Saturday, 7 December 2019
The campground has been daily adding to its Christmas decorations and is now quite festive with lots of inflatables of various kinds.
Dexter was particularly interested in the 4' tall cup of cocoa with 2 rabbits in it, one that disappeared into the cocoa and then popped back up again with its arms out. He stopped and watched it for at least a minute. I kind of liked the inflatable snowmobile that said "Dashing through the snow" along the side, being ridden by 2 penguins with Santa hats. They also had a 6' or 7' tall Santa riding on the back of an elephant that reminded me a lot of Babar.
I was later than usual taking the dogs out this morning (6:30) and twice we met other dogs, one a yellow lab and the other a golden retriever. Both times I expected loud explosions from all involved, but I got really lucky. The retriever barely lifted an eyebrow over my dogs and kept sniffing around its campsite, and the lab just sat and watched my dogs walk by. Both times mine were ready to react, but having nothing to react to they just kept walking. I could scarcely believe it. And I won't push my luck by going out that late again.
I found out about the Jesse Owens Museum accidentally and was really glad I was still in the area and could go. It's only 10 miles or so from where I boarded the dogs.
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| today's route |
Today is Pearl Harbor Day, or as they seem to be calling it now, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. I never think of December 7th without thinking of that event, but I'm guessing that with so few left of the WWII generation, and with their children (e.g. me) also aging it won't be many more years before it becomes a piece of history, like Armistice Day is now, rather than present memory. There are people who can vote now who weren't even alive on 9-11-01, let alone remember it.
It was a warm sunny day, though the windchill lowered the temperature quite a bit.
There must have been a good crop of calves this year - I noticed quite a few fields with many of this year's calves in them. Once as we drew near a field I saw one of the young cows (maybe born last year) watching us. Noteworthy because usually cows ignore us, but this one stared at us the whole time we were in sight. And a little farther on most of a herd of cows stared at us, making me wonder what's different about us today. Or maybe what's different about these cows.
A little farther down the road I saw 8 or 10 vultures circling overhead. I'm sure it had nothing to do with us but, after those cows, it was a little unnerving.
I passed a business called Alabama Ammo.
I stopped for gas and saw an unusual display of festive tires.
I also passed fields where cotton and maybe hay had been grown. This whole northern part of Alabama must be fertile.
I passed road signs saying State Route 24 is part of the Appalachian Development Corridor V. It took me a bit of research to find out what this means. It seems that in the 1960s and '70s, following Eisenhower's push for interstate highways, Congress decided to piggyback on those roads to bring development to areas of Appalachia that had been isolated. This Appalachian Highway Development System intended to build new roads where needed to connect underserved areas in 13 states to the major highways. As so often happens, projects got delayed and even now I can't tell how much of the overall plan was completed without more research than I want to do. But northern Alabama has part of Corridor V, which runs from Mississippi through Alabama up into Tennessee.
I haven't mentioned before but I've been seeing some lovely huge old magnolias in the area.
Jesse Owens Museum
Since I was young, I've admired Jesse Owens both for his amazing accomplishments at the 1936 Olympics and for proving that Hitler's bizarre belief in Aryan supremacy was full of malarkey (Owens being black). I came here to pay my respects and find out more about this person.
Turns out I've been admiring him for a lot less than he deserves.
Young life
He was born near the community of Oakville, AL, in 1913, the youngest of 10. His father was a sharecropper - i.e. he was allowed to live on someone else's land and use their farm equipment in exchange for half the value of his crop. In other words, this poor man was having to raise a family of 10 children on half the value of his work.
The youngest child was named James Cleveland and called J.C. by his family. He was a sickly child and spent several winters suffering with pneumonia, for which they couldn't afford medicine. Worse, he had mysterious boils on his chest and legs, and the parents had to give him medical treatment themselves: the father held J.C. while the mother cut them off his body with a red-hot kitchen knife. Somehow J.C. recovered enough by the time he was 6 to be able to walk the 9 miles to school with his siblings.
