VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE #190
AIR DATE: 09 03 2021
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Remembering 9/11
((SOT))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
It was scary. Because at that point, nobody knew that it was terrorism. You know, everybody just thought it was an accident.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Listening to the Fields
((SOT))
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers Farm))
The farm talks to you and it, kind of, just tells you what it needs. Sometimes you don't think that you need to weed and then you walk out and there's just millions of weeds that need to be pulled.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Art in the Prairie
((SOT))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
When I first got here, my art was basically walking around
the prairie and the streams and finding natural objects and
then assemble them into some object that speaks of the prairie.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG)) NYC SUBWAY TRAIN OPERATOR
((TRT: 05:58))
((VOA Russian))
((Topic Banner: 9/11 Reflections))
((Reporter: Anna Nelson))
((Camera: Vladimir Badikov))
((Editor: Natalia Latukhina))
((Map: New York City, New York))
((Main character: 1 male))
((Sub character: 1 female))
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
I think I was kind of happier before. I was 40. It was fairly good. I was married, a father, four children. Believe it or not, I wanted to be a cop but that didn't work out. So,
I was a train operator for the city of New York. I was able to make a decent living. I did my job. I wasn't really crazy about it but it paid the bills.
My name is Joseph Irizarry. I was a train operator on the R Line on September 11, 2001.
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
At 8:43 to 8:45 in the morning, I was at Cortlandt Street. There was an explosion that shook my train. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know if I got rear-ended by another train or if, you know, a bomb went off. I told my conductor to reopen the doors when we were at rest at a station. And I went towards the back of the train and there was two ladies running down the stairs and they informed me that a plane had just hit the first tower.
I told everybody just to stay on the train, so they got back onto the train.
There was debris coming down, dust coming down into the station. Was inhaling that.
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
It was scary. Because at that point, nobody knew that it was terrorism. You know, everybody just thought it was an accident.
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
There were people running down the stairs to get on the train. I told my conductor to keep the doors open until he saw that everybody had gotten on the train safely.
Cortlandt Street was right across the street from the tower, 100 yards [90 m], maybe, not even.
Yeah, I was underneath when the first plane hit. I didn't panic at that point. My whole thing was just to get everybody out of there safely. Usually 10 seconds, 15 seconds, conductor opens the doors. As long as everybody's clear, the doors close down and we proceed.
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
This time, it was different.
At that point, I made sure that everybody that was running down the stairs was able to get on the train safely. And once everybody came down the stairs safely and we didn't see any more people coming down the stairs, I told my conductor to close down and we proceeded.
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
If I remember correctly, it was probably a few hundred people on the train. I contacted my control center and informed them and they came back and verified it.
((Courtesy: WNYE-TV))
((NATS: Emergency Dispatch))
“A plane hit the World Trade Center at Cortlandt Street here! We have smoke in the station down here!
“The time is 8:47.”
“I’m at Cortlandt Street. I’m moving out!”
“The time is 8:47.”
“I’m moving out, but there’s smoke down here!”
((Courtesy: WNYE-TV))
((Joseph Irizarry, 2001 Archival Footage))
You know, with the smoke coming down, I figured something was going on upstairs. And we got everybody on the train, closed down and we proceeded.
((Courtesy ends))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
The trains that were behind went back into Brooklyn.
It’s tough.
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
When I got to Continental Avenue, that's when I found out exactly what had happened, you know, as far as the tower falling. I went into the crew room and saw it on TV.
That's when I panicked, I think, knowing that I was underneath, that's when it all hit me. I remember going home, just breaking down and crying.
((NATS))
((Courtesy: New York Transit Museum))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
I believe the station was closed down for a while because of damage. There was a lot of destruction. They had to rebuild the station. There was a part that did collapse. It took a long time for them
((Courtesy ends))
((Courtesy: AP/Mark Lennihan))
to rebuild the station.
((Courtesy ends))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
The Transit Authority, like they got in touch with me with the lady that contacted the news.
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
The one person that I did get to meet was Linda. She was sitting right behind my cab.
((Courtesy: WNYE-TV))
((Linda Desilvio, Train Passenger on 9/11/2001))
Actually, it took me a few days because of the shock of everything. And then when I started getting my composure back, because I did lose a lot of friends, then I decided I must call and do something to say, “Thank you” to somebody that could be, you know, slip through the cracks.
((Courtesy: WNYE-TV))
((NATS: Joseph Irizarry & Linda Desilvio, 2001 Archival Footage))
((Joseph Irizarry))
I’m glad you’re here.
