It's Day 318...It's also March 19th 2020.....and we are in Newnan Georgia....and YEP....we got ourselves a Pandemic!

It's Day 318...It's also March 19th 2020.....and we are in Newnan Georgia....and YEP....we got ourselves a Pandemic!

A Pandemic....

serious stuff......and .....and yea..... I was down the rabbit hole in no time....everything from what the definition of a pandemic.....has there actually been one.....In my lifetime.....to exactly when and where did thing start....and .....who knew about it...and when did they know.......and why were over a thousand people dead in China....10's of thousands in quaranteen....and essentially a lock down was under way in the country...multiple countries had begun closing their borders...not allowing travel from China.....as our media...and our president....was just beginning to even talk about it......and in very different ways...Lots of questions....

And a lots happening....pretty quickly.

As each day passes..... and I listen.....I read....and I watch. It's becoming more obvious to me.....that now....might not be the time....to be half a country away or more from anyone I know...

But there were still a couple things to take care of in St. Marys.... before I headed out. One big lesson learned in our first ..... almost a year....on the road.....is that my decision to buy a motorhome....and tow a car.....well thats evolved. I'd decided to sell my little electric car...I'd realized that over the course several months.....I had taken the car off the car dolly a total of 6 times....and loading it, and unloading it was an ordeal I was not fond of....being a front wheel drive....and very low clearance vehicle....meant tow options were limited....and tow dollys....at least in my personal experience.....are not fun....and for many other reasons....like....we love to boon dock.....and while I am surprised at many spots we had actually gotten into...and out of.....there could have been so many more had I not been draggin that extra 5000 lbs along for the ride. I think Our next purchase.... will be an electric bike.....we'll give the motor home and electric bike combo a try for a while.

And the calendar tells us that Spring begins tomorrow.....but I am reasonably certain southeast Georgia is operating on it's own calendar. Temps have now been pretty consistently at, or above 80......, which I love, but this Pacific Northwest dude has not enjoyed the changes that come along with the higher temps so early in the year. ....the dang bugs! I've scratched my arms to the point of scabbin over since our great no see um event of 2020....and the lessons that came with that in last weeks episode.

And the lizards? Whats up with the lizards around here....those dang things pop out of everywhere........I did not know.....that a lizard can indeed whittle its way into your rooftop air conditioning unit.......which can turn the simple task of cleaning filters.....in to a brand new adventure. Next time we chat.....Ask me how I know this….and if I ever got the lizard stain out of the couch.

Inevitably....it was time to leave..........I got a pretty good credit banked with Sharon and she assured me she's got a spot for us anytime.

I actually procrastinated most of this morning…just kept tellin myself.....I really did need to head out.....Funny how both Dougie and Billie know…they watch as the morning routine changes.....awning goes up.....cat wheel comes in.....

Before the ignition key has turned Billie has placed himself snuggly below the driver seat and Dougie steps up onto the dog house to resume his role as co-pilot.....

Weaving our way back out of St. Mary's.....stopped to top off Vacilando's tank .....pretty sure I got some funny looks as I ran out to take a photo of the gas prices.....1.95 a gallon........just one more thing....I'm gonna miss about ya Georgia....

We'd head north.... up I-95 until ... that congestion around Atlanta told us..it was time to veer west on GA 16.

And thats how we'd land in Newnan.....

After a bit of drivin around....just lookin.....we'd start heading out of town on some random road when we came across another one of those....for sale signs.....this one....in front of what looked like some sort of automobile mechanic shop....living quarters in the back. Big open space....pulled around..parked...thought about callin the number on the sign...but it was late....we'll camp here tonight....nothing else in sight...just the Georgia woods....and a couple houses up the road....great spot....for a couple walks.....dinner....some reading....and some sleep.

A quick read...couple of videos...and I'd already learned....that Newnan....and this part of Georgia.....was first inhabited by the Creek Tribe...also known as the Muscogee.... or...as they would refer to themselves.... Este Mvskokvlke (estee mus koh gee)....which means "people of the creek"

They would inhabit a vast area......for centuries.....of what would become Georgia...Alabama...even regions within Mississippi and Tennesee.

Discovery.....by european folk.....well that's a very familiar pattern at this point....Spanish would arrive in the 1500's.....and would coin the phrase...."The creek people".....France would pop in here and there for brief periods.....but it would be the British that would follow....begin settlement....and colonization that would ultimately lead to the Americans finishing.....what the British had started.

Here in Newnan.....Settlement would take place in the 1800's..... when the city was established...and named after General Daniel Newnan....a North Carolinian soldier....and later politician.

The 19th century would bring the cotton industry to Newnon.....it also brought the Civil war.

But Newnon.....would escape....in large part....the destruction of the war....because it served as a "Hospital City". This was the first time I'd read the term "Hospital City".....

