Trip Log – Day 369 – Rogers AR to Bentonville AR

Posted on November 21, 2016 by paulefallon

to-rogersNovember 19, 2016 – Sunny, 50 degrees

Miles Today: 7

Miles to Date: 19,067

States to Date: 47

My day at Crystal Bridges, the Museum of American Art built by the Walton family. It is a lovely place with wonderful art, a great Frank Lloyd Wright House, an inviting cafe and welcoming research library where the staff was happy to let me spend a few hours writing.

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img_8394I don’t love the architecture: Moshe Safdie’s buildings are too idiosyncratic and arbitrarily curvy for my taste. But that matter of preference that does not diminish my admiration of the care instilled in this place. Crystal Bridges is well conceived and thoughtfully executed architecture: Every Day Low Prices transformed into high art.

I stayed with the Templeton family who live within walking distance of downtown Bentonville. We walked to the square to see the holiday light display, a scene straight out of a Frank Capra movie. Kurt joked, “Living in Bentonville is like being in The Truman Show.”

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Trip Log – Day 368 – Bentonville AR to Rogers AR

Posted on November 20, 2016 by paulefallon

to-rogersNovember 18, 2016 – Cloudy, 55 degrees

Miles Today: 7

Miles to Date: 19,060

States to Date: 47

Bentonville Arkansas is the 21st century company town, home of Wal-Mart, the world’s largest corporation. The numbers are staggering. More than 2.4 million ‘associates’ work at Wal-Mart: only China’s red army surpasses its workforce. The company has over 11,000 locations worldwide. Over 100 million Americans shop at 4600 Wal-Mart stores in our country, choosing from more than a million items for sale. If Wal-Mart were a nation, it’s GDP would rank 28th in the world.

img_8386All of that is run out of a town that, twenty years ago, had less than 10,000 people. No more. Now, Bentonville has 40,000 people, suburban sprawl and traffic. Neighboring Rogers is even larger. Northwest Arkansas is now referred to as a single region, the megalopolis of the Ozarks.

Three themes stream through my mind on my day in Bentonville, touring the Wal-Mart Museum, eating an undistinguished but low-priced lunch at a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, reading Sam Walton’s Entrepreneur’s Creed – straight out of Ayn Rand – in the food aisles, and meeting Wal-Mart people everywhere I go.

img_8380First, Bentonville mirrors perfectly the explosive growth of the last fifty years. Development crawls over the Arkansas hills without regard to terrain or ecology.

Second, the downtown core is beautifully preserved and lively. A few people commented on the irony that the company that destroyed so many downtowns has such a nice one. I don’t buy that. Sure the Walton’s have enough money to create whatever downtown they like. But they didn’t ruin the rest of them. We did. When we chose to shop at Wal-Mart. Sam Walton was a savvy guy in the right place at the right time. 1950’s America was keen to climb in its automobiles and leave its heritage behind. Every corporate and governmental program fueled the idea: Interstate highways, zoning, vertical integration, cheap gas. Sam did not create the economy-driven society.; he merely facilitated a nation quick to shed history, culture, and community in the quest for Every Day Low Prices.

img_8387Third, and most disconcerting to the architect in me, is how Wal-Mart’s low-cost mantra manifests the environment the company creates. Downtown is quaint, but the Wal-Mart ‘campus’ is a series of monochrome commercial strip buildings in a sea of parking partitioned into windowless offices and rudimentary workspaces. The message of Every Day Low Cost extends to the workplace. But we know these low cost workplaces, just like their low cost merchandise, have collateral costs that are not reckoned until tomorrow. It is not healthy for people to spend 25 to 30 percent of their lives, and most of their daylight hours, in an artificially controlled environment.

imgresI appreciate that Wal-Mart does not have a grand corporate headquarters and I understand the message of prudence their facilities convey. People here highlight Wal-Mart’s increased focus on sustainability, healthier products, and mandating a $10 minimum hourly wage as demonstration of the company’s corporate responsibility. Where Wal-Mart goes, the rest of America follows. I hope they will extend that to providing healthier work places. I am sure their Bentonville employees would appreciate it, and because Wal-Mart establishes the defacto standard of corporate behavior throughout the world, it would lead to healthier work places for others as well.

