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| CALABAZAS CREEK / 6 DECEMBER 2014 |
I decided the main theme of the latest Birdland Free Press is FREEEDOM. Freedom for chickens; freedom for humans and their children. Freedom in general. When I grew up in this valley; children actually had constitutional rights and freedom -- nowadays not so much. And now that children don't have any rights; the rights of adults are eroding as well. So I took an excerpt from my Facebook page (see text below) and made it part of the latest Birdland Editorial Blog to make sense of all this.
Many modern parents are afraid to let their children outside to play; while freedom is not as dangerous as most parents are led to think. On the other hand; Donald Trump cannot go outside unattended either; but he has good reason to stay inside and hide. So many people want to harm Mister Trump that he has to stay for the most part hidden away and protected by the Secret Service because he is so afraid of what he has created. This is real danger. So stop worrying about your kids...let them go outside and play...just because Donald Trump cannot do this does not mean your children have to stay inside all the time as well.
My Bradshaw-ian inner child is suffering seeing children with no freedom; with the freedom of summer diminishing; slowly becoming nothing more than an educational extension of the work/slavery system many of them will inevitably submit to; nothing more than another form of child slavery.
FORGET ABOUT COMMON CORE ~ 2+2=4? In the future; computers will likely be robotically largely self-programmed; eliminating and/or reducing the need for common core code...robots will eventually replace humans; and the 1% who has most of the money will inevitably and/or eventually be forced to give some of that money back to the ill-affected...don't believe my robot talk? well, what about drum machines which attempted to replace drummers with robots? luckily drum machines cannot replace a drummer and never will -- but they did help break up a band i was in when i refused to copy the way the drum machine was programmed...and what about 'rock band' fake guitars; which are for all intents and purposes guitar robots? long before drum machines there were automated gas pumps; replacing gas station workers....and calculators that caused you to forget the math you once learned...if this ugly trend keeps up; eventually everything will be done for us and we won't even have to think anymore...HAL 9000 will take over...but maybe that's a good thing...hmmm...
SEE ALSO: Children need microbes — not antibiotics — to develop immunity, scientists say @ https://www.thestar.com/life/2016/10/20/children-need-microbes-not-antibiotics-to-develop-immunity-scientists-say.html
And remember; my Mother passed away when I was ten years old; but life did not end for me there. I had more freedom than most children even back in the 1970s; and long ago overcame my fears about the outside world. I fearlessly drive all over the valley now as a distribution driver; and even traveled far and wide with a rock band many years ago. It would have been better to have my Mother around; but then I probably would not be a drummer and would have taken an entirely different path in life.
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| MY FAMILY / CIRCA 1960s |
The bottom line is: I have come to the firm conclusion that government and/or the police are more dangerous than anything else. That and speeding vehicles using the Waze.com app.
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| THIS IS A SECTION OF CALABAZAS CREEK IN SANTA CLARA THAT WAS WIDENED DURING THE 1990S TO ALLOW FOR LARGER VOLUMES OF WATER; AND TO CREATE A RIPARIAN ENVIRONMENT -- WITHOUT THESE IMPROVEMENT THIS CREEK WOULD HAVE LIKELY OVERFLOWED LAST WINTER... |
A neighbor once told me that Wood Duck Avenue actually had wood ducks living in orchard trees along Calabazas Creek. The wood ducks are long gone; but mallard ducks are still thriving here in Birdland Neighborhood.
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| DUCKS IN CALABAZAS CREEK |
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| 3 OCT 2006 / 2 GREAT EGRETS AND 21 MALLARD DUCKS FEEDING IN CALABAZAS CREEK @ LOCHINVAR AVENUE |
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| QUESTION: WHY DID IT TAKE THE CITY OF SUNNYVALE 13 YEARS TO INSTALL THIS TRAFFIC CIRCLE? |
Note: Allow me to reiterate; dangerous multi-ton projectiles (in other words; vehicles) are the real danger to the safety of children; not people -- not in Sunnyvale anyway -- cars and/or speeders are the most dangerous thing in this neighborhood and/or valley.