Cleveland
When J.C. was part way through elementary school, his family moved to Cleveland and an entirely different way of life from rural Alabama. His teacher misunderstood his Southern accent and thought he said his name was Jesse, and J.C. was too embarrassed to correct her. So Jesse he became.
In middle school he met Ruth, the girl he would later marry, and Coach Riley, who was the first to see Owens's athletic potential. He loved to run but was never very coordinated about it. The coach taught him how to do it better and, by the time he was 15, he could run 100 yards in 11 seconds - unusual for someone his age. On the track team he broke the world record for junior high in the high jump and the long jump.
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| Owens was born with the athletic ability, but it was this coach that helped it become more than a hobby. |
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| and this is what Owens went on to do |
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| detail about his high school achievements |
They were married for life and later had 3 daughters.
College
Then he decided to go to Ohio State, despite the racism there, because they got jobs for him and his father.
1936 Olympics
So much for Hitler's Aryan supremacy theory. Hitler himself refused to acknowledge Owens or his accomplishments and left the stadium before the awards ceremonies. Before Owens's wins, Hitler had personally congratulated each winner; after he ignored Owens, the Olympic Committee told him he must treat all athletes the same, after which he congratulated no one publicly, only the German ones privately. Owens's friend Luz was killed fighting for Germany during WWII.
Life after the Games
The AAU (Amateur Athletic Union), which today is one of the world's largest organizations for amateur athletes, says it's dedicated to promoting physical fitness and amateur athletics. In that context, read what happened to Owens and his fellow Olympic athletes.
In 1976, Pres. Gerald Ford presented him with the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the country.
In 1980, Owens died of lung cancer in Tucson.
The museum
Not long after his death, friends and family in Oakville started work on a museum in his memory. Raising the money took time, but the main stumbling block was obstruction by city leaders. But in 1996, the Olympic Games were going to be held in Atlanta and the torch would be passing near Oakville. Stumbling blocks disappeared when they got permission to have the torch pass through the new memorial park. It was carried by Jesse Owens's grandson, and his wife Ruth and daughters all came for the dedication.
This statue was unveiled at the dedication.
His athletic ability
It's possible to make a case for Jesse Owens to have been such an athlete that he would still beat those who've subsequently topped his records: they're using advantages he never knew.
You can see how a little modern knowledge (and nutrition) might mean Owens would still be setting world records. It's an interesting idea.
To me, Jesse Owens was a man of amazing talent and enormous heart. He pushed through every obstacle life put in his path, and used his energy to make life better for others. Really remarkable.
After the visit
Because today is Saturday I didn't want to go straight back to the campground - there are a lot of dogs there and I figured on a weekend their owners would be more likely to be walking them. Instead I drove us to another part of the park where we wouldn't be taking up space from other memorial visitors and spent several hours here. It was a beautiful day, so I opened some windows for fresh air. I walked the dogs a couple of times (trying to dodge the horses and cows in nearby fields). We ate lunch. I worked on my blog.
I saw several Bluebirds in the nearby ballpark. I never get tired of seeing them.
After we'd sat for a bit in the sun, we started to get coated again with ladybugs. Only this time I knew more. A woman I'd talked to when I was doing laundry told me they weren't ladybugs but potato bugs, so I looked them up. Turns out they're neither of those, they're Asian lady beetles.
The difference between the ladybug and the Asian version is obvious if you look closely (which I don't expect to do): the Asian one has that black-on-white design at the head which the ladybug doesn't.
But there are many individual versions of these, of course, and the main difference as far as I'm concerned is that ladybugs definitely do NOT want to come inside houses, where Asian lady beetles definitely do. Which is what I've been contending with for several weeks now.
Plus, the Asian ones will bite, and if you squash them they ooze a yellowish liquid that stains. And in gardens they tend to take over the habitats of native ladybugs and run them out. And all these lovely things were brought to the US on purpose by the USDA because the beetles are great at eating aphids.
