OLD BONES

We went to Musik Fest the other day. In Allentown and Bethlehem, PA, it’s a mid-summer festival that stretches along the banks of the river, through two cities. Most folks park in a distant parking lot and ride a shuttle bus to the venue. It reminds me of the October, Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, TN. All along the way there are circus size tents with different music groups scheduled in every hour or so. We sat in on a Cajun band from Baltimore. Nobody spoke or sang to us in French, not even an accent, and their play list had nothing to do with the “Bayou” talk they were trying to emulate. But they did have an accordion and one of the guitar players had a washboard he used on several songs. I told my son, “If the accordion player doesn’t dance or at least shuffle his feet, he ain’t Cajun.” He played o.k. but never got out of his chair. Then who am I to be critical? They were getting paid and I was listening. The music was good, the crowd got up and danced while we munched on soft pretzels. 

After checking out crafts booths and food vendors it was time to catch another shuttle for the ride across town to the venue in Bethlehem. I couldn’t tell when we crossed city limits but through the trees, you could see the skyline change. Next to the river, the black stacks of old coke furnaces were still intact from another generation, gone to rust. Bethlehem Steel had been the base for an economy here but not anymore. There is a grassy park by the river and things have been cleaned up but the buildings and furnaces are like fossilized bones of giant dinosaurs, left behind in a great, archeological dig site. Some building were still intact; red brick walls, arched windows and rusting, steel beams. Others had been torn down and the grounds cleaned up, leaving only stone walls with pillared archways. The festival was strung out along the main street with an athletic field and grand stands next to the old furnaces. A popular country singer was scheduled to perform there later in the evening. 

We went into a multiplex, theater complex where the local songwriters guild was showcasing their talents. A four piece band played original material and it was fun. The air conditioning in the theater was comfortable and the time went by so quickly, we weren’t ready to leave when the time came. The long walk past rows of concession stands and craft displays took us past the old furnaces, looming over us like movie props in a science fiction thriller. The ride back to the parking lot was uneventful and the idea of going home was a necessity more than preference. I’m glad I got to see the old steel mills and furnaces. I can imagine a time, in my lifetime, when the smoke was belching and steel was glowing, red hot on the foundry floor. Bethlehem Steel was building ships and selling steel in a world that was still blind to its environmental impact. So seeing the old bones of that industry begged the question. Is the aftermath worth the profit to begin with?