((Linda Desilvio))
Good again to see you.
((Joseph Irizarry))
Thanks for finding me.
((Linda Desilvio))
The MTA [Metropolitan Transportation Authority] did.
((Joseph Irizarry, 2001 Archival Footage))
It’s a good feeling, you know, to think somebody, you know, considers you a hero. I still say that’s what we do every day down here. That’s our job, to keep our customers safe.
((Courtesy ends))
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
I kept just trying to put it off and deal with it. I was taking off a lot of time sick because I did not want to be there. According to seniority, I picked different routes. Operating a train, I would break down and cry.
December 31st of 2011 is when I was allowed to retire. I have post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, asthma, rhinitis. No, it doesn't get any easier. No, not at all. I always think about everybody that died at that point. And why am I still here?
20 years, I mean, it seems like yesterday.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Building a Life Outdoors
((SOT))
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers Farm))
Yeah. We're out every day, rain or shine, all working together towards like a common goal. So, it's a lot of fun.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((PKG)) WILFLOWERS BLOOMING
((TRT: 06:52))
((Topic Banner: Wildflowers))
((Reporter: Faiza ElMasry))
((Camera/Editor: Mike Burke))
((Map:??Leesburg, Virginia))
((Main characters: 1 female))
((Sub characters: 1 male))
((NATS: Kaitlin))
You think the plant’s like cinnamon? Yeah. I like cinnamon too.
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
The farm talks to you and it, kind of, just tells you what it needs.
Sometimes you don't think that you need to weed and then you walk out and there's just millions of weeds that need to be pulled.
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
My name is Kaitlin Armijo and I own Wild for Wildflowers. We are a boutique flower farm here in Leesburg, Virginia.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
Today it's beautiful out. We are getting our last round of hardy annuals in.
My husband and I were actually high school sweethearts and we moved out here from California.
((NATS))
((NATS: Kaitlin))
We bought the farm in 2014 and then it quickly escalated into how can we turn this into something else, something more than just a property for us?
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
And so in 2015 the idea was born and in 2016 we actually started.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
My husband Justin, he is a full-time firefighter but he is the muscle here on the farm.
((NATS))
((NATS/Kaitlin))
He also takes care of all of our equipment and tractor work that needs to be done. He can build or fix anything. So, we started this farm. We weren't handed a farm. We don't have the infrastructure. We don't have buildings. We didn't start with a tractor.
So, we've had to work up to all this. So, it's been amazing because anything that I've needed, he's built.
((NATS))
((Justin Armijo, Co-owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
When we bought it, we didn't have the flower business in mind until we decided to have children and we had our first kid. And she didn't want to be working in the kind of corporate world, if you want to call it that. We decided to come up with something that she could do at home to involve the kids.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
Mom, the jungle gym.
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
This is Nolan and he's three. You say hi, say hi.
And this is Paisley and she's five.
((NATS: Paisley))
Yeah.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
And we're expecting our third.
((NATS))
((Justin Armijo, Co-owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
When we first started, my only goal for her was that I was just happy if she was enjoying what she was doing, and the kids could do it with her. Even if we didn't make any money at the end of the year but we just broke even, I would be happy with that.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
You want to put them in? Find a row.
((Justin Armijo, Co-owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
As long as it was something that they enjoyed doing. So, she came up with flowers. The kind of idea of flowers bloomed. And we just started little and kept growing it as we went.
((NATS))
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
We were following up with the slow food and now it's the slow flower movement. About 80 percent of the flowers that are sold here in the US are actually imported from distant lands, like South America, where they can grow flowers year-round. But because of that, they are cut, you know, weeks, days to weeks before getting into customers’ hands. They're shipped out of water. They're shipped in cardboard and plastic, and they're dehydrated, and they're actually only able to be picked really closed. I call our business seed-to-sale. So, everything that we grow on the farm, I have started here from seed or bulb or corm, but it's all done here. We don't bring in any flowers we don't grow.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
Ready P? Want to strip the foliage?
Spring is definitely our main season. We grow about, I'd say, between three and four hundred different varieties of flowers here.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
Go put them in.
