Grandparents

We had another cloudy day here in Flagstaff. Still no moisture…This is so strange. Seems that Seattle Washington, known for rain and clouds, has had 28 straight days without any rain—a record. NYC has had more rain days this year than any time in the last 25 years. A friend in the Colorado Mountains says they too had a wet spring and for the first time in recent memory, aren’t as worried about the BC’s as before. Oh, BC’s are Brainless Campers who don’t know squat about campfires, or cleaning up when they are ready to leave. Three tornados in the Eastern suburbs of Denver were mere blocks from another friend’s home. The Front Range was supposed to prevent tornados in the Denver area—at least that’s what we were taught. This weather change, climate change, global warming thing sure is weird.

Many of my Native friends are now grandparents. Most of my friends are the first generation in their family to graduate from college. I had lunch today with a retired aide, who didn’t complete college, but is more educated than any of her siblings. She is also the only one in her immediate family to work at a job long enough to retire. Anyway, as I visit with so many of these friends, I find that somehow, they raised a lost generation. Many have children who are still financially dependent on their parents. These children are in their late 20’s to their early 40’s. Some still live at home—even at 40. Many of these ‘children’ have had their own children. My friends are now raising those grandkids. Watching a grandma raise her son’s children just doesn’t seem fair. I’m not saying that grandparents shouldn’t be there for their children and grandchildren. I just think there are way too many children who just assume that their parents will always provide for them and have no vision of living on their own. My friend has a home in Tuba. She is renting a three bedroom apartment here in Flag, because her two kids want to live here. Now the two kids and three grandkids want to live in Phoenix, so grandma is seriously considering moving to Phoenix. In her younger days, she lived in Phoenix, working at Phoenix Indian School. She hated it. She had no kids back then, and didn’t start her single parent family until she returned to Tuba. Now that she has retired, she will probably return to a city she hates, just so she can help her 27 year old son, his three kids, and her 22 year old daughter find minimum wage jobs while she pays. She doesn’t want to move, but I’ve known her long enough to know she will.

I should mention that all these grandparents grew up in the Boarding School culture. The Boarding School certainly helped many in that generation get the good ol’ American work ethic, and get a decent education. It just left a big hole in their lives. I think many of them are still trying to fill that hole.

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Random Fact
Murder is the only crime that does not increase during the full moon. Theft, disorderly conduct, larceny, armed robbery, assault and battery, and rape all statistically increase dramatically during the full moon.

June is…
Adopt a Shelter Cat Month…Effective Communications Month…Gay & Lesbian Pride Month [National GLBT Month]…Great Outdoors Month…National Accordion Awareness Month…Rebuild Your Life Month…National Candy Month

Week of June 14
Flag Week
Men’s Health Week
Meet a Mate Week

June 18—169th day of the year…196 days remain in 2009

Recess @ Work Day
Autistic Pride Day
United Kingdom: Waterloo Day
Egypt : Evacuation Day

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1877
James Montgomery Flagg illustrator "I want you" recruiting poster
1886
George Mallory England, mountain climber ("because it is there")

1901
Jeanette MacDonald actress/singer
1906
Kay Kyser Rocky Mount NC, orch. leader
1910
E.G. Marshall actor
1942
Paul McCartney rocker, Beatle 1918 Jerome Karle, American biophysicist, crystallographer, and Nobel Prize winner
Roger Ebert film critic

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…
1583
Richard Martin of London takes out 1st life insurance policy, on William Gibbons
1812 The United States issued a declaration of war on Great Britain. And so began the War of 1812
1815
Battle of Waterloo; Napoleon defeated by Wellington & Blecher
1873
Susan B Anthony fined $100 for attempting to vote for President
1892
Macadamia nuts 1st planted in Hawaii

1934
US Highway planning surveys nationwide authorized
1948
Columbia Records publicly unveiled its new long-playing phonograph record, the 33 1/3
American Library Association adopts the Library Bill of Rights
UN Commission on Human Rights adopts Intl Declaration of Human Rights
1956
Last of foreign troops leaves Egypt
1982
Voting Rights Act of 1965 extended by Senate by 85-8 vote
1986
52 die in plane/helicopter collision over Grand Canyon
1983
Dr. Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space, aboard the space shuttle Challenger.,

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987

You are given three word starting with the letters C, P, and R. Name a fourth word that can follow each of these to complete a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase.

EX: Check, Play, Rule Answer: book (checkbook, playbook, rule book)

1. Cold, permanent, radio
2. Cannon, puff, racquet
3. Candle, pilot, red
4. Checker, peg, running
5. Calling, post, registration
6. Coffee, porter, ranch
7. Court, powder, reading
8. Card, periodic, round
9. Coast, point, rear
10. Cap, pop, ray

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Answers:
1. Wave
2. Ball
3. Light
4. Board
5. Card
6. House
7. Room
8. Table
9. Guard
10. Gun
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