Our Florida Panhandle Tour continues… Last week in the Panhandle, I talked with two men heading back to Ocala, Florida, after spending more than a week helping tornado victims in Alabama. They are part of the Florida Baptist Relief Organization. The men said they spent most of the time sawing trees off of houses in the aftermath of an F-5 force tornado that hit in a small town north of Birmingham. While they were there, they said they heard one amazing story of a 10-year-old boy who, while running for a shelter, was lifted up in the tornado — and dropped 30 miles away (alive and, while unhurt, was a bit “dazed”). The men said they had also helped in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. And what they saw in Alabama was “just as bad.” (Both chose anonymity during the interview because they said their Christian faith calls them to do things in an unsung way.) Note: USA Today reported that yesterday the U.S. Government reached it’s “debt ceiling” at $14.3 trillion. Last night in the motor home, I was helping our Jonathan, 8, with his math. He was doing a series of additions. 14 + 7 = 21; 20 + 8 = 28; 42 + 13 = 55… and so on. Jonathan got them all right — and might well be our new Treasury Secretary when we get to D.C. I mean, all we need is someone who can add right, I once told the Delphos News in Ohio. Then after you’ve added up how much revenue you have, say, in a given year: you don’t spend any more than you’ve got! Common sense.
old Negro League, Hispanics, sonograms, strategic abandonment…
More catching up from the last few weeks… In Carrabelle, Florida, we did a video segment from a small memorial to John “Buck” O’Neil. Born here on Nov. 13, 1911, O’Neil was a stand out in the old Negro League and went on to be the first Black coach in Major League Baseball with the Chicago Cubs. Later in life, he founded a Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. O’Neil’s most famous quote: “Give without remembering and take without forgetting.” Good words to live by… In Tallahassee, Florida, I interviewed Bill Torez who is a representative for the North Florida Hispanic Association. They put on regular soccer games, dances and a host of other events to keep up rapport between Hispanics here and to support keeping the culture alive, for generations to come… In Tallahassee, we also toured the Woman’s Clinic. Heather Martel, a graduate of Franciscan University, said the clinic has a state of the art sonogram machine. What’s more, she said figures indicate that more than 80% of women who see the sonogram picture of the baby in the womb, won’t get an abortion. “The ultra-sound presents women with the truth,” she said. Ms. Martel also said the Clinic provides post abortion counseling and “secondary virginity” education… We also met with a family in Tallahassee who were losing their house to foreclosure. (One in 10 homes are now in foreclosure in Florida since the ‘housing bubble’ burst.) The husband said there is now a new phenomenon in housing circles. It is a thing called “strategic abandonment.” That is, after doing the math, some homeowners decide to simply “walk away” from their house without a court fight, etc. He said NPR had just done a big piece on this. Note: We headed west on Rte. 10 after Tallahassee, ending up in the small town of Crestview, Florida. Just south of here, we learned, is another small town called “Niceville.” It’s so ‘nice,’ in fact, the high school football players say “pardon me,” after a tackle. (In my ongoing efforts at transperency: I made that last sentence up.)
fires, floods, tornadoes…
Catching up with a few odds and ends over the last few weeks… In Tallahassee, Florida, I talked with Tacha Williams at the store Pakmail. She said she was Christian and believed some contemporary signs point to us being in the: “end times.” As she was speaking, there was an National Public Radio news piece in the background reporting massive wild fires had now burned over one million acres in Texas… Shortly after this, it was reported that in one week in the U.S. there were 312 tornadoes (including the devastating ones in Alabama) — the most in a week in U.S. history… In Carabelle, Florida (on the Gulf), I talked with a native there who said the BP oil spill threatened the livelihood of some 1,100 “oysterers” in the area, as well as employees at shucking houses, truck drivers… While on the coast, Liz and our kids went swimming in the “pristine waters” (their words) at St. George Island on a Saturday. A storm kicked up the next day. And by Monday there were tar balls on the beach and “for as far as the eyes could see in the water,” someone who had been there told us. (The next day there were stories about this in the local newspaper.) During the “end times,” the Bible says some water will turn to blood. People were reporting during the height of the oil spill last year, that the oily surface water had a distinctive red sheen to it… And have I mentioned the unfolding huge Mississippi River flooding? Note: Speaking of the ‘after life,’ and such… Bumper sticker sighting on a pick-up truck in Carrabelle, Florida: Is There Life After Death? Touch My Truck And Find Out!”
