AGENDA 21 RADIO

BY PAUL PRESTON

Orange County California is where I am from. I grew up along the Santa Ana River as a child where I would play in the sand of the river. My father took me to the river when we lived in Anaheim and gathered up sand for my first back yard sand box. It was in that sand box where I learned everything I needed to know about dams. A lesson I put to good use February 12, 2017 when I was almost killed along with as many as a million other Californians were almost killed by a megalomaniac governor who failed in his duties to maintain the Oroville Dam.

I learned to ride our two horses Babe and Patches for years as I rode along the river’s levee from our stable in Orange to Newport Beach. Those were long rides back in the day, there were no bike trails then just a levee for miles in front of me along with thousands of acres of oranges groves and row crops in the fields the levee protected from floods. My first job at 12 years old at the Olive Heights Citrus Association took me to the orange, lemon and grapefruit groves along the river where now Anaheim Stadium stands.

I learned to toil hard for33 cents per crate of picked oranges with Mexican men who called me “whetto.” and “gringo”. I had to learn to speak Spanish if I wanted to keep up with the teasing. I did that for three summers. I worked hard everyday sometimes for 10 hours a day I and never complained. I learned a strong work ethic and new language from my Mexican mentors which has stayed with me all my life.

The Santa Ana River has given me some of the biggest lessons in my life now she’s giving us all a lesson in what freedom lost looks like. The question is will we learn from the lessons from those who gave us so much to be free and stop those who want to destroy our freedom? I know we thought these people were gone forever but tyranny never sleeps.