The good Lord willing and the Creeks don’t rise, I’ll be in Chattanooga when the sun goes down today. Have you ever heard that expression? (Southerners, be quiet and sit on your hands for this one.) I’ve heard it most of my life, and of course I first assumed it meant, If providence allows and the roads don’t flood. I have since learned an alternative version. “Creeks” refers to the Creek Indians, a dominant eastern tribe when European settlers appeared in North America. That’s probably correct; it makes sense. Not far from where I was born in Alabama is Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River. There, in 1814, Andrew Jackson and an army of Tennesseans attacked a fortified Creek village during the climactic battle to subdue the Creeks in Alabama after years of skirmishes. The source of all this friction was, of course, a desperate attempt by the Indians to hang on to their natural-born place in this world. It didn’t work. More Native Americans died in battle on that day than on any other day during all the 19th Century Indian wars. From there, Jackson and his bunch marched to New Orleans, but that’s another history lesson. And Chattanooga? Well, we’re out of time.
207 responses to “The Sound of Music”
Regarding how one group treated the other: I have ancestors on both sides. Rather than be conflicted, I’ve decided to forgive both sides for being imperfect humans in their treatment of one another and not feel guilt.
Rick, I wish I could travel to these places and hear the dialects. I haven’t traveled much and furthermore, do not have a very good ear for the way people talk. My hearing is excellent, but not so discriminating as yours, and Jackie’s, and many other Villagers. Reading about these differences is always a pleasure (I majored in English in college, and read an awful lot.)
Trucker Ron, It’s good that you can do that, but I don’t think I ever could. You are a good person and lead a good life.
GM Debbe
http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur
Go to 03/28
In NYC 8 blocks = 1 mile (North & South) that is just a stroll.
Here around the block is 5 miles.
If you had been one of the native Americans mentioned above would you have spoken up or meekly let your country be taken away? I’ve never been a flag waver and I wondered how the guys in WWII could jump off of that landing craft knowing they were about to die. Now I get it.
Charlotte:
That’s quite a compliment. Thanks.
And, by the way, I love your name. It’s always been one of my favorites, and it’s experiencing a resurgence in popularity recently in this area of the country.
Trucker Ron:
Like you, I don’t feel guilt for the actions of others in the past.
I do, though, feel tremendous sorrow.
And that’s especially true for the world today.
This will be my only comment about the presence of politics, etc. in this formerly sacred haven.
Jerry, bear in mind that what you are feeling now is what others felt during 2009-2016, 2001-2008, 1993-2000, 1981-1992, 1977-1980 …
All the way back to the War for Independence.
Can you imagine how the Tories felt about having their country ripped away from them?
Afraid ‘They massacred us.’ ‘But they massacred us first.’ would qualify as politics to many folks.
‘North’ of 14th St., in Manhattan [using NYC ‘N,E,S, and W’], there are 20 N/S blocks to the mile, and only a few E/W blocks to the mile. It is about 3 miles from my former apt. at 62 Leroy St. in [Greenwich] Village to the YMCA on 63rd St. where I used to swim. Y memberships for boys were $10 / yr.
Peace,
emb I am afraid that anything you don’t want to think about or talk about qualifies as politics.
Some of us hate politics equally but the unpleasantry of the world just keeps intruding. I imagine if someone shot your eagles or hippos or giraffes you would be screaming murder and rape.
Not to inflict violence on the innocence of the Village but I just spent a month traveling with a gun toting (several) male, day and night. We shot no one and no one shot us. In fact, we had a wonderful and blissful month.
There are those who would consider that a political remark. I do not.
Best time in my life.
And in support of my previous statement here is Bill Medley singing “I had the time of my life”
https://youtu.be/4BQLE_RrTSU
Jerry, Ruth Anne…other Florida folks, too. 🙂 HAve the cypress trees started waking up? Have they got that soft green fog around then yet? Or it might could be the winter was too warm and they woke up a month ago! Just wondering…Florida spring. Fresh green among the swamp trees. Flocks of robins o their way taking a rest stop in the old garden field. Sand Hill cranes. Hawks and turkeys. Flowers popping open. And the rains flooding the front yard for a week (or more) bringing joy to the frogs! ok enough babbling from here. 🙂 Spring is good up here in MO, too.
It will be a few days before the April storms begin, but it is very warm and everything is blooming. I haven’t noticed the cypress, but I will try to note such today. It’s good to know that some are paying attention.
We saw dogwoods, pink and white, red buds and tulip magnolias. The azaleas were blooming too. Lots of green popping out.
I will drive over to Honor Park where the azaleas and cypress are and look at them on way to ophthalmologist office.
Jackie, I’m glad to hear the tests are going well and you’re having fun! Can’t wait to hear the good reports after the surgery.
Ghost must be tied up. (He may wish…)
I feel an odd sense of comfort just seeing the names of regulars here, even if I don’t mention it. I enjoy seeing new names, too, to keep Jimmy’s group growing.
Jimmy, I’d bet most of your fans feel as I do about Gene, that he’s a friend’s child and we’d like to know him and his family better.
Decorah north says a hatch began 12:32 a.m. on 3/28; I have not yet seen anything.
It has to be spring in Ohio.
The buzzards returned on schedule to Hinckley.
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/03/buzzard_day_celebrates_beginni.html
But I don’t know if they roost near a creek or a crick.
The smallest ones might fit into a (large) crack in a crock, I suppose…. [Couldn’t work in “crook”.]
Jerry, I’ve heard that James Arness was the first man off his landing craft on D Day, and not by chance. Not all of the craft were able to make it all the way ashore before grounding, and most of the men had to wade. Arness was over 6′ tall, and the rest of the load could judge how deep the water was by watching him.
BTW, D Day was exactly two years and two days after Midway.
The cypress in my Creek are all leafed out. The high winds are blowing off some of fronds.
Ghost would not be the one tied up.
Jackie: That’s obviously not true. Among the many things I’d rather not think or talk about are most popular music, incl. that of the ’30s-’50s [my youth], most movies and movie stars, most professional and collegiate sports, and most fancy or otherwise special motor vehicles, many of these topics discussed here. I regard none of these as political, just as not interesting. Now, if you begin to discuss the opinions of a one-time moderately popular male star about the worthiness of the metric system, that’s political. He killed its adoption by the USA.
Some scientific subjects have been made political, but I maintain my right to discuss them anywhere as simply scientific subjects.
Today’s TIP BlogSpot: http://thatispriceless.blogspot.com/ is entitled Louis XIII helping France to her feet [obviously an allegory, complete with cherubim, which also have another quaint use in art of the 17th-19th centuries, if I have those dates right]. Don’t know Eur. history well enough to understand which particular crisis he helped her to her feet from. That, however, does interest me, and inevitably involves politics. One political value perhaps all Villagers share is that absolute monarchy is seldom a good idea.
Peace,
Gene Autry helped kill the metric system?
Llee: Many shades of green in central Florida right now. I looked for cypress when I was out today – the pond cypress seem to still be in the justly barely starting stage; most of the bald cypress were fully green. The tabebuias and azaleas are done but, thanks to a series of mild winters, many of the bougainvilleas are simply stunning. It has been very dry, enough that several nearby counties have announced burn bans (after fighting large brush fires near Geneva and in Brevard county). We put out a sprinkler in the yard the other day and immediately had a crowd of cardinals and a goldfinch taking advantage of it.
Trying to remember how to share photos via Flickr. I hope this link works – https://flic.kr/s/aHskRPCbUC I like the way the close-up has watercolor or impressionist look to it. Maybe an inspiration for you, Llee?