Austin was terrific, and we partied right up to 12 hours before we left town. We really miss Sarah, but let me tell you, we don't miss the juniper pollen - the reaction to which is commonly called 'cedar fever' in central Texas. It struck with a vengeance, and just about felled me. It was so bad that I'm contemplating getting re-tested for allergic sensitivities. It's been 25 years since I was 'tested', and I took shots for about 3 years.
We've spent about eight months living with other people's furniture, dishes and beds. The New York duplex was fine - we were never there, and I didn't cook a single meal. The New Hampshire ski chalet was better than it appeared at first glance, but having a kitchen where you can stand in the center and touch every wall leaves something to be desired. The Austin condo was just awful. From the too soft beds, to the horribly uncomfortable furniture, this place was miserable to live in. Staying in it for 10 weeks was downright trying. HOWEVER, that said, the location was fabulous. If I only had to stay in it for 2 weeks, I'd do it again to be so close to Sarah. We did take our 40" flat screen everywhere - and used it in both New Hampshire and Austin. Since we didn't take our furniture, we spent an entire day at our storage unit completely unloading and reloading our trailer before we could take off.
Two interesting things happened on the way out to Arizona - one good and one bad. The bad news first: We were tooling down the interstate between Fort Worth and Odessa when we heard a loud BANG. I just happened to glance out the side mirror to see the bizarre sight of one of our bikes BOUNCING down the interstate as we continued to speed along. It turns out that Drake forgot to tie the bikes down to the trays the bikes sit in on top of the car. We had so much happening as we were trying to leave Austin that it just slipped his mind. We got from Austin to Hurst just fine, but there were high winds as we headed toward Odessa. Of course, the bike was destroyed - I should say MY bike was destroyed. We were so fortunate that there wasn't another car or truck behind us. I'm sure a bouncing bike coming at you on the Interstate would cause a definite panic if not a busted windshield or an outright wreck.
The good news is that I got to pick up some more rocks at the Rockhound State Park outside of Deming, New Mexico. This is a small state park in the middle of nowhere. You get to go walk around in the desert that was the site of a series of volcanic explosions millions of years ago. What's left is a hodgepodge of different types of rocks. Many of them are fused together in interesting combinations. Now, understand, these rocks weren't as good as the ones I got at the Ruggles Mine in New Hampshire, but the Rockhound State Park only wanted $5 for the privilege of picking up rocks. That's a pretty good price for 15 pounds of rocks. Drake was just thrilled, utterly thrilled. (NOT)
Since we got to Arizona, we have been shopping for my favorite item to purchase: a house. We have decided to buy a condo in Sun City, Arizona - the first mecca of retirees. In 1960 Del Webb, a savvy builder, hatched the scheme of creating a contained community for old people. He built houses, recreation centers, tennis courts, ball fields, and multiple golf courses. He restricted purchase of the houses to people over 55. This idea proved wildly popular, and expanded over a 10 year period of building into three phases. He also built similar developments across the country. The housing real estate prices in Arizona have plummeted by as much as 50% in value over the past 3 years. We realized that if we wanted to winter with Drake's mother, it now made economic sense to buy something for virtually the same price that we could rent something for 3 or 4 months. Plus, there was the added incentive of Spring Training each March.
We've been house hunting for about three days, and today are at the final stages of getting the contract signed by the Seller of the house we picked. We bought a really cute doll house (1348 square feet) with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and it's own orange tree. It's spitting distance from the newest recreation center in Sun City - that means large heated pool, gigantic exercise facility, walking track, and the Maricopa County library branch. It's very close to Drake's mother's house. The down side? The address: Drake is fuming over the street name: West Corte del Sol Este - yes, a 5 word street name - in Spanish no less. Translation for you non-Southwest readers - Court of the Sun, East. The street is actually a cul de sac, with a green belt at the end of it. On the other side of the green belt is the continuation of the street called, wait for it, West Corte del Sol Oeste (Court of the Sun, West). Fortunately, we don't get much snail mail. This has all been so exciting. Assuming the Seller signs the contract tonight, we just have to get through the inspection on Thursday morning.
In the middle of all the house hunting, I got a new bicycle - well, new to me. It's a 1978 Schwinn Collegiate which has THREE gears and coaster brakes. It looks brand new - shiny blue frame and silver chrome fenders. It even has it's own rear view mirror. I'm deliriously happy with it. It only lacks those wonderful streamers you can put at the ends of the handlebars. Hopefully, I won't be confused by gears I don't understand, and my feet can once more stop the bicycle. This should greatly reduce the bike crash factor for me.
Once we get closed and settled, I'll take some house pix for you faithful readers. Expect us back in Texas in April to pick up the contents of our storage unit. In the meantime, we are Drake's mom's house waiting for our closing. You can reach me by snail mail at: 9606-A West Mountainview Road, Peoria, AZ 85345.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Austin: Donut and Donut Hole
Howdy from Texas! I definitely know I'm in Texas, in the heart of Texas as a matter of fact: Austin. Austin is often considered the oasis or mecca of Texas especially by those people who went to the University of Texas or those we reside in Austin. I'm here to tell you though that there are two distinct Austins.
I consider Austin to be a big, old donut. The doughy part is urban Texan, recognizable to anyone who lives in the Big D, Fort Worth, San Antone, Houston or any number of smaller Texas cities. Its full of big box stores, slick strip shopping malls filled with chain stores, and every restaurant chain is represented not just once but multiple times as you move around the donut - think Round Rock which is a seamless suburb of Austin but has more in common with Dallas or Fort Worth.
