Thursday Ramble: Religion and Politics

I was raised to believe there are three things you don't talk about, money, politics and religion.  So let me break a couple of those rules.  

I recently read, Steeple Chasing by Peter Ross.  Angus in Scotland was spot on, it is wonderfully written. The author spent a couple of years, visiting churches and religious sites in Great Britain, writing about the history and the current status.  You can't look at the history of England, without looking at the impact of Henry, and religion.  His break with Catholicism resulted in the destruction of spectacular buildings and works of art.  One historical figure is quoted as bragging about the number of stained glass windows and wood carvings that were destroyed because the art represented a differing view of what is essentially the same religious beliefs.  Minor differences in the view of the same set of values, that resulted in destruction and death.   The political impact in England was noteworthy and carried across the Atlantic. 

When we look at European colonization in north America, some of it was driven by religious minorities leaving Europe seeking freedom.  In the English colonies in north America, Catholicism was outlawed.  One of the motivators of the American Revolution, was to change that. The fantasy view was that anyone would be free to practice any religion or not at all.  (The immigrants also included a lot of fortune seekers and economic refugees - they still do.) 

The reality was that religious differences continue to divide us. We had a wonderful neighbor across the street in Lexington whose parents were terribly upset because his sister didn't marry a Christian, she married a Baptist. Not a member of their sect, a member of a rather mainstream christian denomination.  In time, mom got over it, and accepted the daughter, son in law, and gay son back into the family.  But it was difficult for a few years.  

If you look at American politics today, one of the great influences is religion.  With a handful of influential groups trying to impose their view of faith on the entire society.  They are convinced that their way, is the only way, and everyone should be forced to believe and practice what they practice.  Sounds like Henry, though we know that what he was really after was serial marriage, blaming the many wives on his failure to reach his life goal of a male heir.  

Those who don't learn from the tragedies of history, are doomed to repeat them.  

Hmm, what can I say about money?   

 

My World of Wonders aka The Wednesday Ws August 30th Edition

Where have I been?  Home, the office, the gym, out to lunch in Old Town Alexandria. For the most part staying in out of the heat. 

Who have I seen? The usual, the team at the office, my sweet bear, a few neighbors in passing. 

What made me smile? The inmate number in Fulton County, Georgia. 

What was good this week? A great article published by a friend, that I was able to get some political traction with.  A couple of favorable responses on a major project I am working on.  

What was frustrating this week?  Editing.  An article that was factually flawed and more of a sales pitch than a resource.  The least you can do is get the facts straight.  Another editing project that a lot of effort has gone into, that no one read through before they sent it on for a final review - that won't be the final review.  A chapter written by someone who had limited knowledge - and needed to be rewritten.  Get the facts straight people.  

What made people laugh?  I was in meeting in a conference room with views of the atrium at the office, and I made a remark about "death eaters circling in the atrium sucking all of the joy out of the room." Everyone laughed, and we moved on from a sticking point.  

Why would I say, "probably my last visit to Walt Disney World?  Disney creates an idealized artificial world, a fantasy world. A great way to glimpse what main street USA might look like, or the west, or a downscale Eiffel Tower.  I have seen the real thing, I plan to continue exploring the real places, the real adventures.  

Who have I talked with?  A couple of old friends, my office team, my sweet bear, a professor who wrote a great article for us the same day.  

Who deserves a slap? The spammers who keep posting links in my comments for travel agencies. I delete them, report them a spam. If they want to advertise on my blog, they can - Google will be glad to sell them space.  I am getting 5-10 a day.  Five slaps out of five. 

What am I reading? The Mechanic - about F-1, and a Jimmy Buffett novel - it is long and will take a couple of weeks to finish.  

What am I watching?  We have a local PBS station that runs British programing. Secret Dealers - a show where antiques dealers go through homes, leaving sealed bid on contents, then compete with one another in open bidding.  It is fun, and on at time that when we are settling in after dinner.  Also Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, kind of a reboot of Bargain Hunt, on this one celebrities buy at retail and try to sell at auction for a profit.  

Milestones of my Week?  I started the paperwork for a pension, and registering with Social Security. 

What is the artwork above? A window in the Denver Art Museum with a transparent shade on it. 

Who done it?  The plane crash in Russia, I doubt they will ever prove who arranged it.  

