A FREE VISITATION DAY
Last Friday as I was leaving my visit with Corey I was informed that the following Monday, Martin Luther King Day, was going to be a “free” day of visitation. In other words, the inmates would not be “charged” points against their visitation allotment. Wonderful! That meant I would get to visit an extra day this month! It wasn’t going to be a holiday for my husband, he would be working but at least I could drive on over. I’d actually been told a day or two prior about the Warden authorizing the free day, but by the end of that particular day I had received another update from my friend that the administration had "changed their minds". I was disappointed but this is the way it goes in the prison system. One just learns to roll with the punches. The fact that the inmates had been informed last summer that the Warden had specified all Federal Holidays going forward would be “free” days, didn’t necessarily guarantee they would be. And there has been a federal holiday or two since then that has not been a free day. But I knew better than to complain, it doesn’t change anything, I’ve long ago learned to just be happy (or at least “content”) for all and any tender “mercies” in this system. At any rate, they inexplicably changed their minds again and we got the free day.

In the course of our "free" day of visitation we couldn't help but notice how uncrowded the room was. It was quieter and several tables remained unfilled. This was no doubt due to the mixed messages re the “free” day. It would be helpful if the administration would post advance notices about any free visiting days, so the inmates could inform their loved ones, who often require a little bit of planning to make the trip out to this Camp. Taft Camp isn’t exactly a “destination" point, its more of a “detour" in that it sits quite off the beaten track, sitting alone as it does, in the middle of the desert. Most family generally have hours- long drives to the Camp. But the notices don’t always get posted, such as in this case. But suffice it to say, I got the notice, and I was there! We had a really good day, kicking back at our large round table that we had all to ourselves, indulging in yummy (not exactly) vendor machine delights - today we chose Mexican enchiladas (pretty much the same as the frozen tv dinner entrees in the supermarkets only smaller servings at 4 times the price), a few candy bars and water and sodas. But we don’t frequent this establishment for the food, just for the good company LOL.

As I headed to my car in the parking lot later that afternoon I noticed 3 young asian women seemingly “wringing” their hands, standing around their car with stressful expressions on all three of their faces. Did I by any chance have jumper cables??? Happily I could report that I did! The early morning had brought fog and low visibility and they had neglected to turn off their headlights after parking and heading for the visitation building. I know the feeling all too well! The same thing had happened to me a few years back, only no one was around with cables. Luckily we did have AAA, I made a call on my cellphone and a tow truck arrived within half an hour from the nearby town of Taft. Immediately following that episode my husband gifted me with a set of jumper cables.

Anyways, within minutes we were all on our way back to our “regular” lives, leaving the Camp and our loved ones to theirs.

Instead of counting your days, make your days count. ~Author Unknown.

“CONDORS AT FULL POWER!”
…blares from the loudspeakers and the crowd roars! It was hockey nite in Bakersfield, and the excitement was palpable. My husbands company keeps a seasons Box at Rabobank Arena and Friday night all associates were invited to attend and enjoy the game and ammenities. That meant a birdseye view of the game where it would be warm (important in an ice arena!), and the food and drinks would flow freely. Can‘t beat that! Plus being raised in Canada where I learned to skate almost before I could walk, hockey remains a part of my heart and heritage. NOT that I know a whole heck of a lot about it, nor have we attended many games or watched it much on tv, unlike in Canada, football and basketball play a greater role in most american lives than hockey. But when we have an opportunity to attend a real live game, count us in!

For me, more than anything it’s the excitement in the air, the gladiators on the ice performing amazing feats with sticks and a tiny black puck, the racing at full speed across the ice, the brawls, trippings, slamming of bodies against the glass, the fans screaming and jeering, I don’t know, call me crazy (and millions of others like me), theres just something about Hockey that is just so darned much fun!

Bakersfield Condors: The Bakersfield Condors are a professional hockey team based in Bakersfield, CA and competing in the ECHL. They are affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL.

Alaska Aces: The Alaska Aces are a professional hockey team based in Anchorage, AK and competing in the ECHL. They are affiliated with the St. Louis Blues of the NHL.

