thenorphletpaperboy: Music and Life

thenorphletpaperboy: Music and Life:                                                           Music and Life     I grew up listening to rock and roll, and later added co...

Music and Life

                                                          Music and Life   

I grew up listening to rock and roll, and later added country music, folk, and even classical. I know that seems rather farfetched, but I really do love music of almost every type.

 Heck, I still remember a  night at the University’s Spring Fling where Vertis, my date and soon to be wife, and I danced to the music of Chuck Berry as he played Maybellene, and then when he roared back with Jonny B. Goode, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I couldn’t imagine listening to anything but good old rock and roll.

However, things changed as Vertis and I got married and moved to South Texas where I worked for Exxon. We traded the hills and woods of NW Arkansas for the mesquite plains of South Texas, but little did we know we were also about to have our music likes changed. We lived in Kingsville, Texas and I worked on the King Ranch as a geologist, but it wasn’t just the land and location that was different, it was the music.

Kingsville is the home of Texas A. and I. University, and since the Javelins (wild hogs) are their mascot, it didn’t seem so foreign. Heck, they even called the hogs!  We had just arrived when we found out that the famed, classical guitarists, Carlos Montoya was going to be in concert at the College. Well, my mother had drilled into me classical music by making me go to the Community Concert Series in El Dorado, so we got tickets to hear Carlos Montoya. I still remember being mesmerized by his playing.

Then, a few weeks later, one of the guys I worked with mentioned Earnest Tubb and
the Texas Troubadours were going to be playing at Hubert’s Danceland in Ricardo, a little town about twenty miles south of Kingsville. Well, with very little else to do and not much money, we decided to go hear Earnest Tubb. Well, I’d heard of him, but all I knew was he played something called Texas Swing. Shoot, I figured for a five dollar cover charge, we could hear a concert. It was just a night out.

Well, thank goodness we both had on jeans, or we would have really looked out of place in that huge dancehall filled with what looked like the cast of the movie Giant. The big hall looked a little strange, because all the tables were around the sides, and there wasn’t any seating in the main area. Well, we settled in and about eight o’clock the Texas Troubadours took the stage and as old Earnest stepped up to the mike, everybody stood up. I was thinking we were just going to give the Troubadours a warm welcome, but that wasn’t it at all.  As I looked around I could see guys and gals pairing up, and at the very first beat of one of his hits, I’m Walking the Floor Over You, the entire crowd, except for Vertis and me started doing the Texas Two-Step. But what I thought was even more remarkable the crowd looked as if they were the New York Rocketts as they danced and moved counter-clockwise around the dance floor. It was just a continuous flow of dancers who passed our table as they circled the floor, and when he finished the set with Daddy, when is Mommy Coming Home? country music had us hooked.

That introduction to country music sent us to other dancehalls around South Texas, and as we drove on those flat plains heading for places like Big Bend or Matamoros at 100 MPH it seemed the stations all played variety of country music. However, as we went to Libya and then returned two years later to Corpus Christi, we were introduced to another brand of country music.

A few years after we returned from Libya, I sat up in bed and said to Vertis. “I’m going to run for state representative against Leroy Weiting.” Well, that ended up giving us a dose of Latino, Tejano, and Banda Dancehall music, because the South Texas district I was trying to represent was heavily Latino and as the race got going, I was endorsed by almost all of the Latino organizations. On a Friday or Saturday night the dancehalls were where large numbers of potential voters congregated, and they played a totally different kind of music. I can still hear some of it, and I think some of my hearing loss comes from that emersion in those music halls with the Banda Bands blaring out heavy on the percussion.

Well, the race was a lot tighter than most folks thought would be, since I was running against a 20 year veteran, and the next morning the final boxes came in and out of more than 35,000 votes, I had lost by 122.

My next move into music came as I got tired of Vertis going to choir practice every Wednesday night leaving me home with the kids. I decided to join the church choir. Vertis tried to discourage me, but the choir leader said to give me a tone deaf test to see if I was choir material. I passed the test, but it took a few years in the choir for me to stop embarrassing Vertis. Today, if I am standing with a good bass by my side, I can at least contribute. Of course, I don’t read music per se, but when I see the notes at least I know whether to sing higher or lower.

