Far Past Our Father's Land – What Are You Seeing?
Sharon March 27th, 2009
I haven’t mentioned it in a while, but Aaron and I are still collecting stories (and images) of the New Depression for a book/website/video – who knows. If you haven’t seen my account of this project, you can check it out here: http://sharonastyk.com/2008/12/09/far-past-our-fathers-land-stories-from-the-greater-depression/
So tell me (or put in a link to your blog) – what are you seeing in your neck of the woods? How are events unfolding? What is life like for you and your neighbors now? What has changed? What’s still the same?
Thank you for sharing,
Sharon
- stories
- Comments(68)
The snow has finally melted in my area of upstate NY. My neighbor and I are cleaning up our gardens. Just another spring, but I do notice more neighborhood folks clearing more trees in their yards than usual. This could be from fear of future ice storms, or to put in or expand vegetable gardens. I’m hoping the latter. I’d feel more comfortable if all the neighbors had food gardens.
Commercial real estate has been turning into a dead sea of vacant spaces for quite some time. The Salvation Army and other thrift shops seem to be doing a cracking business, though.
I live in an extended family. I take care of my elderly parents. We are able to live pretty well since we can share costs. We all like to eat healthy food and have much fresh delicious produce during the growing season. Although, I don’t mind serving as the go-to guy when work needs to get done, I might need to add someone with good housekeeping and food preserving skills soon.
Jerry – We live near you (i think) and I can remember driving by that hospital daily during HighSchool – on my way to the catholic one near the sun. Does that give it away too much? I hope that your town can make a go of it with the site – The area has changed so much since I was a kid – its kind of heartbreaking. My hometown had more cows & livestock than people when I lived there – its not the case now. Now on the other side of the river I see my little town fighting about how much taxes everyone will pay and how dare everyone in town be expected to pay for public education (especially special education). There are actually people in my town who want an exeption because they are done using the public school system and don’t want to pay for it anymore – Hello – what about the rest of us that paid in before we needed to use it and didn’t complain! (sore spot for me).
We need small light industry in town to help the tax base but have a lot of NIMBYs who moved near a light industrial park who complain about new companies coming in and wrecking their view – or traveling by their house….
The economy in my state is starting to take a hit- the pantry I contribute to is seeing more people come and go with less. The town pantry is struggleing and while our elementary school held a food drive – our 3rd this year.
Its tight all around – I’m staying hopefull though – My library bought Sharon’s book – YEAH! More people are planting Gardens YEAH! and I’ve noticed that my garbage can has only been half full most weeks because we are being more careful about what we buy at my house.
I hope this doesn’t last long – but am prepared if it does – hopefully my kids will learn a lot from this whole thing and not get into this kind of mess when they are adults!
Screaming Sardine, you’re thinking of Sykes Enterprises. They left because their tax incentive for locating in ND ran out, they have a history of doing that – check this article out:
http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/corporate_subsidy/sykes_enterprises.cfm
Also from St. Louis, this is the week when a third of the bus service gets cut off and the metro light rail service reduced. They had indicated earlier that the cuts would include all bus lines in the outer suburbs and in the downtown (hello?!). Well, in the neighborhoods around my home and work (city proper, and not downtown ), ALL of the bus stop signs are bagged to indicate that they will no longer offer service. So, basically, no bus service. Key routes on major streets have been killed. One of those ran near my house; we often see people walking to the stop with groceries from the discount supermarket several blocks in the other direction. They obviously live in neighborhoods that do not have supermarkets, and have to ride the bus to get groceries. How will they do that now?
Of course the buses have always been so expensive, especially for someone with a kid or two in tow, that you’re better off driving if you can. But that’s nothing to the Call-a-Ride service for the handicapped. It used to be $4 a ride, and they are now slashing service and jacking the cost up to – this is a fact – $13 to $17. EACH WAY. How many handicapped people can afford to pay $34 a day just to go someplace and get back home? Yikes!!! Of course it’s fine to go on subsidizing road-building and road repair. I can only imagine the sort of misery that will ensue when the impact of these cuts hits home. What a pack of lazy, self-centered, BAU idiots we have in this town.
