Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 06:04:38 -0400
From: Charlie Ford <cford@mindspring.com>
To: TYPE2@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM
Subject: The Seattle Ponderings

To those of you that have been wondering where I am and what I am doing
these days I will try and catch you up as best I can.  Over the past couple
of weeks I have been doing quite a bit of thinking and reflection.

I seem to have encumbered a heaviness as of late.  It may be the weather of
the Pacific Northwest which is mostly rain and/or gray clouds that not only
loom in the atmosphere, but also tend to loom in ones soul.  Tobin Copley,
a listy who lives in Vancouver, BC, labeled it most correctly by calling it
"the wet coast".

I left Portland two weeks ago after staying a week there with a friend of
mine who I have worked National Service (AmeriCorps) with for the past few
years.  I will try and write more about Portland later as I will be going
back there around mid-may to pick him up and head out to Mount Hood for a
few days camping.  In all honesty I really didn't see much of that city in
my short visit there.

I did learn one little tidbit of trivia about Portland though.  It seems
that Matt Groenig, the creator of The Simpsons is from Portland and in fact
attended Lewis and Clark College.  Many of the names you see in the program
came from Portland.  There is a street named Springfield, and one named
Burnside, etc.  I thought that was pretty cool, especially since I like the
Simpson's.  Here I am 40 years old and enjoying cartoons.  What a great way
to spend an adult life!

Anyway, here I am in Seattle.  I drove up and much to my chagrin it rained
all the way up Interstate 5, which if your coming to Seattle from Portland
is the only way to make it without weaving you way all over hell and high
water.

The land is great, what you can see of it anyway.  Mt. Saint Helens is
visible from 5 on a good day, but since the clouds had rolled in I missed
it.  I saw it once or twice while in Portland, but since it blew it's top
it looks sort of out of place as compared to Hood and Rainier with their
jagged snowcapped peaks.

I arrived early afternoon and called Michael Lewis, a listy that had
invited me to crash in his yard for the time I would be here.  I had
contacted him earlier in the week and explained to him that the State of
Mississippi had sent me an E mail and was requesting me to fly down and do
some training for their National Service Conference scheduled for the first
of May.  I asked him could I stay a couple weeks and he offered a
resounding "yes".

Michael and his family welcomed me into their home and although I can't
write much about it now, I will say these are great people.  He is just one
of the examples of goodness that I have seen from the members of this VW
list.  Michael is a scholar and a gentleman and that is enough said for
now.  Don't want to embarrass him.

David Raistrick, another good list member had told me about a cousin of his
that lived here.  He said that if I needed some work while here his cousin
might be able to hook me up for a couple weeks.  I am finding that even if
I don't need the money I enjoy the work.  Being on the road at times can
get a bit boring.  The fact is that one can only sleep so much, or eat so
much, or lay around and watch TV and read so much.  I am basically lazy,
but I'll be damned if I like boredom.  The work offers me a chance to meet
several new people, and get to know a bit more about the culture of the
city I am calling home for a while.

I met Ron ( David's cousin) and he explained that it would be difficult for
him too help me out.  Not any fault of his, it was just that the type of
job he had didn't offer much in the way of temporary opportunity.  He is a
resturaunt manager and a helluva nice guy.  The day I met him he brought a
friend of his along.  Shawn, a young man from Jacksonville Florida had come
out here a few years ago and had loved it so much that he stayed.  We all
had a beer and some good conversation, a good time was had by all.  Seattle
was seeming like a very nice place to be.  After dropping Shawn off at his
place, I headed for Michael's place in West Seattle.

This part of Washington State is extremely beautiful.  On sunny days you
can look to the south and see Mt. Rainier, which is a majestic site to
behold.  the city is surrounded by the Olympic Mountain Range to the west
and the Cascades to the East and south.  These mountains are all snow
capped and offer Seattlites some very stupendous views on clear days.  I am
sure the summers are nice here.  If I lived here I would ride my bike
everywhere I went.

They say that Seattle has the highest suicide rate in the country.
Psychologist seem to contribute most of this to the gray days.  Most of the
folks I have gotten to know say that you find ways to get through the rain,
at least none of them so far have killed themselves, they haven't said
anything about it to me if they have.

