Our Editorial page includes a column from Miles Layton about the recent detention center escape, a letter to Edenton Town Council about the Moseley Street issue from Hal Murray and a column about motorcycles by Florian Deltgen.

A round-up of all things from God’s country…

By Miles Layton

First, Charles Edward Babb, 23, of Elizabeth City, was apprehended Monday morning, soon after spending Sunday night in Marie Steinburg’s car on South Granville Street – see our stories here and here. 

Bob Steinburg told me that before Babb’s stayover in Marie’s car, Edenton Police told him that Babb went into Steinburg’s garage, climbed up into the loft to grab a blanket – it was cold Sunday night.

Steinburg said Babb was wrapped in that blanket when Marie found him in her car. Ever a cool cucumber, Marie even offered to provide him with a coat and maybe breakfast. She’s a good person.   

Monday morning, I heard Babb had been spotted near Edenton Baptist Church – that’s how fast news travels in our hometown – and he was caught by Edenton Police. EPD Chief David LaFon and top-notch officers deserve a gold star for apprehending Babb.  

A note about Babb – he is not some hardened criminal — see clip from the movie The Watchmen. I’ve been told he’s had a rough upbringing and maybe deserves some compassion. Honestly, I think Babb is at a crossroads – we’ve all been there – reach toward the light or descend into darkness. After this whole experience, I’m hoping Babb has a come-to-Jesus moment, repents and prays for forgiveness.  

“I don’t think he has much encouragement in the world nor any emotional support,” a source said. “I don’t believe that he’s a ‘violent’ man. I do believe had things been a little different, he would’ve been a great man. Please do keep him in your prayers and offer a little encouragement.”  

Well said — I can’t share what I know, particularly as I worry that moron reporters might sniff out Babb’s story and make his life worse, same as they do with everything else, but Babb’s criminal record bears this out … eh… not much there, there.

From what I understand, the Associated Press, WAVY and other news outlets have seen our story – you’re welcome.

My next thought – how did he escape? The Sheriff’s Office said Babb used a small hand-held edged weapon to force his way out of the jail and into the community. 

That said, I don’t think Babb is an escape wizard like Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption — see here — more like the Offspring’s song “Pretty fly for a white guy” — see here.

Question — since a skinny white boy is less likely to overpower the guards, how did Babb escape? If there is a next escape, that inmate might built like a linebacker, perhaps like the Rock, and more inclined to violence.

What if Babb used the Confederate statue stored at the detention center as a ladder to freedom? Don’t know that either, but wouldn’t that be hilarious.

Because it is a simple county holding center, there’s no barb wired fence around the facility… No guard towers… Walls that Andy Dufresne could easily tunnel through… Really, folks might not know it is a jail in the middle of town unless they knew it was a jail.

Maybe it’s time, maybe it’s long past time, that we build a new jail. I know various plans have been put forth for years with Chowan leading the charge for a tri-county jail. That said, a new jail is going to be expensive, even when the cost is shared with other counties, so that’s going to be a tough pill to swallow for voters who are paying more and more taxes these days.

Trigger warning to some — perhaps if we had a cage called a gibbet that held dead pirates’ bodies in the open air after a public hanging for public display by Edenton Bay, serving as a gruesome warning to anyone thinking about breaking the law in town, that would be cheaper, maybe more effective, than building a new jail.

In other news, that’s probably going to trigger some people — having a bar, serving drinks and being allowed to drink in the same tent as Santa was talking to kids about what they want for Christmas, well, that’s not a good look for our community. We should be ashamed.  

Yes, the bar was well monitored; however, no matter how well the alcohol was managed, normalizing alcohol, particularly around young children, is not something Edenton should be doing, nor anywhere else for that matter.  And I don’t care if the weather or logistics required the bar to be in the same tent as Santa — it’s just not a good look.

Moreover, to the people who felt compelled to drink during Santa time, I know the holidays can be stressful, but couldn’t you just hold off a few minutes or go to a proper bar where there are no kids – does alcohol have that much power over you?  

There’s a time and place for everything – maybe Santa’s visit wasn’t the time and the place.  

And as to expanding the hours and footprint of Edenton’s social district – I wish we could dial all that back. You don’t really need to carry your drink through the streets. If you need that one last gin and tonic, don’t be a pussy, finish your drink at the bar, leave that tiny pink umbrella behind.  

