The Corona Diaries Vol 28: Not as Bad as the Cuyahoga River

Late July 2021

A few years back when my mother-in-law died, I was clearing out her house and came across a box of letters. They were used by my Frau's grandfather, Clarence, to write his book, Remembering John W. Cookson: A Wisconsin Anti-fascist in the Spanish Civil War, 1937-1938.

You see, Clarence was a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and fought against the fascists in Spain from 1937-38. Cookson was his best friend and the pair battled Franco together over there. If my memory of hearing Clarence talk a family event from many years ago is accurate, then Cookson died in Clarence's arms. For his part, Clarence was injured during the Battle of the Ebro in 1938 and that ended his fighting career – with a gun, that is.

The letters were mainly ones written by Cookson to his family from Spain. Here's a bit of one. Sorry about the quality. I'd take a new photo but I donated the letters to the Wisconsin Historical Society before getting a better picture.

Cookson wrote this missive dated June 4, 1938 to his father from Barcelona. In it he argues with his dad over the threat posed by Hitler.

You say " of course Chamberlain's plan will avert a European war & that is what England is afraid of".

…

But I'm afraid that unless Chamberlain is ousted there may be a world war.

There is something rather harrowing about this exchange when you know how history played out. I feel a vicarious sense of fatalism reading it knowing that Germany invades Poland the following year and the enormous human toll to come.

You can find out more about Clarence and his remarkable career as a peace and social justice activist here.

********

While it took a couple visits, the experts have finally attached the base and quarter round and so our 3-month kitchen floor replacement odyssey has, for all intents and purposes, finally come to an end.

The cats are dropping food and puking on the new floor just as they did on the old one so things are back to normal. Next I need to remove the old microwave and the Frau needs to paint walls. By and large, though, I can now concentrate on the next major home improvement project: hardwood floors that need to be sanded and re-stained out in the living room. Oh, and a new deck as well.

********

Earlier in the summer I discovered the Madison Parks events website and, while it took me a few weeks, I finally attended an event. This one involved Starkweather Creek near my home. I arrived on a lovely Saturday morning and was greeted by a couple folks and a little dog too. They were going to demonstrate their monthly testing routine which measured the creek's rate of flow, temperature, and other fluvial attributes.

The gentleman was pleased at how clear the water was before noting that the creek is contaminated with PFAS, carcinogenic chemicals that don't naturally break down. With more than a note of disgust, he explained how fire fighting exercises were done in decades past upstream at the airport. In the infinite wisdom of airport management, firefighters would lay down some jet fuel on a spot near the creek and then practice their snuffing skills using a foam laden with PFAS which made its way into the water. Uff da!

With the measurements having been taken, we took a look at the critters in the creek to see if any of the less hardy ones could be found in an attempt to try to gauge the effects of the PFAS and other pollutants. We found a couple bugs that are fairly sensitive to pollution so the creek doesn't appear to be in dire straits. There were lots of mayfly and dragonfly larvae and, I must admit, I had no idea that you'd find oodles of insect larvae in the water. I figured that flying creatures grew up on land. There were also lots of crawfish and snails.

I had fun and learned quite a bit about the creek which runs just a couple blocks from my house. The guy also convinced me that I should kayak the creek. Water craft can be rented on the shore of Lake Monona, not far from home so that is now on my to-do list.

On my return bike ride, I ran across an old car which looked like it was straight out of a François Truffaut film.

I looked it up and it appears to be Citroën 2CV, the French equivalent of a Volkswagen Beetle – cheap, no frills transportation for the common man.

********

Back in the spring, the Frau's father was talking up his plans to plant a Three Sisters garden. Various Native American tribes used to plant corn, beans, and squash closely together as the arrangement was beneficial to all involved. This method helps attract pollinators, keep away pests, and allows the plants to help one another grow.

And on a recent visit to the father-in-law's, we got a glimpse of the garden.

It looks like we may be having a very traditional Thanksgiving this year.

******** 

Bonus photo. I call this one "Tight Squeeze".