thenorphletpaperboy: Christmas in Arkansas

thenorphletpaperboy: Christmas in Arkansas: Christmas in Arkansas I don’t think I have to tell anyone who knows me, even casually, that I really love Christmas, and decorations,...

Christmas in Arkansas

Christmas in Arkansas

I don’t think I have to tell anyone who knows me, even casually, that I really love Christmas, and decorations, gifts, music, church, and family are all key parts of my Christmas experience.

I don’t have a lot of Christmas memories from when I was young but I actually remember delivering newspapers on Christmas morning as a 13-year -old Norphlet paperboy. Of course, since I was up and heading for the newsstand at 5 A M, I had already opened presents on Christmas Eve and had checked out what Santa Clause had left me. Those early Christmases were special, but not in the abundance of gifts, but in what our family put into the preparations before Christmas.

It was my job to find a suitable Christmas tree, and I spent several days a few weeks before Christmas looking for a good cedar tree. A couple of years back I tried to slip in a pine, but Momma, after doing the best she could with decorations, put her foot down, “No more pine trees, Richard!” But since I spent most of my free time in the woods, I had usually already spotted a decent cedar, and about two weeks before Christmas Day, I would take my hatchet and cut it down, drag it home, and put it on a wooden stand I had made. However, Momma wasn’t just a one tree decorator. Not on your life. Next, I had to find a holly tree with plenty of red berries, and then climb some big oak to get mistletoe. After Momma finished decoration the living room, kitchen, and porch, you could sure tell it was Christmas by the way the Mason House looked. I guess Momma gave me ‘decorating for Christmas’ as part of my heritage.

That Christmas morning Santa Clause left me four steel traps, some smokers, and in my stocking I had two oranges, some nuts, and a candy cane. I had a trap-line to make a little money selling furs and the smokers were little six inch tubes that when lit the smoke would run animals out of a hollow log. 

I don’t remember any of my paper route customers every giving me anything when I delivered the Christmas morning paper, but since it was usually before six o’clock, they probable weren’t up. I finished the paper route that Christmas morning at six and headed for Flat Creek to run my trap line and add the four new steel traps I had received from Santa.

                                                                     &

Another Christmas memory has me fast forwarding to the late l970s when our family decided to take a Christmas Vacation in Egypt. A flight to Little Rock in a blinding sleet and snow storm stared a very different Christmas experience. Dr. Robbie, an El Dorado Physician and native of Egypt, helped us with the arrangements, and since his family still lived in Cairo, his brother-in-law met us at the airport. We had just stepped off the plane and were about to get into a long line to go through immigration when a well-dressed Egyptian walked up and asked if we were the Mason Family.

 “Yes,” and after a welcome, he said, “Follow me.”

“But the line….?”

He just shook his head, and as we followed him around the long line, he just waved at the customs attendants.  Well, with Dr. Robbie’s family helping us, we have a great time in Cairo, but the Pyramids where just our first stop. After three days in Cairo, we flew up the Nile to Aswan to see Thebes and the Valley of the Kings. Since Vertis and I had lived in Libya for two years, we didn’t bother with tours, so when we got off the plane, I walked out to the taxi line and quizzed drivers until I found one who spoke good English.

“How much would you charge to be our driver each day while we’re in Aswan---in American dollars?” Dr. Robbie has advised me to take several hundred American dollars because the Egyptian Pound was so weak.

“I’ll charge you twenty American dollars a day,” he replied.

So off we went and it was the best $20 we have every spent. At the drivers suggestion we stayed on the south bank of the Nile in the morning to see Thebes and Karnack while the tour busses crossed the river to the Valley of the Kings, and then when the tour busses returned at noon, we went across to visit the pharos’s tombs. But we didn’t just go in the few tombs open to visitors. That’s when a few extra dollars to the guards, opened sites that weren’t available to others. We had been advised to bring large American flashlights since the lighting in even the tourists’ tombs was bad. So on Christmas Day, Vertis, Lara, Ashley, and I took our flashlights, and with an Egyptian leading us, ventured into tomb after tomb, until in one, we had to get down on our knees to slip through a couple of passageways into the tomb chamber. This tomb was unbelievable, but what was in a side room deep in the tomb chamber took our breath and sent Vertis heading back to the entrance.

The floor of the side room to the tomb was covered in strips of mummy wrapping and bones were scattered everywhere. Our taxi driver-guide commented, “Tomb robbers; from probably hundreds of years ago. The village here has made their living robbing tombs for hundreds of years.”

Not the most spiritual Christmas day I have ever experienced. 

As I write this column, Christmas memories just seem to flood back, and a rather unusual one from elementary school is still on my mind. It had a lesson about Christmas that I haven’t forgotten.

I was back in school just after Christmas when Mrs. Newson, my fourth grade teacher, announced, “Class, I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas, and before we start class, I want each of you to stand up and tell what you got for Christmas.”

Well, that started an ‘I got more than you’ contest and kids were stretching those gifts like nothing you have ever heard, and shoot, I was too. I hated to admit my main present was a Sunday shirt, but I quickly jumped over that and rattled off everything else, even what was in my stocking. Heck, most of the class was just about like me, but I noticed Elizabeth, who sat at the desk right beside me was kinda hanging her head, and of course who we all knew her family was as poor as Job’s turkey, and I figured she didn’t get much.  I was the next to last in the class and Elizabeth was going to be last.

“Elizabeth what did you get for Christmas?” asked Mrs. Newson. I glanced over at Elizabeth, who still had her head lowered, and I watched her take a deep breath and slowly stand up. Then she raised her hand and said as she held up a plain, yellow pencil, “I got this pencil for Christmas.” It was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. That’s when I knew Christmas didn’t mean presents for everyone.

thenorphletpaperboy: In Praise of Trees

thenorphletpaperboy: In Praise of Trees:                    In Praise of Trees “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree…” Of course, we recognize that line fro...

In Praise of Trees

                   In Praise of Trees

“I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree…” Of course, we recognize that line from the poem Trees by Joyce Kilmer. We remember that opening line, but Mr. Kilmer goes on and on in his beautiful poem to reflect the beauty and worth of what we here in Arkansas think of as simple trees. That’s right. We mostly ignore the Arkansas forests, but where would we be without them? Think West Texas. We lived in Texas for ten years before we moved back to Arkansas, and in the Kingsville---Corpus Christi area there are plenty of mesquite and a few scraggly palm trees along the Bayfront in Corpus Christi. That’s about the size of it. Actually, mesquite might be classified as a tree, but to an Arkansas boy it’s a bush.

A year before we moved back to Arkansas, we drove home to El Dorado for Thanksgiving, and as we drove along highway 82 approaching the town, we pulled over into a dim road where large oaks towered over the road their branches touching. It was one of those falls such as we are having this year, and the clear, crisp air and gorgeous leaves planted a seed in us that ultimately drew us back home to Arkansas.

