[SO NEAR AND YET SO FARe]

Havana, Cuba is not far from Miami in geographical distance – 228 air miles (a 45 minute flight). But in time-travel distance, it is sixty years in the past, a place caught in the fifties. For Americans who go there for a week or two it is quaint, perhaps even nostalgic, especially if you owned cars in the forties and fifties. My history of car ownership was brought home to me as I once again, and in the flesh, saw my ’48 Plymouth, my beautiful turquoise and white ’54 Chevrolet and two other fifties cars I do not care to think about. I had heard about the old cars of Cuba but I was greatly surprised to find them in such abundance and in active service as taxis scooting all over town. One cannot help but be impressed by the effort and genius required to keep these cars running. They are patched, taped, wired and welded together and like the old Timex commercial, “They take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’”

I was in Cuba for a week with a group of photographers, Our leader and guide, Lorne Resnick, a professional photographer from Los Angeles, an experienced traveler in Cuba, was able to provide great photo opportunities, take us to outstanding restaurants, and introduce us to friends he has come to know through the years. The only subjects off limits for photography were policemen and official government buildings, though from time to time they would make an appearance in a picture. www.lorneresnick.com

We spent the entire time, except for one day, in Old and Central Havana. It is aptly named “Old.” These parts of Havana are crumbling and in desperate need of repair and infrastructure. Some neighborhoods are in much better condition. The area just west of Central Havana is a neighborhood of wide streets, attractive houses, and clipped lawns.

As a sociologist, I know one should not make gross generalizations based on limited observations. But I must tell you, everwhere we went we saw and met people who were living lives of quiet destitution, or worse. Opportunities for employment are limited and for those who do work, salaries are extremely meager. I was told doctors make twenty pesos a month.

But we experienced another side of Cubans. Traditionally, Cubans seem to be a joyous people. They have a rich history of music, dance, and art that cannot be suppressed. We saw that every day and even participated in it. One of our group, Ashly Stohl, even found the Cuban skate boarders, an evolving group of young men, like young men everywhere, who keep trying to break the bounds of earth. I found one of Havana’s best primitive artists, Nati, and bought one of her beautiful paintings. And the music and dance. How wonderful it is!

On the plane back to Miami I thought about two things – the people and the cars – and it came to me that the cars are but a metaphor for the people: that in spite of being patched, taped, wired, and welded together, they, like their cars, “take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’”

I have exerted great restraint and am including only six photographs. I wanted to place them at the end of the article but did not know how to place them. Blogging is still rather new for me. I need help!

MOUNTAIN DEATH

MOUNTAIN DEATH

The Fraser Firs were among the most beautiful trees in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Now, the adult firs are dead. Walking among their remains is like walking through an old cemetery with tall headstones and monuments. The killing of the firs happened some time during the 1980’s. While the cause is unknown, some suggest natural causes and others manmade. It was probably a combination of the two. I suspect that it was a single catastrophic manmade episode, like an extraordinarily large emission of some toxic substance. This opinion is based on two totally unscientific observations. The first observation is that one year in the mid to late 80’s, all the foliage in the park appeared to be affected by something. Everything seemed to be a washed-out dull green rather than bright, deep, and dark. The second observation is that there are now thousands of seedling firs which appear to be thriving, indicating that the trees which are now dead dropped viable seeds before their demise and that the new trees have not been subject, at least so far, to the cause or causes which devastated their parents. But the mystery remains and the quality of the forests is severely impaired. Mental images of the beauty of the mountains in 1980 came to mind as I hiked the Appalachian trail in 1997.

Our hike on the last weekend in May, Memorial Day, began from the Cosby Campground and ended at Newfound Gap, with an overnight stay on Mt. Le Conte, a distance of about thirty-five miles. The Snake Den trail climbs steeply out of Cosby Campground for five miles up to the Appalachian Trail which traverses the entire crest of the Great Smoky Mountains from Davenport Gap on the Northeast to Fontana Dam on the Southeast, a distance of 67.8 miles. Since, as hikers know, repeating a hike on the same trail is never the same experience. Each hike is new. This was our third hike over the same route. The first had been on Labor Day weekend in 1980. Our “group” has always been Ray Johnson, Paul Beecham, and myself, with various and sundry friends joining us from time to time. Ray and I had been friends in high school but had not seen each other for thirty years, reuniting at our thirtieth class reunion in 1980. We discovered our mutual interest in backpacking and have been hiking together ever since. The Great Smoky Mountain National Park is about equal distance from Atlanta and Nashville and has been our first choice for hiking.