 

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Trip Log – Day 367 – Hulbert OK to Bentonville AR

Posted on November 19, 2016 by paulefallon

to-bentonvilleNovember 16, 2016 – Sunny, 80 degrees

Miles Today: 84

Miles to Date: 19,053

States to Date: 47

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img_8363Exciting weather today, on the precipice of change. Still warm, but the strong south winds pushed me north, a last blast of summer. Last night’s hosts lived deep in the country; I pedaled twenty miles of gravel, narrow pavement, and creek level bridges before I reached a numbered highway. The beautiful country compensated for the hard riding.

img_8365Fifty miles in I reached Siloam Springs, totally spent. A Eureka Pizza refueled my legs and I arrived in Bentonville by 3:30 p.m.

I spent a great evening in this bike-friendly town with a Wal-Mart Sustainability Manager. Dinner outdoors alongside the main bike path included wood fired pizza from Pedaler’s Pub and craft beer at the Bike Rack Brewing Company.

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Trip Log – Day 366 – Tulsa OK to Hulbert OK

Posted on November 18, 2016 by paulefallon

to-hulbertNovember 15, 2016 – Sunny, 80 degrees

Miles Today: 57

Miles to Date: 18,969

States to Date: 46

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img_8346The excitement of the new President-elect, my Seattle vacation, and achieving a full year of cycling has eclipsed reporting on some of the best cycling of my trip. For three days I’ve enjoyed perfect Indian summer weather; cool mornings, warm afternoons, gentle breezes, and variegated foliage just past peak that laid a crisp carpet along the side of the road. The air is pungent and heavy, as if I’m cycling through miles of fresh laundered sheets billowing on the line.

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I wear a baseball hat underneath my helmet to keep the sun off my forehead (sunscreen on your forehead sweats into your eyes and stings). Cycling is very hard on hats. I went through four before I found the perfect hat in Seattle last year – a durable camouflage model whose message complimented my spandex. img_8371I wore it for 12,000 miles, only to leave it behind when I returned to Seattle last week. I pedaled one day without a baseball hat while on the lookout for a suitable replacement, and got a wicked headache and sunburned brow as a result. I spotted a perfect replacement – a black McDonald’s visor – and inquired about buying one. Not available for purchase, but the manager gave me one. When I arrived at my host’s that night, he presented me with an official Surly cap “so you don’t have to wear that McDonald’s thing.” Within an hour I went from no hat to two. Such is the luck and life of a bicycle tourist.

 

 

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Profile Response: Margaret and Ashton Lambdie, Lawrence, K

Posted on November 18, 2016 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellowAn evening with Margaret and Ashton Lambdie leaves me pondering the meaning of the term ‘traditional.’ By some definitions, the fellow Nebraskans who met at Hastings College, got married after graduation, and are active members of what Margaret calls the ‘good’ Baptist church in Lawrence (American Baptist versus Southern Baptist) are traditional. “Fifty, no seventy, years ago, you went to church because it’s what you ‘did.’ It was your social life. It represented the need to belong. That’s not important anymore. Nobody wants to commit to anything anymore.” Margaret and Ashton make traditional commitments, to each other and their community.

 

Yet they are a non-traditional couple. Margaret is pursuing a doctorate in flute performance from University of Kansas; Ashton works in a bike shop. Their future geography will be determined by Margaret’s career path, not his. “There are bike shops everywhere.”

img_7380In other ways, they are so traditional to be non-traditional from a 21st century perspective. They keep 50-pound bins of oats and flour in their tiny apartment. They bake all their own bread. Margaret knitted a sweater throughout our conversation; Ashton skeined her wool.

