He once drove big rigs for a living

Like a song on the radio, his words stick with you throughout the day. “Are you gonna put this picture in a watermelon patch; or a cornfield like a scarecrow,” he asked as the shutter clicked. “Cornfield,” I replied. I then asked, “Where are you from?” He got serious and calmly replied, “Well, I'm originally from my mother, but was born in Florida [ending his reply with a slight laugh].”

Frank said that he drove a tractor trailer truck for about 35-years, giving up drinking while in the midst of that career at age of 47. “Even when I did drink, I couldn't stand being around people who were drunk,” suggesting the drama was too much. Continuing he said, “I'm a maverick, do you know what that is? It's someone who's a loaner.” He marches to the beat of his own drum.

“A trailer full of condoms, that was the most interesting thing I ever hauled across country,” Frank said. He then added, “When I drove through the desert in California, I would try to outrun the trains – sometimes pushing the semi to 90 and 100 miles per hour – but never could, those trains run so fast out there.”

Frank, whose real name is Franklin, turned 78 this past April and he still rides his bike almost daily. He lives outside near the foot of Lookout Mountain, but he loves it. The outdoors are home to this U.S. Marine from a different time period of life, one where people were often kinder, yet tough as nails. I guarantee you this... he has never met a stranger and never will.

He was born in a different era during WWII on April 29, 1944. 17-Months later in September of 1945, WWII was over.

17-Days before Frank's 1-year birthday, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's final message was prepared on the morning of April 12, 1945. One of the statements in his address included, "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith." Roosevelt never gave his speech and died several hours later on the afternoon of April 12, 1945.

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Be Careful What You See in the Past

There is no turning back at certain points of life, other than to remember the past as opposed to living the past.

Behavioral Scientist Dr. Steve Maraboli has studied life and talks about the difficulties that are presented to each of us, "Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient."

The author also wrote in his book "Life, the Truth, and Being Free," “Sometimes life knocks you on your ass... get up, get up, get up!!! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.”

Today, don't look back with regret and what-if's, but instead look forward with what you learned from the past.

One Love

“Good morning neighbor, hello friends,” he said as people passed by failing to notice him or to listen to his music.

Despite the blind tourist, he continued to play, “One love, one heart Let's get together and feel all right...”

His message was simple, yet too complex for the outside world to grasp. Everything from his songs of coming together to his note that was taped to his guitar that read, “Restore the Black Community,” he was all about coming together.

In his old and worn guitar case river rocks held three dollars down that some had carefully placed. The case like his guitar, appeared to have seen better days. Regardless, it held the musical instrument just right and the guitar itself told a story only he knows and remembers.

His name of Yehoshua is often spelled Jehoshua. If you look deeper you will see that even his name has a message.

Jehoshua was a figure in the Jewish Torah and also the central person referred to in the Book of Joshua.

In the Book of Joshua, he gives a speech about what must be done for Israel to live in peace. God commissioned Joshua to take possession of the land and warned him to keep not only faith, but outlined the need for obedience to the law.

“Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (one love). There is one question I’d really like to ask (one heart) - Is there a place for the hopeless sinner - Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own?”

— Bob Marley

Violence, Trauma and Children

Black, white, red, tan or brown… those who live a life of violence, hurt, crime, addiction, relationship issues, etc. typically have one thing in common: Childhood trauma

I have been thinking about this project I came across in Chattanooga. It is in an area that is known for violence, increased arrests, drug sales, etc.

The project is called FACE to FACE and it shares thoughts of children in East Chattanooga by way of art.

It is always interesting to me that some of the most talented youth live in some of the most crime ridden areas of America. The arts is their escape from childhood pain experienced at home, an escape from the violence they witness on the street – art is the safe place for some.

The painted faces on the red, yellow and blue backdrop are self-portraits of the youth involved in the project. Some of the quotes written are their thoughts on violence.

One of the thoughts put into words:

“I live in East Chattanooga and I am affected by the poor housing. The lack of education and the lack of recreational activities for our youth. Also, there is a lot of drugs and gang violence. But on the real, East Chattanooga is rich with deep history and people.”

