“How in the world do you tell
a Southerner, in a time of
crisis, to be ‘physically
distant?’ How do you tell
one of the most gregarious,
social people on the planet to
pull together, but apart?”
—Rick Bragg,
excerpt from an article for Southern Living
Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter
Downtown Memphis Pre-Covid 19
by
Butch Boehm
Photos: Butch Boehm
“Life is short, but it is wide.
This too shall pass.”
― Rebecca Wells,
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter
Heroism Amidst a Pandemic
by
Deborah Fagan Carpenter
This photo of Huey’s Downtown is courtesy of Tripadvisor
As deep as we are into this dreadful pandemic, I have to concede that I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around the enormity of it. I’m grateful that I live somewhat in the country, and other than the reduction in traffic noise, my life is largely unchanged, just a little quieter. Thankfully, I still have an income, and except for the inability to shop because I’m in a high-risk category, essentially, my life remains much the same. That’s certainly not the case for so many. The lives of a whole lot of people are being forever altered. It’s hard to grasp, and it’s equally distressing to watch it and feel utterly useless as it continues.
I’m something of a news junkie, though admittedly, I get a lot of it second hand from my friend Jimmy who keeps me abreast of anything I might miss. It’s disturbing and terrifying to witness how unprepared we, allegedly the most advanced country in the world, are for a medical and economic nightmare of this proportion. We join most of the other affected countries in that respect. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and doctors and nurses are severely lacking in not only needed medical equipment but in protective gear as well. They, along with the first responders, literally put their lives at risk every day, and they’re working incomprehensible hours. Heroes and heroines all!
The fact is, there’s a lot of heroism going around. Grocery store workers are exposed to the virus countless times a day, and yet, they continue to stock shelves and assist people in check-out lines. Restaurant workers are faced with the challenge of preparing food for take-out and delivery only; their hours and tips considerably reduced. Police, firefighters, and EMTs are experiencing a new set of challenges every day, putting their own lives at risk. Custodial workers are still cleaning hospitals and businesses, exposing themselves to infection at every turn. Delivery drivers handle questionable packages every day. Garbage workers are still collecting our trash on schedule, as though nothing has changed. HVAC companies are still working to keep our air conditioners running, and plumbers and appliance repairmen are still going into homes to resolve problems. Countless numbers of people are out of work and don’t know when their next paycheck will come, how they’re going to pay their rent or mortgage, or how they’ll buy groceries. They are perhaps the most heroic of all.
Behind the scenes, ordinary people are quietly, but diligently working to fulfill some of the current needs in communities. One such kind and generous soul is my friend Elaine Orland. In addition to her full-time job, she’s making protective face masks for the mental health clinics that fall under the umbrella of Alliance Healthcare Services in Memphis, where she is a counselor. She’s providing them to the employees and the clients of that organization. Additionally, she’s given them to people working construction, maintenance people who are going in and out of buildings, some educators, and of course, friends and family.
This image of Elaine’s masks represents two days work
She has effectively turned her sewing room into a mask manufacturing shop. The masks Elaine is making are community masks, not surgical masks, primarily worn to keep people from spreading the virus rather than from contracting it. Although, with the filters she uses, Elaine’s will definitely prevent some infectious particles from getting through. The stress of the whole pandemic shut-down, coupled with the stress of having to wear a mask at all, prompted Elaine to make her masks pretty and cheerful. By doing that, she hopes to alleviate some of the anxiety this challenging predicament brings with it. Regardless of the fabric she uses, Elaine is providing a valuable service to a lot of people and relieving them of some of the worry of the crisis—a heroine for sure!
This photo of Huey’s Downtown is courtesy of Tripadvisor
Although many other businesses are probably included, Huey’s a well-known bar and grill in Memphis is also behind the scenes helping. Celebrated for their World Famous Huey Burger and toothpicks in the ceiling, the company, along with Folks Folly steak restaurant, partially owned by the same family, is paying their 585 employees for at least eight weeks. This gesture is not something they’re advertising, but have quietly implemented. They’re helping their long-time workers survive the crisis and ensuring that they’re still part of the organization when it’s over. Although I don’t need an incentive to eat at Huey’s or Folks Folly, this gesture is just another good reason to support them. And, I’d guess that those employees think that their bosses are pretty darned heroic too.
People like Elaine Orland and businesses like Huey’s and Folks Folly are silently making a difference all over the world. An astonishing number of brave, generous people are helping the rest of us maintain some semblance of normalcy, comfort, safety, and peace of mind. Heroism is surviving the pandemic.
With the exception of the Huey’s photos, all images are courtesy of Elaine Orland
“I now know that things I always thought I could depend on can crash in an instant.
Because of the love that I have been shown, I now know what it means to be ‘beloved.’
I now know that no breath is to be taken for granted.”
—Rebecca Wells
Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter
“Despite the forecast, live like it’s spring.”
—Lilly Pulitzer
Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter
“……….. knowing what must be done does away with fear.”
