Arkansas

Arkansas

                        Arkansas is certainly an unusual piece of land full of a diverse group of folks. Geologically, the state is bisected, by an invisible division called the fall line. Starting from around Memphis on a line to Texarkana the state is split, and very simply stated, the land northwest of this line is millions of years older than the land southeast of the fall line. I’m talking about the rocks, geologically speaking.

First off, let’s talk about the land. Northwest of the fall line, the hills of the Ouachita and Ozark, simply speaking, are very poor farm land, and that’s what our early European settlers found out the hard way. After the virgin timber was cut the settlers tried cotton and other crops, until it was obvious there wasn’t going to be any cotton plantations north of the fall line. That left about half of the state where early farmers struggled to make a living, and that was cut in half again because the sandy loam of the Gulf Coastal Plain in the central and southwest part of the state would grow trees, but anything else was an uphill battle. Cut the state in half again and you have the Mississippi Delta, geologically known as the Mississippi Embayment a huge down-warp, which is a drainage ditch called the Mississippi River. After the ice age glaciers moved south gouging up huge amounts of Midwest topsoil, a 20 to 40 mile wide Mississippi River dumped billions of tons of top soil from Missouri to Louisiana and then filled a sizeable part of the Gulf of Mexico and presto, “the Delta”, some of the best farm land in the world.

Our forefathers understood, and that precipitated the great clearcutting of the massive virgin forest and draining of the primeval swamp, which gave our state millions of acres of fertile land. Of course, untold millions of acres of wetland wildlife habit was destroyed along with driving numerous species to extinction.

Well, when you put all of the above in a complicated geological landform, you have an unusual piece of land we call Arkansas.

                        However, what makes our state even more remarkable, is because we, as a people, are just about as different as the state is geologically. That is because, according to Anthropology Professor Justin Nolan, who has studied the migration patterns of settlers into Arkansas, north and south Arkansas was populated by peoples from different sections of the country.  Broadly speaking, north Arkansas received most of their early settlers from north of Virginia via the hills of Tennessee and Kentucky, while south Arkansas received the bulk of its early settlers from south of Virginia, via Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. For example, my mother’s family had their Georgia land taken by carpetbaggers, moved to Alabama, and later to Rose Bud, Arkansas and finally to South Arkansas. 

                        Professor Nolan pointed out that even centuries after the first waves of settlers, north and south Arkansas’s vocabularies still contain distinctly different words and their use of folk medicines derived from the land and even their basic customs are dissimilar. For example: The word, “tump” as is “tump over”, is common in many South Arkansas citizens, but virtually unknown in other parts of the state.

                        Well, that gives us a broad overview of a geologically complicated state full of radically different people, and I know you are about to say, “So what?” Okay, this is ‘so what’: while our State is geologically scrambled and its people are certainly a diverse bunch, we all have certain goals in life that are similar, and for me, to live a full life, I want to take advantage of the interactions with as many Arkansas people as I can, and while I’m at it, nose around in as much of this remarkable, scenic state as possible, for a very selfish reason: the interaction with these various professionals, working men and women, gender challenged, and racially different groups of people enriches, my life and by those interactions it gives be a better quality of life. 

                        If we only interact with say, “Liberal, baby killing, socialistic, Democrats” our viewpoint and broad overview of life is going to be restricted to the point where we’re totally missing the friendships and interactions of the “Nazi, woman abusing, anti-environmental, ethic hating Republicans.” Of course, I’m joking, but I am saying you should enjoy the diversity available to challenge your mind by being with politically opposites, racially mixed, or gender different. Yes, all of the above, and just the richness of those interactions will give you a vastly different and fuller life, instead of a restricted, narrow life. It will give you a richness only available to a few who will branch out of their comfort zone. 

                        Here in one of the most diverse states geologically and in its people, we have the opportunity to live a life that is a 10 times more fulfilling and exciting than a New Yorker. Let me tell you why: In the past, through our travels and business opportunities, we became good friends with a number of couples from the Northeast, mainly New York City. As we got to know them better, I was struck by several things. First, the food items: as we talked about some of our favorite foods while dining with them, it was obvious, while we knew and enjoyed all of the foods the New Yorkers did, their diet never included a whole host of foods we enjoy, and when we talked about our sons getting married, and I was asked by one of the New Yorkers, “How many people did you have at the wedding?” And I answered, “The Church was full. I guess it was about 500.” The New Yorker was shocked. “How do you know so many people?” He questioned? “Well, it’s not that unusual to have a church full for a wedding.” I replied.

                        I guess what I’m saying is that we have a wonderful, scenic state, and just by living in it, we have an easy opportunity to enrich our lives by getting out of our ruts and nosing around in the Delta, or the Ouachita’s or go fishing up Champanolle Creek or explore a cave in the Ozark or take in a concert in Little Rock, or eat hot tamales in the Delta.  All of those destinations are an easy drive, and while your crossing our wonderful state make it a point to search out those little restaurant gems that will break your routine and add to your enjoyment of life.

                        I believe, we have the opportunity to live life to the fullest here in Arkansas by searching out the scenic parts of our state, and as we do our interaction with the people in that part of the state will enhance our quality of life.

Of course, we have such a wide range of political animals here that I couldn't’ possible name them all, but break out of your rut and interact with some political opposites, and as you interact, remember, our wonderful constitution has withstood a civil war and countless other challenges.  So branch out enjoy a wonderful diverse state, and while you’re at it---take a Libertarian to lunch.