Dr Peter Medrano has Passed Away

This world is not my home,
I'm just a'passing through,
My treasures are laid out,
Somewhere beyond the blue,
The angels beckon me,
From heaven's open door,
And I don't feel at home,
In this world anymore.

(Verse From An Old Gospel Hymn)

It is with deep sadness that I share with you the tragic news that Uncle Peter has passed away. Uncle Peter married Tanty Winnie in Chile in the 50's. Uncle Peter will be sorely missed by all who knew him. When my parents passed away recently, I took comfort that they escaped the tyranny of disease. I pray that the Medrano family can also take small comfort that Uncle Peter is at rest. The obituary below was copied from Carson McLane Funeral Home.


Peter P. Medrano, M.D., 77, of Valdosta died on Saturday, November 15, 2008 at his residence following a brief illness. He was born on September 4, 1931 in Iquique, Chile to the late Peter P. and Ofelia Zavala Medrano. He immigrated to the United States at the age of 19 and lived the American Dream by working his way through medical school as a dishwasher, factory worker, and gas station attendant. Upon completing medical school, he served a year internship at Portland Hospital in Oregon, 3 years in Adult Psychiatry at Wayne State in Michigan and 2 years of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Hawthorne Center in Northville Michigan. He was also board certified for neurology from the University of Michigan. He was the Director for Children Services for Oakland County and the Fairlawn Center, Michigan. He was in private practice in Farmington Hills and Flint, Michigan for 20 years. He was the head of the Child and Adolescent Unit of Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. He moved to Valdosta in 1985 to open the Adolescent Unit at Greenleaf Center. He was in private practice at Insight, worked at the Behavioral and Health Services of South Georgia in children and adult services, worked at the Youth Center at Nashville Hospital, and was the consultant for VSU counseling service. Dr. Medrano was an avid athlete and continued to play tennis and racquetball up until the day of his hospitalization.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Winnie Medrano of Valdosta; three daughters and a son-in-law, Susan Medrano and Daisy Almegard, both of Celebration, Florida, and Patty and Dr. Steven Wilson of Valdosta; seven grandchildren, Nicole Estebanell, Lauren Estebanell, Natalie Carfagno, Lee Almegard, Shelby Almegard, Colin Wilson and Brenna Wilson; one sister, Rina Medrano of Santiago, Chile.

A memorial service for Dr. Peter Medrano will be held at 5 p.m., Tuesday, November 18, 2008 in the chapel of Carson McLane Funeral Home. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Georgia Sheriffs Boys Ranch. Condolences to the family may be conveyed online at www.mclanefuneralservices.com. Carson McLane Funeral Home.

El Muelle de Paja (The Haystack)

''Wheatstacks (End of Summer)'' by Monet

Although a haystack is simply a pile of discarded chaff from the wheat harvest, to children and adolescents alike, it used to be an exceptional playground. It is therefore not surprising that Monet, Van Gogh and others were inspired to memorialize the haystacks of old.

Even today, Aiden intuitively presumes that stacks of hay are a playground. Look at the pleasure he gets.

Since traditional haystacks are now extinct (piling bales of hay does not make a haystack), I will provide a brief description of how they were made in Chile from around 1900 to 1960.

Harvesting wheat was a hot, dusty, itchy, and dirty task. The process began with a team of oxen that would pull a device that would cut the wheat stalks and leave them on the ground. The wheat stalks would be bundled and allowed to dry in the field. A few days later all the stalks were gathered with pitchforks and tossed in the back of an oxen pulled cart. Once the cart was heaping full (about 10 feet high) it was driven to the thresher machine. The role of the threshing machine was to separate the wheat kernels from the straw stalks, and if the harvest was abundant, then the corresponding haystack was huge. The following video is true to my memories of threshing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DZfESGwXqw

In our farm the first thresher was powered by a steam engine, but later a tractor did the job. You could hear the threshing machine from miles, and to be honest, the sound alone scared me. Additionally the workers loved to scare us kids with stories of mutilation and death to careless children around the thresher.

The only time Uncle Douglas whipped me, was when I was careless and I almost ran the cart into the conveyor belt (as shown in the video). At the time I didn't get what the big deal was. Today after seeing the video, I realize what a pachycephalosaurus I was.

"The Siesta" by Van Gogh

The haystacks we produced were gigantic. In fact, standing on the top of a haystack afforded the best view of the land. I believe this is the true origin of the word “Heyday”. In writing this blog I realized that there are several other expressions that are directly related to this process, such as:

-separate the wheat from the chaff

-finding a needle in a haystack

-rolling in the hay :)

Each day of the harvest, Ema, Grandma, my Mom and all my aunts would cook breakfast and lunch for over 100 people, which they would deliver by horseback.

