(There are already some Memorial Day threads up, so…)
I wasn’t in the Middle of Effin Nowhere this weekend, but I was driving thru directly north of it, in G-d’s Country. Where it’s all forested mountains. This led me to wonder how the western part of this country was ever settled - who was the first idiot to try & cut down enough trees to get their wagon thru there, driving their horse team up hill & down dale, & saying, “yup, we should keep going further!” :smack: Even the expressways/interstates that we were on, probably made with modern equipment, & most likely surveyed out from airplanes - why were they put in there? You get to an exit & all you see is a two lane road & more trees. No houses, businesses, or even billboards. There weren’t any signs saying gas/food/lodging & how far from the exit. You know the area - when people get back from town, they immediately need to turn around & go into town & fill up their gas tank again if they want to be able to make it back into town because they live so far away from civilization. Absolutely beautiful & breathtaing to visit/drive thru, but not for me. The place we stayed at, the woman said it’s about 50 mile round trip to Wal-Mart/Sam’s club to stock up on supplies for the inn.
Today’s pre-hijack question, where do you live? I’m in greater suburbia, just a few miles outside of the city limits *which means my taxes are ½ & my services are double) & if I drive the other way, I’m in farm country fairly quickly & w/in an hour, there’s still people living w/o electricity (by choice - Amish).
It’s also Memorial’s Day for the USAian’s, so remember those who allowed us to live where we want to.
Oddly enough, we were discussing the path a particular road followed thru the woods just the other day, as we took a winding back road to Fredericksburg. I’m inclined to think that the earliest settlers - pre-wagontrain era - probably followed paths that animals had made. When I look at the paths Higgs has stomped out in our yard, I can easily imagine larger critters clearing larger routes. And I’m sure the terrain itself determines where roads were born - avoiding steep rises and falls, for example, or avoiding the cave where the bears live. (N.O.B.)
What gets me wondering is why people stopped where they did to establish towns. Was it “This is a lovely place to raise a community” or “No more - I ain’t going any further!!”
As for me - I’m in the boonies, maybe semi-boonies. The nearest grocery store is about 7 miles south, the nearest gas station and dollar store are 3 miles north. WalMart, Lowe’s, and other clumping signs of civilization are about 17 miles to the south or 25 miles to the north. I can smell when the local farmers fertilize - lots of agriculture around here - and we’ve got Amish and Mennonites all over the place, too. Frankly, the only thing that I’d like better would be if we could afford to live on the water, but mostly, I love where we live.
As for today, mowage is the first order of business. We have no plans to memorialize Memorial Day - I have no idea what may be going on around here. Last year, **FCD **did Rolling Thunder (OK, that was yesterday) and he said he’d never do it again. Sitting in the Pentagon parking lot for hours and hours was not his idea of something he’d like to repeat.
And grouch that I am, I tend to dislike the “We our Vets” events because to my mind, they bring out the plastic patriot. If you really love your veterans, lobby your elected representatives to take better care of those who came home with injuries visible and invisible. Magnetic ribbons on your car enrich those who make and sell said ribbons and do nothing for vets. And “Thank you for your service” is mostly meaningless if you have no idea what that person’s service was. Believe it or not, there are veterans who were worthless or worse while in uniform, just like in any job anywhere. Sorry to grump so early - this is a hot button issue for me.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis <snerk> 69! <snerk> Amurrkin out with a predicted high of 91 and a forecast of rain/tstorms/apocalypse this afternoon and evenin’. We shall see.
I live in a sorta kinda rural area. Albeeeeny, the big town, is about seven miles away and it’s about fifteen miles to da ‘Burg. I do have a Dollah Genrul, a Fred’s, and the Burly Butcher sto’ close by as in within two miles. It’s nine miles from here to either :eek:Wally*World:eek:, and I am within ten miles of my fav-o-rite grocery stores. Also the irkplace is ten miles away so lots o’ stuff is fairly close. Still it’s nice and quiet for the most part here at da cave.
Happy Memorial Day Amurrkin Mumpers!
Ok, that’s all I got. I need more caffeine and to consider what to feed rumbly tummy. I’m thinkin’ cheese toast as we plan to go to the good Eyetalian place for N.O.L. YUM!
You wonder that same thing when going across the great plains that while everyone says they are flat, are actually full of dips, gullies, and creeks and other terrain which would be difficult to traverse with a wagon. Sometimes pathways would be blocked by heavy rains or washouts and the role of the scouts was to find an alternative route which could easily mean miles of backtracking.
The settlers roads were often the same as the Indians and the Indians followed the same paths the animals took. Lewis and Clark, even though they had the best compasses, telescopes, and equipment of their day still hit a section of territory with no Indian paths to follow in Montana and were lost for about a month.