Vietnam… WW II…
We traveled to Apalachicola, Florida, where we visited a striking replica of one of the Vietnam Memorial sculptures in D.C. It was a depiction of three soldiers in the field and definitely conveys some of the intensity of war… This week we also talked to Gladys Quattlebaum in Lanark Village, Florida. Her husband fought in Vietnam. He died later of complications from exposure to “agent orange.” (He also had PTSD.) For 12 years, Mrs. Quattlebaum regularly wrote to sitting U.S. presidents protesting what she saw as a lot of the folly of war. She never got a response. This day in Lanark Village, I felt like I was making up for the no responses a bit, as I listened. Note: Up the road on Rte. 98 along the coast, we visited a beach that was the D-Day Training Site during World War II. In 1943, members of the 4th Army Division trained in the surf and dunes here in preparation for the famous “Invasion of Normandy” that would take thousands of American soldiers’ lives on June 6, 1944.
debt, sharks, ’50s, a singer and D-Day…
We have stayed in Carrabelle, Florida (pop. 2,778) the past week, continuing to campaign (while also working on a new website). We believe if we don’t carry Carrabelle, we won’t carry the country. And yes, we continue to do all this without paid political consultants… Some of the highlights from the last week: Jonathan, 8, and I stumped at the Franklin County Senior Center weekly breakfast. At a round table, of sorts, the conversation focused on the National Debt. One man, who works part-time at Ace Hardware here, said the answer to the debt was simple: “We need to run the Federal Government the way I run my household budget. I don’t spend any more than I’ve got.” And on the bail outs: “Would the government have bailed me out? No.” During this conversation, Jonathan was reading a book he’d brought in about sharks. After the political discussion was over, these older men fascinated Jonathan with their own “…stories of the sea.” One guy, for instance, had once caught a: shark. The whole thing was tremendously endearing and a throwback to the ‘general store’ days of old. And speaking of the past, we also stumped at the Carrabelle Junction Restaurant in downtown Carrabelle. The restaurant has a ’50s motif and as far as memorabilia goes, is perhaps the finest ’50s restaurant we’ve come across in the country. Owner Ron Gemper, who is actually a Cleveland Indians fan (Go Tribe!), said the stuff isn’t so much common memorabilia, as it is: museum pieces. And I’d have to agree… While at Carrabelle Junction Restaurant, I also met Harriet Fairchild, 88, who was in show business in Manhattan during the 1940s and ’50s. She was a singer who performed about town and did two USO Tours during World War II. Ms. Fairchild, who looks 20 to 30 years younger than her age, said she loved the music of that era. However the music of this era, she continued, leaves her a bit dismayed. She said much of it now is “…a lot of talk, anger and smut.” Ms. Fairchild added: “Music just isn’t music anymore.” Speaking of World War II… We took the kids swimming at a local beach, with dunes and a historic marker. One that read: WWII D-Day Training Site: In late 1943, this beach was used by the U.S. Army’s 4th Infantry Division to train for the Normandy Invasion on D-Day June 6, 1944. Note: The following is a scene from the Carrabelle River Fest last weekend and a couple from the Carrabelle Junction Restaurant that were taken by our son Joseph.
