THE FLOCK FLOCKS TO FLAGSTAFF

CONNECTING IN COOLER CLIMES
(Note to my readers---I have returned to the West--but I'm not done posting about my journey home.  I'm most anxious to share some incredible-but-true stories from Sondheimer --about murder--suicides--rags to riches and empire building)

The story of my return crossing is worth telling---will do so in a future blog.

 

 

 

I stopped to visit my longest friendship---Bushrod---in Santa Fe---perhaps I've showed you his  solar array ---more than enough to power his house and pay about $150 cash besides.

Payback time is about 7 yrs. (panels are much cheaper now)

 

Stopped in Albuquerque to record my poem DON'T SELL YOUR RIG for  youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBZixNluFrs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
That's Jeanne who has camped with us before.

 Then I drove on to Flagstaff--- Mt Humphrey ahead---highest point in Az (12,635 ft)  Oh I am ready for the cool.

And here it is--- at 7000 ft  We agree to meet in this secret place.  Kay cooks up a salmon dinner for us.  Delicious.

 

 Laurie drives in from her singing tour in Sedona.  We are all glad to see her.

 

Meet Kay---a real Alaskan---with all the intrepid qualities we've come to expect from "those people"----like carrying around a freezer full of salmon.  She treated us to a wonderful fish fry.  The range of her interests is amazing---books are dedicated to her.

 

Meet Stan---a new friend---The most self contained boondocker perhaps in the world--hope to show you. A very happy resourceful guy.

 Here's his rig---he has been perfecting it for 32 years---it's a wonder of engineering.  For example: When he chooses he can carry 800 gallons of water---can endure an entire season without needing to re supply.  He has enough solar power to supply a suburban home.

He knows a big secret that can save you $100,000.00.  More on him later.

 

Here's evidence that we support one another. Laurie is short of electricity--I have a surplus----soooo..... 

 

Meet Carol--a hair stylist of many years---she enhances her freedom by styling wherever she goes.  Two days after this haircut She's in the Colorado River rafting through the grand canyon.

 

 Afternoon snacks and laurie shares her new songs with us.

One day she invites us into her famous "Casbah" for a flute lesson.

Furnishes the real thing---expensive native American flutes.

Teaches us the fundamentals.

 

 

Laurie is teaching us how to express our 'heartsong' by giving us a class on how to play a 'High Spirits' native american flute.

All of us enter knowing nothing of how to create a song with our breath.

After an hour of playful instruction by Laurie, we each leave after playing a solo of our own!

I invite the ladies over for a decadent oatmeal breakfast---enriched with pecans, raisins, brown sugar, kool whip and maraschino cherries.

 

One day Laurie cooked breakfast for me----I ate it anyway. The black things are sausages--orange thing is an egg. I think she was making a point.

Looked like a bag of trash---Laurie investigated---surprise it was filled with money--

NOT----she was playing a trick on us.

One day Laurie takes the gang on a mystery tour---not telling us where we are going.

She takes us here---a super--NEW AGE shop.  Dear friends--it is all here and fascinating---books, crystals, incense, angels, fairies, prayer flags etc. 

 

And another day she lured us to the poetry slam.  This young poet was smitten--can you tell?
That's Alaska Kay to the left.D

You can watch me surprisingly win the poetry slam here:

Round 1 Dance of Testosterone: click here

Round 2: Dance of Estrogen: click here

RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES:  Truthfully now, sweet people, can you imagine a better way to spend the summer:----camped in the cool forest around Flagstaff, Az---free of charge---- with your good friends close by----city amenities only minutes away---internet, cell phone, tv access.  You can join us if you wish---we will shift camp Monday to the summer RTR (rubber tramp rendezvous)---for directions click here Monday. http://cheaprvlivingblog.com/ (Bob wisely keeps the location secret till then.   

KODGER KING WINS A POETRY SLAM

THE POETS COME FROM AROUND THE NATION----to this university town----assemble in a king sized coffee house----with a packed-house audience----5 judges at the ready to rank our performance.  Each of us has 3 minutes to impress the crowd and the  judges.

Laurie drags me there---says "it will be a great experience."---signs me up.
I draw number 11  and one by one the poets perform----deep and heavy stuff---about life and love and existential angst and meaning.

Laurie is number 5. She recites one of her love songs: "TAKE ME TO THE FIRE" -( very sensual)---the audience is pleased----judges give good scores.

I shuffle to the stage---lean to the mike and say:  "True story---about me and my hormones:  THE DANCE OF TESTOSTERONE.  (Listen for yourself): Click here to listen.

Can you hear the reaction?-----to my utter amazement--IT BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN------JUDGES SCORED THE ONLY 10 OF THE NIGHT. 