This fall we’re having one of those knockout falls where the hickory, oaks, and maples are absolutely breathtaking.  Back in the early 1980s I started working with the city of El Dorado and the Arkansas Forestry Commission to plant downtown trees. Our mayor, at the time was Mike Dumas, and he agreed to cut three foot squares in the downtown sidewalks for the planting, and I had funds from a parking lot in a defunct downtown improvement district to use for the landscaping on public property. I partnered with the Arkansas Forestry Commission, which at that time, had a 50-50 matching fund that enabled us to plant a lot of downtown trees. In the early years we planted as many as 75 trees a year and over the twenty years of planting, 1000 street trees were planted in our downtown.

This year, as the leaves turned, the Bradford Pear Trees, Sweet Gum, Cypress, Maple, American Elms, and Oaks have never looked better. I know the Bradford Pear Trees have picked up some negative comments because, if they aren’t pruned properly, they will split. However, we still have dozens planted in the 1980s that have been pruned properly and, as I write, gorgeous. If I had to pick the most important part of downtown El Dorado’s Renovation, it would be the downtown trees, and we’re still planting them. When you have as many as a 1000 trees, you will have a natural attrition and that means each year you will replant 15 to 20 trees. El Dorado’s downtown now has MAD, (Murphy Arts District) and they have added hundreds of trees to the area a block off the square. As those trees mature, MAD will look even more spectacular.

 Of course, downtown trees look good and they do attract visitors, but they also take away the city center hot spots that infrared aerial photos note. Yes, all that downtown concrete and asphalt soaks us the summer sun and shows up as hot spots, and trees not only give an overall cooling to the downtown, but they can reduce the summer electrical bills of adjacent stores by 25%. 

Our moto, The Natural State, should reflect nature in everything we do. However, it rings hollow if we view blank parking lots without even a blade of grass. Yes, you can plant trees in parking lots and not lose a single parking place, and get a bonus. Several studies have shown a landscaped strip center parking lot will attract more shoppers and have more sales than a strip center without landscaping, as much as 25% increase in sales from the landscaped parking lot offering the same merchandise. Of course, that hot spot parking lot will be cooler than a bare lot and utility costs to the stores will be lower. Honestly, with those facts, developers should be planting trees by the thousands. However, old habits are hard to break, and when someone who views a bare lot that has just been cleared of every living thing to put yet another shopping center, and remarks, “Well, that’s sure an improvement.” You know we have a long way to go before we really become The Natural State.

However, we can learn as we watch other towns and cities wholeheartedly planting trees, and a most unlikely city is showing us how to do it---Chicago. I know one of the last things you might think about Chicago is being a tree friendly city, but it is. We travel to Chicago every year or two and the result of their “Plant a 1,000,000 Tree Campaign,” is evident. Fifteen years ago downtown Chicago had a smattering of trees, but today their downtown is a lush forest of trees. The program was so successful that the city started a citywide free tree planning service. If you would like a tree planted in your yard, just call the city and they will, at no cost to you, come plant a tree. I haven’t checked lately on the program to see if it is still in effect, but while it was active there were thousands more trees planted.

It seems to me that every town in Arkansas needs a plan similar, and although a lot of downtown street trees are planted each year, we are woefully under-planted, if we view the overall need. Little Rock has a great origination called Street Trees and they have planted 1579 trees over 183 city blocks. What a great example for other towns in the state to emulate.

Of course, most of us don’t live in a downtown environment, and we don’t plant street trees in the sidewalks. However, the need for residential trees in single family housing is certainly something we should encourage. According to published reports, home ownership is usually has the highest asset value of a family, so why not enhance that value? Yes, a significant yard tree can add thousands of dollars to the appraised value of a house, and according to the IRS, a casualty loss of such a tree is a significant tax deduction. The idea that someone would pay several thousand dollars to cut a major tree from their front yard is a step from reality. Pay a trees service several thousand dollars and watch as they cut the tree and see your house value drop?

But I’ve just scratched the surface on the need for city trees. In other sections of the country where four lane streets serve the heaviest traffic areas in the city, I see street trees between the lanes of traffic. However, Arkansas cities usually opt for an endless turn lane and not only that, but they don’t line those busy streets with sidewalk planting. How difficult would it be for the city to plant a few thousand crepe myrtle along those streets? Evidently we’re not there yet. Maybe our grandchildren will plant them.

thenorphletpaperboy: By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

thenorphletpaperboy: By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them:      “By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them” Dear Congressman Hill: Thanks so much for the tiny environmental bone you tossed us by s...

By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

     “By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them”

Dear Congressman Hill: Thanks so much for the tiny environmental bone you tossed us by sponsoring the Flatside Wilderness Enhancement Act. Of course, as you know, the inclusion of that acreage had already been recommend, and it became a wilderness protected area when it was recommended. So, I guess I’m saying “thanks for nothing,” because I don’t think you give a damn about the environment. Your splashy promotion announcing the Flatside Wilderness increase rang a hollow note, because in the same week you touted the increase in the Flatside Wilderness Area, you and the rest of the Arkansas Congressional House members voted to put the endangered gray wolf back on the path to extinction by removing it from the Endangered Species List. It take a lot of gall to wave the environmental flag, and then vote to exterminate the last remaining gray wolves. That’s right, by taking the gray wolf off the Endangered Species List you created an environment that will give the Alaska helicopter wolf hunting boys and the Montana folks with the moto of “The only good wolf is a dead wolf,” open season to eliminate the gray wolf from the United States. Removing the gray wolf from the protected list will let individuals shoot any wolf they see on their property even if it poses no threat to livestock or humans.  It’s inconceivable that you would vote to remove the few remaining gray wolves from the Endangered Species List knowing you were voting to make the gray wolf extinct. I can imagine what will happen in the next few years as ranchers and farmers start a full scale push to eliminate the gray wolf from the United State. The only reason the gray wolf exists now is because it is on the Endangered Species List. Before it was put on the list the gray wolf was facing extinction. Even today, after a partial recovery, it occupies only 5% of its former range, and I guess your goal is to cut that range down to zoos or stuffed wolves in a museum. Congressman, how do you sleep at night knowing that you will be part of exterminating a species?

So don’t fake carrying about Arkansas’s environment, when you are part of the group who are actively destroying the state and nation’s wildlife and forests. When you stay silent on environmental issues as you did when our National River, the Buffalo, was threatened or when you gave tact support to Congressman’s Westerman’s “Company Tree Farm Bill”, (Yes, I know it is called the Sustainable Forest Act---more double talk). This bill, if enacted, would allow the clearcutting of as much as 10,000 acres of a national forest without public input. You are no friend of Arkansas’s environment if you don’t oppose this bill. But maybe that bill is what we might expect from Congressman Westerman, who, when asked about the factory hog farm polluting the Buffalo River said, “I believe canoers peeing in the river will create more pollution than the hog farm.” Congressman, do you know that hog farm puts out as much waste per year as a city of 20,000? Did you pass sixth grade math?