There's no pesticides, no herbicides, nothing.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
The harvest, I think, is their favorite time because we're outside and they get special little jobs. So, they strip the leaves and they take turns walking the flowers to the buckets.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
This is gomphrena, which is a pretty cool flower because it's multiuse. They're an everlasting flower. So, come wintertime, when we do dried flower wreaths as our winter income, they are great.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
This is a dahlia. We use them fresh only. They're not a flower that most people are familiar with because you can't get them imported. They're very delicate. They don't have the longest vase life. So, these are a flower that you can really only get locally.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
So, this is eucalyptus and it's another one that is an awesome foliage but it's multiuse because we can dry it and sell dried bundles of this. And it's actually not a perennial here but we can get it to overwinter, which is awesome because we get a much earlier harvest.
((NATS: Kaitlin and Paisley))
It’s my favorite flower.
You love this? You want to hold it?
It’s been going in my face.
Smell how good it smells.
Mmm.
Rub your finger on the leaf. It's the oil in there.
Mmm.
Doesn’t it smell good?
((NATS: Kaitlin))
This will hold like three or four of them.
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
Chelsea is another flower farmer in the area and she owns Bee’s Wing Farm out in Bluemont, Virginia. And her and I are working on founding a flower collective or a flower co-op where we will sell wholesale flowers to local flower professionals and florists to support the wedding industry out here in Loudon County and the surrounding areas.
((NATS))
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
This is amaranth, birchleaf spirea, sea oats, lemon mint monarda or beebalm, zinnias, vitex, some celosia, nicotiana which is flowering tobacco. We have scabiosa, some more varieties of zinnias, apple mint here. It's a fun variety. It's got lots of texture.
((NATS))
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
Wild for Wildflowers is the name of the farm but it speaks more to the style of the flowers that we do. When I first named this business and started it, I thought I was going to be doing more wedding work. So, I was speaking to more whimsical, nature inspired type of arrangements, not so much the type of flowers that we grow.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
We are going to go deliver the flowers right now to Willowsford Farm in Aldie and we have a couple of different locations that have partnered with us to be pick-up locations for our own spring share.
((NATS: Kaitlin & a store salesman))
Hi guys. How are you?
We’re good.
You want these in the cooler again?
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
It's an exhaustion that's fueled by a pure passion. So, even though I'm tired, I, you know, giving up is never a problem. And when I see the joy that these flowers bring our clients and our community, it's just, it's worth every ounce of effort.
((NATS: Kaitlin & Paisley))
Hang on, hang on P. You're going to cut right here, just that stem. Go ahead. Good job!
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
And then, of course, seeing how much my family enjoys doing this, you know. We get quality time out here together.
((NATS: Kaitlin & Kids))
Yeah.
We're out every day, rain or shine, all working together towards like a common goal. So, it's a lot of fun.
((NATS: Both kids))
I want to watch you go underneath.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Meaning in the Grass
((SOT))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
When I first got here, my art was basically walking around
the prairie and the streams and finding natural objects and
then assemble them into some object that speaks of the prairie.
((MUSIC/NATS))
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) THRIVING ARTIST COMMUNITY OF KANSAS
((Previously aired February 2021))
((TRT: 08:11))
((Topic Banner: Kansas Art Community))
((Reporter/Camera: Deepak Dobhal))
((Map: Matfield Green, Kansas))
((Main characters: 1 male))
((Sub Characters: 2 male; 2 female))
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
Flint Hills are very magical, almost mystical.
People come and they, all of a sudden, feel connected to theEarth. There are not a lot of trees and there are not a lot of structures. You really see out and feel like
you're on the globe.
I moved here for the prairie. That was my love.
I wanted to be an artist in the prairie.
And so, my wife and I ended up in Matfield Green, Kansas. This is the center of the largest remnant of prairie left over in the world, probably.
I was an architect in Chicago. I moved here 15 years ago.
When I first got here, my art was basically walking around
the prairie and the streams and finding natural objects and
then assemble them into some object that speaks of the prairie.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
I did that for a few years and then I also, our property, we
have about 40 acres [16 hectares] of historic property because of the
railroad. And so, we developed the idea of a Prairy Art Path because we're on the scenic byway and on the scenic byway, there are not that many places to really stop and get out and walk.
So, my work became more and more part of the landscape. Rather than collecting things, I would put things in the
landscape on the Prairy Art Path.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
We're in the old cattle pens that the railroad built in 1924.
Just around the year 2000, there was a big prairie fire and it burned the pens.
But it's a very interesting, sort of historic and visual place.
So, about five years ago, with a friend, artist, Jeroen van Westen from the Netherlands was visiting and we made
these
balanced sticks. They're just held on by gravity. They're
just a steel post and a metal plate. Show us what direction
the wind is blowing. It's fun. Sometimes a bird will light on one end
and put the stick out of balance.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
I may be one of the early artists that came and really sort of said, “Okay, this is where I’m going to, my home base for art is here.”