backbone of the country…
While in Carrabelle, Florida (pop. 2,778), we got to know Randy Harrison and Joan Matey. They’re married. Joan is a local artist who specializes in various art mediums (paints, pencil drawing, miniature sculptures…) Randy, 62, is a personal trainer two days a week about an hour north of here at a YMCA in Tallahassee. And he also volunteers with the Sheriff’s Department in Franklin County. (Randy is in such good shape, he still looks like he could still play linebacker somewhere.) Besides their “day jobs,” so to speak, both are extremely active in their community — going the extra-mile with most everything they do. (The essence of some of our platform is to mobilize more people to become involved with local community, like it was in the “old days.”) Joan, for instance, is helping organize a new Community Garden in close by Lanark Village. What’s more, she puts on the “Fishy Fashion Show” at the annual River Front Festival here. This features models wearing her “clothing art,” if you will. Yellow raincoats adorned with colorful fishing lures, sea shells, and the like. Burlap coats with painted “fish tails,” sponge bow ties, crab trap hats… All things Joan has scavenged from the local beaches. She’s big on recycling. And she’s big on saving the environment in general. The underlying theme for the Fishy Fashion Show is one of environmental consciousness, with characters like: The Estuary Fairy. Joan is also the curator for the Crooked River Lighthouse and Museum here. She led us on a tour through a tremendously creative lighthouse museum she, in essence, designed from scratch… Randy, on the other hand, often works behind the scenes helping Joan with staging at the festival. He also started a Neighborhood Bicycle Patrol and has been part of the Community Volunteer Security Patrol. (Part of our crime prevention platform calls for a lot more citizen involvement.) Note: It’s people like Joan and Randy who are the backbone of their communities, and extrapolated out: the backbone of the country. Problem is, as we’ve traveled we’ve noticed a significant amount of this community proactivity is, well, on the decline.
…a fish in every skillet!
We have come to Carabelle, Florida (pop. 2,778) to, in part, participate at the Annual River Front Festival… During the event, I met with former Carrabelle Mayor Mel Kelly. She told me one of her biggest accomplishments was getting a number of grants to install filters in the storm sewers to clean the water before it gets to the Gulf of Mexico here. People don’t realize, I responded, that one of the biggest pollution problems in America (besides oil spills, that is) is “non-point source pollution.” That is things like rainwater washing motor oil, transmission fluid, rust and so on, into storm drains — without filters… I then met with Cal Allen, a city commissioner here. He said he has been staunch about not letting big, new developments into this quaint Gulf-side town… After talking to Allen, I took on a persona, well, he would not be too fond of. I was the “Sea Tramp” in the festival’s Fishy Fashion Show. (The things I do to get elected.) I wore a coat with “fish tails,” a sponge bow tie, a crab cage hat (that was a bit uncomfortable) and had “sand dollars” in my pocket. According to the local lore, I would hang around the beach trying to scheme where my next easy sand dollar would come from — like, for instance, proposing new, 30-story, high-rise condominiums. This received a resounding “boo” from the natives. Toward the end of my Sea Tramp miming, if you will, the narrator Joan Matey, said: “Donald Trump has nothing on this guy.” (Except better poll numbers at this point.) And by the way, Ms. Matey also explained I was, indeed, running for president. Of the United States. Of America. One of my campaign promises: “A fish in every skillet!” Well, when in Rome… Note: Our Sarah was also a “Fishy Fashion” model this day. (Photos by Randy Harrison.)