Yes,   I’m so mad at our Congressional Delegation that I could bite nails, and I have good reason. This is it in a nutshell: they are in lockstep with the anti-environmental folks who are doing their best to destroy the wildlife and forests of our country in order to make a quick buck. Of course, when our National Parks are being opened for mineral development and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is welcoming drilling rigs, it’s just being publically correct to delist the gray wolf.

 It seems not a day passes without some regulation being discarded, and I certainly believe in getting rid of cumbersome and generally worthless hindrances to doing business, but when political reasons override good science, such as the President’s pulling or of the Paris Climate Accord, or when he issues a Presidential directive, based primarily on the promise he made to coal miners or other special interest groups, or when the Energy Secretary tries to salvage the closing of coal-fired generator plants, which are being replace by natural gas, all for political reasons, you have to ask: Are the votes of these coal dependent states so important that the health of the planet is ignored? Evidently it must be to the administration in Washington, and as our National Forests and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are opened for exploration and clearcutting timber harvesting, it seems the goal is to make money at any cost, and America’s wildlife and forests are expendable, if they are in the way of making a dollar. 

To our Congressional Delegation: You know many of these actions are ill thought out and most of them are patently wrong. Then why have you not spoken out against the most flagrant disregard for our forest, wildlife, and environment? Are you being politically correct? Of course, you are, and you are also missing a backbone. Being politically correct is spelling doom for not only the gray wolf, but hundreds of other species that are on the brink of extinction.

Thank goodness the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality has denied the operation permit for the factory hog farm. Being politically correct almost caused our National River to be polluted. To have a governor, two senators and four congressmen who wouldn’t stand up and support the conversation groups who were opposing the hog farm permit is a disgrace. But the fight to stop the factory hog farm from polluting the Buffalo may not be over. The hog farm can appeal the denial of the permit and who knows, they may prevail and the fight to protect the river may not be over. Of all things in this state that should be non-partisan, the Buffalo National River should top any list. In case you missed the reasons for the denial let me, as an expert witness, give you the reason:

This is my conclusion: I believe it is almost a certainty, if the hog farm is not re-sited off the Boone Limestone and away from Big Creek, the river will be polluted. This is why: the water that doesn't run off percolates into the Swiss Cheese Boone Limestone, and that water becomes part of the groundwater, which ultimately flows into the Buffalo. The remaining surface water runoff, from 11 fields where the hog lagoon materials is dumped, will wash into Big Creek and ultimately into the Buffalo. If we're to save the river the factory hog farm must be closed and sited on a more suitable terrain. Only then will the river be saved.

 .         

 If you are one of those politically correct persons who is remaining silent in the face of an unprecedented attract on our National Forests, wildlife, and the environment, remember this, and I quote, “When good men remain silent, evil triumphs.” And don’t worry. If you speak out. I promise people won’t think you’re a Democrat..

thenorphletpaperboy: A New Hampshire Journey

thenorphletpaperboy: A New Hampshire Journey: A New Hampshire Journey Early February, 1992, New Hampshire Cheryl, my secretary, has just buzzed me: “Richard, Ken Smith is on th...

A New Hampshire Journey

A New Hampshire Journey

Early February, 1992, New Hampshire

Cheryl, my secretary, has just buzzed me: “Richard, Ken Smith is on the phone.”

I’m wondering about the Clinton campaign as I answer the phone.

“Richard, Ken Smith here.”

            Ken is a good friend and Gov. Clinton’s environmental liaison. He sounds nervous, and he, blurts out, “Could you get free for a few days to help the campaign?”

            ”Well, yeah, I can. What do you need me to do?”

            “Richard, the governor is losing ground in New Hampshire, and Jerry Brown is giving him hell on his environmental record. The campaign is throwing everything we have into the primary. If Bill finishes fourth or fifth, it might be all over for him. The primary is in less than two weeks away, and there is a big meeting with the League of Conservation Voters coming up. They represent every environmental group in the state. We have scheduled Hillary to speak for the governor, but she has a conflict. We want you to take her place. You’re the President of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation and chairman of P. C. & E., which will give you some credibility. ”

            “Ken, I could fly up Wednesday morning and stay until Sunday afternoon. Would that work?”

            “Yes, the League meets Friday night, and we can get you some radio and newspaper interviews on the days before you meet with the League.”  

                                               *                               *                             *

            I arrive in Manchester and as I struggle through the snow to my hotel room, I have never been so cold. Before I settle down for the night, I call the campaign for my schedule.

            After a restless night's sleep, I start my campaign work going from small town to town talking to reporters from the local radio stations and newspapers about Gov. Clinton. That goes okay, but what concerns me is my toughest test. It’s when I go before the New Hampshire Environmental Coalition—The League of Conservation Voters— Some of those guys have really bought into Gov. Brown’s campaign because of his outstanding environmental record. They can smell blood—my blood.

            It’s Friday night and one of the Clinton for President Campaign staff has just picked me up, and he’s talking nonstop about what questions I might have to field. It sounds as if a rough road is ahead.

            “...and they are not happy at all that Hillary is not coming.”

            As we arrive at the Dartmouth campus for a meeting of the League, I begin to dread it. I’m substituting for Hillary, and Gov. Jerry Brown has already talked with the group, and a lot of the group is sold on him.

            It’s 7 o’clock. I walk into the room where some 40 or so presidents of the various environmental groups are waiting. A campaign worker introduces me, but there is no applause, just silence. I walk to the front of the room through a stony glare, which could have cut a brick, looking out at a bunch of frowning, crossed-arm individuals.  It’s a group of environmentalists facing someone, not just from the South, but from Arkansas, and they think I’m certainly less than them. I have to become credible, or it’s all over, so I skip the “glad to be here” stuff:

            “Has anyone here ever stood on one of the 100-foot bluffs overlooking the nation's First National River, the Buffalo, and watched an Eagle swoop down to take a smallmouth bass?”

            Of course, I know no one had, so I’m saying very deliberately, “Well, I have. The Buffalo River is a national treasure. It is the last free-flowing, major river in our state, and it winds its way through some of the most scenic vistas in America. What I’m going to tell you is hard to believe, but three years ago we faced one of the most critical challenges to the purity of the river. A company filed a permit to construct a huge landfill—a damn garbage dump—so close to the river that it was a direct threat to pollute the river. I lead the Arkansas Wildlife Federation as president, and as a commissioner on the Department of Pollution Control and Ecology to defeat that permit. If I don’t ever accomplish anything else, I will go to my grave thanking God, that by working with our governor, Bill Clinton, we were able to stop this landfill from being built."

 I can tell the group is beginning to relax, but I’m not through.

            “By the way, I noticed in my driving around your state, you have some great rivers. I especially liked the Upper Merrimack. I wonder what you would think if the Corps of Engineers put forth a plan to make 28 bend cuts in the river—for barge traffic? You know, make it a ditch.”

            Well, that gets some attention, and I’m letting it sink in for a few extra seconds.