Once I realized potato bugs weren't what I was having a problem with, I didn't bother to read any more, though I'm sure gardeners know all about them.
I've developed a slick method of getting these beetles out of the RV. I have 2 plastic cups of different sizes so the top of one fits over the top of the other. I use one to scrape the beetle off whatever surface it's on into the other one, clap the first one over the top of the 2nd and take them outside where I let it loose. Because the plastic is clear I can see for sure whether I have it captured and whether it leaves the cup outside. Works well. I just resent having to do it over and over. Stupid USDA and unintended consequences.
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| dealing with racism at Ohio State |
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| his distinguished college career |
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| context for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin |
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| speaks for itself |
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| it must have been a proud moment for Owens |
So much for Hitler's Aryan supremacy theory. Hitler himself refused to acknowledge Owens or his accomplishments and left the stadium before the awards ceremonies. Before Owens's wins, Hitler had personally congratulated each winner; after he ignored Owens, the Olympic Committee told him he must treat all athletes the same, after which he congratulated no one publicly, only the German ones privately. Owens's friend Luz was killed fighting for Germany during WWII.
Life after the Games
The AAU (Amateur Athletic Union), which today is one of the world's largest organizations for amateur athletes, says it's dedicated to promoting physical fitness and amateur athletics. In that context, read what happened to Owens and his fellow Olympic athletes.
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| but that ticker tape parade must have seemed pretty great to Owens (it would to me) |
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| being black in a white society |
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| this shows how he turned one job into something entirely different, and much better |
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| showing more than 20 years of inspirational public service |
In 1980, Owens died of lung cancer in Tucson.
The museum
Not long after his death, friends and family in Oakville started work on a museum in his memory. Raising the money took time, but the main stumbling block was obstruction by city leaders. But in 1996, the Olympic Games were going to be held in Atlanta and the torch would be passing near Oakville. Stumbling blocks disappeared when they got permission to have the torch pass through the new memorial park. It was carried by Jesse Owens's grandson, and his wife Ruth and daughters all came for the dedication.
This statue was unveiled at the dedication.
His athletic ability
It's possible to make a case for Jesse Owens to have been such an athlete that he would still beat those who've subsequently topped his records: they're using advantages he never knew.
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| shoes - then vs now |
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| uniforms - then vs now |
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| starting blocks - then vs now |
You can see how a little modern knowledge (and nutrition) might mean Owens would still be setting world records. It's an interesting idea.
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| the memorial is encouraging folks to still be inspired by Owens |
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| you can see that people have been trying to match his record of 26' 5¼" (marked in red at the end) |
After the visit
Because today is Saturday I didn't want to go straight back to the campground - there are a lot of dogs there and I figured on a weekend their owners would be more likely to be walking them. Instead I drove us to another part of the park where we wouldn't be taking up space from other memorial visitors and spent several hours here. It was a beautiful day, so I opened some windows for fresh air. I walked the dogs a couple of times (trying to dodge the horses and cows in nearby fields). We ate lunch. I worked on my blog.
I saw several Bluebirds in the nearby ballpark. I never get tired of seeing them.
After we'd sat for a bit in the sun, we started to get coated again with ladybugs. Only this time I knew more. A woman I'd talked to when I was doing laundry told me they weren't ladybugs but potato bugs, so I looked them up. Turns out they're neither of those, they're Asian lady beetles.
 |
| a ladybug |
 |
| an Asian lady beetle |
But there are many individual versions of these, of course, and the main difference as far as I'm concerned is that ladybugs definitely do NOT want to come inside houses, where Asian lady beetles definitely do. Which is what I've been contending with for several weeks now.
Plus, the Asian ones will bite, and if you squash them they ooze a yellowish liquid that stains. And in gardens they tend to take over the habitats of native ladybugs and run them out. And all these lovely things were brought to the US on purpose by the USDA because the beetles are great at eating aphids.
Once I realized potato bugs weren't what I was having a problem with, I didn't bother to read any more, though I'm sure gardeners know all about them.
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| a potato bug |
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