It's Day 319.....it's also March 20th 2020.....and we are in Guin Alabama

It's Day 319.....it's also March 20th 2020.....and we are in Guin Alabama

Dang.....this pandemic thing...news hits ya like a ton of bricks every dang morning.........the world can't shut up about it...and of course they cant....when ya hear things like....

California governor issues an unprecidented stay at home order ...

Argentina has issued a nation wide...mandatory quarenteen order....adding themselves to a growing list of countries that had done the same....France, Italy...India....

And Italy has surpassed China in total number of deaths ...

On March 11th.....The world health Organizaion declared a Global Pandemic....and today....8 days later....reported cases have crossed over 158,000...with China, Italy, and Iran accounting for 115,000 of those.....and over here....coming up on 2000 of our own.

What I keep hearing...is reported cases. How many cases are there really? They keep talking about not having enough tests....and where would I even go to get one?

And then....such a random thought....Have I already had it? I remembered my stay that night in Vidalia Louisiana....around episode 46 it was....that stormy , early January night...... I woke up soaked in sweat....dizzy....coughing....only seemed to last a couple days....but so sudden....so random...was that covid? Hmmm....

I guess....if there is an upside here....it's that the boys and I are already pretty much keepin to ourselves.....dang Dougie better not give me covid!..

And it has not taken us long....to slip right back into old habits....and get off the beaten track!

Explore the back roads of Georgia and Alabama....

So cool.....to watch the changes in scenery with each mile.....Gone....are those super huge old Oak Tree's....draped in spanish moss....all around us back there in St. Marys....those wide open marshlands that seemlessly blend into the vastness...of the Atlantic Ocean....and how fast....all that changed....as we drove away from the coast...and into the heartland of Georgia.... now .....its....groves and hollows filled with Pine and Poplar trees. 100 foot bridges that crossed not rivers, but stunning displays of cherry tree blossoms ....definitely signaling the early start to spring here....We'd driven past places like Macon and Pooler....thats when I learned that Macon is often referred to as ....The Cherry Blossom Capital of the World".....guess that explains this scenery around here.......and that one stretch of Georgia Hwy 17 just outside Newnan.... we drove through rolling hills populated with working cattle ranches…then just a couple miles up the road on the opposite side....a vinyard stretching ....against that backdrop of lush green grasses...as far back into those rolling hills as we could see. All this....within about a 300 mile stretch.

Crossing over into Alabama not much changes...at first...but then.....transitions from rolling hills...sometimes wooded.....sometimes not....into foothills....and so tempting.....to turn north....and into Alabama's version of the mountains.... those Appalachian Mountains. But....ya know.....pandemic and all.....best keep going...I told myself...and then we found ourselves once again pulling those steep grades while passing semi’s, and rolling back down the other side getting out of the way of those very same semi’s. Vacilando is indeed feeling a lot more athletic..... having shed that 5000 lbs.

And then...Tupelo Mississippi just 50 miles up the road.....and Memphis Tennessee ....not so very far beyond that....But.....I couldn’t resist the urge to exit the freeway at county road 44.....just a small two lane...winding through the Alabama countryside...we... needed to find camping spot for the evening.....not really in the RV park sorta mood..... The sky’s had been threatening thunderstorms since Birmingham and it was feeling like they were about to deliver. And with the rain getting heavier.....thought it best to find a spot well before nightfall. quick pitstop under an over pass....Dougie needed to stretch his legs and I didn't want to stand in the rain. Pretty funny because we pulled out from under that under pass....and less than a mile up the road.....perfect.....a large pull out to the left of the road. A dirt road went further back in....I could see large excavation equipment back in there....but....things were getting pretty wet.....wouldn't be doing any exploring on a dirt road tonight.....and as I write this, the rains are letting up and it appears we may just get to skip out on that thunderstorm…for which Dougie will be unknowingly grateful.....I know how much he hates those boom booms.

And we'd seen only a houses.....in the last few miles....no sign of a town....I didn't even know where we were....until I checked....and the phone said Guinn...Alabama.

The internet tells me ..... Guin....is a charming little town located in Marion County Alabama. Population 2000 or so. Looks like they picked a pretty cool spot for the place too.....just the right amount of quiet it seems....Tupelo 50 miles in one direction....and Birmingham....80 mile up the road in another direction....plenty of big city when they need it.....

And looks like the area has been pretty popular....for a very long time.....Archeological evidence of Native American presence dates back some 10,000 years around here....it was the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, and Chickasaw people that would discover and be the first...to inhabit the area.... They were drawn to the abundance of natural resources.....rich...fertile soils...and thick...expansive forests that meant plenty of hunting and trapping opportunity. And the abundance of water....rivers and lakes...meant plenty of drinking water....tons of fishing....and even...transportation.

These traits would continue to drive the areas popularity as Europeans arrived....furthering the trapping....and trade practice in the area. The French would arrive here....a little before the Spanish actually.....but neither maintained a dominent presence. The area would remain primarily inhabited by Native Americans until American settlement....when the US began issuing land grants in the region.

In 1870....Dr. Jeremiah Guin...a young guy from Tuscaloosa Alabama....would migrate the 60 miles or so ....acquire land....and later donate a significant portion to the town....which incorported with his name in 1889.

And looking around here...the hills....the woods.....the open pasture....I wondered what it felt like here....in Guin....as American began it's long and painful journey ..... down that path from slavery......to integration....after the civil war.