Aston bicycles in a different orbit than I do. I was impressed when he described finishing 100 to 200 mile races with upwards of 10,000 vertical feet or rise in five to seven hours. My jaw dropped when he told me the races are on gravel. He laughed and raised his thighs, swollen as watermelons. “I can’t screen-shot-2016-11-04-at-11-49-13-amget any pants that fit.” Ashton received the golden horseshoe award: the first person to complete the 200-mile Dirty Kanza race in under seven hours. “No one else will ever get that.” I asked how he keeps his energy up on these treks. “I drink maple syrup and I eat these.” He pulled out a giant bag of protein infused cookies Margaret bakes for him, No pre-packaged energy gels for this man.

The fact that Margaret and Ashton are married is important to them. “We know so many people who have taken every step – dated a long time, live together, even buy a house together, but they don’t get married.” It evolves from ‘what are you waiting for’ to ‘what are you afraid of.’”

screen-shot-2016-11-04-at-11-50-31-amYet their core commitment does not dilute the ‘opposites attract’ quality of their personalities. Margaret is serene, composed, careful in word and action. Ashton is a firecracker. “I love it when s*#t hits the proverbial fan. Global warming, overpopulation, our political situation – it’s all fascinating to me.” Margaret recoils at the idea. “I hate it when everything breaks. Everything that’s good strengthens me. System failure bothers me extraordinarily.”

Which brought us around to that morning’s sermon. Ecclesiastes. “To everything there is a season. Is that a warning or a call to live in the moment? You can read it either way. Or both.”

How will we live tomorrow?

img_7376“I bet it will be pretty similar to today, but I’ll work a little bit longer.” – Ashton

“We don’t know. We don’t get to know. We make plans but we don’t get to make them reality.” – Margaret

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Trip Log – Day 365 – Perkins OK to Tulsa OK

Posted on November 17, 2016 by paulefallon

to-tulsaNovember 15, 2016 – Sunny, 75 degrees

Miles Today: 76

Miles to Date: 18,912

States to Date: 46

One year on the road. A full 365 days of bicycling and meeting strangers and asking people ‘How will we live tomorrow?’ I still have six weeks or so left to complete my 48-state objective, but I am in the red zone of my journey. Despite my desire to have the experience and then decide what to do with it, conclusions are beginning to coalesce, patterns are beginning to emerge.

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What have I learned over the past year?

I have learned that no matter how much a body does something, we can always get better. A year older and several broken bones later, I am a better cyclist: stronger, faster, more patient, more observant. Seven hundred plus blog posts later, I am also a better writer: clearer, quicker, more economical, more observant.

I have learned how to be a professional guest. I communicate with my hosts. I arrive on time, I don’t ask for anything yet accept what is offered. I clean up after myself. I leave on time. I leave a token of appreciation. I write a thank you. But mostly I listen. People everywhere are starving to be heard.

screen-shot-2016-11-16-at-12-37-41-pmI have learned to be grateful for the benign majority and the generous minority. I don’t let the twenty or thirty motorists who’ve heckled or hit me detract from the million or more vehicles that have passed me with respectful distance. So many more have slowed down than have revved past. Similarly, I pass thousands of souls hunkered behind garages and security systems. I believe they yearn for fellowship but fear has paralyzed them into isolation. So I appreciate all the more the tiny number of trusting folks who invite this stranger into their home for conversation and connection.

I’ve learned how to ask for people’s time, be appreciative when it’s offered and not upset when I’m ignored.

A year on the road is more than a list of lessons learned; it’s a litany of new fellowship. I count friends in every port, and they have a safe haven should they ever come to Boston. I’ve celebrated births and birthdays, anniversaries and graduations, and, I’ve also shared tragedy

I detoured my route to stay with Juanita Campbell in Pecan Island Louisiana because her warmshowers profile highlighted ‘smokers and drinkers here’. Juanita fired up a giant crab boil. I helped feed her chickens and load a sofa on her pick-up. I slept on a too-short futon with a half dozen dogs underfoot. Afterwards, I sent her a note every time Southern Louisiana flooded, which made us regular correspondents. Juanita died last week. I don’t know if she died of high water or charred lungs, the cause doesn’t matter. What matters is that I was privileged to meet this feisty lady of the bayou. She will long rest easy on my mind as an integral piece of our nation’s mosaic.

screen-shot-2016-11-16-at-12-38-32-pmAnd so I mark a year on the road with the bittersweet reality of life’s wondrous gift, a gift we embrace in our joys and savor in death.

