Of Visitors and Hosts

My brother, Don, and sister-in-law, Kathleen, visited me early this week.  We had a grand and glorious visit!  For an account with photos, please read my Relationship Blog, "Reunion," www.stoptwistedlove.blogspot.com on July 29, 2014.

As far as I'm concerned, Don and Kathleen are the perfect guests.  They arrived around the time they were expected, they didn't have weird dietary needs, they were friendly and clean.  And they were appreciative of my cooking!

I tried hard to be the perfect hostess.  I wanted their room and bathroom to be perfectly beautiful and comfortable.  I thought of what they would need in the way of linens, grooming essentials, etc., and provided them.  Of course, the house had to be as clean and neat as I could get it.  And the yard got a fairly thorough weeding.  I even watered the grass so it would be super-green (it was starting to look a bit dried out).

Since the three of us had some 'free' time, I suggested a few local activities, and they chose to go wine tasting.  We went to Equus Run Vineyards and found some new wines that were quite good.  They bought some to take home with them to Florida.

The family had not seen Don and Kathleen for quite a few years so they came for a dinner party.  They all ate and chatted the evening away.  Lots of photos were snapped - and posted on Facebook, of course!  It was lots of fun!  We will all have these fond memories for years and years!

Life in a Flooded Manchurian Town

In the early 1930's, the country of Manchuria, populated by mostly Chinese, was a battleground for the countries of Russia, China, and Japan.  There were few Japanese, 250,000, compared to 28 million Chinese.  The Russians were to be distinguished from the Soviets, after the Communist revolution.  Telling us of life in the town of Harbin at this time is Lillian Grosvenor Coville.  Her article appeared in the February, 1933, issue of National Geographic Magazine, Here in Manchuria: Many Thousands of Lives were Lost and More Than Half the Crops Destroyed by the Floods of 1932.  Manchuria is a country to the west of China.  Today, it is part of China.

 This is a most singularly unique article in the magazine; it is almost entirely negative, and disturbing.  Ms. Coville writes, "Late last night the main southbound and northbound passenger trains were wrecked by bandits a short distance from Harbin.  Among the passengers was an American youth who had been a guest at our house the previous evening.  He was robbed of everything but his life and a shirt.  Is it any wonder that we feel insecure, that we feel the chaos of China is closing in about us?" (p. 233).

Ms. Coville was in Harbin to document the activities of the League of Nations commission (it was the predecessor of the United Nations) which came to investigate the dispute between the Japanese and the Chinese.  The town was almost a war zone with opposing armies present.  Beggars, especially Russian, were quite bold as were the increasing number of bandits. The only positive statement from the author was that all goods and services were extremely cheap.

"The discussion of the latest bandit raid is a daily subject of conversation.  When we picnic across the river a mile from Harbin, guns are always carried and stacked on near-by chairs,  and two privately employed sentries stand watch.

For being in such constant danger, Ms. Coville had a rather cavalier attitude. "My friends always write me, "Well, don't get killed in a war over there," or, "Don't get carried off by bandits," but no one has ever thought to warn me, "Don't get drowned in a flood," (p. 245).  The Sungari River was small but gradually flooded in the spring of 1932.  "Conversation veered from bandits to the flood, and how much damage it had done.  Soon it became apparent that the rains and floods had done more harm than all the military operations and banditry in Manchuria the past year.  Half the crops of North Manchuria had been destroyed," (p. 247).

With the rising flood waters came tens of thousands of refugees into Ms. Coville's European section of the city.  With the refugees and flooded wells came the disease of cholera.  After several deaths, the Japanese carried out a vigorous campaign of forced immunizations - at the point of a rifle.  Disease was stemmed but Ms. Coville reported that even more 'banditry' was rising.  "Already it was not safe to be on the streets, for bandits consider even the most wretched white worth at least one hundred dollars in potential ransom money."  She ends her article, "Nearly every man carries a gun these days - and a permit to use it," (p. 256).  We shouldn't be shocked at these sad events; it is a tale with different places and circumstances in our world today.  The only shock is that the Magazine would use that sort of an article.

The North Sea Tip of England

Mr. Leo Walmsley may be just slightly prejudiced about the district in England about which he's writing in the February, 1933, issue of National Geographic Magazine, as he opines, "Nowhere in England is there a district of greater beauty, of greater geographic and geological interest, or one more teeming with romance than this," Between the Heather and the North Sea: Bold English Headlands Once Sheltered Sea Robbers, Centers of Jet and Alum Trades, To-day are Havens of Adventurous Fishing Fleets, (p. 197).

His description of the location is: "This district includes and runs north and south of the ancient port of Whitby, between the wild, heather-clad moors and the North Sea's edge.  It extends northward to Skinningrove, where grim blast furnaces and gigantic steel mills mark the outposts of the Tees industrial area.  It reaches southward to the massive promontory of Ravenscar, one-time haunt of the Danish sea robbers, where the moor edge starts to sweep inland, and there is that subtle change which denotes a different geological neighborhood," (p. 197).

Here there is an actual fishing town called Robin Hood's Bay.  Legend says that Robert of Huntingdon lived in the forests and "waylaid and plundered the rich ecclesiastical convoys traveling the rude pack road between the old seaport and the holy city of York," (p. 197).  In the time of this article, 1933, the inhabitants were descendants of the original Danish and other Scandinavian sea warriors. The author reports, "The sea is in their blood.  To the majority of them it is still a profession," (p. 197).

In the town of Whitby, the parish church, St. Mary's, dates from 1100; parishoners must climb all of 199 steps to reach St. Mary's.  There are ruins of Whitby Abbey.  It "flourished for three centuries, and finally its treasures were removed by Henry VIII in 1540," (photo caption, p. 206).

A mineral called 'jet,' was formerly mined near Whitby.  As I've read various references to 'jet,' I wondered what it was: fossilized wood turned to carbon.

Whitby is also known for its extensive fossil beds of ammonite (a new pre-historic animal to me): a relative of the squids and octopuses.  Apparently there are frequent fogs at Whitby but they have a lighthouse, "High Lighthouse," perched on top of a tall cliff with a fog horn named "Whitby mad bull."

The fishing industry was wiped out following World War I, what all literature of this period call "The World War," due to German  U-boats' presence around the coast and charges dropped in a effort to stop them.  In 1933, the industry had largely recovered.  Salmon, cod, crab, and lobster were the primary catches.

Robin Hood's Bay is the town where the author, Mr. Walmsley, grew up. It is oceanside, which we could guess from the name of the place, but Bay apparently has no harbor.  "In 1816 Bay possessed 35 (of the local flat rowboats, 'cobles'), and at least 130 men were regularly employed in the fishing industry.  Today (1933) only two families are exclusively so engaged, and it likely that these will have to give up soon," (p. 222).  The young men found ready employment on the large boats in towns like Whitby where there were adequate harbors, or they immediately went to the merchant marine service.

The author proved beyond doubt the truth of his claim that Bay's men were scattered around the world.  "During a recent visit to New York the author encountered five men of his native Robin Hood's Bay, all from different ships," (photo caption, p. 229).

Ravenscar is a cliff rising more than 600 feet sheer from the sea.  "The summit of Ravenscar reveals a magnificent panorama over Robin Hood's Bay and the farms and wooded vales of Fylingdales.  There, as recorded by a tablet unearthed, the Romans maintained a small fortress.  The selfsame site during the World War was an emplacement for a long-range naval gun which on several occasions came into action against U-boats waiting for the convoys that passed each day on their way to France.  And to-day there is a coast guard look-out hut, where watch is maintained day and night in bad weather for vessels of all nations that may be in distress," (p. 230).

