The temperature generally close to a comfortable 70s
The air seems clean, streams are flowing, crops are growing
El sol de esta primavera is so very nice!
………………………..
The four younger grandkids are such icing on the cake
So full of energy and giving in their living
And nice things to say
Wanting to learn and absorb knowledge
Smiles of innocence on their faces, love in their hearts, and compassion in their souls
……………………..
I personally have had such a relatively luxurious and free life
And the freedom to speak out
(Even if I reach very few …
And even though even then
Those that hear
Generally aren’t listening)
**********************
The media I hear and watch on this day in March of 2024
Does regularly remind me of the complicated necessity of socio-economic politics in an extremely artificial world of eight billion
Some of whom as individuals transform more than 300,000 kilocalories of energy each day
And there’s Trump! The constant prevalence of Donald J. Trump. …
Well … there is no doubt that Trump is an insane narcissisitic populist demagogue responsible for deaths of January 6th, in mass shootings, and from Covid and other terrible occurrences
But the root responsibility, admittedly complicated
The basic blame lies with an ignorant and quite immoral populace which enables and empowers a monster like Trump
********************
“Well paul bain, at least we have relative freedom in THIS country! At least we are FREE to speak out and choose.”
Blurts out my old intellectual family friend from my south Texas village of divine Devine
Oh yes! With the highest number of its citizens incarcerated in the world!!!
With gerrymandering and voter suppression! Anti- LGBTIQ+ laws. “Don’t say gay!” Book banning. Serious curricula retrictions in public universities.
(Lack of “positively ethical applied community ecology” across the curricula and campuses of most U.S. organizational entities)
The end of federal protection of abortion rights. One of a minority of countries which has the death penalty.
Arbitrary mass immigrant detention. Guantanamo …
Rampant destruction of Nature, the Commons, and the Land.
********************
********************
This “spring-good-life” is truly very nice here in Seguin Texas
But this “freedom for a good life” is not accessible to many in this nation of the U.S. of A.
For some … indigenous; those of some skin colors, various religions, ethnicies, and economic sectors; women; relatively powerless, suppressed castes; those of certain sexual orientations; those that didn’t fit the norms of the majority, … it wasn’t accessible from the get-go
Some freedom has been gained in this nation over time, but much freedom has also been lost over the years
And we are increasingly losing it
And I reemphasize, it is not because of Trump and Trumpsters
It truly is all of us
Yes as an a-hole contrarian citizen of the most poweful, greedy, and selfish county in the world …
I will also put most of the blame on us of the U.S. of A.
(Especially when our power
Our neoliberal capitalistic, military power
Snatches so much freedom for those of other nations of the world)
……………………………
… Nevertheless … this loss of freedom IS a widespread global disease
agnostic (college station, or the location of where plain paul first heard the word) …
¡pendejo! (synonym for for “trump”; devine, texas) … ubiquitous (quincy, florida) … esoteric (austin) … lucrative (dilley) … sacanangem! (campo grande-mato grosso do sul, brasil) … piękny(polish for beautiful; tatra mountains near zakopane) pretentious (who knows?, but recently from a jornalista brasiliera in seguin) …
aphorisms (seguin)
every one of these words heard (in the above parenthetical locations) has a longer pablo story
in all of their very plain glory
(and there are many other such words … and stories, none of them, graças a Deus, particularly gory)
……………………………………
each of the words
fell on pablo’s ears like beautiful life-enriching turds
in his so-called adult years …
(adult years??? …
no real concerns about about loss of top soil and loss of net primary productivity … but tremendous concern in loss of money-, loss of bit-coin value … stupendous (stupid) fears!?! ..
gnostics?, right to bear arms, War [Shujaiya, or Courage; Mariupol; Port-au-Prince; Yemen; Syria; South Sudan; Congo; and on and on and on], ubiquitous use of biocides/plastics/fossil energy, lucrative artificial global economic growth in 2024 ? … none of us are adults! … sorry if this brings you to tears) …
… each of the words in the intro above
fell on pablo’s ears like beautiful life-enriching turds
(the point is … he wasn’t totally dumb
at a minimum, he could chew gum)
neverthless the turd-words were previously unknown to this rural agrarian hick
but pretentiously these new-found palavras (in reality, real jewels) were subsequently used in dislodging tricks by this south central texas prick
With good reason, I was labeled esoteric before this Texas hick even knew what it meant. I wish to start out simple and to the point in this letter … for you and all others … who I hope will read, understand, digest, and act on what is herein.