And then, there was a great happening that there was
a couple
((Photo Courtesy: Ton Haak))
from the Netherlands. And so, they had come through
Matfield Green and been enchanted by the landscape and
decided to stay. They were great promoters and knew other artists from Europe and established relationships with local museums in Wichita and Kansas City and Manhattan and
started a movement. And so, to me it was like right out of the sky.
Here I'm trying to, you know, be an artist and all of a sudden are these great art people that are my neighbors that are
real promoters. And so, it was an exciting time. But they went, moved back to Portugal after about 10 years. And so,
they attracted people. Slowly, we've collected artists.
((NATS: Bill McBride and Matt Regier))
This is Matt Regier.
Hi.
Printmaker and neighbor.
((Matt Regier, Printmaker))
So, these are a couple results, a couple of older prints that I just have handy. This is a, just kind of a, sort of, bare prairie landscape.
((NATS: Bill McBride and Elaine Jones))
What are you doing?
We're introducing neighbors. This is Elaine Jones.
Please come in.
((Bill McBride, Sculptor; Elaine Jones, Photographer))
She's well known for all that she's done around here,
founding the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in the early 70s and she's a
photographer.
((NATS: Bill McBride))
I hope our, these neighbors are home. She is a great painter.
((NATS: Bill McBride with Kelly and his wife))
How you doing?
Hello, hello. Yes.
Good to see you.
Kelly, good to see you. Sure.
Hey, here's the painter and musician.
There's a bonfire tomorrow night.
Okay.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
Since we have arrived, the art scene has slowly taken hold. And with the Tallgrass Artist Residency, we have 10 artists asummer, who usually fall in love with the place.
((Photo Courtesy: Derek Hamm))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
Then they all come back for a show at The Bank. That
connects so many artists to this place.
((NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
This is The Bank, the last remaining storefront in town.
There used to be a whole row of storefronts. It was built in the 20s. So, for five or six years, it's been the gallery in town.
((Photo Courtesy: Derek Hamm))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
It had some great shows. But the roof leaked and there
were a few problems with the building. So, we decided not to continue until we renovated. And we're in the fundraising mode.
So, it's very funny to be from this tiny town and be in Kansas City and somebody says, “Oh, you're from Matfield Green.
That's an art community.” And you think well, you know, may I guess
it is. You know, like we're, the numbers aren't big because we're so small but it's real. It's actually happening.
((NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
We're enjoying a bonfire tonight. This is celebrating the sort of the
end of the season of the Tallgrass Artist Residency. And so, some of the artists will be back. Usually, we have a big
show but in this time of COVID, and our Bank, our gallery
space is under renovation. And so, the show is not going to happen until the spring or
sometime next summer. So, we're just having a
get together.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
I moved here for the prairie. The whole social aspect of
being in a small place in a ranching
community was not what attracted me. It sort of surprised me. I thought I'm a nice guy and people will accept me and
I'm just going to do it. But there's a lot of mistrust or
misunderstanding of outsiders. And so, they say that you're a newcomer. Even if you were here
for 50 years, you’d probably still be seen as a newcomer.
So, that's an aspect of being here. But basically, it's a
growing
arts community and it creeps very slowly. A person here, a person there and then it has
blossomed.
We're proud of it. It's a precious thing.
((MUSIC/NATS))
NEXT WEEK / GOOD BYE ((VO/NAT))
In coming weeks…..
((Banner))
Life in the Everglades
((SOT))
((Maurice Cullen, Owner, Everglades Airboat Expeditions))
I’ve been around the everglades my entire life. My father used to drive airboats with a couple of his buddies back in the 60s, 70s, 80s. He used to take me bass fishing all the time. Go out there, spot alligators. Started running tours seven years ago. Started my business three years ago. Definitely a blessing to be out here. It’s a very, very beautiful place at the end of the day, holds a special place in my heart.
A lot of people actually think the Florida Everglades is, you know, marsh, wetlands, which it is. But it is actually the world’s slowest moving river.
Even when Native Americans lived out here, it was also named ‘The River of Grass’ because the sawgrass on the outside dominates the majority of the area, all the marsh. There are certain sloughs out here in the everglades that can be a little bit deeper than the prairies and the outside area and the water only moves about a 100 foot throughout the entire day.