What was on the River when we went to lunch on Sunday?  A rather large boat, it rents for $255,000 a week plus expenses. 

https://www.yachtcharterfleet.com/luxury-charter-yacht-24326/impromptu.htm 

Travel Tuesday: Times Square April 2022

 I miss it, and want to go back. 

Moody Monday: Theme Songs

My sweet bear pointed out, that I am now a Senior Citizen, whatever that means.  I started working in the field of aging, in my late 30's, and I have aged into the age bracket for my services.

To be eligible for services paid for by the Older Americans Act, a person needs to be aged 60 or older.  I have been there for a few years. At least part of my work, has been paid for by the Older Americans Act since 1998. 

AARP, used to be the American Association of Retired Persons, but now it is just AARP.  The joke was that AARP no longer stands for anything, but reality is that they decided if they took retired out of their title, they could attract more members.  If any person in the household is aged 50 the entire household is eligible for membership.  And let me assure you they don't verify age, just that the credit card works.  

When I went to graduate school in my mid-30's I discovered the joys of student discounts, I would eagerly pull out my student ID, I got into more than one museum that way.  Now it is senior discounts.   Some places it is pensioners discounts, I filed to start payments on a pension over the weekend.  (Payments won't start until the first of the year.) I will ask for my senior discounts. 

Many years ago I asked a wise man (my boss at the time) how to define aging.  His answer was simple, if you have been born, and you are not dead yet, you are aging.  

I am thinking about playing this song, Frank Sinatra "My Way," and Jimmy Buffet's "Last Mango in Paris," in my office every morning for the rest of the year.  My theme songs

Sunday Five: All about you

Thank You Michael 

1: What time of the year were you born?

2: What was the weather like? 

3: Who do/did you share your birthday with? 

4: What time of day were you born? 

5: How many siblings do you have? 

My answers:

1: What time of the year were you born? Late summer.

2: What was the weather like? I have been told there had been terrible thunderstorms all night. 

3: Who do/did you share your birthday with? I was born on my grandfather's birthday and my grandparents wedding anniversary. 

4: What time of day were you born? Very early morning, kept my mother awake all night, the doctor went into the next room and slept most of the night.  My mother said "they woke him in time to catch you so you didn't land on the floor."  

5: How many siblings do you have? I am the youngest, two older brothers and one older sister.  

Please share your answers in the comments. 

Saturday Morning Post: Families can be Fun

 

A fellow blogger asked recently about a family name, and I asked my sister who is the family genealogist to dig into it.  In the process she reminded me of a visit by one of my paternal, maternal, great grandmother, sister's son to the farm some time in the mid 1970's.  It was before my grandfather died, in 1976.  

Donald had been in the USA for a few weeks.  He had sold a movie script, and had been in California doing last minute re-writes.  Donald was an intellectual, a writer, a british judge.  A couple of years earlier he had sent his mother to visit her sister on the farm. I got the feeling he had money.  A visit to his mother's relatives must have been a bit of an anthropological adventure for him.  I have sometimes wondered if we were the subject of one of his later scripts. I went looking for information on him one night, the internet is a tremendous source of information.  I found that he had died a few years after his visit.  

In the process I found some interesting details on his brother Derrick. Donald had told us his brother was also a writer and a movie producer.  What he didn't tell us was what kind of movies.  Apparently he would do "romantic comedies" with a general audience version, and a - well there is no polite way of putting this, the director's cut or second version of the movie was X rated. Same actors and actresses, same film crew, both filmed at the same time. A family friendly version for wide release, and a porn version for more selective audiences.  

Families, you never know what you are going to find, if you go looking.  

Fabulous Friday: Denver Art Museum Indigenous Collection part 2

 

This is another work by Kent Monkman’s titled Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience. I don't have the details on this one, but again it is a huge in-your-face painting, and it should be.  It shows the kidnapping of native children to be sent to boarding schools where all were abused, and many died.  The schools had a mission of eradicating the native cultures, it was cultural genocide, and it happened in Canada and the United States.  Many of the schools were operated by church missionaries, more interested in converts than education. It is a sad, dark chapter in our history.  One we need to learn about, lest we repeat the sins of the past. 

Again I applaud the Denver Art Museum for recognizing the value in this work, and in this political climate, having the guts to exhibit this moving and important work of art.  We really can't tell the story of indigenous peoples, without recognizing atrocities of European invasion and conquest.  