High sticking, tripping, slashing, spearing, charging, hooking, fighting, unsportsmanlike conduct, interference, roughing... everything else is just figure skating. ~Author Unknown

Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself. ~Tom Wilson

On the first day of my 62nd year I liked to think I was a little wiser but sometimes I think I am just simply “older”. I may actually have been wiser in those long ago innocent years of my youth, when I was just that - “innocent”. Perhaps the years simply muddy the water, today on my 62nd birthday I really just don’t know. So I wont wax philosophical or search out inspirational quotes regarding birthdays, the one above suited my mood this morning as I sat down to post something.

My birthday was yesterday actually. And as birthdays go it was lovely in that I got to spend the day with my son in prison, and followed that up with an evening in “Condortown.” (which I’ll blog about another day).

Our visit today wasn’t as light and “fun” as last weeks had been. But then the mood at our visits can change simply depending on the weather, how much sleep either of us got the night before, or any number of daily/weekly happenings. MOST of them are relaxed, eagerly anticipated visits, a time to just be together and interact, pass time in each others company. On a scale (re “fun-ness”) of 1 - 10 this visit would rate a 5, half of it was serious and sometimes difficult, and at least half of it we happened upon many opportunities to laugh and revisit the “lighter side” of our daily happenings. Even those visits, especially some early on in these prison years, where “fun” never showed his face, those visits were and always will be cherished, a part of the journey we continue to experience - me, Rod and Corey, in our own personal ways.

But I digress…today Corey was in a somewhat somber mood, and it soon became apparent he had been thinking a great deal about his future. The year of his ultimate release, though still 3 years away, seemed to be flying at him at great speed, and as with many prisoners who have been excluded from society for many years, it brings uncertainty and some fears. He is torn between excitement at possibilities, at just being free to make/choose his own path once again, and worry over his options, which will be shadowed by his now having a Felony Record. He is a young man and has a long life ahead of him, this felony, though for a first time, non-violent marijuana offense, will shadow all that will follow him upon release. It seems to me that our system of justice is one that is unforgiving and bent on continued punishment. If one considers the statistics that 75% of those released from prisons will end up back behind the fences, it seems clear our system of (so called) “rehabilitation” is a failure in its current state. Though the Second Chance Act of 2007 was approved by the Senate back in March of 2008 (set up to provide critical resources designed to reduce recidivism and increase public safety) I have read or seen little evidence that anything at all has changed in the system, in particular regarding preparation for and beyond release of inmates. Visit www.reentrypolicy.org/announcements/Senate_passes_SCA if interested in what is all in this Bill.

Many people don’t realize that following a prison sentence, at least in the Federal system, years of “supervised release” await one. In my sons case, following the 12 ½ year sentence, he must serve another 5 years of “supervised release”. This part of the overall Sentence is just basically that, a secondary (or Part B) “sentence. Once sentenced in Federal Court you serve one portion of your punishment within the fences, once released you spend the second sentence under the supervision of a court appointed Parole Officer, the very personality or character of whom can play a very large part in your success at moving forward. Ultimately of course the inmate has and must undertake full responsibility for all his/her own actions, but being constantly under the thumb of another (quirky personality traits and all) with sometimes many and varied restrictions upon where you may or may not go, see, do, is clearly stressful at best. Many men my son has known over his years “inside” have chosen to not go to Half Way Houses or have even broken their “probation” deliberately so as to be returned to prison to serve out those years of supervised release in a setting they had become accustomed and comfortable with, rather than live the daily stress and pressures, the “waiting” for the other shoe to fall” sort of thing, of being on probation.

But despite it all I am so proud of the effort my son has put into acquiring more education (2 Associate Degrees so far), his passion for reading and learning, that will play a large role in his future chances of success. I have no doubts whatsoever Corey will take the life lessons he has learned, with no help from the Prison System, and make his life a success, by all and every measure, when he is, at long last “allowed” to move forward.

