Whirled Peas
On my drive back to G.S. from Memphis I listened to a book on tape by Amy Tam. On my way up to Memphis, I listend to a book on tape by Neely Tucker.
Amy Tam's mother was from China, as are all her relatives. She wrote the book, later a movie, The Joy Luck Club, and others. Neely Tucker was raised in Lexington, MS and became a foreign correspondent for major newspapers. The book I listened to of his was "Love in the Driest Season' which covered a series of experiences while he was living in Zimbawai, Africa in the 90's.
Both are fascinating accounts of the thoughts and actions of cultures outside the USA.
I am of the opinion that there will never be world peace until all peoples are of the frame of mind of the importance of and can afford to use...... dental floss.
I now drive to G.S. from Memphis thru eastern Mississippi on Hwy 45 into Mobile. It is a great road, at least in Mississippi which is most of it, and it is sparsely populated. (Spotty cell coverage, cows don't use cell phones)
When we started coming to G.S. , years ago, we always took the I-55 route. It goes from Memphis, to Jackson, to Hattiesburg and at Hattiesburg we cut off on what used to be called the Hwy of Death....Hwy 98. Now, fortunately it is mostly 4 lanes, at least the Mississippi part and no longer called that dreadful name. Over the years we have watched that route become almost one continuous city. It was once a very rural route and a pleasure to drive. It had rolling hills, produce stands, great stands of trees along the easements, close to the road...now it is almost barren of trees and bumper to bumper traffic. I suppose the DOT thought it was too much trouble to cut grass amongst the trees so I watched as they cut almost all of them down over a period of a couple years.
We are becoming over populated in the Southern USA. If you don't believe me, take a look at the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico. I am seeing it become a wall of concrete condos...blocking all Gulf breeze for all of us further inland.
We have corruption out the wazoo amongst our local politicians. The mayor of Orange Beach is facing the Federal Pen.
And this is the 'civilized' world.
Factor in the populations of Zimbawai and China and you can forget peace of any type. There will never be a meeting-of-the-minds. These minds operate on totally different planes.
As technology moves forward, I suspect there will be a widening of the gap between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'. And even tho the 'haves' might think on the same plane as you or I , dear reader, there is a wide range of dishonesty and corruption, and then factor in the minds of the teeming masses.......forget it.
It is depressing.
My sister , Cary was telling me about the tribal leader of a small African nation who, with his wife, live and work in Baltimore. They are educated and quite successful, according to Cary , and they go back to their local tribe to settle disputes and make laws about twice a year ! I have done a couple web searches and not found the correct info--so I'll have to ask her again what country it was that he was tribal king of. Pretty interesting.
Anyway---I am convinced that we are headed for a violent situation in the US, probably after my death thank goodness, as the mind-sets of the educated vs. the ignorant clash.....and the gap seems to be widening as technology brings more info and a wider world view to the 'haves' in contrast to the narrow vision of the 'have-nots'.
Even if you just ride around town, go by a Cracker Barrel and ck out Neely Tucker's book.
Amy Tam's mother was from China, as are all her relatives. She wrote the book, later a movie, The Joy Luck Club, and others. Neely Tucker was raised in Lexington, MS and became a foreign correspondent for major newspapers. The book I listened to of his was "Love in the Driest Season' which covered a series of experiences while he was living in Zimbawai, Africa in the 90's.
Both are fascinating accounts of the thoughts and actions of cultures outside the USA.
I am of the opinion that there will never be world peace until all peoples are of the frame of mind of the importance of and can afford to use...... dental floss.
I now drive to G.S. from Memphis thru eastern Mississippi on Hwy 45 into Mobile. It is a great road, at least in Mississippi which is most of it, and it is sparsely populated. (Spotty cell coverage, cows don't use cell phones)
When we started coming to G.S. , years ago, we always took the I-55 route. It goes from Memphis, to Jackson, to Hattiesburg and at Hattiesburg we cut off on what used to be called the Hwy of Death....Hwy 98. Now, fortunately it is mostly 4 lanes, at least the Mississippi part and no longer called that dreadful name. Over the years we have watched that route become almost one continuous city. It was once a very rural route and a pleasure to drive. It had rolling hills, produce stands, great stands of trees along the easements, close to the road...now it is almost barren of trees and bumper to bumper traffic. I suppose the DOT thought it was too much trouble to cut grass amongst the trees so I watched as they cut almost all of them down over a period of a couple years.
We are becoming over populated in the Southern USA. If you don't believe me, take a look at the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico. I am seeing it become a wall of concrete condos...blocking all Gulf breeze for all of us further inland.
We have corruption out the wazoo amongst our local politicians. The mayor of Orange Beach is facing the Federal Pen.
And this is the 'civilized' world.
Factor in the populations of Zimbawai and China and you can forget peace of any type. There will never be a meeting-of-the-minds. These minds operate on totally different planes.
As technology moves forward, I suspect there will be a widening of the gap between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'. And even tho the 'haves' might think on the same plane as you or I , dear reader, there is a wide range of dishonesty and corruption, and then factor in the minds of the teeming masses.......forget it.
It is depressing.
My sister , Cary was telling me about the tribal leader of a small African nation who, with his wife, live and work in Baltimore. They are educated and quite successful, according to Cary , and they go back to their local tribe to settle disputes and make laws about twice a year ! I have done a couple web searches and not found the correct info--so I'll have to ask her again what country it was that he was tribal king of. Pretty interesting.
Anyway---I am convinced that we are headed for a violent situation in the US, probably after my death thank goodness, as the mind-sets of the educated vs. the ignorant clash.....and the gap seems to be widening as technology brings more info and a wider world view to the 'haves' in contrast to the narrow vision of the 'have-nots'.
Even if you just ride around town, go by a Cracker Barrel and ck out Neely Tucker's book.
Comments
Well, gotta run. I think I need to go floss.