            “Well, let me tell you about a bend-cut fight that took place on a beautiful Southern river, the Ouachita. Believe it or not, the Corp proposed 28 bend cuts on the Ouachita, and they were supported by our congressman and local state representative. The fight lasted nearly two years, and we marshaled every environmental group in Arkansas and Louisiana to fight the bend-cuts. When Governor Bill Clinton came out in opposition to the bend-cuts, it turned the tide. Today the Ouachita River would be a ditch, if the people of Arkansas, led by our governor, hadn’t stopped the Corp.”

            Now, there is some nodding of heads, and they seem more receptive to hear the rest of my speech as I tell them Bill Clinton has the heart of an environmentalist.

            “....but—this is important—he is not from Vermont or California—he is from Arkansas. And his record, supporting the environment should be considered based on the person, not on what he has accomplished in an environmentally friendly state.” I can tell the audience is receptive. I’ve just told them a colorful squirrel-hunting story, and they are laughing. I’m finishing with this:

            “Governor Clinton, if elected President, will bring more resolve to protect and enhance the environment than any—and I mean ANY previous President.” I pause and then I continue, “and I’ll assure you he’ll use this resolve to make a huge difference.” Then I pause again, and as an afterthought, I say, ”I know our primary interest is in the environment, but we also want to be sure our President is mentally capable of handling the job as President of our Country. In that regard, let me assure you, that without any doubt, he is more intellectually qualified—by far—than any other candidate. And in closing, I would be amiss if I didn’t mention Hillary, the governor’s wife. I regret her schedule prevented her from being here tonight. Governor Clinton is certainly an intellectual giant, but the only person I have ever met who is his equal is Hillary. If you elect Governor Clinton President, you will be getting two for the price of one.”

             Finally, applause. They know I’m one of them, and my endorsement of Gov. Bill Clinton carries some weight. The Clinton staff members are all smiles.

thenorphletpaperboy: On to Ouarzazate

thenorphletpaperboy: On to Ouarzazate:                        On to Ouarzazate Morocco Part Two The French couple is driving off on the road that we have named “The Road...

On to Ouarzazate

                       On to Ouarzazate

Morocco Part Two

The French couple is driving off on the road that we have named “The Road to Hell” toward their doom in the Atlas Mountains, we think, as we head on to Ouarzazate. In twenty minutes we’re driving into town on a road lined with tall eucalyptus trees planted by the French, and a little later we’re checking into a nice hotel in the center of town. We note a group of what looks like Americans having drinks in the bar, and after a short conversation, we find out a movie is being shot in town with Tommy Lee Jones as the feature actor.  

It’s the next morning, and we’re driving to the edge of the Atlas Mountains to visit the ancient casaba of Ait Benhaddou, a World Heritage Site. It’s a walled village that has been used many times as a movie background. Several of the Jesus themed movies have been shot here, and it’s like a step back in time as we wander through the streets. The old village has been preserved without any changes, and it is truly a breathtaking sight. We’re only staying a few days in Ouarzazate, and we’re spending them just nosing about the old city, going to the souk, and in general just enjoying our vacation. The hotel is good, and the food is much the same as we’ve had everywhere in Morocco. It’s called Tagine, which is similar to a southern pot roast with potatoes and carrots.

            It’s the next day and we’re heading to Zagora, an old caravan jumping off town right on the edge of the Sahara Desert. I’m pulling into town, when I see a sign, ‘Road to Timbuktu, 52 days by camel.” Zagora, a town of around 35,000, sits between the desert and the mountains. It’s getting dark and since there are no streets lights, I’m easing down the main street, trying not to run over anyone.  Our hotel doesn’t look that bad, but as we settle in, we realize it is the worst hotel any of us have ever stayed in. The beds are awful and the food is about as good as the beds. However, we aren’t going to spend a lot of time in town. We have arranged a camel riding tour into the desert, and we’re going to camp out under the Sahara Desert skies.

 I’ve been riding this camel for nearly four hours, and I’m aching. The best way I can describe it is to think of strapped to an erratic rocking chair without any padding for several hours. I don’t have much fat on me, and my bottom is just bone on hard saddle. Finally, we ride into camp and about that time the Camel Tour folks drive up in a Land Rover to fix dinner.

            Actually, the dinner is pretty good, and of course it’s Tagine again and the meat, I’ve just found out, is camel, but they did say it was young camel. Well, I’ve been hot all day, but as it gets dark it’s much colder. The Tour folks who prepared dinner have built a large bonfire and a rather plump belly dancer, who could use a trip to the dentist, has just appeared. A couple of our bunch---who I suspect have had a drink or two---are dancing with the belly dancer, but I’m ready to lie down, and Vertis and I are heading to our tent where we have a backpack of clothes and some necessities. I’m tired, and I know it won’t take me long to drift off to sleep.

            I guess I’ve slept several hours, but I’m awake and about to freeze to death. My gosh the temperature drops like a rock at night in the desert, and I’ve got to put on some more clothes. Where are they? Okay, found something. I’m putting on everything in the backpack, and it’s enough to warm me up and let me go back to sleep.

            It’s daylight and I need a cup of coffee in the worst way, and I’m about to leave the tent when Vertis looks at me. “For God’s sake, Richard! You have on my clothes.” Yeah, I’m a little embarrassed, but I’m thinking at least I was warm.

            Breakfast is mostly hard rolls and jam, but it’s filling, and I’m ready to head back to Zagora, and I hope it’s not on the back of a camel…but I think that is wishful thinking ‘cause I see our camels being saddled up, and I know it will be another four hours on the back of one, and my bottom is already sore.

Finally, we’re back in Zagora, and I can’t believe how good this sorry bed feels. Tomorrow, we’re driving from Zagora to Taroudant a larger city that still has its old city walls. It is an ancient city and its history is pretty amazing. During the inter-tribal wars centuries ago all 30,000 occupants of the city were killed when the city fell. It’s the easiest drives we’ll make. I’m looking at some scraggly trees along the road, but not at the trees. The trees are full of goats, and not on just the low limbs. Heck there are goats grazing thirty feet off the ground.

            We’re staying at a well-known hunting resort on the edge of town and the room, restaurant, and hotel itself are first class. Well, this is the end of the together part of the trip and one couple will leave in a couple of days, and then we’ll leave a day after that.

            It’s the next day, and one of our group made the mistake of drinking tap water. He has diarrhea.  “I thought this was such a nice place that the water would be okay.” He broke the cardinal rule of “Never drink the tap water in a third world country.”

            Vertis and I are driving to the airport in Marrakech to fly out and connect with our flight home, and we’ll be crossing the Atlas Mountains further west, but the road is paved and certainly not anything like the Road to Hell shortcut.

            I’ve been driving about two hours with two hours to go, and we’re into the mountains when a red light flashes on the dashboard of our Renault rent car. It’s not just a warning. It say Emergency! Service at once! Well, when you are half way through the mountains that causes a panic, and I’m pulling over to check the oil. I’m thinking oil pan was damaged on The Road to Hell and is leaking oil. It’s thirty minutes later, and I can’t figure out how to raise the hood.

