Earthquake Again!

This time it was a cluster of 7 small quakes that occurred Thursday and Friday the 23rd and 24th of April.

They ranged in magnitude from 4.0 down to 1.8. They were centered in the Chino Hills about 2 miles north and east of Yorba Linda, roughly 5 miles from the Williamsons' house. They were all very short in duration, and caused little damage. Some of the pictures hanging on our walls were tilted a little.

The quake we had last year was also centered in the Chino Hills, but a local seismologist believes this group appear to have originated from a different location. An article in the Los Angeles times stated that the number of quakes in our area that are magnitude 3 and above has increased in the last year, but they are not sure what it means.

I think it means there are a lot of geologic faults in the area--that's about all.

Welcome, Quinton!

Bonnie and I are grandparents! Quinton Thomas Dale was born on December 2nd to our daughter, Heather, and her husband, Josh.

Quinton weighed in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces. He and his mom are doing fine. Bonnie and I were fortunate to visit Quinton just a few hours after he was born. We took our video camera to capture the happy occasion. These pictures are frames from the videos.

Naturally, Bonnie and I are anxious to help Heather as much as we can. She is very busy these days.

Quinton has his own web site: http://www.quintondale.com/

Farewell, Lucy Dear

Lucy

(Sept. 19, 2003 - Dec. 12, 2008)

Bonnie and I said goodbye to Lucy for the last time today.

For about a month now, Lucy was battling cancerous mast cell tumors on her liver and spleen. Steroids mitigated the symptoms some, but chemotherapy apparently had little effect on the tumors. It got to the point where the discomfort was making life miserable for her, so we put her to sleep today.

Bogie, now 14 years old, is still with us and faring well considering all he has been through and his progressive arthritis. And, of course, we have little Jazz, our bouncy red puppy, too.

But we are sad to see Lucy pass at the relatively young age of 5 years. She was lively and lovely. We will miss her very much.

Sunsets

Few sights are as familiar, and at the same time as emotional, as an evening sunset. The anxieties of the nastiest days can be calmed and forgotten during a few minutes of relaxed contemplation as you watch the sun slide below the horizon.

My nephew, Greg, sent me a lovely picture of a recent sunset in Key Largo, Florida.

I immediately remembered a very different sunset that I photographed from my patio in 2006, and sent it to him. If you look closely, you can see the evening star, Venus, near the center about 1/4 of the way down from the top.

Each of these vastly different settings brings a wonderful feeling of peace and tranquility.

Fire!

We have one!

Yorba Linda made the national news Saturday, when a fire came blowing in from Corona. The media eventually named it the Freeway Complex Fire. It has burned 23,722 acres of land and destroyed or damaged 211 homes.

The burn area came within about 5 or 6 miles of the Poochie Williamson residence. That's just a little too close for comfort. We were not asked to evacuate our home, but on Saturday, it looked like we might have to go. The place looked like a scene from operation Desert Storm. We could see flames to the east, and a red halo of flames to the north. The smoke was so thick it nearly blotted out the afternoon sun. What little light we had was an eerie brownish yellow color.

We packed up 3 car loads of paintings, prints, collectables, photographs, prescriptions and vitamins, dog food, leashes, clothing, etc. Sometimes there were hard choices between 'take it' and 'leave it.' Heather & Josh took one car load for us, Amber and Ron took a second, and I put the rest of the stuff in our Maxima. I saw several other families in the neighborhood packing too, but many did not bother to. We knew, though, that if things got bad we could be on the road in a few minutes and many of the most treasured and irreplaceable of our possessions would be safe in nearby Fullerton.

Bonnie and I alternated shifts during the night watching the TV coverage for word of any change.

But we did not have to evacuate. The wind shifted Sunday morning, and the fire headed way north and west of us. Our skies were sunny and clear nearly all day. I unloaded the Maxima Sunday afternoon. The evacuation orders for Yorba Linda were lifted Sunday evening. Heather and Amber brought our stuff back today, and Bonnie and I have nearly everything put back in place.

The fire is about 30% "contained," but is still burning. I expect it will take the firefighters a week or more to extinguish it.

Packing and unpacking the valuables was an ordeal, but when we hear how much was lost by those who had to leave in a hurry we are glad we did it.

New Buttons, Old Designs

We who collect campaign buttons are busy this year, gathering Obama and McCain pins for our collections. The big difference these days is that the buttons are larger, anywhere from 2 1/2 inches in diameter to 3 1/2 inches or even larger. Large buttons were made in the "golden age" of buttons (1896-1916), but they are less common than the 1 1/4 inch and 7/8 diameter buttons.

Generally the graphics on buttons from the "golden age" are more colorful and better executed than on the buttons from the 1920's forward. Variations on the red, white, and blue stripe pattern became a common standard for many years. The 2008 campaign items have a lot of color and many attractive new designs. Some button makers, though, have reverted to the designs that were so popular during the golden age. As examples, I have posted pictures of two buttons from the 2008 campaign, and two from the 1904 (Theodore Roosevelt vs. Alton B. Parker) campaign.

The older ones are smaller, of course. Also, note that both of the 2008 buttons contain the candidates' names. In 1904, names appear only on the pin for Alton Parker and Henry Davis. Everyone recognized Theodore Roosevelt's image. Personally, I like the sharpness and refinement of the 1904 pins. But the 2008 buttons make their statements loud and clear. And the candidates smile for the portraits!

Henderson for President

On occasion a collector of political badges will encounter an item that is puzzling. One such item is the Henderson for President badge. I first saw it in 1968, when a lot of reproductions and fantasy badges were being produced. I wondered what the origin of the badge was, but I bought it and kept it, hoping that I would some day learn the story behind it.

Nearly 40 years later, the personal computer and the internet would help me find the facts behind the Henderson badge. It is indeed an authentic campaign item. It was about 20 years old when I first found it.


Leon Henderson (1895-1986, b. Millville, NJ.) was an economist and an official of the Russell Sage Foundation (1925-34). Henderson held several posts as economic adviser in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt before his appointment to the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1939. Henderson was the first director of the Office of Price Administration (1941 -42). He played an important role in inspiring the country's massive economic mobilization for World War II and wielded enormous power as overseer of Government rationing and price ceilings. After leaving the OPA, he followed a career in business. He was a Democratic presidential hopeful in 1948.


I decided to post the information on my blog, and make it available to other collectors who may be asking my question.