“Democracy is based upon the conviction there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.” (Harry Emerson Fosdick)

When Ruth and I embarked on our most recent road trip on September 26, I realized an opportunity that our cross country travels would place us in an advantageous position of seeing firsthand some 2020 pre-election vibe in places we would visit along the way. With no particular strategy in mind for the most part, we soon experienced some extreme political messaging amid the Deep South, Midwest, and Rocky Mountain regions of our country.

One striking caption for example posted on billboards along I-95 in the Carolinas compared Donald Trump’s status as a religious savior on par with God. Another catchy phrase posted on the side of a parking delivery truck in farmland Iowa made reference for Trump “Degenerates” to rally now for him in “Let’s Roll” style. Mobile messaging for Trump most prominently took place as well on passenger cargo trucks in rural counties with “Make America Great Again” banners flashing in the breeze. In striking contrast to the Trump Ad blitz we encountered then, Biden/Harris signs throughout the trip were found “far and few between.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The liberties of our country , the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards. And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.” (Samuel Adams)

A recent road trip visit to the History Colorado Center in Denver inspired me to post a photographic showcase below of America’s long and glorious struggle to sustain the ideals of democracy in our country’s past. As you observe these images, some key questions of current interest from this exhibit quickly emerge for you to consider then about how “power to the people” matters. To what extent does the survival of democracy set the stage for voting behavior as Election Day nears? Does Democracy’s continuance seem worth the fight to you at this critical juncture in our country’s history? With which Presidential candidate do you stand on this issue then as a responsible voter?

“Everyone must take the time to sit and watch the leaves turn.”(Elizabeth Lawrence)

Perhaps the most rewarding part of our latest road trip for me has been the opportunity to slow down from life’s challenges and simply embrace the subtle nuances of autumn’s seasonal glories. In this regard, it certainly helped that I took some time at the end of our vacation to re- witness some nostalgic October memories of childhood play in my former hometown of Cuyahoga Fall, Ohio today. For I possessed a strong desire to curiously frolick again amid a colorfully canopied ambience of dying leaves in the heavily forested lands along the Cuyahoga River Valley then. Somewhat sadly, I must soon return again to my home of unchanging subtropical greenery in South Florida. So understand how the following picture show from this  Northeast Ohio visit affects my heart and mind with autumn filled exuberance today.

“ The answers you seek never come when the mind is busy, they come when the mind is still.” (Leon Brown)

Every once in awhile in my mentally taxing urban life in South Florida, I daydream of a lone wolf howling atop a snowy mountain in the utter stillness of wild mountainous nature. That event means its time for Ruth and us to plan visiting Steamboat Springs, Colorado again for a heavy dose of Rocky Mountain solitude. So it would become no surprise that we would spend a well needed two weeks of our current road trip “lying low” in Steamboat in Mid October to savor the simple pleasures of autumn’s silent seasonal glories.

Consider then that I am the kind of person who struggles to sustain his minute by minute concentration on everyday activities like reading, writing, and listening. Yet I had no problem allotting a sizable amount of time during our present Steamboat visit to focus my extended attention out my motel bedroom window at wild nature’s changing presence. At such times I fixated with imaginative pleasure at such details as a colorful mass of falling leaves, the subtle shading of sun/cloud colors, or first falling, mountaintop snowfall. Adventuring out of town to Pearl Lake and Stagecoach State Parks, I felt my rhythmic breaths of the chilly Colorado air suddenly slow in yogic like meditation as I stood in stoic silence for several minutes amid the nearby presence of two mountainside lakes.

Yes, I am truly hooked on living the illusion of Steamboat stillness reminiscent perhaps of a timeless Monet painting. For while Steamboat functions clearly as a tourist town with an abundance of local eateries, western shops and trendy outdoor activities, I prefer the simple therapeutic “high” of doing nothing here but being sensory- alive. So take a close look at each of the following photographs from our latest Steamboat stopover. You might imagine such activity stillness as an integral part of your own life story.

