Saturday, September 28, 2002
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IGLOO ASSISTANCE
AVAILABLE : Experienced Igloo builder. Cool service guaranteed.
Maybe you have noticed that the weather people are predicting unusually heavy amounts of snow, rather rain this winter in the Eastern section of the nation as a result of El Nino’s presence once more. Just in case you need some help in constructing any igloos you may have in mind around the place, I stand ready to help.
The last igloo I remember building with the real stuff was constructed during the winter of ‘28, I think, and it was a doozie with lots of perfect snow available over an extended period. We may have had El Nino
pushing the “Snow” buttons, then, too, but we didn’t know it at the time.
Even the mountains of southwestern Virgjnia were not igloo country in those days, so building such a structure was a real adventure for boys our ages and a novelty for the community we found. It was part of our natural way, in those times, of making our own “toys”and having without spending money.
We rolled large balls of wet snow down the long hill near the area in which we intended to build. We then sliced those large, round snow balls into sections and placed them in a circle which was to be our igloo wall. In previous attempts at smaller versions, we had found we usually had a roof problem, so we fudged a little, which is a better-sounding term than “cheating,” by getting several long, wide boards to put across the walls to hold the ceiling in place. We did not get the icy content blocks needed to keystone such an arched roof properly, so we “re-arranged “ things a bit.
We piled snow on top of the board “lid” and that very night it snowed again and presented the world with a neatly rounded mound the next morning with no sign of any protruding woodwork at all.
We had a crawl-in door tunnel, bent slightly toward the East to allow the morning sun to ooze in a bit, and to forbid passage to the crusty north wind. Inside, we had cardboard on the trampled snow floor having worked the wall building from the inside area with that purpose in mind. We had blankets over the cardboard and we cut a small vent in the back wall area under which, half way down the wall , to vent black smoke, we mounted a fat, red, wax candle for light and heat. It is amazing how comfortable an ice house can be with several candles going, plus body heat - and plenty of warm, winter clothing
The room had about five feet or so of standing-up room in the center, and it tapered upward at the sides all around, of course.
We lived on the main street of our town, so automobile and wagon traffic slowed down to look at our “igloo” as did the town’s one and only street car (mysteriously labeled “No.11”) and we could see people
pointing at our ice house and when they waved to us we waved back as proud owners of the town’s only igloo!
After a few warmer nights and some sunny days, the cheat boards began to show and we tore the roof off and magically transformed the walls into a fort defending the area from all encrochments by snowball
wielding enemy forces. Records show that we would have held the fort, too, had not both sides run out of ammunition.
A.L.M. September 28, 2002 [c590wds]
Friday, September 27, 2002
GHETTOES TODAY?
It can be said that today we no longer have ghettoes in our cities, at least
not in the formal, old-fashioned, historical sense.
No. Perhaps not, but we still hold fast to, foster and even nurture some of the ideas
which cause singular deprivations for the people who happen to live in a specific area;
profess a certain faith other than ours; are of a different color, and who are often
economically deprived largely because of their location, race , religion or educational
background.
Many such districts come about through simple neglect. If a section of the city
grows old and new suburbs develop the overly-used area starts of disintegrate rapidly,
property is not maintained and, eventually, all the stores and other business firms have
gone elsewhere.
Concerned persons can, in such cases, pretend for a time that things have not
really changed all that much and, for a few years they can dream of a future when the
big business firms will return. But, it doesn’t take them too long for them to realize that
such is not going to be the case. Even if they undertake “renewal programs” and do some
painting and gutter-fixing work they are returned rapidly to a the ruins of a culture which
has gone elsewhere. They find themselves unable to earn a decent living for themselves
and their families. Welfare-ism becomes a way for life and city, county, state, sectional,
federal aid gradually take over and it moves in as an oppressive reality - even with some
efforts by churches and civic-minded groups which come to see it as a religious or social
obligation, but they never seems to undertake such projects in sufficient numbers and
with long-term associations in mind from the start.
Take a moment in which to stand back and look at it.
How does it differ, really, from the ghettos, tenements, slums and of old save,
perhaps, in the element of overt military control and something akin to it in another
authority? There is no law, other than the rule of poverty, which says the people must
remain there. They can come and go as they like but they are not invited to stay
wherever they may choose to go. The barrio resident of the deep south becomes a
resident of the equivalent section of our larger cities up north. Or, it works the other way
around, as well. It is difficult to “escape.”
Obviously, the ghettoes or these areas, whatever we may call them, “slums” or
some fancy, old-time historical name, still need attention from the more affluent side of
town. Many cities use this historical-connective thread in an attempt to put the blame
for, at least a part of the dire conditions, on some by gone era...another time which, in
some devious manner, “caused” the present dire conditions. There seems to be
something on which they can blame part of it, at least... the dual standards, of Victorian
times, slavery, imigration, almost anything controversial in some by-gone era.
