Well, obviously we share some things. My experience in the inner city was in 1968 and 69, and it was Philadelphia out the trolley towards Darby, actually just across the line. That's when Martin Luther King got shot, and it was not a happy time.
City folk are city folk, while I myself am a woodsman and trapper at heart. Although I work in full view of the trapping grounds, I'd have to go down five flights of stairs, walk a mile, and peel off about 35 years to make it real again. If you care to, visit my office -- it's the brightly lit floor halfway up, in the corner . juneauphotos.com Don't stop there. Pat Costello, juneauphotos.com, is the best photographer I've known. He posts a new picture every other day.
I've lived a lot of different places: in the Adirondacks, in the Catskills, the Appalachians, the Rockies, the Cascades, on the ground, in the dirt, in a paper sleeping bag, in a tent, in a cabin, on top of a mountain, and on the Philadelphia trolley line. I didn't like that last much, but I learned from it. The people in the little house behind our apartment gave us their crib when our daughter was born. They were good people. They had values, but they were chained to the city. I wasn't, and I left. Maybe they would too, if they could.
I know the city, maybe not like you do, but I've been there. The problem is, maybe of those people have no idea of anything off the trolley line. No concept whatsoever. And it will always be that way for those who chose think Al Gore and people with his kind of ideas will save them. George Bush wants them to take charge. And they will, if people don't try to help them too much. That's the difference.
If I insinuated that city folk are bad people because they voted for Al Gore, I sincerely apologize. You say it all: ". . .needs, struggles, hopes and dreams are a bit different than what the 'country' folk experience." I even know some country folk who voted for Gore.
The people here who voted for Gore fear Bush will damage the environment. That is total baloney, of course. Bush knows the environment because he is part of it, like me.
I like your analogy about bikinis. There's a saying up here that goes "Unless you're the lead dog, the view is always the same." That comes from dog mushers who do it mostly for sport. Their championship race is called "The Iditarod." It starts in Anchorage and ends in Nome with a thousand miles in between. Dogs are too much trouble if you have to live off the land these days. Real trappers use snow machines and outboards. That includes the natives. (By the way, we have more native languages in Alaska than in any other state of the union -- betcha didn't know that.)
We have crime here too. Even had a murder last year. The perps had a gun, but the murder weapon was a baseball bat. So much for gun control. Also, we have juvenile delinquency. You might have fun exploring this site dedicated to it. juneaubears.com
I wonder why you have spent 25 years in the city, Party Time. Is that all of them? If that's the case, then I can forgive your liberal bias. You'll get over it, if you leave the city. You should at least give it a try. We see lots of kids coming through here with a backpack on their back, a copy of Robert Service under their arm and a big yen to get away from the city. |