I’m driving on with the emergency light flashing and in a small mountain town, I manage to find a garage service station. Twenty minutes later and the mechanic can’t figure out how to raise the hood, so it’s cross your fingers and head for the airport.

            I’m breathing a sigh of relieve as I pull up to the rent-a-car place in our somewhat beat-up Renault with its flashing emergency light, turn in parking slot, drop off my keys, and head to check in for our flight home.

thenorphletpaperboy: Dear-tree Mail

thenorphletpaperboy: Dear-tree Mail:                                   Dead-Tree Mail             My first class home and office mail is slowly drying up, and that’s beca...

Dear-tree Mail

                                  Dead-Tree Mail

            My first class home and office mail is slowly drying up, and that’s because dead tree mail is an out-of-date method of communicating.  If your dead-tree (paper mail) is not being reduced, you’re living in the past. A lot of us have already dropped our hardline phone, and our utilities, car payment, and other expenses are being handled without a paper trail.  Welcome to the Digital Age, and I can guarantee you, there is no turning back. Going forward means a steady reduction in first class mail and the use of paper. In the near future, all but a few dead-tree legal notices will be digital. I know that sounds a little off the wall, but five years ago when someone said telephone hardlines would be phased out, nobody thought they would disappear so quickly.

We have a 35 bed executive inn in El Dorado, Union Square Guest Quarters, and over the past six months, we’ve removed all of our hardline phones. Just two years ago we wouldn’t have dared to make such a move, but today----not one complaint. Let’s face reality, and reality is digital, Bluetooth, and the Internet all of which together have made hardline phones and a lot of dead-tree-mail obsolete. Of course, there are several overriding reasons. Basically the products they produce are cheaper and of better quality.

            The future of digital communication is becoming easier to see every day as more and more advertisers, utility companies, and newspapers are switching to digital.  Of course they just call it “going paperless” but what they are saying is stop using dead-tree-mail to pay your bills, and even stop using dead-tree money to make your purchases. Do it digitally. Of course the reasons are varied, but it boils down to saving money and making the obvious daily tasks easier and more efficient.

            I’m certainly not leading the charge to get rid of dead-tree mail. Actually I’m just being swept along with the changes to digital, but I’m getting there. I haven’t read a hard copy of this newspapers for a long time, and as strange as that may sound to some of my readers who are reading my column holding a dead-tree newspaper, I probably won’t ever read the Democrat-Gazette any other way. Actually, getting used to having the paper on your iPad is so easy and convenient that once you start doing it, you wouldn’t even think of picking up a hard copy of the paper. But the daily newspaper is just the tip of the iceberg, if we consider the overwhelming potential economic advantage of digital transmission of data, money, and news has over the traditional dead-tree mail.

            The next digital step is to get ready to lose your checkbook. Yes, I know that seems so unlikely that you could easily dismiss that possibility, but let me give you an example of a no-check society. My early 20s grandson borrowed a $100 from me recently---sound familiar? Yes? But he paid it back, and I know you’re shaking your head, but this is the way it happened.

            “Hey, I’ve got enough in my bank account to pay you back that hundred you loaned me?”

            “Great! Write me a check.”

            “Uh, well I don’t have any checks.”

            “You mean you’re out of checks?”

            “No, I don’t use checks.”

            “Well, how…?”

            “I have a debit card, and I use it for everything. Just give me your bank account number, and I’ll transfer a hundred into it.”

            Yes, I was shocked until I thought about the loan payment. It wasn’t just a young person who hadn’t bothered to get a checking account, it was an exclamation point to where this digital world is going. Then I remembered that I receive several other money transfers to my bank account each month; something I hadn’t paid much attention to.

Well, the question is, should we embrace the digital change in the way we do business, get paid, and get entertained, or stick with our crinkly, old dead-tree newspapers and checks?  To answer that we must consider why companies and individuals are going digital. Yes, the reason is a very simple one. It increases productivity. Yes, it all boils down to making us more productive, and when we are more productive the companies we work for produce more goods for less cost, and they make more money so they can pay their investors more money, their workers higher pay, and the consumer gets their products cheaper. It all boils down to a higher standard of living for everybody concerned.

If we look back at our country and visualize how this country became an economic powerhouse, increasing productivity is a big part of our success. Our economic growth is a factor of the amount of goods each person produces, and that translates into striving to find ways to produce more during the same number of working hours. Embracing digital will not only make you more productive, but it serves as a way to increase your income indirectly, and thus give you a better quality of life.

A quick look around the world will tell you that the countries who have a horrible quality of life are the ones whose people are the least productive. Of course, many of those countries leave women out of the workforce, and the loss of 50% of a counties ability to produce goods equals a lower standard of living for the whole county. Gender equality would make not only those countries more productive, but it would do the same thing for our country.

            Well, what does the future look like? Take a look at new stores and restaurants in New York City or California, and you can see it coming. Restaurants that take only debit or credit cards and stores that are stocked with goods but without a cashier. In those stores, when you remove an item from the shelf your debit or credit card is automatically charged. All of that translate into allowing a company or an individual to produce more products or services at less cost and therefore create more value.

Of course, we already have some digital streaming entertainment options, but that is just a trickle of what’s to come. Would you like to watch the Metropolitan Opera live---at home? Maybe you won’t this year, but it will come and not only will you have your entertainment venues increased, and of course your quality of life ticked up, but the Met will have millions of new customers, the performers will get paid more, and your digital ticket to the Met will be less.

As you can imagine, by going digital, goods will drop in price, entertainment will be more varied, businesses will make more money, and workers will make a higher salary. Look at the difference between our grandparent’s lives and our quality of life today. The big difference between then and now is the amount of value produced per hour worked.

            Yes, the digital age is upon us, and the faster we join the rush to become more digital, the better quality of life we will have.   

thenorphletpaperboy: A Moroccan Shortcut

thenorphletpaperboy: A Moroccan Shortcut:                      A   MOROCCAN SHORTCUT Marrakech, Morocco, September 15, 2006             I’m the tour guide since Vertis and ...

A Moroccan Shortcut

                     A  MOROCCAN SHORTCUT

Marrakech, Morocco, September 15, 2006

            I’m the tour guide since Vertis and I’ve driven through Morocco twice during our time in Libya, and we know the roads. We’re with 3 other couples, and I expect it to be a fun trip with good friends. Our group is in two cars, and I’m driving the lead car as we leave Marrakech heading across the Atlas Mountains to Warzazat, the movie producing capital of Morocco. A number of American movies have been shot there, and one is currently in production.

I been on the road to Warzazat through the pass twice, and I don’t think we’ll have any trouble. It’s a steep, winding road, but it’s paved. The drive through the pass usually takes two hours.