Thank you Denver for being fabulous! 

The Thursday Ramble: The Joys of Age

My birthday is late this month, a milestone year for me.  There have been a few times when I wondered if I would make it this far, and I have.  Odds are if I have lived this long, I will live another 18 years or so.  Half live that long, half don't.  I won't bet on beating the odds.  Something I read recently talked about life expectancy, and good health expectancy.  Most people live 6 to 8 years longer than they remain in good health.  Some dread the changes in health, rage against the storm trying to push sands of time back up through the hourglass.  It seldom works, and you can paint over the face as much as you want, but in the end it is still your face.   

I hope to embrace the joys of age, the joys of change. 

I move slower than I did.  Still too fast for my sweet bear, but slower.  I am more likely to stop and smell the roses, or sit for a minute. When I move more slowly I see, hear, feel and smell things that I wouldn't when I rushed past.  Finding new joys in familiar places as my body slows down.  

My hearing is fading.  Less distraction, less noise, fewer things that irritate me.  My oldest brother bought expensive hearing aids that bluetoothed to his phone, very high tech. The last time I had dinner with him, he wasn't wearing them.  I asked, and he said, "I decided I was happier not hearing all of the chatter. I can hear what I want and not all of the background noise." 

Death is nearer. I know when I have a chance to do something, I need to do it now.  We think we are invincible, and we are not. As we reach the age when our contemporaries are dying off, know it could be us next.  Do it now, there may not be a later.  We regret more the things we could have done and didn't, than the things we tried and didn't go the way we had hoped.  

The little shit matters less.  The slights, insults, and inconveniences that rattled my cage when I was younger, are easier to ignore, in the big picture, most of it does not matter in the end.  

I have a lifetime of learning, all coming together. A common lament is if I had known then, what I know now.  Well now I know, and I can enjoy it.  I should have a few more good years of thinking. 

Our lives are a collection of stories, after all of these years, I have a lot more stories than I did before.  A lifetime of stories that are easily triggered.  

These are a few, I will keep thinking on the joys.  Fear not old age, not all are privileged to enjoy it.  

My World of Wonders - aka The Wednesday Ws End of August 2023 edition

Who would love to have this? Doc Spo - I was thinking of you when I took this.  

Where have I been?  The office, home, the farmers market, the usual. 

When is the next adventure?  Everyday, the next out of town adventure is in September - a driving trip to Pennsylvania. 

What surprised me this week?   Rudy trying to remove the Georgia criminal case to Federal Court.  

What made me laugh this week? Blog posts are often the first laugh of the day. 

What have I been reading?  Lots, I finished Founding Gardeners and Steeple Chasing (both very good, my print copy of Founding Gardeners is destined to a friend who loves to garden, Steeple Chasing was recommended by Angus in Scotland and he is right it might be the best written prose of the year.) I am starting The Mechanic.  I am going to try to clean up the print books in the partly read or to read stacks.  I have logged 40 completed reads this year.  

What have I been watching?  YouTube, Billy is restoring a convent in France, Ryan is a friend of Billy, Dan is restoring a burned out chateau in France, Mr. and Mrs. B are living a life afloat and can be comic relief, and the Foxes post at least once a week.  Grainy Days posts a couple of times a month about film photography and has a voice that could lull anyone to sleep.

What is my latest wild hare idea?  Photo documenting the historic churches in the local area.  I can start with the General's box (George Washington) and move on from there.  There are several from colonial times, and important one's from just after the Civil War. Washington's Alexandria townhouse was between the tavern and the church, closer to the tavern (we hosted lunch there when we got married.) Something to keep me busy after work.  

Who called?  My boss's boss to discuss budgets and pay raises for my team.  I think I defended my request for raises.  We need to take care of those who take care of us. 

How many times did I think about chucking the business this week? Twice. One of my favorite lines from old British sitcoms, is from the last episode of "To the Manor Born" when Richard says to Audrey "what would you say if I said I was thinking about chucking the business and moving back here?" And her replying, "then come back here and marry me." If you a chance, go watch that series. I have it on DVD. 

Who deserves a slap this week? The spammers who keep posting comments directing my readers to travel agencies, or about what a great blog this is, and whose profile is a shill for travel services.  I check daily, report as spam, and delete.  If they want to advertise on this blog, Google will sell them adds. Out of 5 slaps, at least 3. 