Douglas Cameron, unknown woman, Rhoda Cameron on a haystack

From a childs point of view, a haystack was a slide, a trampoline, a fort (you could see your enemies from miles away), a place for straw wars, a place to picnic, a place to escape chores and take a nap, a place to read a book, a cave in middle earth (old haystacks were so sturdy, one could carve tunnels or caves, according to your fantasy), etc. In fact many times when visiting neighboring farms, the children would immediately check out their haystacks, and size them up against our own.

The first year a haystack was created it could not be climbed because the haystack had not yet consolidated itself. There were stories of disobedient children climbing on new haystacks, that would fall into pockets were they would suffocate to death.

On a hot summer day, Rhoda, Loyda and Winnie were playing in a haystack that was close to the railroad track. The girls were about 4 or 5 years old, full of innocence and energy (probably as seen in the photographs of the October 30 blog). Anyone who has played in a haystack knows that the longer you play, the itchier you become. So as time goes on, clothes start to fly off. In the midst of all the playing, jumping and screaming, the three girls saw far off in the distance the approaching train. So at the suggestion of one of them and the approval of the the other two they decided to take off the rest of their clothes and wave at the train in the buff. Therefore as the train passed by Santa Catalina, the three gringitas waved, laughed and mooned the Andes bound passengers. One passenger was especially offended: Alexander Cameron could not figure out what had gotten into his granddaughters. The story concludes with fairly placed punishment upon his return.

I have talked to every one of the “chiquillas piluchas” and each one remembered this story slightly different, but when all is said and done, the essence of the story stands. I love this story because it allows me to see Rhoda as a child, and not as the loving and caring Mother she was.

Loyda Cameron, Winnie Contreras Cameron and Rhoda Cameron many years later.

The Inheritance Investment

Front Row: Eunice Cameron, Annie Cameron and Winnie Contreras
Back Row: Colina and Annie Cameron (circa 1936)

During the first decade of the 1900's Annie Cameron received a significant sum of money from her inheritance from Walter Urquhart (see blog dated Oct 5). We have documents that tell us the precise amount of British pounds she received but determining its purchasing power in Chile is a bit speculative. Using data found in Verniory's book, I found the value of the following commodities, in 1895 (in 1895 £3 = $40 CP):

-1 hectare of cleared land ready for cultivation $160 CP (Chilean Pesos)

-House $500 CP

-Rent of 1 hectare per year $40 CP

Factually, Alexander Cameron received the allocated 40 hectares per settler upon his arrival. Additionally, Tanty Nunny informs me that Santa Catalina was around 60 hectares at the time of Alexanders death. So perhaps the speculative assumptions made in the table below are not to far from reality.

Year	British Pounds	Chilean Pesos	Acquisition Power
1904	£15	$200	Rent 5 hectares
1905	£17	$227	Build a barn
1906	£13	$173	-
1906	£15	$67	-
1908	£241	$3213	Purchase 20 hectares

The picture that emerges is that Alexander and Annie Cameron were devout Christians and were industrious and hard workers. Annie's inheritance allowed them to make their settlement grow and allowed them to splurge on the education of their daughters. I presume most of you reading this blog will have choked at the concept of splurging on education, but it must be pointed out that the Cameron girls were raised in the early 1900's, in a time when it was commonly thought that educating females was a waste of money. Alexander and Annie managed to provide for the following education for their daughters:

-Mary Cameron obtained a Nursing degree from Colegio Adventista de Puiggari in Argentina (died 1919)

-Catherine Cameron, obtained a Teacher degree from Colegio Adventista de Chile (died 1927)

-Annie Cameron obtained a Nursing degree in the United States. I have not located the school from where she graduated.

-Colina Cameron obtained a Teacher degree from Colegio Adventista de Chile (died circa 1990)

Their son John became a farmer and did not seek higher education. My guess is that going to college was not even a choice for John.

It seems to me that Alexander and Annie Cameron led successful, contented lives and were incredibly progressive for their time.

Front Row: Annie Cameron and Winnie Contreras
Back Row: Eunice, Colina and Annie Cameron (circa 1936)

References

“Diez años en Araucanía 1889-1899, de Gustave Verniory, Traductor: Eduardo Humeres, Santiago 2001, Pehuen Editores. ISBN: 9561603322