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Profile Response: Brian McMillan, Kansas City, MO

Posted on November 17, 2016 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellow“Before my injury I didn’t cry in my beer too much if I didn’t get into grad school or my girlfriend left me. There was always another chance. Now my perspective has changed. I was the guy on the plane that flew into the mountain. There’s no Mulligan on this one. I’m lucky to have use of my hands and a wonderful wife.”

Brian McMillan is dexterous and Donna is a wonderful wife. But when Brian’s motorcycle skidded off a twisty road in Eureka Springs, Arkansas eighteen years ago, crushing his T5 vertebrate and paralyzing him below the chest, one other thing survived intact: his upbeat attitude and positive outlook.

screen-shot-2016-11-04-at-11-28-42-amAfter months of rehab the couple retrofitted their Kansas City loft to accommodate Brian’s capabilities. Donna, who walked away from the accident with a scraped knee, continued working as a nurse. Brian’s boss at a local development firm told him, “FDR was able to fight a war from a wheelchair. You ought to be able to do this job.” Brian stayed on for eight years after his accident.

“Grief is the adaptation to loss. I had no way to measure this level of sadness. The overwhelming sadness eventually got shorter, then intermittent, and then it fell away.”

imgresTen years ago Donna and Brian decided to build a house that optimizes his independence. He thought through every aspect of his ability and explored accessible design far beyond the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Donna and Brian built a 2600 square foot, two-story house in a historic neighborhood near downtown Kansas City. The process included commission approvals and uncooperative neighbors as well as accessibility issues. The result is a home of striking aesthetics that also happens to let a middle-aged guy eighteen years in a wheelchair lead a very independent life.

The house is a series of spaces articulated by furnishings rather than walls. The first floor entry / living / kitchen / dining space pivots around the garage in an implied curve that provides light from multiple directions and views to the street and rear garden. Toward the back is a large bathroom and guest bedroom that can accommodate Brian if a power outage disables the elevator.

img_7341Upstairs is one large space: study, TV room, sleeping area and outdoor deck, along with a huge bathroom with separate shower and tub. The most interesting space, to me, is wrapped behind the bathroom: an ample alcove with a platform futon in the middle of the main wall. Brian can transfer from chair to platform to dress or switch to his shower chair. The flanking walls have clothes in drawers and hangers, and a front-loading washer/dryer. This space is so simple and well conceived it hardly seems designed at all. Yet it enables Brian to perform all of his regular activities without a care attendant.

Brian likes to share his house and what he’s learned with others, through his website, www.theaccessiblelife.com, outreach to spinal chord victims he meets around Kansas City, and a spread in Deb Pierce’s book, The Accessible House. He is a terrific resource for any mobility-impaired person. Not just because of what he’s built, but also because he is so open about the details of his life. I’ve designed hundreds of ‘accessible’ spaces in my career, but never really understood toileting until Brian explained his process in detail.

img_7342“The mobility impaired population is only going to grow. I got here early due to my accident. Ten thousand people turn 65 every day. They have been coddled since they were born. They will want good design.”

Brian wants to increase his involvement in furthering accessible design through consultation and invention. He’s prototyped a raised toilet seat that provides access to full cleaning without having to shift weight or balance. He also does speaking engagements. “My message is to design places where mobility impaired people can integrate seamlessly.”

Brian’s been in AA for over thirty years. The discipline it took him to give up alcohol has helped him persevere the grind of being partially able. He has no control over the lower half of his body, but keeps the upper half in exquisite condition. That helps him execute his favorite AA motto: “I want to do the next right thing.”

How will we live tomorrow?

screen-shot-2016-11-04-at-11-21-26-am“What I’m really worried about is my tennis chair. I want something lighter, more mobile. Medical technology may be able to cure me, but I’m not focused on that.

