Georgia All Over Again

We be a little bit “odd man out” right now, parked in High Falls State
Park, with families in tents, a rally of the “Coachmen Crackers” Club,
and maybe a few traveling retirees. The campground is so open that we
feel like we’re in a subdivision, a Grandma Moses primitive painting of
“camping in the park,” everyone is so close and visible to everyone
else.

I’m sure we’ve mentioned that there is very little public land in the
South, so people really use their state parks. And there are a lot of
state parks, most of them well designed and maintained for camping,
with level pads, fire pits/grills, tables and even a pole to hang your
lantern (or bird feeder). This park has 122 sites, divided into three
campground areas, with nice showers/toilets and even a washer and
dryer. Also has a screened group shelter, where the “Crackers” are pot
lucking tonight. It’s really fun to see all these folks out, especially
in February! It was 65 degrees today, might rain tonight. Doesn’t seem
to matter.

We were at General Coffee State Park, 100 miles south, for two weeks.
The Gopher Turtles were still in hibernation but the weather was nice.
The job was hard; a number of changes in the past year didn’t work to
our advantage. Sometimes that happens. The guy at Radio Shack declined
to renew his ad in the park map, blaming his business woes on the City
Council and the black Mayor. He is one of the very few people we talk
to who doesn’t instinctively lower his voice when he says “black.”
Blatant racism is rare; subtle racism is everywhere.

We were interested to read this Mayor’s State of the City address in
the local newspaper. He said the day he won the election his wife was
upset and he remembers sitting on the edge of the bed, hearing the news
on the TV and thinking, “What have I done?” He says “The black
community thinks it is the second coming and the white people think
it’s Armageddon.” The Mayor says he prayed a lot. Chapter and verse
were also quoted in the State of the City address. Separation of church
and state is just a concept in Georgia.

From what we could see, the Mayor has done alright. This town of
Douglas, population 10,000 or so, seems prosperous compared to a lot of
small Georgia towns. We did encounter some real rudeness from black
people in Douglas. Nothing you’d want to make a fuss over, just obvious
insolence and mean looks at the store and on the street. I can’t help
but relate it to similar behavior I’ve witnessed in American Indians.
Especially young people of both races seem to be responding to a
generational shame. I believe very strongly that we can inherit shame,
grow up feeling a sting from acts committed years before we were born.
I’ve known for a long time that the American Indian feels his ancestors
should have fought and died, rather than be reduced to living in
confusion and conflict, in a hostile environment, that exists to this
day. Seems reasonable to me that blacks might feel the same way. And
southern whites are probably still dealing with the shame of having
lost the war; they’re acting out in another way, namely passive
aggression.

We don’t run into any black people in the parks and calling on
business owners I have yet to call on a black person. Unless I start
going to church I’m probably not going to have an opportunity to talk
to any black people.

We€™re right in central Georgia now, just off I-75, 60 miles south of
Atlanta. We’ll be here at High Falls for a week, then move 20 miles to
Indian Springs State Park for two weeks. We work both parks at the same
time. We got the Bird serviced in Macon on our way to High Falls. They
changed the engine oil, transmission fluid and rear axle fluid, plus
put in the new torque beam to replace the one that got tweaked when we
had the blowout a year or so ago. It cost $800. Wuh. And that didn’t
include the cost of the torque beam which we picked up at the factory.
But we were glad to get it done. I might blanche at the cost, but Mr.
Maintenance takes good care of his rolling stock and I know it pays off
in the long run.

We toured the Andersonville P.O.W. Museum while the Bird was in the
shop. The museum has a section of photographs showing the infamous
civil was prison for Union soldiers, but also remembers prisoners of
war from all other wars. Very sobering. There are remnants of the
Andersonville stockade and it’s easy to see how the prison was laid
out. The cemetery is heart breaking. As a national cemetery it is still
being used. The Civil War section is so huge. It wouldn’t exist but for
the efforts of Clara Barton coming to the prison and working with a
stolen list of the dead. She was able to notify the families of most of
the victims.

We’re still reading Civil War stories. An ill-conceived war, we find
too many parallels to the war in Iraq. We haven’t learned a thing.

Jason came down and spent a couple of days with us last weekend. It was
great to see him. He and Dave took a good bike ride and we took him out
to eat at the Country Cabin. We’re all so anxious to get Jamie and the
kids moved (Jamie most of all, I’m sure!), hopefully soon.

There are more birds in this park than in the last park. I especially
enjoy the Tufted Titmouse. When I first saw this little bird last year
I was so startled. It has a very large black eye and is like a jay in
that it isn’t too frightened of people. The soft gray coloring and big
black eye give it a stuffed toy look. And it’s call is a funny little
“neener, neener, neener.” It feeds with the Carolina Chickadee and
occasionally the Carolina Wren. My friend Marilyn McGill has tried to
hook me up with bird counters on the internet but I can’t get it
together. One nice thing about getting old is that the mind and body
give definite signs when they are overloaded, and it’s time to take a
nap. I could probably get a lot done if I didn’t take naps … oh,
well.

Love to all,
Sam

P.S. I’m still dressing up for the Academy Awards. This year I wore an
orange and yellow caftan by Sam, very silky (but very sadly and
necessarily polyester). My mother gives me drippy earrings, so I’m well
jeweled. My hooker shoes are long gone; somehow Skecher wedgies are not
a replacement. But I just got a pedicure, so my toes look nice. No
champagne. Damn! Once again I either forgot it was Sunday or forgot I
was in Georgia on Sunday!!

S