Most of the folks here are deeply reflective, thoughtful, and seem to have
developed much of their careers around things that you can do indoors.
Many have hobbies to dissipate the boredom brought on by being inside.
Most have learned to cope with the precipitation by doing what they would
normally do on any sunny day to relieve stress.  You see folks riding
bikes, taking walks, and basically enjoying life as usual.  Umbrellas are
easy to come by here, even convenience stores sell them.  Tans are hard to
find, I have seen more white skinned folks here than anywhere else I have
ever been.  I am sure that melanoma brought on by sunburn is not that much
of a concern here.  I saw a couple the other day that were so pale they
looked yellow.  To top it all off they were wearing black shorts.

On the first weekend I was here I got a bit bored and called Shawn.  He
invited me to come over to his place and hang out.  I drove into town,
arriving at his downtown apartment in the early afternoon.  Shawn is 20
something years old and I quickly found that I was the oldest person in the
room, and yes, the only one that spoke with a hard-core southern drawl.
His roommates, who by the way mostly dressed in black, had all apparently
just seen Slingblade (the movie).  They all got a kick out of my southern
cliché's and were constantly asking me to "say something".  I gave them my
best, which in the end had them all asking me what I just said.  I felt so
special.  : )>

One of Shawns roommates, Travis, works at a production company.  They
furnish sets for conferences and such around the area.  Travis asked me if
I needed some temporary work while I was in town, I said yeah, and he said
to give him a call and we could set something up.  He immediately offered
me ten bucks and hour which ain't bad money.  I called him on Tuesday of
the following week and two days later I was once again unloading trucks,
only this time it was into a warehouse of production sets.  I wasn't
unloading boxes either, I was unloading walls, and trusses, and sound and
lighting towers.  For those of you that know nothing about this, if you
have ever been to a concert and seen the tall towers with lights hanging
from them, that is what I am talking about.  It was back breaking work, but
that is alright by me, I need the money and the exercise.

THE JOB AND SOME THOUGHTS PRODUCED BY IT.......................
The people I am working with are not exactly of my generation.  They are
all between 20 and 25 and are the type kids you might see in Haight Asbury
these days.  Young hippie types with a 90's reason to be that way, whatever
the reason may be.  To each his/her own I guess, but this is the source of
my concern at the time of this writing.

In the 60's we had the Vietnam war, I had friends fighting and dying for a
cause none of us really understood.  I had just entered high school at the
time.  Family friends went and fought and died there.  Even those of us
that were still in school knew that Communism was bad, but we weren't sure
why.  We knew that our country was mostly free and we loved it enough to
fight and die if need be to ensure that other countries shared that same
freedom.

Then  we came face to face with the true injustice of war.  TV brought it
into our living rooms each night at 6:00 PM.  It was broadcast on the
evening news with Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley.  At that point
we knew we had to get our boys back home, so we started fighting here for
the withdrawal.  Most of the people fighting were young college age, then
it poured over to the high school kids.  People took to the streets to
protest.  The protesters were at times met with unconditional violence much
like what was being seen overseas.

We saw kids shot by the Military at Kent State we saw buildings seized,
professors taken hostage.  America was fighting itself.  people were not
protesting because they didn't want to be American, they just knew so many
young men dying must be wrong.

I saw first hand the civil rights movement along with all the injustice
that went with it.  The news footage, from places that were just a few
hundred miles from my house.  Footage of black people and white people
fighting for what each of them thought was right.  That was the first time
I saw my Grandfather cry and ask the question "My Lord what is happening to
our country?".  My grandfather was a man that did not allow the "N" word to
be said in our house.

The 60's had boys dying in Nam because of mortar fire and rifle bullets,
today we have kids killing themselves and each other because they can't see
a future or find anyone to place trust in.  We have gang's that control our
streets.  We have children that are having children.  We have teachers that
cannot teach and parents that don't care if their kids are committing
crimes.  We have militias that are blowing up things and people.  Enough is
enough!  In many circles today, if you are young and are not liberal you
are passed off as being not up to date with the times.

America's culture is constantly evolving, and today that evolution is
occurring at an accelerated rate.  One trend ends and another begins.  A
leader emerges then they are brought down.  Our multi-party system, our
religious beliefs, our fundamentals as a nation are all coming under fire,
not from other countries but from it's own citizens.  In so many ways I see
us as a nation with as much or more division than ever before.