“I have no fear of dying. My accident has aged me. I have an old body. If I had died, I was at the top of my game. I had this great wife, nice life. If I had died it would have been okay. But I didn’t die, so tomorrow I’m going to work out and do wind sprints and improve my tennis game and live more.”

 

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Trip Log – Day 364 – Oklahoma City OK to Perkins OK

Posted on November 16, 2016 by paulefallon

to-perkins-okNovember 14, 2016 – Sunny, 65 degrees

Miles Today: 59

Miles to Date: 18,836

States to Date: 46

Vacations are all well and good – the conference was enlightening, my niece was delightful, her three boys enchanting, and the rooms I fresh painted look good – but when you love your work like I do it’s great to be back at it, pedaling again.

screen-shot-2016-11-16-at-12-22-40-pmTurns out it was a good week to be stationary since everyone in our great land suffered a bout of disequilibrium. Who is more confused? The confident Democrats who thought Hillary was a shoo-in, the mainstream Republicans who now bow to the standard bearer they abhorred, or the Trump supporters, who relished the prospect of belly-aching Clinton crimes and rigged elections for the next four years. Now actually have to govern. There will be no fun in that.

To my mind, the only clear winner is Melania; the White House’s period rooms will set off her striking features more elegantly than her husband’s Modernist towers ever have, though I doubt she will get Michelle’s kitchen garden dirt under her nails, so that’s an instant loser. For the rest of us, the gains and deprivations will unfold with time.

img_8315Suddenly my continental meanderings take on new meaning, as if being so slow and close to the ground this entire election season empowers me to know what others missed. Tonight, In Perkins, I participated in a post-mortem dinner with a group of small town souls searching for the meaning in it all.

I did not predict Trump’s victory: no one did. But I am not surprised he won. In primary after primary we dismissed the man. In primary after primary he came out on top. Trump supporters distrust everyone and everything at the most elemental level. They’re covert operatives who provide misleading information to every arm of the political elite, and that includes pollsters. But when the curtain was drawn in the voting booth, millions of our citizens’ disgust with the Federal government trumped all other considerations.

img_8314One of my readers suggested I revise my route map to feature blue dots instead of red, in solidarity with the Democrats. My dots are not political affiliations. I am no more a Democrat than I am a Republican. I am an observer. I listen to what people say, I witness what they do, and I filter it through a sieve of human decency. My dots will remain red, my politics unaffiliated.

During the year I’ve been riding people argue we’ve suffered the most divisive election ever. I disagree. Reread John Adam’s letters to Abigail during the first presidential election ever and accept that electoral circus is a national pasttime. Rather, we have just completed an extended, exhaustive conversation about one man. Every one of us has measured ourselves against Donald Trump and determined whether he is a narcissistic buffoon or the elixir for federal indigestion. Every other player, including Hillary Clinton, has been peripheral. In the end more people voted for the woman who prepared to be President, but that doesn’t matter because The Donald concocted the winning electoral strategy.

img_8316Some people I’ve talked with call Trump a despot who, if elected, will terminate our democracy; others predict nothing will change. President Donald Trump will have a larger say in tomorrow than most of us. But he does not have the final say, unless we abdicate tomorrow to him.

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Profile Response: Tracy Kyle, Richmond, MO

Posted on November 16, 2016 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellowTracy Kyle works the room like she owns the place. Which she does. Ushering elderly women to their booths, clearing tables, filling waters, and greeting customers – most by their first name – the entire time. “I’ve got the biggest family ever. I know so many people.” Tracy started working at Jeffrey Kyle’s eighteen years ago, when the restaurant had another owner under another name. She met Jeff Kyle, they married, he bought the place, they had three children. Everything was good.

When he was six, their son Jeffrey died. Six months later the restaurant burned. They rebuilt it, renamed it for their son, and employed an unusual format: a buffet restaurant that also offers a full menu. “We are known for our tenderloin, which is a menu item. Some people just like to be waited on.” I asked Tracy why the buffet, at $8.59 per person for lunch, was priced bimg_7322elow most of the menu entrees. “Jeff feels that we have to remain competitive. People will go to McDonalds or KFC if we get too high.”