Join & overtly support in any way you can, Veterans For Peace!
Begin & continue a life-long quest, including robust action, for knowing, understanding, and using appropriately, and spreading the word about (locally & globally) key principles and processes of ecology.
CARE deeply, profoundly, & holistically AND SHARE toward equity for all, including all other humans & other species here on Earth (or what is now “Eaarth [https://billmckibben.com/eaarth/eaarthbook.html]).
In reiteration,
that’s …
1. Join Veterans for Peace
2. Effectively use principles & processes of
ecology
3. Care & share!
*******************
I could not help but enjoy your State of the Union address on Thursday, March 7th, 2024! And I have absolutely no indecisiveness in realizing that you are a much more moral and ethical, and capable, statesperson than your current major opponent, Trump. … I do appreciate you! … Nevertheless, I plan to vote for Dr. Cornel West in the November presidential election unless you can just begin to truly convince me that you support …
–collective
lowering of our ecological footprint locally and globally … and degrowth;
–concerted
efforts at banning nuclear arms & other armaments and at general
demilitarization;
–realization
of equity & sustainable livelihoods across Eaarth;
–and
in general, slowing down the rampant consumerism & the
artificialization of the globe.
Eaarth is in a mess of precariously built, dehumanizing artificial structure of “flimsy cards” and a socio-political/economic system which largely ignores the foundational necessity of Nature. And although I do believe you are basically a moral human in this very immoral global society, in your political career you have de facto been an instrumental part in the destructive development of this neoliberal capitalistic / militaristic / consumption-obsessed house of cards called Eaarth.
…………………………..
Now before I go on further, I feel compelled to relate just a bit of my commonality with you, but also some background on the formation of my positions herein. … Even though I have some silly moments of grandeur, I do generally realize that I am but an insignificant gadfly who continues to mainly be but a simple son of a humble small (five acre) diversified hog farmer (WW II Pacific Theater Marine Master Sergeant) from south central Texas brush country. I am four short years younger, but like you I was born at the end of November in the 1940s and was raised Catholic. And although I am an ignostic, I continue to consider myself to be a Catholic* in my Mom’s family tradition … and in essence. In my 20s I did develop as an agricultural entomologist (doctoral degree) and conducted collaborative ecological research through USDA-ARS, Land-Grant universities, & IICA-Org. Amer. States from the late 1960s until the early 1980s in the southern U.S. & Brasil. In the Vietnam period (& the heat of some monumental civil rights and socio-ecological justice battles) I was in the Cadet Corps at conservative Texas A&M University (1964-65) and an Ensign in Naval Air (1969-70, honorably discharged). In the late 1980s and early 1990s I worked as sustainable agriculture coordinator for Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower until Rick Perry was elected TDA commissioner. (During my “Hightower-years” I did testify to legislative committees and in two Federal District Courts. I have to say that in listening to the testimony of Former Special Counsel Hur to the House Judiciary Committee, I have some considerable admiration of son of North & South Korean immigrants, Republican Mr. Hur … despite the criticism from both sides.) More recently, I had the honor to teach biology & ecology for 22 years in the Natural Sciences Department of a Historically Black and Hispanic-Serving community college in San Antonio. Upon “retirement” I have been volunteering in socio-ecological activities (mostly focusing on youth) across the Plains, in central TX, on Pine Ridge Reservation, and in Mexico and Central America. And in 2016 I rode my bicycle for 2500+ miles and 3+ months from Burlington, VT back to Texas for Bernie Sanders and democratic socialism … and socioecological justice. … Now I am here in early March of 2024 approaching 78 years of age … and I simply cannot continue to support the continuation of U.S. militarism & Wars on this Eaarth and local and global socio-ecological destruction which the policies and actions of your administration and past administrations, and that we all (generally through ignorance, apathy, & complacency), have enabled (Think Navalny’s profoundly correct statement: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to donothing.”).
