It's April 13, 2020. Three days away from the two year anniversary of the start of our Transamerica bike ride. I found myself thinking about the trip a lot over the past several days. So's here's the winding path back to there. As everybody in the world knows, the last month or more has been dominated by the daily news of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A month ago the first high school track meets were cancelled and our local high school made the decision to go to online schooling at least until April 13, today. Since then every day seems to bring news of increasingly stringent measures to "flatten the curve." As of now, the track season has been cancelled and the local school is entirely online until the end of the school year! Everyone is obliged to "social distance," stay home except for essential activities, grocery shopping for example. I'm not telling you anything you're not living through since around the world governments are taking similar measures! Lucky for me, I guess, since I'm retired my work has not been affected; but, millions of American's have been let go or laid off due to this. Also outdoor activities, running and biking among them, is still permitted albeit with restrictions on groups. So I'm doing my usual running/biking daily routine.
In the midst of this, a well-known singer/songwriter, John Prine, succumbed to COVID-19. I've known his music but his death introduced me to him in greater depth. He grew up in Chicago! He was good friends with Steve Goodman, of "City of New Orleans" fame. John's family has roots in the eastern Kentucky coal country. This family history is revealed in one of his songs, "Paradise" about the town his family was from in eastern Kentucky. Hearing the song again, I wondered if we'd travelled near to Paradise, which is now a ghost town but was once home to a coal mine. We travelled north of Paradise. We stopped at Doolin's Grocery. There the proprietor told us of the end of coal mining in the area and the migration of families north. In particular he shared that he knew of Hammond, Indiana, because he knew of people who'd moved there.
Now, I've dug out the document I created of the bike trip, based upon my blog posts at the time. I've begun making notes in the margins about coal country. I've already learned more about our travels through Kentucky but I've also begun to go back to other spots along the route and added notes. I guess the trip isn't really ever over, is it?
In the midst of this, a well-known singer/songwriter, John Prine, succumbed to COVID-19. I've known his music but his death introduced me to him in greater depth. He grew up in Chicago! He was good friends with Steve Goodman, of "City of New Orleans" fame. John's family has roots in the eastern Kentucky coal country. This family history is revealed in one of his songs, "Paradise" about the town his family was from in eastern Kentucky. Hearing the song again, I wondered if we'd travelled near to Paradise, which is now a ghost town but was once home to a coal mine. We travelled north of Paradise. We stopped at Doolin's Grocery. There the proprietor told us of the end of coal mining in the area and the migration of families north. In particular he shared that he knew of Hammond, Indiana, because he knew of people who'd moved there.
Now, I've dug out the document I created of the bike trip, based upon my blog posts at the time. I've begun making notes in the margins about coal country. I've already learned more about our travels through Kentucky but I've also begun to go back to other spots along the route and added notes. I guess the trip isn't really ever over, is it?