What made me want to scream? Really bad editing. 

  

 

Travel Tuesday: Walt Disney World March 2019

I long ago lost track, I have probably been to Walt Disney World 100 times.  My brother Gary worked there for 43 years, for several years I bought an annual ticket. I have been there for by invitation only private parties, and in the midst of tourist season. I have been there until the closed, and gone out, had lunch, ridden the train around the Magic Kingdom and gone home.  This was the last visit, and it may be my last visit. 

A town in Michigan 

 

Moody Monday: Complicated and Intense

I was not sure if this photo was in color, or monochrome, then I noticed the blue numbers in the three round disks, the only color in the complex angles, shadow and light.  As I recall the numbers are LED, generated at random, so the pattern is ever changing.  Kind of like life, and my moods. 

Work picked up late in the week, and the next 2-4 weeks will be intense. I have seven presentations between now and the end of October, and most of the preparation for those needs to be done in the next 2-3 weeks.  One of them, no one seems to know what we are doing, it is a complicated situation, a panel with several experts, and it is late summer and people are out of town, and less than a month before the program date. It will come together, but it is intense.  

I am moving forward with planning a major conference for next May. The conference will be in Miami, I will be in France.  It is complicated.  I am a bit intense on conference planning, in some ways being able to plan and host a national conference has been one of the highlights of the past 10 years, it is also a process that can push me close to the edge.  I get to get this one kick-started and then leave it in the hands of others.  I know it will be in good hands, but it will be intense to hand off the complicated planning process.  And ultimately a relief.  

I am noticing the shortening of daylight, the sun is not waking me at 6:00 AM, I have slept later several mornings.  I was thinking by the time I retire, we will be in the short daylight days of winter, my least favorite time of the year to go to the office.  I dislike leaving for work in the dark, and getting home at the end of the day in the dark. I wonder how it will feel not going to the office at a time of the year when I find it hardest to do so?  Complicated thoughts, I hope it is not intense. 

I had an ah-ha moment recently.  I find myself being optimistic, but seldom filled with joy.  Sorting that out is complicated.  I am not angry, or fearful, or depressed, but not filled with laughter and enjoyment. My good times, are just sort of okay. Human beings are complicated.  

 

 

Sunday Five: Complete this sentence

1: _____ makes me smile.

2: I get emotional when I read ______. 

3:  ______ makes my skin crawl.

4: I often feel ______. 

5: _____ makes me laugh. 

My answers. 

1: _Reading Blogs____ makes me smile.

2: I get emotional when I read _about death_____. 

3:  _Snakes _____ makes my skin crawl.

4: I often feel _loved__. 

5: _Sarcasim____ makes me laugh. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: Little Airplanes

My father was born the year Lindbergh flew the Atlantic, and he grew up fascinated by flying.  He was a teenager during World War II and begged his mother to consent for him to enlist so he could learn to fly.  She was terrified by the idea, he was drafted near the end of the war, after flight training had ended.  A few years later, he quit smoking and used what he saved to learn to fly. 

Hence I grew up spending weekends hanging around little airports and little airplanes. There were two highlights of our early 70's winter trip to Florida, a first visit to Walt Disney World that had been open just a few months, and a tour of the Piper aircraft factory at Vero Beach. It was amazing watching airplanes being built on an assembly line.  Sadly no photos were allowed inside.  

My father's first plane ride, was in a Ford Tri-motor.  His school class was on a outing, and the local airport was offering plane rides.  He spent a month's spending money for 15 minutes in the air. When he told his mother about it, she cried.  

In the archive I have a momento from his first airline flight.  An American Airlines DC-3 from New York to Detroit, late in World War II.  The flight crew filled out a short description of the flight, that was read by the cabin crew, and passed around.  In his army uniform, he was given it to take home.  I found it among his mementos after he died.  

I miss flying in little airplanes.  There is something elemental about a simple machine gaining speed, and lifting off the ground. It is magic, it is alchemy.  

 

Fabulou Friday: Denver Art Museum Native American Collection

 Denver has an amazing museum of art.  It has a carefully selected offering of about every major style or period and some specialty items.  There is a floor dedicated to indigenous art of north America.  There are the traditional and ancient arts of the people and lands, and modern works by native artists.  