Therefore, I will emphasize again … if you want my vote this year …
–I
must begin hearing about degrowth and slowing down consumption (and even human
& domestic species population control), demilitarization, and more on gun
control.
–I
need to see a blueprints for real solutions to: immigration(actual U.S.
governmental caring & sharing toward equity on Eaarth), use &
abuse ofdrugs(preventative health care and basic
quality life for all) and associated mass incarceration (some
immediate lowering of what is highest in the world & disproportionately affecting
people of color), and industrial agriculture(transition
to a low-input sustainable agriculture/a more agrarian society). Moreover,
a blueprint for ecology across all curriculaand all campuses
(for young & old in the U.S.) is desperately necessary!
–I
need to see real beginnings of a transition from our ecologically-destructive
automobile factories to the building of a sustainable bicycle and walker-friendly
and mass transport structure.
Artificial living space/capita needs to be diminished. Use of many plastics and other synthetics,
and pesticides & other biocides must be banned.
…………………………………..
Our
great Democratic Party heroes, FDR & LBJ made grand socialistic changes
which were good for the poor & minorities in the U.S. (And in more recent times Democrats have made
some significant strides in civil rights [including for LGBTQIA+] and in health care.) However, FDR & LBJ also supported some
terrible right-wing autocratic governments in other nations of the world like Anastasio
Somoza Debayle & Reid Cabral … somewhat, though more vaguely, like Trump’s outlandish
positions re Orban, Kim Jung Un, & Putin.
This support of right-wing regimes around the world deemed to be in the
interest of the U.S. by Democratic administrations (even Haiti’s ruthless
dictator, Papa Doc) has largely changed.
But there must be changes in other arenas in a largely status quo,
fossil energy-addicted, neoliberal Democratic party, and including in your administration!
Mr.
President, we in the U.S. must begin to recognize our greed and that we are
overly powerful, and super self-serving … and especially responsible for many
of the major problems on Eaarth.
You and I know that change toward a sustainable neo-Earth must begin somewhere and at some time. And from you I must begin hearing the words of “profoundly holistic ecological education”, “lowering ecological footprints”, “degrowth”, demilitarization”, “regenerative low-input sustainable agriculture”, “bicycles & mass transport and reduction of automobiles & expressways”, “prison system reform”, “election reform”, and “reparations for native Americans & descendants of enslaved African Americans”. This change in mindset and socio-political/economic (ecological) attitude has to start …
HERE
!!!
And
NOW!!!
Finally,
Mr. President, I do fully realize that you or I or anyone cannot just wave a
magic wand to close Pandora’s Box and make profoundly holistic and comprehensive
socio-ecological justice happen immediately, if ever. But I do want to see more evidence that you
are beginning to develop toward such an end, at least partially, more of some
of these intelligent & energetic little powerful transformative “wands”
that work for your administration. I
must see evidence that these “wands” in your administration are at least getting
us started toward: degrowth, a reduction in numbers of automobiles & fewer big
conventionally air-conditioned homes, demilitarization, true sustainable
agriculture, and social equity, … i.e., toward real socio-ecological justice.
…………………..
(*I
do firmly believe that if we would work with Pope Francis, and within Laudato
Si’ & Fratelli Tutti and for example, Francis’ desire for an immediate
white flag in Ukraine, we could be on what would continue to be on a very rocky
road, but a quite smoother, more appropriate one … from an apocalyptic Eaarth
to a neo-Earth of quality life for all.)
Thanks
so very much for reading and considering this (and hopefully responding)!
****************
I have developed with some wonderful collaborators a little illustrated book on “positively ethical applied community ecology” which some have called eclectic (& perhaps this letter could be labeled in that manner) … Games We Play. More Than 200,000 Years of Living Truthfully and 5,000 of Searching for Truth. It can be found at Chiringa Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.
****************
Most
respectfully,
paul
bain martin, ph.d.
