Travel Tuesday: A couple of hours

A couple of hours in the Smithsonian African and Asian Art Collections

 

Moody Monday: Slavery at Mt Vernon

Many of the founders of the United States, were slave owners.  The wealth of landowners and plantations was earned by the hard labors of enslaved people.  It is one of the most shameful elements of early America. Slave owners came from all walks of life, all genders, all religions, and all races. 

Mt Vernon, the home of George and Martha Washington was a southern plantation of the colonial era, it's financial success was earned by slave labor.  Over the past 40 years, since my first visit to Mt Vernon, the estate has increasingly acknowledged this legacy. 

Just across from the mausoleum built by instructions left in George Washington's will, is the slave burial ground. Cemeteries continued to be segregated into the 1900's.  Visiting the burial ground, I noticed rectangular patterns on the ground.  Looking closer there are corner pins, and heavy string outlining what are clearly graves, unmarked graves of the people who lived and worked here. There are a couple of monuments and markers, but for the most part the string outlines from archeologists are the only acknowledgement of the humanity that is buried here.

As the marker describes, George Washington granted freedom in his will to the slaves he controlled the destiny of, but not until the death of his wife Martha.  She granted them freedom before her death.  The rest of the story, she had learned that the slaves had learned that they would be granted their freedom at her death, she wrote to a friend that she feared they would speed up their freedom if she didn't act. 

Sunday Five: Easter is Lambing Season

1: Do you have a lamb in your house? 

2: What should we name this pair? 

3: How many stuffed animals is to many for a pair of bears in their 60's? 

4: Do you eat lamb? 

5: Easter bunny or Easter lamb? 

My Answers:

1: Do you have a lamb in your house? Many - they may take over.

2: What should we name this pair?  Nothing seems to have fit yet.

3: How many stuffed animals is to many for a pair of bears in their 60's?  Should there really be a limit on fluffiness? 

4: Do you eat lamb? Yes

5: Easter bunny or Easter lamb? The bunny brings chocolate. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: Farming

A comment, on comments, then onto our regularly scheduled post.  I was alerted by Bob, that bloggers comment spam filter is suddenly hyperactive.  If you use blogger, go to your posting home page and click on the comments tab on the menu on the left.  At the top of the list of comments there is a drop down menu, one of the options is spam.  Click on that and it will show you a list of comments that have been blocked from your blog as spam.  The first time I checked the list was over 500, including many of my comments on my own blog.  On the right there is a tab marked manage.  That allows you to review up to 100 comments at a time, check on the icon or photo to select, and you can delete as spam, or publish as a real comment all that are selected.  I am checking mine every couple of days, and finding about 50 a week, with about half of them my friends, and the rest being spammer garbage.  Our best defense to fix the algorithm is to fight back and clarify the classification. 

Now on with the show. 

I was raised on a funny farm, 80 acres in the country, with only insects as livestock.  Before my grandfather bought it in the 1940s, it was a very old fashioned working farm with cows in the barn, and chickens running in the garden. Growing up we were surrounded by working farms.  Some of them were large and modern, some of them like the drunk on the corner were still farming as they had since electricity was introduced by rural electrification as part of the New Deal reforms after the depression.  My grandparents installed indoor plumbing in the early 1950's, in a house that was at least 100 years old when they remodeled it.    

I love watching farming.  The pace of the work, the changes in the seasons, the progression of crops, the uncertainty and joy of the harvest.  The landscape changes through the growing cycle, from the earthy smell of freshly plowed fields, to the sweetness of freshly cut hay, to the dust of grain, and the musty finality at the end of the growing season. 

Farmers watch the weather.  The weather changes what they do from day to day, and hour to hour.  Weather can change their futures and fortunes,  too much rain, or not enough rain, a late freeze, and early frost can make a difference between a good year, and a bad year.  In my life I only look at the temperature or rain to decide what coat to wear, farmers look at the temperature and rain to decide if the world will eat next month or next year.  

Farming has changed.  Modernization has moved farming to a much larger scale.  One person can farm 10 or 20 times the land they could in my grandfather's day. Crops are customized for the land and climate, livestock has changed to fit the desires of the customer and to lesson the loss. 

It has been a while since I have driven out of the city, to visit farmers, to watch the work, to catch the rhythm of season.  Mt. Vernon has a small historic farming operation, but much of it takes place behind the scenes, with a couple of cattle penned in for tourists to see, and sheep in the inner barn to entertain the visitors.  

 

   

Fabulous Friday: A Warm Sunny Day

Turtles know how to enjoy a warm sunny day, after a cold wet winter.  Nose to tale, with the sun on their backs soaking up the warmth of a Fabulous Warm Sunny Day.  

I hope the sun is out today, I am taking the day off from work. 

Thursday Ramble: Advice to .2 Who is Going to Spain

 My department has a staff of 4.2 full time people.  .2 is going to Spain in June, a long planned, often delayed trip.  The daughter of a friend is getting married, it looks like they are really going this time.  I had a little advice for her based on our experience last December.  

