This entry is a part of a series of vignettes covering the “Great Flood of 1916,” which caused damage across five states in the southeast. Biltmore Village.July 16, 1916 Tired, trembling, and terrified, seventeen-year-old Katherine Lipe clung to a tree at the Biltmore Lodge Gate just outside of Asheville, North Carolina. She was fifty-feet fromContinue reading “In the Middle of a Wide, Wild River”
Tag Archives: Southern United States
A Legacy of Dreams Taking Flight
I noticed the wheels first. The five feet between the operator and asphalt alarmed me. A bastardized bicycle. What Londoners did to the passenger bus, this guy did to a bike. Some Athenians are not content with the distance between their head and pavement. It reminded me of Ben Epps. Epps’ discontent for the transportationContinue reading “A Legacy of Dreams Taking Flight”
Toombs: Athens’ Original Student Scoundrel
At UGA, traditions give purpose to succeeding generations of rebellious young students. One legend established more traditions of irascibility than any other student who ever attended the university. The honoree was Robert Toombs. According to the official watered down campus tour, on graduation day in 1828, Toombs, a fiery, boisterous young man, stood under aContinue reading “Toombs: Athens’ Original Student Scoundrel”
“We Want Fred!:” UGA’s Reaction to Kent State, 1970
May 6, 1970- Shattered glass flew into Park Hall from several windows. Outside, a few thousand students and citizens demanded attention from U.G.A.’s president Fred Davison. When he sent anybody he could convince to face the angry crowd in his stead, they violently broke into the academic building. Four thousand voices rose into the coolContinue reading ““We Want Fred!:” UGA’s Reaction to Kent State, 1970″
In Floating Fragments: The Great Freshet of 1840
Monday, May 25, 1840– The turbid waters of the Oconee swelled. The artery of a nascent Athens community revolted. The rains began that afternoon and created an injurious effect: the Greatest Natural Disaster in Athens’s History. For days it rained relentlessly. Banks gave way in the Oconee and Savannah watersheds. Milledgeville (then the state capital), Augusta,Continue reading “In Floating Fragments: The Great Freshet of 1840”
Southerner
Heat, sweat, rednecks, and slaves. Beer cans floating on molasses rivers. Preachers throwing bibles at demons, deacons visiting widows. Mint Juleps, porch swings, pines, and red clay. Big trucks, battle flags, country tunes, and white lightning. Such is the South, to some. I was born in Tampa, Florida, southern by geography not culture. My grandfatherContinue reading “Southerner”
Windshield History: A Car’s Eye View, Athens-Augusta (Part 1)
Every Wednesday I drive to Augusta, Georgia. The city is less interesting than the trip. It’s just under a two-hour drive from Athens. The trip is a course in southern environmental history. Athens is the liberal oasis of the south. Sure, corporate mongers tear down historic buildings to build parking decks. The university acts purelyContinue reading “Windshield History: A Car’s Eye View, Athens-Augusta (Part 1)”
A Flock of Small Birds
The clouds were grey but not imposing. The wind was aimless and strong but not unbearable. The sound of a flagpole ringing as its tether slammed against metal sounded like a ship’s call to port. In the foreground, citizens passed in their cars heading home. In the background, the roar of a highway was ocean-likeContinue reading “A Flock of Small Birds”
A Tree in the Wind
A tree’s life is about balance. Its soil needs moisture but too much can make it fall. It needs the wind to carry its seeds with the hope that they will prosper. If the wind is too strong a tree may break. What a tree needs most is to be left alone by man. ImagineContinue reading “A Tree in the Wind”
Coffee Shop
I often hear a bird before I see it. It may be a song, a call, or a desperate attempt at mating. Whatever the motivation behind the sound the result is the grasp of my attention. The day is beautiful, mild, and extremely sunny. The automobiles are out in droves. The dallying of bodies toContinue reading “Coffee Shop”
Anthony Sadler 