We can no longer depend on a beneficent Federal authority to do what they have
so clearly demonstrated they cannot do. Hugh, multi-floored buildings constructed years
ago as federal housing projects and deemed to be perfect cure for economic ailments of
the cities, exited many proponents. The problems they were built to solve have, actually
intensified and are yet to be solved. Those tall , red-brick structures stand now, many with
burned out units, as noisome shells in which humans live - “exist”, you might say - in
disgraceful conditions and think of themselves only as lost... complete failures. You can
walk through the smelly corridors of any such urban housing project and feel the
desolation pressing in on you from all sides.
Yes, the ghettoes, tenements, slums - are still with us in a slightly modified state, but
very real and still a prominent social problem with which we must come to terms ... and
soon.
A.L.M. September 26, 2002 [c668wds]
Thursday, September 26, 2002
BEAUTY AND THE LEAST
Each of us, I am convinced, has within us an innate love of beauty.
We may be totally unaware of the fact that it is present, but it is still there. We, as individuals, may even deny that it exists within us at all or strive to remove it as a mark of “sissification.” Yet, there it remains -
always.
It remains unused until the words or works of someone, an admirer or fellow-dweller in a drab world, triggers the flow.
It may come in that form of art concerning painters - from a person with brushes, canvas and oil or watercolors at hand, or, it could just as easily, come from someone creating music, writing stories, plays or poetry,
or building bridges, houses or office buildings and factories. It could come to you from the photographic genre or from sculpting.
Those other persons, as a rule, have their own idea of what constitutes beauty demanding clarity from their own internal sources of true beauty, and hey are scheduled to respond. They judge and evaluate their
concept of beauty, and watching them and seeing their works, we become aware that we, too, have, within us, certain standards of what we believe art must be - in whatever outward form it might take.
I know people who deny ever having had artistic abilities or knowledge of any kind, but - to me, at least, it seems to be one of the basic qualities of fine living. It comes to us early, by way of parents or grandparents
who lead a life of artistic appreciation even though they, themselves have never came to realize how much it had influence their lives. Granddaddy looked out over a green expanse of a field of growing corn and marveled at the
miracle of it all - planted by his hand - saw the symmetry, the rich color, semsed the smell and the feel of it maturing as a living thing - a tribute to his deft handling of the tiny seed from which it sprang and which he nurtured to fullness
in form and purpose. Grandma in her baking and cooking was more of an artist than she ever thought herself to be, as well as in the exercise of loving care she gave her children and her children’s children.
A basis need for perfection is deep with us all as an enduring quality of life. Once planted it grows well in human beings. It is a latent sense of artistry. It makes few demands upon us. The very least one can do is to
approach life with an open heart and mind and some day, somewhere ,there will be a person - a man, woman, child, or aged friend who will see it in you and ignite it by example or instruction. The least we can do is to seek, rather
than simply wait for such a person to influence our lives in this manner.
This is yet another area of living today which progresses “in mysterious ways”, so there is no definite way to determine at what point you may be led to become what you really are. It could come from family, from
friends, or, quite often it comes from a new romantic interest recently formed.
Beauty is there - within us. The least we can do is to be available when the moment arrives and not be so overly occupied with pressing affairs of the world that we miss the contact.
Many are waiting...others....
Waiting for beauty to reveal itself in their lives, and you may well be the needed catalyst.
A.L.M. September 24, 2002 [c608wds]
Wednesday, September 25, 2002
EXECUTIVE CONDUCT
What went wrong? And, when?
That seems to be about as far as initial questioning goes when it comes to talk about the gross misconduct of some business leaders. Often, I get the feeliing that some persons are deciding - ahead of discussion or
any attempt at fact-finding - that it all happened long ago and has, in fact, been that way all along.
These self-appointed critics seem to have no idea of what, if anything ... “went wrong.”
Such criticism is so unfair to all the decent, upstanding executives who have meant so much to our national well-being for so many years. This sort of broad brush accusation strikes me as a kindred one also going
the rounds at this moment - branding all preists as pedophiles just because a relatively few of them have fallen into such a state of depravity.
In truth, there can be little doubt but that the church, industry ,commerce as well as some other fields of human endeavor, have been, and are, rather lax in looking after the moral nature of their groups. Has that
not been made evident in recent years when you consider how the subject of “ morality” has repeatedly become an issue in our political campaigns at all levels? We have been living in an era in which, for some time, it would seem,
moral values have been vilified and any attempts at sublimation have been made deserving of ridicule and a basis for laughter and scorn.