The painting above delighted me, and took my breath away.  It is very large, probably 6 feet tall and and slightly over 10 feet across, and is an elaborate western mountain landscape, in a classic style.  Then you look closer, and the painter standing at the easel is wearing thigh high red stiletto boots.  All of the figures are male. The museum describes the painting as follows:

History is Painted by the Victors, 2013, ARTIST, Kent Monkman, Swampy Cree, Fisher River First Nation, b. 1965, Born: Ontario, Work Locations: Toronto, ON, CULTURE Swampy Cree | Fisher River First Nation, COUNTRY, Acrylic paint on canvas, Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum. 

I was simply amazed that a museum would recognize the genius in this work and have the strength to include it in their collection and exhibit.  Bravo Denver Museum of Art!  This is fabulous.  

Sometime soon I will feature the painting that was around the corner from this, that tells a story that every person living in north American needs to know.  

Thursday Ramble: Weird Airline Adventures

My first airline flight was in the spring of 1977, but most of them have been in the past 25 years.  And there have been a lot of them.  I have not kept track, it would be fun if I had.  I have had a few weird things happen while flying.  Here are a few of the stories. 

I changed planes in Charlotte, North Carolina early one morning.  I had come in on an overnight flight from Las Vegas, I had flown to Las Vegas from Anchorage, Alaska.  My flight from Charlotte was to Lexington, Kentucky on a small regional jet.  It was one were you walked out at ground level and climbed the stairs built in the door on the plane.  We boarded, I was talking with the guy next to me, he was flying to Lexington to take delivery of a car he had bought online and drive it home, a Mustang as I recall.  The plane started to push back and it went bump.  I had backed over a trash can with my car once, it felt like that. The plane pulled forward about five feet, backed up again and this time I could hear  metal tearing. The plane stopped, the Captain slammed open cockpit door, opened the plane door and stormed off shouting "what in the hell have you done to my airplane!"  We had backed into another airplane, wing tip to wing tip, the second push back had torn the wing tips on both planes. 

I was flying home from San Francisco, my first trip on free seats from frequent flyer miles.  I was watching one of the lethal weapon movies, on pay-per-view.  I don't know which one, it was the one were they imploded the old Orlando city hall.  I was living in Orlando when it was filmed.  The mayor played the police chief on that scene. It bugged me that city hall was as old as I was, and they were tearing it down.  Suddenly over Texas the movie stopped, all of the lights in the cabin went out. A minute later, the Captain came on, saying that we would be landing in Dallas in just a few minutes, two of the three electrical generators had failed. We went from 38,000 feet to on the ground in Dallas in less than 10 minutes.  When we pulled up to the gate, there was smoke coming out of one of the engines.  I made it home the next day. 

I was flying home from Orlando, Florida, changing planes in Atlanta.  We boarded, settled in, and there was this bang and the plane shook from side to side.  The baggage conveyor had slammed into the side of the plane.  Maintenance was called and there was a dent in the side of the plane.  We got off, being asked to please stay in the gate area.  About half an hour later, the Pilot came to the desk and picked up the microphone, explaining what had happened.  The plane had been checked by mechanics, and a conversation was held with the engineers at Boeing.  They had determined that the plane was safe to fly, and they were going to continue the flight.  Anyone who didn't want to continue would be re-accommodated. I appreciated the empty seat next to me as I made my way home an hour or so late.  

I was flying home from Athens, Greece, changing planes in New York. I was connecting in New York, to Cincinnati and then connecting there to go to Lexington, Kentucky. We boarded the plane to leave New York and settled in.  There was this loud thud.  After a few minutes the flight crew came on with an explanation.  The ground crew had started to push the plane back, before the brakes had been released and the shear pin in the push back connection had done its job and broken.  The technicians had checked the front landing gear and the plane was fine, but they needed to get a replacement for the push-back bar - that took about 40 minutes.  I missed my connection for the last flight onto Lexington, Kentucky.  There was an airline representative near baggage claim.  She said I have two options, a hotel voucher and the first flight in the morning,  or taxi voucher, for the 90 mile trip to Lexington. I opted for the taxi.  I got out front and there was an older couple there.  I offered to share the taxi.  They got in the back seat and couldn't make the seat belts work, got mad, got out and left.  I had a nice ride on to Lexington.  