CLOSING BUMPER ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect
BREAK THREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
SHOW ENDS
EPISODE #190
AIR DATE: 09 03 2021
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Remembering 9/11
((SOT))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
It was scary. Because at that point, nobody knew that it was terrorism. You know, everybody just thought it was an accident.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Listening to the Fields
((SOT))
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers Farm))
The farm talks to you and it, kind of, just tells you what it needs. Sometimes you don't think that you need to weed and then you walk out and there's just millions of weeds that need to be pulled.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Art in the Prairie
((SOT))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
When I first got here, my art was basically walking around
the prairie and the streams and finding natural objects and
then assemble them into some object that speaks of the prairie.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG)) NYC SUBWAY TRAIN OPERATOR
((TRT: 05:58))
((VOA Russian))
((Topic Banner: 9/11 Reflections))
((Reporter: Anna Nelson))
((Camera: Vladimir Badikov))
((Editor: Natalia Latukhina))
((Map: New York City, New York))
((Main character: 1 male))
((Sub character: 1 female))
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
I think I was kind of happier before. I was 40. It was fairly good. I was married, a father, four children. Believe it or not, I wanted to be a cop but that didn't work out. So,
I was a train operator for the city of New York. I was able to make a decent living. I did my job. I wasn't really crazy about it but it paid the bills.
My name is Joseph Irizarry. I was a train operator on the R Line on September 11, 2001.
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
At 8:43 to 8:45 in the morning, I was at Cortlandt Street. There was an explosion that shook my train. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know if I got rear-ended by another train or if, you know, a bomb went off. I told my conductor to reopen the doors when we were at rest at a station. And I went towards the back of the train and there was two ladies running down the stairs and they informed me that a plane had just hit the first tower.
I told everybody just to stay on the train, so they got back onto the train.
There was debris coming down, dust coming down into the station. Was inhaling that.
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
It was scary. Because at that point, nobody knew that it was terrorism. You know, everybody just thought it was an accident.
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
There were people running down the stairs to get on the train. I told my conductor to keep the doors open until he saw that everybody had gotten on the train safely.
Cortlandt Street was right across the street from the tower, 100 yards [90 m], maybe, not even.
Yeah, I was underneath when the first plane hit. I didn't panic at that point. My whole thing was just to get everybody out of there safely. Usually 10 seconds, 15 seconds, conductor opens the doors. As long as everybody's clear, the doors close down and we proceed.
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
This time, it was different.
At that point, I made sure that everybody that was running down the stairs was able to get on the train safely. And once everybody came down the stairs safely and we didn't see any more people coming down the stairs, I told my conductor to close down and we proceeded.
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
If I remember correctly, it was probably a few hundred people on the train. I contacted my control center and informed them and they came back and verified it.
((Courtesy: WNYE-TV))
((NATS: Emergency Dispatch))
“A plane hit the World Trade Center at Cortlandt Street here! We have smoke in the station down here!
“The time is 8:47.”
“I’m at Cortlandt Street. I’m moving out!”
“The time is 8:47.”
“I’m moving out, but there’s smoke down here!”
((Courtesy: WNYE-TV))
((Joseph Irizarry, 2001 Archival Footage))
You know, with the smoke coming down, I figured something was going on upstairs. And we got everybody on the train, closed down and we proceeded.
((Courtesy ends))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
The trains that were behind went back into Brooklyn.
It’s tough.
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
When I got to Continental Avenue, that's when I found out exactly what had happened, you know, as far as the tower falling. I went into the crew room and saw it on TV.
That's when I panicked, I think, knowing that I was underneath, that's when it all hit me. I remember going home, just breaking down and crying.
((NATS))
((Courtesy: New York Transit Museum))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
I believe the station was closed down for a while because of damage. There was a lot of destruction. They had to rebuild the station. There was a part that did collapse. It took a long time for them
((Courtesy ends))
((Courtesy: AP/Mark Lennihan))
to rebuild the station.
((Courtesy ends))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
The Transit Authority, like they got in touch with me with the lady that contacted the news.
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
The one person that I did get to meet was Linda. She was sitting right behind my cab.
((Courtesy: WNYE-TV))
((Linda Desilvio, Train Passenger on 9/11/2001))
Actually, it took me a few days because of the shock of everything. And then when I started getting my composure back, because I did lose a lot of friends, then I decided I must call and do something to say, “Thank you” to somebody that could be, you know, slip through the cracks.
((Courtesy: WNYE-TV))
((NATS: Joseph Irizarry & Linda Desilvio, 2001 Archival Footage))
((Joseph Irizarry))
I’m glad you’re here.
((Linda Desilvio))
Good again to see you.