            We’re leaving early, but I’ve just been pulled over by the local police, and now I am paying a cash fine to the officer for questionable speeding. A few minutes later and we’re whizzing toward the pass without any problems. Just on the other side of the pass, about ten miles off the main highway, there is an ancient casaba. We decide to take a look, and in 20 minutes we pull up to a remarkable sight. A large multi-floored series of mud plastered buildings are spectacular, and we’re spending a couple of hours touring the partially ruined structures.

The buildings are a major attraction, but the families who lived in this particular casaba cooperated with the French when the country was a French Colony, and they took the
French side when Morocco sought their independence. The result was, anybody who had worked with the French or helped the French during the independence struggle, was shunned. The families fled to France.  However, the stain of pro-French tainted the casaba, and even though it could be a very interesting tourist attraction, it was left to survive the elements. The use of a mud-like stucco for construction means the building must be repaired after rains, and if the structure isn’t kept up the building will slowly crumble.  

            We’re about to leave, when I pull out our Michelin Road Map to see how much farther it is to Warzazat. As I look at the map I notice a secondary road leading from where we are straight to Warzazat. The map has the road yellow, indicating it’s not completely paved, but it’s a much shorter route, and I suggest we take it instead of backtracking to the main road. After all it’s only about 40 miles, and the main road is twice that far. It’s a shortcut that will save us an hour of driving.

            “Hey, everybody; check out this map. If we take this shortcut and don’t go back to the main road, we’ll be in Warzazat in less than an hour. This Michelin Map says it’s a secondary road, but it shouldn’t be too bad. It’s less than 40-miles.”

            Everyone agrees, and we head across some of the Atlas Mountain’s foothills in the direction of Warzazat. After about 30 minutes of driving, I’m becoming concerned, because the foothills are turning out be the understatement of the year. I think we’re back in the center of Atlas Mountains as the road winds up and up and up. I’m guessing we’ve come about 15-miles, and I’m about to panic. The road is a lot narrower and the terrain is actually rugged mountainous. I want turn around, but I figure we are over halfway, so after we talk, the vote is to continue on. Ten minutes later and I know we have made a huge mistake. The road winds higher and higher into the rugged Atlas Mountains, and at times the rocky road is only slightly wider than our car. On top of that the road is hugging the side of a mountain. One slip and we’ll tumble 1500 feet straight down into the valley. I take a deep breath as I look down at the valley below.

“My God, Richard! Your back tire was hanging over the cliff on that last curve!” Edwin yells.

But dropping into the valley and dying is only part of the problem. As we continue, the road is so rocky that I am sure we are going to knock off the oil pan and be stranded. At times the cars drag on rocks so badly that I just cringe.

“Oh, my gosh!”

It’s a fork in the road, and to the right there’s a little village hanging on the side of the mountain. Then to my left, I spot a man on the side of the road. Diane can speak a little French so she hops out and after some hand waving, he sends us to the left toward Warzazat, and now we’re going up the steepest road I have ever seen.

 “Oh, no!”

We’re hanging off the side of the mountain and here comes a tractor. Of course there’s not room to pass. A bicycle couldn’t pass us. I’m out of the car talking to the driver negotiating with him, and about $20 dollars later, he’s backing up for about a hundred yards to let us pass.

            Now, we’re passing a tiny village and kids are putting rocks in the road to make us stop, where they can offer to move them for a few coins, but I’m so ready to get that ride over with that I just run over the rocks, and I can hear them banging against the oil pan. Steve, the driver of the other car stops, pays a little money and then follows. Finally, we’re dropping into the valley, but as we round a curve, I see Steve’s car sliding into a rock wall. We have walkie-talkies and Steve yells, “I can’t go on!” Well, he scraped the side of the car, drug the oil pan across bare rock but did go on. I’m glad we took the full insurance for the rent-a-cars.

The road is better now and after a few more miles and one hellacious hill, we’re on the main road to Warzazat. As soon as we pull onto the pavement everyone jumps out of the cars cheering. We feel like kissing the ground, we are so happy. We’re composing ourselves, when a car drives up.

            It’s a French couple. The man walks over and asks the condition of the road we had just traveled. We wave, yell, and tell him the horror stories of nearly being killed, but he just politely smiles, gets back in his car and drives down the road we had left. I guess the Frenchman thought we’re spoiled Americans and not used to rough, back roads. I’ve driven halfway across Libya without any roads, across the mountain of Mexico, been through Colorado back country and south Arkansas swamp roads, but in all of my travels, I’ve never seen a road even as close to as bad as that Moroccan road. As the couple drives off it’s getting dark, and of all the bad things I can imagine, the worst would be to try and drive that road at night. I’m sure they’ll end up at the bottom of one of those canyons somewhere deep in the Atlas Mountains.

thenorphletpaperboy: I'm for increasing the Arkansas minimum wage

thenorphletpaperboy: I'm for increasing the Arkansas minimum wage:        I’m for Increasing the Arkansas Minimum Wage I noticed in the paper recently that our governor, lieutenant governor, and th...

I'm for increasing the Arkansas minimum wage

       I’m for Increasing the Arkansas Minimum Wage

I noticed in the paper recently that our governor, lieutenant governor, and three of our four congressmen will vote no on the ballot proposal to raise the minimum wage. That brought back memories of how I was disinvited to not be a part of a ski vacation. It was a number of years back, but the subject matter of the discussion around the dinner table that night is still pertain to today’s minimum wage discussion. The group of men on that ski trip were primarily executives representing a number of companies who were headquartered in the United States, but had factories in other countries.

One evening after dinner, the table discussion centered around why companies had manufacturing facilities right across the border in Mexico.  As the conversation continued, it was obvious the primary reason was because labor costs were much lower. Then a newspaper story about overseas manufacturing crossed my mind. The article focused on labor cost. However, what caught my attention was the conditions of the workers. In some countries, the pay was so low that workers were literally living in refrigerator crates or something so sub-standard in housing that we would all be appalled to even think about living in. It was obvious these workers were not receiving a living wage. Then the discussion moved to what is a living wage, and I took the position that a company should feel an obligation to pay its workers enough to assure them simple necessities such has housing, food, and medical care. The companies should pay its workers enough to where the employees could purchase these necessities. That got some negative looks, and I knew I was treading on shaky ground, when one of the executives commented.

“No, Richard. It is not our responsibility to pay any more than the going wage.”

“Really?”

“Of course not, Richard. We’re not the Salvation Army.”

Well, that brought a chuckle from around the table from everyone but me, and then, when I replied, I knew my comments made sure I wouldn’t be with the group when they returned next year.

“I read recently where some workers who were employed by American companies overseas were being paid so little that they were living in refrigerator crates.  If you had workers living in those conditions wouldn’t you feel an obligation to pay them enough where they could have decent housing?”

Yes, that got an icy stare from more than one of the executives, and after another man reiterated the pay was based on local standards, I replied, and I knew that my comment confirmed an invite for a return trip with this group wouldn’t be forthcoming.

“How would you like to sleep in a refrigerator crate after working 12 hours a day being paid twenty-five cents an hour?”

