Debris
«chaque notaire porte en soi les débris d’un poète.»Archive for southern living
Stokes County Courthouse
Danbury, NC is a pretty little town along the Dan River, just about an hour’s leisurely drive northwest of my home. I passed through there today, and stopped to take some pictures of the Stokes County Courthouse (built in 1904).
In front of the courthouse stands this memorial to local Confederate war dead. A central monument displays the Confederate flag and an engraving of a Confederate soldier.
An inscription on the back reads, “From Manassas to Gettysburg. From Gettysburg to Appomatox.” A surrounding circle of smaller markers bear the names of Confederate army units in which Stokes County men served.
A few feet away, grimy and decrepit, stands the base of a memorial for WWI dead; whatever once stood atop the base appears to be long gone. The contrast with the shiny and well-kept Confederate memorial (erected in 1990) is striking.
While the Confederate memorial declares itself to be “In Honor of All Who Served”, that isn’t quite true. I don’t know whether there were any sons of Stokes County among the thousands of North Carolinians who fought on the Union side. But I have no doubt that Stokes County sent its share of citizens to fight in the Spanish-American War, World War II, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Yet, the service and sacrifices of those men and women who fought for their country go entirely unmarked, while those who took up arms against it get the honors.
Intact Brain
Muddy Waters Coffee Shop, State Highway 61, Charleston, SC
We saw the band setting up, but unfortunately didn’t have time to hear them play. Young Alfie loved the paintings. And the coffee and snacks were very good.
MC Hawking finally gets his wish
Jesse Helms represented the ugliest parts of my adopted home state’s history. The only thing sad about his death is that it did not occur several decades earlier.
(Thanks to LGM for the links to Mother Jones and Salon.)
New publishing genre: shelter & shooting magazines
In today’s mail, I received a free issue of Garden & Gun, a magazine devoted to “21st Century Southern America”. I’ve never heard of it before, but it looks like a good read. True to the name, there are articles about both gardens (South Carolina architect John Paul Huguley’s garden follies) and guns (quail hunting in Thomasville, Georgia). But the coverage also includes such topics as slow food in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Morgan Freeman’s blues club in Clarksdale, Mississippi; bird fighting in Puerto Rico; NASCAR; and (most important of all) plenty of fishing.
A higher power
A letter in today’s Greensboro News & Record touches on a touchy issue for non-evangelicals living in the South:
The God I already have suits me fine, thanks
Lately, small groups of well-dressed, soft-spoken folks have knocked on our door.
They come bearing a message: Commit to their god. That would be my only path to heaven. So, I can surmise where I am heading.
When they left, I felt lousy. After living a long, honorable life, I was doomed. Why do people challenge another man’s faith?
I am a World War II veteran, pretty much set in my ways. I don’t do change easily. I admit that I switched from Pepsi to Coke, and when I smoked cigarettes, I tried different brands.
But to switch gods — that’s a bit much.
Even if I were to entertain this idea, what would I say to my God? “I found a better god?”
That’s ludicrous. God is God. Or, are there different gods for different faiths?
Is heaven crowded? Or is the spirit of God universal?
In the interim, God told me that “heaven awaits.”
I think I will maintain the status quo. Peace.
Max Roseman
High Point
In my case, I gave up cola, cigarettes, and god altogether. I might humbly suggest to Mr. Roseman, “try it, you’ll like it.” But, for those who insist on believing in a higher power, I offer this anthem from Jens Lekman.
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me
Our route today took us past Johnson Bible College, just outside of Knoxville. As we passed, I idly wondered whether the school has taken its motto from Psalms 23:4.
Additions to my “to read” list
Greensboro scenes
Two sights caught my eye as I was driving around Greensboro this afternoon:
- A car on Cone Boulevard with bumper stickers reading “WORK: It’s the White Thing to Do” and “Keep Working: Millions on Welfare Depend on You”. The real surprise is that the driver and passenger in the car appeared to be Latino.
- A man dressed as Jesus dragging a cross down the sidewalk along Battleground Avenue (a major commerical street). I’m hoping it was in honor of Good Friday, and not a routine occurrence.
I suppose it is just as well that I didn’t see either of these before I committed to moving here.