To the west of Whitby is the fertile Esk valley and the moors.  Mr. Walmsley just mentions this area in passing.  I expect that the moors are sparsely settled due to the nature of moors.  When I visited my brother, Don, and sister-in-law, Kathleen, in Ireland, we took daily walks in the country past a genuine moor that was a peat bog.  I had never seen one so had to learn what caused peat to form: centuries of a land with poor drainage covered with layers of prehistoric vegetation.  This peat bog in Ireland was a working farm in which active cutting of the peat to be made into fuel was in operation.  For now, this moor in England is a national park.  Don't you like to 'visit' new places!

Our Young State of Washington, Part Two

Seattle Skyline, August 2012.

Map of Puget Sound in Washington State, August, 2012.

Let's recall where we've been in the State of Washington, U.S.A., from the February, 1933, National Geographic Magazine article, Washington, the Evergreen State: The Amazing Commonwealth of the Pacific Northwest Which Has Emerged From the Wilderness in a Span of Fifty Years by author Leo A. Borah.  First we ventured through some of the 172 islands in the bay of Puget Sound north to San Juan Island.  Then we traveled south on the road through fir and cedar forests to the city of Seattle, on Puget Sound. We also visited a smoking volcano.  We were impressed by the scenery in the beautiful eight-page color photo section.

First, a correction: it is not salt water that kills the barnacles that attach themselves to ships' hulls, it is the fresh water.  Puget Sound is a large bay in Washington State full of salt water which mixes with the fresh water coming from the streams and rivers feeding into it.  FYI: the shoreline of Puget Sound is 1,332 miles!

In 1933, Boeing was already established as an airplane manufacturer in Seattle.  There was a Naval Air Base there.  This Boeing establishment has continued to flourish in our day, as has the U.S. Navy presence with a large base at Kitsap Peninsula.  This is the third-largest U.S. Naval base.  I am very proud that my son-in-law, Fielding, is a Naval officer stationed there!

Mt. Rainier, one of the five Washington State volcanoes, is 14,409 feet tall.  It is close to Seattle and visible for many miles in the area.  I found the sight beautiful and almost enchanting when I visited two years ago.  Here's something interesting about the mountain: "In ages past, the summit was much higher.  Geologists have discovered that eruption blew off 4,000 feet of the peak and scattered the soil over the Puget Sound country," (photo caption, p. 164).

Mount Rainier, still snow-covered in August, 2012.  It was extremely difficult to photograph this from a moving car on the highways (in the passenger seat, of course).

Imagine the pristine forests of Washington in 1933: "Past the Storm King Game Preserve leads the way where bears, elks, deer and snarling cougars live in sylvan isolation.  It follows for miles the Elwha River, a crystal mountain stream now turbulent over scattered rocks, now deep and still in quiet glades, now harnessed for power," (p. 169).  There is also a barren desert in central Washington, with sand dunes.

Here's a rather curious statistic: "Only one per cent of the population 10 years of age or older is unable to read (1933)," (p. 171).  Contrast that with a ten per cent 'lacking basic prose literacy skills' in 2003 in Washington (National Center for Education Statistics, www.nces.ed.gov, 7-24-14).

In this article was a bonus: a second eight-page section of color photos.  Displayed were some of the state's agricultural products: cranberries, apples and many varieties of flowers.  Washington was a large center for growing flower bulbs, especially tulips.  There was a Dutch population who accomplished this.  While agriculture was important in the state, logging and wood products were the primary industry.

Washington state took full advantage of the many waterways: "There were 71 hydroelectric power projects in operation in 1931. . .The State has more than a sixth of the total potential water power in the United States," (p. 191).

Mr. Borah concludes that "The people have accomplished prodigies of development in the last two decades, but even now they realize only in small measure the resources that lie ready to their hands.  Theirs is a young land, a good land, a land still for pioneers," (p. 197).

The Seattle Space Needle, taken from below.  Next to it was a museum in which my daughter, her family and I toured the King Tut Exhibit.  August, 2012.

We took a ferry ride from Seattle through Puget Sound back to the dock at Bremerton.  It took over two hours and was quiet and peaceful with a beautiful shoreline.

Grandson, Xavier, was very interested in the passing boats.  My daughter, Jeannie, is holding him.

A break in the clouds over Puget Sound, August, 2012.

Our Young State of Washington: Part One

In November, 1851, twelve adults and twelve children from the State of Illinois were disembarked from a schooner on Elliot Bay in the forest wilderness of Washington State.  When Leo A. Borah wrote this latest National Geographic Magazine article in the February, 1933, issue, there was still alive an 80-year-old gentleman, one of the original settlers. He was two months old when his parents brought him there.  Washington, the Evergreen State: The Amazing Commonwealth of the Pacific Northwest Which Has Emerged from the Wilderness in a Span of Fifty Years is his account of the settling and thriving of Washington State. Indeed, it has thrived: from 24 people in 1851, it grew to 1.5 million citizens in the 1930 census and to 6.9 million in 2012.

Washington State is particularly important to the author: "To see Washington for the first time is to experience the thrill of discovering a new country.  To live within its borders for eight years as I did; then to go away from it and return after a few years' absence is to know that thrill again," (p. 133).

Puget Sound is a large bay in the western part of Washington with direct access to the Pacific Ocean.  There are 172 islands in the bay.  Mr. Borah wanted to travel from the city of Seattle to visit one of the northernmost islands, San Juan, very close to Canada.  He was a passenger on a small boat making its way among the islands.  "Our boat threaded winding bays and tortuous inlets, often so close to the islands that pebbles might have been tossed from the deck to either shore. . . the scene was a fairyland of sea and sky, of forests, of vari-colored cliffs rising often hundreds of feet sheer from the water," (p. 134). He asked the captain of the boat how he would steer in heavy fog: by blowing the fog horn and judging the distance from the shore from the echo.  The captain demonstrated the technique but Mr. Borah didn't grasp the nuances from one 'toot' to another. 

San Juan Island was the site of the last British-American battle in the "Pig War."  It was amicably decided that the Island belonged to America by the German Kaiser.  The British fortifications are still maintained for history but the American ones have crumbled.  Britain owns only a graveyard in which are buried some of its soldiers.

Mr. Borah traveled back to Seattle through fir and cedar forests.  Photos show these cedar trees to be immensely tall - some grow up to 200 feet tall!  This dwarfs our Kentucky trees; it reminds me of the Giant Sequoia trees in California (which Google says can grow to over 300 feet tall).

There are five volcanoes in Washington State.  Do you remember when Mount St. Helen's erupted in 1980?  In 1933, "Mount Baker still occasionally breathes smokily from several craters near its summit," (p. 144).

Seattle's fresh-water, deep harbor was gradually changing to a salt-water harbor in 1933.  This was preferable due to the salt water killing barnacles from the ships. "The most important commercial event in the city was the arrival of the first gold ship from Alaska in 1897.  From that moment Seattle became the outfitting point for the throngs that rushed to the Klondike.  Its future as the portal of Alaska was assured. . .Seattle is built on hills so high and steep that cable cars are required to carry passengers up some of the streets in the heart of the business district," (p. 163).

What a beautiful state the eight-page section of color photographs depicted!  The state flower is the rhododendron, some of which grow over twenty feet tall!  Let's leave our story here and return to Washington the next time, for this is another really long article.

A bay in Puget Sound near Bremerton, taken August 1, 2012, while visiting daughter #8, Jeannie, and her family.

Jeannie with her husband, Fielding, and baby, Xavier.