The brick archway was once the entrance to Delanie Park and later the Highway 58 Drive-In Movie Theater. Now, it is an overgrown field, but perhaps an open field to more positive growth in the city.

This mural was put together between 2013 and 2014 and still stands in 2018 with natural growth, but without vandalism.

In closing... Black, white, red, tan or brown - - those who live a life of violence, hurt, crime, addiction, relationship issues, etc. typically have one thing in common: Childhood trauma

“Many abused children cling to the hope that growing up will bring escape and freedom.

But the personality formed in the environment of coercive control is not well adapted to adult life. The survivor is left with fundamental problems in basic trust, autonomy, and initiative.

She approaches the task of early adulthood ―― establishing independence and intimacy ―― burdened by major impairments in self-care, in cognition and in memory, in identity, and in the capacity to form stable relationships.

She is still a prisoner of her childhood; attempting to create a new life, she re-encounters the trauma.”

— Judith Lewis Herman

Cold winter nights

Cold rainy nights on the street… a large moving blanket was the only warmth.

“In the morning my eyes were so vacant and my face so dead, that the people I met may not even have seen me.”

— Arthur Rimbaud

The Vantage Point, Not an Advantage

In September of 1863, the Confederates occupied Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. However, things quickly changed as Ulysses S. Grant is given the reins to command the Union.

It was from this location on November 24, 1863 that Confederate Troops were defeated when the Union attacked Lookout Mountain.

The Confederate Army of Tennessee, lead by General Braxton Bragg, were pushed back allowing the Union to make their way further South.

It's Okay

“It’s okay to be homeless,” he told me with dripping wet hair in the midnight rain, his shoulders covered with a moving blanket.

Words spoke aloud to another are reassurance that we are normal, we are okay, we are surviving – it is a way of handling one more night on the streets.

His words were similar to an alcoholic saying, “One day at a time.”

Following his cue while handing him a new sleeping bag I said, “It is okay to be homeless… Some travel the world while homeless.”

“I have come more and more to realize that it is being unwanted that is the worst disease that any human being can ever experience.”

— Mother Teresa (1910-1998)

One Hundred Pounds of Weed

He perked up when he told me about his past, “I went to school with Randy Owens where I grew up in Alabama.” For those who are not familiar with the old school country music charts, Owens was tops in his game during the 1980’s and 90’s as he performed as the lead singer of “Alabama.” As the homeless man continued to talk he said, “He’s a couple of years older than me.”

We then started talking about his past. “In 1976 I went to prison after I got caught with 100 pounds of marijuana.” Ironically, the arrest happened in Colorado where it is now legal to smoke pot. “At one point, I owned two houses,” he told me. “I bought the weed off of shrimping boats in Florida,” he explained. He ended up spending four of an eight year sentence behind bars in Colorado.

This past May he was asleep outside of a Chattanooga gas station when unknown persons attacked him. While sleeping, he was beat with a brick and his legs and ankle jumped on to the point of breaking. He spent three months under medical care while in the hospital and later rehabilitation.

They never found who assaulted him, but he lives with the scars of it daily. In fact, his heel even had to be reconstructed which leaves him in pain when walking.

“Given a choice between grief and nothing, I’d choose grief.”

— William Faulkner

Arson X2 = Prison Time

Raymond asked, “Do you know who I look like?” I said, “No, who?” He smiled, “That guy on Breaking Bad.” I laughed a little, “The professor? Yes, you do!”

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He then talked about his stay in the state prison. He was sentenced to 15 years for a double arson case a number of years back. Evidently, the wrong people tricked and beat up Raymond. In revenge he burnt down their two mobile homes, one of which was new.

Without skipping a beat and owning up to the crimes as he talked, he said that alcohol was a factor in his decision making process.

After getting out of prison he met a girl and eventually met a second significant other called meth. “I’m getting off it,” he told me. In fact, Raymond has been clean since the first of February.

“I am more afraid of alcohol than of all the bullets of the enemy. ”

— Stonewall Jackson

Working and Dreaming at 20 in Chattanooga

At age 20, most of us are thinking about our evening plans or who we will be dating on Friday night. Most of those under the age of 22 or so are not thinking about moths to feed.

