A Bit of NoCal Dirt

I invited my neighbor over for coffee and a chance to get to know each other better. Ron has lived in San Jose all his life and grew up in the house across the street where he now lives. He had lots of good stories to tell about the area - future blog material. But, for the second time, he talked about the lynching in St. James Park. His parents went down to watch the lynchings and remembered it well. So I decided to do a bit more research into the details...... Brooke Hart, 22 yrs old, was kidnapped in November, 1933 as he walked from his father's department store in downtown San Jose to a carpark. Two men took him in his studebaker to what is now Milpitas, hit him in the head with a concrete block and threw him into the bay. Apparently that didn't kill him. So they then shot him. And then they asked the family for $40,000 in ransom. They were eventually caught - they were staying near the police station - and put in the county jail. The Hart family was well-loved in San Jose. And Brooke, a handsome bachelor was especially liked. People were outraged. Before the body was found, it seemed that the kidnappers were going to avoid prosecution. They were accusing each other of the murder and then pled insanity. On Saturday November 27, the body was found and identified. Radio stations as far away as Los Angeles began announcing that a lynching would occur in St. James Park across from the jail at midnight. When the kidnappers' attorney called the governor asking for protection from the National Guard, Governor Rolf refused and even added that he would pardon any lynchers that might be convicted. He also postponed a trip to Boise so that the Lt. Governor could not order out the Guard while Rolf was away. By midnight, the park was full of men, women, and children. The neighboring streets were jammed with abandoned cars. The mob, estimated to be between 3,000 and 10,000, stormed the jail. The sheriff and his deputies had tried to use tear gas to keep the mob at bay. When that failed, the men retreated to the upper floors leaving the prisoners below. The mob took the 2 men out to the park and hung them. After the bodies were taken down, the mob wanted souvenirs and began to strip the trees. Eventually the city decided that the safest thing would be to cut the "gallows trees" down.
While researching details of this event, I also found that President McKinley spoke there 4 months before he was assassinated and Bobby Kennedy spoke there 4 days before he was killed. In 1918, George Koetzer was taken from his bed, tried by the Knights of Liberty and found guilty of being pro-German. He was tarred and feathered by the black-cowled group and chained to the brass cannon at the base of the McKinley monument.... in St. James Park.

Today, the park is a large expanse of green lawn, big shady trees, a children's playground and benches full of the homeless who use the park as a home. The light rail passes on either side and the post office I use fronts the park. How many people travel by and through this lovely space each day and have no idea what history it holds..... what stories it could tell.
Click here for Wikipedia entry on Brooke Hartt








                                                                         Brooke Hart

I've Found It At Last!

It has only taken me three months of weekly searching to finally find it. I have scoured all areas of San Jose, Santa Clara and even Milpitas to find the perfect one. And at last, I have found it. Lucky's. The perfect grocery store. I actually found it two weeks ago. But I wanted to be sure before I announced to the world - my blog world - that the search was over. And I went back today and it was still just as wonderful. I even tested another store by the same name - a branch in the chain. But it was not quite right. So this one will now be MY store. Yes, I know. It is not the most convenient being 8.9 miles away. In Maine, I drove 5.8 miles to reach the perfect store. But, it seems that here in NoCal, one must make sacrifices for perfection. So, you are asking, what is so perfect about this store? Let me tell you. The fruits and vegetables are a joy to behold. Nothing slimey or half-dead or picked over. You want fresh herbs? Got 'em. Celery root? Yup. Zucchini AND Mexican squash? Sure thing. And every time I have been in, there is a red-bearded man with a clip board checking, observing, evaluating as if the veg had better behave OR ELSE. Now on to yogurts..... not only do they have all the ones I like, but others I've never heard of. And a WHOLE SECTION of gourmet Italian meats, sausages, cheeses..... Yum! The meats are fresh and reasonably priced. I even compared the cost of paper towels at my perfect store with the price at Target and Target lost. The staff is very helpful. I was wandering around looking for something and one of the clerks restocking shelves stopped and took me to what I was searching for. While looking for vitamins located right in front of the pharmacy, both the pharmacist AND her assistant asked if they could help me find something. But the icing on the cake was finding Old Amsterdam gouda cheese. This cheese is one Mark and I discovered in Amsterdam and we could never find it here. But, there it was...... in my Lucky's! Now, when I went to check out the first time, I saw a long line at the only opened check-out. So I thought to myself - quite cleverly I might add - that I would just use the self-service checkout and beat the line. What I didn't realize is that the self-service is set up for people getting just a FEW things. Not me getting a HUGE basketful AND wanting to put everything in my own cloth bags. But I was part way through when I realized this. The lady-in-the-machine-with-the-rectal-suppository-salesperson voice was telling me she had to get assistance from someone in the store to approve my "Skip Bagging" option AGAIN. By this time I wanted to give her some ASSistance! The cute young sweet clerk assigned to babysit this checkout area and help inept customers like me just smiled at me as she waved her hands over her screen. I started to apologize saying I was sorry but I really wanted to use my cloth bags. She just smiled and said, "I'm glad you are using them too." Wow. I will add that the last time I went, I used the regular line. While the great selection, pleasant surroundings (clean, well-lit), helpful staff are all big plusses, I must admit that it just FEELS good to shop there. I can wander up and down the aisles being inspired by ingredients. I can decide to make lamb curry when I get to the meat section and see some good lamb. And then I KNOW where to find the rest of the fixings without wandering aimlessly back and forth. I will make some great old favorites this week like jambalya as well as some new recipes. I know I can do this, despite the stove-from-Hell, because I have found my Lucky's.

A Cat's Life in NoCal

Daisy has had a hard adjustment with this move. In Maine, she had a palace with many basements to wander through. There was the napping room with a  bed in the sun, her private bathroom which was out-of-the-way so she could do her thing alone, kitty TV with TWO channels – bird feeders in two windows that always had some kind of visitor, many windows to watch the wild life in the neighborhood. Not a bad life. Then she gets thrown into a small carrier and dragged onto a plane and ends up in the Mouse House.  She must feel that she has definitely come down in the world – her bathroom is RIGHT by the back door and easily visible from the kitchen. There is NO basement for her to explore. The kitty TV has only ONE channel (ie. 1 bird feeder) and it is NOT near the window. And there are fewer windows with narrow sills that are difficult to sit on. On the bright side, the windows are open more often and there is a good deal of wild life to observe….. including doves, squirrels and neighborhood cats. One of these, the Grey Cat, comes by each day parading over the deck and making Daisy a bit crazy. I not sure if he/she is feral or has an owner. I thought he/she was no big deal until the other night…… he/she decided to “serenade” Daisy outside our bedroom window…. Now, remember – our bedroom is LESS than 8x10. So the window is almost next to the bed. Daisy was NOT impressed with him/her and started to do the cat-screech-yowl-growl thing back at him/her. I rolled onto my good ear and ignored it all. I’m not sure how Mark coped. But now, when Daisy sees the Grey Cat, she hisses and puffs up and gets very agitated. So we have renamed him/her The EVIL Grey Cat.

Just like us, Daisy has found a way to make the best of the small space she now lives in. She has claimed a comfortable spot full of morning sun that affords her a view out the front window so she can nap or watch for TEGC. Her new perch just happens to be on Mark’s printer (note picture). I finally put her purr pad up there to make her perch more comfy. And when it is cloudy and the pad isn’t quite warm enough, Daisy just steps on a few buttons, makes a few copies and….. Voila!  Her bed is warm again. Mark came home one night to find the printer out of paper as Daisy had asked it to make 58 copies. Must have been a REALLY cold day.