Jeannie with a Totem Pole on the bayside.  There is a rich Native American history in Washington State.

There were Starfish of every size visible in the water near the shores - everywhere!

Going To a Spanish Mountain

Built on tall, jagged cliffs is Montserrat, Spain.  Take time out to Google images of this magical place!  What a view!  E. John Long gives us an account of this most historic place in Montserrat, Spain's Mountain Shrine, National Geographic Magazine, January, 1933.  "A medieval Benedictine monastery clings to the face of a fantastic stone peak that rises boldly from the brown foothills of Cataluna (Catalonia).  It is Montserrat, the nation's holiest shrine, to which thousands of Spanish faithful make pilgrimage each year to what is called the Black Virgin," (p. 121).

From the Middle Ages, Montserrat is the site of the castle where "Ignatius of Loyola, a wounded soldier, knelt in prayer and went away to found the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits, a very large Catholic religious order)," (p. 121).

Montserrat is approximately 35 miles by rail, northwest of Barcelona, Spain.  Mr. Long heard that it was possible to stay with the Benedictine monks there.  He inquired if one needed to be a Catholic and was told, "Oh, no, senor. . . the Benedictine fathers are most hospitable to all, whether one comes to pray, or atone, or meditate, or just to see.  And there is no charge for lodging, although one is expected to leave a small contribution for holy work," (p. 121).

"The monastery itself dates from 976.  Tradition says the Holy Grail (the chalice used by Jesus Christ at his Last Supper) was once hidden in the recesses of one of Montserrat's rocky caves," (photo caption, p. 123).  For the last five miles of the trip, the author switched to a "rack and pinion railway," (p. 124).

So faithfully have the monks followed the lines the older parts of the monastery in making additions that even the new garage, for modern pilgrims who come by motor, has an age-old air of permanence," (p. 125).

Here's something new for the traveler: Spain has a group of interpreters, "dressed in khaki uniforms, who meet boats and trains from foreign countries and are not permitted to accept pay or tips," (photo caption, p. 128).

Mr. Long had come to experience monasticism.  He registered at the monastery office and was led to a small room by one of the monks.  "As his echoing footsteps receded down the corridor, something of the blissful peace and quiet of the place stole over me.  The clear sun poured through the window, dazzling bright against the whitewashed walls.  The keen mountain air was invigorating, conducive to meditation.  The workaday world seemed far away," (p. 129).

The sacred image of the Black Virgin, "according to legend, it was carved by St. Luke himself, and brought to Barcelona A.D. 50 by St. Peter.  During the Moorish invasion and occupation it was hidden by Christian monks in one of the caves of Montserrat near the site of the present monastery," (p. 129).  It is displayed at the 10 a.m. Mass.  When the image was shown, Mr. Long remarked, "I gasped!  Even though I was told that the image was blackened with age, I had not expected anything like this.  White vestments and a light background made the face and hands gleam like jet!  For a silent moment everyone gazed," (p. 130).

Next, the author ventured outside to take in the view.  "Here is one of the finest panoramas in Montserrat.  Almost half of Cataluna is spread below.  Surprisingly near is the sparkling blue water of the Mediterranean, while the white peaks of the Pyrenees (mountains) seem but a good stone's throw away. . . It is a view to stir the imagination and to make the head swim," (p. 130).  

The Second Great Wall! Part Two

The team of five airmen and photographers on journey in Peru in 1933 were on their way to Cuzco, Peru, in search of ruins of the ancient Chimus civilization.  Their planes, the Washington and the Lima, got separated.  Robert Shipee, the author of our story in the January, 1933, issue of the National Geographic Magazine, Air Adventures in Peru, Cruising Among Andean Peaks, Pilots and Cameramen Discover Wondrous Works of an Ancient People, will tell us what happened next.

Mr. Shippee was in the Lima.  This plane continued on to Cuzco.  A great crowd had assembled on the runway (planes were strictly a novelty in most of the world back then!).  Bands were playing.  By now, the flyers knew to turn off the engine as soon as the plane landed so the propeller would stop turning by the time they reached the crowd; then no one would be hurt!  They inquired about the Washington and were told that the officials did not know two planes were coming and had not heard about the other.

After an hour of waiting, Mr. Shippee and the crew couldn't stand not knowing what had happened and went back in the air to try to return to where they last saw the Washington.  After three hours in the air without success of sighting the other plane, they returned to Cuzco.  Meanwhile, officials there telegraphed (their modern way of communicating in that era!) a wide area of Peru.

By 11 p.m., the Washington was found in the remote village of Andahuaylas, way off course with the plane's left wing damaged on a forced landing.  Now, in 1933, there was NO FLYING AT NIGHT.  The next morning the Lima took off with extra gasoline and repair supplies, and flew to Andahuaylas.

The repairs were finished just before it became dark.  "With nightfall, the temperature dropped to a few degrees above zero.  The planes were parked as close together as possible.  Cameras and gas cans were piled into a barricade against the swirling wind.  We had ponchos and light flying suits, yet we were cold almost beyond endurance," (p. 110).

In the morning, the Lima and crew flew back to Cuzco.  When it landed, it blew out a tire.  The Washington had a perilous trip back with one wing three feet shorter than the other due to repairs. The flyers set out to fix the flat tire. The spare inner tube they had brought along proved to be too big to put into the tire!  So, they stuffed the tire with rope!  These early pilots were Masters of Improvisation!!

The next time they took off in the Lima, the repaired tire slowed down the plane, then disintegrated!  "The ship lifted for a few feet then squashed sickeningly.  Trying to hurdle a ditch, the wheels struck its banks.  There was a terrific, smashing jar.  The plane bounded 20 or 30 feet into the air. . . We braced ourselves for the expected crash. . . Choking in the dust that filled the cabin, Hay and I felt for injuries.  My right elbow was bruised; Hay had a bump on his forehead where it had struck the windshield.  Otherwise we were unhurt.  It was a miracle!" (p. 115).

The Lima was beyond repair and was put on a train to be shipped to the United States.  Mr. Shippee returned to America while the Washington, after extensive repairs, flew several more photographing trips.  Of particular note was the ruins of Machu Picchu.  "The site of Machu Picchu is magnificent, "above a stupendous canyon whose rim is more than a mile above the river, whose precipices are frequently a thousand feet sheer."  It is disappointing to the aerial observer that the forest growth has so covered the ruins since they were cleared away in 1912."  Mr. Shippee ends the article, "Adios, now to Cuzco.  We had yet one more adventure ahead of us - exploring the Colca Valley," (p. 120).  We will look forward to another article describing this trip!

The Second Great Wall! Part One

FYI: There are only TWO man-made objects on earth visible from space: the California Aqueduct and the Great Wall of China, astronauts reported years ago.

The Second Great Wall, surely not visible from space or that would have been reported, was constructed in Peru by the ancient Chimus, a numerous, civilized people apparently completely wiped out by the Incas.  In the January, 1933, issue of National Geographic Magazine, Robert Shippee tells of the Chimus' Great Wall and other things, Air Adventures in Peru: Cruising Among Andean Peaks, Pilots and Cameramen Discover Wondrous Works of an Ancient People. No one in the world knew about the existence of this Great Wall until the airplane pilots noticed it several years before this article was written.  They were very excited about the 'find.'  I was very excited to learn of the Chimus, adversaries of the Incas.