As a Texan, have you noticed that we are no longer a 'rural' state? - only about 14% of Texan can be considered hayseeds now. That doesn't mean there aren't a lot of them - we have the largest rural population in numbers of any state - over 3 million. Those 14% are busy, as they account for Texas being #1 of all the states in livestock production and #2 of all the states in agricultural production. That's why this catastrophic drought covering the state is going to impact the rest of the country. Demographically, though, virtually everything west of Fort Worth has been losing population. We are the fastest growing state in the Union - almost a 13% increase in population in the last 10 years. People are streaming into the urban areas - especially around Austin. Not too many people are moving into central Austin - what I call the 'hole'
I live in the hole of the Austin donut. The hole is between the two major freeways running north/south (I-35 and "Mopac") and between two major highways running east/west (Hwy 183 'Research' and Hwy 71 - 'Ben White") The 'hole' includes the University of Texas: 50,000 students. It includes the State Capitol. It includes some of the oldest neighborhoods in Austin. The roads are almost incomprehensible filled with 'gotchas' of vanishing lanes, zigzags, and streets with 1/2 attached to their names. There are more men with long hair here per square mile than anywhere other than some environs of California. There's also a lot of tie dye, tattoos, headbands, and people still making a somewhat dubious living making bongs or ethnic jewelry. The young financially successful also live in the 'hole'. They live in neighborhoods close to the trendiest restaurants, bars, and 'nightlife'. This is one of the few spots in Texas that has inflated housing prices, and one of the few places in the country where those inflated prices didn't take a 50% tumble.
I have heard "the Hole" referred to as "Nut Town", that Commie town, (for those of you born after 1990 - "commie" means Communist in a very derogatory sense), and Weirdsville. I've heard that this part of Austin can either be considered an oasis or an infection depending on what Texan you talk to. It's definitely not homogenized and marches to a beat that is hard to quantify. The 'hole' slogan is "Keep Austin Weird". What they mean is to actively boycott chain restaurants, and big box stores as much as possible in favor of locally owned businesses. People who live inside the hole are willing to pay a small premium to keep those local businesses afloat. Every restaurant inside this area of Austin can be packed on a Friday night, and the one Chili's I've seen has an empty parking lot. There are lots of practical shops that harken back to the 1950's.
Another result of the Keep Austin Weird campaign is wonderful restaurants and interesting shops that sell everything from the most mundane to high art. The "hole" even has it's own hotel/motel: The Austin Motel - whose motto is: "So close yet so far out." http://www.austinmotel.com/ They even have their own grocery store here: Whole Foods - which got its start in the hole part of Austin. This area has it's own fashion color too: Burnt Orange, which is really amusing, considering that most women wouldn't be caught dead in this color since it's really, really unflattering. However, in the Hole of Austin, you can buy everything from a toilet seat, to a car in that nauseating color. Every hat here has a pair of horns on it. Because of the preponderance of people under the age of 40, when I'm here I feel ancient. In most situations I've found myself in the past several weeks, I'm the oldest person in the room - and that includes Drake since I'm four days older than he is.
There are three iconic buildings in the hole: The UT Tower which is bathed in that Burnt Orange color after any football victory, the State Capitol which can still be viewed unobstructed from the length of Congress Avenue, and the Frost Building which is actually lovely with its top looking like wings of frost.
This is a fascinating place to live. It's the most experimental place in Texas. It's the most obnoxious place - as only that crazy, college thing can be. It's the most politically liberal pocket of Texas. It's a visual throwback to the early 1970's, and in that regard, it's a bit unsettling. Sometimes time stands still here and yet, sometimes the 'hole' is on the cutting age of change. This had been another fascinating place to live.
I consider Austin to be a big, old donut. The doughy part is urban Texan, recognizable to anyone who lives in the Big D, Fort Worth, San Antone, Houston or any number of smaller Texas cities. Its full of big box stores, slick strip shopping malls filled with chain stores, and every restaurant chain is represented not just once but multiple times as you move around the donut - think Round Rock which is a seamless suburb of Austin but has more in common with Dallas or Fort Worth.
As a Texan, have you noticed that we are no longer a 'rural' state? - only about 14% of Texan can be considered hayseeds now. That doesn't mean there aren't a lot of them - we have the largest rural population in numbers of any state - over 3 million. Those 14% are busy, as they account for Texas being #1 of all the states in livestock production and #2 of all the states in agricultural production. That's why this catastrophic drought covering the state is going to impact the rest of the country. Demographically, though, virtually everything west of Fort Worth has been losing population. We are the fastest growing state in the Union - almost a 13% increase in population in the last 10 years. People are streaming into the urban areas - especially around Austin. Not too many people are moving into central Austin - what I call the 'hole'
I live in the hole of the Austin donut. The hole is between the two major freeways running north/south (I-35 and "Mopac") and between two major highways running east/west (Hwy 183 'Research' and Hwy 71 - 'Ben White") The 'hole' includes the University of Texas: 50,000 students. It includes the State Capitol. It includes some of the oldest neighborhoods in Austin. The roads are almost incomprehensible filled with 'gotchas' of vanishing lanes, zigzags, and streets with 1/2 attached to their names. There are more men with long hair here per square mile than anywhere other than some environs of California. There's also a lot of tie dye, tattoos, headbands, and people still making a somewhat dubious living making bongs or ethnic jewelry. The young financially successful also live in the 'hole'. They live in neighborhoods close to the trendiest restaurants, bars, and 'nightlife'. This is one of the few spots in Texas that has inflated housing prices, and one of the few places in the country where those inflated prices didn't take a 50% tumble.
