TROUBLED TIMES

I went to the movies last Tuesday afternoon. It was not an action picture or a torrid romance, nor was it an animated show  for children.  Some critics call it pure propaganda, others view it as a professional means of perpetuating the extreme political views of Obama.  I have not decided on the exact category for the film.  Some critics are asking , "why movie theaters would show it?"  As Americans we know the answer to that.  Freedom of speech.... and money.  I had heard very little about the movie before I went to the theatre.  I became  curious when the people waiting to go in were told that it would be a few minute's wait.  The patrons in the previous show had "trashed" the theatre! My friends and I were just a little apprehensive about seeing the film but we were not going to turn back at this point.

As I settled into my seat, preparing to watch a movie I had not heard of until a few days before, I had mixed feelings.  One was one of apprehension.  Why would senior citizens (students were at school) "trash" a movie theatre?  Was it that controversial? I felt a twinge of guilt because I probably wouldn't tell any of my friends who had different political views that I came.  But here I was and I would try to watch it with an open mind.  After all I had decided who I would vote for.

The movie began and I was pleased with its professional presentation.  Of course I knew some of it was propaganda but I thought the facts were well documented.  I'll have to admit that I slept through the part where Obama returned Churchill's statue to Britain.  I'm glad I slept through that---my blood pressure may have gone up if I had seen that one.

I heard the vitriolic comments about so called injustices committed by the United States.  Silently I refuted a greater part of them because no one or no country is perfect.  My mind went back to a kinder, gentler time when politics could be discussed in a civil manner-at the dinner table, preparing for a school mock election, and in a social setting. The House and Senate could unite on matters that not only affected American citizens but the World Community. Again, it is not a perfect system and we voted out those who were "asleep at the switch."

It has been several days since I watched the movie. I still feel a sense of loss and depression.  The loss is for the country I see disappearing bit by bit every day.  We are in troubled times.  The depression is for the days of civility and respect toward others that I suspect will continue to be memories.

Go and see OBAMA-2016.    I hope the theater isn't trashed.

Darlene Eichler 9/22/12

Your comments are welcomed.

 

THE VILLAGE THAT DIDN'T GROW UP

I grew up in a small mountain village in the Virginia Appalachians.  As a child I thought this an ordinary place to live, actually it seemed caught in a time warp.  Often I felt that life had passed it by.  Would I be able to escape when I became a grown-up? I wanted to leave and move to an exciting, bustling city. I just knew life was better in other places.

There is a reason Belspring never grew up.  Here is the story the best I can remember.


Belle Spring, Bell Spring, Belspring, whatever it was called was a beautiful little cluster of mostly modest houses filled with hard working people with names like Tice, MCClaugherty, Chumbly, Webb, Brown, Buckland, Ratcliff, Frazier, Gordon,Kirkwood, McCoy,Sifford, Long, Bland, Newcomb, Harris, Cloyd, Bruce and Calhoun.
  The legend goes that Belspring was named for a spring located in a hollow just as you entered the village.  The running clear, cold water had a distinct sound of a bell.  The spring has long dried up but the name remains the same.

In the late 1800s a railroad was built through the middle of the village of Belspring.(I'm not certain when the spelling was changed from Bell Spring to Belspring but the story goes that it was done by the Post Office to save time in writing it.)  The village began to prosper and new businesses were springing up  The planner of the village had laid it out in blocks as you would have in a town When my family moved there in about 1944 most of the sidewalks remained.
It was about the turn of the century (1900) when the railroad officials decided the incline into Belspring was too steep.  They changed the route of the railroad to flat land along New River.   The little village which was about to take off and become a bustling town stopped growing. At some prosperous times the village may have had several businesses but it fluctuated, never growing into a town.

As I look back I'm thankful that Belspring never grew up.  It seemed to stay  a kinder, gentler place just as it was in 1900. We were free to roam on its broom sedge covered hills and look for craw dads in the creek. The closeness of its people, the "big family" attitude enriched my childhood and molded me into a better person. The boring life I thought I lived as a child was an adventure as I "retrieve those "memoirs" in my writing.

    Your comments are welcomed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Caldwell,                                                                                             kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

A SPECIAL PET

     "Mama,! Mama!  He said we could have her!" The door slammed behind three overly excited children.
      "Who said you could have what, I mean whom?" I couldn't imagine that one of the neighbors was giving away one of their children but stranger things have happened       "Mama, the little puppy.  You know, Tiki. 
        "He's giving you that sweet little dog?  But why?  Won't the mother dog be unhappy? You didn't go and beg for her, did you?"
        "No, Mama, her owner, Mr. Johnson, has already left for the war.  Mr. Lawson on the corner was keeping her for us until we got back from vacation. He gave the mother to one of his friends.  Can you believe he gave us the puppy?
"Can we go to the store and get some food for Tiki? Mr. Lawson told us she hadn't eaten much but she probably would for us.  You should have seen her jump on us when she first saw us."


     The Viet Nam war brought more changes to America and to our everyday lives than was realized at the time. This seemingly small incident of our family receiving a pet wasn't newsworthy to anyone but our family of six.  I'm certain the young college professor was sad to give up two pets. I often wondered how he survived the war or if he did.
This little brown , mixed breed dog (the vet guessed part Manchester and part Chihuahua) brought so much joy and laughter into our home.  We asked the vet what he thought made her such an affectionate pet. He thought it was the characteristic of the Manchester breed.  All I know is if you didn't like dogs before Tiki, you would very soon after she mesmorized you with those big brown eyes. We moved to a near-by town soon after we acquired her.  We heard that the man next door did not like dogs.  but it was really strange that every time we planned to give Tiki a bath , she was next door in her chair watching TV with the neighbor! We laughed and said that he didn't consider Tiki a dog!

      In 1975 we decided to take another trip to California to finish going to all 48 contiguous states.  Of course Tike went along.  She was the best traveler of all.  She didn't mind the youngest child using her for a pillow as they slept in he back of the Travelall.  She was so well behaved that sometimes we forgot she was with us...until she made herself know with a special little growl.

     Shortly after we returned form the trip West, Tike was running around the yard until she spied the young girl across the street.  She was a cheerleader  for the high school football team and was practicing her cheers.  Tiki, always curious where people were concerned, headed across the street.  She usually stopped and checked for traffic but in her excitement she forgot.  The driver saw her too late and Tiki ran into the front tire.  Her neck was broken and she died instantly.  There was not a mark on her.  The driver, a friend from Church was devastated.  As we all were.  The tears flowed freely for days.  Sometime after the driver had gone on his way ,he called to make sure Tiki was actually dead.  We were sorry  but yes. she was.  We buried her in the back yard.  Soon she had a little head stone which we took with us when we moved a few years later.

     Her name was really Con Tiki . She was the runt of the litter but with a will and tenacity to be a survivor

    Her sweet spirit will always remain in our hearts .