((Joseph Irizarry))
Thanks for finding me.
((Linda Desilvio))
The MTA [Metropolitan Transportation Authority] did.
((Joseph Irizarry, 2001 Archival Footage))
It’s a good feeling, you know, to think somebody, you know, considers you a hero. I still say that’s what we do every day down here. That’s our job, to keep our customers safe.
((Courtesy ends))
((NATS))
((Joseph Irizarry, NYC Train Operator on 9/11/2001))
I kept just trying to put it off and deal with it. I was taking off a lot of time sick because I did not want to be there. According to seniority, I picked different routes. Operating a train, I would break down and cry.
December 31st of 2011 is when I was allowed to retire. I have post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, asthma, rhinitis. No, it doesn't get any easier. No, not at all. I always think about everybody that died at that point. And why am I still here?
20 years, I mean, it seems like yesterday.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Building a Life Outdoors
((SOT))
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers Farm))
Yeah. We're out every day, rain or shine, all working together towards like a common goal. So, it's a lot of fun.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((PKG)) WILFLOWERS BLOOMING
((TRT: 06:52))
((Topic Banner: Wildflowers))
((Reporter: Faiza ElMasry))
((Camera/Editor: Mike Burke))
((Map:??Leesburg, Virginia))
((Main characters: 1 female))
((Sub characters: 1 male))
((NATS: Kaitlin))
You think the plant’s like cinnamon? Yeah. I like cinnamon too.
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
The farm talks to you and it, kind of, just tells you what it needs.
Sometimes you don't think that you need to weed and then you walk out and there's just millions of weeds that need to be pulled.
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
My name is Kaitlin Armijo and I own Wild for Wildflowers. We are a boutique flower farm here in Leesburg, Virginia.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
Today it's beautiful out. We are getting our last round of hardy annuals in.
My husband and I were actually high school sweethearts and we moved out here from California.
((NATS))
((NATS: Kaitlin))
We bought the farm in 2014 and then it quickly escalated into how can we turn this into something else, something more than just a property for us?
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
And so in 2015 the idea was born and in 2016 we actually started.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
My husband Justin, he is a full-time firefighter but he is the muscle here on the farm.
((NATS))
((NATS/Kaitlin))
He also takes care of all of our equipment and tractor work that needs to be done. He can build or fix anything. So, we started this farm. We weren't handed a farm. We don't have the infrastructure. We don't have buildings. We didn't start with a tractor.
So, we've had to work up to all this. So, it's been amazing because anything that I've needed, he's built.
((NATS))
((Justin Armijo, Co-owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
When we bought it, we didn't have the flower business in mind until we decided to have children and we had our first kid. And she didn't want to be working in the kind of corporate world, if you want to call it that. We decided to come up with something that she could do at home to involve the kids.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
Mom, the jungle gym.
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
This is Nolan and he's three. You say hi, say hi.
And this is Paisley and she's five.
((NATS: Paisley))
Yeah.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
And we're expecting our third.
((NATS))
((Justin Armijo, Co-owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
When we first started, my only goal for her was that I was just happy if she was enjoying what she was doing, and the kids could do it with her. Even if we didn't make any money at the end of the year but we just broke even, I would be happy with that.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
You want to put them in? Find a row.
((Justin Armijo, Co-owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
As long as it was something that they enjoyed doing. So, she came up with flowers. The kind of idea of flowers bloomed. And we just started little and kept growing it as we went.
((NATS))
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
We were following up with the slow food and now it's the slow flower movement. About 80 percent of the flowers that are sold here in the US are actually imported from distant lands, like South America, where they can grow flowers year-round. But because of that, they are cut, you know, weeks, days to weeks before getting into customers’ hands. They're shipped out of water. They're shipped in cardboard and plastic, and they're dehydrated, and they're actually only able to be picked really closed. I call our business seed-to-sale. So, everything that we grow on the farm, I have started here from seed or bulb or corm, but it's all done here. We don't bring in any flowers we don't grow.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
Ready P? Want to strip the foliage?
Spring is definitely our main season. We grow about, I'd say, between three and four hundred different varieties of flowers here.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
Go put them in.
There's no pesticides, no herbicides, nothing.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
The harvest, I think, is their favorite time because we're outside and they get special little jobs. So, they strip the leaves and they take turns walking the flowers to the buckets.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
This is gomphrena, which is a pretty cool flower because it's multiuse. They're an everlasting flower. So, come wintertime, when we do dried flower wreaths as our winter income, they are great.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
This is a dahlia. We use them fresh only. They're not a flower that most people are familiar with because you can't get them imported. They're very delicate. They don't have the longest vase life. So, these are a flower that you can really only get locally.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
So, this is eucalyptus and it's another one that is an awesome foliage but it's multiuse because we can dry it and sell dried bundles of this. And it's actually not a perennial here but we can get it to overwinter, which is awesome because we get a much earlier harvest.