Be prepared to be made to feel welcomed.  Now we were in mostly tourist areas, but not all of our time was in tourist areas, and I always felt welcomed.  I like to venture into small local shops - and never felt out of place. 

The people are happy.  It is an attitude - a way of life.  Things are not perfect, but why fret about it? It may be the happiest place I have ever been.  Certainly happier than WDW. *

The food is great. Just order it, even if you are not sure what it is, odds are it will be good.  Most of it is mild, some needed a little added salt.  

Breakfast is not a big meal for the locals.  Lunch runs late 2:00 - 3:00 in the afternoon.  Dinner is late, we were often the first to be seated at 7:30 or 8:00 PM. 

The coffee is good, enjoy it like the locals and don't complain that it is not like at home.  It is better.  

Buy long distance train ticket ahead of time.  The trains sell out. Even if the price is the same, if you want to travel when you want to travel, buy tickets ahead of time. Trains are not cheap, but they are comfortable and efficient.  

At major train stations you have to clear security to get on the train platform, run your bags through the X-ray machines, I think there was a metal detector.  Don't fret, it is fast and easy. They will ask to see your passport and ticket.  

The long distance trains are very comfortable, and have lots of baggage space at the end.  If the baggage space is full where you are, check the end of the next car.  

The food and drink on the trains is okay, and not horribly priced, it is worth going to the cafe car.  (Unlike British trains there is no or very little trolly service.) 

The airport in Madrid is MASSIVE.  Allow an extra hour (three hours instead of two for an outbound flight) and be prepared to walk a few miles.  The terminal is beautiful, but HUGE! 

Be prepared to walk. Most cities are very walkable. 

The Taxi drivers in Madrid will take you for ride, they can turn a 10-euro into a 15-euro trip before you know it.  Sit back and enjoy the ride, taxis are not that expensive, and they will show you some amazing back streets.  (About half of the taxis in Madrid took us out of our way.) 

Don't be silly or careless, but Spain felt very safe.  

*Walt Disney World

Wednesday World of Wonders - The W's Welcome to April Edition

Where have I been?  A hearing held by the Senate Select Committee on Aging in Dirksen 106.  Followed by lunch in one of the Senate dining rooms, and a nice walk across Capitol hill to take the Subway home. 

Who deserves and Ata-Boy? The operator of the subway train I took home from the Senate.  The doors of the train were closing just as I arrived on the platform, the operator looked at me, and reopened the doors.  The next train was not for 20 minutes at that time of the day.  And he had a nice clear voice, you could hear the announcements. 

What have I been cooking?  An interesting chicken pie one evening, fresh local baby spinach - though the market didn't have it last weekend. 

Who have I been communicating with?  My sister and I traded text messages.  I had an email from a much loved blogger buddy. I traded emails with a dear friend who is leaving a job where she has not been well treated and striking out on her own.  She will do well, but it will not be easy.  A big loss for her now former employer, who never really knew how good they had it. And an old friend who at one time staffed the Senate Committee on Aging, who retired last fall and is enjoying life.    

What am I reading?  Reading to Reading, a narrative of a Brit who rode a bike from Reading England to Reading Pennsylvania, the long way around 46,000 kilometers.  It is a good read. 

What is happening at the office?  I have a ton of things to do in the next three weeks, then I am off for a week.  I was invited to speak at a much loved conference next week.  Kind of last minute, apparently there is a schism underway. About time. 

What is the weather like? Cold, Cool, Warm, Hot, Dry, Wet, sometimes all in the same day.  The trees are leafing out.  My grandfather taught me that we are free of frost when the leaves on the oak trees are as big as a squirrel's ear - we are almost there. 

Who deserves a slap?  He Who Must Not Be Named, and he is getting one, I just wish I could have been in New York to chant, Lock Him Up, Lock Him Up! 

Why is this late this week?  Because I accidentally scheduled it to post tomorrow. 

 

Travel Tuesday: Orlando March 2019 Helicopter Charter

When I moved to Orlando in 1985, Disney had only been open for a little over a decade.  The area that is International Drive was a massive defense plant and testing range.  I watched the area change, moved away and when I go back I really notice the change.  I was in Orlando in March of 2019, BC, to speak at two conferences.  There were signs for helicopter sightseeing tours.  I stopped, the price is always high, but the experience is amazing.  I was the only passenger, the pilot asked where to? We went south along I-4 to Lake Buena Vista, EPCOT, and Disney Studios.  When you have a chance, splurge and spend the $200 for an amazing ride. 

The Tower in the foreground, was built while I was working in Orlando, the foundation is one massive continuous concrete pour, every concrete plant in the area shipped only to that building site for three days, around the clock, non-stop.  

The pink building on the Right, is the Tower of Terror.  There is or was an elevator drop on the outside of the building that drops faster than gravity, faster than you would fall of you jumped.  It is pulled down by cables.  A gym friend of mine was on the engineering team that figured out how to do that. 

