Cherry Cox, wife of my cousin Ian and mother to Rowan, Ember, and Evan, passed away on October 1st. She was a singular person with a distinct inner light that revealed itself as a spiritual illumination that cuts through the darkness, a warmth that welcomed others around, and a perspective that favored others before herself. She is gone far too soon and dearly missed.
Located next to the train tracks crossing Highway 32 just west of the Hwy 32/Hwy 301 intersection is the nondescript Hortense, Georgia United States Post Office. It has a plaque stating,:
THIS BUILDING
DEDICATED TO
PUBLIC SERVICE
1968
LYNDON B JOHNSON
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
W. MARVIN WATSON
POSTMASTER GENERALOne of my earliest memories is going into the post office with my mom when I was a very young child–about 12 or 13 years after the building was dedicated. There wasn’t grass and weeds growing in the cracks of the concrete, and the parking lot wasn’t as sandy as it is now.
While reading about W. Marvin Watson, I learned that he eulogized Lyndon B. Johnson at his state funeral, which you can watch here. This is a poignant passage considering today’s state of affairs where politics are winner-take-all, zero-sum game, and without the hope of compromise:
"He was ours and we loved him. Beyond any telling of it he shared his victories and he shared his defeats. In victory, he taught us to be magnanimous. In defeat, he taught us to be without hate, to learn, to rally, to accept the challenge, and to try again. He believed that good men together could accomplish anything even the most impossible of dreams. No matter who his opponent, he constantly sought to find that touchstone within the soul of every man which if discovered would release the impulse for honest and fair solution. Hate was never in this man's heart."
While I was visiting my parents earlier this month, I took some pictures around their house, shop, and driveway. Despite the hurricane and everything else, it was nice being around so much nature everyday.
This is the same place where I took photos of the night sky and easy to spot constellations back in January.
About a third of the way between Hortense and Jesup in Georgia is the Wayne County community of McKinnon, whose history includes the arrival of Finnish immigrants who wanted to develop this land after World War I. Their arrival was initiated by a group of Finns in Brooklyn, New York who advertised and convinced other Finns in the northeast USA to invest and move to this part of southeast Georgia.
Above is a picture of the old school house, and below are some street signs representing the community’s Finnish roots.
Looking back at my photos, I realize now that I forgot to take a photo of Finland Street, because that was where I was standing!
Before we knew about Hurricane Helene, I had planned to visit my folks for two weeks to help out after my dad got out of the hospital for a back ailment. I took Amtrak’s 97 Silver Meteor from NYC to Jesup, Georgia (Sept. 24-25, 2024), and returned via the 98 Silver Meteor from Jesup to NYC (Oct. 8-9, 2024). Here are some pictures of the trains, sleeper car rooms, and meals.
The 97 Silver Meteor sleeper cars didn’t have a toilet in the room as my previous Amtrak ride from JSP to NYC. Otherwise, the car seemed of newer construction. However, the room door rattled constantly. I should have asked for something to wedge into the door to eliminate that noise (and sleep better as a result). I liked how the in-car sink had turn knobs, which work much better than the push button faucets (either too little water or an explosion of water). Because the dining car was full, I asked for dinner in my room. It came with all the trimmings and was delicious! The worst part of the trip was someone in my car was going to bridge between cars to smoke. They left the door open, smoke entered the car, and set off the smoke alarms in unoccupied rooms and mine when I went to investigate. The culprit did not reveal him or herself.
The Silver Meteor from JSP to NYP was much like my previous ride from SAV to NYP. The roomette was very similar–toilet in the room, push-button sink controls, older construction, and less vibration noise. I had breakfast in the dining car close to 7:00am. The omelet and fixings hit the spot! The downsides to this ride was that the water pressure was far too high on the sink faucet and the air conditioning was warm despite changing the thermostat.
