Urban Waffle House

A friend posted this picture on a discussion board about an urban Waffle House in Fayetteville, AR.  I love it.  Fayetteville is a college town, so I hope this Waffle House Restaurant shows up in Gainesville someday.  Normally I would expect the Waffle House to be at an Interstate off-ramp surrounded by large parking lots, gas stations, and a handful of drunks - but not part of a downtown setting.  Considering the Waffle House smells pretty bad when there is a lot of "fresh air" to circulate around the suburban site, I wonder what the inside smells like when it's far more confined in the urban setting...

Photo Courtesy of Robert Sharp

David Brooks & the Concept of Metis

An excellent TED talk about Man as a Social Animal.  Listen here:



I love to travel and part of the fun is going to places "off the beaten path."  I'm very confident is walking or driving around these places because I feel very engaged with the surroundings, however, I know many other people are uncomfortable being outside of the "comfort zone."  But what makes one person comfortable or not?  Perhaps its this development of social skills that Brooks is talking like the metis or blending or "equa-poise." 

There are a number of excellent points he talks about - but one that stuck out was the concept of "metis" or the feeling of sense of place.  How do people cognitively map a space or anticipate through "feeling" the different changes or in many cases the merging of senses into a notion or expectation of something coming.  For instance, dowsers can sense the presence of water hidden in the soil.  Metis was a Greek goddess known for her wisdom and "cunningness."  To me this is an interesting way to think about sense of place.  Wisdom suggests that there is some knowledge that you've gained over time that begins to set about a framework for understand a place.  You've been on a street before, you recognize a door or window or a boarded up window.  However, there is also a level of cunning.  Cunning is described in the MW dictionary as "dexterous or crafty in the use of special resources." 

Exactly what those special resources are help to define cunning with either positive or negative connotations, but in Brooks' argument these resources are the intangible, subconscious merging of senses.  You feel things, you hear things, the air tastes slightly differently and while you are processing the individual pieces and parts (that hot dog stand smells really good), your subconscious is merging these sensations together to give you a "feeling" about a place - whether good or bad or neutral. 

Westview Cemetery - Palatka, FL

While it might sound weird to many, one of my favorite pastimes is to walk through cemeteries, particularly older ones, and imagine the lives of all the buried people.  Some more famous cemeteries like Pere Lachaise in Paris, have some incredible architecture.  But in most cemeteries, you can see examples of exquisite crypts, typically signifying a wealthy individual, or something a bit more modest, but still uniquely personified.   In many cases, people decided, or their loved ones decided, to write something on the headstone to signify their life.  I walked through the Westview Cemetery in Palatka and noticed a series of very interesting graves.  Before I discuss those, however, I must make mention how I noticed the cemetery in the first place.  Driving into Palatka from Gainesville, one travels SR 20 eastward.  

As I was getting ready to go under a rail bridge, I noticed the pedestrian "tunnel" allowing the sidewalk to also go under the railroad.  The foreboding tunnel caught my attention.  I mean who would really go through that tunnel?  It's slightly better than a sewer tunnel... God forbid two cyclists are moving through the tunnel at the same time!

I turned across the street to notice the cemetery high up on the hill.  There are many interesting grave sites, I think the earliest death I could find was about 1835 which is about ten years after Palatka starts to become important in terms of agriculture trade and shipping on the St Johns River.  I also noticed many grave markers with the year 1884 and 1885.  After a little bit of research, I determined these were probably poor souls that died in the November 1884 fire that destroyed most of downtown Palatka.  The following are a series of grave sites that I found particularly interesting... 

I have seen eagles and other bigger birds on the headstones, but I think this is a dove, suggesting perhaps a peaceful sleep.

This gentleman was very important in the Palatka Masonic society.  Taking up most of the headstone space is his "resume" of senior positions within the Masons.  I'm not a mason, so I can't really speak about the significance of these titles, however, there were other headstones, with the masonic symbols, but not the resume.

 

The Woodmen of the World was another fraternal society similar to the Masons.  As a part of the membership, when one woodman died, a hat was passed around during their meetings and the money given to the widow.  Eventually, as things became more costly, the Woodmen shifted their focus to selling life insurance, and still remain today.  The symbol carved in the headstone above was done by hand and donated to the widow or family, however this was eventually discontinued after about 1920 or so.

Hailing from Palatka was the first governor of the State of Florida, William Dunn Moseley.  Andrew Jackson was actually the first "military commander" of the state after the land was acquired from Spain.  Others like William Duval were the governors of the "Florida Territories," but Governor Moseley was the first.

This particular grave (on the left) was for an infant, however, what is interesting is the marker to the right.  There was not another grave or headstone nearby, and this marker could have certainly been moved, but if we assume for the moment it was intentionally placed next to the infant, it tells an interesting story.  The marker contains the letters, "C.S.A," referencing the Confederate States of America - the Confederate Flag is in the middle.  I'm curious that the marker would be placed next to an infant (the other graves in the area date about 15 years after the Civil War).  Also interesting is that the marker itself seems to be "new."  Better yet, it doesn't look like its been there since post-Civil War.  I couldn't find much more about this - but Downtown Palatka does have a few memorials placed by the Daughters of the Confederacy, a similar organization to the D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution).

