The Waving Man, Fairfax County's local icon of days gone by:
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| Photo taken circa 1976, in Fairfax County, Virginia, by T. Wayne Gauthier |
Andy also directed traffic at the local Little League games:
Andy Smith Directing Traffic at Pickett Fields, Fairfax Virginia
Andy Smith - Mr. Fairfax
Posted by Glenn Gore on Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Note Andy's house trailer in the background.
These days are long gone by in our rural community .. Trailers have been outlawed, one plus acres required, locals moved out. Eminent domain took care of any other riff raff. No, these days are long gone as well as the locals who could not afford to live there.. But they are invited in to fix their clogged sewers. Won't see this.. My Rorschach for the day. Oh, our 200 acres was zoned open space.. Only good for hunting and me paying taxes. From bunkerville.
ReplyDeleteBunkerville,
DeleteThose days are gone here, too.
We've lost something that mattered, IMO.
FT,
DeleteThank you. I shall read and digest it.
FT,
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if this photo might inspire you to write a few of your poems.
I've heard that the WaPo wrote a nice obituary for Andy when he died, but I haven't been able to find that obituary. Maybe it was written befor the Digital Age too over the newspapers.
I'm not proficient with my iPad and somehow deleted Z's comment, so I'm reposting it now....
ReplyDeleteI largely agree with FT. A lovely old man maybe down on his luck, maybe just getting out of the house for a nice afternoon of sunshine, maybe pan handling...whatever........someone we'd want to get to know and say hello to every time we passed him as he sat or helped direct traffic. A happy part of our community. That's what I get from the photo.
In Orlando a few years ago, a very old Black man opened a glass door for me and said "Good morning to you!"... I was stunned and grateful and smiled and we chatted a while. Wonderful guy..... Sad that I was 'stunned,' but that doesn't happen much in Los Angeles....not by ANY color. He represented the Old South of gentility, kindness and gentlemanly-ness......Black or White, that mattered...or DID. I suspect elderly Black men were more prone to that gentlemanly-ness than Whites, frankly. I suspect the man in your picture would have opened our doors, too. Just because he was a gentleman, not because I'm white.
Z,
ReplyDeleteA happy part of our community. That's what I get from the photo.
Yes, indeed!
I don't know that he was down on his luck. I never heard a work about his doing any panhandling.
It is possible that Andy was actually quite well off -- unless the county condemned his original piece of land via eminent domain so that the road could be widened. Once his trailer was forced out, I didn't see his dog with him any longer. The city workers liked Andy so much that they moved him to a location on city property -- the property which hosted Little League games.
I've heard that he rode the rails for a long time -- until the rail lines here changed, that is.
There is talk now of erecting a statue to him. I hope that they do! Maybe we can then learn more about Andy.
I think Andy represents a time gone by of people who might not have been rich but accepted their lot in life as we all do...who amongst us is very rich?
DeleteAnd he looks so happy and was so well liked...THAT is 'rich,' isn't it? That is real wealth.
I think Andy represents a time gone by of people who might not have been rich but accepted their lot in life as we all do...who amongst us is very rich?
DeleteAnd he looks so happy and was so well liked...THAT is 'rich,' isn't it? That is real wealth.
To,
DeleteI'm guessing that the locals referred to Andy as "that nice colored gentleman."
Typo alert. That comment is addressed to Z.
DeleteZ,
DeleteIt definitely was not an insult at that time!
That poll about the one percent is surreal! Sheesh.
Ya, AOW...it was a joke, but I'd thought it was real at first! SO MANY wanted to sign RIGHT UP "make those white folks pay!"
DeleteOh, Always, I REALLY want my country back...where gay, black, hispanic, all lived here and thrived here.......or at least had the chance to. We must remember that all whites don't thrive either, but that seems lost on the idiot lefties. GOD, I wish they'd learned from O'Neil, Moynahan, good men who'd be voting Republican today if they saw the seemingly purposeful ignorance of the Constitution and a president and candidate now who do nothing but divide us......
JFK would probably vote for Bush today...secretly, but he would. His eyes would pop out of his head if he saw Hillary's sins and Obama's socialism. "REDISTRIBUTION?" as if that's AMERICAN? As if that really helps?