ME AND COREY

As Corey and I like to do now and again, we spent a good hour or more at last Friday’s visit talking about a trip abroad in the years following his release in a few years time. Of course there will first be Half-Way-House time, getting a job, returning to school (with luck he hopes to attend the University of Washington in Seattle) to complete a Bachelors Degree, and then, a few years after release, with these things accomplished, he harbors hopes/dreams of a gift to himself of a few months overseas. A trip where he could be free of the business of getting down to business, the business of making a living once again and taking on the responsibilities that come with all that. Who knows if the plans will ever bear fruit, but what fun we have, painting pictures with the colors of his dreams (don't ask me where THAT came from, it just popped into my head and made sense to me at the time LOL!)

As we often do (you see we’ve been working on the plans for this trip for some time, time being the one thing we have plenty of) we spent lots of time drawing maps, outlining a "general plan", which cities, which routes, where to stay, just everything you can imagine, in great detail…we laugh a lot, or we get very serious, its almost like being children planning what we’re going to do or be when we grow up LOL

Corey has been to Europe and has a pretty good idea of where he wants to start this particular journey, where he wants to make his central hub if you will, a small apartment perhaps in Prague, central to most everywhere he intends to journey and explore. With luck (and the grace of God) Rod and I will meet up with him at some point, as will his brother from Oregon (whose wife and children just may have different ideas regarding his taking off for a few weeks, LOL) and we’ll have just a short period of super quality family time, making a memory that will last our lifetimes. These plans we plan, Corey and I, sometimes Dad and Corey, over and over, over the years, are fun, sometimes silly, but with them comes laughter and dreams…and the hours pass.

We also spend our time planning remodel jobs of properties owned, small business ideas, we talk about movies, current events, share stories about whats been going on “inside” for him, and “outside” for me, the past week …and the hours all too quickly pass.

Its always a surprise to check the big clock on the wall and see it is time for me to leave. But its always with a smile, a hug, knowing all's as well as well can be, for now, in these prison years.

Most travel is best of all in the anticipation or the remembering; the reality has more to do with losing your luggage. ~Regina Nadelson

A DAY AT THE CAMP

Friday I was up early to shower, dress, and make the 40 minute drive to Taft to spend the day with Corey. Since Rods been back to work, after a 2 month leave post surgery, his work load has been such he won’t be able to accompany me to visits on Fridays for awhile. Much as we’ll miss him it will be nice to have my son all to myself now and then. Our conversations are somehow different when its just “mom” and Corey, don’t ask me why. As I am sure they are those times its been just “Dad” and Corey, the times when I have left them to visit, just the two of them, generally times they haven’t been able to see each other every week. Anyways, my visit with my son today was lovely! I don’t know where the day went, I arrived at 9 am and left at 2:30, and it seemed a mere few hours had passed.

When I had first arrived this morning, as the guard in the Control Room was “processing” my paperwork, I noticed a young inmate sitting alone in one of the empty chairs along the lobby wall. He nodded respectfully and said hello to me. At that time a guard approached him and started to lecture him, something about a very poor decision…should have known better…yada, yada, yada. I thought to myself “Uh oh”. The young man looked morose, a little worried, but merely nodded now and then. Then another guard arrived, keys clanging noisily against his thighs, handcuffs at the ready, and together they took the young man away.

During the course of my and Coreys visit another young inmate, a good friend of Coreys, approached our table to say hello and chit chat a while. He mentioned how so and so had been just given a shot and sent to the SHU (otherwise known as “the hole“). This young man he spoke of turned out to be the one I’d seen in the lobby. Seems he had been cited with bringing “contraband” into the visitation hall when he came for a visit with someone, supposedly a letter or something similar. The guards generally always perform pat downs and/or full body searches prior to letting the inmates into the Visitation hall (they always perform full body searches prior to letting an inmate leave the visitation hall, back into general population. An indignity my son has suffered too many times to count in these past 6 years, but the "price" an inmate must pay for the privilege of a visit with someone from the "outside"). Sadly this young man was either ignorant of all the Visitation rules, of the process prior to entering the hall, or made the decision based on some urgency, I don’t know. However, I do know the consequences for introducing contraband into visitation are severe, and generally result in the inmates loss of all visitation privileges for some time, months or a year, maybe more, as well as weeks or many months in the SHU. Depending on his security level, the extra points he will accrue against him could even cause him to be transferred to another prison.

