Friday, February 20, 2009

Nike, Goddess of Victory

One of last week's new readers made me think of this photo taken last fall along the Fairfax County Parkway. When I welcomed Moscow City to the blog, I immediately thought about how far we've all come since the COLD WAR. This sign marks the spot of one of the quintessential icons of that day: Nike missiles.

Look out, bad guys, there is a bullet in Barney Fife's pocket with your name on it.

Right now I'm teaching about the U.S. Civil War along with its circle of forts around Washington, DC keeping it safe from harm. It is striking how our former "modern" approach to national security maintained the same round shape 100+ years later. Overall the bigger change shifted to hardware and away from people.

If you mention Nike missiles to most people 30 or younger, they may tell you they prefer Reeboks or some other brand name shoe. What it brings to my mind is an air raid siren every Monday at 11:45 a.m. That was how our school knew it was lunch time. I also have flashbacks including the underside of various old wooden desks in St. Paul Cathedral Grade School. Sometimes we'd have to practice hiding under furniture. We'd have a spectrum of drills practicing different levels of protection techniques. There were times when we were guided into the school hallway, ushered down the stairway to the basement level where we'd all sit on the steps until America was safe once again. Lets think about this: the entire elementary school student body sitting on basement steps. Keep in mind these steps were also the only way in or out of the building. And this was for our safety!

In the interest of full disclosure: there are readers of this blog who were also having their little butts frozen on those icy steps right along with me. Do I hear an amen?

There were a few practices when all students were directed to get to their "safe place" within the 10 minute siren wail. (Siren Wail: great name for a rock band.) If you couldn't make it home within that amount of time, you had to stay with the Sisters of Mercy until you died of fallout exposure. If your mom sent in a note, then you were permitted to get home during the siren wail of 10 minutes. I ran my butt off like the Russians were marching right down Baum Boulevard. I knew it was a risk, but the thoughts of dying in the grade school basement with nuns was the perfect incentive for a very focused exercise of race walking to get home. At least there I could die while my grandmother prayed the rosary and re-read her batch of funeral home holy cards. Of course then she'd grill a butterflied hot dog for lunch.

It sounds harmless now, but it scared the bejaysus out of me and everyother kid back then. All the adults in our world thought it was serious stuff, except for my grandmother. There was an overaching anxiety about all this civil defense of life as we knew it. Looking back on it now, it seems as if the sirens and hype were all to lather up the cold war and the military budget to match it. Think about all the money that must have been spent stapling siren speakers to schools, trees and poles. It was the early days of Homeland Security, come to think of it.

I do love these historic road landmarkers. Virginia began the entire program of historic road markers in their effort to acknowledge major Civil War battle sites. Since then, signs like this punctuate the landscape everywhere you travel.

Aren't you glad this guy has moved on to the speakers circuit?

Two weeks ago I started tutoring a "homebound" high school student. One course of study is United States /Virginia history. The first chapter we covered is all about the steel industries' impact on the industrial revolution, The Homestead Strike, Andrew Carnegie, The Mellon Family, Frick, all the heavy hitters from back then. And all of them tied to Pittsburgh. Piece of cake, right? You betcha.

This particular Alexandria City text book actually had an entire page on the Bessemer Process of removing impurities from iron during the steel process.
Talk about mother's milk! I was raised in a house overlooking the valley where the Bessemer Process was invented by William Kelly. Unfortunately for Kelly, Bessemer beat him to the patent approval. How do I know that? I read the historic marker once too many times riding my bike to Osceola Park. How about the first open hearth furnace? Got that one covered too. That sign is on the Bayard Street property line of the former Shadyside Academy location, which is now Winchester Thurston School. Yup, I'm a regular fountain of road sign information. Now you can really impress your friends with that knowledge. The collector card edition of Scoop's Trivia will be available as soon as anyone will underwrite the publication.

Next time you see a road marker, I hope you take the time to read it. Better yet, if there is one you know of, send in the name and location. I may need to know about it for a future student.