I have heard "the Hole" referred to as "Nut Town", that Commie town, (for those of you born after 1990 - "commie" means Communist in a very derogatory sense), and Weirdsville. I've heard that this part of Austin can either be considered an oasis or an infection depending on what Texan you talk to. It's definitely not homogenized and marches to a beat that is hard to quantify. The 'hole' slogan is "Keep Austin Weird". What they mean is to actively boycott chain restaurants, and big box stores as much as possible in favor of locally owned businesses. People who live inside the hole are willing to pay a small premium to keep those local businesses afloat. Every restaurant inside this area of Austin can be packed on a Friday night, and the one Chili's I've seen has an empty parking lot. There are lots of practical shops that harken back to the 1950's.
Another result of the Keep Austin Weird campaign is wonderful restaurants and interesting shops that sell everything from the most mundane to high art. The "hole" even has it's own hotel/motel: The Austin Motel - whose motto is: "So close yet so far out." http://www.austinmotel.com/ They even have their own grocery store here: Whole Foods - which got its start in the hole part of Austin. This area has it's own fashion color too: Burnt Orange, which is really amusing, considering that most women wouldn't be caught dead in this color since it's really, really unflattering. However, in the Hole of Austin, you can buy everything from a toilet seat, to a car in that nauseating color. Every hat here has a pair of horns on it. Because of the preponderance of people under the age of 40, when I'm here I feel ancient. In most situations I've found myself in the past several weeks, I'm the oldest person in the room - and that includes Drake since I'm four days older than he is.
There are three iconic buildings in the hole: The UT Tower which is bathed in that Burnt Orange color after any football victory, the State Capitol which can still be viewed unobstructed from the length of Congress Avenue, and the Frost Building which is actually lovely with its top looking like wings of frost.
This is a fascinating place to live. It's the most experimental place in Texas. It's the most obnoxious place - as only that crazy, college thing can be. It's the most politically liberal pocket of Texas. It's a visual throwback to the early 1970's, and in that regard, it's a bit unsettling. Sometimes time stands still here and yet, sometimes the 'hole' is on the cutting age of change. This had been another fascinating place to live.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Cross Country Musings
One year ago I was in Washington state, 50 miles south of the Canadian border. One week ago I was in the White Mountains of New Hampshire 100 miles south of the Canadian border but on the opposite coast. I've been many places between these two locations. The consensus is that the USA is becoming homogeneous, and before I started criss-crossing the country, I would have blindly agreed. After all, seen one Target, Walmart, McDonald's or Applebee's seen them all. Standardization IS alive and well in those national chains. That said, there's still quite a bit of individuality out there. For instance, we ate dinner in a great chef owned restaurant in Dickson, Tennessee (a town of 20,000) and had food as good (or better) than we got in New York City. [The chef/owner really lit up when I told him that.]
Food and drink are definitely not standardized. The Northeast likes pepsi, ginger ale and rootbeer. I didn't see any Dr. Pepper or hardly any coke. I didn't find salsa at breakfast until I hit Arkansas. Every menu in the Northeast has a reuben sandwich, while the Northwest menus always feature mac and cheese. Grits and fountain Dr. Pepper appeared in Virginia. The comfort food of New York is Italian. There were no chicken fried steaks until I got to Texas.
I can tell you that the fast food restaurants are the new 'rest areas'. You can always count on what you will find - a reasonably clean bathroom paired with cheap food and drinks, and no one cares if you buy anything when you come in to pee. Big plus: fast food restaurants are EVERYWHERE. The very best bathrooms are in casinos, and you can even score free soft drinks there as well as handi-wipes. Gas stations are a complete crap shoot - I've seen gas stations with fresh flowers in the ladies restroom, and others that I just turned around and walked out of. However, there is definitely the expectation that you are going to BUY something if you try to pee at a gas station. My favorite rest stops are when you cross state lines. I love to be 'welcomed' into a state. They give really, really clean bathrooms paired with reading material and people with spiels whose job it is to pretend they are THRILLED to see you. I also love that crisp, clean precision folded free state map you can walk out with.
As a general rule, we drive the Interstate Highway system when we are pulling the cargo trailer - it takes less gas and less effort to drive when you go interstate. You do have to deal with the trucks. Worst truck corridor: Interstate 81 going south - starting in Pennsylvania. It's pretty rural out there, but the farmland is dotted with distribution centers and the 18 wheelers are like bees checking in at the hive. Then they fan out delivering everything you can imagine. They swarm the Interstate Highway system in this area because there are so many criss-crossing interstate highways. When there's a convoy of trucks as far as you see ahead and behind you, our consumerism certainly sinks into the consciousness.
We've also found that all Interstates are not equal. Worst interstate: crossing Indiana. There were actual axle breaking potholes on the Interstate roadway - and there were a lot of them. Indiana has closed all their 'rest areas' all the way across the state. I actually saw men taking a 'bathroom' break against the back walls of one rest area building. That was really embarrassing! I didn't get a map either.
The northeast rest areas around NYC and New Jersey are gigantic and have multiple fast food restaurants inside them. You could actually get a Nathan's kosher hot dog inside the rest area. The drive into New York City was probably the most hair raising driving we've done. Thank heaven Drake was behind the wheel. We went across a toll bridge into Brooklyn that had a $13 toll. My hand held GPS in my iPhone got us to the door of our duplex in Brooklyn sighing with relief, and I can't imagine EVER driving in Manhattan. We actually took a slightly longer route to avoid driving across Manhattan. Brooklyn was bad enough.
The main impression I've gotten driving across the country is how beautiful it is. This last drive from New Hampshire to Texas was a primer in autumn. We loved the leaves in New Hampshire as everyone saw in our pictures, but an unlooked for bonus was as we drove to Texas, we followed fall color. I so want to go back to Virginia - it's just flat out gorgeous. Tennessee wasn't any slouch either. Virginia is just jampacked with stuff 'to do'. I'm certain that's a destination in the future.