The first photo of this long article shows the wall beginning a few miles from the Pacific Ocean coast then snaking across mountains for many miles.  "The Great Wall of Peru, like that of China, may have repelled invasion.  Across the Santa River delta and up into the hills it twists, climbing sharp ridges and swooping into valleys. The author and his companions followed it for 40 miles by airplane, yet, they believe, explored only a small portion of its length. . . At intervals along its sides are sturdy forts," (photo caption, p. 80). The fortifications were mostly rectangular in shape; at least one was circular.  They were not connected directly to the wall but they were above it in the mountains, not visible from the valleys.

The Chimus' civilization was well-developed; their capital city, Chan Chan, once held 250,000 inhabitants.  Archeology reveals an extensive system for agricultural irrigation once existed.  The Great Wall protected the Chimus from the invading Incas until approximately 1470 when the Incas found a route in the valleys between the 25,000-foot tall mountains.  The Incas themselves were conquered by the Spanish fifty years later.

We cannot imagine all the gold removed from the mountains by both the Chimus and the Incas.  "From Chan Chan alone more than four million dollars' worth of gold and silver ornaments were removed by the Spaniards," (p. 88).  It is tragic that so much of archeological evidence has been plundered in most of the sites throughout the world.

The author and the other members of his five-man team planned to take their two planes, the Washington and the Lima, and visit Huancayo, a town in the mountainous interior of Peru.  First, they rode a train there, to scout out the 'airfield' capabilities. At that time, the train traveled at the highest point in the world.  Huancayo is at a high elevation of nearly 12,000 feet above sea level.  Their return was delayed because "Peru was in revolution and we were delayed for several weeks," (p. 92).  I've noticed in these National Geographic Magazine articles that this happened in many different parts of the world - revolution meant the travelers just had to wait "several weeks!"  In 2014, we wouldn't want to be in the same part of the world as a revolution in progress!

The team wanted to explore and photograph two volcanoes, Ubinas and the Misti.  After adventures in the 22,000 feet thin atmosphere, both planes separately returned to the airfield.  The Washington crew wondered why the Lima crew had not appeared.  After photos were developed, it was proven that both planes were there and the Washington had indeed, photographed the Lima.  They concluded that the oxygen-deprived air had played tricks on their vision.

The two planes flew everywhere fairly close together in case trouble forced one to land, the other could help.  On their way to Cusco, the planes lost sight of each other.  The Washington continued on to Cusco but no sign was seen of the Lima.  Let's leave our story there and return tomorrow!

Crows, Magpies, and Jays

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear, "crow?"  Scarecrow?  The scary 1963 movie, "The Birds?"  What about "raven?" Edgar Allen Poe's poem, "The Raven?"  Crows and ravens, the glossy black birds, are generally perceived to be the 'bad boys' of birds. They are large, like to steal and eat other birds' eggs, including farmers' chickens' eggs, also like to eat chicks and other small animals and insects. Crows and ravens are frequently seen with vultures feasting on dead animals. They will eat anything and use a large variety of objects with which to construct their nests.  The seem loud and argumentative.

T. Gilbert Pearson explores the habits of Crows, Magpies and Jays: Unusual Intelligence Has Earned a Unique Position For These Birds,National Geographic Magazine, January, 1933.  "Although sometimes ravens use trees as nesting sites, their usual selection is a high, beetling cliff,"  (p. 53).  Ravens mate for life and generally use the same nest season after season.

Crows like to take odd items to their nests; "a broken bit of china, a dry chicken bone, the cap from a ginger-ale bottle, a small block of painted wood, a glossy beetle, and pebbles of various hues are objects which may take their fancy.  They have been known to carry away thimbles, small scissors, and pipes, (p. 58).

What are the differences between crows and ravens?  "Crows often accumulate in large numbers.  Hundreds of thousands have been known to assemble in some favorite roost," (p. 58).  Crows can be very intimidating!  Ravens are larger, as big as a small hawk and generally stay in pairs.

Magpies are in the same bird family and have black beaks.  They are also well-known for raiding other birds' nests, eating small animals such as mice and squirrels. From the color paintings in this article, I know I've never seen a magpie.  It has blue, green, black, and white feathers, very handsome.

Blue jays, another member of this bird family, are familiar visitors to my yard.  They are always loud and crabby! I think they are strikingly beautiful with their crest on their heads and their blue and white coloring.   The blue jay also "bears the reputation of being a plunderer of the nests of other birds, (p. 62).

There is variation among the birds, depending on which geographic region they inhabit.  In Texas, there is a 'green jay,' a bird which looks like a blue jay on which green paint has fallen on its back!  The jays from Canada and Oregon are black, white, and gray.  Then there is the 'Santa Cruz blue jay,' found only on that island off the coast of California, which looks like our familiar blue jay but without the crest and with an area of grey coloring on its back which looks like a cape.

FYI:  The cardinals who started pecking on my backyard windows are still at it!  As soon as it gets light in the morning, usually the male starts pecking.  Hope he enjoys himself!

Oh, Where are the Friendly Five?

Today, we're off to have lunch in Frankfort, Kentucky, U.S.A.!  We old pals from many years of living in Danville, Kentucky, have traveled from other towns in Kentucky today: from Louisville, Leone; from Lexington, me/Jan, and from Danville, Harriet, Linda, and Rosemary.  Joining us from Frankfort was Judy, Harriet's sister-in-law.  Our destination was the Sage Restaurant, part of Wilson Nurseries in Frankfort, located on the East-West Connector highway.

In the front, from left: Linda, Rosemary and Harriet.  In back, from left are Judy, Leone, and Jan.  Taken at the Wilson Nursery, Frankfort, Kentucky, 7/15/14.

The Sage Garden Cafe in Wilson Nurseries.

If you're looking for an extremely unique restaurant with positively wonderful food, come to the Sage. On the tables and growing live in containers on the walls are fresh herbs.  The menu is quite large.  I had a chicken salad sandwich on cranberry-walnut bread.  Included were a dill pickle wedge and chips.  It really was outstanding!  Even though they were quite busy, the service was very good.

We found their quantity and quality of plants and related products to also be outstanding!  The garden store is the largest one I've ever seen associated with a nursery - anywhere!  My mother and I used to haunt these both in Sacramento and San Antonio and elsewhere.  Wilson's is the best!

I love Day Trips!  Naturally, with my 'get lost' genes, I had to take the faithful GPS.  To my surprise, it routed me on country roads, not on Interstate-64 east.  I trusted the GPS and enjoyed going to Frankfort a new way, very scenic.  I especially enjoyed all the roadside wildflowers, the Queen Anne's Lace and the tiny lavender-blue asters.  Many of the farms had a double row of black fences.  There were also plenty of stacked stone fences.  It's amazing how much you can see if you're not in the heavy interstate highway traffic, trying to survive!

A National Celebration of Exercise

"During the golden days in Prague (Czechoslovakia) a highly industrialized and modern nation lives in the fairyland of beauty and dreams.  Where has a dream proved more practical than that of Tyrs, who, behind trained muscles, glimpsed clear, clean, thinking minds and the free State they were to build and serve?" When Czechoslovakia Puts a Falcon Feather In Its Cap, Maynard Owen Williams, National Geographic Magazine, January, 1932, p. 49.  This is the conclusion of a short article celebrating the physical conditioning of the entire nation of Czechoslovakia every six years.

It was the dream of "Dr. Miroslav Tyrs, whose aim was the physical and moral betterment of his people," (photo caption, p. 41).  He envisioned a country whose citizens engaged in regular physical exercise.  Every six years, most of the country descends upon the capital, Prague, to either watch or engage in displays of group exercise.  The giant 567-acre stadium in 1932 held 155,000 spectators watching a total of 700,000 participants engaging in group Olympics during one week!