And so it goes.
Scoop




6 comments:

  1. OK, a few things to cover here.
    One time my son had to do a project in school where we had to write about 3 historic landmarks each in Allegheny, Beaver, Green, Wahsington, Westmorland, and Butler Counties. We had to prove it by taking pictures of Devin in front of the markers. I was ready to kill someone. Thank God I had just learned to drive.
    How in the hell did they think he would do this if none of the parents drove????
    It took us about 3 hrs each night.
    Allegheny was easy. Three were within a few blocks from our house. You know the first gas station in the country marker is right around the corner on Baum. We also used the wooden street off Ellsworth and the last one was the site of the railroad riots or something on 29th street.
    The other counties took some roaming around. I think we used Economy Village in Beaver.

    Lastly, if you need a fallout shelter in our nations capital, you do know there is one under "The Madonna's" back porch. I swear it is. Just in case you can't get all the way back up to Arsenal School in the Burg.

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  2. Too bad they still won't let us run home during the attack warning bells and whistles. Those drills where we now accumulate on the gym floor with 500 frightened snot nosed children really isn't the way I want to die. I'd rather whither away in my own bed or on my couch. And a split weinie just makes the deal a little sweeter.

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  3. I am laughing hysterically at the Pants N'At video!!! OMG it sounds just like my cousins!

    I just love your musings. I laugh, I cry. I remember. But listen here, Sister. You can NOT have Dr. Kildare (their shirts are not called "smocks," they are "scrubs," don'tcha know). Richard Chamberlain was my first love. (I think I became a nurse to find him, but we all know how that story ended....) I don't even care that he's gay. I googled him recently and found lots of good stuff on YouTube. I highly recommend the search. I can't believe you mentioned Yvette Mimeaux - remember the episode Hi Lili Hi Lo (a two-parter as I recall) where she dies in the end - in the ocean (my least fav place) from a seizure. I remember that drama like it was yesterday. Then they were in a movie together...something about Morning in the title I think. Great idea: Let's rent Thorn Birds one night and sit through the whole thing. I read and loved the book and I loved the movie except Rachel Ward's inability to act was mildly distracting. AND I hated Ben Casey!

    We were sisters way back then and didn't even know it! I could have come over and played with you in the summers or met you at the Carnegie library in McKeesport and we could've had a shaved ham at Icley's (sp).
    Kathy S

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  4. I am laughing hysterically at the Pants N'At video!!! OMG it sounds just like my cousins!

    I just love your musings. I laugh, I cry. I remember. But listen here, Sister. You can NOT have Dr. Kildare (their shirts are not called "smocks," they are "scrubs," don'tcha know). Richard Chamberlain was my first love. (I think I became a nurse to find him, but we all know how that story ended....) I don't even care that he's gay. I googled him recently and found lots of good stuff on YouTube. I highly recommend the search. I can't believe you mentioned Yvette Mimeaux - remember the episode Hi Lili Hi Lo (a two-parter as I recall) where she dies in the end - in the ocean (my least fav place) from a seizure. I remember that drama like it was yesterday. Then they were in a movie together...something about Morning in the title I think. Great idea: Let's rent Thorn Birds one night and sit through the whole thing. I read and loved the book and I loved the movie except Rachel Ward's inability to act was mildly distracting. AND I hated Ben Casey!

    We were sisters way back then and didn't even know it! I could have come over and played with you in the summers or met you at the Carnegie library in McKeesport and we could've had a shaved ham at Icley's (sp).
    Kathy S

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  5. I love your blog! It’s so inspiring! You are such a great writer! What have you been up to?? We need to have some vino soon and catch up!
    Terri K

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  6. Hi, Ruthie, as usual another fun scoopmurphy. On a serious note, I appreciated your note about Katie's brother. Also, I loved your tribute to your dad. That was precious. I'm working on my history project-my mom-in-law's life story. Kinda of a 1930's "Story of Ruth (Aaron)" - life in small town Iowa during the depression. Low n' behold, as I work on this, come to find out that Ruth's story has already been (sorta) told in a NY Times bestseller out now called "Little Heathens" - you'd love it. History of everyday comins n' goins dahn on the farm - from the washboard's point of view. Well, I'm out looking up historical markers for you here in Sacramento so I'll be ready when ya come to visit us. Love you, hon.
    PS. Loved your bit on the "Supermom"-that story is just frying everyone.

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