Round 2---(top 6 poets) I do the matching poem: THE DANCE OF ESTROGEN: 
Click here to listen

Again the audience roars---I have wowed them again--- score another 10.
I have won a poetry slam on my very first try.  Forgive me for bragging---I may never have another night like this. (THANK YOU LAURIE FOR PRODUCING THIS VIDEO AND CHAMPIONING THIS EXPERIENCE!)

RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES:  Often our friends believe in us more than we do.  To have friends who positively CHAMPION us to be our highest self is perhaps life's greatest blessing.  Brenda Harris and Boonie are responsible for encouraging me to write this blog. Brenda taught me computer and Boonie got me blogging. The founding principle of our little community is that we CHAMPION each other.
Feel free to join us at the upcoming RTR here in Flagstaff  being hosted by Bob Wells:  for details check cheaprvliving.blogspot.com

WORLD-WIDE PROBLEM COMES TO FOCUS--- AT MY HOMETOWN DOOR!

THE DRAMA CONTINUES:  COTTON PICKER INVENTED---REPLACES MAJORITY OF FARM LABOR---THEY MIGRATE TO THE NEARBY CITIES OF TALLULAH AND LAKE PROVIDENCE----and all the other cities across the south.---often do not find work--go on welfare---become dispirited---uncreative---unenthusiastic---un-artistic---un-involved citizens.  A pain in the ass to live with. So The established gentry folk disassociate themselves--move away to the outskirts build private schools--and leave the city center to these unhappy newcomers.  The town quickly dies.   I will show you.

Before I do, I can't resist reflecting on the nearby metropolis at Poverty point that also died---ABOUT 2  THOUSAND YEARS AGO. (We don't know why)

 

It was a whopper for its time---houses arranged in artistic rows.

This is the deserted carcass of Lake Providence--downtown area.  I walk the streets--remembering. 

 Here's a surprise---someone with a bit of vision has declared that this alley will be a DOOR MUSEUM.

 And by golly---it really is a door museum.  Works of art painted on throwaway doors.

 

The Banner Democrat---newspaper of my childhood---apparently struggles on as the Delta News.

 

 The only industry---besides farming---is private prisons.  Lake Providence and Tallulah both have one.

 I visit another relative who lives lakeside.

She has a lovely home on this storied lake.  I learned to swim and ski here. Those are Cypress trees that have adapted to water living by growing hollow "knees" that trap necessary air for the roots below water.

 

 RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES:  This town was once elegant, proud and beautiful---host to the annual Miss Louisiana beauty pageant. The glory days are gone now--The town is unsightly and effete. Time magazine said so in a cover story article entitled--THE POOREST PLACE IN AMERICA: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981266,00.html

  The cause of  its rapid decline is an uneducated unmotivated underclass---A LEGACY OF SLAVERY and ADVANCING TECHNOLOGY.  Slavery brought them here and Technology put them out of work. 

The welfare system---well-meaning as it is---traps people in indolence---bores them into mischief. 

I SAY TO MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY IN LAKE PROVIDENCE AND TALLULAH:  We did not cause slavery BUT WE PROFITED FROM IT---and all its aftermath is a challenge that is ours to embrace.  I think we are doing well---Really---we are doing well:  Voting equality is a reality--and socially we get along respectfully. Now we need the kind of creative thinking John Rust did to crack the two remaining challenges: EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY. 

 

LAKE PROVIDENCE AND TALLULAH ARE THE POINT OF THE SPEAR IN THIS WORLD-WIDE PROBLEM.

There are not enough jobs to go round---AND THAT SHOULD BE GOOD NEWS.  It should mean SHORTER CAREERS. 

We and the world are beginning to grasp that WE ARE ALL IN "IT"(LIFE) TOGETHER.  We are weaving an inclusive social system that will give people the security and confidence to Quit Working earlier-with just a reasonable stash of money and open up a job for someone else.  Early retirees (like myself) can learn to appreciate leisure---to generate  personal meaning in our after years.

Breakthroughs in rapid-effective education are on their way.  Bill Gates and others are on the case.

I SAY TO THE UNDERCLASS:  GIVE UP ANY LINGERING VICTIM MENTALITY---Wake up to the opportunities that are available---take responsibility for yourself. Get a life and express your fascinations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MY HOME TOWNS---AMAZING PLACES---HERE'S PROOF

SONDHEIMER, LOUISIANA AND THE TWO SMALL TOWNS NORTH AND SOUTH OF IT----HOLD SECRETS THAT HAVE TOUCHED YOUR LIFE.
HERE'S PROOF:

But first let me introduce my second sister arriving from New Orleans---meet Darlene Duncan Phd who has also come to connect with her vagabond brother.  She has agreed to tour the area with me, reviewing it's wonders and sharing her insights.  She is by far the boldest of our 4 siblings---having ranged the globe doing adventurous things.

