From The Road: Digging a Little Deeper on Lessons Learned

On the day Peachy and I started out on this journey, it rained. Since it had been a remarkably dry spring, that was a good sign, and one remarked upon often and with joy on that afternoon. In the course of our travels we have visited hot mineral springs, meandered along brooks,creeks, and rivers, and camped beside reservoirs, and lakes. We have seen miles of irrigation ditches, and long, caterpillar-like sprinkling systems watering huge circles of crops in arid areas. We have read about the sprawling inland sea that once covered the center of our country, admired the fossils embedded, rock formations exposed, and marvelous caves formed, all by the action of water over time. Eons of time.

We have also read often in the Bible about the precious, life-giving and -sustaining gift of water. After all, civilization formed around, and has continued to develop near reliable sources of water. Water is vitally necessary for life.

When I planned this trip, I knew that I wanted to experience something of what peoples without nearby, reliable water experienced. I was what I would consider a typical American, living in a house with two and a half bathrooms, able to find drinking fountains in most public places, and not compelled to think much about, or expend much energy on obtaining clean water for my needs.

I have learned a lot. Carrying water any distance is hard work. I am just one person, and my water use averages about three gallons a day. The campgrounds where I stay usually have a water faucet within a two minute walk from any campsite ( I have timed the walks). Compare this scenario to the life of a mother (or child) in rural Asia or Africa who must walk an average 3.7 miles to obtain water. Then multiply the three gallons a person by the number of family members, and remember that water weighs 8.3 pounds per gallon. The math is sobering.

Even more sobering is the figure from a UNICEF study that 5,000 people die each day from waterborne diseases, and 4,000 of these are children. So, even if a mother walks miles to carry water home for her family, that water may carry organisms that could well be deadly. Over a billion people in the world are in this plight,lacking access to clean, reliable sources of water. The UN has pledged to try to cut this number in half by the year 2015, and Church World Service and the other NGOs with which they work are already making a difference. Their water projects, ranging from deep bore holes, shallower wells, and various catchment systems, are being put in place now,making life better for thousands of humans.

When CWS decides to build a water system, it is in response to a request of representatives from a village. The project is done with the approval and cooperation of the local and/or national government, and assures that the water supply will be publicly owned and managed by an elected committee from the village. This method includes training in management and repair of the water supply, gender equality,and community cooperation. These programs WORK! In addition, Church World Service has a four star rating from Charities Navigator, an organization evaluating charities on how well they spend their donations. Your gift will go directly to life-saving projects. If you are considering alternative gift-giving for the holidays, bringing clean water to a thirsty world has much to recommend it - and it is easy! Check out the links from this site, and feel good about your gift-giving this year; no worries about the best size or color, and recipients won't even have to dust it!

Shalom for now, and next time we will have some culture for you.

Lake Oglala, in Nebraska

From The Road: Smokey Bear and Honey....and the flies to go with it.

The outside of the building of the Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center is an impressive introduction to history on a grand scale - looking like a slice of geology, it's many layers exposed to the modern viewer. Inside there are models, dioramas, a good movie, and that seven-foot-long mammoth tusk I mentioned last time, all geared toward enlightening us about the long story of the formation of the Ohio River Valley.

This part of the country was once a huge sea In that time coral flourished and formed a reef, now exposed, which is two and a half miles long, and which interrupts ship traffic on the 900-mile-long river. Fierce-looking fish, some twenty feet long lived here, and other wonders, whose fossils are embedded in the reef. Glaciers came and went, dinosaurs roared, and mammoths lumbered here. Later the buffalo, in herds of thousands crossed the river into Kentucky to reach salt licks, in the process making a path called The Buffalo Trace. This path was wide enough to accommodate a carriage, became part of The Wilderness Road, and eventually a portion of Indiana Route 25.

We headed North into Indiana, spending balmy nights in state parks with beautiful lakes, deer, butterflies, a flock of goldfinches on thistle seed heads, generally stinky pit toilets, one park a little too near a race car track, and, at Patoka Lake, a birthday party for Smokey the Bear, who turned 63 years old in August. The rangers at that park even had a birthday cake with a picture of Smokey on it!

Camp breakfast of a balmy Indiana morning...

