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February 02, 1995 - On the Road Again and Headed SouthFebruary 2, 1995 • The Suffolk Times • 7A On the Road Again and Headed South By Paul Stoutenburgh We're heading south and thought it might be fun to have you travel with us while our kids take care of our house, chickens, cow, etc. We're in a small camper home with a few more conve- niences than we had on last year's trip around the country when we traveled in our pickup. I think the worst part about trips like this is the anticipation and con- tinual preparation that go into get- ting everything ready. Friends Nature invited us over for dinner the night before our early Sunday morning depar- ture. This freed us from making dinner and cleaning up. It worked out fine and good food, drink and fellowship flour- ished Saturday night as we chatted about our forthcoming trip. We left their house early and were in bed by 10. Up at 5 a.m. with plans to leave the house early but we couldn't find the cat who travels with us. Did she know something was going on? Finally, after a thorough search, we found where she was hiding and by 6 we were off. To anyone going on a trip south I can heartily recommend leaving dear old Long Island early on a Sunday morning. We breezed through the Expressways, Parkways, Verrazanno Bridge, Staten Island and the Jersey Turnpike. When we hit that turnpike we knew we were truly on our way. No matter where we were along the way, crows were somewhere feeding. As the Expressway winds itself more and more to the _ west, housing and businesses crowd in and yet crows fed unconcernedly along the road edges. Later, where the Jersey Turnpike leaves the city sprawl and works its way through the remnants of farmland, we would see the crows in abandoned fields gleaning a meal from forgotten corn. It's in the open spaces to the south of the city we saw our first turkey vultures, those scavengers of the dead of the ani- mal world. How important they are in the scheme of things. We also saw the calamity of old and dilapidated farms along the way. Silos, now abandoned, and farm houses that are silent sentinels of the generations of farmers that once were here. Sooner or later the land will fall to the developer for houses or in- dustry that have already made their mark along the way. We had left in the dark and drove into sunlight. I was pleased to see every once in a while a series of bluebird boxes nailed up on some old fence posts. Evidently, someone liked bluebirds along the way. Heading South As we moved south we went over the Delaware and Potomac rivers, which raced along heavily laden with muddy water. We'd see more of these flooded areas as we moved southward. (They've just anticipated torrential rains.) We stopped at a rest stop on our way and met other Southolders heading south, showing us what a small world it truly is. States rolled by: Jersey, Maryland, then Washington, D.C., and into Vir- ginia where we located a campsite at Picture Lake in Petersburg, Va. (We'd traveled 505 miles.) Sleep came easily and when we awoke the sun was shining on a frosty ground. It was colder than when we had left home. Our second day we drove into North Carolina and the sun we had woken to was slowly being replaced by gray, treacherous clouds, which later, believe it or not, turned into snow. What was this? We left Long _ Island in mild tem- peratures only to run into cold weather and snow. Traffic slowed as we drove along through bliz- zardlike conditions. Later, we'd see a small flock of robins feeding along the roadside. I'm sure they had no thoughts of heading north with such weather. Our persistence paid off as we kept driving for soon the snow changed to rain and then to a drizzle. We were in cotton `We stopped at a rest stop on our way and met other Southolders heading south, showing what a small world it truly is.' i w &9w i wwL nwwiL 75 Years Ago Jan. 30, 1920 Milkless: A milk famine has struck East Marion. William Furst and Robert Mack, who have conducted a dairy for many years, have discontinued the same and this most important part of the daily diet is sadly missed. We hope some way will be provided soon for the village to get milk. 50 Years Ago Feb. 2, 1945 Grumman on the Big Screen: Long Islanders who helped to design, fabricate, assemble and test Grum- man Avengers and Grumman Hellcats will get an extra thrill from their 75 minutes spent viewing the Navy's newly released Technicolor motion picture, "The Fighting Lady." For Grumman airplanes take stellar roles in this wholly realistic production of life on board a carrier, which will be shown at the Greenport Theatre Friday and Saturday. When you see from the cockpit of a fighter or torpedo plane the terrific density of enemy flak and when you see deck shots of the homecoming landings of planes that have flown straight through the worst the enemy could put up, then and only then do you realize how well your neighbors at Grumman have designed and built these airplanes that fly with the Navy. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh MOCKINGBIRD — Traveling through the south we always find the mock- ingbird close at hand for this is his territory. It is odd to think this southern bird has only moved up into our area in the last 30 to 40 years. country and every once in a while we'd see fields with remnants of white cotton hanging from stems that were passed by the picker. It was here we saw the deserted old cabins, backhouses and tobacco - drying buildings. These always lay heavy on my mind for I think of the families that once lived there. What stories and hard- ships they could tell. Occasionally we'd see one with its trail of wood smoke ris- ing from a leaning chimney, letting us know there was still life going on in there. Old abandoned cars and some- times an array of laundry were in some of the backyards. We still have a lot of people who haven't seen the "good life" as yet in this country. I'm afraid it's too easy to pass it all by and forget about it. The night would be spent in Santee State Park on Lake Marion in South Carolina, a spot we'd stayed at many years ago 25 Years Ago Feb. 6, 1970 Flickers Under Fire: "The day I really got mad was the day when we talked about it in Spanish class," began Anne Marie O'Brien, a sophomore at Greenport High School, "and Mr. Campbell suggested we have a demonstration against the theater." Anne Marie was mad — and determined to do something about the X and R rated films which United Artists continues to send to the Green - port theater. Anne Marie asked the Greenport Police if she and her friends could have a demonstration. The police said no, because they don't have a riot squad, and all those demon- strators would get out of control. And besides, they would need a parade permit. So Anne Marie asked Mayor Levine if she could get a parade permit. He did not think much of the idea, and suggested a petition would be the best thing to start. A petition was circulated through the school and left at Paradise, Harrell's Barber Shop, Preston's Market, Hoppy's and Sportsman's. Already they have 400 signa- tures on the petition. Supervising principal Richard Manwaring also wrote United Artists, requesting higher grade films for students. United Artists canceled an X rated film scheduled three weeks later. when tenting. Our third day was spent in Savannah, Ga., exploring that wonderful city and visiting with old friends. What a rich heritage the south has and to drive through the streets of Old Savannah with its big live oaks draped with Spanish moss is truly an experience. The Savannah Sights Our friends told us of a state park on the ocean called Hunting Island State Park they said we would have to visit and so the next day we headed northeast. On our way we stopped at the Savannah Wildlife Refuge, a huge freshwater marsh where we found a great variety of ducks and land birds. I saw the largest number of ring- necked ducks I'd ever seen — hundreds of them. It's a duck we seldom see on the North Fork because we don't have enough fresh water to draw them. Marratooka Lake and Laurel Lake are the best places to see these small, handsome black and whitish ducks. Barbara spotted a pair of wood ducks and further along we had shovelers, green- winged teal, gadwall and others. At the refuge parking lot we saw a phoebe (a flycatcher) along with mock- ingbirds, tufted titmice, kinglets, gnat - catchers and red - shouldered and harrier hawks. But the best sighting of the day was a bald eagle perched on a dead tree just off the highway. To me, the trip was becoming more and more worthwhile. As we went to the park we passed along the waterways of this marshy low country to the east. Pelicans, terns, gulls, sanderlings, cormorants, kingfishers and others all showed up along the way. Our campsite was on the edge of the mighty Atlantic Ocean that had just recently devastated the park's dunes and beaches, but then that was not new to us. We have only to look at our own south shore to see that recurring tragedy. Right now it's time for bed. My eyes are getting bleary. Hopefully, tomorrow will be another beautiful day in the sunny south.