 

This headstone was simply interesting because that type-face was not found anywhere else.  Something about it, plus the name, "Ware Waggles," was interesting.  Perhaps it's simply the persons name?  Maybe he or she thought they lived in Middle Earth?

 

The last grave I'm showing really astounded me.  Apparently, this young child died prematurely at the age of four.  On the headstone, in addition to the lamb (which was found on many other graves of children) and the unknown object was a picture of the boy.  I've seen pictures of the deceased on the graves before, however, this grave dates to 1924!  How did they set a photograph on the marble in 1924?  Not just that, but the photo is in pretty decent condition - it's over 86 years old!

This one still baffles me - but perhaps there is some level of maintenance that's been happening.  The local name of SR 20, which accesses the cemetery is "Crill Avenue."  I believe this is named after State Senator E.C. Crill, who was from Palatka.  Perhaps this was a grandson or some relative of the Senator, and there was additional money given to create a unique headstone.  In any case, seeing a photograph from 1924 in great condition on a headstone is an example that sometimes, even when you think an idea is "modern," it could very well have been around for a long time...

The Orange Blossom Special

Perhaps no other bluegrass captures the sense of movement, trains chugging along a track, or the sense of watching a silver bullet train move through the country-side.  Written by Ervin T. Rouse and Gordon Rouse in 1939 (although for many years Chubby Wise claimed to have written it).  The song has long been covered by many music stars including Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash, and Roy Clark among others. 

The Orange Blossom Special was a passenger train run by the Seaboard Rail Company and ran from New York City to Miami.  The train started running in 1925 (ended in 1953) and was marketed as the fast, luxurious train to bring the rich and influential businessman from NYC to Florida - which was booming at the time.

While the story itself is contested, Chubby Wise claims that after visiting the local establishments in Jacksonville, he and Rouse visited the train station to watch the Orange Blossom Special pull into town.  If you listen closely, you can imagine pumping steam engine and the chugging power of the train moving out.  Also captured in the song is the long, mournful sound of the train whistle.

However, after looking through YouTube at many of the other incarnations of the song, this version is probably my favorite.  Something about a classical string quartet playing bluegrass.

Yield to the Fire Truck!

As I was driving to Palatka the other day, I passed by a couple of fire stations.  You'll notice that there are stations along the roadside because of the obvious fire truck sign posted about 300 feet before the station, which are telling you to yield to a fire truck, should it come out of the driveway:

As I passed the second fire station, I started to notice that in fact the fire truck has no roof.  In fact, it really has no tank either.  The fireman is in an open cab and clearly, the most important construct of the fire engine is the ladder.  I started thinking... what year model is this fire truck?  I've never seen a real fire truck that looked like this.  Actually - this model fire truck dates back to the 1930's - possibly a Mack truck or a Ford:

I am not sure when this kind of DOT sign was first put into use, but I'm guessing with the mass production of highways and interstates in the US in the 1940's and 1950's, this sign was graphically designed and hasn't changed much since.  I'm not sure why, though.  The Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) shows a number of fairly contemporary vehicles:

Horse and Buggy AND a golf cart.  Even the tractor looks to have an upgraded sign, with perspective no less.  But not the fire truck.  I think that it's interesting that most folks driving today, have never seen this fire truck in use - probably more so in a parade or in a museum, yet we all know it's a fire truck.

I would be very interest to read or learn about the history of these "public signs" - anyone know a good reference or book?

Driving down to Orlando last weekend I saw again these signs on the Turnpike in sequential order telling a little story:

"He drives an old car..."
"Yet he goes through tolls"
"Like a Movie Star!"

It's an advertising campaign for the SunPass toll transmitter offered by the Turnpike/Expressway authority.  They also have signs about staying awake and driving safe.  Turns out these signs are an homage (if we're being nice) or a rip-off (if we're being mean) to the old "BurmaShave" advertising campaign popular in the 1920's through 1950's.  Burma Shave would place these seemingly witty messages along the major roads, with the punch line always being "BurmaShave!"

"Big Mistake"
"Many make"
"Rely on horn"
"Instead of "
"Brake"
"Burmashave!"

Of course Burmashave was advertising to the man on the go - portable shaving cream so he wouldn't be tied down by making that lather, and the pesky brush.  So the idea of placing the advertisement on the highway - where everyone was driving along quickly makes a lot of sense.  I suppose being able to just sail through the tollbooth without having to stop is very similar in that nature...

For more information on Burma Shave check out this great site: Burma Shave

Feline Urbanism

So everyone has seen the feral cat running around here and there.  Have you ever consider that those cats are simply tourists, coming to visit your town, from their City?


Their City is Caboodle Ranch, a 30-acre, "Feline City", near Lee, Florida in Madison County, maybe 30 miles west of Lake City.  There, founder Craig Grant, has created a sanctuary for over 650 abused or "discarded" cats.  But what catches my particular interest, is the community he's set up for the cats.  It's complete with homes, a main street, a church, a Walmart, and Town Hall.  I imagine they have the full assortment of political problems - tea party republicats or liberal democats. (Sorry, too hard to pass up)

All jokes aside, Mr. Grant is an incredible man.  Spend any time on his website and you'll see his dedication to helping cats is beyond question.  I think it's quite funny that Caboodle Ranch has a nice town layout and better landscape facilities than the accompanying town of Lee.  Stephen Colbert also covered Caboodle Ranch a few weeks ago - quite funny.