— Rosa Parks
Image: Catherine Barton
A Different Kind of Spring
by
Deborah Fagan Carpenter
Spring really is my favorite time of year. After the gray skies of the long winter months, I can hardly wait for the little fern fiddleheads and the hostas to pop out of the ground. Early in the season, the ornamental fruit trees fill the landscape with beautiful white flowers, followed by the bright pink of the actual fruit trees, like the crabapple tree in my own yard. There is no green like the spring green of the budding trees, and there are unlimited colors of azalea and iris blooms—especially in the South. There is a foxes den very near my house, and from time to time in the spring, I see either the mother or the father out and about, probably fetching food for their cubs. Spring is an amazing new beginning for nature, and it’s a time that awakens a feeling of renewal, anticipation, and hope.
This is a very different kind of spring. The expectation of things to come and the enthusiasm that usually accompanies the season has been replaced with a profound fear of the unknown, fear of deprivation, fear of isolation, fear of job loss, fear of death. Panic has replaced joy. This is a very different kind of spring.
Students and teachers on spring break have no idea when, or even if, they will resume school this year. People who travel for work or pleasure are not sure when they will be able to return home—afraid that they will be stranded in another state or even another country. In fact, travel at all by air is in jeopardy. Gatherings of more than ten people, including church services, concerts, major events, business meetings, movie theatres, live TV shows, sports events, even, AA meetings are being canceled. Restaurants and bars in cities everywhere are closing their doors. Leaders of countries have ordered people to shelter in place, and, where they aren’t actually ordered to, leaders are “urging” us to stay home, except for going to the grocery or pharmacy. Frighteningly, the shelves of grocery stores and pharmacies are often empty. This is a very different kind of spring.
As of the writing of this article, there have been 13,000 deaths worldwide, mostly in Italy and China, and that number increases daily. 4,825 deaths have occurred in Italy alone, with nearly 793 in one 24 hour period. The Italian army was called in to not only ensure that the citizens comply with the isolation order, but to transport the dead to crematoriums because the cemeteries are overwhelmed. There are not enough respirators, masks, or Coronavirus test kits in this country to supply the hospitals, let alone the general public, and healthcare workers are at considerable risk. Businesses are in danger of experiencing devastating effects, the stock market is suffering unprecedented losses, and a recession is looming. This is a very different kind of spring.
The events of this spring could linger into summer, into fall, into winter—and yes, maybe into next spring. No one, anywhere in the world, can truthfully answer the questions of millions about when or how the Covid 19 horror show will end. The disease that has terrorized the world as a whole does not care one bit whether it infects, black, white, brown, red, conservative, liberal, male, female, American, Canadian, Chinese, Italian, African, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu. We are, all of us in the world, in this catastrophe together. It is a global crisis. The fear, the panic, and the scramble to find an immunization and a cure is a worldwide problem. International cooperation and sharing of information and resources crucial if we are to survive the nightmare, and a coming-together of our leadership imperative. No man is an island. This is a very different kind of spring.
The human spirit is remarkable and resilient, and for every lizard that crawls out from under a rock to wreak havoc during such a tragedy, there are many more empathetic, compassionate, caring, and loving individuals who are helping each other and their communities. Food banks are desperately pushing to make sure that none of the clients who regularly depend upon them, go without a meal, and schools are continuing to supply lunches for students who count on them. Restaurants are donating food, and some notable chefs are closing their restaurants temporarily to the public and using them as community kitchens to feed the needy. Some businesses are continuing to pay their laid-off employees. Musicians are presenting online concerts; museums are putting their collections online; online campaigns are underway to encourage people to buy goods or gift cards from restaurants, bakeries, and coffee shops. All over the world, neighbors have sing-alongs from their balconies or out of their open windows. People are reaching out to each other and are remaining upbeat and hopeful during this fearful time. This is a very different kind of spring.
Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if, during the following weeks and months of this dilemma, our own leaders could work with each other and with other leaders across the globe to bring quick and decisive solutions to the ever-growing Covid 19 devastation? Wouldn’t it be beautiful if an awareness of the need for universal understanding, cooperation, sharing, love, and hope could be the renewal that this spring brings? This is a very different kind of spring.
Fern Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter
Store Shelf Photo: Brad Frost
“I think of myself as Rebecca Wells from Lodi Plantation in Central Louisiana, a girl who was lucky enough to be born into a family that encouraged creativity and didn’t call me lazy or nuts when I dressed up in my mother’s peignoirs and played the piano, having painted a small sign decorated in glitter that read,
‘The Piano Fairy Girl.’”
— Rebecca Wells
Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter
Hotbeds of Hostility
by Gary Wright
“If he has a conscience, he will suffer for his mistake. That will be his punishment.”
— Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
The North American continent had never seen carnage the likes of the Civil War when brother was pitted against brother; father against son; neighbor against neighbor for four horrifying years of bloodletting and terror. The battlefront was ghastly in the scope of its ferocity and destruction, and the battlefront seemed to be everywhere. All of the border states of Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and Kansas were rife with pillaging, looting, and murder. Most of the civilian law and order had broken down. Whichever side, North or South, which occupied a border area ruled it by military force when it could spare men from actual military operations. When no military could be spared, then rogue elements and outlaw gangs dominated by brute force, manifesting murder, mayhem, and random violence as though Hell itself were in session on earth.