((NATS: Kaitlin and Paisley))
It’s my favorite flower.
You love this? You want to hold it?
It’s been going in my face.
Smell how good it smells.
Mmm.
Rub your finger on the leaf. It's the oil in there.
Mmm.
Doesn’t it smell good?
((NATS: Kaitlin))
This will hold like three or four of them.
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
Chelsea is another flower farmer in the area and she owns Bee’s Wing Farm out in Bluemont, Virginia. And her and I are working on founding a flower collective or a flower co-op where we will sell wholesale flowers to local flower professionals and florists to support the wedding industry out here in Loudon County and the surrounding areas.
((NATS))
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
This is amaranth, birchleaf spirea, sea oats, lemon mint monarda or beebalm, zinnias, vitex, some celosia, nicotiana which is flowering tobacco. We have scabiosa, some more varieties of zinnias, apple mint here. It's a fun variety. It's got lots of texture.
((NATS))
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
Wild for Wildflowers is the name of the farm but it speaks more to the style of the flowers that we do. When I first named this business and started it, I thought I was going to be doing more wedding work. So, I was speaking to more whimsical, nature inspired type of arrangements, not so much the type of flowers that we grow.
((NATS: Kaitlin))
We are going to go deliver the flowers right now to Willowsford Farm in Aldie and we have a couple of different locations that have partnered with us to be pick-up locations for our own spring share.
((NATS: Kaitlin & a store salesman))
Hi guys. How are you?
We’re good.
You want these in the cooler again?
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
It's an exhaustion that's fueled by a pure passion. So, even though I'm tired, I, you know, giving up is never a problem. And when I see the joy that these flowers bring our clients and our community, it's just, it's worth every ounce of effort.
((NATS: Kaitlin & Paisley))
Hang on, hang on P. You're going to cut right here, just that stem. Go ahead. Good job!
((Kaitlin Armijo, Owner, Wild for Wildflowers))
And then, of course, seeing how much my family enjoys doing this, you know. We get quality time out here together.
((NATS: Kaitlin & Kids))
Yeah.
We're out every day, rain or shine, all working together towards like a common goal. So, it's a lot of fun.
((NATS: Both kids))
I want to watch you go underneath.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Meaning in the Grass
((SOT))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
When I first got here, my art was basically walking around
the prairie and the streams and finding natural objects and
then assemble them into some object that speaks of the prairie.
((MUSIC/NATS))
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) THRIVING ARTIST COMMUNITY OF KANSAS
((Previously aired February 2021))
((TRT: 08:11))
((Topic Banner: Kansas Art Community))
((Reporter/Camera: Deepak Dobhal))
((Map: Matfield Green, Kansas))
((Main characters: 1 male))
((Sub Characters: 2 male; 2 female))
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
Flint Hills are very magical, almost mystical.
People come and they, all of a sudden, feel connected to theEarth. There are not a lot of trees and there are not a lot of structures. You really see out and feel like
you're on the globe.
I moved here for the prairie. That was my love.
I wanted to be an artist in the prairie.
And so, my wife and I ended up in Matfield Green, Kansas. This is the center of the largest remnant of prairie left over in the world, probably.
I was an architect in Chicago. I moved here 15 years ago.
When I first got here, my art was basically walking around
the prairie and the streams and finding natural objects and
then assemble them into some object that speaks of the prairie.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
I did that for a few years and then I also, our property, we
have about 40 acres [16 hectares] of historic property because of the
railroad. And so, we developed the idea of a Prairy Art Path because we're on the scenic byway and on the scenic byway, there are not that many places to really stop and get out and walk.
So, my work became more and more part of the landscape. Rather than collecting things, I would put things in the
landscape on the Prairy Art Path.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
We're in the old cattle pens that the railroad built in 1924.
Just around the year 2000, there was a big prairie fire and it burned the pens.
But it's a very interesting, sort of historic and visual place.
So, about five years ago, with a friend, artist, Jeroen van Westen from the Netherlands was visiting and we made
these
balanced sticks. They're just held on by gravity. They're
just a steel post and a metal plate. Show us what direction
the wind is blowing. It's fun. Sometimes a bird will light on one end
and put the stick out of balance.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
I may be one of the early artists that came and really sort of said, “Okay, this is where I’m going to, my home base for art is here.”
