SUMMER ARRIVES

For awhile we speculated that summer has again passed us by. But today and yesterday temperatures have reached 90 degrees or better. Be that as it may, my decision to forgo speculation about political issues seem to be working. It saddens me that when our country faces serious deficiencies in almost every direction. Lets see:

• roads, bridges, dams, levies, schools all need modernizing
• we continue to funnel resources (money, lives, reputation) into Iraq and Afghanistan
• terrorists can still construct nuclear bombs
• our water supplies and systems are outdated and subject to failure
• wealth continues to accumulate for the 3 or 4 percent of our population
• drive by shootings in Oakland and Richmond continue at record levels.

I can continue to list things that need correction with hardly any solutions coming to mind.

Patsy's Ancestors

Since Patricia's (my wife) ancestors trace back to the French fur trappers maybe this is the answer to some of the anomolies.

Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter: Hillary Clinton and the King's Daughters:

"Eastern Canada was originally settled by French adventurers, fur trappers, and soldiers. There were plenty of men but few women in the early days. The French government realized this was a problem and soon recruited young, single women to travel to New France. These women, known in French as the 'filles du roi' or in English as the 'King's Daughters,' agreed to travel to the new settlements in
North America and marry a settler there in exchange for a 50 pound dowry from the French King. Of the nearly 1,000 women who undertook the journey, about 800 made it to Canada."

A Different View

I was astounded to learn about the number of Chinese children adopted by American families. More astounding was the information about the cooperation of the Chinese government in this process. Maybe, if we in this country were to focus on making adoption easier, we would have a greater impact on reducing abortions than by the constant effort to make abortion illegal.


Adopted as children, Chinese in America - International Herald Tribune: "Since 1991, when China loosened its adoption laws to address a growing number of children abandoned because of its national one-child policy, American families have adopted more than 55,000 Chinese children, almost all girls. Most of the children are younger than 10, and an organized subculture has developed around them, complete with play groups, tours of China and online support groups."

Graduation Memories

This was taken about the time I graduated from San Jose in 1957. It was taken in Aunt Esther's backyard. From the left - Harley, Esther, Patricia, Keith. Clint McCready sent it to me recently. Wow. How things change!

Cottonwood Seeds Reunion

The reunion of Charlie Olsen's descendants has passed. I am sorry I couldn't be there. Hope Everyone survived in health and happiness.

Our Dog Bear

The recent problems with dog food has caused me to view Bear differently. He is an essential member of our family and the thought of losing him because of tainted food has changed his diet. Now we feed him only what we would eat ourselves. Except for the dry food!