Monthly Archives: May 2018

On “Pirate’s Island,” Alabama…

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PIRATES ISLAND, Logan Martin Lake (AL), without the “Jolly Roger” that got my attention…

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Hewitt-Trussville High SchoolI just got back from a graduation at Hewitt-Trussville High School in Trussville, Alabama.  (Great-nephew.)  The ceremony was on Tuesday night, May 22.

Earlier in the day I started off trying to find a place to kayak.  “Lake Purdy” was closest to my hotel, via long and winding back roads.  However, when I got there they’d posted all kind of signs saying, “No private boats, no canoes, no kayaks.”  (Jerks.  They might as well have added, “No having fun, no enjoying nature, this means you idiot!”  Stuff like that.)

So I ended up at an RV camp “slash” boat ramp, at Lakeside Landing, on Logan Martin Lake.  (A “reservoir located in east central Alabama on the Coosa River.”  I.e., it was formed by a kazillion dams on the Coosa River in the middle of Alabama.)  So fortunately I was able to get in two hours of full-speed kayak-paddling, though I did have to baby my right shoulder a bit, and take several breaks.  (I’d messed up my right shoulder about a month before, but no “rotator cuff problems…”)

So anyway, I normally paddle out an hour, then take an hour to get back to whatever boat ramp I left from.  (Depending on wind, tide and/or current, if I’m kayaking on a river.)  This day I was getting near the one-hour turning-around point when I saw another lakeside RV camp, with what I took to be an American flag waving in the wind.

Then I saw that the flag pole was on a little bitty island, about 100 yards offshore.  (In what looked to be a cluster of drowned-out trees.)  Then I saw that it wasn’t an American flag at all.

It was a “Jolly Roger,” a skull-and-crossbones black flag.  (Which I thought was quite odd, coming up on Memorial Day and all.)  So I ended up paddling around the island, which turned out to be like the photo at the top of the page.  Except, there were no people and no boats tied up to shore.  And of course with the Jolly Roger waving in the breeze.

Then I headed back to the boat ramp.

It had been cloudy and overcast all morning, but on the return trip I could see a line of rain falling right near where I needed to go to get back “home.”  I managed to skirt the rain for a while, but eventually got pretty well soaked. Then it stopped, I got back to the ramp, then got stuck under a patio-like overhang thing with a (closed) concession stand, just as I was about to load up the kayak.  I had to wait there a good 20 minutes, then it slacked off a bit and I loaded up and headed back to the hotel, pretty much “soggy bottomed.”

Anyway, when I got home Wednesday afternoon I Googled “pirate’s island logan martin lake.” And got the pictures the top of the page and below left.  Plus a description from a website, Pirate’s Island – Discover St. Clair.  Turns out it’s a “75 ft.X 50 ft. excluding beach & sandbar” island that the wife of some guy named Regan bought for him years ago:

On the 75 x 50-foot island itself, its palm trees leaning out over the water, the Regans’ family and friends gather around a fire pit, relaxing in chairs of all shapes and sizes.

Logan-Martin-Pirate-IslandThere was also this note:

All are welcome on Pirate’s Island.  It’s a tradition that evolved when a boat load of 10 year olds asked if they needed help on the island.  They helped clean it, and their pay came in hotdogs.

I wish I’d known that.  (The “all are welcome” part.)  I could have stopped and stretched my legs…

Note that neither of these pictures show the black flag waving in the wind that first caught my attention.  And on a totally unrelated note:  This morning – the morning after I got back home – I got a little more into my reading of Liberty’s First Crisis:  Adams, Jefferson, and the Misfits Who Saved Free Speech.  It told the story of the first real test of the First Amendment:

Suddenly, the First Amendment, which protected harsh commentary of the weak government, no longer seemed as practical. So that July … the Federalists in control of Congress passed an extreme piece of legislation that made criticism of the government and its leaders a crime punishable by heavy fines and jail time … and the country’s future hung in the balance.