“To be far from the madding crowd is to be mad indeed.” (A.E. Coppard)

One of the most frustrating aspects of the lingering Corona problem for so many global minded wanderers as we are today manifests in the long term impact of international travel restrictions being enforced now and likely in the unforeseeable future. So Ruth and I in particular realize that if we are unable to soon visit the historic “old town” centers of cities like Vienna, Prague, and Munich… in person, then we should concentrate on finding places that genuinely resemble them as part of our current road trip travels.

So during week two of our present adventure, we booked a two night stopover at the Vinchester Inn in the historic town of Hermann, Missouri. Known for it’s rich German heritage, our first impression of Hermann,  founded by German immigrants in 1836 seemed to confirm the authentic atmosphere of “Little Germany” we so desired. For as we ambled from our hotel the next morning along Schiller Street toward the Missouri River, we gazed wondrously at such quaint brick structures as Chalet Luzern, Hermann House Gasthaus ,Weinkeller Hermannhof, and the Inn at Hermannhof along our way. Enjoying tasty brat and sausage cuisine at Hermann Wurst House afterward would suitably fill our desired German agenda as well. After lunch, our walking tour of Hermann’s Germanic influence would continue along the south bank of the Missouri river which served as a historic transportation hub for Hermann’s citizenry so successfully in the past. For German settlers once made Hermann one of the largest wine producing markets in the world during the steamboat/railroad era of the late 19th century. 

So how might I assess our one day tour of Hermann now? Overall, I sensed that merely spotting the facades of Germanic looking building there seemed somewhat dull. For with the social isolation of the Corona pandemic deepening, the lack of opportunity here of enjoying diverse human contact as we typically encounter in the big cities of Europe certainly dampened our tourist interest today. So the festive atmosphere of German music, costume, or cookery amid “Oktoberfest” or a beer hall encounter will have to wait for a real visit to Bavaria hopefully in autumn, 2021. Enjoy the following photo display.

Note: For those of you who wish to find other small towns to visit in America of strong European resemblance, click on the website below sent to me recently by my blogger friend Sherry.

https://lbfromlv.wordpress.com/2020/08/14/ten-american-towns-that-feel-like-europe-by-jennifer-nalewicki-smithsonianmag-com-august-11-2020/

“Studying cows, pigs, and chickens can help an actor develop his character. There are a lot of things I learned from animals. One was that they couldn’t hiss or boo me.” (James Dean)

One of the most useful online sources I employ for planning our independent travel itineraries has been “Atlas Obscura.” Each weekday, I check their daily update online to read captivating stories about unique places to visit around the world. A recent entry describing an animal rescue farm titled “Where Pigs Fly”, thus caught my attention as we followed our current road trip itinerary through the backwoods of Central Missouri. Deciding that the one hour diversion from our currently route would be worth our time, we then decided to book a mid morning appointment time to this farm for the next day. Billed as the world’s largest pig museum in the country, in fact these intriguing grounds thrilled us with so much more. For beyond the front gate of the farm lay a fascinating menagerie of over 500 rescued animals including horses, donkeys, pigs, hogs, sheep, goats, fowl, dogs, cats, llamas, emus, and a large camel.

During the course of our two hour farm visit to “Where Pigs Fly Farm”, several memorable encounters in close interaction with these animals vividly come to mind.

(1) A blind donkey stubbornly refused to move out of our way and blocked the main road to the facility. How amusing that this mule seemed utterly afraid of our moving vehicle at the time.

(2) A playful St. Bernard dog ran up to me as I left the car and curiously sniffed at my shoes. He then laid down on his back and proceeded to whine as I rubbed its belly.

(3) A hungry emu stalked me as I made my way to the ticket office and aggressively pecked at a grain block that I was holding in my hand. Yet he allowed to me to pet  him while he chewed each morsel.

(4) A lazy hog oinked in sedentary contentment as I plunged my fingers into its filthy stomach.

(5) A billy goat found my shirt more appetizing to munch on than the crackers I held in my hand.