Another impression is how nice people are in this country. The media would have us believe that people are scary. If you believed those jokers, you would think the USA is populated with gun toting vigilantes or pants sagging gangbangers or hard core criminals on every corner. I'm here to tell you that this is so far from the truth, it's laughable. There are regional differences. Folks in the Northeast are friendly, but they are not 'warm'. Same for the folks in the Northwest. Somewhere in Virginia we crossed some invisible line. Beyond it, people 'visit' and comment and tell you about themselves and their families and their pets at any social interaction. Having been raised in this type of sociability, I can tell you that it was very comforting after having been in the Northeast for 5 months. I guess what I'm trying to say is crossing the country and interacting with the people and the scenery and the 'attractions' is always amazing and informative and surprising. I marvel at the diversity I've seen.
We are 'resting' with friends for a couple of days before we head for Austin. We'll be 'holidaying' in Texas with Sarah (our daughter) out of a condo in Austin close to her house. We'll be leaving for another drive to Sun City, AZ to spend our winter with Drake's mom and the rest of the family. I'm also excited to be going to Logan Utah for the summer and then onto Montana. Places to go and people to meet. I can hardly wait.
Food and drink are definitely not standardized. The Northeast likes pepsi, ginger ale and rootbeer. I didn't see any Dr. Pepper or hardly any coke. I didn't find salsa at breakfast until I hit Arkansas. Every menu in the Northeast has a reuben sandwich, while the Northwest menus always feature mac and cheese. Grits and fountain Dr. Pepper appeared in Virginia. The comfort food of New York is Italian. There were no chicken fried steaks until I got to Texas.
I can tell you that the fast food restaurants are the new 'rest areas'. You can always count on what you will find - a reasonably clean bathroom paired with cheap food and drinks, and no one cares if you buy anything when you come in to pee. Big plus: fast food restaurants are EVERYWHERE. The very best bathrooms are in casinos, and you can even score free soft drinks there as well as handi-wipes. Gas stations are a complete crap shoot - I've seen gas stations with fresh flowers in the ladies restroom, and others that I just turned around and walked out of. However, there is definitely the expectation that you are going to BUY something if you try to pee at a gas station. My favorite rest stops are when you cross state lines. I love to be 'welcomed' into a state. They give really, really clean bathrooms paired with reading material and people with spiels whose job it is to pretend they are THRILLED to see you. I also love that crisp, clean precision folded free state map you can walk out with.
As a general rule, we drive the Interstate Highway system when we are pulling the cargo trailer - it takes less gas and less effort to drive when you go interstate. You do have to deal with the trucks. Worst truck corridor: Interstate 81 going south - starting in Pennsylvania. It's pretty rural out there, but the farmland is dotted with distribution centers and the 18 wheelers are like bees checking in at the hive. Then they fan out delivering everything you can imagine. They swarm the Interstate Highway system in this area because there are so many criss-crossing interstate highways. When there's a convoy of trucks as far as you see ahead and behind you, our consumerism certainly sinks into the consciousness.
We've also found that all Interstates are not equal. Worst interstate: crossing Indiana. There were actual axle breaking potholes on the Interstate roadway - and there were a lot of them. Indiana has closed all their 'rest areas' all the way across the state. I actually saw men taking a 'bathroom' break against the back walls of one rest area building. That was really embarrassing! I didn't get a map either.
The northeast rest areas around NYC and New Jersey are gigantic and have multiple fast food restaurants inside them. You could actually get a Nathan's kosher hot dog inside the rest area. The drive into New York City was probably the most hair raising driving we've done. Thank heaven Drake was behind the wheel. We went across a toll bridge into Brooklyn that had a $13 toll. My hand held GPS in my iPhone got us to the door of our duplex in Brooklyn sighing with relief, and I can't imagine EVER driving in Manhattan. We actually took a slightly longer route to avoid driving across Manhattan. Brooklyn was bad enough.
The main impression I've gotten driving across the country is how beautiful it is. This last drive from New Hampshire to Texas was a primer in autumn. We loved the leaves in New Hampshire as everyone saw in our pictures, but an unlooked for bonus was as we drove to Texas, we followed fall color. I so want to go back to Virginia - it's just flat out gorgeous. Tennessee wasn't any slouch either. Virginia is just jampacked with stuff 'to do'. I'm certain that's a destination in the future.
Another impression is how nice people are in this country. The media would have us believe that people are scary. If you believed those jokers, you would think the USA is populated with gun toting vigilantes or pants sagging gangbangers or hard core criminals on every corner. I'm here to tell you that this is so far from the truth, it's laughable. There are regional differences. Folks in the Northeast are friendly, but they are not 'warm'. Same for the folks in the Northwest. Somewhere in Virginia we crossed some invisible line. Beyond it, people 'visit' and comment and tell you about themselves and their families and their pets at any social interaction. Having been raised in this type of sociability, I can tell you that it was very comforting after having been in the Northeast for 5 months. I guess what I'm trying to say is crossing the country and interacting with the people and the scenery and the 'attractions' is always amazing and informative and surprising. I marvel at the diversity I've seen.
We are 'resting' with friends for a couple of days before we head for Austin. We'll be 'holidaying' in Texas with Sarah (our daughter) out of a condo in Austin close to her house. We'll be leaving for another drive to Sun City, AZ to spend our winter with Drake's mom and the rest of the family. I'm also excited to be going to Logan Utah for the summer and then onto Montana. Places to go and people to meet. I can hardly wait.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Gettysburg
We went to Gettysburg because it was 'there'. We literally were driving past the site. There was no excuse not to stop. This is the only Civil War battle that is even hazily remembered 150 years after it was fought. The reason? Mainly, the 77 word Gettysburg Address given by President Lincoln five months after the battle. Unique for the time, he dedicated the cemetery established at the battle site, with the Gettysburg Address. This speech was written by Lincoln in his carriage on the way to Pennsylvania. His speech was a shocking scandal at the time.
