Book Review: David Crockett, His Life and Adventures

By John S. C. Abbott

It is a curious book, available on Amazon Digital for free, which was written well over a hundred years ago.

It is a finely woven and clear-cut story over the remarkable Davy Crockett.  I cam to three observations by the end of the 136 page book (it's easily read over a week).

First, there are at least a hundred occasions when Crockett met up with mother nature, disease, bears, mountain lions, Indians, and hostile threats.....and he should have died.  As you come near the end of the saga.....you come to realize the amount of luck this guy had going for him.....day in and day out.

Second, as a kid around age twelve....he was 'directed' by his dad to help some guy who was herding some cattle from the edge of the wilderness to Virginia (roughly 200 miles away).  He completes the job, and basically walks back.  When you take into consideration.....his age.....lack of a map.....no compass.....no adult leadership.....it is a remarkable feat.  If you tried to find some kid in America today who would do something like this.....I think you'd be disappointed.

Third, you come near the end of the book to realize the Alamo period was something that could have been skipped.  If the Indians had invited him to on hunting with them during their meeting.....he would have never gone to the Alamo or met up with the consequences of the Mexican Army.  In such a case.....you'd have to wonder where exactly he would have ended up and if he might have been some future governor of California.   Remember.....he was only forty-nine when he died at the Alamo.

As for the book?  I'd highly endorse it as a reading and history project for a 10th grade class.  They could complete the book in a week or two, and it'd probably draw out three or four discussion episodes for class participation.

General Store - Greek Style

If you walk around the streets of Athens, Greece.....you will eventually come to the Greek version of Home Depot.....a mom-and-pop shop with just about everything....squeezed into a thirty by hundred foot shop.

Alabama used to have shops like this, which thrived off of farmers and the local community.  Most have dissolved away and simply something of a legend today.

Helmets and Greece

 Greeks are pretty tough folks (men and women).  If you stand around and take a decent count over an average day.....out of a hundred motorcycle/scooter operators....roughly sixty will be riding with no helmet.  Greece is OK with this.....being hard-headed is a Greek tradition.

I noted after a week there in Athens....that I hadn't seen a single motorcycle accident. No, not a single one.  No guys hit by a bus.....no one running off some embankment....no guy smashed flat by a garbage truck....nothing.  In fact, I didn't even notice a drunk Greek on a motorcycle.  Everyone seemed to know precisely what speed was safe and what was acceptable.

Now, I admit.....it's a statistic that folks don't think about much.  In all of Athens, I'd take a guess that out of 789,000 residents....at least 100,000 folks ride scooters/motorcycles daily.  If you do the math and various formulas.....it means they are fairly lucky folks.

On the subject of scooters.....I'd also make this observation....people aren't picky.  I probably saw at least a hundred brand names.....some South Korean and Chinese models were out there.

The most interesting observation?  I noticed that cops rode on some occasions with two guys to a bike......getting the second guy to some accident or violation episode.

Old Buildings

 No matter where you go in Athens, Greece.....there are old buildings standing there and almost ready to fall in.

This was one of those buildings....around the Karameikos Cemetary (tourist area of town).

The roof?  Yeah, it's already caved in.  Grass growing on the first floor?  Yep.

The odd thing is that it's on a fairly traveled street and you could tear down the structure and put up a bakery or coffee shop.

If a guy spent a week walking around, I'd take a guess that you'd see around 500 such structures in town like this.  Maybe it's a ownership issue or just a court thing where folks argue about who gets Uncle Joe's old rental property on such-and-such street.  I don't know.....maybe it's just the the way that things work there.

Worrying about something falling over?  Well.....they do put up a marginal catch-net and if it's just a stone or two.....you'd be ok.  I'm guessing they don't have big wind storms like you have in Germany or the US.

Jury Duty of the Old Days

Just an odd thing I noticed in one museum at Agora.  

Around three-thousand years ago in 'civilized' Athens Greece.....if you were a property owner and free man....you had rights and responsibilities.

One of those responsibilities.....occasionally involved you being ordered to some town square and a jury being formed up from outstanding citizens of the town.

As you'd notice in today's world.....there's be arguments over fairness and the selection process.

In those days....of ancient Greece....a guy sat down and thought about fairness and eventually devised a jury duty process.  A stone-mason got called in, and told to chisel out this unique (19 x 11 spots) and a piece of paper would be in each with a black or white end.  You'd walk up.....draw your paper....and if black, then you were sitting on a jury for today.

Questions to get you disqualified from a jury?  No one says much over the Greek routine, and I kinda doubt that anyone could come up with justification to deny himself or some guy on a jury.  If picked.....you kinda served.  But on the other hand.....I doubt if any Greek jury meeting took more than eight to twelve hours, and maybe five or six witnesses.  You could probably utter the word "liar" out loud if you didn't believe his story.

Oddly.....the stone method worked. For this.....we need to sit back and ask ourselves if our lives have improved over the past three thousand years.

Greek Strawberries

When you walk around the streets of Athens, Greece....there are plenty of street dealers.

Most have gimmicks.   Some big talker out front.  Some gal in a skimpy blouse.

I came upon this one guy who had spent a fair amount of time that morning as he set up his stand.....organizing strawberries. It's the kind of image that you stand over and admire.

There's probably thirty minutes of effort put into this strawberry display.

How many does the guy sell per day?  Unknown.  Maybe the whole trailer is gone by close of business and he starts fresh in the morning.

Fresh?  That's the curious thing.....most all strawberries you come across in Greece are locally grown, and have a naturally great taste to them.  I've come to notice some of those you buy in Germany.....have a non-descriptive taste to them (like they were grown in some Dutch glass-garden warehouse operation).

An artist at work?  I have to say that I stood there for two or three minutes admiring the display and the effort of the guy.

WD-40

No matter where you go in the world.....there's WD-40.

This past week, I was on vacation in Greece.

I passed by a little mom-and-pop 'Home Depot' operation in Athens, Greece on some side street.....and here was WD-40.

I suspect there's something about the name, and the way it's marketed around the world.  A guy will buy a can and that's all he needs for the next five years as he sprays here and there for some remarkable oily situation.

I could probably walk into ninety percent of homes and ask the guy if he had a can.....and he'd grin for a moment and admit he's got one in the basement or garage.  His wife?  She'd ask what the heck WD-40 was and just say look in the garage.