BIRTHDAY 89-A LIFE WELL LIVED.

I met Paul Moeller when he came to my writer's workshop in 1979. I talked him into taking one of my daughter's baby cats home. Then later, in 1980, I joined his classes in video taping. He was determined to get public access programing into Calaveras County. He was so dedicated and so hardworking, you couldn't say "no" to Paul. He's had some tough years, with two broken femurs, strokes and other injuries. Here he is with his caretaker, Pam. He seems to be kind of wondering why everyone is making such a fuss over his birthday.

After his wife died, Marilyn Pyle has taken care of his bookkeeping and his mail and most of the things Martha took care of. Indispensable to him and he feels bereft when she is missing. She quickly organized his birthday party. Just some balloons, friends and cheesecake.

Paul certainly has aging issues; he speaks very slowly but he said of his good friend and neighbor, Bill with his wife Linda, "If you want trouble, you call Bill. Then you get more trouble."  It tickled me he could make a joke.

Paul is like family and Marilyn's husband Vern, and his son, Mitch came by. They do the heavy hauling, moving furniture, dump runs-you name it, they show up.

Marilyn thought it would be nice to take a group picture, which includes Karen Phillips, his long time driver after his first accident, and on the right Audry, Marilyn's mother. I'm in the middle.

Then about that time, Sue showed up. But, we took a lot of pictures anyway.

Karen has a lot of memories of Paul and faithfully visits him every week.

Marilyn decided to put a candle on his favorite cake. Cheesecake at his request.

After we sang Happy Birthday...

He blew out the candle and we spent an hour or more just visiting. He has difficulty hearing on the phone. He rarely has his hearing aids in. But he had calls from friends and relatives in Germany. He has good days and bad days and this one was a good day. He could remember stories and bring up names from the past.

He asked me to take a picture of him with all of his cards. Many of them have cats on them. He lost his cat recently and a stray was hanging around Bill and Linda's house. They suggested he feed the cat. It is feral and now hangs around Paul's big sliding glass window. And though he can't pet it, he enjoys seeing the cat come and eat. He named her/him Roosevelt or Rosie. "I go both ways," he joshed.

I worked on 85 shows with Paul, as his anchor. It amazed me how he could remember names of past friends while I struggled. Paul is a legend in our county. The Board of Supervisor's named the studio after him as an honor. And his legacy of over 4,000 productions

WHY DO WE CELEBRATE OUR AGE?

In 1982, when I first met Paul Moeller, I gave him a cat my daughter hauled home from a goat show. He didn't want to take the cat without his wife seeing it first, but he did. Then he kept me informed and sent pictures of the cat's antics for the rest of its life. He lost his wife two years ago, and at lunch yesterday, he told me, "I reach for Martha's hand each morning before I'm fully awake. But our cat likes to sleep where she slept and I touch fur instead. It comforts me."

In 1983, he talked me into joining a Public Access group. Happiness for Paul is producing video of what goes on in the community. He loves to find raw talent, put a camera in someones hands and send them out to do video with minimal instruction. Learning comes later. I reluctantly at first, and then enthusiastically helped him produce around 80 videos. Paul has done thousands, so my part was very small.

Paul has suffered a stroke, a car accident, a broken femur and he can no longer drive. He is still happiest when producing videos for the Public, so he hires a driver to take him to the shoot, and at 86 years old, he still produces video. His driver is my housemate, Karen.
I learned a great deal from this man, and I treasure him as one of my best friends. It doesn't take much to realize that life is a journey and keeping active, no matter how hard, is what we do to make it all worthwhile.

Later in the evening, Karen and I drove to the Pizza Factory and joined my two brothers to celebrate my birthday. Theresa and Clark, me, Bill and Karen.

The same photo with Jan.  Some friends are as much a part of the family as family.  I'm fortunate to have three brothers out of five still living. So, we count our blessings and say, life is good, and then we make it so. Stay as healthy as we can, do for others, overcome adversity, smile and be happy.

