Wednesday, 18 to Friday, 20 March 2020
I still have 10 days left in my month here in Arkansas and a great deal of the state left to see. I spent hours Wednesday planning a route and making reservations at campgrounds. What I learned is that I'm lucky Arkansas parks are still open.
One park ranger told me several nearby states were closing all their campgrounds, though when I checked that online, I found only the state of New Mexico that has closed its campgrounds. The others just have notices posted on their websites about how they're following CDC guidelines when they clean their bathrooms and other shared spaces.
A private campground I reserved in North Little Rock told me their office stays closed all the time, for their safety and mine, but that they'll only be a phone call away if we need anything. They also told me to call before I came and, when I do, they'll charge my credit card and put my receipt and so forth in a box outside. Several state campgrounds have started doing something similar.
But even though campgrounds are staying open, their visitor centers are closing and their guided nature hikes and other programs are being postponed.
Other places are closed, as well. For instance, one of the things I wanted to do in Little Rock was go to the Clinton Presidential Library. Sadly, about all I'll be able to do is drive by and see it, apparently. It's closed.
The owner here told me he'd had a run on his propane stock a couple of days ago. Apparently both big propane dealers in town were running low on supplies, and waiting for another delivery in a day or two. The propane tank for this place is prominently by the road, and they have a big sign saying propane sales. So people started stopping by. And the longer the line got, the more people decided there was a run on propane and they got in line right quick. The owner said they were panicked there wouldn't be enough for them. He pointed out he was going to get more in in the same delivery the big dealers were getting, but it didn't seem to calm people down. He said the line ended up curling around the campground and then back out onto the highway. Pretty crazy.
More rain and thunder Wednesday, then sunny and warm Thursday. A cold front blew in Friday, with strong winds and temps dropping 20° in a few hours during the daytime. The dogs are starting to get stir-crazy after spending so much time inside.
On Thursday, I went into Harrison to do some errands - groceries and more recycling and a liquor store.
On the way into town I passed a billboard that said:
White Pride Radio
Alt Right TV
and below that were pictures of a wholesome white family from the '60s with a waving American flag and several other symbols of all-American life as we used to see it. Of course, I remember the '60s and, though our family was indeed wholesome and all-American, what I remember best were the Vietnam War and the protest songs I learned to play on my guitar. Presumably not what these media stations have in mind.
When I looked this billboard up online, I found that there used to be 4 of them, that the owners of the billboards thought the law wouldn't let them get rid of the offensive messages, and were delighted to learn they'd misunderstood the law. Harrison town leaders were dismayed by the image of their town that these billboards put out. But there's still one of them up - I saw it. I found this link to a Slate article about the trouble these billboards has caused the folks of Harrison. https://slate.com/harrison-fights-kkk
I saw a couple of murals in town, and the online article I found from the local newspaper insists I take out a subscription just to see one little article. So no pictures. I saw one that looked like it was about beekeeping, and another that showed a scenic view of the area and said, "Always Take the Scenic Route," which is becoming my motto, and still another that said "Gateway to the Buffalo." The Buffalo National River, one of the few remaining undammed rivers in the Lower 48, starts its sprawl not many miles east of here.
The grocery store wasn't crowded but everyone (but me) had filled their baskets full. There was little in the meat counter and few loaves of bread left on the shelves. All but a few cartons of eggs were gone. This is not a big town and this is not the only grocery store in this town. So what on earth are people planning to do with all those eggs?
There's a popular store in town called Rust Dust and Wanderlust - Antiques and Flea Market. In non-contagious times, it attracts a lot of folks, I hear.
At the city's official recycling drop-off site, they'd closed it for drop-offs and posted a sign: "Due to COVID-19, it is prudent to limit public access to recycling facilities." Huh? Why on earth? Surely the employees use gloves when they deal with the stuff dropped off. And I've never gotten particularly close to anyone else who was dropping stuff off, even when we didn't care about social distancing. What could this sign possibly have had in mind?
The out-of-doors is still open for business, and this campground has a nice display of pretty little purple flowers. I know they're just weeds, but they're still pretty.
 |
| a whole purple field |
 |
| a close-up of the flowers |
No comments:
Post a Comment