Retired,
Biol.-Nat. Sci. Dep., St. Philip’s College
Volunteer:
Ogallala Commons, Kids On the Land, Dos Pueblos/NYC-Nicaragua, Episcopalian Veterinarian
Services/Honduras-Mexico, Generations Indigenous Ways, Siempre Sustainable Network & Seguin
community gardens, Seguin Outdoor Learning Center, etc.
cc: Some other local & global leaders,
politicians, statespersons
Because God “is a mystery that absolutely transcends all human categories of thought,” the function of myth is “to put man in accord with nature” and God. (Transformations of Myth Through Time, Joseph Campbell. 1990).
,,, I did enjoy and learn through the interviews by LBJ’s former press secretary, Bill Moyers of Joseph Campbell in the 1980s. https://billmoyers.com/series/joseph-campbell-and-the-power-of-myth-1988/ However, many others contributed to my (very incomplete) understanding of myth, religion, and faith including Karen Armstrong and Stephen J. Gould.
Neverthess, I am probably most in tune with E.O. Wilson who had said …
“In fact, I’m not an atheist – I’m a scientist. Atheism is the belief that there is no god, and you declare there is no god: ‘Come, my fellow atheists, let us march together and conquer those idiots who think there is a god – all these other tribes. We’re going to prevail.’
I would even say I’m agnostic because I’m a scientist. Being an agnostic means saying, dogmatically, that we will never be able to know, so give it up. The important thing is that it appears that humans, as a species, share a religious impulse. You can call it theological, you can call it spiritual, but humans everywhere have a strong tendency to wonder about whether they’re being looked over by a god or not. Practically every person ponders whether they’re going to have another life. These are the things that unite humanity.
If humans have a built-in spiritual yearning, can we do anything about it? This transcendent searching has been hijacked by the tribal religions. So I would say that for the sake of human progress, the best thing we could possibly do would be to diminish, to the point of eliminating, religious faiths. But certainly not eliminating the natural yearnings of our species or the asking of these great questions.” https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2015/01/22/e-o-wilson-im-not-an-atheist-im-a-scientist-and-ant-lagniappe/
2. Truths & Biological/Ecological Principles.
Even though the field of philosophy involves a search for fundamental Truths, Dr. E. O. Wilson emphasized that science, not philosophy (or religion) will explain the meaning of existence. And in his book Consilience and others, Wilson stressed the importance of a merger of science and the humanities. …
…………………………..
Some of the very basic biological principles are: cell theory, gene theory, homeostasis, evolutionary theory, and the laws of thermodynamics. https://www.inspiritvr.com/principles-of-biology-study-guide/ …
Obviously overlapping, some basic ecological principles are: 1. Evolution organizes ecological systems into hierarchies. 2. The sun is the ultimate source of energy for most ecosystems. 3. Organisms are chemical machines that run on energy. 4. Chemical nutrients cycle repeatedly while energy flows through an ecosystem. 5. The rate that a population’s abundance in a given area increases or decreases reflects the balance of its births, deaths, and net migration into the area. Individuals with features that improve their ability to survive (i.e., not die) and make copies of themselves will tend to increase in that population. 6. The rate that the diversity of species in an area changes reflects the balance of the number of new forms that arise, those that go extinct, and those that migrate into the area. Individuals and species that have features allowing them to survive and reproduce in a local environment will tend to persist there. 7. Organisms interact—do things to each other—in ways that influence their abundance. 8. Ecosystems are organized into webs of interactions. 9. Human populations have an outsized role in competing with, preying upon, and helping other organisms. 10. Ecosystems provide essential services to human populations. https://michaelkaspari.org/2017/07/17/the-ten-principles-of-ecology/
Faith and science are both important to the resilience and sustainability of socio-political/economic (ecological) entities involving humans in ecological communities. However, more and more we need to rely on good, thorough, solid (profound & holistic) science rather than inherent, indoctrinated faith in order to realize resilient, sustainable ecological communities which have sustainable livelihoods … and quality life for all.
(*Stimulated after some light texting-discussion exchanges with brothers & friends)
Anyone of sanity and moral & ethical integity would not vote for Donald Trump for President of the U.S. … or support Trumpian MAGAism. Moreover, it is difficutlt to communicate, cooperate, or compromise with the (lack of appropriate) “values” and policies of the current Republican Party, “Tea Partiers”, “Evangelicals”, or Libertaians (albeit “necessary”).
Joe Biden on the other hand is on the whole … a true statesman and a good man, and he can be compelling.