Along the way....Guin would gain a railway station....and established the first public high school in the region in 1912.....and just a year later...in 1913 the town would see it's first automobile dealership.....bringing Guin...into the nations second industrial revolution.

Agriculture has always been a primary driver in the regions economy.....in 1955 3M opened a plant here...introducing production to the mix....the plant is still in operation today but in recent years has had some legal challenges.....I had a flashback to what I had read about Motorola .... and their plants in Scottsdale Arizona.....and groundwater contamination issues. And just like over there....here....in Guin....it's 3m working to repair and restore the damage done by years of harmful chemicles being introduced to the areas groundwater.

And interesting that here.....in Guin Alabama....I'd stumble.... into the topic of prohibition...and learn...that Alabama would pass prohibition into law in 1907....over a decade before the Federal ban of alcohol. And Apparently.....here in Alabama...they meant it......that 1907 ban....is still in place.... but in 2010....Guin was the first town in Marion country to vote to legalize the sale of alcohol...Making Guin...one of the 55 cities in Alabama....in which you can buy yourself a beer.

But then.....With everything happenin....tryin to do a better job at keepin up on the news....as I flipped on the television this evening....and it wasn't about the pandemic.....I caught the end of a story....and learned of.....Ahmaud Arbery...now...it kept my attention...well...for a lot a reasons....but a couple in particular.......first....Ahmaud, was a 25 year old Black Man that was chased through a Subdivision in Brunswick Georgia, by three white men....and then shot and killed. Brunswick....is just 40 or so miles from St. Marys....and I had driven through there on the way to Jekyll Island.....in fact....the odds were pretty good that I as out walking with Dougie that february afternoon in St. Mary's....at the very same time...Ahmaud .... just 40 miles away in Brunswick....was being chased....and killed. The other thing that struck me....was when I heard the term "Modern Day Lynching".

Now...I'm kinda hyper sensative to the word lynching at the moment....not that the concept ever felt alright..in any way....but having just spent an evening learning of Sam Hose.....and the horrifying events that took place during his murder.....a lynching. I've also since read....that we will never know the actual number of innocent Black people that were tortured and killed in ways that should literally be unimaginable to humans....but their not. For every one of these tragedies.... that we know of....there could be 100's more that we will never know of...and I think....I was imagining....all those humans....

while hearing Ahmauds story.....and hearing the word Lynching....again. But this time....being used to describe a series of events in the year 2020......

Having heard only part of a news story.....I immediately hopped online

What I watched.....and what I heard......

A 25 year old Blackman...an avid runner....was out for his afternoon jog. He frequently jogged through a subdivision called Satilla Springs....in Brunswick.... Within the subdivision there was a home under construction....had stalled out for some reason and the building sat vacant for quite some time.

It was not uncommon for Ahmaud to stop and go walk through the home under construction....and then continue on his run.....this is actually pretty well documented because the owner of the home had installed camera's through out the project. And Ahmaud could be seen on multiple occassions walking through the project....he never took anything....there wasn't anything to take....the home was wide open...didn't even have all of it's doors yet....and he never vandalized anything....from the footage I watched....he never even touched anything....but it turns out...this survellience footage....of Ahmaud..and others....had apparently been shared online in a neighborhood community forum.

On this particular day....a man that lived across the street...a white guy......was standing behind a tree watching Ahmaud......he had seen the surveillance footage........and he called 911 to report Ahmaud.....the 911 operator tells him that she'll send someone out....but it would be helpful if he could tell her what the man was wrong.....and he couldn't.....

A short while later....Ahmaud would run by the home of two other residents of the subdivision...they also had seen the surveillance footage......A father and son....white guys....watched Ahmaud run by...and...well...the sequence of events....from this point...they are just so far outside of "normal"....in my brain.....that I don't think....anyone...except those two guys will ever know why they decided....that on that on February 23rd....Ahmauds behavior was unacceptable....and that they needed to grab their guns ..get in their truck....and chase Ahmaud.

And it keeps getting weirder.....Ahmaud would pass by the home of another white guy....out workin on his front porch.....and this guy...well...he watched Ahmaud run by.....and the two white guys drove by in a pick up ....chasing....yelling at Ahmaud....one standing in the bed of the pick up with a gun in his hand...and after seeing this...guy number 3 decides....that he needed to get in his pick up and join in the chase....

And the rest of the story...and why I even know about it....is obvious....Ahmauds dead.

I'll put a link...in the shownotes...for anyone interested in full detail....

And yes....there is a whole lot more to this....there always is........murder....can tend to be complicated....

In the last 24 hours I've read stories that have literally changed me forever. Of course I'd heard of lynching....but....I had no idea....what lynching...really was. ....and really is.

I know that we have come so far....the individual experiences of Sam Hose.....and Ahmaud Arbery were very very different.....and I would hope that they would be....given the span of time and history between the two....

Regardless of far we've come.....There's a pretty inescapable truth here......

120 years ago.....in Newnan Georgia....a group of white men decided that a 24 year black man....had done something wrong.....so they killed him.

And On February 23, 2020...in Brunswick Georgia...a group of white men.....decided that a 25 year old black man..... had done something wrong....so they killed him.

I gotta go to bed

a final walk with Dougie.......Then study the map for a bit to determine the route we’ll take in the morning. At least....those springtime showers are letting up on a 65 degree evening..... in the heart of south..... Alabama.

G’nite