In the eastern part of the US traveling thru the forests could be difficult when sometimes the trees can block out the sun or any other references and sometimes every creek and river looks the same. Daniel Boone was once asked if he’d ever gotten lost and he said “no, but I was a might bit confused, for about 5 days”.
In South Dakota I’ve walked the old deadwood trail which still has the old wagon ruts left from over 100 years ago.
I think a bigger problem quickly became road congestion when you think that by 1870 over 100,000 settlers were coming west each year and roads, campsites, and passes quickly became congested from the 100’s of wagon trains.
I live in the city(although not Inside The Beltline). I have doezes of shops, restaurants, bars, and the Likker Sto within 5 miles. I also have 2 parks ,and the greenways system, so it’s the best of both worlds.
That’s nice of her, EmilyG. Timely topic, the location and availability of grocery stores is a hot topic for me right now, since I’m about to move. But I live in north Dallas, and while this is not exactly a walkable city, everything is only a couple minutes away by car. (I do not currently have a car. )
Had a birthday dinner for my mom yesterday at PF Changs, where an enormous amount of attention was paid to How Purple Is Making Bad Choices Again (see above: I’m about to move.) You see, if I make a decision - any decision - without the guidance of my parents (read: doing exactly what they say) I’m by definition doing something terribly wrong and misguided. Bah.
On the other hand, I got a bonus day of glorious freeeedom from work today!
Preach it sistah! With some of the vets I’ve known “I’m sorry serving our nation gave you PTSD and wrecked your life for x years” is more appropriate.
As for where I live, I’m in the city within walking distance of most things depending on how long you want to walk. For example, I could walk to the Big Historic Cemetery but that would be about two hours and since I now have a Bum Foot that would not be a good idea. So I will drive there after I throw some chili in the pot and dig in the herb garden for a while.
This weekend I completed the website for my new fledgling enterprise. Now I just have to figure out a way for people to visit it. I’m sure I’m not helping matters by choosing not to link to it in this post.
Actually they used the rivers until they got to a place where the trees thinned out. Which is why where I live, at the headwaters of one major river and the merger of two others to form it was so vital to both England and France in the 1740s and 50s. Vital enough to start what could be described as the first world war.
Some of the major roads from Virginia north towards here (Braddocks Train) and from the east (Forbes Road) were carved out of the trees by the not-so-bright British Army at the rate of a mile or so a day to capture this site. But from this point on it was more free land (clearing trees to farm), marketing (cutting more trees to get your goods to where you could sell them, and more wars to really create the paths we follow in our cars today. Remember - the major interstate system is a modern invention although it did follow some old pathways. Created in part by President Eisenhower in case the military needed to move quickly internally after an invasion or national emergency.
In my youth I was in the mountains. People first went there for the same reason I loved it; a lack of civilization. People stayed to farm and dig coal. Life was cheap in a lot of ways but tougher in some as well. Most farms have their own gas tanks and suppliers because the local BP station is 23 miles away. No sense burning up a gallon or two to go buy 10. You do it because its what you know; second nature. And have you looked at what we call civilization around our cities lately? Its not always that attractive.
Throughout elementary school, I marched in my hometown’s Memorial Day parade; as a Brownie, then a Junior Scout, and then in the Saturday Marching & Stage Band which was a district wide extracurricular activity for any kid who could walk and play an instrument at the same time.
I was lucky, my Dad came home from WWII. I grew up in the era of anti-Vietnam War protests and hippies and flower children and “Make love, not war” posters. I knew war was bad, because people died. That was about the extent of it.
Memorial day in my lovely affluent Lawn Guylindt community was all about the parade, then the post parade speeches by local politicos, and greeting all your neighbors on the Village Green. Then everyone went home to sleep or grill or get in the car to go to Grandma’s or whatever.
None of the people with whom I grew up had lost anyone in WWII, the Korean War, or the Vietnam ‘Conflict’. So I got a D on my 9th grade English essay that was supposed to be about a family that lost someone in war (didn’t matter which war).
As I grew older, I came to realize that war is a separate entity from the men and women who actually fight in it. Those who wage the war seldom see any of the fighting, so they are the ones to be protested, not the members of the military. My philosophy can now be neatly summed up by what Leroy Jethro Gibbs replied when asked if he supported the war: “I support the troops who fight.”
So today, I will give some thought to those who didn’t make it back, and to their families who had to carry on without them.
Not so much. Some of the number estimates on the trails are a little high and there were several different paths followed over generations. If you knew several groups were ahead of yours, you basically took a bypass - a southern or northern fork - to avoid traffic. What got real serious was fuel. Which is why the women and kids would walk along; to gather dried cow and buffalo chips/shit to use for fuel.
