Industrial Resilience on the Chesapeake Bay

The ill-fated M/V Dali is pierside at Norfolk International Terminal in the Hampton Roads area, having been towed south through the Chesapeake Bay last month from Baltimore. During the accidental blockade of Baltimore’s inner harbor as a result of the Key Bridge collapse, the additional maritime traffic sent to Hampton Roads exercised, but did not overstress, the capabilities of the local maritime industry. At a Maritime Day event in May, I casually surveyed various local maritime service providers. Among those who experienced a windfall of business were harbor pilots, tug boat operators, and longshoremen. Being on the roads, I noticed the increase of terminal truck drivers and trains carrying shipping containers and coal from April to June. Coal carriers and container ships made an increase of visits to Norfolk International Terminals, driving the increase in road and rail traffic. Several Ready Reserve Fleet ships were stranded in Baltimore; their counterparts in the Hampton Roads area picked up at least one cargo mission. Two classes of ships that appear to have diverted elsewhere are cable-laying ships and car carriers (or, roll-on, roll off). Baltimore’s inner harbor had special facilities for both. Also of note is one historic ship whose maintenance schedule was altered by the blockade. SS John Brown, a museum ship normally docked in Baltimore, is now in Colonna’s drydock undergoing a periodic maintenance and repair period. Different than the usual assortment of inland vessels and small offshore craft, this vessel is a decorated piece of World War Two history. The SS John Brown was a full-fledged break-bulk cargo ship, and was built to typical dimensions of the era. To arrive in Norfolk from Baltimore, she cruised the Chesapeake Bay on her own power.

Amateur Hour- Voting During Coronavirus

Wisconsin’s presidential primary elections- and a state supreme court justice race- were held on Tuesday April 7^th in the midst of stay-at-home orders. These are the first statewide races in the US since primaries in Florida, Arizona and Illinois on March 17^th. Some commentators have related local COVID-19 outbreaks to in-person voting during the March 17^th primaries, but the medical community has not agreed with this hypothesis.  

In Wisconsin, many citizens relied on in-person voting, and waited with face masks in social-distanced lines. For health reasons, most poll workers – predominately elderly volunteers- stayed home, closing most polling places in Milwaukee and Green Bay. Long lines were observed in these cities, perhaps because many absentee ballots were not mailed to voters on time. Absentee voters had to find a witness to sign their ballot and envelope, and some citizens were reluctant to come out of self-isolation to meet this requirement. Results will be tabulated after April 13^th, which will reveal voter participation and turnout rates by city and county. There is a good chance that the media will declare this fairly low-stakes vote a spoiled election. These kinks- make that structural flaws- need to be addressed well ahead of the November elections, and preferably before the April 7^th results are finalized. Don’t take Wisconsin to the whipping post over this; the state is only a messenger of situations across the country, yet to come.

My city, Norfolk, Virginia, will be holding local elections on May 5^th. The Office of Elections recommends that citizens apply for an absentee ballot. The approved steps for requesting an absentee ballot in light of COVID-19 is a workaround, using the existing vote-by-mail request. Social-distancing absentee voters will swear or affirm, under felony penalty for making willfully false material statements, that “I have a reason or condition that prevents me from going to the polls on Election Day”, that condition being “my disability or illness”. If this doesn’t count as voter discouragement, tell me.  Because of how state laws on absentee voting are written, the use of workarounds like this will be common across the country.  

Halloween in Mayberry 20037

There are things that your realtor does not tell you about the neighborhood when you buy a home. Trash pickup day and street sweeping are two firm examples. There are soft rules, like how late you may mow the lawn without disturbing the neighbors. In addition, every wood-framed craftsman home on the block flies an American flag.

As a young kid, my brother and I made trick-or-treat runs in Washington DC's Georgetown neighborhood. Walkable townhouses were filled with larger-than-life couples who enjoyed the door-ringing tradition. Yet, I came to realize, there are different ways for Halloween to be celebrated.

 I heard of exurban kids being driven door-to-door; but what about my new neighborhood in Norfolk, one that is coming through a time of transition? What was our protocol?  Do we trick-or-treat or not?

As the sun set, the neighborhood kids came out, some in costumes, others not. Some headed across our commercial drag to the brick houses with lawns. Theirs is the land of plenty. Trick-or-treating was in full swing over there. The others headed to church activities. Some Baptist communities do not practice Halloween, a fact that Jack Chick and his gas station pamphlets made clear.

One may think that a neighborhood on the upswing would rejuvenate the door-ringing practice. But the inertia of memories from a different decade- caution and fear- are hard. There is another reason: Vice Magazine described the decline of trick-or-treating in Washington DC's  gentrifying Logan Circle neighborhood. Empty-nesters stay home to dish out bowls of candy; Dual Income, No Kid couples have other plans for Halloween evening.

Short Trip on American Rail

Train 88, 6:15 am northbound departure from Norfolk

This morning, I scrambled to find winter clothes. I put on a long-forgotten jacket. Having spent the front half of the year straddling the Equator in Guam, I'd forgotten what "chilly" feels like. But here, straddling the North Carolina line, it's "Summer, Winter, Fall and Spring in one day", quipped a local acquaintance. It's marathon weather. Races in Norfolk and Washington, DC this weekend. Why drive? 

Park and ride at the Norfolk station. One track and platform, with a small and new waiting room. 200 feet from car to waiting train. Many empty seats now, but wait for Richmond, advised the conductor. The night is crisp, clear, dark, late like Autumn. I brought breakfast from home; having plenty, I gave away my orange juice.

One week ago, the National Weather Service recorded:
October 2, 2019, Norfolk Virginia: 93 F degrees near the oceanfront
October 3, 2019, Roanoke Virginia: 98 F degrees for a mountain cool

Crates of pumpkins appeared at the grocery and hardware store in balmy weather. It's that month: the prelude of the holidays season. Do 'they' keep pushing the holidays earlier, or had this been an endless summer? 

The train spent over an hour chugging through the rural woods of southern Virginia. In the City of Richmond, a brief change of scenery as the tracks runs in the median of Downtown Freeway. A few trains headed to Williamsburg serve the historic Richmond Main Street downtown station, but the city's main station is simple and suburban, serving all trains travelling north and south. Our train edges north to Randolph Macon college in Ashland. Isn't that swell? A college with an on-campus train station. The seats fill up.

The next four stops serve the southern suburbs of Washington, DC; the last of which is Alexandria, flanked by high-rises and the Metrorail line. Big city life as seen out the train window. Over the Potomac River, eager travelers muster their baggage, for arrival at Washington's Union Station occurs just a few minutes later. Stepping out of the coach, you hear the din of train movements, the hum of waiting commuter trains, station workers, the traffic over 'Hopscotch' bridge. You see gritty stone over a hundred years old, office buildings and luxury condos pressed against the tracks. The South, it seems, is now a distant memory. Now on the Northeast Corridor, Train 88 switches its diesel engine. for a high-speed electric locomotive.