Of course, after that zinger the host of the meeting could see things about to become a shouting match, and he said: “Let’s go into the den for an after dinner drink.” Which everyone nodded, and I left the table knowing I wouldn’t be invited back next year.

Yes, I know workers in the USA aren’t living in refrigerator crates, but are the people we depend on for our great standard of living being paid a living wage? Of course, it’s not just the unskilled labors, but its professionals such as school teachers, who many times are forced into second jobs just to make ends meet.  Considering the current Arkansas minimum wage, it’s obvious we are behind the times and numerous other states are considerable ahead of us, and leading the way, Amazon has just raised its minimum wage to $15/hour. The ballot proposal won’t solve all of the problems we have with low wages, inadequate health care, high taxes, and other problems, but it will help.

We know companies will complain that higher wages will drive them out of business, but that was the complaint back in the early 1900s when unions were formed and child labor laws were passed. The resulting higher wages from that time forward have made the United States the unequaled economic powerhouse in the world. Along with higher wages came a working class of people who bought more goods, sent their kids to college, and the increased productivity made our manufacturing companies more money.

Of course, of all times to increase the minimum wage this is the best of times, because the country is stronger than ever after rebounding from the Great Recession, and the recent huge corporate tax cut has given corporations in this country record earnings. Just take a look at some of the quarterly earnings reports that are flooding in, and you will be shocked at the astronomical amount of money corporations are making.

Now, let me comment about the opposition to the proposal. But before I do, I’ll give you my prospective on the political situation in our country. I believe one of the strongest parts of our democracy are the two major political parties that vie for congressional seats and the presidency. If one party ever dominates the system to the point where the other party is irrelevant, we will have seriously weakened our democratic foundations.  I believe our country is a series of checks and balances and that goes for our political system. What I’m saying is that the Obama administration and the Trump administration are good for our country in a way that is so much a part of our underlying democratic strength that it can’t be overemphasized.

So after saying that, you might understand why, after Trump was elected I didn’t wail and panic, because it was just the pendulum swinging back and forth and the American people, the swingers of the pendulum, wanted to move it back closer to the center. Well, that has happened. In fact the pendulum passed the center several months back. But back to the discussion on the Minimum Wage. It shouldn’t have surprised you that our Republican Governor, Republican Lieutenant Governor, and three Republican Congressmen opposed raising the minimum wage. That’s what Republicans do, and since where talking about what Republicans do, let’s take it a little further.

We’re already said Republican are for lower wages for workers, but they don’t stop there. They are against health care for those workers, retirement funding, and a host of other benefits for the average workers. But they are for a lot of stuff too. Lower taxes…for corporations. Fewer environmental regulations for corporations, and they used to be for free trade, but not anymore. Ask an east Arkansas soybean farmer how much less he or she is receiving after our president did away with free trade.

Whether you are a Republican, Independent, or a Democrat, I urge you to vote for an increase in the Arkansas Minimum wage proposal. History proves an ever increasing minimum wage, especially when the country is in an economic upswing is not only more money in the pocket-books of hourly workers, it actually boosts corporate profits by increasing the demand for goods. Arkansas has spent too many years on the lower rung of wages. It’s time to give our hourly workers a raise.

Gender Discrimination In Arkansas

        Gender Discrimination in Arkansas.

In overall gender discrimination the state of Arkansas ranks 41^st out of 50 behind Mississippi 30^th and Alabama 33^rd. Almost all of the low rankings are in southern states, where women’s rights have long languished. The survey covers equal pay, political appointment, health care, and several other critical items all of which are places where gender discriminations occurs.  But I know some of you who are reading this don’t believe women are discriminated against. Sure, women have equal rights, but that doesn't keep them from suffering discrimination.  Equal rights also doesn’t mean women get equal pay for doing the same job as men, and equal rights certainly doesn’t keep corporation boards and public commissions from being made up of all men.

Of course, it’s worldwide discrimination that women are subjected to. Up until recently, in Saudi Arabia, women couldn’t even drive a car unless accompanied by a man. Yes, it clearly is a worldwide problem, but it can be tackled locally. Of course, we Americans always like to think we’re leading the world in just about everything you can imagine, and hey, we’re doing that in a lot of ways, and I couldn’t be prouder of our country, but gender equality is not something to brag about.

Just to give you an example of how far behind we are, let’s consider the new cabinet members of Spain: 11 are women and 6 are men. It’s almost impossible to even imagine an American Presidential cabinet having a majority of women. That’s how far behind we are, and most of the entrenched men who make up the leadership of our corporations, state, and government entities, the ones who make the promotions and appointments, consider a token woman equal representation.

If we consider the inequality of women on a worldwide basis, the economic potential that would result if we elevated women too an equal position is staggering. One study says if women worldwide were brought to equal status with men, productivity and the subsequent creation of goods would soar as much as one trillion dollars a year. Naturally, that translates into a giant increase in a worldwide standard of living.

Let’s consider just a couple of the all-male Arkansas boards, and for a moment forget about the hundreds more and several thousand additional boards with a token women: First the Arkansas Highway Commission: If an equal number of women were on that board, I don’t have a doubt that our highway right-of-ways would be more attractive, and that the 50 yards of bare ground on either side of our roads would be reduced, and we wouldn’t have an interstate running through a historic neighborhood. If the Game and Fish Commission had an equal number of women, the lakes and rivers that have Game and Fish Facilities would be more attractive, have proper restrooms, and the Commission’s publications would feature recipes and other ways to prepare wildlife. And to mention another board with a token woman if women were equally represented on the Board of. Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Quality, there wouldn’t be a hog farm on the Buffalo River Watershed and Arkansas would have adopted all the standards of the National Clean Water Act. Those are just my observation from working around women. If you want a job done give it to a busy women. She’ll get it done.

 Across this country there are thousands of all male boards. Can anyone say the only qualified candidates for these positions are men? Of course not. So why do our male elected officials, continue to appoint a much higher percentage of men, and appoint only men to certain boards? Of course it's discrimination. There is no other word for it. It is discrimination as sure as the South's Jim Crow laws were, and don’t give me that old whine, “It has always been a male board.”

I’ll continue the Gender Discrimination in Arkansas column with a question for the candidates for governor, Asa Hutchinson, Jared Henderson, and Mark West.

To the candidates: The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the State Highway Commission are all male appointees.  Will you commit to appoint a woman to the board of each of the above commissions when the next vacancy occurs, and will you work to promote gender equality on all of the boards and commissions under your authority?

To the candidates: This is a yes or no question, and any other answer such as “the most qualified candidate” or “no answer,” will be considered a “no” and be published as a “no” in my column. Actually, trying to hide under the “best candidate” is so discriminatory that it’s a disgrace to infer that out of over a million Arkansas women there aren’t two that are qualified for the above noted commissions. And just to be sure the candidates can’t say they didn’t read my column, I’m sending them the question by registered mail.

