Oxford Mississippi
I have two preservation jobs in Oxford ;one is the old courthouse that sits in the middle of the historic square . The other is a 1920's chemistry  lab
The original courthouse was burned by the yankees (as was most of the town ) and not having a marshall Plan after "da wo" Oxford (as did much of the rural South) ;plunge itself into a sullen century of Jim Crow
rubbing two nickles together over a sweet potatoe fire
trying to bounce from tobbacco road into the 21rst century .

However ;Oxford because it was a historic seat of learning
fared better than most ; and now sports trendy shops with smart stores and good resturants while surrounding it on hillsides are the  Mc mansions that remind one of gone with the wind .(or is that da wind done gone ) never mind ...just don't hit the dryvit walls with a hammer and all will be jake .

I am restoring the courthouse which in the vernaculatr of deep south jargon may be  refered to  as da "Coathouse "
picture high plaster ceilings and sleepy fans on poles ;
picture a bull sherrif (true) and deputies with trustees  manicuring the common  lawn wearing the tradional stripes of the chain gang ;
Its  all here f but just put away for the moment as the presidential "lection " is in town   ;and we want to put on a good face  
"
We teach them a skill " said one  deputy to me ;
and Ive heard this is true  What they do is hire one skilled
carpenter /builder  and make him the straw boss ;
then they put them to work on community projects under his direction
. Plumbing ;carpentry ; painting ."lectical"  "everything .

I had a birds eye view of the Obama rally today
;very nice ; there was a aggressive "AIDS " rally before it that
came close to getting out of hand (not so nice ) .
but the big news I have to report is 
"MCAIN IS BACKING OUT " from the debate
since he is down in the polls daily
...his new strategy is to
retreat to Washington "TO MANAGE THE CRISIS"
and when the 7 billion tax payer (dats you an me brother)
deal is struck on Sat /Sun 
;make it appear it took HIM  to do it ..
if this is "THE OCTOBER SURPRISE ..den all I can say is
Happy Haloween  because
.... I am  scarred already ..... Py ...





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