That “extreme piece of legislation” was the Alien and Sedition Act.  Which led John Adams – one of the nation’s Founding Fathers – to write this:  “Mankind will in time discover that unbridled majorities are as tyrannical and cruel as unlimited despots.”

Not that there’s any connection to current events or anything….

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56 figures stand or sit in a room. Five lay papers on a table.

John Adams – at center, “hand on his hip” – and the Declaration of Independence…

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The upper image is courtesy of Pirates Island Logan Martin Lake – Image Results (Pinterest).  A side note:  This island is not to be confused with Pirate Island Sea Isle City, in New Jersey.

Re:  “Lake Purdy.”  See Lake Purdy – Let’s Go Fishing – Official Site:  

No private boats are allowed on Lake Purdy.  (Including NO Kayaks)  2. Participants can use their own trolling motors or outboards up to 10 horsepower.  3. All boats must have regulation running lights which can be purchased at the Lake Purdy store.  4. Boats must fish at least 100 feet away from another boat.

So once again I say, “Jerks!”

Re:  “Soggy bottomed.”  See O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Wikipedia.  “The Soggy Bottom Boys is the musical group that the main characters form to serve as accompaniment for the film.  The name is in homage to the Foggy Mountain Boys, a bluegrass band led by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs…”

Re:  The quote from The Misfits Who Saved Free Speech is on page 20 of the 2015 Atlantic Monthly Press edition.  A review added this:  “Americans refused to let their freedoms be so easily dismissed: they penned fiery editorials, signed petitions, and raised ‘liberty poles…’”

The lower image is courtesy of John Adams – Wikipedia.  The full caption:  “Trumbull’s ‘Declaration of Independence‘ – committee presents draft to Congress.  Adams stands at center with his hand on his hip.”  Another side note:  “Adams had privately criticized Thomas Paine‘s 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, saying that the author had ‘a better hand at pulling down than building.'”

So again, “Not that there’s any connection to current events or anything…“

Are we trying another “Noble Experiment?”

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Maybe Americans voted for Prohibition – in 1920 – thinking,  What have we got to lose???”

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Republican president-elect Donald Trump delivers his acceptance speech at the New York Hilton Midtown early Wednesday.I first drafted this post just after Tuesday, November 8, 2016.  Here’s the opening line:

Looking for a breath of fresh air after Election Day – around 4:00 a.m. Wednesday morning – I found Trump’s presidential election victory means America must hope for the best.

Today – May 3, 2018 – I just re-read that article, and it was most interesting.

And speaking of November 8, 2016, it seemed to me then – and even more so now – that Trump’s election was and is an “experiment.”  An experiment in electing a man totally unqualified by training, experience or temperament to be Leader of the Free World.

That in turn led me to an earlier such experiment in our history.  (Which, as it turned out, failed.)  In that experiment, American voters tried to outlaw drinking.  (As in the drinking of alcoholic beverages.)  See The Prohibition Experiment of the 1920’s, which said the period of 13 years when America outlawed liquor “is often referred to as an ‘experiment.’”

Now about that poster at the top of the page:  Back before 1920, America was in the grip of blue laws.  They prohibited – among other things – selling alcohol “on Sundays … under the idea that people should be in church on Sunday morning, or at least not drinking.”  Thus the idea that “every day will be Sunday” was depressing to many Americans.  See Songs about Prohibition Expressed Opposition & Occasional Support, which included the “Prohibition Blues:”

‘Scuse me while I shed a tear,
For good old whiskey, gin and beer.
Goodbye forever, Goodbye forever.
Ah got de Prohibition, Prohibition, Prohibition blues.

