Letter from the road #2

Relaunch

Hearing George say “bye Poppy” triggers me emotionally For those that don’t know George, he is the 22 month old son of Jeff, I’m Poppy to George. Each goodbye reminds me of the unfathomable and unconditional love I have for him and my sister’s three grandchildren. They are the future. I carry a deep sense of responsibility to do right by them. My journey is impart about them.

Heading out of Washington, I thought about George’s proud command of the neighborhood jungle gym and his evolving agility to do more and more. His first attempt at pronouncing a word was Alexa enunciated as alechah! He is now forming small sentences. Next will come questions. He will ask, what is America? I need to find the words that answer that question and the deeper question, “who are we?”

Asheville

On the way to Asheville, I overnighted in Durham, a sad, shabby, and dull city. The staff at my hotel and that of the restaurant across the street were by-in-large pleasant. But, they were lethargic and inattentive, too. The businesses upon which Durham was built are long gone and have been replaced by low end arts and crafts stores and bad imitations of hip restaurants found elsewhere. “So, you like Durham? No, but I’m glad I stopped there for a day. It was a timely reminder of the problem posed by technology, automation, and changing retail models and highlighting evaporating higher level jobs, opioid addiction, deteriorating educational achievement and dwindling hope.

Hold it, you maybe thinking, Duke University is there. Really? There was little evidence of integration. The elite student body, professors and ecosystem appeared insulated and largely functioning behind Its inauthentic Princeton facade. In a previous post, I wondered about the impact of alienation. Was it a factor here. It felt like two different worlds walking past one another. Had the hotel and restaurant staff in Durham given up? Durham made a deep impression and left a lot of unanswered questions.

The drive to Asheville was a scenic delight. Rolling hills, distant mountains, a broad pallet of wild flowers and blue sky were reasons enough for feeling joy. But, as a gay man of a certain age, there was another reason. The region is the leading center for furniture manufacturing and an important resource for chippendale reproductions. As well, it is the location for the largest antique silver and china resale business. My first stop took me through the doors of the High Point Furniture Mart. I hadn’t seen a collection of quality chippendale reproductions since B. Altman closed its doors. It’s hard to imagine anything could top the furniture jamboree, but it was by the next stop. Replacements is a 60,000 sq. ft. emporium offering a treasure trove of silver and china patterns that either your mother bought in individual pieces or place settings over time or once occupied the finest homes on Philadelphia’s Main Line.

I gave serious consideration to adding to my inheritance. However restraint ruled the day. I recalled closing my mother’s house on her passing and discovered no one wanted her cherished furnishings. Had I not wanted it, it would most likely ended up at Replacements. How sad. In my mother’s case, her china and silver were cherished not so much for their monetary value, rather they served as reminders of family traditions and gathering where stories were exchanged and milestones celebrated. heirloom china and silver served to underscore the importance of a holiday, birthday, graduation, or special friendships. How do we do that today? Do we attach the same significance?

Ascending the Smokey Mountains, on I-40, I soon arrived in Asheville and discovered a remarkable city. Progressive, distinctive architecture, and a pleasant climate. The main tourist attraction is the Biltmore, a pseudo Loire Valley castle built during the gilded age. Constructed by the Vanderbilts, it remains the largest home in America. It is still owned by the family. I thought it a bit cheesy that they were soliciting donations for upkeep on top of the entry fee. It was fun touring the Biltmore estate and the store front galleries in Asheville. Interestingly, a number of Floridians have summer homes here. Thinking I might consider doing the same, I surfed Zillow discovering a large selection of handsome and affordable homes. As I was surfing, an advertisement popped up offering animal control services. Hmmmm, I thought. Researching further, I discovered a plethora of firms offering services to remove skunks, bats, squirrels and snakes from infested homes and grounds. Some went a step further specializing in cougar snd bear removal. Sorry, not the type that inhabit the Lizard Lounge in Palm Beach. That said, snakes did it for me. I won’t be summering in Asheville.

Theme Song

Driving from Asheville to Tennessee, country and western music filled the car as I wanted to set a mood consistent with the geography I was covering. The Smokey Mountains could not have been a better backdrop for this uniquely American genre. Charlie Daniels came on at one point performing his In America ballad. The lyrics, delivered with his rich whiskey voice, grabbed me. I felt it was purposely playing for me and concluded this was my theme song for the journey ahead. Here are the lyrics. What do you think?