The festival goes beyond the physical prowess into arts and culture.  Every hotel room is filled, every theater seat is taken.  This movement where the entire country is encouraged to join teams for exercise is called, "Sokol," or "Falcon," a term denoting excellence.  Native crafts are displayed and native costumes are worn

"Although the Sokols date only from 1862, their underlying idea is. . . "Since everything in the world is done and is maintained by movement, it is most natural that everything alive should experience the joy of movement."  To all who take part, the mass drills are a spiritual adventure," (photo caption, p. 42).

This national pride in physical fitness encouraged people of all ages to participate.  "A full-fledged Sokol member must be 18 years of age, but youngsters are trained in dramatic drills picturing the struggle of youth for liberty and strength," (photo caption, p. 48).  It is inspiring to hear of a nation with such pride in their synchronized physical exercise!

Risking Cape Horn Again! Part 3

"And so we came around Cape Horn and were suffered to enter the Atlantic without sacrifice.  Our price had been paid on April 5.  Our damaged ship still limped a little from that night of storm," A.J. Villiers continues his account of The Cape Horn Grain-Ship Race: The Gallant "Parma" Leads Vanishing Fleet of Square-Ribbers Through the Raging Gales and Irksome Calms 16,000 miles, from Australia to England, National Geographic Magazine, January, 1932, p. 26.

On they went, "slowly we wandered on, wondering always where were the other ships, never seeing anything of them or of any other vessels. . . We were come to the good weather now, with sunshine; the wreck of the midship house could be restored to something like order, and the havoc of the storm repaired.  It was warm and the decks were dry," (p. 32).  They had thoughts the other ships would win the race to the finish but dismissed the thoughts quickly.

At last they had caught enough wind to sail north to the Bermuda Islands and caught their first view of what appeared to be their rival ship, the Pamir.  It was too far away - perhaps 15 miles - to know for sure the identity.  Some of the crew had a wild idea, "Let's row close enough to her to find out!"  The Captain thought it was madness to attempt but gave permission and instructed the seamen to "not remain aboard the other vessel for more than two hours," (p. 35) and to take extra food and water on the lifeboat they took.

It was stifling hot but the Parma never lost sight of the other two boats. The sturdy men rowed tirelessly and reached the other boat which was, in fact, the Pamir.  The crews had never seen each other but had an enjoyable two-hour visit and dinner.  They found out that the Pamir had been four days ahead of them rounding Cape Horn.  They were pleased to now be so close.

They left in the light of a full moon and rowed 15 miles to where they thought the Parma should be.  What fantastic seamen they were!  They reached their ship in the dark! As the ships plunged onward, the author notes, "we did not see her (the Pamir) again," (p. 37).

"Between the Azores and England we had light winds, so light that over its entire length the North Atlantic was about as "rough" as Long Island Sound by the Connecticut shore on a summer's day.".  At long last, after a passage of 103 days, we were come to our anchorage.  The roar of the anchor cable as it disturbed the fish in the anchorage was sweet music in our tired ears," (p. 37).

The ship the author sailed on, the Parma,  had won the race!!  The captain and crew were elated!  They had come in on the exact same day as their rival ship, the Pamir, but had 70 miles longer to travel to their port, so they had won the race.  Out of the twenty grain-ships in the race, the longest passage was 150 days.  One ship had collided with a steamship only six hours from anchorage at home and quickly, tragically sunk, losing the entire crew.

Most of the vessels were "now very old, and the annual grain race cannot go on much longer.  We will sail the Parma while we can, but it is likeliest now that the number of entrants will steadily dwindle, until within a very few years there will be very few commercial sailing ships left in the Australian grain trade," (p. 39).  But what wild rides she enjoyed!!

Risking Cape Horn Again! Part 2

Let's join the officers and crew of the sailing ship, Parma, in their race with twenty other grain ships from Australia to England, around South America's Cape Horn, as told in the 1933 National Geographic Magazine article, The Cape Horn Grain-Ship Race. . .  We left them in a life-threatening storm close to Cape Horn in the dark of night, hoping to see the morning.

FYI: In a severe storm, a sailing ship can have as much as 500 TONS of water wash onto her deck with every wave that pounds her.

Could the sailing conditions get even worse?  Yes!  "A mighty squall struck us with a ferocity that, for the moment, seemed to frighten even the sea," (p. 19).  Four men were at the wheel trying unsuccessfully to turn the quaking ship.  "We knew that we were trapped like rats.  If she went it was the end - the end of the Parma and us all," (p. 20).  They could see that the mainsail was in shreds but there was nothing they could do but wait.  "Still nothing serious carried away; her mast stood and her hatches held. . . The whole ship was in the hands of God Almighty.  What could we do?  We waited for her to go.  She did not go," (pp. 19-20).

At last the Captain, "scarce able to stand, clung with bloody hands" (p. 20) and grabbed the wheel to try to steer the Parma  into the wind where she would have a better chance.  After more hours of misery, there was a lull in the storm.  The Captain was so exhausted, he had to be carried 'below.'  Everything not part of the ship had been lost, including a live pig they had so hoped to roast.  They sailed on but were worried about their companion ships in the race, none of whose fate they knew.

On their 31st day at sea, 5,000 miles from their starting point, they at last approached Cape Horn.  They had suffered severe storms the entire way and were hoping for strong winds to blow them across the Cape.  Yet then the sea was unexpectedly calm!

"We fretted and fumed and could do nothing, the while we kept pessimistic lookout,"  for any of the other ships.  "Without wind, the best of sailing ships, and the best of sailors may achieve nothing," (p. 26).

Finally, "Early on the morning of the 37th day, Saturday, April 23rd, still going slowly before a light breeze," they passed Cape Horn.  "It was all wrong.  We would have preferred a gale," (p. 26). Amazing!!

Next blog: onward toward England!

Risking Cape Horn Again! Part 1

How appropriate that, after we've just finished two National Geographic Magazine articles about the ocean, including Magellan's historic trip around the world, then an article about maps, that the very next article concerns a ship race around Cape Horn.  This is a very long race!  A.J. Villiers reports to us in The Cape Horn Grain-Ship Race: The Gallant "Parma" Leads the Vanishing Fleet of Square-Riggers Through Raging Gales and Irksome Calms 16,000 Miles, from Australia to England, January, 1933.

Why use sailing ships to transport grain in 1933 when there were faster and more modern steamships?  "If steamers were employed - with their insistence on a minimum daily delivery to the ship's side delivery of 500 tons - the small ports could load only barges and similar vessels, to be sent to larger ports for transshipment of their cargoes.  The sailing ship, with little or no overhead, no coal bunkers to deplete, no highly paid crew to keep, and, also, since she generally lies at open anchorage, no dock dues to pay, can take as much time as necessary to load.  Being able at her best to accomplish only one round voyage in the Australian trade annually, she may be two weeks loading or two months.  The main consideration is to obtain a cargo," (p. 1).  In short, since there were a few old-fashioned sailing ships willing to do the job, it was much cheaper for the grain dealers to use them for the long Australia to England trip.

Thus, there developed an annual race among the sailing ships on this route. Some of them may have not been exactly safe, and most were not as fast as a clipper ship, but "they do their best and always have done so," (p. 1).  "They know that being at sea costs nothing, and that being in port is expensive, yet the racing spirit cannot be defeated," (p. 3).

In 1933, there were twenty ships which represented only three countries: 17 from Finland, one from Sweden, and one from Germany. The author was co-owner of one of the ships, the Parma,  with a particularly experienced and worthy captain.  As for the race, he reported, "Whether we won or lost, we hoped that at least we should have what peace of mind comes from reflecting on a hard voyage well sailed," (p. 10).