Much of this, perhaps, is rooted in the manner in which our eduational system “raises”or “trains” either young men or women to become executives. Far too often the system is structured on the concept that “it is
not what you know, but who you know, that is important.”
Academic achievment is, from early years allowed to be secondary to social connections and on getting in with the “right” crowd, and upon one’s ability to pave fine avenues toward the goals of success by
belonging to the proper Greek-lettered groups. Some executives simply inherit their leadership roles. It seems to be assumed that since Father was a fine executive, Junior will be a good one as well, regardess of what training he may
or may not have to his credit. In recent decades, I have seen yet another group take over executive suites, usually for a short period of time of time and seldom to the advantage of the company being “executed” - those who have
been “successuful” in some other - often in totally unrelated fields ... sports, acting, political office holders, - name your own favorite, but the field has been pretty well worked over by this time.
Seldom do we see the dedicated, intent, mission-minded leader of men and women in the executive seats these days. Some are there simply because they started the business and it has never occurred to them
that someone else with better insight and less personal involvement might make a better go of it.
Our present education system, wonderful though it may be in so many ways, causes every student to think he or she will grow up to have a “position” rather than a “job”, be a “boss” rather than be “bossed”.
Everyone is assured of becoming an “execuitve” but none are prepared to be “workers”. Each simply “falls into” that which they become.
We can expect a few misfits along the line, both near the bottom and at the top, and the greatest of these misfits will be at the top where more is expected of them.
A.L.M. September, 28, 2002 [c 605wds]
Tuesday, September 24, 2002
BACKGROUND BUILDERS
In April of this year I came across an item from the Manchester “Guardian”
which was dated January 2, 2002. It was complied by Derek Brown, and his terse outline
of events in the mid-east have been a great deal of help to me in understanding some of
events taking place in the Holy Land.
The outline, or “time-line”, it may better be called, is something for which I have
been searching a long time. I felt I needed a straight-forward, simple “1-2-3” fashioned
survey concerning the actions of each side - Israeli and Palestinian.
It started earlier than I would have thought it might, with and trend which began
in 1881. I am still looking for such an outline concerning Palestinian history for essentially the
time period. I would, for instance, like to know precisely when, and under what
circumstances, Yasher Arafat came to power. He seems to have been around longer
than most people realize.
So it’s back to 1881 for us, if we wish to known more about events of today in the
Holy Land.
That date marks the beginning of what is called “the great Allya” or the mass
immigration of Jews from all over the world back to the Holy Land. The Jewish population
in the area at that time was very small and they were outnumbered by the Palestinians
deployed all over the larger area. There have been rather sudden immigration spurts
among the Jews intent on getting back to the homeland from time-to-time, but the “the
Allya” seems be the first observable change in that regard.
I think we, sometimes, think today that it all started with the formation of the Zionist
groups, but it is something which had been going on for many decades before that
back-to-the-homeland group came about. Many of the Jews “returned” came back as
a result of opposition and persecution in Russia and Romania, for instance. “Returned”
and “came” or “went back” seem to be incorrect terms when speaking of individuals
who had never actually been there before.
The “great Allya” was, it could be said, the first somewhat “organized” movement
noted. The Jews who returned in that initial movement were called “olim” which, literally
means “ascenders”. Along with those from Russia and Romania escaping pogroms of the
worst type, there were also good many Jews who are said to have migrated from Yemen,
but the reason for their departure is not made clear. Could that have been an Arabic
persecution which caused the Jews of Yeman to go “home?” The present situation is an
Arabic campaign against the Jews of Israel. We may learn something of value if we
examine the reasons for the Jews departure from Yemen in the 1800’s. Was it a voluntary
thing, or a forced movement? Now, in September of 2002, I’m still looking for the reason
the Jews left Yemen in such large numbers. “They just did” is not sufficient reason, in my
way of thinking. I would like to know the real cause of their departure from Yemen’s sandy
shores.
In 1881 the Jewish population in what is now known as the Holy Land seems to
have been about twenty-four thousand. That struck me as being very low, but in the next
twenty years there were more than forty-thousand Jewish immigrants. These figures, it
seems, are from records kept by the Ottoman Turks who possessed the area in three
subdivisions. Just how accurate they are may be questioned, of course. We haven’t
learned yet to take our own census without missing a few million people, so how can we
expect exact figures from the occupying Turks so long ago? Palestine was, at that time,
thought of as a part of Syria and it was not an entity unto itself.
So, as a starting point, let’s all hit the books and sites for information on “the great
Allya” and events from 1881. Let’s look this situation over together. We’ve gotta start
somewhere. Maybe we can make it “make sense”.
A.L.M. September 24, 2002 [c678wds]
Monday, September 23, 2002
I WAS A KID, TOO.
