Musings & Helen Keller-still in Florence

For those of you with electronic nav systems, John was amazed that, at planing speed on the rivers, the chart changed about every 6 1/2 minutes.  It seemed that every time Mary asked what mile marker so she could compare our location on the paper charts, John had to tell her we were off one chart and the next was still coming up.  A BIG difference from our great lakes charts!

We haven't had tv for most of the trip.  Even when cable has been available, it usually required a cable box which had to be hooked up in the back of the tv and it has just not been worth the trouble. One of our tv's is digital, but even when we get a station or 2, the reception is not reliable and the signal fades and returns, fades and returns.  Even when we haven't moved the boat we may receive a station at night and have "no signal" in the morning.  PBS has been most reliable.  Children's programming has changed a little since Matthew and Benjamin used to watch Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. John now knows that Marc Brown's Arthur is an aardvark and his new favorite superhero is Wordgirl.  When he said' "I saw her saw," and chuckled this morning during a home improvement show, Mary suggested he move to the old tv and watch "Somewhere in Time".  It's a good thing we brought our DVDs.

We visited Helen Keller's birthplace, Ivy Green, in Tuscumbia, AL.  Marc and Michele McCoy, loopers on Marc's Ark II from Galena, Il, joined us.  Helen was actually born in a small cottage near this house, but this is where she lived when Annie Sullivan came to teach her.  Since the homestead (although reduced from 640 to 10 acres) passed directly from the family to the city of Tuscumbia, many furnishings, clothing, etc. are original.  They even have what's left of the set of dishes that Helen didn't break during her first mealtime encounter with Annie Sullivan and the pump where Helen realized what the "fingerplay" with Annie meant.

Helen Keller was an amazing woman and her accomplishments are many.  In 1927 she challenged the Lions Clubs to help the blind so, the next time you drop your old glasses into a box at the library or post office, it's due to her challenge.  If you haven't seen the movie "The Miracle Worker", borrow it from your local library.

An item that we had not seen before, or at least didn't realize the purpose of, was this type of needlework fireplace screen.  According to our guide, beeswax was a common ingredient in makeup, to help cover pox scars.  Men used it to wax their mustaches.  If a person sat too close to the fire, the wax would begin to melt and hopefully one of your friends would warn you to "Mind your own beeswax" so you would know to move away from the fireplace.

We enjoyed happy hour on the dock with Theresa and Larry from Miss Lauren Grace (they live aboard their boat), Jane and Larry from Bavarian Cream, and Marc and Michele from Marc's Ark II.  We went to dinner at Dale's Restaurant with Marc and Michele.   Our triple A book warns not to judge this place by its exterior.  The food was excellent and they will give you a ride to and from the marina.  Between us we had ribs, steak, pork chop and chicken and they were all good.