In The Christmas Spirit?

Here it is less than a week from Christmas, but it doesn't seem like a time of good cheer and Brotherly Love.

Last Sunday evening I did two loads of laundry in the Cedar View Apartments laundry room. When I first arrived there were two other residents doing laundry but both already had their clothes in the dryers. So before long I was all alone with my book and my thoughts.

It takes about 30 minutes for the wash and another 45 minutes for the dryer. So I was in the laundry less than an hour and a half.

Once my clothes were dry, I folded my stuff and put them in my laundry cart. The shirts that needed to go on hangers were placed on the cart (1 of 2) that are provided by Cedar View which have a bar for hanging stuff.

I told myself, at some point, not to go off and forget the hanging stuff. The hanging stuff was five, maybe six of my best and most favorite shirts. And yes, having turned my back to the hanging stuff, I proceeded to push my laundry cart to my apartment, sans shirts.

It was close to eleven o'clock, so I did not put my laundry away right away. Perhaps if I had I would have realized that I did not bring up my shirts. Those shirts were the best and my most favorites as I mentioned earlier.

It was not until Thursday morning when I went to the closet for one of my favorite shirts, that I realized that none of them were hanging there. In a panic, I rushed down to the laundry room, but, alas, too late!

My best and my most favorite shirts were not there.

Here we need some explanation: It is traditional in the apartment that when someone wishes to give away any item of clothing or wishes to dispose of a deceased spouses things, they are hung up in the laundry room on a rack behind the door. It is generally understood that anyone can help themselves to what ever is hanging behind the door. Apparently, someone moved my shirts to the coat rack behind the door.

Fair enough! I made a stupid mistake; my memory is not what it used to be. I foolishly and irresponsibly failed to get home with my best and my most favorite shirts. It should not have been a surprise that they were not there when I went looking for them. But there was still hope!

I posted a notice on the bulletin board that I had blundered and left my best and my most favorite shirts in the laundry room by mistake. My feverant hope was that some kind neighbor had them and I could get them back.

As President of the Senior Citizens Club I was the Master of Ceremonies, as usual, and took the opportunity to inform all 62 residents and guest in attendance of my plight. So the word was out and I waited and I waited for someone to return my best and my most favorite shirts.

Did not happen. No happy ending here!

This could be the end of the story; never knowing what happened to my best and my most favorite shirts.

But wait, I got a phone call. Someone witnessed the shirts being put into a big black garbage bag and being disposed of in the dumpster. Wait, who would do such a thing? The Goodwill would have been better than the dumpster. The culprit?

Cedar View Apartments Maintenance Personnel, that's Who!

I am sure that I will be informed that it is POLICY and that no one did anything wrong.

Sheeez! One of the shirts was monogrammed "EHC". How much time would it have taken to check?

Oh Well! Only I am to blame! I got old; I didn't want to get old; and I surely did not want to become forgetful; dare I use the word senile? But it happened in spite of my not wanting it too.

The question is; does the apartment management need to be a little more cautious knowing they are dealing with elderly individuals who sometimes need help and protection. Shouldn't they try a little harder before taking such drastic measures? Where is the empathy, the caring attitude?

They threw out my best and my most favorite shirts and I am going to find it hard to forgive them!

And so it goes...

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Forty-Three Hours Without Electricity

Perfect Storm", In October; possibly!

We were all warned of a terrible Nor'easter headed our way. I am sure that there were those usual people that run to the store and stock up on milk, bread and whatever they think of as essentials in their household. Me? I headed for the beer store. Can you imagine a weekend of football without adequate supplies of beer and chips?

I got back home in time for the Penn State Kickoff, but there was no Kickoff. Well that is to say that Penn State and Illinois did in fact begin the game on time, but I did not have electricity. My t.v. screen was a big, flat, black screen. Oh No! How could this be?

If only I had known. I picked up the latest novel from my favorite aurthor; James Lee Burke; Feast Day of Fools. Before long, I was in total darkness. I could hear my neighbors out in the hall having a great time. Bear in mind that we have emergency lighting in the hallways, but not in the apartments. The emergency generators do not provide heat or the ability to cook. They are primarily there to assist in evacuating the building, which we should have been doing. Any excuse for a party! I reside in a ten story high rise for elderly men and women over age 62. I am on the eighth floor which has the reputation as the party floor. Tonight things were lively, all my neighbors huddled around a light near the elevators.

I stayed home trying to read by flashlight.

Cedar Creek Gardens

While I entitled this article as Cedar Creek Gardens, the county prefers Cedarbrook Gardens. Not sure why. The garden plots are located in Cedar Creek Parkway West. So it stands to reason the they should be known as Cedar Creek Gardens.

All of the county complexes in the general area are named after Cedar Creek, the creek that runs through all the county land just west of Dorney Park. There is the Cedarbrook Nursing Home, Cedar View Apartments, Cedar Village Apartments, etc.

Be that as it may, I recently visited the Cedar Creek Gardens to observe the progress of the county and to see the many successful garden plots that are being lovingly attended to by conscientious gardeners. I was pleasantly surprised.

The gardens that are being attended look great. The various vegetables being grown are looking very good. Many of the abandoned plots have been cleaned up by the county Parks Department and are ready for planting, although the planting season has pretty much ended. This is not to place blame on anyone. The county had to take cautious steps when reclaiming unused plots that had been paid for. Registered letters had to be sent and acknowledged. The county had to determine the intentions of the renters. It is a slow process carefully executed to avoid problems or lawsuits.

But progress is being made which will benefit those on the waiting list, next spring.

To show the progress and the state of the garden plots, both attended and unattended, I took some new photos:

Much Progress, but a few more to deal with.

And so it goes...

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Mea culpa

In early March 2011, I corresponded with several people with Lehigh County about obtaining a garden plot at Cedar Creek Gardens, part of a county project that is more than twenty years old. I was informed that all plots were taken and that I would be placed on a waiting list.

In mid April I toured the garden plots and was astounded by the general condition. I asked for and received a copy of the rules in early May. About the same time there was a newspaper article that indicated that the county was taking action to clean up both county supported garden locations (Jordan Creek and Cedar Creek).

In an earlier post I mentioned county employees; Glen Solt, Jeff Zehr and Kathy Borger, who are all associated with the Bureau of Agricultural Land Preservation. This office just took over control of the garden plots in January so it was inappropriate of me to hold them accountable. For the past twenty or so years the Bureau of Solid Waste was responsible for oversight of this program. Apparently the county realized that it was being mismanaged and took steps to improve the situation. Messrs. Solt, Zehr and Boger have all pledged to clean things up and to move forward with rules and regulations enforced. I have spoken with Glen Solt and Kathy Borger and believe that we will see vast improvement soon!

A copy of the "Community Garden Plot Program Rules" an be viewed here:
Garden Plot Rules

A copy of the layout for Cedar Creek (Cedarbrook) Garden Plots can be viewed here. Those with yellow inside the plot do not show signs of activity as of this date.
Garden Plot Layout

Photographs taken recently of the various garden plots (May 2011) follow:

And so it goes...

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