A recent article in the Portland Press Herald states that here in Maine there has been an increase in burgularies, which authorities are attributing to the bad economy.
Burgulars have been targeting rural suburbs, where the houses are spaced far enough apart and are in fairly wooded areas, so that their crimes are concealed behind a tree cover.
Regrettably, there are multiple signs of a serious recession here in MN.
Over the weekend, we learned that our neighbors were being evicted from their basement apartment. The reason? Too many people in a place designed for college students – not for parents, four children, grandfather and a dog! My husband gave them a name of someone who had a house for rent. It is in a less expensive neighborhood so hopefully they will thrive there.
Still, on the surface it all seems to be serene and normal. Our major local park is experiencing record breaking crowds and park patrons are donating gererously. Restaurants are full on the weekend with jovial crowds and our state high school basketball tournament is as exciting as ever.
However, behind the Wizard of Oz screen, all is not as it seems. The legislature is preparing to cut off park funds for much needed improvements; last weekend I observed people splitting orders at a local upscale restaurant, and our newspaper (currently in bankruptcy) reports that less than half of our public school students partcipate in sports for a variety of reasons – but finances was one of them.
In the past, starting with the 1930s depression and subsequent recessions, Minnesota has benefitted from a diversified economy. Many technological and multi -national companies had their origins and headquarters here. However, this time, we are facing a downturn of unprecedented proportions and are in line with the rest of the nation in unemployment, foreclosures,
state deficits and the rest of the toxic stew.
Another sign of the times, is unprecedented interest in gardening, farmers markets and CSAs. Farmers markets are uniformly crowded, gardening stores report high sales in gardening supplies, and many CSAs had to turn folks away last year because they were full.
SW Ohio here, and we *just* dodged the layoff bullet. There is exactly ONE person between my husband and the Exit. Remember the old cartoons (Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny) where they’re trying to force one of the characters out/in the door and said character is holding on to the door jams with fingers and toes??? Yeah, it’s about like that. We’re holding onto a job with fingers and toes.
On an encouraging note, I’ve noticed a lot of folks starting gardens this year…even if it’s just in pots on patios. No fewer than 4 of my immediate friends/family have decided to break ground and grow something, anything. I find that extremely encouraging.
An update to my earlier comment: my husband lost his job yesterday. I’m so very, very grateful that we have a well-stocked pantry, seeds in the ground, and a nearly-complete chicken tractor. I wish we’d made more progress towards paying down our debt. I don’t WANT to default on debts that I legitimately owe, but all available funds will now be going towards mortgage and associated housing costs.
AnoninGA
Wish you every luck.
My brother, in Reno, NV (going to pharm school) reports that as expected it’s becoming more of a wasteland. His stepson (age 28) was driving a HUMVEE limo, and getting fewer and fewer hours. His wife (24) , an RN, was down to 30 hours a week. Just in time, her father offered them a house (in good repair) in MO, on a no-longer-working farm. Much better school (they have 4 children, ranging from less than a year to 6); (that suprised me — the schools being better) 2 miles from the house — full time nursing job for her, 5 miles away, and he’s found a truck driving job, but is finally listening to my brother and looking for something less fuel depentend. Lots of extended family in walking distance. I hope they’ve landed on their feet.
Thanks, MEA.
We have a dear friend in Vegas; I worry for him, but he can take care of himself(former Ranger, combat veteran). We’d love for him to come here, but he seems happy where he is for now.
I’m happy your extended family found such a good place to land!
I’m from Alberta, Canada… It’s kind of funny how things are hitting here. Some people seem unaffected, others are drowning.
I work at a quality chocolate shop. Our sales were really low for Christmas, so 1/2-3/4 of the factory was laid off and every store but ours let people go (two people quit). Many of the people who kept their jobs had their hours halved.
However, since the middle of January our sales have returned to the level they were last year. I think lots of customers were worried the new year would bring lay-offs, and when it didn’t went back to “business as usual.” The company hasn’t re-hired their staff though.
Unless my store closes, my job is pretty secure. As good as the chocolate is, I realize it is a luxury and I’m trying my best to plan accordingly. My pantry *is* slowly growing.