(6) A white cockatoo quietly perched on the door of his open cage allowed me to gently stroke his feathers as he flashed me a loving eye.

The previous examples show  that I experienced a definite sensory “high” from interacting in close proximity with these animals at “Where Pigs Fly” Farm. For I undoubtedly had savored such affectionate contact with farm animals to counteract my emotional blues of social isolation that persists for me in these pandemic times. So if these rescued animals can project such love and kindness in spite of their abandonment, abuse, or physical handicaps, why can’t humans experiencing chronic Corona stress today do the same? Enjoy the photographs below.

https://www.wherepigsflyfarm.com/index.html

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pigs-aloft-museum

“The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.” (Chief Joseph, Nez Perce Tribe)

Getting a good education meant everything to fifteen year old Terrence as he looked forward to excelling in his class work during his upcoming junior year of high school. After all, he had been selected by a special school committee from a pool of academically elite high school applicants to become one of nine African American students to first break the color barrier of segregation to attend an all white, U.S.  public school. Terrence knew that both of his hard working parents always supported his decision to transfer to this new school. But they also cautioned him about angry white protesters who might block his entrance to the school. After all, the tragic legacy of antebellum slavery and its racist overtones had never vanished in this ‘’Old South’’ region..

So as Terrance and these eight other courageous teenagers decided to move forward in their lives and attend classes there each weekday amid such racial tensions, they would develop a keen eye for whom to trust. They also learned to never stray far from those army men and city police who who seemed to be roaming everywhere around school those days. It thus seemed apparent  to each of them that it was this militia’s job to protect all students, black and white, from harm when needed. So they embraced this joyous opportunity for them to compete with white students on equal terms and excel throughout  the entire school year. 

Terrance, in particular, also resolved to find places on campus where he could be most safe throughout the course of each school day. At first, he assumed that each of his classrooms would provide a secure place of refuge for him. Yet he soon learned that many of his teachers and fellow classmates seemed to hate him and often berated him regularly about why he chose to stay as a student at this school. However, Terrence noticed that in Math class, his stern looking  teacher did not outwardly show dislike of him and the classroom atmosphere seemed relatively calm. He also noticed that she would would actually stick up for him when other students picked on him and and often called upon him regularly to answer challenging questions about assignments in class.

Clearly, Terrence had found a safe place in his Math classroom to maximize his chances for learning success every day. Yet he would now need to find other strategies to survive the school year in the face of such openly racist circumstances. Thus he would learn that “keeping his cool” to avoid physical retaliation  when white students bullied him worked best. He would also spend more study time alone in the library when forced to be isolated from the eight other African American students who attended the school. He would in addition avoid drawing attention to himself after school by exiting the campus quietly each day through a basement garage. So as Terrence successfully completed this crisis ridden junior year of high school, the groundwork had been set to mold a future scholar whose will to succeed could never be denied. What other challenging deeds could be mastered in his future of endless opportunity?

Understand then my efforts to provide an authentic sense of Southern racism’s wrath in the above story of Dr. Terrence Roberts, one of the of the nine student members of the so – called “Little Rock Nine.” For during those tumultuous times of September 1957, they would put their lives at risk on several occasions to successfully enroll as African American students at all white, Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas. Racial integration of U.S. public schools as required by the 1954 legal outcome of Supreme Court Case – “Brown vs. Board of Education” had finally been achieved. Terrence would go on to earn his Ph.D. in Psychology from Southern University. He would also enjoy a long career as a distinguished professor, gifted book writer, and coveted speaker around the nation.

For a closer look at the historic events surrounding the “Little Rock Nine”, take a look at our road trip visit to Central High School/Visitor Center in these photographs below.

Source: https://facingtoday.facinghistory.org/60-years-after-little-rock-a-qa-with-terrence-roberts

“The cities and mansions that people dream of are those in which they finally live.” (Lewis Mumford) Continue reading “Natchez Longwood: Charming Opulence Unfinished” →