The Adventures of an International Woman of Mystery

By Elizabeth KB Danese

Mystery has always surrounded Eliza, people always wondered why a woman, would want to work in Electrical? Why would a small woman want to work as a Commercial/ Industrial Electrical instead of something easier, like Residential? Why did she not just get married and settle down? Eliza raised two children by herself, completed a 4-year Electrical Apprenticeship, working full time during the day, going to school and studying at night and became the first, Licensed Female Electrician in her area. Through it all Eliza kept a journal, wrote poems and sought out beautiful places in between. When she left a secure job of 25 years at a Power Plant to go to the Middle East as a Contractor, people thought she had lost her mind, again. In her adventures, she learned about working people all around the world; their hopes, dreams and stories. In Afghanistan she never saw a local woman, but tasted the bread they baked when their son came to work with the Americans. Eliza met people from Bosnia and was able to let them know she had prayed for their countries by name during the war years earlier. She learned history and talked to those that had to flee to the mountains for safety, when their country was terrorized. One man had told her that when she went on R&R, perhaps it would be best if she did not come back. In Iraq, she had two friends named Ahmed and Mohammed that worked with her in Electrical that had introduced her to Christians. She met the Assyrians that brought gifts of Easter Eggs and chocolate and brought her gifts to stay warm. One Assyrian she worked around showed her videos of them at a picnic twirling the flag they were so proud of, explaining the symbols of the Phoenix rising out of the ashes, showing their rebirth. Now that Eliza is an ‘International’ Woman of Mystery, a friend and coworker from Hong Kong told her that she was just too normal, while telling her their favorite part of the fish was the head, and the best part of it was the eyeballs! Eliza laughed telling him that she was going to write that down because no one had ever accused her of being normal before; she had to come all the way to China to hear that!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elizabeth KB Danese
• Release date: Jul 3, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311092755

Elizabeth KB Danese

I was blessed to have been born to my hero, my mother, Bama Katrine Brunson Danese; I am number 2, of 4 children. I have attended Catholic School, Public School, Technical School, Junior College in a 4-year Electrical Apprenticeship and like everyone else, the school of hard knocks. I have worked with an all male review (with a few exceptions) for close to 33 years. I worked 25 years at a Power Plant, then left town and country for Afghanistan, Iraq, Austria, Thailand, China, etc for wages and adventure. I am what they now call a "PLC Electricical Technician" (PLC: Programmable Logic Control) and in some cases a "Controls Engineer". When I started out there were no women in my area doing Electrical, but that would not stop me. I was the first woman in Duval and Nassau County to have an Electrical Journeyman's License in 1985. I have been happily 'paying for the story' ever since.

Book preview

Eliza was sure of one thing, being force fed had never been appealing to her, yet the course of her life had often times been defined by things that she despised. She had fought long and hard at times in her life to simply lose, and lose big. She was not a loser by anyone’s standards but had certainly lost some pivotal battles. Only time has proven these occurrences had led to events she had never dreamed of. Even though this tale was not yet completed; who knew how it might end.

She remembered the day, years ago being 4 ½ years old, when Daddy left the five of them, when all she could think about was her mother. With mama in mind she stood there trying to get daddy to listen, so mama would not be broken hearted. Later on she wrote a poem about it because that is what she did. Who knew why; back then nobody cared about ‘knowing’ yourself. Self-help, were words that just did not go together back then. Just as her dad leaving was beyond her control, it did end up changing the five of them.

One of her favorite places on earth had been her country home on two acres of land in Middleburg Florida. She and her two children lived there during their last time at home as teenagers. There was a great flower-garden yard with blackberries growing wild across the street. As a younger woman, she had imagined living in the small house and building another house on the vacant lot beside the house as she prospered, then renting out the house she was in, for an income. The DOT had other plans though. They were going to build a toll road to buy-pass the congested Blanding Boulevard in Orange Park. Cecil Field was still an operational military installation at the time. She had fought long and hard to keep her place. There was an Official Civic Meeting to argue against the thoroughfare, so she went to join in the battle. Her neighbor was there, she could not get up to speak, due to fighting cancer, so Eliza assured her she would speak for them both. When the time came, Eliza got up with her journal in hand. She gave an impassioned plea for her beloved home on 3408 Brannon Oaks Lane, she opened up her journal and read of an enchanted morning, with the blackberries growing wild across the road, apple and peach trees among the Crape Myrtles. She motioned to her neighbor and spoke for her also. At the end of her speech, the room was filled with applause for her speech; but not one person, other than Eliza got up to speak. They tried to put this same road through Flemming Island, but the residents stuck together and it was not built there. Needless to say, even with compensation it was a sad loss for Eliza. After they moved her house off the land, the land sat dormant for over twenty years without being touched. It took over ten years for them to build the Branan Field Road from Jacksonville to Middleburg; that maneuver took her neighbor’s land (the neighbor she had spoken for at the meeting; she had died not long after the meeting). Eliza went back to walk on the land she loved so much, just before they opened up the new stretch of SR 23 on Columbus Day, 2013. They had finally used her vacant lot; it was under the new road SR 23. The little Baptist Church that was at the end of the world had petitioned for Branan Field Road to go straight through to Jacksonville fervently; they were to be on the main road when this went through. I went to the little church a number of times.

Even though they did displace Eliza, it was strange indeed to see how they paved the main road from Old Jennings, past the Baptist Church, plunging through the thick underbrush to forge a road straight to the old Brannon Field Airfield, then on to I-10! She had always wondered how far back the old Brannon Field Airport was from where the road ended; it was a lot farther back than she had thought. At one time she had thought of hiking to see if she could find it. As history has it, in 1949 it was listed on maps as the Branan Outlying Airfield. The Branan Field Airfield was active throughout the war, training the Flight Demonstration Squadron, better known as the Blue Angels. Pilots practiced landing patterns on aircraft carriers & a mile away to the south, the Spencer Bomb Target, was there, all for the war effort. The old 8-runway, star-circular pattern of the runways was recognizable up to 2002 at the great, new, mega complex known as Oak Leaf Plantation. Yes, you could go all the way through from Middleburg to Orange Park to I-10 after ‘Progress’ had joined Middleburg to Jacksonville via Eliza’s land. Blanding Blvd would have a lot less congestion now (believe it or not it used to be worse).

Then there was the time, years ago, her BFF/sweetheart, shut off the land line for the phone. She was livid! There goes the internet she thought. After feverishly looking for a solution she had found a Sierra Wireless Air card, in a time when almost nobody knew about those things. Whether she was in another state, or even on a boat, there was internet; imagine that!

Another time he was hooking up the gas lines for a gas stove he went hunting for. She despised the thought of a gas stove! She had used all the logic she knew of (including the bomb of a gas tank right next to the house), to no avail. He moved the tank about 15 feet away from the house, but there it was! It had been sixteen years now and when the power went off she could still cook eggs, grits and cheese without a hitch if she so desired.

Grits for 2:

2 cups of water brought to a boil

Have 1/2 cup of