50 Thanksgivings

This is my 50^th Thanksgiving. A couple of days ago—on 25 November—I turned 50 years old. A milestone, I reckon. But I didn't really feel any differently from what I felt on 24 November or 7 September or 20 June or 12 February. I was sore when I woke rolled out of bed in the morning, but within a few minutes old muscles and joints loosened up, leaving only the little aches and pains that accompany me through my days.

My 50^th was a good one. On the day before, Monday the 24^th, my family and I traveled to South Carolina to spend a couple of nights with my older son and his family. I had a fine time with all, especially my granddaughters. I slept in a little bit, had a great brunch with my younger son at a place in Columbia called Le Peep. I took a nap not long after that. In the evening, I had a steak at a place called Carolina Wings, and then both my sons, my daughter-in-law and I went to see Quantum of Solace, the latest James Bond film. (A night out at the movies has become a birthday tradition for me over the past couple of years.)

So, I turned 50 in Blythewood, South Carolina (near Columbia), about an hour's drive from where I was born—Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter. Curious about my birth year, I went to http://www.timeanddate.com/ and discovered that the numbering of the days in 2008 is just the same as it was in 1958. My birthday this year was on Tuesday, and I was born on Tuesday. So, most of the other dates fall on the same days as well—4^th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Easter was different—23 March in 2008, 6 April in 1958 (which I obviously was oblivious of). Memorial Day was different as well; back in the day before it was permanently moved to Monday, it was always on 30 May.

Election Day was the same in 1958—4 November. But it didn't have the overt historical significance of the 2008 election. In 1958, Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the middle of his second term as president. John F. Kennedy won reelection as US Senator from Massachusetts. West Virginian Robert Byrd defeated the incumbent for that state's senate seat and held the position into the next century and millennium. The great state of Alaska—the new state of Alaska—elected its first two senators: Bob Bartlett (Dem.) and Ernest Gruening (Dem.). Closer to home, incumbent Al Gore Sr. won reelection as US Senator from Tennessee.

Interesting. But enough about that.

Something that went unreported here recently: the White Water Band gathered again in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, on 15 November. Instead of trying to remember the old cover tunes we used to do back in the mid 1970s, we worked on original material, songs that I wrote back in the 1980s: "Thunder & Lightning," "Landscapes" (first time attempted by a band), "Jamboree" and "The Jaws of Modern Romance." We worked all afternoon on these and had respectable versions put together before our time together up. We're planning to put together a short set of these originals—10 or 12 songs—and try to perform at a couple of downtown events next summer: 2^nd Fridays in Marshall, North Carolina, and the River Bend Festival (I think) in Cleveland, Tennessee. Everybody was excited about doing this, so I hope we can pull it together.

Well, the smells of Thanksgiving are beginning to waft through the house. In a little while we'll pack up what my wife is cooking and head across the mountain to Madison County, North Carolina, where we'll eat a Thanksgiving lunch with at my mother-in-law's in Marshall and a Thanksgiving supper at my aunt's in Walnut. Sometime later tonight, stupid with food and fun and thanksgiving, we'll zombie back across the mountain and sleep it off.

Happy Thanksgiving to each and all! I'll be enjoying my 50^th, and I hope you'll enjoy yours, whatever number it might be.

Rain on the River

On my last entry, a comment from an anonymous source mentioned "Rain on the River." It's a song that I've tended to slight over the years, and I don't know why. A few days ago I was mowing my yard for what I hope will be the last mowing of the season. "Rain on the River" came pouring through the headphones at one point, and as I walked along behind the mower, I took a fresh listen to the song—to the lyric and the music. It's a solid piece of work, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately I don't have the mp3 uploaded anywhere than I can link to, but here's the lyric.

 

 

Rain on the River

 

So you stand there in the doorway,

Watching me through the screen.

I'm kicking rocks out of the driveway

With my back to the space between.

From an open window,

A radio rides the breeze,

And the song fades in and out

Just like some bittersweet memories.

We are tense and silent

Here waiting for the storm.

It come thundering around and around

Until it breaks to the distant aching sound of rain . . .