 

Moody Monday: Been Here Before

One advantage of being nearly as old as dirt, is I remember when it was like this before and that somehow we made it through.  I remember the deep political divisions of the late 1960's early 1970's the scandals that forced Richard Nixon out of office.  The riots of the late 1960's over school desegregation and the deep divides in communities and people moved - in essence re-segregating many urban areas. I remember George Wallace running for President, all but promising the bring back the Confederacy and slavery.   (His plane was early, or I would have photographed his arrival on a campaign stop.) 

I have watched politics move back to the middle, and back to the extremes.  There have always been wackos in Congress.  McCarthyism was the scourge of my parents era, and they never quite forgot it.  We will get past this, we will find the common ground in the middle, we always have, I trust we always will.  

We have amazing younger generations that have found value in diversity, and joys in living, loving and enjoying everyone around them.  Urban areas have blossomed as wonderful place to live.  The suburban dream that perpetuated being surrounded by people like yourself, ties people to their cars - isolated and alone for hours.  People are rediscovering the joys of walkable communities and public transit. All it took was overcoming the fear of other. And overcoming the fear of difference started with saying one-school for every child in the community.  I should have turned the camera to take a photo of the building across the street, the Supreme Court, who bravely ruled that separate but equal, is never equal.   

So how is my mood this Monday?  Bothered by the current turmoil, but assured we will get past this.  The only reason Nixon was not prosecuted, is he was pardoned by Ford knowing it would end his political career, but saying the nation needs to close this ugly chapter and move on.  And we did.  And we will again. The ugliness of today, will be undone by the youth of today.  

 

The Sunday Five: Blogs

 1: What blog, besides yours, should I read that I might not be reading (please share the url.) 

2: How often do you read blogs? 

3: Do you check back to see if there is a response to your comments? 

4: How long should a post take to read? 

5: Is there a blog you read, that you don't readily admit to reading? 

My Answers: 

1: What blog, besides yours, should I read that I might not be reading (please share the url.) I find comfort and peace everyday on Sophie's walks. If you don't read this one, try it.  https://bobnsophie.blogspot.com/  

2: How often do you read blogs? Everyday, almost without fail. 

3: Do you check back to see if there is a response to your comments? On some blogs, but not on others.  

4: How long should a post take to read? 2-5 minutes.  

5: Is there a blog you read, that you don't readily admit to reading?  One, that has not suitable for work content, and occasional rantings of an IT professional. 

Please share your answers in the Comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: Old Family Stories

Inspired by your comments on last Saturday's post about walking the streets of the past, here are a couple of old family stories.  

My grandfathers were from very large families, a dozen or more siblings.  My paternal grandfather had a couple of colorful siblings.  Notable was Herman, who was known as Dutch.  I have two stories about Dutch. 

During prohibition Dutch was hosting a large drinking party and poker game, in other words he was running an illegal speakeasy and gambling hall in the apartment he shared with his pious brother Ben. Someone alerted the police, who raided the wrong house. The police broke down the door on the house next door, a house of prostitution.  The working girls fled up stairs, it was summer and the windows were open.  The ladies got Dutch's attention and he laid a door from window to window - the houses were only about 4 feet apart, and the ladies next door fled across into his apartment.  He promptly roused his pious brother Ben, who convened an instant prayer group.  The police took one look, apologized for interrupting, and left. 

Dutch died the year after my Grandfathers.  My last fall in Michigan. His wife called my grandmother to let her know, and I drove my grandmother to the funeral. From the 1930's into the 1950's my grandparents had hosted huge family dinners at least once a month and my grandmother knew all of my grandfather's family. I had met Dutch and his wife Ruth a couple of times.  Ruth was in the front row, animated as always.  A woman of about the same age approached her and introduced herself as Dutch's wife.  It took a couple of minutes of sorting it out, but apparently when Dutch married Ruth in the 1950's, he failed to divorce his first wife.  His first wife knew he was living with Ruth, that he seemed happy and more settled than ever.  She never made an issue of it.  The two of them sat there sharing stories about the man they loved, and how being married to two women at the same time, for decades was the essence of who he was. A wild free spirit. 

My grandmother was born near London, and came to the United States when she was a young girl. Her father was a tunnel digger, and there was work in the USA, and World War 1 was looming in Europe. He did a couple of jobs in New York, they lived in Queens and Brooklyn.  She had vivid memories of living in Brooklyn before prohibition, the bars would have a shutter opening onto the sidewalk. Women were not allowed in the bar, but they could knock on the shutter or ring a bell and get "a bucket of beer" to take home.  My grandmother and her playmates, discovered that if they knocked on the shutter the barkeep would almost alway open the shutter.  One bar in particular caught the attention of the naughty children, including my grandmother, the shutter opened right over the end of a long bar top. They would knock and when the shutter opened toss horse manure down the bartop and run and hide.  The winner was the kid who could make it slide the farthest down the bartop without getting caught.  She got caught and was carried home to her mother by the barkeep, she was scholded until he left, then she and her mother laughed until they cried.  Her mother saying, "I always wanted to do that. Now don't do that again." Her mother, my great grandmother was amazing, she died the same fall that Dutch did.