However, Joe has and will continue to take some very immoral actions influenced by Eaarth’s very immoral society and closed mind(s) to a profoundly holistic Golden Rule (resulting in say … working hard & smart in solidarity to rid Eaarth of nuclear weapons, realize gun control in the U.S., abolish captial punishment, open borders, … care and share, … ) and to realizing sustainable low-input human systems energetics. Biden is definitely a much better being than Donald Trump; nevertheless, Biden’s neoliberal-capitalistic policies and support of consumerism, growth, and militarism & War are not a significant enough improvement over Trumpian MAGAism. The Biden administration is not steering us toward pacificism, degrowth, sustainable agriculture, and local & global equity and away from socio-ecological injustice, destruction of the natural resource base, high energy transformation including fossil, and global climate change.
I do like the platform and many of the proposed policies of the eco-socialistic Green Party.
Nevertheless, at this time, given the opportunity, my plans are to vote for Cornell West to be our next President of the United States!!!?!!!
(If what is “blurted out” below seems to be to you … goobledygook, “Greek”, doublespeak, “enrolada”, BS/”besteira”/”caca”; too scientific, overly simplistic & obvious; or too redundant & boring; etc., etc. …
just please try to trust me and do begin live a life of learning in solidarity with others, … practicing, politicking, and preaching … “Less Is More” … and continuing to learn in solidarity with others … ecological principles, processes, appropriate values, and critical thinking/planning/acting toward a better world for all, including have-nots/other species.)
********
“Things” are of course constantly rolling around, or mostly pinging around, in my simple little mind. … To the “consternation” of others, I all too frequently believe my thoughts are well-informed & significantly important … and I attempt to prematurely share them with those in my small world who MIGHT listen and consider.
……………
I may someday soon come to the realization that the likes of Mom & Dad Martin, David Pimentel, H.T. Odum, Herman Daly, E.F. Schumacher, Wendell Berry, Marty Bender, Stan Cox, Wes Jackson, Helmut Haberl, Vaclav Smil, Jason Hickel et al. … & David Orr … led me astray in directly or indirectly highlighting energetics in my process of learning. … However more likely the case will be (at 77 years of age) “I” will soon pass before such might occur … since knowledge, wisdom, and prudence concerning energetics is obviously so very necessary and will continue to be!
Anyway, this very morn (1/28/24) as I watch this little so-called “permaculture” show from Austin & San Antonio on wonderful PBS … and see all of the plastic containers & driplines and concrete & fencing and the gasoline-fueled rototiller & use of electricity, and lack of native vegetative cover (or percent-wise, much of any living cover) …and then I think about how extremely artificial (& “energetically unsound”) many, many so-called “sustainable” efforts in 2024 are–both in urban AND rural settings (and whether they are labeled “sustainable”, “resilient”, “regenerative”, “holistic management/HM/HRM” natural”, “organic”, “permaculture”, “biointensive”, “biodynamic”, “deep ecology” … or whatever!).
I strongly believe that I/ you/WE first have to think …2ND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS AND LOCAL & GLOBAL ENERGETICS …
before we can think, plan, & act profoundly & holistically sustainable … i.e., before we can critically think, plan, & act toward quality life for all of going-on 10 billion humans and ALL other species … or truly make progress to a dynamic homeostatic symbioses including Homo sapiens.
……………
We desperately need “positively ethical applied comminity ecology/PEACEmaking” across curricula & campuses of all human organization entities, with energetics being strongly emphasized in that curricula!
…………..
pbm ( 7 S’s / VV->^^ )
(In reality, “plain paul”, a south central Texas very-small-pig-farmer’s son, former agricultural entomologist, & wannabe decent ecologist)
The best of reputable ecological scientists and their very thorough on-going studies & analysis of local & global systems data say …
o given limitations of the laws of physics and biology, we are virtually limited to this Eaarth and the daily solar energy arriving each day,
o with our human growth we have now overshot the limits of the (sustainable) carrying capacity of an Earth of dynamic homeostatic symbioses (or “Nature”) including humans,
o with our artificial growth we are drawing down on the natural resource base of Eaarth,
o our current way of living with increasing anthropocentric growth is causing unprecedented rapid global climate change over Eaarth, largely because of our continuing high (input/throughput/output) artificial transformation of energy, mostly fossil solar energy,
o because of human economic growth* there is loss of biodiversity and loss of native photosynthesizers at rates on Earth rivaling any other period of human existence … and life-destructive loss of topsoil, appropriate hydrological & atmospheric conditions, and appropriate capture of daily arriving solar energy with natural photosynthesizers, … and as aforementioned there is out-of-control global climate change, (*More specifically, as a result of continual increases in harvesting & agrilogistical, manufacturing & developmental, concreting- & asphalting-over, and recreational [rampant artificializing] actions.)