To back up such a statement I have before me the original handwritten copy of a letter I wrote to my Grandmother in Salem, Virginia where she and my uncle had moved from South Norfolk, Va. I was nine years
old. After establishing my location in “Radford, Va” and the date: “June 18, 1925” , I greeted her and launched into a single ,two-page paragraph.
“Dear Gammy, “I wrote.
“We are all getting along all right and I hope you are to. We had a bad storm yesterday and Jr. said it hailed Mama and I were asleep all during the storm. It was a very bad storm at Christriansburg. It is still windy
in Radford today and I am feeling better. The doctor said I can sit up half an hour and last night I sat at the foot end of the bed and watched the K.K.K.’s go by because they were having a speech up at the band stand and then
they burned a cross . The doctor is making me take codliveroil because I am so weak. Sister can play with my little toy now. Jr. learned her how to play it and she runs the hammer across the iron pieces and then looks at you and
laughs. Mama gave me some cream of wheat and she gave sister a taste and she cryed until mamma gave her some more and sister had to take a bath because she was cream of wheat from head to toe. Please take a picture of
your house and send it here so I can I can see what the house looks like and how do you like Salem, Va? I hope you like it maybe we’ll be down in a week or 2 how does Dolly like the neaborhood is there many dogs up there if there is
there will be some dog fighting some time so keep Dolly in the yard I’m on the bed writing this letter now which is why the lions are so crookedy, I am trying to get them straight but I cannot.
I hope to come to see you soon. Write to me soon.
rotten pudding
Your Grandson
Andrew-L McC.”
My mother wrote four lines at the bottom of the page saying my brother would write next time. She mentioned I was better but don’t know from what. We went by “train time” in Radford in those days so she detailed which train
would take the letter to her mother who was every bit of fifty miles away from us.
Being a kid builds memories and I remember the Klu Klux Klan marching to their meetings and in every parade the town had for whatever occasion. They marched in single file on each side of the street... silently
with just the scrape of their shoes and the swish of their sheets and spooky hat-masks. My brother and I had it all figured out. We could tell who belonged to the klan at the carnival grounds after the parade having memorized their
shoes, socks and the cuffs on some trousers - narrow or wide, or sloppy-saggy , neat or none at all on others.
In a small town you also noticed who was obviously missing in the passing parade units.
Memories..and all that was seventy-seven years ago! Only Grandmothers save such letters. It proves one more thing, too... my handwriting was easier to read then than it is now!
A.L.M. September 21, 2002 [c587wds]
Sunday, September 22, 2002
SHIFTS IN POLITICAL SCENERY
Seldom do we see our leaders for exactly what they are.
We are bound to have certain pre-arranged views which tell us what qualities we admire in those we accept as proper choices in their particular responsibilities.
We like to think we “elected” some of them to the positions they hold. The ones of whom we voice approval are usually those we feel we have “influenced” in some small way by our votes in their favor.
That’s a comforting thing to hold close but somewhat pateralistic overtone in that warns we might come to think of public servant as our personal lackeys. In truth, they have broader responsibilities than just our
small, individualistic view.
Just because I voted for a candidate - man or women -does not mean he or she is supposed to do my precise bidding. I would hope they would set forth ideas with which I can readily align myself, in agreement for
the most part, but I also think they should have some free will of their own, and I am never disappointed or upset when they go a bit far out and do something with which I am not in full agreement. Obviously, others are interested in
aspects quite different from my own, and for good reasons, in many cases, and our representative himself may be more concerned about special points than we, and he should react logically to such ideas well as ours. He is not bound
to katow to our every whim. We do not own the people we elect. We are not puppet manipulators.
If your leadership does something which is not in keeping with your feeling as to what is best for the nation, stand up and, if you wish, and speak up. Let your voice be heard in some way; your view expressed. Do so
if you are concerned about keeping the record clear. Rest assured there will be another such time in the future. Most problems are mended or patched rather than being solved. “Fixed” does not mean “permanently repaired.”
V.P. Alben Barkley, many years ago, was said to have been talking with a backwoods voter who was seeking help for himself and his family. Barkley listened patiently and then read off a long list of things he had
done for that family. The man listened to the recitation and nodded assent as to the truth of each item so stated. After Barkley was finished the man asked: “Yes, sir - all that’s true - but what have you done for us... lately?
Those who expect politicians to be constantly passing out benefits are barking at the wrong stump speaker. You are not quite as important as your once may have been because demographics change swiftly
these days, and so do the views of political minds. Think back a few years to what real clout “farm bloc” and ”union labor” votes used the carry.
Edgar Allen Poe, as a cartoonist, might have, at this point, pictured his pol-raven issuing forth a ballooned quote saying: “Nevermore!”
A.L.M. September 22, 2002 [c518wds]
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