TABOO SUBJECT

Aren’t they adorable? These dogs all togged out for the holidays?  Heavily laden with jewelry and coats, sweaters and fur.
I think it’s ridiculous. Of course, anyone who dares criticize pets and pet practices is in for a firestorm of …hate!  Yes, hate. If you dare offend a pet lover,  you  are in big trouble.
I usually just smile and avoid discussing the subject, but my values do not include treating pets like humans. When I saw this display while shopping, I almost gagged. I can’t imagine the dog or cat being comfortable in the expensive adornments they are forced to wear. Pet owners ferociously defend this type of clothing and jewelry, maintaining THEIR pet loves to get dressed up and loves the attention. I maintain animals are psychologically changed by the treatment they receive. And, I will concede that to dress up an animal for a short time for a parade or the holidays isn’t going to harm them.  It seems overboard and warping of a dog’s basic needs to coddle  pooches and cats, and treat them as though they are human, which by extension includes dressing them in jewelry and fancy clothing.  People expect them to act human-like and ignore their basic instincts.
I’m a practical person. Dogs and cats, horses as well, had an important function as domesticated animals. And they still do, as companions, medical assistants, rescue animals, and just unconditional love. Isn’t that enough?  It is noble. They seem to be natural healers.
What does it say about us as humans that there are food banks begging for food; some  have quit taking applications because they just can’t meet the needs. Many children are living in cars and struggling with parents stressed because the  family is at risk. So, does it seem okay to  spend $15 to $30 or more on doggie jewelry?  I can’t imagine teaching my children, if I had young children, that lavish spending on an animal is a part of family life. Especially in times like these, even if you can afford it.  I think  giving to a charity comes first and deliberately ignoring that type of spending teaches a basic lesson about moral choices.
We taught our children and my kids have taught their children that giving and sharing is part of everyone’s responsibility. If your children love  animals, teach them about Heifer International where you can buy a sustainable animal for families in Slovakia, Malawi or the United States. $500 buys a heifer, $50 buys a share. $120 buys a goat, or $10 buys a share. Wouldn’t be nice to know some little boy or girl can get a constant supply of milk in India? Or $10 buys a share of a pig in Thailand. $20 buys a flock of chickens in Honduras. Another great close to the ground charity is Oxfam, providing loans, work, education, clean water, self-sustaining practices, working with peace keeping organizations in countries at war. It seems to me that not enough Americans  have been hungry enough in  our collective memory to consider that the amount of money we spend on pets per year, over a billion dollars, could feed or educate a small country.
I’ve had pets all of my life. I’m not a pet hater. I love pets. I just think we should put the price of a pet in perspective. The land to grow the corn and wheat they eat. The detriment to wild birds from predatory cats. Consider the horror stories of people who don’t know how to care for pets and abandon them or mistreat them by neglect. The medical resources used to treat them. The continual cost of animal control by every county and city in the U.S. is a direct result of the mishandling of pets by humans.
Go ahead. Get out the whip!

BIASED I AM.

I’ve been accused of being biased and I know it’s true.   I know  two of the cutest kids on the planet and, they are all mine to spoil for another day before I head for home.

Owen spent a day with a friend while Theo stayed close to my elbow explaining how to play plants vs. zombies on a DS, an electronic toy. His parents limit their time on electronic devices, which is a good thing for a parent to do,  but Theo claimed he would like to have enough  time to play to an advanced enough stage where he can earn enough coin (fake coin) t0 buy another version of the game. So, of course, I made sure he had a leisurely day of lying around and playing DS as much as he wanted for a whole day. Ahhh!  It’s so fun to be a grandma.

He did his chores, put the chickens to bed, fed and played with the cats, and we both enjoyed the day.

Then we enjoyed the neighbor’s fire on his driveway, (a curiosity), from  distance.

E-MAIL AND CHRISTMAS CARDS

I love e-mail for one very good reason. We've moved from one place to another and many of our friendships and relatives have been reduced to a Christmas card per year. They are the people we know and love, who have busy lives as we have. We rarely see them, never forget them, but time displaces the closeness you once had.
E-mail changes that. You can zap off a quick note once a month, or once a day, like neighbors over a fence. You can share a cute picture or send a joke and keep more personally in touch. I've cursed this machine, but I'm grateful for its ease of communication. I just relocated old square dancing buddies, Dave and Sandy Barron and we exchanged about 10 years of catching-up.

The Post Office, once the only profitable government institution, has suffered because of e-mail. People don't send as many cards as they used to because of e-mail. E-cards are animated, beautiful and enjoyable. But paper cards, especially Christmas cards, have their own appeal to me.
Over the years I've collected every greeting card and post card ever sent to me. And, those of my parents, friends and anybody who was willing to share their's. I have a huge collection of greeting cards in scrapbooks, and I never get tired of them.