When the plan to expand the Social District was approved 4-2 by Edenton Town Council in late November — see our story here — Councilman Elton Bond said this — and I agree with him.

“Call me old-fashioned, but you still got people drinking in front of the playground where the kids are playing at,” Bond said. Despite the modified boundaries creating additional buffer space, he questioned the message it sends to young people. “We preach to our kids about drinking in public, and we can drink in front of them?”

Moreover, I’m probably not alone, but I’d prefer not to be around you if you strike up a conversation in the Social District along the street after you’ve been drinking. Trust me, if you’ve been drinking, you are not as attractive, witty and charming as you think you are. 

Lastly, I don’t think anyone has ever said that alcohol has improved their life or health. 

That said, I know folks need a cold one from time to time – maybe just save it for the bar or Vinyl Night. Herringbone is a great bar, same as Waterman’s.

Maybe next year, let’s leave the bar behind to better focus on the precious memories of kids talking to Santa.  

Open letter to the Mayor of Edenton and Town Council

Resolution of intent to permanently close a portion of S. Moseley — for story, click here.

By Hal Murray

The resolution of intent to permanently close a portion of S. Moseley Street before you now was brought before the Town of Edenton by Jim and Sally Blount and George and Erica Taylor.  That according to the town manager.  The Blounts and the Taylors want the Town Council of Edenton to give them almost one quarter acre of town property and more access to the water, for their own personal and private use.  The town council was elected to protect town property and make prudent use of town resources while caring for the common good.

All this despite the fact that Jim and Sally Blount [0.48 acres] as well as George and Erica Taylor [0.38 acres] each already have more than 100 feet of waterfront access.  Is that not enough?  I see their personal request for a quarter acre of public land as sheer greed fueled by a sense of entitlement. 

Councilman Sellers, your property on Gale Street is, according to the county GIS, 0.18 acres. The acreage being proposed as a give-away is larger than where you live.

Councilman Miller, your property on Church Street is, according to the county GIS, 0.25 acres.  The acreage being proposed as a give-away is only slightly smaller than where you live.

Mayor High, your property on Gale Street is, according to the county GIS, 0.19 acres.  The acreage being proposed as a give-away is larger than where you live.

My property on West Queen, just behind Councilman Miller, is 0.23 acres, approximately the same acreage being proposed in this land give-away.  That according to the county GIS data.

I say this to make the point that the parcel of land under consideration is not a trivial, small sliver of property, but rather a piece of property large enough for a house and garage. 

The Blount’s plat of March 6, 1989 clearly shows the property line along S Moseley Street, as well as Moseley Street itself with a 66-foot right of way.  Their plat is annotated with the following “There are no encroachments on or excroachments off this property.”  I would like to hear from the Blounts or Taylors when and how this part of S Moseley became what looks like a shared drive way and private property.

I am very concerned that the council has not publicly discussed any alternatives to a Christmas time give-away of prime town property.  I would like to hear a discussion about using this public land as a small park with a bench, or a kayak launch, or a pier for small boats, or perhaps put up for public auction and sold to the highest bidder as is done with other town property – trucks, equipment, etc. 

According to North Carolina GS§160A-299 the question of the common good is preeminent.  The town must make a formal, written, fact-supported finding that permanently closing the road is “not” contrary to the public interest. It must be reasonable, clearly stated, and factually based.  Simply stating that the public good will be served as one of the “Where ases” does not make it so.  I have yet to hear or see any documentation addressing this point.

The common good would be well served by taking back this part of S. Moseley, creating access to the waterfront for residents and visitors.  This would restore a view-scape on one of the five North-South streets in Edenton that go to the water.  This action would support the common good in the best interest of Edenton taxpayers and residents.  Giving the town property to two wealthy residents does not, I repeat, does not support the common good.  Giving prime town acreage to wealthy and influential residents under the guise of permanently closing a street smack of preferential treatment. 

I am of the opinion that the town council just wants this whole thing to go away.  They don’t really care about doing the right thing, just make it all disappear.  They are taking the path of least resistance, just give the town property away and the problem goes away with it.

Members of the town council, do the right thing for all the residents of Edenton and support the common good.  Please do not give away this prime water-front real estate to people who have so much already.

Thank you.

Hal Murray, a concerned Edenton Resident. 