But over the years, I have realized how much music means to the life of everyone, and whether you listen to country music or classical or folk, it becomes a part of your life, and life is richer with music. Vertis and I have found that after a busy day, sitting on our couch in the living room with something to sip on, and listening to music is an excellent way to unwind. Over the years, after stringing speaker wires all over the house, hooking them up to speakers larger than a small child, and then coughing up the dough to buy CDs, I’ve found there is a better way to bring quality music to any room or yard in the house or even out by the pond where we sit in good weather. Its technology at its best with a speaker small enough to fit in my pocket as I walk to the living room or outside with my IPad. There are several music internet music channels you can join, and believe me it is such a jump from turntables, CDs and speakers that it is hard to believe. One minute we can listen to Joan Baez sing “Hard Times” and when it’s Vertis’s pick just a touch will bring Jazz at Lincoln Center to our back yard.

I was El Dorado’s MusicFest Chairman for 5 years, sat through a three hour production of the full Messiah sung in German in Zurich, Switzerland and in-between took in Charlie Daniels and Joan Jett, and I enjoyed every performance.  I believe music adds so much to our quality of life, that I can’t imagine life without music.

Trees and City Heat

                      Trees and City Heat

Trees may be the answer to one of our city center’s health problems. One significant cause of death in our cities is directly related to heat exhaustion, and that occurs when the body overheats to the point where either a heat stroke or heart failure overcomes a person, and their body’s functions are impaired. A few extra degrees of heat can be the difference between life and death. That’s where trees help. Since the population in most cities is concentrated in the core of the city, elevated temperatures in that area effect more individuals, and that is where trees save lives. Actual infrared measurements have recorded that almost all city centers have heat islands, with temperatures from 6 to 15 degrees hotter than the suburbs, and studies have proven the absence of trees is the difference. These heat islands exist in almost every city of any size, and persons living there, which are exposed to those elevated temperature, have a much greater risk of dying of a heat related problem than others in shady suburbs.

The Texas Tree Foundation, the group who has researched this problem, has focused on tree canopies, because heat island have a direct relationship to a city’s tree canopy. There are no other reasons, and not only are city centers hotter, they have less moisture and consequently more dust, which brings about allergic reactions and more health problems. Trees solve these problems by secreting moisture.

            The Foundation has collected a mountain of data to illustrate the benefits of having a tree canopy, and their research shows how that canopy can combat the heat island effect that is present in almost all of our downtowns.  The heat island effect is caused by the absence of any or very little tree canopy, and when temperatures are measured in the suburbs vs the downtown it becomes very obvious. Towns with a fair to good tree canopies record much lower temperatures than town without trees. Some of the best towns have a heat island effect of only 6 degrees hotter than a tree lined suburb, and the worst have an astounding plus 15 degrees in towns without any substantial tree canopy.

 When we have our 100 degree days, usually recorded at the airport away from an asphalt-concrete downtown, the actual downtown temperature could be as high as 115 degrees, and that is not the heat index, which, of course, will be much higher. If you plug in the heat index, cities with a heat island could easily have downtown temperatures of over 120 degrees.

In 2011 Dallas had temperatures that topped 100 degrees for 40 consecutive days and 112 people died. Nearly half of those deaths were directly attributed to the heat wave according to the Foundation’s research. In the United States an estimated 30,000 people die from heat-related deaths annually, and that is twice as many as are killed by gun violence.

The problem is simple. Almost all city’s centers have impermeable surfaces such concrete and asphalt, which soak up the sun’s heat and causes to the heat island effect. This increase in temperature is deadly to people with any respiratory problem or children with childhood asthma. Trees can filter deadly air pollution and protect people from chronic respiratory illness.

The problem is not just in the Southwest where 100 degree days are common, it is now becoming a worldwide problem because of global warming. Paris has just experienced a brutal heat wave, and is responding with a reforestation effort to ensure 50% of the city’s land is planted by 2030. Here in the United States a recent study indicates replanting trees lost to urban development could reduce between one sixth and two-thirds of our carbon pollution. There is an estimated 255 million suitable acres available for tree-planting just in the U. S., an area the size of Texas.