Both Corey and his friend who was telling us the story knew and liked this young man, and felt very bad for him, seems he had been “down“ a year or so and this was to be his very first visit. If he is found guilty of the charge (and speaking from past experiences, there is little chance he won’t be, the kangaroo court system within prison walls is skewed towards the prosecution), it will be a long time before he has an opportunity to enter the visitation hall again. It must also have been difficult for whoever had made the journey to visit him. Most have to travel some distance as Taft Correctional Complex is not exactly close to any major city. It sits in the middle of the desert, 2 hours from LA, 2 hours from the coast, and many hours south of hubs like Sacramento.

Choices are the hinges of destiny. ~Attributed to both Edwin Markham and Pythagoras

FLAME RETARDANTS IN OUR FOOD!



So reads the latest headline in a daily newsletter from Care2 that I subscribe to. Just when I thought I had just about everything covered re eating healthy, now I see we have to be concerned about "flame retardants" (like tens of thousands of other chemicals corporations have introduced into our environment over the past many decades) .

Its become clear to me over the past years the FDA, whom we all (or at least I did) believed were the "guardians" of all foods and drugs deemed fit for human consumption, has been bought by big Corporations, we simply can't count on them to protect us. As regards flame retardants, coming on the heels of the largest oil spill like EVER, and their use of billions of tons of flame retardant (well don't quote me on that volume, I'm just making a point). OF COURSE the introduction of these toxic chemicals are going to affect sea life, the very source of so many of the foods we like to eat. And of course its not just BP, but other leaks worldwide that continue as we speak, contaminating our oceans.

And when I say I have "just about everything covered", who am I kidding??? I simply mean I like to think I am a very "aware" citizen who has come to realize, long ago, we have to be very careful and take responsibility for our own health care and consumption of the foods that define that. We eat little meat, I grow an organic garden every summer, we eat lots of fresh produce from supermarkets year round, that I always wash well in a vinegar/water solution, I buy organic brown eggs from a neighboring farm (2 miles away) from chickens that roam free and are grain fed, I use and have used for about 2 decades, a Brita water filter....need I go on??? However we do like Salmon and I generally always buy wild Alaska salmon...though I do keep a stock of canned salmon in my pantry that is canned in Alaska but is not doubt "farm raised" rather than wild.

But once again, I see I need to add more precautions to my list, as it seems "even in small quantities, some of the gases emitted from flame retardants have been found to interrupt the transfer of nervous impulses from the brain to the heart and lungs, effectively shutting down the central nervous system. Not surprising when you know that some of the gases emitted from flame retardants are considered more than one thousand times more toxic than carbon monoxide".

If you are interested in pursuing this subject you can also find lots of online articles regarding food and furniture contamination by flame retardants, such as an article in December 2010, "Butter Contaminated by PBDE Flame Retardant", an article from July 2009, "The food industry uses plastic pallets made with the toxic chemical Deca [a PBDE] to store certain fruits and vegetables." Theres enough out there, science and investigations, to entertain you for some time. AND hopefully make you more aware going forward, and more "active" in holding the FDA accountable. Yeah, like thats going to happen.

SO here are some tips from Care2's site ~

1. Limit your consumption of fish like rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon, sausage, cheese, butter, and milk.
2. Choose organic foods as much as possible.
3. Detoxify your body at least once or twice per year.
4. Choose an organic cotton or natural latex mattress when you purchase your next mattress.
5. Choose natural furniture as much as possible since PBDEs are often sprayed on sofas, chairs, and other furniture. Furniture made with natural fabrics are becoming more common and more cost-effective.
6. Eat a diet high in fiber. Fiber binds to many toxins to eliminate them from your body.
7. Drink plenty of water to help your kidneys flush out toxins.
8. Limit your meat consumption. Chemicals become more concentrated as they find their way up the food chain. If you eat meat, choose organic as much as possible.
9. Write or call your federal and state/provincial government authorities asking them for tighter controls on harmful chemicals like PBDEs. It is time for the US Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, and other agencies worldwide to wake up and smell the chemicals.
Adapted from The Brain Wash by Michelle Schoffro Cook.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/flame-retardants-in-your-food.html#ixzz1ASW24QCK

Chemicals: Noxious substances from which modern foods are made. ~Author Unknown