One thing in the books that was real and interesting to me is that people overpacked and at one time the trails were littered with things dumped to lighten the loads. OK - by itself that is cool. But the extra-cool tidbit is that we humans are such born scavengers that those things dumped quickly disappeared. Yes, the ruts are still there. But ask the metal detecting crowd; rarely do hard artifacts turn up.
The lawn is mowed and the push mower is destroyed, dammit. I got too close to a stump and the mower blade got stuck. My attempts to remove it resulted in an apparently bent crank shaft and vibrations reminiscent of those old-time “exercise” machines with the belts that go around your butt. So now I get to shop for a replacement. I want a self-propelled mower, which means $$$. I intended to get one, just not this year. Now I have to get one this year. Dammit.
On the other hand, when my sweetie went to get himself a soda at the WaWa, he brought me back a chocolate chip muffin, so there’s that. And I’m showered and in clean, non-sweaty clothes. Guess I need to research self-propelled mowers. Dammit.
For ages I did a lot of Memorial Day celebrations centered around our military veterans. My favorite was always Beaver PA where we fired a salute after the speeches in the cemetery. First volley was from a bunch of us in Rev Way gear, the second from a group of Civil War re-enactors, the third from some WW II and other war vets. It was always fun to see how much it all meant to them. And one year my Dad (CBI veteran) even made the semi-short trip and joined in. Sharing that with him will always be a big memory to me.
Lately I’m more different though. Instead of just the military aspect, I like to remember all the people who have touched my life.
All those who have passed. Relatives, friends, neighbors and more. Even some Dope and Ecunet friends I never met. As I age I realize more and more how much I miss even those I barely remember; because I can see little bits and pieces of “then” reflected in my “now”.
All of you still around me and making up parts of my life. Real life people like the Old Wench and the friends I’ve made at Amazon and all the people I post with and read here. Even Plant - although there are days when ------ Again, as I get older I find you (the living) more and more as parts of what I call my life and more and more worth being remembered.
And because this day among all is for remembering - Hi Opel!
It’s a sunny <snerk> 69 <snerk> degrees outside, and expected to go up to a warm 87.
Now I live at the edge of a small town, I’m still inside the town limits but I think it’s by only two blocks. If I ever got my ass out and walked there are quite a few restaurants, pubs, antique stores, Farmer’s Market, and even the U of MD campus are within walking distance. Grocery stores, strip malls, and the Outlets are just a few miles away as are the farms.
Lots of farms, when you buy a house in this county you have to sign an addendum stating that you understand that this an agricultural county with lots of animals, smells, dirt and dust.
So far I like it here.
I don’t think I could ever live in the city again, too much stress.
I live on an island in a 150 mile island chain. My island has 5000 people and one traffic signal. We have a “uptown” with a small shopping center and one grocery store. There are a couple gas stations and a tiny post office. There are NO fast food restaurants within 30 miles of my home but there are 3 liquor stores! :).
I also live on an island. The island of Montreal. But in the suburbs. Thankfully, I live near public transit, because although I do have a car, driving anywhere farther than a short distance tends to give me panic attacks.
I don’t think I’d want to live somewhere where I’d be completely dependent on a car, though it’s nice to have one now.
Well, made it to another Monday. Mowed my lawn Sunday 20 minutes before the rains came, which was my sole claim to fame for the weekend.
I live in a ‘bedroom community’ outside of Huntsville, Alabama. It was pretty deserted until 20 years or so, when the US Army and NASA began moving lots of people down here and the home market boomed. It’s now pretty well full, I live at the end of a cul-de-sac with a large woods two houses away, and it’s a mystery as to how that property has not been developed in the past ten years. Rumor has it that an extended family owns the property and due to family feuding they can’t get everybody to agree on selling it.
Works for me, I don’t need construction in my peaceful corner of suburbia…
I work for the US Army (civilian) and we’ve been told that at 3PM local we should take a silent moment, wherever we are, to remember those who served. My dad (WW II) is buried 500 miles away, so I can’t be there, but I’ll think of him.
Higgs has been bathed. That should reduce her stinkage. **FCD **is in his shop making chips from aluminum. It looks like he has silver glitter on his arms, but with sharp edges. ugh. I have zero motivation. I’ve been watching Netflix. I think I just might return to that.
our Vets” events because to my mind, they bring out the plastic patriot. If you really love your veterans, lobby your elected representatives to take better care of those who came home with injuries visible and invisible. Magnetic ribbons on your car enrich those who make and sell said ribbons and do nothing for vets. And “Thank you for your service” is mostly meaningless if you have no idea what that person’s service was. Believe it or not, there are veterans who were worthless or worse while in uniform, just like in any job anywhere. Sorry to grump so early - this is a hot button issue for me.
Timely topic, the location and availability of grocery stores is a hot topic for me right now, since I’m about to move. But I live in north Dallas, and while this is not exactly a walkable city, everything is only a couple minutes away by car. (I do not currently have a car. 
)