  I take her to Sondheimer--- have her stand---holding a stick--like she once held a baton--at the very spot where she first went public with her grand schemes.
A colored school stood here----one big room. 
AT AGE 13 she and her 10 YR OLD sidekick--Linda Vickery-- rented the school for one night-- to produce a show.  They prepared flyers announcing the big event--charged 25 cents admission---and PACKED THE HOUSE.  (she-- modestly--wants me to tell you that this was before television came to Sondheimer)  I cringed--fearing the worst.  But they proceeded to Wow the crowd with baton twirling, acrobatics, piano playing and joke telling.  To my utter amazement--THEY PULLED IT OFF. I WILL NEVER FORGET IT ---She went on to bigger and even gutsier things.  Will cover one of them in upcoming blog. Having a sister so bold has always inspired me to be bolder.

One mile from Sondheimer---President Theodore Roosevelt--came to hunt bears---His guide was one of our local fellows: BEN LILLY: (one of the world's great hunters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Lilly  Roosevelt was impressed enough to write a bit about him.  Lilly got a small bear--roped him--ready for the president to shoot.  But Hey---there's no sport in shooting a roped bear---Roosevelt ordered it released----IT WAS THE FIRST TEDDY BEAR.  (and now you know)

And now to Lake Providence, La---1863---Gen Grant---trying to avoid a bloody battle at Vicksburg.Mississippi----A fortified city---blocking Union river traffic--- tried to reroute the whole river---- to bypass Vicksburg----by digging a short canal right here.

Thousands of soldiers and equipment dug away for weeks---only needed a quarter mile ditch----the river----hopefully ---would cut a new path bypassing the stubborn Confederate city,  Great plan-----Didn't work---The river level suddenly fell and the scheme failed.  He tried the same thing again---near Tallulah----Didn't work.  And so he was forced into a bloody battle where many thousands died.  Vicksburg was taken.

Big as this was---It's not the local event that has influenced the life of every American.
I'm coming to that.

This is interesting too---just a few miles from my home---Poverty point Earthworks.  Huge Indian mounds up to 70 feet tall---built a thousand and 300 years before Christ. 

 

 The center of a ancient culture---this formation---believed to be the figure of a bird one half mile wide.

 

There's the biggest mound---the head of the bird.

 

My brother---now deceased---State Representative for this area----He introduced legislation to preserve Poverty Point---got it passed and I'm pleased to report that it is now under consideration to be made a World Heritage site.  (sorry about the picture--will try to get another)

Nice as this is---will not likely influence every American.  I'm coming to that.

 

 This has influenced millions of Americans---IT IS THE BIRTHPLACE OF DELTA AIRLINES----Tallulah, Louisiana. 

You see it started out as a crop dusting company---right here---then began to carry passengers.  read about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Delta_Air_Lines

But wait!  I have something even more influential to show you---something that Surely has influenced every American.

 

 And here it is:  Blooms arcade---completed 1925--(now being made into apartments)  THIS IS THE FIRST SHOPPING MALL IN America---Tallulah, Louisiana.   I shopped here when I was a boy. We are proud to have started malls.

Read about it : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallulah,_Louisiana 

 

BUT EVEN THIS HAS NOT TOUCHED YOUR LIFE AS MUCH AS THE NEXT ITEM FROM MY HOME AREA.

 Let me be a bit dramatic---and tell the story this way:  Cotton was the lifeblood of the southern economy--- very labor intensive-- so we imported slaves to do the  hard work----millions of them.  The difficult job of separating the seed from the cotton was solved by Eli Whitney's cotton gin--a great leap forward.  Even so---cotton was labor intensive---Especially the harvesting of it.  Picking cotton required thousands of (usually black) laborers who would pluck the fluffy stuff from needle-sharp bolls by hand---at the slow rate of about 250 pounds a day.  For a long time no one could imagine how this process could be mechanized.  And then---And then---just up the road from Sondheimer a very clever guy named John Rust began twisting a roughened nail in  a cotton boll. The cotton wound itself around the nail and could be pulled out of the boll.   BINGO!! the winning idea was born.  Fast forward a few years and giant machines---with thousands of spinning "nails" are moving through 5 rows of cotton, extracting tons of the stuff in minutes----each machine replacing 500 workers. 

 

See a picture and read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_picker 

 

The cotton picker---replacing 500 workers has caused social convulsions in my home towns and all across the South..  I will pick up the story in my next entry.

 

Eventually, I want to share with you some Sondheimer stories you may find hard to believe.

There is an overarching point I want to make from all this---stay tuned.