GMOs, Tekisha, Victor and common sense
Tying up loose ends from the week… At Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia, I talked with one of the farm supervisors, Jerry. He said he’d just read in Acres Magazine that GMOs were actually attacking microbes in the ground, destroying much of the fertility of the soil. When you start tinkering with God’s natural design… Koinonia also offers a certified course on: permaculture. This is, in essence, setting up a tiered eco-system, with things like: berry bushes, an organic garden, free-range chickens, small ponds… It is an interwoven habitat that is rich in diversity, food production and so on. I have often said when we get to D.C. we’ll tear out a good deal of the front lawn at the White House and establish a permaculture. As we will ask many Americans to consider doing the same with parts of their lawn… On Rte 19 in southern Georgia, I talked with Tekisha O’quinn, 21. She is a single mom with one young child at home. Ms. O’quinn works at McDonald’s making $170 a week. She was told she wasn’t eligible for Medicaid because she was “…making too much.” I asked her how she was managing and she said she prayed her daughter didn’t get sick… At a Quick Foods about 35 miles down the road on Rte. 19, Victor Hicks and his buddy Herman were sitting at the only table in the store. When Victor heard I was running for president, he said he’d been pondering on why people on food stamps can purchase things like non-nutritional junk food like potato chips and soda pop. I said that was a good point, then promptly told our eight-year-old Jonathan to return the Coca Cola and get an orange juice. Jonathan frowned at “Mr. Victor”… In Tallahassee, Florida, Layton Zeigler pulled up beside us and said he’d noticed one of our campaign signs: Common Man, Common Sense. He said he didn’t want to burst our bubble, but “…there is no common sense in D.C.,” he smiled. I said we’d change that. And so it goes…
an anniversary, 2 Als and, well, Hell
We got to the Gulf Coast on the Florida panhandle on the night of the anniversary of the Deep Water Horizon oil rig explosion. Vigils were being held along the coast from Florida to Louisiana. Earlier in the day, Florida Governor Scott was hop-scotching the panhandle eating seafood and saying the area was again safe for tourists. Meanwhile, National Geographic reported after the spill that while the surface of the water may appear clean, down below an oil plume the size of Manhattan was discovered, along with any number of other plumes. And the phyto-plankton, zoo-plankton and larvae — all rudimentary Gulf eco-building blocks — were in major trouble… In Carabella, Florida, I stumped at the 2 Als Cafe. A father and son both named (that’s right) Al own it. An active member of the Tea Party, who is also a shrimper here, approached me in the cafe and said he didn’t see anyone in the current field of possible Republican presidential candidates being “…electable against Obama.” (By the way, that’s where I come in.) After a bit of general campaign banter at the table that appeared to be the “brain trust” of Carabella, I found myself in a one-on-one conversation with Gene Holstrom, who has an “Old Gospel Station” on the Internet. It is broadcast worldwide. Holstrom, 87, fought in WWII. He said at one point back then he prayed to have God show him just a little bit of what Hell was like. Shortly after, his tank was hit and he ran from it on fire. After running what seemed to be the equivalent of the length of a football field, he dove into a swamp to put the flames out. “That was enough of an example of Hell for me,” he smiled.
Ya think Michelle was in jeapordy…
While all eyes were riveted (sort of) on the Michelle Obama plane landing saga, the ‘almost First Lady’ Liz was in a much more precarious situation today in Tallahassee, Florida. We travel in two camper / campaign vehicles. And over the CB this morning, I heard: “Honey, when I was just turning the wheel, there was a rather loud ‘clunk,’ (using her best NPR Click & Clack ‘clunk’ sound, if you will). Do you think that means anything?” I radioed back for her to stop, then I got in and, after turning the wheel once, determined it was, indeed, a ‘clunk’ sound. And off to Fountain Automotive we drove, slowly. The mechanic there, “Spot,” was able to spot (sorry) that the clunking sound was coming from the frame — which had cracked. Not good, we all agreed, including Spot. (It’s a 1978 vehicle.) Spot, who couldn’t have been more helpful, didn’t have a welder that could do the job, but there was, wouldn’t you know, Tallahassee’s “Portable Welder” Robert Smith, who promptly stopped by and fixed the frame in an hour, including giving our Joseph a welding lesson. While welding, Robert’s arm got burned by a spark. I asked if he was OK? He said he’d had worse. That is, his arm had been scarred with 2nd and 3rd degree burns when a fuel tank blew up during the First Gulf War. The kids were rapt with his stories and afterward we thanked him, not only for fixing the vehicle, but for serving our country. Absolutely fascinating guy. Then it was on to the Gulf Coast this evening for the first anniversary of the Deep Water Horizon oil rig blow out…