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This young lady lives in the Chattanooga area and walks to work daily. Captain D's is her employer and she works hard to make others smile who visit the chain restaurant.

At home she leaves her 3-year-old with a babysitter while she saves her paycheck with a dream that may not be too far ahead.

Here dream… to own her own house.

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

— Walt Disney

Quiet Midnight Street

On a quiet midnight street.

"I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I wanna reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name"

- U2, 1987

Street music with rockabilly style

Two of the four rockabilly Outlaw Rituals in Chattanooga, TN.

“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.” ― -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, widely recognized as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music (1856-1791)

Laughter beats the pain at times

He sits in a wheelchair because of diabetes and he suffers from neuropathy of the legs and feet. He told me, “Doctors describe walking with neuropathy as walking on pins and needles, well they know nothing, it’s nothing like that and it’s pure pain!” As the 65 year old man continued, “I wasn’t always in a wheelchair, I used to work in the automotive industry.”

Gary Rupp is from Detroit, Michigan, but moved away about three months ago because the dying city got too expensive to call home. After a little research, Gary found one of the cheapest places to live was Chattanooga, Tennessee – so he made the move.

The costs of Living for Gary (Detroit Vs. Chattanooga):

Gary currently calls the ChattCity Motel on East 20th Street in Chattanooga his home. He has a room that he rents for about $300 monthly, which is cheaper than some of the dirtiest motels in Nashville, Memphis and even Murfreesboro.

In Detroit, utilities average about $115 per month in a small apartment and that small apartment in a middle class neighborhood costs about $530 per month. The small apartment is only 480 square feet in size, which is a studio apartment.

In Chattanooga, you can get the same apartment for $483 per month and utilities will cost you $94 per month or less.

While saving $68 monthly would not convince most people to move, when you start factoring in the cost of food in Tennessee verses Detroit, transportation costs, etc. – it actually makes sense for someone on a fixed income to make that move.

What happens with neuropathy of the legs?

Some of the things that neuropathy causes in the legs include: burning pain, freezing pain, jabbing feelings as if you are being stabbed, extreme sensitivity to touch, lack of coordination and muscle weakness or paralysis.

Laughter beats pain: 

I feel it is important to say that Gary laughed three times as we talked. The first time when I handed him an ice cold bottle of water, the second when I handed him a package of Oreo cookies and the third as we joked at nothingness.

"Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain." - Charlie Chaplin, English comic actor, filmmaker, composer (1889-1977)

The wall around him

The wall around him: “I’m tired of all the ones who beg for money, I never ask for anything,” he said while talking about the old neighborhood where he grew up as a child. He continued, “They litter everywhere and trash it up – Not me, I collect cans [pointing at a bag of cans hanging from his bike handlebars].”

The 51 year old has lived in Chattanooga his entire life. “My mom was lenient,” he said with a smile. He then made the statement, “My dad… my dad was hard on me.” I asked if his father ever hit him or raised his hand to which he responded, “Some kids need that.”

And there he sits alone with his salad that a kind passerby gave him. If you stop to talk, he quietly screams in his head for more human interaction, but his wall is too high at times to see the outside world.

"Hey you, standing in the road
always doing what you're told,
Can you help me?
Hey you, out there beyond the wall,
Breaking bottles in the hall,
Can you help me?
Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall."

-Pink Floyd on The Wall album from 1979, Hey You

He lost his leg in a shark attack... not really

He was quietly sitting on the ground beneath the shadow of a closed business in Chattanooga, TN. Looking down, he refused to make eye contact with those passing by on a busy, but humid Saturday. The heat index was over 100 degrees. He wasn’t asking for money or help of any kind, just sitting in thought.

His name is William, “But my close friends call me peg leg,” he said with a laugh while holding up the prosthetic leg sitting by his right. He then said, “I was born with a clubfoot and they went ahead and removed it in 1966.” The foot was malformed from the start, so it was removed at birth.