I think we see the problem and the solution, so how are we doing here in Arkansas, “The Natural State”? Actually, we’re doing a lousy job, but there are bright spots. The city of Fayetteville is committed to a 40% tree canopy, and is working to maintain that even while having to replace older trees. Little Rock has a City Street Tree Origination that is committed to planting trees, and they are doing a great job, but they could use more help from the city and more volunteers.

I know trees are old hat here in Arkansas, and slash and burn is still in a lot of minds. I had a friend look at a lot, which the day before had beautiful trees. The lot had just been bulldozed for a used car lot. She said, “Well, that’s sure an improvement.” And she meant it. We have got to overcome the thought that a blank parking lot is a proper way to have parking and trees just get in the way.

Just last week, here in El Dorado, on north Washington Avenue, two healthy, 100 year old oaks, which were City Street Trees, were cut down. We have a long way to go when healthy 100 year old oaks are cut down without good reason. However, we’re making some progress, although it’s pretty hit and miss. I have personally gotten over a 1000 trees planted in our downtown, but on the ugliest streets in town I have been stonewall, even after I offered to buy the trees. Every town of any size has its ugly treeless streets and here in El Dorado we have two; north West Avenue and Hillsboro Street.  I’m not picking on El Dorado. My home town is just an example of almost every town in the state.

But planting trees in city centers is just a small part of the problem. We need to plant trees in every available spot, and we can’t possible plant too many trees. Plant then around bus stops, in parking lots, on city sidewalks, and in every green space in your town. However, all trees aren’t created equal. Try to pick a recommended street tree with wide leafy foliage. Here in Arkansas we can easily plant native trees in the late fall and winter, if we will just use a little initiative to find them, or spend a few bucks with a local nursery.

 Yes, trees will grow in highway medians, and we have hundreds of miles of mowed grass without tree one. Trees don’t have to be on city streets to improve air quality and cut down on pollution. They can be anywhere, and there is not a single reason why we don’t have trees in our highway medians.

We were once the Bear State, but we killed off nearly all the bears so we changed to the Natural State. Will we repeat history by losing so much tree cover that one day we’ll be too embarrassed to call ourselves “The Natural State?”

thenorphletpaperboy: Don't Califoricate Arkansas

thenorphletpaperboy: Don't Califoricate Arkansas: Don’t Califoricate Arkansas             Yes, Califoricate is a word, and it expresses all the bad things about the great state o...

Don't Califoricate Arkansas

Don’t Califoricate Arkansas

            Yes, Califoricate is a word, and it expresses all the bad things about the great state of California, primarily Southern California; the crowded, overbuilt part of the state that has been overcome by pollution, trash, glitter, and multilane freeways.

However, I’m a big fan of the state, and I have been in and out of California numerous times. I’ve played tennis at the John Wayne Tennis Center in San Diego, where every piece of clothing must be white, taken a balloon ride over the Napa Valley, and listened to the Kingston Trio play to a crowd of thousands in a San Francisco park. Vertis and I have had some wonderful times in California.

Well, I know you’re thinking “Califoricate”? Yes, California has some great places to visit and be entertained, but the state has negatives, and while we try to emulate their successes, I think we must avoid the state’s failures.

But first, in order to avoid the California excesses, we must realize our state’s natural resources, and that is expressed in our advertising. We’re The Natural State. That rings of green, forested lands, uncrowned roadways, and hidden gems such as Champanolle Creek in South Arkansas and Hidden Valley in the Ozark's. I know we pride ourselves on these and hundreds of other special treasures that are tucked away in our great state, and just the thought that we would degrade or actually lose these wonderful parts of the state would cause any Arkansawyer to protest.