It's hard for us in the 21st century to understand the importance attached to 'oratory' in the 19th century. This is an era with limited entertainment - getting to see and hear a real orator talk on an issue for 2 or 3 hours would be the same as us attending the hot new movie today. Lincoln spoke for less than 2 minutes - following a speaker who had talked for about 2 hours. People felt cheated - his speech was supposed to be the main attraction. Very few journalists understood the importance of the speech in summarizing the reason for the Civil War. Lincoln's remarks have endured in America similar to Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech. Because of its brevity, most of us at some point in school memorized it - and it was often the first time we had to stand up in front of the class and 'recite'.
However, it wasn't until I stood on the battlefield that I understood the real meaning of Lincoln's speech. Gettysburg is a horrendous place. It's beautiful which makes it all the more horrific. More than 7000 men were killed outright here. More than 30,000 were wounded, and 10,000 were captured or just outright missing. This was a 3 day battle fought in major and minor skirmishes (little battles), around and through the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It is the biggest battle (and virtually the only battle) fought in the North. This was a gamble by Robert E Lee, the Confederate supreme commander, to win a major battle on Northern soil which would then become the springboard for a political settlement of the war. Lee knew that the Confederacy could not conceivably win an protracted war.
Looking at the museum and the artifacts from the battle and a comparison of the equipment of both sides, it was apparent that this lost battle was the 'high water mark' of the Confederacy. The curators personalized this museum. For me, there was a visceral impact of the huge numbers of young men who died here. There's always the question when so many die: Did they die in vain? I must say the answer is grudgingly 'no'. If Lee, with a victory at Gettysburg, would have been able to force a political settlement of the war, the question of slavery would have remained unsettled, and the dissolution of the United States at the point of territorial expansion across the continent would have had disastrous consequences.
I think there were two reasons that this visit to a 150 year old battle site affected me so. One, we toured the museum with a large number of 16 to 18 year old teenagers. (A high school history class was having a field trip.) Juxtapositioned with the pictures of the actual soldiers, it was as if the Civil War soldiers had come to life. 150 years ago, the boys swirling around me in the museum would have been in this battle. Second, Gettysburg, a little Pennsylvania farm town, with the misfortune of being a crossroads of 10 roads fanning out across the countryside, was a victim of the battlefield carnage. The 1800 residents were left with 30,000 wounded soldiers, thousands of rotting corpses - both human and animal littering not just one field, but lots of fields surrounding the entire town. The trauma and disaster post-battle is almost unimaginable. Diaries from townspeople talk about the 'stench' that lasted for months. The screams of the dying and wounded were endured by all the residents. Every building was littered with the wounded. The bulk of the armies moved on - and left the carnage behind for the Gettysburg civilians to cope with.
The museum here was huge. It included not only artifacts, but also photographs, and a mini-history lesson to set the battle in context. The zenith experience of the museum was the cyclorama - a 360 degree painting done in the 1880's depicting the battle. The artist consulted veterans who were there to insure accuracy, and I'm sure that many veterans who witnessed the painting 20 years after the battle experienced post traumatic stress. I found it very stressful, and I didn't personally know people who were wounded or who died either standing next to me or by my hand.
They call the Gettysburg battlefield 'sacred ground', and it really is. This is the battle that was the death rattle of slavery. If, for no other reason, that makes the Union victory and the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to achieve it worthwhile.
I hope my pictures convey the depth and importance of this place in the building of who we are as Americans.
https://picasaweb.google.com/jalyss1/2011GettysburgPATour3CivilWarBattlefield?authkey=Gv1sRgCMfHtJ2T7ITo-QE#
It's hard for us in the 21st century to understand the importance attached to 'oratory' in the 19th century. This is an era with limited entertainment - getting to see and hear a real orator talk on an issue for 2 or 3 hours would be the same as us attending the hot new movie today. Lincoln spoke for less than 2 minutes - following a speaker who had talked for about 2 hours. People felt cheated - his speech was supposed to be the main attraction. Very few journalists understood the importance of the speech in summarizing the reason for the Civil War. Lincoln's remarks have endured in America similar to Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech. Because of its brevity, most of us at some point in school memorized it - and it was often the first time we had to stand up in front of the class and 'recite'.
However, it wasn't until I stood on the battlefield that I understood the real meaning of Lincoln's speech. Gettysburg is a horrendous place. It's beautiful which makes it all the more horrific. More than 7000 men were killed outright here. More than 30,000 were wounded, and 10,000 were captured or just outright missing. This was a 3 day battle fought in major and minor skirmishes (little battles), around and through the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It is the biggest battle (and virtually the only battle) fought in the North. This was a gamble by Robert E Lee, the Confederate supreme commander, to win a major battle on Northern soil which would then become the springboard for a political settlement of the war. Lee knew that the Confederacy could not conceivably win an protracted war.
Looking at the museum and the artifacts from the battle and a comparison of the equipment of both sides, it was apparent that this lost battle was the 'high water mark' of the Confederacy. The curators personalized this museum. For me, there was a visceral impact of the huge numbers of young men who died here. There's always the question when so many die: Did they die in vain? I must say the answer is grudgingly 'no'. If Lee, with a victory at Gettysburg, would have been able to force a political settlement of the war, the question of slavery would have remained unsettled, and the dissolution of the United States at the point of territorial expansion across the continent would have had disastrous consequences.