“I usually have a good story for people when they ask what happened to my leg,” he told me with a smile. “Someday's I lost it in a shark attack, other times it was a ski boat accident,” he explained.

Today William is 51 years old. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, but later moved to Memphis where he lived a few years before heading to Chattanooga.

“I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's only me, and I walk alone
I walk this empty street
On the boulevard of broken dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one, and I walk alone”
-Green Day, “I Walk Alone”

I met with a Keeper of Time

In year 1900 the Coleman Company was first introduced to the world after they incorporated, but not as a camping and sporting goods manufacture. Instead, the company opened under the name of the Hydro-Carbon Light Company, manufacturing lanterns that were later named after W.C. Coleman.

It wasn’t until 1909 that the first and famous Coleman Lantern was introduced. The company went on to manufacture everything from cooking stoves to canoes, like the one you see on this Jeep belonging to Brian Burgess.

Burgess, who is an archaeologist, totes his 1958 Coleman canoe with him on a regular basis. The day I ran into him, he was about to load it into the Tennessee River in Chattanooga.

Such canoes made out of aluminum were manufactured for the first time directly after World War II. Many outdoor enthusiast switched over from wood canoes to aluminum during that time period because they were so low maintenance and quite durable.

While digging for gold may sound more glorious, Burgess prefers to dig for history. He has searched the country far and wide for interesting finds. “Anywhere that there is high ground and walking distance to water, there has been man,” he told me while basically suggesting that history can be nearly anywhere.

Originally from the Lone Star State Burgess said that his grandfather, who is 100 years old today, sparked his search for treasures. He said that his grandfather took him exploring as a kid when he was only 4 or 5 years old. “We’re keepers of time,” he stated while talking about the importance of archaeologist.

“I also collect dinosaur bones,” he said while talking about how the bones will wash up along the banks of the Brazos River in Texas. The Brazos is the 11th longest river in the United States, which means it passes through lots of history. The Brazos was also where a scene from the battle between the Texas Navy and Mexican Navy during the Texas Revolution took place. It was also an important navigational voyage during the American Civil War. So, depending on where you are on the river, you may just be lucky enough to come across something interesting.

Not everything Burgess comes across is for keeps. In fact, he has given valuable artifacts to multiple museums. He suggested that history sometimes finds him, so he passes it along to allow others to share in the find.

“We’re keepers of time.” – Brian Burgess, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Memorial Day

Memorial Day, a time to remember our fallen veterans.

Photo of headstone for US Army Vietnam Veteran James Albert Thornburg of Tennessee.  He served under the 1st Infantry Division, Battalion 8 in the 6/15th Artillery Company, Deadly Alpha from April of 1967 until April of 1968.

Thornburg received the National Defense Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Bronze Star with V Device and Two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Unit Citation, and the Presidential Citation.

He died at age 56 in year 2002. 

Wrong Bus Stop

"I got off at the wrong stop," he told me. "I was trying to get off in Chattanooga, but I got off the bus in Nashville by accident," he explained. I told him that Chattanooga was only about an hour or so away. He then pointed at his shoes, "Not in these."

Blast from the Past Could be the Future

An empty passenger train car sits quietly on the side tracks of Chattanooga. Old passenger cars like this one could be our link to the the future in growing states like Tennessee. 

As states see population increases in the South, the government is working overtime to ease road congestion as cars become more gas friendly. Gas friendly cars mean less tax revenue at the gas pumps which equals less money for new road construction and road repair. However, it also means more cars on the road in growing areas. 

With traffic in mind, lawmakers are rethinking the idea of commuter rail services between Atlanta, GA and Nashville, TN. As a way to pay for such expense, Tennessee lawmakers are aiming their sites on a new bill that would allow for a private business / government partnerships to fund ideas like passenger rail lines, lite rail lines, a subway and even a monorail system.  

I didn't do it

His face was dirty and his clothing well worn. He told me, “I use to live in Chattanooga, but I had to move. They accused me of starting a fire.” “Did you commit arson,” I asked. “What,” he said. “Did you start a fire,” I asked him again. “No, I didn’t do it,” he told me.

"There are no facts, only interpretations." - Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), a German philosopher