Well the eagle's been flyin' slow

And the flag's been flyin' low

And a lotta people sayin' that America's

fixin' to fall

Well speakin' just for me

And some people from Tennessee

We've got a thing or two to tell you all

This lady may have stumbled

But she ain't never fell

And if the Russians don't believe that

They can all go straight to hell

We're gonna put her feet back

On the path of righteousness and then

God bless America again

[Chorus]

And you never did think

That it ever would happen again

(In America, did you)

You never did think

That we'd ever get together again

(We damn sure could)

Yeah, we're walkng real proud

And we're talkin' real loud again

(In America)

You never did think

That it ever would happen again

From The Sound up in Long Island

Out to San Francisco Bay

And everthing that's in between them

Is our own

And we may have done a little bit

Of fightin' amongst ourselves

But you outside people best leave us

alone

'Cause we'll all stick together

And you can take that to the bank

That's the cowboys and the hippies

And the rebels and and the yanks

You just go and lay your hand

On a Pittsburgh Steelers' fan

And I think you're gonna finally

understand

Oak Ridge

In 1943, the US government built a 2 million square foot building to house the Manhattan Project in eastern Tennessee. The Manhattan project was the US Governments race to beat the Nazis with an atom bomb. The site was fully developed in nine months. Wow! At the same time, the nearly completed Pentagon would be 200,000 feet smaller and yet would be touted as the largest building. Why? The Oak Ridge facility was top secret and code named Project X. This was no ordinary endeavor. Project X transformed a poor agricultural area into the most significant advanced technology site in the country for the duration of the war. Today, the facility does not exist, but the offshoots spawned by the nuclear bomb program laid the groundwork for eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina’s innovation and technology corridor. Importantly, The Oak Ridge National Lab and Navy’s atomic propulsion development center are here and continuing to provide advanced technology. As well, there is an entire ecosystem of companies in the area that commercialize the ideas and research generated by these government research arms. In Oak Ridge I toured The American Museum of Energy and Science along with the the National Lab. It made me think that when we think big, we are at our best. We were so fortunate to have real visionaries, unconstrained in what they imagined, leading Oak Ridge in its early days.

The leadership came from a potpourri of backgrounds. Two are worth noting for their longer term impact on America. First, Admiral Hyman Rickover, was a Polish immigrant who graduated at the top of his class at the Naval Academy. Upon retiring, he had the distinction of being the longest serving officer in U.S. Navy history. Most probably a subscriber of the belief that no-one in the bible or torah spoke of retirement, so why should he. That aside, Admiral Rickover transformed the naval architecture and propulsion by insisting against great odds that our naval vessels be nuclear powered. He prevailed. Our ships and subs can be dispatched for longer periods whether above or below water affording our navy greater efficiencies and combat advantages.

Dr. J. Ernest Wilkins, at age 16 was the youngest graduate of the University of Chicago, earning a degree in physics. At age 20 he had earned his doctorate and well on his way to becoming a professor. Identified as essential to the Manhattan Project meant the military would need to adjust its employment policies if it were to retain Dr. Wilkins. Dr. Watkins was black. Under normal circumstances at the time, he would have been segregated and assigned †o sub standard living conditions. The defense department, whether driven morally or practicality began the transition from a segregated military segregation to one of full integration in order to retain his services. A quiet hero in the best traditions of America. He should be celebrated.

Oak Ridge made me appreciate our capacity to do really big things when we are unified and set our mind to it. It, also, hit me that when we bet big, the long term impact is radically transformative. Eastern Tennessee would most likely be just another poor area of Appalachia with few opportunities had the Manhattan Project not been conceived and principally located there. The first locally recruited employees were young women graduating from high school forming the initial brigade of equipment monitors for the nuclear equipment.

I came away from my day in Oak Ridge with an epiphany. We squandered 5.6 trillion dollars on Iraq and to what end? We certainly have the capacity for lavish spending. We do big well. Big transforms. Flyover America needs investment. Investment attracts opportunity seekers. Time for audacity.

Here are the headline elements for operation big bet:

- identify 10 economically challenged areas in our country,

- identify and articulate 10 big bets

-assign each bet to a geographic area,

-invest up to half a trillion dollars on each bet.

-Set an audacious time framed goal for each bet

-measure progress and adjust accordingly

We did it for the Space Program, We did it for the interstate highways. We did it for the public works program during the depression. We did it for the Panama canal. We did it for the TVA. Let’s do it again. Finally, think of this as a repurposing our economically challenged areas with the added benefit of repopulating them with people looking to live the American dream.

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Kentucky and Tennessee