There was usually little law and order in all the multi-state border areas on both sides. Border ruffians, outlaws, and brigands ruled by terror and force. So many factions pledged loyalty to one side or the other, but these loyalties were ever-shifting and changing. Many today think that there was one solid North with anti-slavery, anti-South feelings, and one massed South where everyone was solidly pro-slavery and hated the North. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The newly formed Republican Party dominated northern politics, and the election of its first presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln, served as the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the Civil War. What remained of the Democrat Party in the North was divided into ‘War-Democrats,’ who largely supported Lincoln’s War, and the ‘Copperheads,’ the remaining northern Democrats who strongly opposed the entire war effort. The latter claimed that it was unconstitutional from the very beginning and often took to the streets in riots, protests, and armed actions against the northern government.
One was not safe even in the innermost parts of both the North and the South if you thought differently from the faction in power. In the North, pockets of resistance often resulted in bloodshed against Northern policies and actions. Coal miners in West Virginia attacked authorities when they came to draft fellow coal miners into the Union Army. The great draft riot on New York City occurred in July 1863. Initially, it was a riot against compulsory draft into the Union Army but quickly turned into a race riot. Somewhere around 500 people were killed in four days of turmoil and agitation. Between July 1863 and July 1865, over 750,000 men were drafted into the Union Army, and less than 50,000 showed up voluntarily.
Initial support for ‘Lincoln’s War’ shifted dramatically after his ‘Emancipation Proclamation’ exploded on the scene. Public perception shifted from a war to hold together the Union to a nobler concept of freeing enslaved souls and fighting a holy war against the minions of Satan. Pockets of protest, riots, and outright resistance erupted throughout the North at various times during the war. Appalachia was especially hard hit as its citizens segmented into groups who fought the officials, the North, the South, and each other, and caused a general sense of insecurity which heightened the already terrible economic and security concerns.
Another hotbed was in Pennsylvania where disunity, protests, and riots reached such a level that in 1864, the Union Army was dispatched to quell disorder, arrest dissidents, and to restore order. These insurrections and uprisings, in large part, weighed heavily on the mind of General Robert E. Lee and aided his thought process in his momentous decision to invade the North and to meet his fate at Gettysburg.
The South was not without its own protests and dis-loyalties. Dissident movements erupted at various times during the war in Winston County, Alabama, where the inhabitants voted overwhelmingly to secede from the Confederacy if the Confederacy seceded from the Union. It did, and they did. Jones County, Mississippi, at varying times, was under the control of Southerners who tried to secede from the Confederacy. This Union strong-hold in the middle of the South fought over 14 skirmishes with Confederate military forces. The 6th Mississippi Regulars were sent against the Jones loyalists and crushed them. However, when the regulars left the County, the loyalists sprang up again.
Some 96% of Scott County, Tennessee residents voted to secede from the state when Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861. They formed the Free and Independent State of Scott, and that proclamation was not withdrawn for over a hundred years, finally being repealed in 1986. Searcy County, Arkansas, was the scene of bloody infighting as many of its inhabitants were loyal to the Union. That County was placed under Confederate military rule for a while during the Civil War, and many of its insurrectionists were arrested and forcibly removed. Most were given clemency if they would recant their loyalty and join the Confederate military. Most did and subsequently deserted.
The German immigrants of the Texas Hill Country around San Antonio had no wish to fight in the War or to support either side. Many had recently emigrated from war-torn Europe, where war had been a way of life for generations. They simply wished to be left alone. In August 1862, some 65 of these pacifists attempted to leave Texas for Union-held New Orleans. En route, they were ambushed by a force of Confederate cavalrymen. Nineteen Germans were killed in the initial attack, and several others were later executed as traitors to the Southern cause.
It is easy to suppose that the American Civil War was a conflict between the North and the South to preserve the Union and make the continent safe for democracy. It was not that simple, as such things are never quite that crisp and clear. Of course, the War was about slavery, along with a hundred other cultural, economic, social, and democratic issues. The feelings of the population from all points of the North and South were as complicated as the reasons for the war itself. Factions fought factions; families fought themselves, politics often exploded into death struggles. It was a time of pent-up anger finally boiling over as old scores were settled.
There was little cohesion and less order, as communities turned on each other, then back again, only to find new or previously hidden enemies with whom to struggle. All through the North and South lurked hidden anger, which erupted at the slightest provocation in animosity, aggression, and death. It was a time when passion quickly turned to murder in these hotbeds of hostility. When the rule of law and common decency break down, something evil, always lurking, barely hidden, in the hearts of humankind will rear its ugly head and will ever reign until goodness once again conquers the heart of darkness. It is for us to be ever watchful and to recognize evil whenever it begins. We must act quickly, lawfully, and correctly to maintain that balance of the use of force and good government. We must never settle for the ‘lesser of two evils,’ for that is still evil.
Civil War Images from Google Images
