103. From Pittsfield to Phoenix Hill

Is there an Indian Spring as there is an Indian Summer? If so, we are experiencing it here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River at Milepost 606. I've been enjoying the weather, especially in the mornings. I remember in August of the summer I was 16 (1977) a trip I made with my grandfather and his new bride, my step-grandmother Evelyn. We went to Pittsfield, Massachusetts for one of the annual gatherings of his WW2 friends, all members of the 114th Seabees of the United States Navy.

Our hosts there were George and Audrey Purnell, George being one of my grandfather's war-buddies. They lived in a subdivision called Allengate (as I remember). Arising early (even then) on the Saturday morning of the weekend, I walked into town maybe a mile and a half away. This would have been late August and the morning temperature there was around what it was here today, 44 degrees. Just as today's needle is expected to rise into the low 70s, that day as well saw a similar warm up.

I went to Pittsfield twice with my grandfather. Each time our plane landed in Albany, NY, a few miles away, maybe 20, to the west along US 20. Schenectady is just north of Albany and as it was home to General Electric, we were obliged to drive by and see the Mother-plant to Louisville's Appliance Park. Pittsfield itself was the original home of the Stanley Electric Transformer Factory, a forerunner to GE. Another place we visited was the Hancock Shaker Village, also on US 20 along the Massachusetts-New York line. We visited the college town of Stockbridge, took in Tanglewood (but it was August, and a little early for a visit from the Boston Symphony), and then went north of Pittsfield for a few miles. The towns of Adams and North Adams are just east of Mount Greylock, the tallest point in Massachusetts at just under 3500 feet, nearto the northwest corner, where looking west a few short miles is New York, while north the same distance is Vermont. The view on top of Mount Greylock is best taken in from the War Memorial Tower, built in 1933, dedicated to the war dead of WW1.

But, as with all good trips, that weekend came to an end with a flight back to Louisville on the old Allegheny Airlines. That second year, we went from Albany to Pittsburgh, and then because of weather conditions, were routed to Charlotte, North Carolina, long before anyone (especially any banking interests) had ever heard of the place, and finally back to Lee Terminal at Standiford Field.

On the other hand, this weekend just now beginning here in Kentucky, is the final weekend before our largely unheralded Primary Election, unheralded despite the fact that we have eight candidates wanting to replace the ninth one as leader of our Commonwealth. Lots of folks will be criss-crossing the state, stump speaking, knocking on doors, and dropping literature, to an uninterested and largely apathetic audience. The bean-counters are estimating the turnout between 13 and 20% of the electorate, which is deplorable. Polls currently show the embattled governor (the ninth above the other eight want to replace) in a comforatble lead in his party's primary over on the Dark Side.

The Democratic Primary is probably going to be a two-part affair with the top two finishers going to a runoff on June 26. Former State Representative, Attorney General, and Lieutenant Governor Steve Beshear, of Lexington, and formerly of Dawson Springs in west Kentucky, is in a comfortable lead, but not comfortable enough to assure and outright win, which requires 40%. Behind him is W. Bruce Lunsford, of Louisville, and formerly of northern Kentucky, who is a millionaire several times over and is using a large amount of his own money to win the race, just as he did four years ago, when, about at this point in the race, and $8,000,000.00 poorer than when he started, he withdrew his candidacy. That isn't likely to happen this time. Probably in third at this point is my friend Steve Henry, a former Jefferson County Commissioner and later two-term Lieutenant Governor. Steve is from Louisville, but like the others, always points out his roots in Owensboro, Bowling Green, Maysville, Augusta, Danville, Harrodsburg, and several other "home" towns. Henry will likely win Louisville and the west, but his problem will be in central and eastern Kentucky.

The polls open for Round One at 6:00 am, prevailing time, Tuesday, and will remain so for twelve long hours, particularly for the four highly underpaid, but also underworked people who are present to staff each polling location. I've indicated my support in the past for Dr. Henry as well as for MaDonna White, a candidate for Secretary of State. There are other races as to determine who will be in the lineups come this fall. My vote is cast in Precinct L-113 at the Phoenix Place Apartments Clubhouse.

In the meantime, enjoy the weekend. I plan to.