The crew of the Parma put out to sea on March 17, 1932, close to Walaroo, Australia.  The twenty ships began their trip on different days, but "That did not matter; the race is not to the first ship in, but to the ship making the fastest passage," (p. 10).  Their closest competitor, the Pamir, left shortly after they did for the long journey.  Due to sea storms, the two ships would not sight each other again for 80 days.

As the Parma approached Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America, the gale-strength storms never abated but increased.  None of the crew had ever worked together.  Also, "With the exception of the officers and two sailors. . . no one had previously been round Cape Horn," (p. 16).
Can you imagine this sight, "the ship was openly exposed to the whole ocean; and the enormous seas, rearing their great glinting heads as they tore past, were terrifying to behold.  They looked so brutal, so evil, so intent upon our destruction.  Still there came no let-up,"  (p. 16).

"So onward we raced, the captain tight-lipped and anxious, all hands standing by aft, waiting for a let-up, hoping for the morning," (p. 19).  Let's leave our good sailors there today, as we're approximately 50% into the long article.

About Maps

The National Geographic Magazine loves MAPS!  This next article, The Story of Maps, December, 1932, explores the origins of maps and many other interesting and obscure facts.  Apparently, many ancient peoples found maps useful.

In Egypt, "Rameses II is credited with the first maps of estates along the Nile, drawn about 1300 B.C. . . . on a tablet unearthed in Iraq, appears a map of the world dating from about 1000 B.C.  It shows the earth as a disk, with water all around it and Babylon in its center," (p. 759).

It was the work of scholarly Greeks who first conceived of the world as round.  Another Greek idea was to use a network of lines on a map "with which to locate places, as we do to-day with latitude and longitude," (p. 759).

Ptolemy, from Alexandria in northern Africa, was the giant of map makers. He worked in 150 A.D.   "Six of his eight books consist of tables of latitude and longitude for about 8,000 places. . . With his books are maps of 26 countries and one map of the world," (p. 759).

Several Favorite Maps of Mine

I'm standing on a map of The Pacific in 1941, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, July, 2013.

One of the maps in the Map Room of the Vatican Museum, Rome, Italy, October, 2013.  The 'room' is a very long hall with maps of the known world in the middle ages painted on the walls.

Maps generally improved through the years but still were woefully inaccurate.  Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered the New World and set all civilizations to revising their maps.  "For decades after the voyages of Columbus, Europe seethed with excitement and new ideas. . . When news broke that Pizarro (from Spain) had caught an Inca king and held him for ransom of a roomful of gold, equal to $15,000,000, excitement was almost unendurable.  All nations that could build or borrow boats put to sea, and map-making flourished," (p. 765).

Mapping our own country of the United States, even before revolutionary times, was always interesting.  "In one part of Texas, for example, the original survey was made on horseback, at times under Indian attack, and the unit of measurement was the horse's pace, estimated at a vara, or Spanish yard!" (p. 769).  

In 1932, "In mapping flat areas, plains, marshes, deltas, etc., aerial photography has largely taken the place of ground surveys," (p. 770).  In 2014, we are most fortunate to have satellite maps!

In its long career, the National Geographic Society has printed for its members and distributed scores of millions of maps.  In this December issue of its MAGAZINE it mails more maps than existed in the world when Christopher Columbus discovered Ameria," (p. 773).

Personally, and I really hate to admit it, along with one of my brothers, I have inherited the "Get Lost" gene.  It seems that wherever we went, over the years, even with lots of maps, we would always get lost.  It didn't stress us, though, we just got to see more interesting places!  With my GPS now, I hardly ever get lost!

Seven Fathoms Under the Sea

William Beebe loved to dive: "Personal exploration under the ocean is really unearthly; we are penetrating a new world," A Wonderer Under Sea, National Geographic Magazine, December, 1932, p. 741.  He proceeds to tell us we don't need fancy equipment, just a "bathing suit and a pair of rubber-soled sneakers, a copper helmet with glass set in front, an ordinary rubber hose and a small hand pump. . . Forty feet is a good limit to set and indeed the most brilliant and exciting forms of shore and reef life will be found in lower depths," (p. 741).

A beautiful feature of this article is the 8-page color section with "painting from real life."  Depicted are scenes from around the world, under the sea: large jellyfish, white anemones, and sharks from Alaska; abundant fish, snails, seaweed and shellfish from the warm waters of Catalina (California), the West Indies, the Galapagos, and Hawaii; the barrier reef of Australia, and the cooler ocean off the coasts of Japan and Maine, U.S.A.

My favorite was from the barrier reef of Australia which extends more than one thousand miles along the eastern coast of Queensland.  A brilliant red sea horse looked more like a "sea-dragon with angular, many-pointed armor decorated by scores of waving tassels and plumes and feathery appendages," (color plate VII).

FYI: Remember the book, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?"  A league is a measure of distance traveled, approximately 3 miles.  Depth is measured in 'fathoms,' one fathom = 3 feet (Google is my best friend while reading these articles - I always learn something interesting!).

Beebe particularly enjoyed diving at night.  "When many dives have been made at one place, so that the seascape has become familiar and individual fish are known on sight and can be claimed as friends, then is the time to come out late some starlit evening and go down in the dark," (p. 755).  Some of the fish reflect the light given off by the phosphorescent fish.  It must be singularly beautiful.

"Start an exploration which has no superior in jungle or mountain," Mr. Beebe exhorts.  "ensure your present life and future memories from any possibility of ennui or boredom, and provide yourself with tales of sights and adventures which no listener will believe, until he, too, has gone and seen, and in turn has become an active member of the Society of Wonderers under sea," (p. 758).  Now, aren't we tempted to go right out and do so!

The First Great Sea Trip to Circumnavigate Earth, Part 2

Yesterday we left Magellan on the Brazilian coast after putting down a would-be mutiny by one of his five ships' captains while out at sea.

FYI: Pigafetta, one of Magellan's sailors, left a meticulous account of this voyage. He noted that the Brazilian natives made a boat out of one tree and called it a 'canoo.'

A timeline so far: the expedition left Spain in September, 1519, and reached Brazil on December 13, 1519.  After Christmas, they set out and headed south down the eastern coast of South America, going ashore only for provisions of wood and water.

The storms at sea were so fierce that they had to spent the winter anchored in a protected bay before they reached the strait around the extreme southern tip of the continent.  They survived on "strange geese" (penguins) and "sea wolves" (seals).  Far more threatening that the winter storms were the attitudes of the tired seamen.  With three of the captains joining them, they urged Magellan to turn around and return home where the men could envision the ripening grapes and olives. This turned into a worse, more widespread mutiny against Magellan than the previous one.  Yet Magellan had no intention of turning around.  He out-thought, out-maneuvered, and out-fought the three captains and their followers.  The chief instigator was executed.  A second instigator was beheaded by his own servant.  And the third mutineer had to be executed because he tried to stir up another mutiny. "At no time, amid all the perils and hardships of the rest of the voyage, was Magellan's authority again questioned in the slightest degree," (p. 721).

When the weather appeared to improve, one of the ships was sent out to scout the shore.  Another storm appeared and sunk the ship but the none of the sailors lost their lives.  They made it to land, gathered the ship's timbers but were too exhausted to make a raft.  Magellan sent another ship to find them and brought them back.  This served to consolidate Magellan's authority even more; the four ships continued south.