OY.
I grieve.
Andy was not well off. Before he lived in the city yard on Pickett Road, Andy's trailer could be found at what is now the intersection of University Drive and Ox Road. Before UVa would purchase the Farr property for what is now the Fairfax campus of George Mason University, "the squatter" had to be removed. Andy was that squatter.
DeleteJ Bartelloni,
DeleteThank you for stopping by and letting me know a bit of local lore that, before now, I didn't know:
Before UVa would purchase the Farr property for what is now the Fairfax campus of George Mason University, "the squatter" had to be removed.
FT,
ReplyDeleteAndy might not have been poverty stricken.
I wish that someone would have written down some of his memories of Fairfax County. I think that Andy was born in the 1880's, but I'm not sure.
They come and go everywhere
ReplyDeletePeople who isn't on just being positive and living.
It's important to value them.
isn't - insist
DeleteTHE NUMINOUS NEGRO - PART TWO
ReplyDeleteWho is the Numinous Negro? He is everywhere, especially in our hearts, and if we are lucky he is our friend. The dictionary defines “numinous” as “of or pertaining to a numen,” which was a Roman term for “the presiding divinity . . . of a place.” “Numinous” also means “spiritually elevated.” Jungians and literary critics love the word, but normal theologians use it too. The Numinous Negro is a presiding divinity. The place he presides over is America, and contact with him elevates us spiritually.
You see him in the gooey prose of white liberals whenever a Negro appears ... Dozens of examples could be culled from the work of the late Murray Kempton, though his humor operated as a brake on his piety. The work of Garry Wills, who has no humor at all, would yield thousands of examples. The Numinous Negro need not be a man. ... Marian Anderson was also Numinous.
Art and entertainment, always eager for shortcuts to characterization, make frequent use of the Numinous Negro. When we see a Negro in movies or television, we not only know he is Numinous (unless he is Thuggish –– see below), we can judge the other (white) characters by how they treat him.
The saintly Death Row hero of The Green Mile was so Numinous that even movie reviewers noticed the technique. Morgan Freeman’s character in The Shawshank Redemption was more complex, though it had elements of numinosity. ...
The most Numinous Negro of recent history is, of course, Martin Luther King Jr. The real Martin Luther King was a man of many talents-patient, shrewd, eloquent, and brave. He knew what he wanted, and he had faith in God and (ultimately) in his white fellow Americans that his program of civil disobedience would secure it. The real Martin Luther King, like other real heroes, also had flaws and limitations-he plagiarized part of his doctoral dissertation, he strayed from his wife. With the passage of time, we can see that some of the rhetorical flourishes of even the “I have a dream” speech are cornball: “curvaceous peaks of California,” indeed. But all that is lost in the glow of his holiness.
The debunkers, and the intelligent admirers who follow them, have not yet done their work. Martin Luther King Jr. is still the divinity who shoved Washington and Lincoln into one holiday, and who is the only non-medical degree- holder, besides Samuel Johnson, who is always referred to as “Dr.”
(CONTINUED)
I've seen many similar characters in my time, AOW. Years ago, New York City had many. You'd see them in the parks in good weather, and at the entrances to the Subway System in bad. Most small towns had at least one. From the look of his mouth, however, and the state of his clothing I couldn't help assuming that your friend Andy Smith was poor. He'd obviously never been anywhere near a dentist in his life, poor man.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought was "Shaky Jake!" a local Ann Arbor "celebrity" (I Brake for Shaky Jake bumper stickers).
ReplyDeleteMost have memories of buying weed from him in the 70's.
About whether or not Andy was poverty stricken...
ReplyDeleteAppearances can be deceiving.
Case in point: Piedmont Blues musician John Jackson, who showed up at our yard sale and bought two of the rattiest items I had out for sale (a battered up suitcase and an old coat of my father's). Mr. Jackson walked off down the street and stayed at a neighbor's house. I thought that he was a homeless fellow. Not exactly -- as the link in this comment indicates. Excerpt from the link:
I remember that I was contacted a few years back to be MC for the 1995 Delaware Blues Festival in Wilmington. The promoter (who will remain nameless) wondered if I could corral John Jackson as a headliner, which, of course, would be a big coup and lend credibility to any such undertaking. In return, I was promised (as well as John and Trish) a room at the downtown Holiday Inn. As events transpired, I found out the next morning that my room was merely "reserved." To make a long story short, when John and Trish found out that I was stiffed for hotel bill, they sent me a check to cover expenses and wouldn't take no for an answer. That's the kind of man John Jackson was.