And then, there was a great happening that there was
a couple
((Photo Courtesy: Ton Haak))
from the Netherlands. And so, they had come through
Matfield Green and been enchanted by the landscape and
decided to stay. They were great promoters and knew other artists from Europe and established relationships with local museums in Wichita and Kansas City and Manhattan and
started a movement. And so, to me it was like right out of the sky.
Here I'm trying to, you know, be an artist and all of a sudden are these great art people that are my neighbors that are
real promoters. And so, it was an exciting time. But they went, moved back to Portugal after about 10 years. And so,
they attracted people. Slowly, we've collected artists.
((NATS: Bill McBride and Matt Regier))
This is Matt Regier.
Hi.
Printmaker and neighbor.
((Matt Regier, Printmaker))
So, these are a couple results, a couple of older prints that I just have handy. This is a, just kind of a, sort of, bare prairie landscape.
((NATS: Bill McBride and Elaine Jones))
What are you doing?
We're introducing neighbors. This is Elaine Jones.
Please come in.
((Bill McBride, Sculptor; Elaine Jones, Photographer))
She's well known for all that she's done around here,
founding the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in the early 70s and she's a
photographer.
((NATS: Bill McBride))
I hope our, these neighbors are home. She is a great painter.
((NATS: Bill McBride with Kelly and his wife))
How you doing?
Hello, hello. Yes.
Good to see you.
Kelly, good to see you. Sure.
Hey, here's the painter and musician.
There's a bonfire tomorrow night.
Okay.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
Since we have arrived, the art scene has slowly taken hold. And with the Tallgrass Artist Residency, we have 10 artists asummer, who usually fall in love with the place.
((Photo Courtesy: Derek Hamm))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
Then they all come back for a show at The Bank. That
connects so many artists to this place.
((NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
This is The Bank, the last remaining storefront in town.
There used to be a whole row of storefronts. It was built in the 20s. So, for five or six years, it's been the gallery in town.
((Photo Courtesy: Derek Hamm))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
It had some great shows. But the roof leaked and there
were a few problems with the building. So, we decided not to continue until we renovated. And we're in the fundraising mode.
So, it's very funny to be from this tiny town and be in Kansas City and somebody says, “Oh, you're from Matfield Green.
That's an art community.” And you think well, you know, may I guess
it is. You know, like we're, the numbers aren't big because we're so small but it's real. It's actually happening.
((NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
We're enjoying a bonfire tonight. This is celebrating the sort of the
end of the season of the Tallgrass Artist Residency. And so, some of the artists will be back. Usually, we have a big
show but in this time of COVID, and our Bank, our gallery
space is under renovation. And so, the show is not going to happen until the spring or
sometime next summer. So, we're just having a
get together.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))
I moved here for the prairie. The whole social aspect of
being in a small place in a ranching
community was not what attracted me. It sort of surprised me. I thought I'm a nice guy and people will accept me and
I'm just going to do it. But there's a lot of mistrust or
misunderstanding of outsiders. And so, they say that you're a newcomer. Even if you were here
for 50 years, you’d probably still be seen as a newcomer.
So, that's an aspect of being here. But basically, it's a
growing
arts community and it creeps very slowly. A person here, a person there and then it has
blossomed.
We're proud of it. It's a precious thing.
((MUSIC/NATS))
NEXT WEEK / GOOD BYE ((VO/NAT))
In coming weeks…..
((Banner))
Life in the Everglades
((SOT))
((Maurice Cullen, Owner, Everglades Airboat Expeditions))
I’ve been around the everglades my entire life. My father used to drive airboats with a couple of his buddies back in the 60s, 70s, 80s. He used to take me bass fishing all the time. Go out there, spot alligators. Started running tours seven years ago. Started my business three years ago. Definitely a blessing to be out here. It’s a very, very beautiful place at the end of the day, holds a special place in my heart.
A lot of people actually think the Florida Everglades is, you know, marsh, wetlands, which it is. But it is actually the world’s slowest moving river.
Even when Native Americans lived out here, it was also named ‘The River of Grass’ because the sawgrass on the outside dominates the majority of the area, all the marsh. There are certain sloughs out here in the everglades that can be a little bit deeper than the prairies and the outside area and the water only moves about a 100 foot throughout the entire day.
CLOSING BUMPER ((ANIM))
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BREAK THREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
SHOW ENDS
