Bakersfield.com Steve Flores

STEVE FLORES: Diving into summertime memories

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:59:39 PDT

Canals and the Union Avenue Plunge: That was our southeast neighborhood's primary refuge from the San Joaquin Valley's oppressive summer heat during the 1960s. We shared the canals with crawdads, broken beer bottles and other unknown sources of refuse. Disgusting, I know, but it was almost a rite of youthful passage back in the day. It also helped us get through the 110-degree Bakersfield summers.

Other than the Union Avenue Plunge, which was a one-mile bike ride away from our Watts Drive home, the only pool we knew of in southeast Bakersfield belonged to my friend Dick Cook, who lived across the way from Casa Loma Street.

Bold, beautiful visit makes my wife's day

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:45:53 PDT

You have always been very nice, and I greatly appreciate it when you take the time to send me an email and describe how I may have stirred up a memory, reconnected you to a place, person or thing or, with apologies to my Golden State Junior High English teacher Ms. Newton, correct my grammar.

My recent column about my wife, Susie, talking to the television and hoping "The Bold and the Beautiful" characters would somehow hear her glee or disgust on the other side of the screen brought email and lots of street comments.

STEVE FLORES: Fine art of relaxation and watering plants

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:07:42 PDT

It was my maternal grandmother's summer evening ritual.After the last dinner dishes had been cleaned, rinsed, washed and put away by me, my brothers and sister tall enough to reach the sink, our Grandma Ochoa would casually stroll out the door to our Watts Drive front yard. She came to live with us after my mom died from leukemia to help my dad raise me and my seven brothers and sisters.

Grandma would grab the water hose connected to the faucet and stretch it completely across our small front yard. Instead of a sidewalk, our southeast Bakersfield neighborhoods had dirt pathways. It was the 1960s and sidewalks did not exist in our neighborhood. Come to think of it, to this day, most neighborhoods in southeast Bakersfield still don't have sidewalks.

STEVE FLORES: Recognition not reward in itself

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 14:08:17 PDT

"There is no shame in being poor. Poor doesn't mean dirty. Poor doesn't mean stupid. And poor does not mean being mean," said recording artist Sixto Rodriguez.

Dignity in poverty. Although he had never been to our home near Watts Drive and Cottonwood Road, Rodriguez was perfectly describing growing up in my Southeast Bakersfield neighborhood.

STEVE FLORES: Soap watching brings memories of Mom, Grandma

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:50:30 PST

At first I thought we had visitors.

I was working in our den on my computer. The design of our home allows you to hear the television and conversations from our living room, which is about 20 feet away from the den.

STEVE FLORES: Friend reminds us to 'remember the butterflies'

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:49:33 PST

I didn't know what to expect when I met my friend Kenny Elmore for breakfast several weeks ago.

The last time I saw Kenny was about two years ago at the signing party for his book, "One Second." The room was filled with family, friends and new Kenny fans who have become enamored with Kenny's lovable persona and despite incredible personal physical catastrophe, notched up his will to fill his life with happiness and joy.

STEVE FLORES: The healing power of a dolphin stampede

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 20:00:00 PST

According to naturalists, a "dolphin stampede" is a rare sight. Sightseers aboard Captain Dave's Dolphin and Whale Safari boat out of Dana Point in Southern California recently witnessed and videotaped this breathtaking phenomenon.

The video, taped two weeks ago, has gone viral.

STEVE FLORES: Christmas Eve present of years ago resonates today

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 19:00:00 PST

I think of Mr. Right every Christmas Eve. He was the father of five very well-behaved young children whose ages I would guess to be between 4 and 10. Mr. Right isn't his true name, but I give this very real man this name out of respect for what I believe should be right and good in all people.

In my early teens and during the mid-1960s, I worked at Handy Spot Market, our neighborhood's local corner store in southeast Bakersfield.

STEVE FLORES: Chipmunks, Christmas tree hunting and family memories

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 20:00:00 PST

The family "cut--your-own" Christmas tree excursion was usually held a few Saturdays before Christmas. We would all meet early morning at my father's house in southeast Bakersfield. Although my dad, Larry, has been gone for many years now, my memory of seeing him waiting for us in his worn-out lawn chair on his tiny Watts Drive front porch is still quite vivid. He would be wearing his brown plaid jacket, brown gloves, gray sweats, untied tennis shoes, socks that didn't match and his navy beany cap pulled over his ears.

His intimidating Marine Corps frown would slowly grow to become a smile as each car and truck filled with his grandchildren, sons and daughters pulled in front of his home. Each grandchild would run to grandpa, surround him and wait for their turn at a hug and kiss on his cold cheeks. By then, his frown had melted away to be replaced by the glow of a proud grandpa.

STEVE FLORES: Grandma, President Kennedy and Thanksgiving Day

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 20:00:00 PST

I couldn't understand why Grandma didn't attend Mass with us on Sunday morning. Like a Marine Corps drill sergeant, she made sure my brothers, sisters and dad, who was a Marine, knew that missing Mass or holy days of obligation was unacceptable in our home.

She was dressed as though she was going, which made it seem all the more strange that she stayed behind that Sunday morning. I thought maybe she just wasn't feeling well.

STEVE FLORES: A backyard, night sky, butter popcorn and history

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 20:00:00 PDT

The swamp cooler on our modest Watts Drive home in southeast Bakersfield provided minimal comfort from the oppressive valley summer heat. It has been more than 50 years, but I still have vivid memories of my Dad letting us escape the evening humidity by allowing my four brothers, three sisters and I to stay up late during the summer and mini-camp in our backyard. We would grab a blanket, throw it on our lawn, lie on our backs and stare into the night sky.

As though we were watching a movie, my brothers, sisters and neighborhood friends would wait for a falling star, the moving lights of passing airplanes or to catch the silent speeding movement of a satellite deep in the night sky. The early 1960s were cell phone-less so all we had on those special evenings were each other, butter popcorn, conversation and our imaginations.

STEVE FLORES: Drive-in theaters much more than the movie

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:00:00 PDT

It was almost like going camping.

Blankets, pillows, lawn chairs, ice chest, snacks and homemade buttered popcorn were all on the checklist of necessary supplies to take for the family.

STEVE FLORES: Doctor's charity reverberates decades later

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 18:00:00 PDT

It is nearly impossible for me to drive by the abandoned and deserted Baker Street building without thinking of him. The street trash, weeds and dust surrounding the building belie the rich history and significance of a popular doctor who treated families in southeast Bakersfield.

The building is where Dr. Ernest Walter Williams practiced family medicine but whose true calling was the curing power of his routinely dispensed mega-doses of compassion, kindness and benevolence to his many patients. I should know. Our family members were his patients as were most of my southeast neighbors.

STEVE FLORES: Get ready for football, family fun

Sun, 19 Aug 2012 17:00:00 PDT

Most people who know me tell me I have a close family. I am blessed with many nephews, nieces, cousins, in-laws, brothers, sisters and friends who have become like family. My wife, Susie, and I were blessed last week with the arrival of Ariyon, our first grandchild. Our large family continues to grow.

The love, compassion and esteem we show each other will playfully end in 17 days. Why?

STEVE FLORES: When was the last time you danced with the one you love?

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 17:53:35 PDT

In the opinion of many, Rachel and Alfred Santa Cruz were Kern County's unofficial Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.

I first met the Santa Cruzes many years ago while playing bass guitar for the local band Thee Majestics. Alfred and Rachel took to the floor and I was immediately mesmerized by their obvious happiness and joy of each other while dancing.