I think there were two reasons that this visit to a 150 year old battle site affected me so. One, we toured the museum with a large number of 16 to 18 year old teenagers. (A high school history class was having a field trip.) Juxtapositioned with the pictures of the actual soldiers, it was as if the Civil War soldiers had come to life. 150 years ago, the boys swirling around me in the museum would have been in this battle. Second, Gettysburg, a little Pennsylvania farm town, with the misfortune of being a crossroads of 10 roads fanning out across the countryside, was a victim of the battlefield carnage. The 1800 residents were left with 30,000 wounded soldiers, thousands of rotting corpses - both human and animal littering not just one field, but lots of fields surrounding the entire town. The trauma and disaster post-battle is almost unimaginable. Diaries from townspeople talk about the 'stench' that lasted for months. The screams of the dying and wounded were endured by all the residents. Every building was littered with the wounded. The bulk of the armies moved on - and left the carnage behind for the Gettysburg civilians to cope with.
The museum here was huge. It included not only artifacts, but also photographs, and a mini-history lesson to set the battle in context. The zenith experience of the museum was the cyclorama - a 360 degree painting done in the 1880's depicting the battle. The artist consulted veterans who were there to insure accuracy, and I'm sure that many veterans who witnessed the painting 20 years after the battle experienced post traumatic stress. I found it very stressful, and I didn't personally know people who were wounded or who died either standing next to me or by my hand.
They call the Gettysburg battlefield 'sacred ground', and it really is. This is the battle that was the death rattle of slavery. If, for no other reason, that makes the Union victory and the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to achieve it worthwhile.
I hope my pictures convey the depth and importance of this place in the building of who we are as Americans.
https://picasaweb.google.com/jalyss1/2011GettysburgPATour3CivilWarBattlefield?authkey=Gv1sRgCMfHtJ2T7ITo-QE#
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Cooperstown from a new angle
Cooperstown was very lucky to have a native son who decided to put the town on the map. His name was Samuel Clark, and he was instrumental in bringing the Baseball Hall of Fame to town. He wasn't content to stop there. He convinced New York State to located the New York Historical Society in Cooperstown, and he personally developed two additional museums -both gems of the first order. One, The Farmer's Museum, is a recreation of an 18th century working 'village', and the second is the restoration and transformation of James Fenimore Cooper's childhood home into a first class museum focusing on American art and crafts.
The Farmer's Museum closes on October 31st, but the Fenimore Art Museum was open and ready for business. We both thoroughly enjoyed not only the house's interior, but also it's superb exterior landscaping and scenery. As always, the pictures tell the story:
https://picasaweb.google.com/jalyss1/2011CooperstownTour2FenimoreMuseum?authkey=Gv1sRgCO3K15TNz8HDXA#
The Farmer's Museum closes on October 31st, but the Fenimore Art Museum was open and ready for business. We both thoroughly enjoyed not only the house's interior, but also it's superb exterior landscaping and scenery. As always, the pictures tell the story:
https://picasaweb.google.com/jalyss1/2011CooperstownTour2FenimoreMuseum?authkey=Gv1sRgCO3K15TNz8HDXA#
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Today Drake fulfilled a lifelong wish: He got to see the Baseball Hall of Fame. Believe me, it's not exactly easy to get to this place. Cooperstown, New York (population 1800) is in the middle of nowhere, otherwise called the Mohawk Valley. It's smack dab in the middle of dairy farm country. We left Franconia yesterday and drove and drove and drove to get here. We finally reached the exit on the Interstate, and THEN we drove another 40 minutes. Cooperstown in a quaint little town filled with architecture that goes all the way back to the 18th century. It's actually named not for James Fenimore Cooper, but rather for his father.
The entire downtown area (location of the Baseball Hall of Fame) is filled with souvenir shops, baseball card shops, equipment shops, buy a bat shops, a wax museum, and little restaurants and cafes. It's surrounded with motels, hotel, inns, and bed/breakfast mansions. No wonder! At peak times of the year thousands of people visit. Inductee weekend can see 80,000 visitors. (Can you imagine a town of 1800 hosting 80,000 people?)
We visited at one of the most uncrowded times; only in January are there fewer visitors - can you say 'snow'. Instead of thousands of people thronging the museum, there were literally less than 10 people visiting today. We got to see every exhibit, take photographs and look at everything completely unimpeded. I asked Drake for his impressions about the Hall of Fame, and the verb he used was "surprised". His expectation was that the building would be 'old' (it wasn't), and that it would be jam packed with glass cases full of baseball stuff. Instead, we saw an open, airy space on 3 floors, and an exhibit policy that reflected the credo that 'less is more'.
Some highlights: First and foremost was the plaque gallery - individual bronze plaques with a bas relief sculpture of the inductee's head (wearing the baseball team cap the inductee chose) together with a short recitation of their accomplishments. Additionally, I loved the case of World Series 'rings'. The 19th century equipment display was fascinating. The statistical part of the game was handled in an interesting way. Drake really enjoyed being in a first class museum dedicated to his greatest interest: baseball. As he put it, "This place makes baseball seem important because the museum is of such high quality." We marveled over some things, learned some things, and saw more 'art' that I expected.
This was a supremely fun day. I took a bunch of photos (of course), and hope you can get a sense of this place from the pictures.
https://picasaweb.google.com/jalyss1/2011CooperstownBaseballHallOfFame?authkey=Gv1sRgCK7fh7uknZPMnwE
The entire downtown area (location of the Baseball Hall of Fame) is filled with souvenir shops, baseball card shops, equipment shops, buy a bat shops, a wax museum, and little restaurants and cafes. It's surrounded with motels, hotel, inns, and bed/breakfast mansions. No wonder! At peak times of the year thousands of people visit. Inductee weekend can see 80,000 visitors. (Can you imagine a town of 1800 hosting 80,000 people?)
