low interest loans to Wall Street tycoons and unmanned aircraft that kill people, I guess), we kick people to the curb, expecting them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps when they can't afford boots.  Farewell, humanity.

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We finally figured out our tile pattern for the new bathroom, and that will be our project this weekend.  Hopefully, we'll also have time to take a break and check out the Yassou Festival at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. Good baklava is hard to find. I'll be thin in my next life.

June isn't exactly bustin' out

Our heat wave has been followed by something that feels like October, without the colorful foliage.

It's 42 degrees this morning. It's been warming into the low 60's during the day, and we've been getting some rain, for which the garden is very grateful. But this isn't June as I have been accustomed to. Alas, the global weirding continues.

William Baffin rose

The garden looks good. The indoor projects are still coming along.  We still have a big decision to make about flooring, and maybe we'll have it figured out in a year or so. The sheer number of decisions, small and large, that you have to make when you take on a remodeling project of this magnitude can be overwhelming. We are essentially doing a complete makeover of our entire house.

 But, I make a point of getting out and about in the community, supporting local events and looking for ways to make a difference. After church on Sunday, we went to the fundraiser for our locally owned low power radio station, WRFA, at Southern Tier Brewing Company. (In the true spirit of community, they host quite a lot of these fund raisers for local groups, and contribute a portion of the proceeds from food and beverage sales to the beneficiary.) The light rain failed to dampen the turnout, and our stellar local musicians had the place rockin' for the afternoon. 

Blueberries are growing!

This week, it's strawberry picking, the library book sale,  and the Rib Fest.

I want to say a few things about the working poor, and the not-so-poor who control the BPU, but I'll save that for my next entry.

Wish my kids were here, but life is really pretty good for these times.