Skip to main content

Considering Place

By

Ivanhoe, California

I am from Ivanhoe, California, and believe growing up in a small, Hispanic, farming community has influenced most of my decisions. Before viewing my slide show, I think you should know about the place I call home.
Population (year 2000):4,474
Median resident age:24.9 years
California median age:33.3 years
Ivanhoe median household income in 2005:$29,700
California median household income in 2005:$53,629
Ivanhoe median house/condo in 2000:$76,900
Ivanhoe median house/condo in 2005:$159,100
California median house/condo in 2005:$477,700
The ethnic composition of Ivanhoe also shaped my views on social issues:
Races in Ivanhoe
Hispanic76.2%
Other race40.4%
White Non-Hispanic21.8%
Two or more races9.5%
American Indian2.0%
As you can tell, it is not what people imagine of California. My wife and I uploaded some of our photos of the area around Ivanhoe, which I have marked as a slideshow on Flickr. Somewhere in storage I have photos of Ivanhoe's Main Street, with Ivanhoe Hardware, Ivanhoe Drug, and a handful of small shops. The school in town is, of course, Ivanhoe Elementary, and the county library branch is under 1400 sq. feet.


This is home, but I also consider "home" to range from Sequoia to the Coast Range. On a clear day, you can see from Sequoia to the Pacific Coast Range, nearly 200 miles. Home will never be urban... but Los Angeles has some surprisingly wonderful national parks within an hour to two hours. (Los Padres is really great during the winter and spring months.) San Francisco used to be "closer" to farmland, but much of the wine country is sprouting homes.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

More Than a Typewriter: The Power of Word

By
Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley March 3, 2014 Deadline April 2014 Issue More Than a Typewriter: The Power of Word Typewriters still amaze me, especially the antique mechanical models. There’s something wonderful about the feel of levers, gears, springs and rollers working together to transmit thoughts into words. Typewriters possess a romance computer keyboards and touch screens lack. But, please, stop using your word processor like a typewriter. Word processor abuse mars many otherwise good documents. Bad habits people develop over time lead to documents that are ugly and difficult to edit and revise. The numerous excuses for improper word processing deserve dismissal. It does not take days or even hours to learn to use tabs effectively. Paragraph styles take minutes to understand and appreciate. Even a complex looking table of contents takes only a few mouse clicks to create if you construct a document properly. When you know more about your software tools, you also kno...
Post a Comment
Read more

Digital Writing Ideas

By
Online composition and participation are always a requirement in the courses I teach. When I began teaching at Fresno State as a graduate student in 2004, I was one of the few instructors who required students use Blackboard on a weekly basis. I believe there are several reasons to use tools like Blackboard / WebVista: Students can read and respond to the thoughts of their classmates. I have a record of how writing (and thinking) improve during a semester Peer editing can occur online, in small groups. Students less vocal in class discussions tend to participate more online. Normally, I post a " Weekly Response Question/Topic " based on class discussions during the week. Students can then extend the in-class discussion online. Those who were unable to speak up during the class have time to reflect and post their thoughts, too. By requiring every student to post at least 50 to 100 words a week, they soon engage each other in discussion. I always use threaded discussions...
Post a Comment
Read more

Word Macro for Word Abusers

By
I overuse some words and phrases in my writing. Most writers have some problem words. It isn't that the words should never be used, or that we use them incorrectly. We simply use them too frequently. The following Microsoft Word VBA macro marks words I should check for overuse. Also included are words and phrases I should avoid. Feel free to copy and modify this macro. I encourage my students to try this macro, too. Once you have the macro in Word, you can alter the word list to reflect your preferences and habits. Sub macWordsToAvoid() Dim vFindText As Variant Dim txtWord As Variant 'list the exceptions to look for in an array vFindText = Array("about", "all", "almost", "a lot", "already", "always", "along with", _ "anxiously", "absolutely", "as well", "believe", "certainly", "clearly", "definitely", _ "eagerly",...
Post a Comment
Read more