Third in Line (eBook)

Cat Boat on the Mississippi Sound

Chapter 1

The Mississippi Sound Expedition

Totally distracted from the daily challenges of her job, Penelope Chatham browsed through family pictures in a photo album on her enormous desk. To her creative mind lost in thought, the overly large size of the desk could actually have been part of the original raft that accommodated Tom and Huck on their Mississippi River adventures. While she knew those irreverent boys never really did all that Samuel Clemons wrote about, adventure was in her blood and her way of thinking was boundless like that of past political leaders that had sat at the time-honored walnut desk.

The lady politician from South Mississippi who now resided in Washington, D.C., had often been called a modern-day Tom Sawyer but with education, class, and connections. That comparison was okay with her; just like Tom she was a traveler. Experiencing aboriginal culture and untouched natural environments with her family was what she enjoyed the most!

The up-and-coming Representative from Mississippi’s Third Congressional District was high spirited and bubbling with energy nearly all of the time. Her smile was endearing, and her shoulder length blonde hair, naturally blond of course, was often pulled back in a high pony, signaling she was deeply involved working with some issue. Mississippi’s emerging political leader was the only lady among the state’s four congressmen which included a lawyer, an accountant, and an educator. She was a teacher and graduate of Mississippi State University and LSU. Together with her good looks and inquisitiveness, Congresswoman Chatham could have easily won the most popular House member contest, if such a competition was ever held.

Musings of her husband and three children were interrupted by her cellphone, “Madam Speaker, it is fifteen minutes until the roll call vote on your Sustainability Bill. You will soon need to walk over to the House Chambers.” She was anxious as anything could happen at the last minute.

Senator Long of Louisiana and Speaker Chatham had worked unceasingly to convince their colleagues to establish a national effort that would restore damaged coastal ecosystems. The legislation would also promote methods for conserving energy and reduce carbon emissions in housing.

All of the hard work creating the landmark bill for coastal marsh and estuary restoration, and carbon emission reduction should be an easy sell to congressional colleagues. It was legislation that was beneficial to the individual taxpayer and popular with outdoor enthusiasts. For home owners, becoming sustainable would put individuals in charge of a never-ending supply of free electricity and water.

“Ok, Jake, I’m about ready. Can you walk over with me?” Now, she wanted a friendly accomplice to walk over the House Chamber. Sharing the experiences of her position with her staff was important for their careers and helped build allegiance on her team.

“Of course, Madam Speaker. I’ll meet you in the front office.” Jake, a Coast Guard Fellow and one of her twenty-eight staff members had proven himself dependable in every challenge. Experiences in the military had molded him into a capable liaison between the Speaker and the many requests made by Third Congressional District constituents. His athletic build was concealed by his usual attire of heavily starched pants with stiff creases in the front and back. His long-sleeved dress shirts were uniformly white and blue, and had buttoned down collars. Rounding out his traditional look were shiny, Oxford shoes which were probably spit-shined, a technique he, no doubt, learned while a Coast Guard Cadet.

One last flip before closing the album, she paused at an outstanding family group shot in front of a Sitka Spruce tree in Washington State. The monster patriarch of the forest was thirty-feet across at its base and over 1000 years old. A feeling of awe while in the presence of one of nature’s most remarkable trees came back every time she reflected on the picture. Memories such as this one got her through the days and weeks of meetings and wealthy constituents who occasionally felt they deserved special treatment.

As she checked her hair and makeup, her security detail provided by the Capitol Police was gathering in the hallway for the walk to the House Chamber. While making a funny smirk in the mirror, she slapped her hands together making a loud pop. Confidently, she spoke to the face staring back, “Ok, you dazzling, charming mother of three, and one of Mother Nature’s best friends, let’s get this show on the road!”

Breezing through her spacious office in the historic Longworth House Office Building, the energetic Penny Chatham greeted staff member Jake Ingram who was holding the door open for her. “Thank you, Sir,” she said with a big smile and did a little hop going out the door and into the marbled floored hallway. As a mother of three children and one who bore the daily burden of political leadership, she always looked like she was enjoying what she was doing, and indeed she was. Changing her friendly and folksy ways to fit the formality of the prestigious position of Speaker of the House of Representatives was not going to happen. For one who was likened to the courageous style of gritty Tom Sawyer, she was not going to give up what it takes to gather friends and foe together and solve major problems that improve people’s lives and productivity in the nation!

Leading her entourage of Capitol Police, the Speaker and staff member Ingram briskly walked, snaking back and forth through the Longworth House hallways, and rapidly moving toward the Chamber of the House of Representatives. Here in the center of the U.S. Capitol's south wing in a large, plush assembly room grass roots Americans had their say in how their country was managed. The legislative chamber which held representatives of the country’s people was the most symbolic place in America to hear and feel the heartbeat of the nation. To see law making going on in the chamber was awe-inspiring.

She and Jake animatedly chatted about pretty much nothing important as her entourage worked its way down the cavernous corridor. Nodding to her colleagues and smiling confidently to everyone that looked her way, the Speaker was proud of her fellow legislators and their staff members who worked together to create a great vision for the country that would benefit both people and the environment.

Penny Chatham had become a pretty-big deal on Capitol Hill. She had worked hard on behalf of Mississippi as a representative, and now, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, she championed larger issues that would make her state and country better socially, financially, and environmentally. House members elected her to the Speaker position because of her genteel ways of doing business, and their belief that she would lead justly and be generous to her colleagues.

As expected, the vote to support the Sustainability Bill was overwhelmingly in favor of the restoration of coastal edges and estuaries, and the conversion of the built environment to be in harmony with nature through reliance on its reoccurring natural cycles. People believing the prevailing view of scientists that planet earth was in trouble wanted their country to work with others to fix that situation. Recognition of the adverse impacts man’s developments were having on the nation’s coastal edges and offshore estuaries was apparent and frequently covered in evening newscasts. Voters had become unified nationwide in being a part of a movement to reduce carbon emissions and return coastal waters to their once healthy condition.

Once the bill was passed in the House, it would go to the Senate for final approval. With Mississippi’s Senator Knox and his close alliance with Louisiana’s Senator Long, it was only a matter of time before there would be a national emphasis on working toward the restoration of coastal estuaries and adopting sustainable ways to reduce mankind’s impact on the environment.

Predictably, with the creative leadership of Penelope Chatham and her manner of networking with her peers to construct smart and useful legislation, her favorability ratings grew. She was doggedly committed on issues and had a great capacity and zeal for making meaningful accomplishments. Going into politics had been an easy choice for her. Either she was going to be able to sell others on changes that were good for the country such as using regenerative designs to create healthful and economically beneficial sustainable environments, or she was going to get out of the political business and return to teaching to promote her ideas. Once her peers understood the value to the nation of what she was seeking to achieve, they were convinced of its merits and confident it would be advantageous to their constituents and to the country.

However, the burden of creating positive changes and networking with senators and representatives was beginning to slow her energetic way of doing things. She was becoming exhausted and needed a breather. With the demands of being Speaker of the House and one of Mississippi’s four Representatives, taking a break had to be in her future. She fantasized adding another picture of her exceptional family in a genuinely natural setting to the picture album on her Tom Sawyer’s Raft-sized desk. Thinking of family and travel experiences with her kids and supportive husband was the stimulant that would sustain Speaker Chatham as she prepared to oversee implementation of the restoration of coastal...