"Magellan seized the first signs of the Southern Hemisphere's spring, mid-October (1520), to press on.  This time he especially counseled the ships to watch the shores for a possible opening.  Three days of scrubby pines and chalk cliffs; then the lookout sighted a low-lying sand headland, covered with more stunted and matted growths, but beyond that, "an opening like unto a bay."  The date was October 21, St. Ursula's Day; so Magellan named the point Cape of Eleven Thousand Virgins.  Posterity called the "bay" for Magellan's name, for he had found his long-sought strait!" (p. 723).

Mr. Hildebrand continues, "There was little time for rejoicing.  The tide rose 40 feet, flooding the sandy beach, and the ships were only four miles off the shoals when darkness came and a storm broke," (p. 723).  One of the captains suggested that since they definitely had found the strait they sought, they should return to Spain and come back with more ships.  Magellan forcefully replied, "We will go on, even if we have to eat the leather on the ships' yards," (p. 723).

Two of the ships were sent to explore the many openings in the strait.  One never returned.  Was it lost?  Or had it turned back to Spain?  Magellan waited four days with no sight of the ship, left signs on shore, then pressed onward.  This was a very bitter blow after such a triumph of finding the strait because the lost ship was the largest with the most supplies.

"With a great show of confidence the three little ships sailed back through the strait and out into the broad Pacific - the first Europeans to sail into the Pacific from the east.  The date was November 28, 1520," (p. 729).  For three months the ships sailed north and west.  The sailors were bored but the warm, calm ocean was heaven compared to the stormy Atlantic Ocean.  Magellan called the ocean: The Pacific.

They sighted land on January 24, 1521 but had to sail past many islands with no water.  Their provisions were nearly used up.  Magellan's words came true:  they ended up by boiling the leather and eating the delicacy of rats when possible.  "In this pitiable state the ships sailed on and on, day after day, week after week, hoping each morning . . . for a sight of land, seeing each day only "a sea so vast that the human mind can scarcely grasp it," " (p. 729).

Finally they reached an inhabited island, went ashore and feasted on bananas and coconut milk. "Already the explorers were elated.  They were in the east.  They were finding islands, islands that promised rich traffic, in which trade they were to share, and now the near attainment of their goal was further emphasized," (p. 731).

Magellan made treaties with various kings of the natives that Spain would have the exclusive trading rights.  He also converted them to Christianity, beginning on Easter Day, 1521.  In these islands, however, Magellan traded for the natives' gold, not for spices.  They were amazed "that the natives had accurate measures of weights and quantities," (p. 733).

Magellan insisted that all the kings of the islands pay homage to the first king that had welcomed Magellan, the King of Cebu.  All but one complied.  Against the advice of the King and his own ships' captains, Magellan insisted on attacking the renegade leader. The King advised Magellan to allow his men, who knew the lands, to initiated the attack.  Magellan had to lead the attack himself.  The entire armada was overwhelmed by the rebel upstart and surrounded.  Magellan was wounded by a poison arrow in the leg then later savagely attacked and killed.  His ships' captains were unable to recover his body; the natives considered it a trophy.  Later, the remaining two captains were also killed.

 In a few days, the 115 remaining men sailed in two ships with new leaders from the site of their victory and their tragedy.  "They cruised along the coast of Borneo (in the East Indies) . . . and early in November, 1521, they anchored off Tidore Island, in the Moluccas.  The expedition had reached its goal, the Spice Islands, lure of the three greatest voyages in history, for they were the objectives of Columbus and Vasco da Gama, had been attained.  And the victor had perished, "his life wasted in a miserable skirmish with savages," " (p. 738).

Those who were left continued home in one ship, laden with spices.  By the time they rounded the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, and returned home to Seville, Spain, 18 Europeans and 4 natives had survived. The date of their return was September 8, 1522, a few days short of three years since they had left for their high adventure!

"Ferdinand Magellan's rang through the Peninsula and echoed through Europe.  His wife was dead, his child was dead, and he was dead, but his name was to be immortal. . . as a nautical feat it is generally conceded that Magellan's voyage stands supreme in the history of the seas.  He crossed two oceans, delimited a continent, proved the world was round, and first showed the true relation of the great land and water bodies of the hemispheres," (p. 739).

This really long article read just like a mystery novel, full of excitement!

The First Great Sea Trip to Circumnavigate Earth, Part 1

How strange is it that the first man to attempt to circumnavigate our planet Earth by sea, Ferdinand Magellan, was born in the only land-locked province of Portugal? He was a country lad, born of noble parents, in approximately 1480.  In those days, instead of sending off a prosperous family's son to college, they would send him to be one of the king's or queen's 'pages,' at court.

In Lisbon, young Magellan became enamored of  the busy sea trade and everything nautical.  He soon gained much experience at sea; at that time, Portugal was a major sea power. Traveling extensively to the East past India and close to the Philippine Islands, Magellan survived battles and being wounded several times in the pursuit of spices.  "For, after seven years of the smell of powder and the scent of spices, seven years of the most stirring episodes of Portugal's history, the erstwhile mountain boy who had been the queen's page returned. . . a seasoned veteran, to an even busier Lisbon," The Greatest Voyage in the Annals of the Sea, J.R. Hildebrand, National Geographic Magazine, December, 1932, p. 705.

FYI: The European peoples were so desperate for spices because they had no preservatives, other than salt, for their food.  Some spices may have acted as a preservative, but, by and large, they were used to mask the foul taste of spoiled food.  And also, spices were used to add to flavor.  Spices were grown in the far East and were incredibly expensive to ship back to Europe.  When the Western European nations started bypassing the Arabian middlemen to round Africa's Cape of Good Hope, the fierce Muslims attacked European ships which were vastly superior.  Thus, there was incentive to discover a new route.

Magellan teamed up with an astronomer he met in Lisbon, Ruy Faleiro, to plan a trip sailing West to reach the spice islands.  They proposed the journey to the king of Portugal who promptly rejected it. Like Christopher Columbus, they then went to the king of Spain, Charles V.  In March of 1518, the king gave permission for the incredible journey which would sail West and round the southernmost tip of South America.  Magellan was to have five ships and almost 300 sailors.  The trip was projected to last two years.

The voyage required extensive preparations due to no civilized ports for much of the journey.  Finally, in September, 1519. the five ships sailed from Sanlucar, Spain.  After two months of sailing westward, the ships reached South America on the coast of Brazil.  Meanwhile, one of the ships' captains had to be imprisoned because he threatened mutiny.  The five ships joyously feasted on native food and replenished their food and wood supplies.

Let's end today's account on this happy note.  Tomorrow we resume the journey south along the coast of South America.  Will our adventurers all survive?

Preview: Two Sea Journeys

Have you ever been totally dedicated to one project and had to give lesser time to the rest of your life?  That's been me for the last week: I've been repainting my guest room.  It was a blah, washed-out, grey-blue and the time had come for a makeover.  Now the ceiling is fresh white, the walls are a warm golden yellow, and my wonderful son-in-law installed a quiet, beautiful ceiling fan this afternoon.  What's left is only painting the baseboards and doors which I hope to accomplish tomorrow.

Ordinarily, I would spread out a big project over a few more days, but I want everything in top shape when my brother, Don, and sister-in-law, Kathleen, visit later in the month.  So, for now, I'm just retiring to bed early!

I paged through the rest of the December, 1932, issue of National Geographic Magazine.  There are two stories left in the issue which look quite interesting, one about Magellan's voyage around the world hundreds of years ago.  I remember reading about Vasco da Gama's journey from Portugal south around Africa's tip to India and back.  What adventures!  This promises to be even more exciting.

Then there is a story about a diver under the sea.  I will report to you about these articles soon.  Good night!