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| TRAFFIC CALMING IN MOUNTAIN VIEW -- SUNNYVALE NEEDS MORE TRAFFIC CALMING; AS DO ALL NEIGHBORHOODS SURROUNDING THE NEW APPLE SPACESHIP -- IN THE FUTURE I WILL BE COLLABORATING WITH CUPERTINO PLANNING COMMISSIONER DON SUN (WHO I WORK FOR PART TIME) TO FIND AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING SOLUTION FOR THIS VEXXING NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC PROBLEM -- CUPERTINO HAS THE BEST TRAFFIC CALMING SOLUTIONS IN THE SILICON VALLEY... |
(I do not recommend this kind of behavior because it can be rather disruptive to the sensitive creek environment; especially during spring reproduction time)
Downstream near Lawrence Expressway there used to be another large oak tree with a tree swing that I saw people swinging on over a raging Calabazas Creek during a storm once. I think David Cunningham was there that day. His parents' house was about 50 feet from the creek in a court.
One time in high school Kip Bautista and I got high and walked over to Winchell's at Homestead Road and Lawrence Expressway and then went over to Mcdonalds; I was laughing so hard I couldn't keep a straight face. Calabazas Creek was the highest I had ever seen; and was later widened to avoid catastrophic flooding.
Walking through mud while cutting through Laurelwood Elementary School (my old elementary school) that night; Kip and I had so much mud on our feet at one point Kip said "Gene Simmons!" (see: KISS) because it looked like we were wearing big muddy boots. Just had to add that in there...
As recently as a decade ago I went down into the creek and created pools out of available stones to create better habitat for frog reproduction; and one time in 6th grade I collected insects for a class experiment there. I can say the biological diversity has plummeted since the orchard has gone; even with the pesticides they likely once used on the cherry trees.
My friends and I used to cut through the orchard on the way home from school during cherry season. I would fill my baseball cap full of cherries during my walk home. There were also legends of a farmer with a salt pellet gun who would shoot at kids if they stole any cherries!?! Some of my friends would occasionally call out "FARMER!" just to freak everyone out while taking cherries.
Tom "Tuumi" Meier and one of his elementary school classes once discovered pollution that was destroying the creek habitat; which led to one of the biggest Superfund cleanup sites in California right up the creek from this spot after the class reported the pollution to government.
Tom "Tuumi" Meier and one of his elementary school classes once discovered pollution that was destroying the creek habitat; which led to one of the biggest Superfund cleanup sites in California right up the creek from this spot after the class reported the pollution to government.
SEE ALSO: http://likroper.com/SUPERFUND.html +
GO TO: Pure Water & Health / 1603 Hollenbeck Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94087 (408) 245-7873
Sunnyvale, CA 94087 (408) 245-7873
The water under the bridge at street overpasses would sometimes get blocked by shopping carts and other debris that caught tree branches and clogged the creek; causing occasional minor flooding to houses along the banks. Bill Hoff knows all about that. Because of this; the underpasses in this section were also doubled and made square instead of a single large round pipe to increase water volumes and/or flow. (see photos below)
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| POLLUTED SURFACE STREET WATER FROM THE FIRST RAIN OF THE SEASON FLOWING INTO CALABAZAS CREEK |
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| NO DUMPING! FLOWS TO BAY! |
1) BAYNATURE.COM is the only magazine dedicated to exploring the natural world of the San Francisco Bay Area - Launched in 2001, Bay Nature is a quarterly magazine that delivers informative articles on local landscapes, wildlife and natural history, filled with beautiful photography and original illustrations, enhanced with maps and resource listings - Bay Nature gives you ideas of places to go, and takes you beneath the surface of those places, helping you understand the processes that produce the rich and diverse natural heritage of the region, from coastline to ridgeline, bay wetlands to oak woodlands, urban backyard to forest wilderness - And we introduce you to the people and organizations who are working hard to protect, study, and restore these wild places and species - read more @ http://www.baynature.com/about.html + 2) SAVE THE BAY is the oldest and largest membership organization working exclusively to protect, restore and celebrate San Francisco Bay - As its leading champion, Save The Bay is committed to making the Bay cleaner and healthier and connecting residents to it - Save The Bay wages and wins effective advocacy campaigns to increase public access to the Bay and protect it from today’s greatest threats: urban sprawl and pollution - check out: http://www.savesfbay.org + 3) MYWATERSHEDWATCH.ORG - The Watershed Watch Campaign is a public education initiative of the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program (SCVURPPP), an association of thirteen cities and towns in the Santa Clara Valley, Santa Clara County and the Santa Clara Valley Water District - The Campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of how important it is to all livings things that we protect the watershed - learn more @ http://mywatershedwatch.org/
TOUGH LOVE FOR THE BIRDS; TOUGH SHIT FOR THE HATERS!