It is a sad commentary on our times that the only full service restaurant in Richmond has to compete with fast food franchises. The food here is fresh, real, and plentiful. True, there are more breaded items than I prefer, but Missouri is still the south and the habit of breading everything runs deep. I avoided the broasted chicken, though I did love their lightly breaded zucchini and the pumpkin bread pudding.

imgresTracy described her family’s dark time. “People ask how we survived our son dying. We have peace in the Lord. He provides the strength. He provides the Light.” Tracy will never forget what she lost, but she does not let it diminish the gifts she still has; her husband and daughters, her enthusiasm for life and her neighbors.

After I ate my hearty fill and went to the cashier, Tracy refused to let me pay. Instead we took pictures and she gave me a hug. “Can I put you on my prayer list?” “Absolutely,” I replied. I’m a small yellow thing among millions of fast moving machines. I’m eager for all the prayers I can get.

How will we live tomorrow?

img_7319“I will be here, doing what I do. I am always here. This is my community. It is where I belong.”

 

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Profile Response: Mat Qazi, Columbia, MO

Posted on November 14, 2016 by paulefallon

HWWLT Logo on yellowThere’s a pattern in how people respond to the question, “How will we live tomorrow?” especially among those with an analytical bent. An initial rebuff, that the question is too broad. Then intrigue about the specific words, ‘we’ and ‘tomorrow,’ which can be defined in so many ways. Yet within a few moments, or perhaps after dinner, or even the following morning, individuals whose initial reactions of skepticism offer unique, thoughtful responses. When this happens the question has done its job: to scour our headspace and consider new possibilities.

images-1Mat Qazi is a PhD student in education from Turkmenistan, a former Soviet Republic just larger than California, yet with only five million people. “We are the Switzerland of Asia. We do not align with either super power and enjoy benefits from both.” He grew up in Ashgabat, the Capital, as well as cities in Northern Iran, and graduated college in Ashgabat.

“I chose University of Missouri because I wanted to be in a place where I was not in an international environment. I wanted the real America. Also I like nature, no pollution, fresh air. I’ve traveled to the east and west coast in two years living on a stipend. Things are easy here and good.”

images-2Mat is a keen observer of our culture. “It’s difficult for foreigners to get close to ethno-centric, supreme feeling Americans. The other day in class, there was a story about a woman fighting against ISIS to avoid rape and torture. People started talking about micro-aggression, as if they were somehow equivalent. We have lost perspective on how well we have things. It is a privilege to have micro-aggression as a problem.”

imagesBut Mat’s fascination with all things American trumps this funny and gregarious man’s criticisms. “I’ve had three cars. Each one has gotten me into different music. I had a Cadillac SDS, which got me into rap. My Grand Marquis was country. Now I drive a Pontiac Gran Pix and listen to rock ‘n’ roll.”

Mat may or may not return to Turkmenistan. “My friends are here. Right now that’s where I’m from. I was born in one place, now I am here.”

How will we live tomorrow?

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“Who’s we? There’s an infinite number of answers. I will give you a different answer two days from now.

“I am very optimistic. I will say we’ll live better. I have to believe that or I’ll be miserable. But ‘how’ better? As a PhD student I want education. Not formal education, but practical, viable education. I work in human capital theories. I believe in them. The trends go up and down. Everyone looks back and says, ‘back in the day, blah, blah, blah,’ but I think tomorrow will be better. We’ll eradicate ignorance and provide wisdom.

“Travel is a great way to learn. We are a small community, couchsurfers, who trust. That is rare in this country. Solo travel enables us to meet others. When you travel alone you learn to trust yourself and that allows you to trust others. Traveling in a group teaches you how to get along with others. Nothing is more contagious than emotion. Someone is angry – boom! – that emotion moves through the group. But traveling alone is the ultimate independence.

“I used to study literature and I have an MBA. Now, I’m studying higher education administration. My question was always, ‘What is life?’ Literature is the study of life just like astronomy is the study of stars and biology is the study of organisms. What is love? Loneliness? Sacrifice? You read and you lead these other lives and they lead you to wisdom.”

 

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