We visited at one of the most uncrowded times; only in January are there fewer visitors - can you say 'snow'. Instead of thousands of people thronging the museum, there were literally less than 10 people visiting today. We got to see every exhibit, take photographs and look at everything completely unimpeded. I asked Drake for his impressions about the Hall of Fame, and the verb he used was "surprised". His expectation was that the building would be 'old' (it wasn't), and that it would be jam packed with glass cases full of baseball stuff. Instead, we saw an open, airy space on 3 floors, and an exhibit policy that reflected the credo that 'less is more'.
Some highlights: First and foremost was the plaque gallery - individual bronze plaques with a bas relief sculpture of the inductee's head (wearing the baseball team cap the inductee chose) together with a short recitation of their accomplishments. Additionally, I loved the case of World Series 'rings'. The 19th century equipment display was fascinating. The statistical part of the game was handled in an interesting way. Drake really enjoyed being in a first class museum dedicated to his greatest interest: baseball. As he put it, "This place makes baseball seem important because the museum is of such high quality." We marveled over some things, learned some things, and saw more 'art' that I expected.
This was a supremely fun day. I took a bunch of photos (of course), and hope you can get a sense of this place from the pictures.
https://picasaweb.google.com/jalyss1/2011CooperstownBaseballHallOfFame?authkey=Gv1sRgCK7fh7uknZPMnwE
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
New Hampshire Peculiarities
We've lived in enough sections of the USA to discover that each region has its own peculiarities that go way beyond the "Cowboy" reputation of Texas or the laid back reputation of the West coast. I have loved living in New Hampshire for the past four months, and one of the delights beyond the temperatures and the scenery has been the state's wonderful little peculiarities. Here are the ones that have struck me:
1) Topping the list: How can you help but love a state that puts up a historical marker to an alien abduction. Here's Betty and Barney Hill's 15 minutes of fame. (Note: This is less than 10 miles from our house up here.) They had a 'conference' and an unveiling of this marker just a few weeks ago.
2) Our favorite New Hampshire word: "SHORE". No, not an ocean or river edge; it's what the natives up here reply when you ask for something:
Example - "Can I have some extra napkins?"
"Shore".
3) Most unusual drink I've encountered: a staple of 19th century New Hampshire : SWITCHEL
It's the soft drink of hay making season. You just mix vinegar, molasses, ginger and honey. Be sure to chill it in the brook. (There are no creeks up here - only brooks. Up the brook without a paddle just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?) We live close to the Skoocumchuck Brook - great name, don't you think?
4) A close runner up in the drink category is Birch Beer. This is a local product that tastes like flat root beer - I think it's an acquired taste. I did wonder if it is made from tree bark and sugar, but no one knows.
5) Thinking about strange drinks makes me think about the food up here. No Mexican food. Now, don't get me wrong, they have Mexican Restaurants - at least that's what the signs say, but I've had a spicier taste just standing in the salsa aisle of a Texas grocery store. I'm going to go berserk for Tex-Mex when I hit Texas. I'm having withdrawal.
6) Another food item that was definitely an also ran up here are "corn dogs". First, it took the fair food vendor 3 tries to even produce a corn dog, and then it could only be charitably be called a 'corn dog second'.
7) On the smooth side: Lots of maple stuff, and it's so delish! The obsession with maple in both New Hampshire and Vermont goes way, way beyond syrup. Speaking of which: Did you know there are a zillion 'grades' of syrup each of which are used for different purposes. I'm sure there must be one grade that you just bathe in. My favorite maple items: Number One: MAPLE COTTON CANDY. It has absolutely spoiled me for the pink sugar variety. Number One: MAPLE WALNUT ICE CREAM. (No, I didn't make a mistake - it's a tie.) Oh, and let me just mention in passing Maine Wild Blueberry Juice because we have loved drinking it. I have also enjoyed Lobster Rolls which are really, really hard to get outside of New England - unless you go to Nova Scotia. Finishing up the food/drink section here: There's only one place in 50 miles of Franconia that serves fountain Dr. Pepper. Sometimes we just eat at the Littleton Diner just so I can have a DP fix.
8) We live outside a 'village'. There is some set of mystery numbers that delineate a village from a town, but we haven't been able to discover what those numbers are. Anywho, Franconia is a village. It has 900 people. Being part of a village has some quirks: First, we freeze our garbage. Our chalet has no disposal, and no trash pick up; therefore, we make a weekly trip to the 'transfer station' - the New Hampshire equivalent of 'dump'. (Trash control = bear control up here.) In Franconia we have "The Business that Does Everything". Yes, it's an actual establishment that dog sits, makes copies, sells locally made cosmetics, and local dog food. It is the UPS pick-up location, and sends out your dry cleaning to Concord as well as notarizes your documents, rents computer time, and does about 15 other things - all under one roof! It's really hard to make a living up here. You have to admire the ingenuity of the woman who owns this.
9) County Fairs: I'm becoming an expert at the country fair. I loved the fairs in Washington, and I've always loved the cadillac of fairs: the Texas State Fair. Some of my most vivid memories as a kid involved the Tulsa State Fair - where I first fell in love with cotton candy. NH fairs have their own twists: Female lumberjack contests, an emphasis on vegetables (especially the giant variety), and scarecrow contests.
10) New Hampshire has many claims to fame, but one I particularly like is their distinction of having the largest legislature in the United States (bigger even than the US Congress). Considering NH is ranked 42nd in state population, these people pretty much each have their own personal state legislator. Another fun fact: The giant legislature is still meeting in the oldest continually operating state house in the USA. NH also has one president to their credit: the 14th - Franklin Pierce - (1853-57), but they should disown him - he's widely considered by historians to be one of the worst presidents ever. They should have just stuck with Daniel Webster, another famous New Hampshire native. Having lived up here even briefly, I can tell you that these people are political animals, and I feel pretty comfortable letting them winnow out the Presidential candidates for the rest of us.