Of course, trying to hide behind, “It’s always been a male only board, or men are more qualified because they hunt or fish or drive more trucks or more business orientated to business is just trying to come up with reason to discriminate against the +50% of the population in our fair state. For a person to say “Equal pay for equal work would be hardship on many employers,” deserves a slap in the face---if I were a women---and a man said that to me. The facts are self-evident with the thousands upon thousands of women across our state who keep our economy humming, while doing the work for so many male company heads.

On January 1^st, 2018, Iceland became the first country in the world to make pay inequality illegal.  Companies that cannot prove pay equality will be fined almost $500 a day if the gap continues to exist. Yes, equal pay for equal work is a worldwide problem, and we do need the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) to move the process along.

Studies have shown that having an equal number of women on a board or commission actually greatly improves the work and mission of the commission. Even a token woman board member matters to. Companies in every sector, not just tech, perform 5 percent better when they have even just one woman on the board, according to Credit Suisse, which examined 3,000 companies. There is a current bill just signed by the governor of California that mandate at least one woman on every company board headquartered in the state.

The two state commissions I listed are just a fraction of the boards and commissions across the state, but they are glaring examples of the inequality present in every community in the state, and if you don’t think that’s a true statement, check with your city hall. You will be shocked.  

The intent of this column is to focus on the gender inequality present on the most visible of the many state boards and commissions, but the problem begins in the selection of local boards and commissions. I urge you to confront your local candidates for elective office to commit publically to work for equal representation by women on all city boards.

 

thenorphletpaperboy: Electric Scooters, Sidewalks, and Trails

thenorphletpaperboy: Electric Scooters, Sidewalks, and Trails:            Electric Scooters, Sidewalks, and Trails “ Times They Are A-Changing. ” If I remember right, that’s an old Bob Dylan song ...

Electric Scooters, Sidewalks, and Trails

           Electric Scooters, Sidewalks, and Trails

“Times They Are A-Changing.” If I remember right, that’s an old Bob Dylan song that cropped up in the 60s, and things they were a-changing, but nothing like they are a-changing today.  I know some of the rapid changes seem to be gradual, but that’s because we live in a world that seems to be spinning faster and faster, and a today’s gradual changes would have been earthshaking events that would have rattled us back in the ancient 60s. So, let’s look at a change that is coming down the pike faster than anything I have ever seen.

Are you ready to ride an electric scooter to work? No? Well, I think, in five years, 20 percent of Arkansawyers, who live in town, will be riding scooters to work every day. I know you’re shaking your head, but get ready, they’re coming, and in places such as Fayetteville (Just try to find a parking place near the University during classes) the numbers will be above 50%. Yes, electric scooters are coming, and I can’t wait to ride to work on one.  The head-shakers are going at it again, but those are the same ones who shook their heads at the idea that El Dorado would have Uber. We do.

Here in Arkansas it’s hard to imagine riding an electric scooter anywhere, but check out major cities, and you’ll find the demand for scooters outstrips the supply. It’s easy to see why. For short rides to work on any city street, the scooters are quicker, more economical, easier to park and maneuver in traffic than any other method of transportation. Your parking problems are solved and every mile you ride is a plus for the environment. That’s why they are sweeping the country.

Yes, scooters are the hot item right now in transportation, but companion links such as sidewalks and trails will naturally pick up more support. After all going back and forth to work is only one part of our transportation needs, and millions of folks live within a half  mile of where they shop, dine, and are entertained. Scooters are perfect for those little trips. But in order to really link with our coming transportation needs, we should work to extend sidewalks and trails to as many parts of our towns and cities as is reasonably possible, and that’s almost everywhere. All trails and city streets can be used by scooters, but our exercise and bicycle needs should also be a priority for every town and city in our state. We should try to emulate cities like Seattle. Believe it or not, 30% of their downtown workers either walk, ride a bike, or now ride a scooter to work.

Back in 2001 and 2002 Dr. Edwin Glasser from the University of Arkansas led a design team to El Dorado, and after a year’s work developed a comprehensive report aimed at helping El Dorado revitalize itself. It covered the entire incorporated town and included the Municipal Airport, Mellor Park Mall, the re-use of abandoned buildings, and transportation needs. As a part of this study an extensive trail study was included. Well, it’s been 18 years since that study was completed, so I know you’re interested in how much we have accomplished that was in the sturdy. An abandoned brick building in the south part of town was restored as a community center. That’s it! The rest of the study was put on the shelf. Dr. Glasser and team were obviously ahead of their time.

However, if we dust off the trail study it gives our town an outline of how to connect various parts of the community. Dr. Glasser proposed trail plan is structured to give individuals in a community the option to walk or bike, or now ride a scooter from one area of the community to another. In other words, trails can be used as an exercise route for an individual, but they should have a destination. Dr. Glasser’s proposed trail map has trails from the Municipal Golf Course to Downtown, and from Downtown to the shopping areas on North West Avenue. Trails are not just circles around a park. If you want a circle trail, go to your local high school and walk around the track. Trail should have a destination.

And now to sidewalks; as Cadillacs developed fins in the 60s our cities and towns stopped putting in sidewalks. You can easily spot the older parts of any Arkansas city or town by noting the sidewalks, and as you travel to the newer parts of town watch as the sidewalks disappear. As we look back to see how design-stupid fins on a Cadillac were, we can also see how short-sighted our city planners were to not have mandated sidewalks everywhere pedestrians walk.

Every city in our state should budget money to add and extend sidewalks, and every city should have in its building code a requirement for sidewalks to be put in every area where pedestrians are present. It’s the smart thing to do, and it’s the overwhelming focus in cities that are on the forefront of quality of life communities.

In El Dorado, we have two major shopping areas, downtown and North West Avenue, our primary entry-way into the city. Those typical shopping areas are present in almost every town in our state. In El Dorado we have new brick sidewalks downtown, but the half mile walk to the North West Avenue shopping area, or on out another three-quarters of a mile to the Walmart Supercenter will put your life at risk if you walk down North West Avenue with four lanes of fast traffic, an endless turn lane, and of course, no sidewalks, but I see folks trying to walk it every day jumping upon the curb as traffic whizzes by. The city should have put in sidewalks when the shopping expansion from downtown to North West Avenue happened, but it’s not too late. El Dorado has, as every town in the state does, plenty of right-of-ways to put in sidewalks, trees, and underground utilities, but it’s like pulling teeth to get any action. I’ve offered to plant 50 trees down the Avenue, and all the city has to do is cut the hole in the right-of ways they own. I’m still waiting.

I’ve used El Dorado as an example, but every town in our state has the same problem. We do have some cities adding sidewalks, trees, and underground utilities, but it’s like pouring molasses in January. We’re moving at Glacial Speed.

America’s west coast cities are leading the wave of the future, and if you want to see how an Arkansas town might look in 20 years, you should travel to any of the cities in that area. Some folks may not like their politics, but we will emulate them. It’s just a matter of time, and as surely as we pick up our cell phone or check our Facebook—all developed on the west coast—someday, we’ll ride scooters and put in sidewalks and trails.