In the Amish communities, Peachy took her turn at stop signs with horse-drawn buggies, and Penny spent a rainy Monday morning in the local Laundromat with many ladies in white caps drying voluminous loads of work clothes in the gas driers. One thing that seems to go along with horses is the presence of flies. We stopped for a roadside sign advertising honey, and came away with honey and a collection of the flying beasties that plagued us for several days. Luckily, one of our going-away gifts was a fly swatter, and it earned its passage in Indiana! Amish businesses are closed on Sundays, even those advertising on the super highways; good for them for keeping that day apart from the usual rush of life.

In Metamora, a charmingly restored town, there was a wonderful account in the local paper about an "unorthodox" election that had been held just months before. It seems that with the increased tourist trade, public restrooms were called for. To cover some of the cost of this project, an election was concocted in which twelve candidates sought votes, each vote being $1 toward the restroom project. The winner would be declared The Honorary Mayor of Metamora, with no rights or responsibilities beyond bragging rights.

Candidates included a four-year-old named Crystal, two horses, a Doberman from out of town, and Whiffy, the skunk mascot of The Smelly Gourmet Coffee Bar. The winner was Henry Ferguson, long-time resident of Metamora. Crystal came in second, and I am sure you will be happy to hear that Whiffy was fifth. Not too bad for a skunk.

A real Horse of a Candidate...No, really...
this was one of the horse-candidates

My favorite sign so far: (Posted on the door of a church kitchen), "UNATTENDED CHILDREN WILL BE GIVEN ESPRESSO AND A FREE PUPPY" Shalom.

From The Road: Ohio To Kentucky

October 9, 2007

Would you believe I missed The Annual Duck Tape Festival in Avon, Ohio ("The Duck Tape Capital of the World")? Bummer. I did log onto their web site, however, learned the interesting history of this mighty tape, and was wowed by the spiffy prom outfits concocted for the occasion. I also missed the Paperweight Museum in Cambridge, and an artistic topiary garden in Columbus, so will have to come back and have another go.


The visit in Cleveland was delightful, with the exception of the night Penny left the roof vent open (for the garden), and there was an unexpected downpour. Poor Peachy was pretty wet, and all of the envelopes stuck together, but a few days of 80 degree weather and using the old-fashioned 4-60 method of air conditioning (driving at 60 miles per hour with all four windows open) dried out most things. It will be postcards from now on, however. Our kind hosts treated Penny to dinner overlooking the lake at sunset, and helped take Peachy to the VW dealer for a check-up.

From Cleveland we headed South to Malabar Farm, a place I have wanted to see for many years. It was the life work of Louis Bromfield, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author and screen writer. He entertained many famous people at the farm, and a high point in its history was the wedding of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, held in the grand front hall there. The farm is now maintained by the State of Ohio as a museum and study center for sustainable farming.

Since we were so close to Kentucky, we next headed for Lexington. As we approached the border the lush and level fields (still corn and soybeans) started to crumple into hills, the fields became smaller, and soon horse fences and tobacco fields appeared.

The Kentucky Horse Park near Lexington is a wonderful place, with manicured lawns and gardens, elegant buildings, many breeds of horses to meet face to face, museums, videos, and more horse trailers than I could count. Some of them were so grand it seemed that they must be the abodes of rock stars.

It was very hot and humid, so we turned West and headed for Louisville with air conditioning on full tilt. Louisville looked really fine, but I was so hot that I made but one stop, at the Kentucky Art and Craft Museum. This was terrific, with textiles, jewelry, wood, metal, and found objects crafted into beautiful, useful, outrageous, and fun things. There are many talented people living in Kentucky!

While driving through Louisville I noticed a pocket park where "naked ladies" or magic lilies were blooming. It reminded me of the naughty pleasure we had at Washington Cathedral when we told visitors that "the naked ladies are dancing in the Bishop's Garden"!

One really noticeable thing about Louisville is the number of bridges getting to and from it. I counted seven, I think, and we chose the most likely one to cross over into Indiana, advertising itself as, "The Sunnyside of Louisville". Here we found one of the most interesting places yet - The Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center - which included a 7 foot- long mammoth tusk! More next time.

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Wendell Berry

Shalom