I was flying from Lansing, Michigan to Detroit, then onto Washington DC from Detroit.  Lansing is about 75 miles from Detroit, and is a small airport, another small commuter jet.  We boarded, and then unboarded.  A few minutes later the pilot came into the boarding area to explain. Sitting still on the ground, the plane was indicating that one of the landing gear was retracted.  Obviously it was not, a sensor or switch had failed.  They had talked to engineering and there were two options, wait 2 or 3 hours for someone to come over from Detroit with replacement parts and a screwdriver, or lock the gear down and fly the plane to Detroit, where the repair could be made while the baggage was being unloaded. The catch was the plane would be low and slow, not over 10,000 feet and not over 200 miles per hour, it would take 30 minutes instead of 20 and would be a little noisy.  If you wanted to make other plans see the desk, if you want to board please do so quickly we are ready to fly.  It was a fun flight, you can see a lot at 5-6-thousand feet.  

The flight from Las Vegas to Charlotte had an interesting start.  I had already been traveling for hours, when I changed planes in Las Vegas at midnight.  We were pretty much boarded when there was a commotion. An extended family had been in Las Vegas for a wedding and were headed home to North Carolina.  Apparently Bobby-Joe had indulged in a few to many drinks, and the gate attendant denied him boarding.  His mother was on the plane and in near hysterics - how could they "leave Bobby-Joe behind in Sin-City!" They escorted Bobby-Joe on the plane and he explained to momma, that he would be just fine, he would go sleep it off and be on a plane first thing in the morning. She wept, the airline offered to let her stay over and fly with him in the morning, but she said no. He left he plane, with a smile on his face, and she wept for the first hour of the flight, then fell silently asleep.  

I was flying from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Bismarck, North Dakota. Bismarck may be the capital of North Dakota, but it is a small city, with a small airport - and at the point serviced by small twin turboprop airplanes.  We took off, headed west on what should have been a 60 minute flight, then we went south, then west, then north, then east, and about two hours later as we were landing the pilot explained that we had diverted around a thunderstorm, the smaller plane was not capable of flying up and over it, it had to fly around it. 

I ran through the airport in Nashville one night, to find the gate closed on the last flight to Lexington, Kentucky.  The gate agent went down, knocked on the door, the flight attendants opened the door and let me on.  The only time I have ever seen the door re-opened, I have stood in the terminal and watched my flight back away from the gate (I try to avoid short connection times.) 

Having grown up around little airplanes, little airports, airplane mechanics, avionics technicians, and lots and lots of pilots, nothing really bothers me.  They are professionals.  They don't fly unless they are sure it is safe.  My father was a licensed commercial pilot who never flew professionally.  He flew for the love it, added the licenses because he wanted to improve his skills.  

My World of Wonders aka The Wednesday W's August 16th edition

We need creativity because? Without it we would lack adventure.  

Where have I been? Home, the farmers market, the grocery store, the office - three days in a row. 

What have I been cooking?  I started a fresh batch of dill pickles over the weekend, and made a ham and cheese quiche. 

What have I been thinking about?  Lots of work to get done before the end of October, and then what happens after the first of the year.  

What made me smile? A couple of comments about my writing, including a colleague to remarked at how I am able to connect diverse topics. A nice drive on Saturday morning with the top down and temps in the mid 70's.  

What frustrated me?  Little things at work, and it is all little stuff, that either isn't important or will work itself out anyway. I need to not let it get to me. 

What am I plotting?  A three part trip for October, Omaha, Fort Wayne, and Chicago all on one trip.  

Who have I been talking with?  My team at work, my sweet bear, a reporter for the ABA Journal, a new student intern. The intern is interesting he is a doctoral candidate in law, not a JD, Phd in Law (I didn't know that existed.) He was a health policy analyst in London, the focus of his research is on artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles.  

What have I been listening to? Instrumental music, on YouTube.  

 

 

Travel Tuesday: Fossil Butte National Monument Wyoming

Located off of US Highway 30 in south west Wyoming, is Fossil Butte National Monument.  A butte is a high plateau.  This one was the site of fossil deposits from an ancient sea bed.  The visitors center is about 3.5 miles from the highway, and the highway is not very busy.  I pulled into the visitor center, turned off the car, stepped out, and for a moment I wondered if I had gone deaf, the silence was palpable. The road was open a couple of miles farther up the mountain side, deeper into solitude. It was not someplace I had planned or plotted to see.  I had the time, and saw the sign and turned off.