SEE ALSO: CANADA GEESE @ THE MARINA PLAYA APARTMENTS IN SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA @
https://addendumblog2.blogspot.com/2017/03/canada-geese-marina-playa-apartments-in_31.html?showComment=1495303081005#c5845121757247789167
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SEE ALSO: CANADA GEESE @ THE MARINA PLAYA APARTMENTS IN SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA @
https://addendumblog2.blogspot.com/2017/03/canada-geese-marina-playa-apartments-in_31.html?showComment=1495303081005#c5845121757247789167
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I have lived in the Birdland Neighborhood for over 50 years now. My friends and I used to play all kinds of games; many of which we made up. My neighbors the Martinez family were heavily involved in youth sports (P.A.L.; Sunnyvale Metro Little League etc) so I always had friends to play with. The Martinez brothers were especially adept at making up their own games. Tennis baseball for instance...
We used to get two tennis rackets and a few tennis balls and stand at opposite ends of a field. Boom! Fun! Or soccer basketball. We used to get some friends and a soccer ball and use the outdoor Peterson basketball courts as a soccer field; then try to kick the ball between the basketball backboard posts and score a goal! Or we used to just play a game of H.O.R.S.E. -- either way; staying active is the key to good health.
The more parents try to control their kids when they are young; the more they can end up avoiding them later in life when they really need them; and/or the further they can move away from you (physically and emotionally) in response. I have seen this happen time after time. But maybe this is what some parents want (every parent is not perfect and/or necessarily a good parent; many parents became parents through sexually reproductive default). Just remember to learn how to dephicer between 'danger' and 'regnad'. Regnad is the opposite of danger; although it can seem quite dangerous on the surface -- if you look a little deeper it's actually quite innocuous...for instance; there's a lot of regnad on TV.
We used to get two tennis rackets and a few tennis balls and stand at opposite ends of a field. Boom! Fun! Or soccer basketball. We used to get some friends and a soccer ball and use the outdoor Peterson basketball courts as a soccer field; then try to kick the ball between the basketball backboard posts and score a goal! Or we used to just play a game of H.O.R.S.E. -- either way; staying active is the key to good health.
"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood..." -- Fred Rogers
The more parents try to control their kids when they are young; the more they can end up avoiding them later in life when they really need them; and/or the further they can move away from you (physically and emotionally) in response. I have seen this happen time after time. But maybe this is what some parents want (every parent is not perfect and/or necessarily a good parent; many parents became parents through sexually reproductive default). Just remember to learn how to dephicer between 'danger' and 'regnad'. Regnad is the opposite of danger; although it can seem quite dangerous on the surface -- if you look a little deeper it's actually quite innocuous...for instance; there's a lot of regnad on TV.
MEDIA TRAUMATIZATION IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MUCH OF THIS UNNECESSARY PARANOIA; SO SHUT OFF YOUR TELEVISIONS AND/OR COMPUTERS AND JUST LIVE YOUR LIVES...
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| ELVIS PRESLEY ONCE SHOT HIS TELEVISION!? DON'T SHOOT YOUR TELEVISION! |
NOTE: My old friend Paul Citraro came from a family who once owned the Peterson property; and he later attended Peterson with his little brother Neil. Peterson High School actually used to be a farm; and the Peterson Nature area is where the Citraro's old house used to be -- so to have that same field become agricultural once again is absolutely wonderful and definitely a blessing. But just remember that freedom is a blessing too; not to be taken for granted. Freedom with responsibility...
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| NO KIDS ARE GOING TO EVER PLAY ON THIS FIELD AS LONG AS THESE UNNECESSARY; LARGELY IGNORED AND THREATENING SIGNS REMAIN POSTED -- HAVE A FUN AND HIGHLY REGULATED SCUSD SUMMER?! |