o and there is a continuation of tremendous disparity among humans (even getting greater) on Eaarth with resultant very unhealthy psychological & sociological stresses, disruptive migrations, and War.
………….
In spite of all this for the most part we are not dealing with …
–economic growth (i.e., transitioning to necessary degrowth economics)
–growth of human and domesticated species population numbers,
–increasing growth of human transformation of energy,
–the need for real reduction of direct and indirect fossil energy usage in the future, …
–the need to truly profoundly & holistically follow the Golden Rule and care and share.
…………….
(In fact, in the case of economic growth, we continually
set goals for; strategically & tactically plan and act, monitor for; educate and indoctrinate towards;
sammy
tschirhart’s haby’s baker; teacher of quilting
(once she, via “dh”, even doctored up the medina river with her yeasty dough from that cake-, pastry, bread-making store)
……….
devoted! devoted!
so devoted!
always
devoted to sonny
devoted to parents walter and lbj’s leona sachtleben; to brother james and his son jesse james
to rural life and not so overly worried about money
……….
devoted
to her children
teaching
them crafts
to
sew, to cook
to get along well in the world
……….
florence ann mae sachtleben* hoffmann (“sachtleben” means “live gently” according to german-speaking son of old devine amigo, mark lessing)
she
was a good woman
she
was a good wife; she was a good mother concerned with her children’s protection
she was a good texan
Florence Hoffmann was a beautiful
cowgirl lovingly hooked to a humble, knowledgeable cowman
A roper’s faithful companion … on long and short rodeo trips with a horse in that little-bitty trailer in the back!
(And that cowman roper Johnny “Sonny” Hoffmann who Florence Ann lassoed back in elementary school west of SA in the Helotes area
Was also an amazing barbado-lamb barbequer, mechanic, welder, watch-fixer, car repairman, deer hunter [along with Florence earlier on], meat processor, sausage maker, cook of many family breakfasts and feasts. He definitely was a keeper!)
In the immediate days and nights
After I met beautiful Elizabeth “Betsy”
Florence Hoffman
At the Quihi Christmas Dance
Her Mom Florence ALWAYS treated me
kindly and like family
On one of the very first of my
encounters
In my life with Florence Hoffmann
I brought her lovely daughter home
late
And I had downed a few beers
(which was not deemed to be so
terrible for this Alsatian/German family)
“It’s late” said my future
mother-in-law
“And you are in no shape to drive
to Devine!
Get upstairs and get in bed and spend
the night there!!”
… This truly shocked paul bain martin! It was something my parents would never have done! But Florence took me under her wing from the get-go
Florence Sachtleben Hoffmann could cook the best venison steaks and delicious dove dumplings! (And I ate many … along with scraping her delicious icing off her cakes, and quickly woofing it down … and suffering the wrath of Betsy’s older sister, Dinkum, who somehow just knew I was the culprit [I left a little!])
She was an amazing artist and
craftsperson
… She meticulously and artfully constructed
so many beautiful and interesting quilts
Moreover, she taught quilting for
many years in her life and collaborated with Poppy Stewart of Black Creek,
Texas (another of my all-time heroes)
Mrs. Hoffmann crafted clothing for her children … and having learned this skill from Florence, her girls won various awards
Mrs. Hoffmann crafted and fired beautiful ceramics
Mrs. Hoffmann developed fantastic, educational, and interesting scrapbooks
And for Christmas and her deeply loved grandkids, Mrs. Hoffmann designed and built beautiful, elaborate and delicious gingerbread houses
Florence could cook anything well
She made amazing cakes at home;
they were sure nuff swell!