Newnan operated seven Confederate hospitals. These hospitals, along with private homes, provided care for over 10,000 confederate soldiers.....but hundreds of union soldiers would be treated as well.....and it was pretty cool reading that even during the brutality....the savagry....of war....when it came time to treat a wounded soldier Newnan....even in the 1800's....it didn't matter what uniform they were wearing.

Newnan...would continue it's growth after the war.....Railroads would be introduced...Electricity would begin to show up in the form of street lights....and the industrial era would introduce and array of industries ranging from Textile and manufacturing plants....to the technology industries of today....The cities proximity to Atlanta makes it a popular spot for businesses.....and commuters alike.

But through all that growth...Newnan....sounds to me like....might be a textbook example....of the darkness that would follow the civil war here in the south. I looked around....as I walked with Dougie....picturing a time when it would have been slaves working the fields......and then freed slaves...many still ....working under their former owners for nominal wages...and how some would have to leave...the only home they ever knew to escape .... truly escape their horrible past. Or....to simply escape death.....at the hands of another....as the term "Lynching" came into favor....

Newnon would find itself smack dab in the middle of National attention in 1899....When an a 24 year old African American Laborer named Samual Thomas Wilkes....going by the name Sam Hose.....would be accused of murder....and in turn....brutally murdered by a white lynch mob right here in Newnan.....It was a gruesome event....and worse yet.... a public event....a large crowd would gather to watch Sams murder.....sadly.....thats all they did....the incident may have caused national outrage.....but it never warranted anything more....no investigation....no trial....no justice for Sam...however........if there is anything positive to come of Sams murder....it would be the deep determinition within the growing civil rights movement......would grow....even deeper.

I'd also read.....of Wilson Turner.....a share cropper in 1948 Newnan. A series of events that would later be chonicled in the movie "Murder in Coweta County" .... I watched the movie...released in 1983....starring Andy Griffith and Johnny Cash.....it tells the tale of how Wilson Turner.....would be set up and murdered by a man named John Wallace....who fully expected to easily....get away with it. Thankfully.....it didn't turn out that way for John Wallace....thanks to the efforts of Coweta County Sheriff....Lamar Potts.

Now both Turner....and Wallace....were white men....but the events...and the movie....paint a vivid picture of what life was like in Georgia....for everyone.....and what accepted .... and tolerated... and where African Americans fit in American society....in Newnon Georgia in 1948.....almost 50 years after.....Sam was publicly murdered....not to very far....from the courthouse in which Wallace would be tried...convicted....and put in the electric chair.

Oh...and I did get a bit of a favorite new quote from the movie....."It's a dollar and a dime.......a dollar and a dime? what for......well.....it's a dollar for me.....and a dime for ma dogs".....dang....wish I could do accents....here....I'll let Johnny Cash show ya himself.....insert movie clip....

I'll put a link to the full movie in the show notes.....

Link to Murder in Coweta County..

$ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK8GB1gwTOU$

Hard to believe....sitting here in this quiet little spot.....that there are actually over 40,000 people here....somewhere....I sure hadn't seen anything that would made me guess Newnan was this big....and even harder to believe that just 40 miles behind us....Atlanta......and the millions.....that live there.

Rounded out the evening tryin to get an update on this Covid 19 thing.......And across the networks....talk has definitely dialed up around this Corona Virus.....and already confused again. I find myself more and more....going to Global News agencies.....The BBC....and France 24.....Here...I just wanted to know the name...why, have I heard so many different names.....Wuhan Coronavirus....Wuhan pneumonia, 2019 Novel Corona Virus, Covid 19....and Saars...The China Flu.....The China Virus....

But in reality.....globally....scientific and medical communities were aware of....and in communication around the virus....in November and December of last year. While Wuhan was locking down....and in spite of China's efforts to keep things quiet....The World Health organization had named the virus....2019 Novel Coronavirus...By January of this year...and on February 11th....the same day the BBC told me of the virus...The World Health Organization and shortened the name to Covid 19....and has referred to it by only that name....ever since.

And knowing all this...I just kept thinking through...thinking back.....over just the last few weeks...to the Beginning of February....I was just guy in South Georgia....with a laptop and an internet connection....who was told on February 11th....that a virus born in Wuhan China would threaten everything......and if I knew it....certainly the people responsible for running the country....ensuring the safety of Americans.....well...they had know ..... a whole lot more....than I did.....

And then I saw this.....on the news network France 24....published today.....

insert video

Ay yay yay yay....this guy....the leader of the Free world......and he makes my head hurt.

It was the perfect time to shut the laptop..... and one last walk with Dougie.....we'll even get Billie out there with us......gotta get some of this stuff outta my head....and get some shut eye.....Gonna do some more drivin tomorrow....

All I can think .... right now..... is west.

And I wonder what we'll learn there?