I’ve alluded
earlier (much earlier!) in this memoir to the visit Joyce and I made to Memphis
in late July, 2001. It was a brutally hot day, the 28th—reaching 91.[1]
But that 91 felt much worse than, say, an Arizona 91. The humidity was 91%, and
I had some (unpleasant) flashbacks to my Oklahoma boyhood when the humidity and
temperature would combine to reduce human beings to Dripping Creatures. I
remember my dad—who was in the Air Force Reserves at the time—coming home from
Vance Air Force Base in Enid, his khaki summer uniform dark with his
perspiration.
In Memphis
that day it was incredibly uncomfortable whenever we emerged from our (air-conditioned)
car to look at historical markers and sites. It’s possible (likely) that I’ve
posted these photos before, but here they are again. The historical marker is
actually somewhat distant from the original Nashoba site, which is near the
Wolf River. Standing near that site now is a huge exhibition center—the Memphis
Agricenter International, which we briefly toured, seeking relief from Old Sol.
Here
(again?) is what I wrote in my journal that day:
… checked into motel, then drove to site of
Nashoba, Frances Wright’s failed settlement near Wolf River (now an Agricenter;
today—brutally hot—they were having an ice-cream festival that attracted a
horde of people); took a few pictures of the site, then drove down to the
little Wolf River & walked back a ways in the woods to take some photos;
drove then to the official Nashoba marker (near a KFC and 2 other
fast-food-chicken places near Memphis); took pictures of it; then drove to the
National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where MLK, Jr., was shot in
1968 ….
So … Joyce
and I traveled to Memphis, nearly 200 years after Frances Wright had urged Mary
Shelley to join her there. Mary declined; we did not.
[1] Memphis weather
information from Weather Underground (online): https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMEM/2001/7/28/DailyHistory.html?req_city=&req_state=&req_statename=&reqdb.zip=&reqdb.magic=&reqdb.wmo=
A selection of photos from July 28, 2001 ...
No comments:
Post a Comment