She was also an early baker at Haby’s in Castroville
(And yes, there WAS the time she [& “DH”] foamed up the Medina River with her Haby’s yeast dough, down over the hill! … That ol’ river got its fill!!!)
Once Mrs. Hoffmann labored late
one week
Making a fantastic birthday cake
for me in a creative streak
Then she placed it on the kitchen
table one afternoon to rest
‘Til my birthday party in the
coming weekend of zest
Sonny arrived home late that
evening from his machinist works at Lone Star brewery with a tremendous hunger
He spied the cake as a big
beautifully delicious hunk … and took a big chunk
He was enjoying it so immensely as
Florence walked in
But then Florence exclaimed loudly … “Sonny, that’s Paul’s birthday cake!”
Mr. Hoffmann responded with his sheepish
ever-endearing devilish grin
And without nary a blink this
flowed wonderfully from his Alsatian boca,
“Happy Birthday to Paul
Happy birthday to Paul … “
(I must mention that for me
Being a part of the Florence Hoffmann
family
Meant many wonderful family-gatherings
on their stretch of the Medina River
Swimming and canoeing on that river and skiing on Medina Lake … and so much more
Florence and her family worked
hard
But they played hard too
Much more than the Martin family
in which I was raised
Dances, possum!!!??? trapping with John Walter [and catching SOME raccoons], deer hunting and meat processing, sausage making, a horse race in Fredericksburg, and so many family get-togethers)
………………..
Florence was a graduate of Jefferson High in San Antonio (Thanks to her Dad’s gracious boss, Mr. Goad, she was loaned a Cadillac to travel each day to travel about 20 miles due north to Jefferson in her last year from their new ranch locale south of SA near Mitchell Lake … and back)
At birth on August third, 1928,
she was exposed to a life of hard work of a south central Texas ranch foreman
and cowboy
But her dad August Walter Sachtleben and thusly also, her Mom Elva Leona Zumwalt, did work for the likes of the car dealers the Goads, very wealthy Moodys, the Studers, and good ol’ Perry Kallison west and then south of San Antonio
Through these jobs of her dad, Florence was exposed to various aspects of our U.S. caste system and this resulted in one savvy woman
……………………
Mrs. Hoffmann and I actually had
many similar political and social justice views
We did have somewhat of a similar philosophy
of life
Sure … we would argue, and she
would stand her ground
But we did have cordial meetings
of minds and were always friends
(And when I brought my friends
over from other countries
Like “Luica” Campos da Silva and Valeria or Kazik Wiech
Florence welcomed them
And fed and entertained them as
she would family
I will stress again, however, that
closeness to family and her children were a priority number one for Mrs.
Hoffmann
Therefore, she was not particularly
happy that Betsy and I married and immediately went off to Florida to study and
research insects
Shortly after receiving my doctorate,
I took a pasture entomology research position in Georgia and she was not so
pleased
Then we flew the coop of the U.S. to a Brazilian beef cattle research center with three of her grandchildren and that didn’t really make her shout with glee
But she still loved me!)
Sonny and Florence did travel the Southwest U.S. (National Parks and even to Las Vegas!) and a bit in the Southeast (and even to Branson) and loved what they experienced in their country as a whole
But Florence’s true love was Texas (all kinds of Texas rodeos) and the Texas Hill Country
(Moreover, Mrs. Hoffmann loved and
respected Hill Country President LBJ …
Way back when President Johnson would on occasion call Florence’s Mom with an introductory, “Leooona” and then a request followed to be transferred over to one of the ranch honchos who might help him with a campaign contribution)
…………………………….
Finally, there were two great
loves outside of family who Mrs. Hoffmann and I had in common …
Neil Young and his music …
And Willie.
BUT MOSTLY WILLIE!!!
(Florence & Johnny enjoyed Willie as far back as at least the early 1950s and 1960s at John T. Floore’s in Helotes and other locales)
There’s much more to Florence Hoffmann’s amazing life
But that’s all for now!
With love,
paul bain martin
(Husband of Elizabeth Florence Hoffmann Martin & father of three of Mrs. Florence Hoffmann’s grandkids and seven great ones)