The Old City of Brotherly Love

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., boasted of being the 3rd largest city in America in 1932, with a population of 2 million.  John Oliver La Gorce, A.M., Litt. D., has described much about the city at that time in The Historic City of Brotherly Love: Philadelphia, Born of Penn and Strengthened by Franklin, a Metropolitan Area of Industries, Homes, and Parks, National Geographic Magazine, December, 1932.

First, there is a tribute to William Penn, the pre-colonial founder of the city. "His care and forethought in laying out its central area in the urn-shaped district between the Delaware and Schuylkill (rivers), with its central and satellite squares, have been perpetuated to this day.  This area stands as a monument to his genius as a city planner, even in these times of amazing urban developments."  Gorce continues, "The traditions and the attitudes of the long ago, are maintained in this metropolis as perhaps nowhere else in America.  It is no mere coincidence that Philadelphia has sixteen establishments that have been doing business consecutively since before ante-Constitution days," (p. 643).

FYI: Penn objected to the King of England naming Pennsylvania after him, unsuccessfully bribing an undersecretary in the king's cabinet because it was an "unQuaker-like use of his name," (p. 655).  Philadelphia was named by Penn after one of the seven churches noted in the Bible's Book of Revelation.

The first (black-and-white) photograph is "Independence Hall, Liberty's Shrine of Shrines.  The delight of architects, the joy of patriots, and the pride of Philadelphia. . . it houses the Liberty Bell," (photo caption, p. 644).  I visited Philadelphia in 1995 for a nursing convention; Liberty Bell was in an adjoining park.  Independence Hall was almost as sacred as a church!

More single-family homes were owned in Philadelphia in this era than in either New York City or Chicago.  There were also more skilled laborers.  The workers preferred to live near the factories in which they worked and walk there.  "With but one-sixtieth of the Nation's population, the city of the great Penn produces about one twenty-fifth of its manufactures," (p. 663).

I'm embarrassed to admit I know nothing of the personal history of one of our country's most famous founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. Mr. La Gorce gives quite a comprehensive account.  Benjamin came as a young boy, a printer, from Boston through New York City to Philadelphia, where he hoped to find a job.  Eventually he set up his own print shop, founded what would become a classic, "Poor Richard's Almanac," and married Deborah.  Early on, Franklin was interested in public safety, founded a fire-fighting brigade, then instituted Fire Insurance policies.

Franklin also started a lending Library by importing books from London.  This was started the year before our first president, George Washington, was born.  The ever-active Mr. Franklin was also instrumental in founding first hospital in Philadelphia and the institution which would become the University of Pennsylvania.

"There is no era in the City of Brotherly Love more saturated with the romances of historic events than the Revolutionary Period and its aftermath years.  Here met the men who were called upon to plan a nation.  Here gathered the men who were invested with the responsibility of writing the charter of human freedom that should change the attitude of the world upon ideas of government," (p. 673).

The members of the First Continental Congress met at Carpenter's Hall on September 5, 1774.   The Second Continental Congress met in the statehouse building which would be known as Independence Hall in May of 1775.  "Here George Washington was chosen as Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army on June 15, 1775.  Here, too, the Resolution of Liberty was adopted on July 4, 1776.  The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution itself were also adopted and signed," (p. 674).

For a time after the Revolutionary War established America's independence from England, Congress met in Philadelphia, in "Congress Hall."

In 1932, the largest industry was the Philadelphia Navy Yard.  Mr. La Gorce lists its attributes: "It has a dry dock as big as any lock at Panama, a crane that is higher than an eighteen-story building and capable of setting the turret with its guns in place out of a battleship and onto the Brooklyn Bridge!" (p. 693).

The city enjoyed many parks for its citizens.  The author concludes, "the metropolis. . . has pioneered in American art, science, industry and commerce, blazing trails in every field of endeavor, it is moving forward to an even richer future, " (p. 697).  This article was most enjoyable with its many photographs and eight-page section of beautiful color photographs.  It was most appropriate to be reading this very long article starting a few days before the 4th of July.   I think my city of Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.A. is celebrating the 4th of July for all of this weekend!

Celebrating the 4th of July!

Me - I'm out celebrating the freedom & fireworks & granddaughter, Sarah's birthday party!  This morning, I wrote a blog I thought could go on either or both the relationship blog and this travel blog.  So, please, go to www.stoptwistedlove.blogspot.com & read "Do Something Special Today!" to read how I started celebrating!  Thanks!!!

Tall Tree Tops in Damp Jungle Forests

Major R. W. G. Hingston embarked upon the exploration of a new continent, that of the towering high treetops in the vast South American forest.  In 1932, this area was new, virgin territory.  "Here everything was in an unaltered state, with all the trees in their natural associations, as they had no doubt existed for a thousand years or more," A New World to Explore In the Tree-Roof of the British Guiana Forest Flourishes Much Hitherto Unknown Life, National Geographic Magazine, November, 1932, p. 617.

Since the level of trees was more than seventy feet high, the Major took lots of ropes, ladders, and climbing equipment.  "Overhead the treetops made a green roof, and the fallen vegetation covered the floor with a thick, soft carpet of mold. . . On every side was the richest fertility; and, contrastingly, in the prostrate trunks and rotting leaf mold was equal evidence of death and decay," (p. 617).

The Major and his team of scientists from Oxford University, with assistance from the Arawak Indians, cut a clearing on the banks of the Essequibo River in the jungle forest and made a suitable camp. "Tarpaulin roofs afforded shelter from direct downpours of rain, but nothing could shut out the dampness," (photo caption, p. 623).  Then they cut 12 miles of trails extending from the camp for observation.  The Indians taught them how to make a comfortable sling eighty feet in the trees so they could observe the wildlife for hours at a time.  "One botanist specialized in small types of flora.  Fungi, lichens, and ferns occupied his attention.  And what a plant-lover's paradise he found to explore!" (photo caption, p. 621).

"The camp tree was 120 feet high, and the observation post was established in it at a height of 80 feet," (p. 629).  It was particularly useful for bird spotting.  The names of the tall trees were quite exotic: yururu. . . morabukea. . . baromalli. . . ulu.  Most numerous of all were the species of insects.  "Years of study will be required to classify all the hitherto unknown species of life discovered by the expedition," (p. 632).

Much of this 'life' was supersized!  Beetles as large as clay pigeons were hunted with 12-gauge shotguns!  Grim tales of bloodthirsty ants frightened the explorers into providing themselves with weapons for throwing up a barrage against insect warriors, most of which were unnecessary," (photo caption, p. 634).

Black-and-white photographs I especially enjoyed were one in which the fern plants were much taller than the ordinary trees we have in the States, and one of a butterfly with wings so transparent you could see the leaf through the wing.

Specimens for studying the different levels of the forest were collected by placing muslin cages at three heights: 40-, 80-, and 100-feet.  Results showed different animal life at each level.  Meticulous records were kept. "Altogether we obtain a fair sample of the life in our particular forest patch.  Our catch comprised 75 mammals, 166 birds, 207 reptiles, about 10,000 insects, about 5,000 sets of plants, about 500 miscellaneous specimens," (p. 639).

Major Hingston gives much credit for the success of their exploration to the natives they encountered.  "Our Indians proved extraordinarily helpful.  Without them we could have never attained our objective. . . The efforts I have described are pioneer in nature. . . the equatorial canopy is of such vast dimensions that any attempt to glean information from it is little more than a drop in the ocean compared with the immensity that awaits examination," (p. 642).

That was 1932.  I sighed as I finished this article for I know how the rainforests have been abused and destroyed not only by natives but by those who harvest the valuable wood.  However, conservation efforts are underway in many areas of South America and elsewhere.