11) Another New Hampshire peculiarity is its granite. It contains some chemical that melts the granite when it comes in contact with water - a pretty easily come by commodity up here. That melting granite is responsible for a granite formation that fell off one of the White Mountains in 2003. The vanished formation is still called "The Old Man of the Mountain". One day it was there, and poof, the next day gone - crashed several hundred feet down the mountain due to the melting granite. This was a NH icon, and all their highway signs have this profile as part of the sign. The New Hampshire solution: Build a monument to the formation that no longer exists for tourists to visit. Don't laugh, I've been there.
12) And thank heaven for tourists or New Hampshire would be empty. Especially the White Mountain region which is about 1/3rd of the state. There are no 'cities' in New Hampshire. There doesn't seem to be any industry other than tourism, and in the mountains there's certainly not much farming. I have to admire the way they have maximized their one big resource: SNOW. (220 inches last winter right here where we are living.) We are perched at the base of one of the biggest ski resorts in New England (Bode Miller's home mountain). Snow = gold in New Hampshire. The other tourist gold comes in colors of red, orange and yellow. We have never seen such an autumn. The 'fall foliage' of New England so touted everywhere lived up to the hype. I only took about 300 pictures of leaves. They were so exquisite that I couldn't help myself.
13) I can't leave New Hampshire without exposing the Moose Conspiracy. There are about 10,000 fictitious moose in New Hampshire. We've been here for four months and thus far, the only thing we have seen are the evidences of the conspiracy which was formed to convince tourists that there are actually moose up here for the viewing. They even have 'moose tours' ($28 per person to see people dressed in moose costumes at a distance). There are signs everywhere: Flashing ones - SLOW: Moose next 5 miles. Yellow diamond - Moose Crossing. and my favorite: Brake for Moose - IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE. Take my word for it: THERE ARE NO MOOSE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
While this blog has been tongue in cheek (and hopefully a little funny), New Hampshire has been a delight. How can you not like a place where you get up every morning and look out over a changing mountain view, surrounded by hundreds of beautiful trees, rushing streams, and magnificent sunsets. I've fallen a little bit in love with the White Mountains. New Hampshirians are not morose grumps who walk around sayint "Yup", but friendly, gregarious and pleasant. I'm also ready to LEAVE before we get some real snow. There's a taste of snow showers coming a couple of days, and that's all I want - just a taste. Texas here we come.
2) Our favorite New Hampshire word: "SHORE". No, not an ocean or river edge; it's what the natives up here reply when you ask for something:
Example - "Can I have some extra napkins?"
"Shore".
3) Most unusual drink I've encountered: a staple of 19th century New Hampshire : SWITCHEL
It's the soft drink of hay making season. You just mix vinegar, molasses, ginger and honey. Be sure to chill it in the brook. (There are no creeks up here - only brooks. Up the brook without a paddle just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?) We live close to the Skoocumchuck Brook - great name, don't you think?
5) Thinking about strange drinks makes me think about the food up here. No Mexican food. Now, don't get me wrong, they have Mexican Restaurants - at least that's what the signs say, but I've had a spicier taste just standing in the salsa aisle of a Texas grocery store. I'm going to go berserk for Tex-Mex when I hit Texas. I'm having withdrawal.
6) Another food item that was definitely an also ran up here are "corn dogs". First, it took the fair food vendor 3 tries to even produce a corn dog, and then it could only be charitably be called a 'corn dog second'.
7) On the smooth side: Lots of maple stuff, and it's so delish! The obsession with maple in both New Hampshire and Vermont goes way, way beyond syrup. Speaking of which: Did you know there are a zillion 'grades' of syrup each of which are used for different purposes. I'm sure there must be one grade that you just bathe in. My favorite maple items: Number One: MAPLE COTTON CANDY. It has absolutely spoiled me for the pink sugar variety. Number One: MAPLE WALNUT ICE CREAM. (No, I didn't make a mistake - it's a tie.) Oh, and let me just mention in passing Maine Wild Blueberry Juice because we have loved drinking it. I have also enjoyed Lobster Rolls which are really, really hard to get outside of New England - unless you go to Nova Scotia. Finishing up the food/drink section here: There's only one place in 50 miles of Franconia that serves fountain Dr. Pepper. Sometimes we just eat at the Littleton Diner just so I can have a DP fix.
8) We live outside a 'village'. There is some set of mystery numbers that delineate a village from a town, but we haven't been able to discover what those numbers are. Anywho, Franconia is a village. It has 900 people. Being part of a village has some quirks: First, we freeze our garbage. Our chalet has no disposal, and no trash pick up; therefore, we make a weekly trip to the 'transfer station' - the New Hampshire equivalent of 'dump'. (Trash control = bear control up here.) In Franconia we have "The Business that Does Everything". Yes, it's an actual establishment that dog sits, makes copies, sells locally made cosmetics, and local dog food. It is the UPS pick-up location, and sends out your dry cleaning to Concord as well as notarizes your documents, rents computer time, and does about 15 other things - all under one roof! It's really hard to make a living up here. You have to admire the ingenuity of the woman who owns this.
10) New Hampshire has many claims to fame, but one I particularly like is their distinction of having the largest legislature in the United States (bigger even than the US Congress). Considering NH is ranked 42nd in state population, these people pretty much each have their own personal state legislator. Another fun fact: The giant legislature is still meeting in the oldest continually operating state house in the USA. NH also has one president to their credit: the 14th - Franklin Pierce - (1853-57), but they should disown him - he's widely considered by historians to be one of the worst presidents ever. They should have just stuck with Daniel Webster, another famous New Hampshire native. Having lived up here even briefly, I can tell you that these people are political animals, and I feel pretty comfortable letting them winnow out the Presidential candidates for the rest of us.
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