Motorcycle Riding – a Moving Addiction

By Florian Deltgen

I have been riding motorcycles since I was 16. Since then, there have not been two consecutive years in my life when I did not own and ride a motorcycle. I had them all. BMW, Zündapp, NSU, Horex, Münch, Laverda, Benelli, Moto Guzzi, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki, you name them, and of course, Harley-Davidson. I went through rigorous training in Germany, where my Yugoslav riding teacher even taught me how to act in the event the bike slips on slick autumn leaves or on wet cobble stones. I am now 83. I never had a serious accident, and I am still riding my Harley-Davidson Softail Heritage Custom 200th Anniversary Edition.

I ask myself often: why am I still doing this? It is clearly dangerous, and I know I should quit and yet I would rather sacrifice a few years of my life than give up motorcycle riding. Stupidity? Old-age blockheadedness? Lack of responsibility? Give me liberty or give me death?

No folks. Motorcycle riding, if done right, becomes an addiction. What I am going to write about here is totally novel – at least as far as I was able to ascertain. I have never found anything written about this elsewhere. It is the phenomenon of total infinite vision.

To ride a motorcycle, you must move with it. If you do not move, you will sooner or later have to put your feet on the ground or you will fall on the side. When moving, rider and bike become one kinetic unit. You can only change direction by shifting your body’s center of gravity to the side counteracting the bike’s gyro force, which wants to keep the bike and you going straight, while at the same time slightly pulling on the “distal” handle of the handlebar, i.e., the handle that is further away from the center of the circle you are attempting to ride. When turning left, you pull on the right handlebar and vice versa. This becomes increasingly difficult, the faster the unit moves and the less of the total weight is contributed by the rider. This is the main reason why small, or light-weight people should not ride heavy bikes.

Humans have an innate urge to change their perception of reality and experience of self. This is why children like seesaws, carrousels, and swings or why they swirl around until they get dizzy. This is also why so many people take mind-altering drugs – at least initially. It is why many people like fast movements and unusual perspectives. It is also one of the fascinations of fast motorcycle riding and even of not so fast motorcycle riding, because it is a unique experience to maintain balance due to nothing but the gyro effect of the bike, especially when riding on curvy mountain roads like e.g. the Dragon Tail.

But this is not the true mind-altering, perception-changing, addictive bike riding experience. Do me a favor. Stick your right index finger in the air approximately a foot away from your face. Look at your finger with both eyes open. Now try to set your vision to infinite. Do not focus on your finger. Look at something behind the finger, far behind it. Keep trying this until you manage to switch off the parallax compensation of the eyes, which is the automatic function of your eyes that enables focused stereoscopic vision. When you succeed in setting your vision to infinite, you will no longer see one index finger but two with about a half inch “space” between them. (From a cognitive point of view, one might ask the question “What is that space between the two fingers? Does it really exist?”)

This kind of totally passive unfocussed vision directed unto the infinitive can also be achieved when riding a motorcycle. Just practice off-bike with your finger until the change in vision comes naturally and effortless. Then ride your bike and try the same – without the finger, of course. Just unfocus your vision. You will know that you succeeded when you get the impression that the bike no longer moves. It feels like you and the motorcycle are standing still, and the world is coming at you. The riding experience turns into a real-life video game experience. Reality rolls toward you like on a screen.

This is most impressive when riding on long straight roads or over long bridges, and it is outright stunning when riding through a long tunnel like the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in Norfolk. It reminds me of the experience of being born and passing through the maternal vagina. Scary yet impressive and once you experienced this phenomenon, you become addicted, and you want to experience it again. I can only describe it as total perception or as being born again. I suspect that many motorcyclists have had the same experience and are also addicted to it, but nobody talks or writes about it.

Still, the experience of total perception can make motorcycle riding even more dangerous because riding without the perceptive crutch of focused vision can affect your balance and destabilize your orientation. It should only be tried by truly experienced riders and preferably on a road without oncoming traffic or best on one with no traffic. While I do not recommend that anybody try this, I have to admit that this unique experience is the true reason why I find it so hard to end my biking days.

If you are a motorcycle rider and have had the same experience, let me know.

A resident of Columbia, Dr. Florian Deltgen speaks six languages fluently, and six more languages less fluently. He has published several scientific books and articles in English, Spanish, and German. His hobbies are motorcycle riding, hunting, fishing, boating, and shooting.