Thursday 22 October 2009

Wednesday 21st October 2009 - Down Beside Where the Waters Flow

          The local newspaper is lying on the counter at breakfast.  The "World Briefing" (on page three) has seven items.  They range from Hawaii to Altlantic City New Jersey.  There is actually one item about Cuba, but I don't think Americans have yet conceded that Cuba is not in America.  Perhaps the rest of the world has burned down and it never got reported here.
          Actually, I'm beginning to spot the pattern.  They have conceded international and even national news to the TV and Radio.  What they report on is intensely local.  Even in the sports section, the front page is the local school or college.  You have to dig into the middle pages to find out what the major league teams are doing.  And even then it's stats and gossip and comment that the TV wouldn't carry.
          The two major baseball leagues, the American League and the National League are now in their post-season play-offs, to see who wins the league pennant.  The two winners then play each other in what they call the World Series (they consider the winners to be the best baseball team in the world, which is almost certainly true).  If I watch part of the game in the bar, it's quite difficult to find the result in the local paper next day.
 
          I decided to go down to Wellsville and East Liverpool, the nearest "big" towns to see if their libraries offer any more interesting reading.  Both of them have Carnegie Libraries (like Eltham!).  But there's nothing new on offer.  Although East Liverpool has a fine nineteenth century building, it doesn't have any WiFi.  But Kent State University, which has a campus here, appears to flood the local area with WiFi, so I can use that.
          This is the nearest point of the Ohio River to the Great Lakes at Lake Erie, so they were busy places in the ninteenth century.  Wellsville Library can furnish some information about the traffic north through what was to become Glasgow.  Wellsville was the big river stop.  East Liverpool was the pottery capital of America, if not the World.
          Since there is not much to read, and it's a beautiful shirt-sleeves day, I decide to have a walk, just a walk, (I can't stop myself now)a little walk, down beside where the waters flow, down by the banks of the Ohio. 
[n0284]
I couldn't get the damned song out of my head for the rest of the day.
 
          Later that night, foreswearing the erudition of the English-Lit-Major barman, I get into intense conversation with the local Pollyanna.  She works in a local care home, and is actually an occupational therapist, but she insists, and I can see that it's true, that her job is to love the residents.  If the rather strange man next to us blows up his waistcoat, and we all end up in the queue for heaven, they're going to fast-track her through.  And so they should.  But she must be tough to work with.

2 comments:

jakrabit said...

Forgive my ignorance for not knowing and my lack of self restraint for asking, but what do you mean by "blowing up his waist coat?" I envision 'passing gas' violently! but certainly his being strange- and I totally trust your instinct-wouldn't lead to a deadly eruption? If so, I would certainly hope your sense of self preservation would kick in and you would move down the bar at least a couple of spots??? As you can see, I don't know what the hell that phrase means. I might want to use it in the future if its not related to flatulation. I promise I'm not at always fixated on bizzarre bodily functions.

Joe said...

East Liverpool the pottery capital of the world? Tell that to those from Stoke-on-Trent back in the old country.