The used book store next door has lots of people coming in to sell books, few to buy.
One of my friends works in a liquor store and their sales are through the roof. People are desperate and trying to drown it. You can catch that desperation on the streets, too.
I live by the University of Calgary, as well as near the train — which is easier than the buses to get around in (frequent, simple, runs really early/late, etc.) but every other house is either for rent or for sale. Quite a few of them have been listed since we moved in, back in October. Many more have been empty since the start of the second semester.
My upstairs neighbour has been out of work since we moved in. A year ago you could find a job by looking for 15 minutes.
I’ve seen a few businesses close, and heard lots of desperate sounding sales on the radio (I don’t have a TV).
The province bailed out the oil sands. And while it’s keeping us afloat, I know that it was only a temporary thing – that will most likely make the crisis worse when it does hit.
Sharon, I’m wondering if you’ve seen the photography of Harvey Finkle? At HarveyFinkle.com you can find his photo galleries on homelessness, child poverty, housing rights, and related topics. Many of his pictures are haunting in a Dorothea Lange sort of way.
There is nasty fight brewing on the Princeton NJ freecycle board. Someone is outraged that people are selling things they got off freecycle, since she freecycles things as a humnaitian act, rather than having a garage sale. Others say why not let people who need the money make it that way. This come up because of a suggestion (from another source) that selling items from freecycle is a way to make money in hard times.
On the surface, one might not even see anything too out of the ordinary in my area; many things appear to be the same. But there are also many troubling things that ARE apparent.
Nearly everyone seems concerned about being laid off. I myself am very worried; I’ve got little seniority, our budget is a mess, spending has been cut to the bone, and we recently had job cuts. I was spared this round, but I’ve heard another may be coming. Mandatory furloughs are also being planned for everyone. And recently, I had a coworker recently tell me that someone broke into their garage at night to steal meat (yes, meat) from their freezer. I’ve also talked to coworkers who seem to be on the verge of running into big financial problems. While they would be considered squarely middle class in terms of income, they are one incident from disaster, with no savings and plenty of debt.
Although the mall seems fairly busy, I did notice differences on a recent trip. Certain over-priced teenager-focused stores, which just a year ago were packed, are now nearly empty. The mens’ suits section of the department stores seemed fairly busy, though — with men shopping for suits for job interviews (which I gathered from conversations).
I’m in my mid-twenties, and I am also VERY concerned about the tremendous amount of college debt so many people my age and younger seem to acquire. I think many of us, myself included, signed up for loans thinking that it is “good debt,” worth the investment, and will be cinch to pay back. We don’t think about the monthly payments stretching for years or decades, the possibility of deferment and of racking up interest and penalties if things go wrong, or the inability to discharge the debts in bankruptcy. Luckily, I don’t have a huge amount of student loan debt, and have manageable payments. However, both myself and my husband have family members who have run into real problems with student loan debts. And I’ve heard many stories from people with loans of over 50 or even $100,000 — for an undergrad degree. I know many people around my age who are underemployed.
[...] A nice web master created an interesting post today on Casaubons Book Blog Archive Far Past Our Fathers Land – What …Here’s a short outlineCommunity Home Bath and Beauty Clothing Cooking Crafting for the songs bring fun times to mind for my friends and i. for this infection she was able to go back home, but she had gotten more weak For the past week they have been trying to bring her. READ, LISTEN TO 911 CALLS, HELP IF YOU CAN. she knows who did this and just won’t tell, because it won’t bring Haliegh back? or on a bass fishing boat is going to help. Perhaps Crystal can use some of her DONATIONS to help keep Cobra in town. Donations to help defray the cost of the search can be made at the Command Volunteers should bring water and food for themselves if possible. give them all that they deserve and help thier families bring them all home. PETS IN PERIL It’s a good show to bring back. After 8-year delay, VA program hopes [...] [...]
Good ideas here. Still looking for supplemental information on natural health and would appreciate any suggestions. Thank You!
You made a few fine points there. I did a search on the topic and found the majority of people will go along with with your blog.
Simply desire to say your article is as amazing. The clarity in your post is just great and i can assume you’re an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the enjoyable work.