ARRIVING HOME---AN AMAZING PLACE

I MEAN IT---REALLY AN AMAZING PLACE---LET ME PROVE IT TO YOU:
MY BOYHOOD RANGED BETWEEN THREE SMALL TOWNS----SONDHEIMER,----- TALLULAH ----- LAKE PROVIDENCE,--- LOUISIANA.
I've come home to see my family and to let the area speak to me.  It has done so----- said something which may be relevant to you and your hometown.

My sister Bobby Jean ---MD---she's agreed to come walk Sondheimer with me to check my memory about the extraordinary dramas that played here.

 

 Our first stop is the "colored" cemetery---many of my friends--are buried here.

The old swimming hole---many happy hours with the gang under this bridge.

 We visit the last black family living in Sondheimer---old friends---the lady, a one time patient of my sister.  Her husband a childhood companion of mine.  I told him I thought I could finally outrun him. He didn't think so.

 

So we raced again---He was right.  What a joy to be with my friend again.

My relatives intercept our walk.  On the right is "Little Charles", my nephew, a philosopher/farmer. He has mastered farming as well as my nephew Jeff has mastered alligators.  He made time for a 2 hour interview---great story----will share in an upcoming blog. That's his son Byron---partner in the enterprise and the cyber technologist that makes their mega-machinery run. (Did you know that we no longer "drive" tractors----the "satellite/gods" steer them. And you will be astounded at the acreage 2 people can cultivate)  The gentleman in red is Jimmy Stewart also a relative. 

 

Here's where I lived for 17 years---house is gone---concrete porch remains--(center left) and guess who now occupies the site---a old acquaintance and maverick as mavericky as me---Bill.  He acquired this tiny sliver of land between the roadway and the RR tracks ( about 50 yds wide) and settled in with his Airstream trailer.  It is now 12 miles to the nearest store.  He invites me to roam at will over the old homestead.

By standing atop his Honda, I am able to occupy the exact space where I slept for 17 yrs.  Now I want to find something from my childhood.

I search around for a long time---finding only a small piece of our tar-paper roof.

A few steps away is the now abandoned railway---the forest is reclaiming it.

 

Driving toward the river we see many abandoned "project houses"---a story worth telling.  FINALLY---(partially delivering on a post civil war promise) in-1943 and 44-under Roosevelt's new deal--the government apportioned 40 acres and a house to the blacks. (a separate project was made for the poor whites) I estimate there were a hundred of these farm sites in this project.  Many were customers in our family store. after 1876 none of them were allowed to vote in our parishes (counties) until the 1960's when  modern civil rights legislation was passed.  I grew up unconscious of the terrible injustice going on around me.  One by one in the past 50 years most sold out to the large farms. 40 acres is not a viable farm anymore.

 

Atop the 40 foot levee  protecting delta farmlands. Now the Mississippi river is high--only a few yards from spilling over---but no one is worried----farmers keep close tabs on it's rise and fall---know what to expect. You are looking at a fragment of one of the world's great construction projects ---3,500 miles in length---40 feet high.

Here---on this exact spot---when I was 18 yrs old---I had a mystical experience. Did not know what had happened to me till much later when I read about them:

"Swiftly arose and spread around me

the peace and joy and knowledge

that passes all the art and argument of the earth.

And (suddenly) I know that the hand of God

is the elder hand of my own,

and I know that the spirit of God is the elder brother of my own

and that all men ever born

are also my brothers

and the women my sisters and lovers;

That creation is without limit

and Love is the reason for it all."

                                                                                   Walt Whitman

I've never had another---don't know what it meant--if anything--but I suspect that many people have them---and that they alter the experiencer in some good way.

 

Yes, I know, I am an avowed atheist---in this sense---that if there is a God--he wants us to live as though there were not---to fully embrace the experience of finitude (time and materiality) and become co-creators with him.

My hosts for 3 days are John Edward and Vicky--my niece--both very engaged and interesting people. They own this country estate near Sondheimer.

 

A picturesque, cozy "cabin".

With all the accoutrements

 

And guest every night I was there---all those folks are somehow related to me.

And the police come---and they are related too---meet Ryan---State Trooper---who gave me a sense of the balance of force and compassion required to maintain order in society. 

 

RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES:  This is all I'm willing to write today----will pick up the story tomorrow perhaps.  I know I've not lived up to my title yet (Amazing place) but bear with me.  I will show you proof that this strip of land and it's people are amazing and have influenced your life.  I will name drop to pique your interest, General Ulysses Grant----Theodore Roosevelt----Poverty point---  world heritage site----Billionaire Charles Wyly jr ----cover story Time Magazine 8/14/1994

John Rust, inventor who changed the face of the South, origin of shopping malls---Delta Airlines. When I finish--there is a larger point I want to make.