            While we don’t openly admit to mimic California’s lifestyle, that is what we are doing. Of course, the huge flood of technology that comes out of California is impossible to ignore, and yes, I’m hooked on a lot of it. However, it disturbs me that with the good positive items, we find our business and political leaders actively working to adopt the negative parts of the California lifestyle. That’s right, and it seems from continuously widening our highways to accommodate more and more cars and trucks, we are like a fat man letting out another notch in his belt instead of going on a diet. The seemingly endless beating of the jobs, jobs, jobs, drum, especially when unemployment is a tiny 3.2% defies logic. Where are we going to get those workers when a factory opens needing 500 new employees? Everyone who wants a job already has one and our towns are plastered with “hiring” and “help wanted” signs. To make things even worse, it seems there are no bad jobs, and we end up getting the low end of available jobs because our pollution control standards are so weak. Do a make myself clear? We don’t need any more polluting Chinese plants!

            Yes, there are bad jobs and those are the jobs that lower air and water quality. These jobs make The Natural State slogan a joke. But it’s not just the jobs, jobs, jobs, at any cost, which endangers our lifestyle, it’s the very idea that our quality of life is determined by having a huge population growth, and that is how Califoricate is being promoted in our state. We have long passed the need to have a sustainable population, and the very idea of population growth equals quality is a 1950s attitude. It seems to me that our Chamber of Commerce Directors could use a re-education course at the University. Something like the prisoners of war in the Korean War had after being brainwashed. 

            But are we really in danger of Califorication? Of course, we don’t have an 18 lane freeway such as Houston, which has long since been Califoricated beyond hope. However, we seem to be rushing into the abyss. In the Bentonville---Fayetteville corridor, they are letting out another notch in their belt as fast as they financially can. When will four lanes need to be expanded to six or eight lanes, and when will the boys up in the northwest say “uncle”? Will they have lost the battle when common sense finally makes them stop? Folks, the last thing NW Arkansas needs are more jobs. They can’t fill the job openings they have, and they sure don’t need an increase in population. Northwest Arkansas isn’t Califoricated…yet, but it is well on its way. Of course, Little Rock is following right along in widening the trail west from downtown, and we all know, as west Little Rock continues with the jobs and population growth, extra lanes will be added until Califorication takes place.

            It seems evitable that as the local Chambers of Commerce continue to beat the jobs, jobs, refrain and as people flood in to take those jobs, we slowly become part of a vicious circle, and it seems nothing we can do will slow down the rush to grow at any cost. As we look into the future, and see a stagnant, pollution filled state, we will wonder why we didn’t do something when we had an opportunity.

            We are faced with throwing up our hands and giving up, or actively doing something about the problems we’re facing. I still think we can make a difference, and I know thousands of Arkansawyers want a better life. Below I have outlined a few items that will make a difference in our quality of life.

            (1) A good education for our citizens is a key to solving many of our problems, and we should do everything possible to assure a quality education is available to all. Of course that starts with giving our teachers a living wage. We should give every teacher an immediate 30% increase in salary, and mandate every school’s student attendance absentee rate be no higher than 5%.

(2) Rein in the Highway Department’s lane expansion and focus on basic highway access, improvement, and visual expression by planting trees in the mediums. Increase the emphasis on electric scooters and electric bicycles for inner cities travel, and put them on the streets. Sidewalks are for walking! Fund public transportation in our major towns and cities.

(3) Re-educate our Chambers of Commerce to focus on quality of life items in our communities instead jobs. Make funding trails and planting trees one of their primary Chamber objectives, instead of wasting money recruiting jobs.

(4) Establish State funding to enhance visual improvements in our towns and cities, and go hand in hand with a measure of protection for the wonderful natural treasures in our state.

(5) Do away with the financial incentives set up to attract industry. We won’t need them, if we really become the Natural State. Take the unneeded financial incentives and fund solar panels for our school and public transportation for our cities.

(6) Give the Game and Fish Commission a sizeable increase in funding to allow them to continue their great job by restocking our out-of-balance ecosystem..

(7) Adopt a statewide goal that every town with a population of over 2500 have a 40% tree canopy in place within the next ten years…and set up funding by the legislature to help.

Today we have a choice. We can continue along the same path, which will Califoricate Arkansas, or we can work to really make Arkansas The Natural State. Which path are you going to take?