| General Fiction posted June 30, 2020 | Chapters: |
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What do I know about this state?
A chapter in the book Attack of the Fifty States
Attack of the 50 States:Arkansas
by Bill Schott
When I think of different states in America, I am usually responding to some outside reference that catches my attention and leads me back to one in particular. The Statue of Liberty brings New York to mind, as Hollywood summons California.
Arkansas has only occurred to me three times as a place of interest. The first peculiarity was, of course, why wasn't it pronounced Ar-Kansas? This likely first presented itself in grade school as we learned about and pronounced the fifty states.
I have discovered it is technically illegal to mispronounce "Arkansas" while in Arkansas. It seems that In 1947 the pronunciation of the name of the state was legally mandated to be three syllables, the accent on the first and last, with the final 'S' silent.
The reason Arkansas entered my radar again was its geographical location, obligating my briefly passing through it, via Interstate Highway 40, to get from Oklahoma to Missouri, whenever I was traveling east.
Arkansas again became my focus with the election of Slick Willy Clinton as the forty-second President of the United States. Suddenly, Arkansas was important. Bill Clinton had been governor there. Being a governor of a state was apparently the position which best prepared someone to be the nation's leader. It seemed like it was only then that I realized that Jimmy Carter had been governor of Georgia, Ronald Regan had been governor of California, and George Bush had been governor of Texas.
Still, Georgia seemed like a well-known place, with Atlanta and Ray Charles singing about it. California was most of the West coast, and Texas was, you know, Texas.
Arkansas, to me, was just a place that reminded me of Kansas. Now, it was the home of the new Commander in Chief. I learned about the state throughout the tenure of President Clinton in office.
I also learned about the draw of politics as a way to meet women.
Although he "never had sexual relations with THAT woman", there were a bevy of others that he had.
Still, I don't mean to get off the real subject, Arkansas. I found it almost impossible to believe it is home to the only diamond mines in the United States. I was less surprised to discover it is the spinach mecca.
The only other thing I recall about Arkansas is that whenever I hear the name of its capital, Little Rock, I automatically enter a stream of consciousness that takes me to Little Big Horn, General Custer, yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye, The Beatles, a bug, Volkswagen, Fahrvergnugen, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Mary Poppins, Doe, a deer, a female deer...
When I think of different states in America, I am usually responding to some outside reference that catches my attention and leads me back to one in particular. The Statue of Liberty brings New York to mind, as Hollywood summons California.
Arkansas has only occurred to me three times as a place of interest. The first peculiarity was, of course, why wasn't it pronounced Ar-Kansas? This likely first presented itself in grade school as we learned about and pronounced the fifty states.
I have discovered it is technically illegal to mispronounce "Arkansas" while in Arkansas. It seems that In 1947 the pronunciation of the name of the state was legally mandated to be three syllables, the accent on the first and last, with the final 'S' silent.
The reason Arkansas entered my radar again was its geographical location, obligating my briefly passing through it, via Interstate Highway 40, to get from Oklahoma to Missouri, whenever I was traveling east.
Arkansas again became my focus with the election of Slick Willy Clinton as the forty-second President of the United States. Suddenly, Arkansas was important. Bill Clinton had been governor there. Being a governor of a state was apparently the position which best prepared someone to be the nation's leader. It seemed like it was only then that I realized that Jimmy Carter had been governor of Georgia, Ronald Regan had been governor of California, and George Bush had been governor of Texas.
Still, Georgia seemed like a well-known place, with Atlanta and Ray Charles singing about it. California was most of the West coast, and Texas was, you know, Texas.
Arkansas, to me, was just a place that reminded me of Kansas. Now, it was the home of the new Commander in Chief. I learned about the state throughout the tenure of President Clinton in office.
I also learned about the draw of politics as a way to meet women.
Although he "never had sexual relations with THAT woman", there were a bevy of others that he had.
Still, I don't mean to get off the real subject, Arkansas. I found it almost impossible to believe it is home to the only diamond mines in the United States. I was less surprised to discover it is the spinach mecca.
The only other thing I recall about Arkansas is that whenever I hear the name of its capital, Little Rock, I automatically enter a stream of consciousness that takes me to Little Big Horn, General Custer, yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye, The Beatles, a bug, Volkswagen, Fahrvergnugen, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Mary Poppins, Doe, a deer, a female deer...
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