Rain on the river.

 
 

We were young hearts doing hard time,

Living under the gun.

What we saw as a chance for freedom

Turned to a life out on the run.

Now we've taken to drawing hard lines

For two such fragile souls.

What we once at least held steady

Is now spinning out of control.

The struggle outside the front door

Even follows us to our bed,

And the nights that used to steam

Are mostly desert and a haunting dream of rain . . .

Rain on the river.

 
 

It's a river of pain and laughter,

Of life and love so sweet,

Running with tears and wine and blood,

From a trickle to a flood in a heartbeat.

 
 

So I stand here in the darkness

While the latest rage subsides,

And the rain just keeps on falling,

And the river runs deep and wide.

The storm will leave us stronger

Than we were before it came,

In a channel of safe passage,

On a tide of forgiveness and grace.

Then you tenderly touch my shoulder,

And I turn to your embrace,

Then I lie awake till dawn

To hear your breathing like the peaceful song of rain . . .

Rain on the river.

Back in the Day

The picture is from the days of the Cody band--we never did come up with a better name. I don't recognize the stage or that shiny jacket I'm wearing, but I'm guessing this is sometime between 1988 and 1991. Mark (far right) found the picture, scanned it and sent it to me. (Thanks, Mark!)

Left to right: Gene (guitar), Danny (bass), Steve (drums), yours truly, Mark (guitar). It was a darn good band.

2 Last Letters

It's Election Day in the United States of America. I voted early, so I'm not worried about trying to leave work and stand in line somewhere to cast my vote. I didn't have to be late. I don't have to leave early. And I didn't have to run out at lunch and try to vote. As for lunch, today in the cafeteria at school, we had a cake decorated like an American flag--the stars and stripes, the red (or pink) and white and blue in icing. Interestingly, the cake was chocolate, and my colleague and I wondered if the university food service was making a political statement.

Here are two last letters sent to editors. This time they're from Tennessee folk, and they were submitted to the editor of the Johnson City Press.


Obama Offers Change
Though you [Johnson City Press] have endorsed John McCain for president, your endorsement sounds hollow, rote and unenthusiastic.

This is understandable, given the candidate’s recent tendency to swerve off what used to be his moderate and bipartisan message. He seems now to be desperately grasping for the support of the radical fringes, inciting suspicion and fear in disenfranchised Americans, rather than pride in our country and optimism for our future.

McCain’s rash selection of Sarah Palin as VP candidate, when there are numerous brilliant Republican women (and men) who are more qualified, calls into question his judgment under pressure. Far from demonstrating “character” in recent appearances, he has been coming across as angry and sarcastic, certainly not presidential.

It is time for us to look forward, rather than backward. A new era requires creative solutions to difficult problems; John McCain seems mired in the failed policies of the past eight years and has built his campaign pandering to fear of the unknown.

I am grateful that for the first time in many years we have a very clear choice in a presidential election: We can choose candidates who represent the same old thing, or we can vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who offer an opportunity for moderation, intelligence and inclusiveness in our government.—Catherine Murray, Jonesborough

Beware of Obama
I wanted to warn everyone now to be prepared for the blizzard we may get Tuesday. If we don’t wise up and realize just how dangerous Se. Barack Obama and his brand of socialism is, we will wake up Wednesday to the biggest snow job we have every witnessed.

This is more than the normal Democrat vs. Republican race, this is about our Constitution and what our nation is all about. Obama has stated that he will eliminate the philosophy that we give money to the rich and hope prosperity will trickle down (dictators eliminate “philosophy”) and he has stated he will take money from the rich and give to those who are poor (this is called redistribution of wealth or socialism). His alliances with the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, the hateful teaching of his long time preacher Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the choice of Washington fixture Joe Biden all add up to trouble.

Obama has been so busy running for office that he has hardly no record but his small record shows that he is the most liberal of all senators. This includes voting down energy independence and lower taxes.I will admit that John McCain is far from perfect but if Obama is elected we will need far more than snow shovels to get out of this mess. Before you blindly vote for Obama please research Obama and learn who he really is.—Ed Dembowczyk, Telford