  Many of them are themed, such as dog cards, or cat cards, or Santa cards. It started when I was a 2nd grader. My mother was writing out her Christmas cards. In the stack was a Santa card with a fuzzy red suit, both his front and back, with the famous poem, "T'was The Night Before Christmas," on the inside. Oh, how I wanted that card to be my very own. Mom wouldn't relent, no matter how much I begged. But happiness was assured when I found the card on the Christmas Tree Christmas morning addressed to me. I was hooked.

Now, I never let a card get away.

We are the rat-packers of the world. Without us, much of history would be lost. Some say we are insane. But, I care not. I love my old cards and letters, Christmas and otherwise. Merry, Merry!

ALAMEDA COUNTY SHERIFF'S ARCHIVE ASSOCIATION

Since my gypsy lifestyle developed, I have been unable to properly serve as President of the Alameda County Sheriff's Archive Association, a project that I care deeply about. Bill Rhodes was elected to replace me and what a breath of fresh air. Enthusiasm, a no non-sense, get-the-job-done, attitude. I was amazed at the wonderful changes in the facility he has accomplished in a few short months. 

Bill, right with Al Iannarelli, discussing a project with Gary Lindsay and Rich Barlow.

Gary is our Media expert. Ianarelli, the author of three books, is invaluable for organizing career books. Bud Harlow, (not pictured) has undertaken to have our Old Santa Rita Jail Doors sandblasted and refurbished.
Rich was interested in knowing if the Archive contains any copies of  The Rap Sheet, a newsletter published by the Deputy Sheriff's Association during the 1970's. We have none that I'm aware of. So, another plea. If anyone knows where copies of The Rap Sheet are hiding, please consider donating them to the Archive.
We had an interesting story surface. A retired deputy with a bunch of interesting old clippings and artifacts from his career stored in his garage had a fire. He immediately realized how endangered those materials were and brought them to the archive. Another danger was cited by my cousin/friend Richard Cardoza.
A neighbor of his who built the Bay Bridge had photos, and memorabilia by the box full that was tossed out by his kids when he died. And pictures his Highway Patrolman neighbor accumulated over a lifetime, huge black and white photos of his early career in Contra Costa County, were likewise tossed. DON'T DO IT. Find a museum and donate before tossing. They are history.
Over the past years, when I attended archive meetings, I  stayed overnight with my cousin, Terri Cardoza from Danville.

She and Richard kindly provided me Bed and Breakfast and made my service to the archive possible. She feeds me and the neighbors rabbit, and a half dozen feral cats she has had fixed, plus four of her own. I am grateful for HER service, and donations to the Archive.

I will still attend meetings when I'm in town, and I intend to continue to do interviews for the archive.

SEX IN THE COUNTRY

My neighbor, Karen Phillips, adopted two cats, sister and brother from the same litter. They’ve been growing in leaps and bounds and she decided it was time to have Wiley, the male fixed. When she returned with Wiley, his sister would have nothing to do with him in his altered state. She hissed at him and swatted him away from her. She hissed him away from the water dish and food, “No, no, no! You are useless to me now”, she seemed to say.
Karen determined that her female is probably pregnant at four months old… by brother Wiley. I guess that is what you call Sex in the Country.
Me-ouch!

OSO BUCO, HUMANE SOCIETY, AND AUTO CLUBS

My cousin Terri Cardoza is the hostess extraordinaire. Here she dishes up oso buco with her neighbor Millie Freitas watching, who is pushing 90 very hard, and a genuine character in her own right. Richard Cardoza hungrily watches. Countless times I've sat at their table and enjoyed bountiful meals and wonderful evenings of cards and/or dice. Millie inspires me to Dare-to-be-100, as she stays actively involved with her garden and neighbors. Terri has adopted the philosophy of the American Humane Society which basically postulates that if you take animals to the pound that are active in your neighborhood, others will soon move in to claim their territory. You never rid yourself of strays. Instead, you have neighborhood strays "fixed", thus keeping them actively hunting mice, gophers, etc. and preventing a cat population from exploding. She has trapped 25 cats and had them fixed with cooperative vets and help from the Humane Society. Richard, an excellent mechanic, belongs to a car club and has restored many interesting vehicles over the years. His current favorite is a 1969 Camaro. Besides cars, he has an unbelieveable electric train set-up that takes up a whole room; he barbeques in the summer and you couldn't ask for a better friend than Richard. His current ride of choice is a 1969 Camaro. Jim met them for the first time and, of course, they made him feel right at home. I feel so lucky that we are family.