It appears to me that these days we define ourselves solely by the trends
we see emerging each new day.  We latch on to this or that and hope it is
the solid foundation we search for to carry us to the future, only to be
dismayed by it falling away, leaving us once again deeply searching.

I am troubled by this, I worry that the generations of today seek to
discover some shangrila lifestyle that just can't be found.  We the finite
constantly searching for the meaning of the infinite by throwing out the
wisdom that has been passed down to us through the ages.

I remember so well my days of finding myself, making my decisions on how I
felt about God, country, and the American life I wanted to live.   I think
I am still on that journey in so many ways.  I hope the kids of today can
find peace with America, these guys are the ones that will lead when I am
60.

Am I wrong to want leaders that are patriotic and dedicated to the freedoms
of all of the people and all of their beliefs.  Some of the younger people
I have worked with lately are not so dedicated to this appreciation of
diversity.

But enough said on this.....................Pardon my soapbox sermon....it
is a product of my search for the beginning of wind.  : )

................................................meanwhile back at the
ranch...............: )

THE MOTHERSHIP.....................
While here I have worked on my bus, The Mothership.  I figured since I am
grounded at the present and eventually heading east through Idaho, Montana,
and Wyoming I should make sure all is right and well with her.  She is
running great.  I got a new temp sensor, and have done a tune-up on her.
She seems to be enjoying the attention.  I discovered I need a couple of
rear tires which I should be able to easily find and hopefully at a right
price.  I had an engine mount that loosened and was causing a shimmy when I
engaged my clutch on an incline.  Doug at Doug's VW (one of the best here)
in West Seattle tightened it up and all is fine now.

I met Matt Zipeto who also lives here in Seattle. Matt seemed like a heck
of a guy and announced that he is about to be married to a good lookin'
woman named Carolyn (I saw the photo).  Matt was driving his bus, which by
the way is very colorful to say the least.  Anyone passing through should
contact him to get advice on the use of leftover house paint.  I liked the
purple the best, it served to bring out the green much better.  A very
creative guy he is.  : )

Seattle is a fine city.  Jobs seem to be plenteous here and it tends to
produce some pretty deep thoughts as you probably by now have noticed.  The
people are nice, but it is very much a city of diversity.  If you can't
handle and accept different styles of living, I wouldn't recommend it at
all.  The biggest drawback would be the rain, rain, rain, and more rain.
On the days you don't have rain, you have clouds, clouds, clouds, and more
clouds.

I have slowed down tremendously since being on the west coast and now the
wet coast.  I seem to be thinking more about the direction my life should
take after I have made full circle and completed my trip.  I find myself
lost in confusion as to what I want to do with my career.  I am not sure I
will ever live in Georgia again.  I really don't have anything there that
makes me want to stay.

In many ways I feel like this trip has offered me a new perspective on
things and it is only half done.  I hope the second half is as much of a
learning experience as the first has been.  So many new acquaintances and
people I now call "friends".  Folks from so many places around the country,
that before had only been names on a computer screen, or imagined
personalities from regions and cultures I had never known.

The other day I was reading back through my post and noted the stress
levels that at times were so evident in the writing.  Even with my latest
burden of concern I feel more in touch and relaxed than I have ever been.
These days I can think with more structure than I could when I left Georgia
on that rainy and windy night in January.  I have spent so much time alone
yet I am not lonely.  I have had stressful things happen, only to handle
them in stride, not "reacting", but "acting" to find the solution to fill
the need.

Things are not perfect, but I also realize that this imperfection is a key
component of being alive.  It gives one something to work for.  I think
that may be what brings excitement to the years we spend here on this
earth.  On this trip I have served others, but I have also been served by
others.  Life is good tonight in Seattle, Washington.  Say a prayer for me
if you will.

Thanks for tolerating my rambling's.

Charlie Ford

PS:  Sorry for the sermon




"79" Transporter, dressed for the road
The Mothership

 The"Turning 40 Nostalgic VW Service Tour, and
Search for the Beginning of Wind".

http://www.armory.com/~y21cvb/charlie/charlie.html

"Wider still and wider.....shall thy bounds be set"