Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Thoughts on poverty - after flood conditions - and the future elections.


The flooding is over and with a little help from Mother Nature things will get back to normal.  From experience I have to tell you…they don’t get back to normal for a long time.  The price that you pay is not just in cost of items and repair of houses, it’s also in the stress of family relationships both personal and financial.

In a society that values what money can buy more than the things money can’t buy… we are trapped in a daily cycle of work, bills, and rising costs.  Money cannot buy back the time-spent worrying about things… and the emotional toll that brings nights when you are unable to sleep.  When this all kicks in…it shakes even the best of relationships.

When you add poverty to the mix the situation becomes unbearable.  I have heard about “flood insurance” but the cost of this commodity is far above the ability of many people to pay and so they throw the dice and hope it rolls in their favor!

That is what I have done over the years…I have never won. (I am not good at gambling)  The only thing it has taught me is to just carry on.

The compounding factor is that people in my rural area who have low paying jobs or retirement benefits… are also most likely unable to find full-time work that pays enough to have a car on the road and to travel to it.  Part-time jobs do not make it when you factor in the cost of gas, repairs and insurance.  In Madison County’s case you have to factor in that there is no bus service, hilly terrain, and almost no industry.

The majority of people work in school systems or health care, or local governments.  Good paying agricultural jobs with benefits are few and far between.  Madison County ranks number 3 in the state for lost population… no wonder why.

Continually badgering people who get food assistance is just ridiculous.  Even our friends to the north in the more populated area who work for places like Walmart do not have adequate pay to live.  When they retire...what?

The Amish families have moved into the vacant farms and have returned to basic life.  But are we as “a people”… willing to forgo our current life style of easy communication, entertainments, work saving devices and… most importantly education of our children?

The flooding in my case has been caused in a great part by lack of adequate infrastructure repair.  But I cannot afford more taxes and once again it is industry that pays taxes and provides jobs that allow the citizenry to pay taxes.  It is a “catch 22.”

So when it comes time to vote this fall in local elections…think about it… we need younger more in tune thinking.  We need Change! We need to be proactive rather than reactive… In our comments on line via social media like Facebook that are hateful to hard working retired or poor people…. remember but for the Grace of God you might one day be in their situation… and if costs and our society continue… your children may be in this situation!

So help your friends… be kind to your neighbors and family… and think about the future for everyone…  Where are we going as a society?  How can we improve?  And more importantly… how long can we carry on without sincere change?

***Here is a great video..great historic pictures..worth a watch!














Monday, July 15, 2013

My backroads trip into Vincent van Gogh and a Starry Night!


The floods have subsided for now and the heat index has risen causing the moisture to hang in the air.  Sunday morning I decided to take a drive to look for the neighbor’s missing dog.  The light filtering through my window made me wish I had my oil paints, brushes, canvas and could find a country setting to sit and paint.  That feeling has not come over me for a while and unfortunately... I have had no money to invest on this former pastime.  So instead I took my new artist tool of sorts… my camera... and escaped with the car windows down searching and enjoying back roads and summer colors.

 It was on these back roads that I found deserted walkways, bridges and buildings, certainly links to Madison County’s history, but now entangled in a multitude of vines and overgrowth.  As I snapped I thought about how unreal I could make them look using a simple trick application.  Yes, today we can make paintings by clicking a shutter and then clicking a mouse on a computer.  So back home I went to play with color.

Being a fan of impressionism I dabbled with a few effects and finally picked what they called palette knife… photos that actually look like oil painting.  This actually brought me to thoughts of Vincent van Gogh…the light…that special light he found with bright colors and sought in Arles, France.

Van Gogh’s story is a famous one … stories of his bouts of mental illness, of being supported by his brother Theo, of Theo’s wife saving his letters and in a way- after his death, making him one of the most famous painters of all time.  When he died at the age of 37… he had painted over 2,000 paintings…. but had in reality sold only one.

Today Vincent van Gogh’s paintings have commanded some of the highest prices at auction…many for close to 100 million dollars.  Yes… and his painting and style are recognize by school children and older people alike.  He is noted for having painted 200 pictures in 200 days at the end of his life… some of his most recognized subjects include himself, sunflowers, irises, and my favorite painting “A Starry Night” … which, I have seen in person.

 Van Gogh died on July 29, 1890…but his influence on painting continues even to this day.  He was a man who worked hard to master his art but in the end was unable to master his inner demons. 

Today on Facebook some one posted a cartoon that expressed the desire for all of us to go out and look at the stars.  Tonight I will.

This video is a must watch… it features Don Maclean’s tribute to Vincent van Gogh and his pictures put together by an instructor at a mental illness facility… Van Gogh’s paintings come to life to the words… enjoy and take the time to go out and see the starry, starry, night!!

***The pictures above are the ones I took on Sunday!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

It time to go to the Madison County Fair- a place of history!


Well it is that time of the year again..rain or shine the 174th Madison County Fair will be opening on Thrusday afternoon.  The fairgrounds is actually one of the oldest in the Nation and has hosted its share of great historical events including one that occured in 1856, which as the Madison County Historian I help promote....
"History is everywhere and a lonely historical marker in an empty fairground can tell a history story of national importance. The marker sits in an unlikely place in front of the dinner at the Madison County Fair. Today the fairgrounds roar with the sound of tractor pulls and demolition derbys... but it  once roared with the excitement of a crowd estimated at 12,000 people.
The occasion was the Brookfield (Madison County) Fair of 1856 and the day was marked with a parade of hundreds of horsemen, carriages filled with young girls dressed in white and soldiers on horseback - all in Brookfield to welcome orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
Douglass had come to Brookfield to speak on behalf of Presidential candidate John C. Fremont, a man Douglass hoped would win. Earlier Douglass had supported Madison County’s Gerrit Smith, but he decided to stump for Fremont as it became evident to him that Fremont had a better chance of winning, and getting a abolitionist elected was his goal not friendships."
This years "Fair" will feature a number of new things with a more modern flare including a night of Rock & Roll and a night of Country Music. The Grammy award winning rock band Survivor will perform in front of the grandstand opening night (Thursday, July 11th) with special guest Wicked & Red Hush. On Friday, July 12th Nashville superstars Steve Holy and Mark Wills will co-headline the grandstand country music show with special guest Lyndsey Highlander. Popular local bands that will be appearing throughout the Fair for FREE in the stage area include; Northern Lights, Fritz Polka, Jason Wicks, Fulton Chain Gang, BoCNY, The BOMB, Pulsate, and Gridley Page. Fairgoers will also find that the beer garden will be back on tap.
Also on tap this weekend the Brookfield Speedway Racers will return for their 4th Annual Reunion on Friday afternoon with a racecar exhibit and autograph session. Taking part in the 2013 reunion are special guest from the Motorsports Museum in Weedsport; Harry Elkima, Karl Schartner, Pam Forney & Rich Appleby.
And of course Saturday the power pulling competitions will lead off at 9am with the truck pulls - the tractors will be pulling Sunday starting at 9am. The ever popular Demolition Derby & Rollover Contest is slated for 7pm Saturday evening.
So take a break from the everyday and visit an ongoing piece of history right here in Madison County in Brookfield..tell them I sent you!