And he was a man of his word. Though gravely ill, he insisted upon fulfilling an obligation to perform at the Fall's Church First Night concert on New Year's Eve, a mere three weeks before he died.
Dealing with many tragedies and vicissitudes in his life, including the loss of his wife, Cora Lee Carter Jackson, in 1990 and three sons, including the accidental shooting by the police of his son, John Jr., in 1978, he could have become bitter. But he remained warm and gracious through it all, accepting such circumstances with his usual equanimity and resignation. I can truly say that John Jackson never had a mean bone in his body and he touched and enriched everyone with whom he had contact.
So, it was not surprising that there was such an outpouring of affection at his viewing at the Ames Funeral Home in Manassas, VA, on the following Wednesday. Originally scheduled from 7-9 p.m., the doors had to be opened a half-hour early to accomodate the huge crowd of over five hundred mourners....Simply put, in the Washington area, there was no more beloved a musician than John Jackson and everyone that was able wanted to say his last goodbye to him.
If you have time, please read all the material at the link.
When Mr. Jackson died in 2002, I learned in the newspaper that he was a very big deal in a particular community of musicians.
John Jackson's "Railroad Bill" at YouTube.
John Jackson's "Steamboat Whistle".
I love Piedmont Blues!
He did a good Railroad Bill indeed but done Piedmont style, Etta Baker just owned that song.
DeletePoverty is entirely a RELATIVE concept. Few today realize that the average American –– even today –– lives at a much higher standard than MONARCHS did in the Middle Ages.
DeleteEven fewer stop to think that miserable as it might be American blacks living both in urban and rural poverty have a much easier and more leant existence than blacks in sub-Saharan Africa, most Middle easterners, most South and Central Americans and nearly all Asians.
Also, I know for a fact that real estate ("housing" if you prefer) is so incredibly expensive in the more "advanced" European countries that few if any could ever hope to own their own home. Houses there are small, cramped, dingy, crowded together and devoid of aesthetic appeal for the most part. For example a 450-square-foot apartment in a decent neighborhood on the fourth floor of a walkup in Paris, France
would run you at least 450,000.00 U.S. dollars.
POINT?
By my, personal, standards Andy was a poor man. By worldwide standards he was in a very comfortable situation, indeed.
The more we know, the better chance we have of gaining a more accurate sense of perspective on our true position in the the Great Scheme.
FT,
DeleteBy my, personal, standards Andy was a poor man. By worldwide standards he was in a very comfortable situation, indeed.
Excellent point!
I must add that Andy always seemed to be a very happy man, one who spread good cheer to all. Often, those who are wealthy are not nearly as happy as Andy, IMO.
Let me throw this out for reflection:
DeleteIt isn't WHERE we are, but where we THINK we are that matters.
FT,
DeleteThere is some validity to that -- until reality is so awful that one is forced to face that reality.
This reminds me of when I was a child in New York and my introduction to homeless people. At the corner of 103th and Broadway was a homeless couple, he was black and she was leggless and in a wheelchair. My dad, a staunch conservative, gave them money and not only that, he actually talked to them. He developed a relationship with these unfortunate people. I asked him once why he gave them money and he replied that it was always best to be in the position to give than to be in the position to have to receive. Pretty cool words for a dad anytime especially circa the 1960's.
ReplyDeleteCube,
DeleteYour dad must have been a compassionate man.
Along the same lines, you might enjoy reading this essay by my dear friend Warren.
Thankfully, he's still around, and so are his very compassionate, and yet conservative views. We've had our head blows over issues, but we still love each other. Anyone you ask, he's a pretty cool old guy :) That's my dad.
ReplyDeleteCube,
DeleteYou're lucky to have your dad still living. Mine died in 1998 at the age of 86.5. I still miss him so much!