We started up Snake Den trail at 8:00 a.m. in a light mist, not heavy enough for ponchos but enough to dampen everything, except our spirits. We paused at the small cemetery on the right and read the headstones before starting the climb. The towering Poplar, Buckeye, Locust, and Hemlocks filtered the light so that it was neither daylight nor dark, but an indirect low light which, with the mist, created a beautiful but eerie forest. The trail became steep very quickly, the best indication of which was audible breathing from everyone. The heavy breathing could even be heard above the rushing waters of Inadu (Cherokee) Creek. The altitude gain up Snake Den trail is 3400 feet, from 2400 feet at Cosby to 5800 feet at the crest. The character of the forest changed with gains in altitude. Rhododendron and mountain Laurel soon became abundant, creating tunnels of green over the trail. The forest became more Canadian-like with Spruce and Fir as we neared the top and came onto the Appalachian Trail just below Inadu Knob. The Appalachian Trail was relatively level and a welcome relief after the climb up Snake Den. We soon came to Deer Creek Gap, about which the Trail Guide book states: “Enter virgin spruce and fir forest.” There was only one problem. All the Fraser Firs were dead. All the way from Deer Creek Gap, over Mt. Guyot, Tri Corner Knob, Mt. Chapman, Mt. Sequoyah, to Porters Gap, a distance of thirteen miles, the fir trees were dead. This walk among the dead trees was somber. The remains stood erect and white, like mountains with toothpick trees. Ten years ago I would see an occasional tree which had died in its prime and wonder, “Does it matter that one tree in the forest dies?” Now I asked, “Does it matter that an entire forest dies?”

By the time we reached our shelter for the night at Tri Corner Knob, I was very depressed. Thinking of what we had seen, I sat on the ground beside a tree and wrote of mountain death:

Fraser Firs

The firs. once resplendent with rusty flaky bark

And English racing-green needles,

Stand now as bleached-bone sentinels

Reminiscent of

Military graveyard crosses –

To some unknown (disputed) cause

Natural or manmade,

Aphid or acid rain?

Who can know,

Except for one indisputable fact:

DEATH.

I MADE MY BED THIS MORNING

I MADE MY BED by Mack Lipsey

I made my bed this morning,

I did not make it right,

I did not smooth the sheets,

I did not pull them tight.

I made my bed this morning,

Haphazard though it be,

It would not please my mother,

But its good enough for me.

I made my bed this morning,

The sheet is hanging down

Beneath the crooked bedspread

Like an unstrapped evening gown.

I made my bed this morning,

The pillows have no fluff.

Though Martha S may chastise me

For me its good enough.

I made my bed this morning,

Close scrutiny it could not bear

But in my current state of mind

I simply do not care.

Much like my bed I’ve made my life

It is not wrinkle free,

But in spite of all the ups and downs

Its been very good for me.

WHAT DID TEACHERS DO?

WHAT DID TEACHERS DO?

I have been thinking a lot about teachers lately. How could one not given all the news lately about Republican governors and legislators passing laws to strip teachers and other public employees of their ability to organize and negotiate issues related to their employment.

Some things going on now simply do not make sense to me. One is the apparent hostility toward teachers. The most common, universal, and unifying experiences we have all had as Americans has been going to school – getting an education. And I bet right now each of us could identify the teacher who had a profound influence in our life. I have been asking people if they had a favorite teacher in elementary or high school and without hesitation they could tell me who that teacher was. I also asked if they could identify the “worst” teacher they had and usually they could not come up with one. So, I ask myself, why the hostility toward teachers?

The second thing that does not make sense to me is the money issue. Yes, we are in the midst of a recession. But, I ask myself, is it the salaries and benefits of public employees that broke the bank. Are the salaries of public employees so exorbitant that they caused our economic house of cards to come crashing down? If our expenditures for public services were the culprit the Republican hostility toward them would make sense. As we now know, however, our current economic woes was caused by deregulation, lack of oversight, predatory lenders, unscrupulous Wall Street manipulators, and tax loopholes that allow corporations to evade paying their fair share of taxes. Where is the hostility toward these people?

I think I know part of the answer. If I am wrong I am open to being corrected. It has to do with the philosophy and ideology of the two major political parties. Historically, the Republican party, with the exception of Teddy Roosevelt, has represented the economic interests of owners and managers and the Democratic party has represented the economic interests of workers. As a result of these alignments, labor unions have traditionally supported and contributed to Democratic candidates while owners and corporations have supported and contributed to Republican candidates. If this is accurate, it now makes sense that Republicans now vilify teachers. It is a political tactic. In those states, including Tennessee, where Republicans have gained control of the governorship and legislature, they can now pass laws to restrict or eliminate a major economic source for their opponents. Teachers and other public employees have, thus, become scapegoats for Republican strategists who seek to enhance their opportunities for election and reelection in future years.

In case it is not clear, let me come right out and admit my bias. I am pro-teacher and pro-union. Pro-union because my grandfather and father were members of the railroad union. I am pro-teacher because I was married to a first grade teacher for fifty-seven years. Her first job, in 1952, was in Macon, Ga. She had forty-two students and had a salary of $2400. Her last year, in 1990, before she retired was in Nashville at Eakin school. She had twenty-four students and had a salary of $36,000. She was a member of the MNEA, the TEA, and the NEA. She was not a “thug.” She was not even a rabid union member. But she did recognize and appreciate that the unions did represent her interests and could negotiate on her behalf in ways she could not as an individual. She was a dedicated wonderful teacher who loved her students, just as were the colleagues she knew during her forty year teaching career.

I do not believe Republicans dislike teachers, state employees, firemen, or policemen. They just do not like for them to be organized.