And speaking of “strange bedfellows,” one of the strongest supporters of Prohibition was the Ku Klux Klan, as shown at left.  (Not that there’s any connection to current events or anything…)

So anyway, the Prohibition Experiment article said that word alone – experiment – “implies that it was a futile period within America’s history.”  As to the reasons, see U.S. Prohibition – Wikipedia:

In a backlash to the emerging reality of a changing American demographic, many prohibitionists subscribed to the doctrine of nativism, in which they endorsed the notion that America was made great as a result of its white Anglo-Saxon ancestry.  This belief fostered resentments towards urban immigrant communities…

Which sounded eerily similar somehow…

As to nativism, see Lonely and unhappy people elected Donald Trump:  “We know that racism, nativism and white victimology were crucial motivations for Trump’s voters.  We [also] know that white identity politics disguised as anger … propelled Trump’s victory.”

But the triumph of nativism – at least in terms of Prohibition – was short-lived.  It was short-lived because of two traits inherent in the American character:  We are creative, and we hate being told what to do by “higher ups.”  (Especially higher-ups in the federal government.) 

So here’s how some Americans got around the “orders from above” during Prohibition:

Making alcohol at home was very common during Prohibition.  Stores sold grape concentrate with warning labels that listed the steps that should be avoided to prevent the juice from fermenting into wine…  The grape concentrate was sold with a warning: “After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine.”

You have to love a country where that happens.  (See too Irony, a “statement that, when taken in context, may actually mean something different from, or the opposite of, what is written literally.”)

And as to the “noble” part of the post-title, see Prohibition: America’s failed “noble experiment” – CBS News.  (“Prohibition was the so-called ‘noble experiment’ which had some rather ignoble consequences.”)  The article was based in large part on the book, Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition.  And asked why he loved writing about Prohibition, author Daniel Okrent said:

“It’s the answer to that question, how the hell did that happen?” 

How did it happen, indeed.  Prohibition did happen, but then we wised up.

So one point of this post is that Americans are industrious, creative and adaptive.  That is, we generally learn from our mistakes.  All of which means that anything really weird that “The Donald” tries to do will likely be leavened – as in an “altering or transforming influence” – by the very characteristics of American democracy that Donald Trump seems to loathe.  (Including but not limited to the ideas of a free press and that we are a nation of laws, not men.)  

And there’s yet another bright note:

Thanks to the 22d Amendment. this “experiment” won’t last 13 years…

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Prohibition Ends Celebrate Poster by Jon Neidert. All posters are professionally printed, packaged, and shipped within 3 - 4 business days. Choose from multiple sizes and hundreds of frame and mat options.

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The upper image is courtesy of Prohibition in the U.S. – Wikipedia.  The caption to the poster shown:  “Every Day Will Be Sunday When the Town Goes Dry (1918–1919).  Wikipedia added this:

Prohibition represented a conflict between urban and rural values emerging in the United States.  Given the mass influx of migrants to the urban centers of the United States, many individuals within the prohibition movement associated the crime and morally corrupt behavior of American cities with their large, immigrant populations.

Which also sounds eerily familiar…  For another take, see What we didn’t know about Trump on Election Day 2016. (May 2, 2018.)

Re:  “Our” president as Leader of the Free World.  But see Merkel is now the leader of the free world.

Re:  The KKK and Prohibition.  See Wikipedia, and The KKK Supported Prohibition and Defended It.  The “KKK” image courtesy of Prohibition in the U.S. – Wikipedia.  Caption:  “Defender Of The 18th Amendment.  From Klansmen: Guardians of Liberty published by the Pillar of Fire Church.”

Re:  Irony.  See Irony – Wikipedia and/or irony – Wiktionary. 

Re:  Trump’s campaign promises.  See Donald Trump’s top 10 campaign promises | PolitiFact.

The “Happy Days” image is courtesy of Happy Days Are Here Again 1932 Convention – Image Results: “pinimg.com … eddfe33922d14ea84e130–prohibition-ends-canvas-prints.jpg.”

See also the lower image at Happy Days Are Here Again … Image Results: “pinimg.com … eddfe33922d14ea84e130–prohibition-ends-canvas-prints.jpg.”