Sunset parade at the Iwo Jima Memorial

June 24, 2012

Into August, the U.S. Marine Corps puts on a Sunset Parade at the Iwo Jima Memorial, near Washington, D.C., each Tuesday evening.  It’s one of those grand events that is free, but difficult to get into because it’s so popular.

June 19 Marine Corps Sunset Parade at Iwo Jima Memorial - photo by Ed Darrell

For watching, many good seats on the hillside can be found. For perfect photos with the Memorial perfectly framed in the background, get there an hour early.

Well, not difficult to get in — difficult to get a good seat.

Who doesn’t love a parade?

Last Tuesday the parade opened with a selection of numbers from the Marines’ Drum and Bugle Corps (in red coats); they marched off to leave the field for the formal parade, but returned for the close.

The setting is spectacular for watching, with the Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol in the background, the stirring statue from the iconic photo, and more men and women in uniform than you can or should shake a sabre at.

Bring your own chair or pad to sit on. We walked over from our hotel in Arlington.  Lots of places to sit among the trees on the hillside to see, and a few thousand other people did the same.  Most of them got there before we did.

Enjoy the show — someone else has probably snapped the perfect picture and you can get it on a postcard.

Crowd at Sunset Parade at Iwo Jima Memorial, 06-19-2012 photo by Ed Darrell

It was a large, respectful crowd out to watch the Marine Corps Sunset Parade at the Iwo Jima Marine Corps Memorial, June 19, 2012. Panorama photo by Ed Darrell.  Click on photo for a larger version.

5 Comments | memorial, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Where in the world is Matt in 2012?

June 22, 2012

I do like this film series.

For classroom purposes, I wish it didn’t include the names of each location as they go, but surely you can figure out some use for this in geography studies.

Matt hisse’f says:

The cities that didn’t make it into the final cut will be in the outtakes video that we’re putting up soon!

Download the video, buy the shirt and stuff like that: http://store.wherethehellismatt.com/

“Trip the Light” on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/trip-light-feat.-alicia-lemke/id535287301?i=…

Vocals by Alicia Lemke: http://www.alicialemke.com

The dancers in Syria are blurred for their safety.

Tip of the old scrub brush to Bryan Sabillon.

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Posted by Ed Darrell

Women to match our mountains: Women at Work, Parts 1 and 2

February 12, 2012

I do love the tops of mountains, and I wish I could climb them.  Fortunately, there are cameras, people who know how to use them, and people who know how to edit film to tell a story, and put us all in awe.

Plus, living among us are people brave enough and skilled enough to get to the tops of those mountains, people who make the filming possible and worthwhile.

“Women at Work” is a film of a climb by “the Cirque Ladies 2010,” described by Emily Stifler:

In summer 2010, Lorna Illingworth, Madaleine Sorkin and I spent 25 days in the Cirque of the Unclimbables, Northwest Territories, Canada. Our goal was to free climb the entire 1963 Original Route on the sheer 2000′ Southeast Face of Proboscis, and grants from the American Alpine Club encouraged us to document the adventure. The result: Women at Work (VI 5.12 R).

Cirque of the Unclimbables?  Okay, I’ll watch.

Part 1

Part 2

More: 

Half the fun is getting there:  Camp in shelters made by Mother Nature:

Camping under large boulder in Fairy Meadows, Cirque of the Unclimbables - SummitPost.org

Camping under large boulder in Fairy Meadows, Cirque of the Unclimbables - SummitPost.org - "Nice roof," one wag commented

Map of Cirque of the Unclimbables, from Nahanni.com

Map of Cirque of the Unclimbables, from Nahanni.com; those dots are not settlements

 

Map to Cirque of the Unbclimbables and area, from BlackFeather.com, a tour company

Map to Cirque of the Unbclimbables and area, from BlackFeather.com, a tour company

 

Leave a Comment » | Camping, Canada, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, Hiking, Outdoor Recreation, Travel, Video and film | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

If you are a cowboy, and this is January, you’re listening to poetry in Elko

January 28, 2012

Cowboy poets, cowboy poetry, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Baxter Black!  Do you need any more reasons to head to Elko, Nevada, next weekend?

English: Panorama showing Elko, Nevada - Jaros...

Panorama of scenic, Great Basin town Elko, Nevada. Photos by Jaroslaw Binczarowski, image via Wikipedia

I get e-mail that makes me wish I were wealthy enough to travel next weekend:

For Immediate Release, January 28, 2012
Contact: Darcy Minter, 775.340.4240, dminter@westernfolklife.org

Southwest Ranch Country Exhibition Opens at the 28th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering

Exhibit Features Photography of Kurt Markus and Jay Dusard

Elko, Nevada—Opening in the Western Folklife Center’s Wiegand Gallery during the 28th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the exhibition Southwest Ranch Country sheds light on the material and visual landscape of America’s ranching Southwest. The artistry of the region is represented through the vivid photography of Kurt Markus and Jay Dusard, and handcrafted gear of some of the region’s master craftsmen. On display January 24 – September 8, 2012, the exhibition’s opening reception is Friday, February 3, from 3:15 to 5:30 pm. During the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, February 2-4, the gallery will feature slide shows and gallery tours by Jay Dusard and Arizona cowboy poet Ross Knox, and leatherwork demonstrations by master saddlemakers Don Butler, Bob Park and Andy Stevens.

For this exhibition, photographer Kurt Markus, of Kalispell, Montana, has selected some of his favorite images from visits to ranches in the American Southwest. These western photographs capture lives of tedium, isolation and communal living among majestic sweeping landscapes, and demonstrate Markus’ poetic sensibility combined with his realistic approach to image-making. His work cuts across many genres and he has exhibited and published widely, in this country and abroad. His books include After Barbed Wire, Buckaroo, Boxers, and Cowpuncher.This is the first time that Markus’ Southwest Cowpuncher photographs have been printed for exhibition.

Jay Dusard, of Douglas, Arizona, has meticulously photographed the landscape of the American West for 45 years, and has punched cows, off and on, for over 50 years. For this exhibition, the Western Folklife Center features his monumental-size portraits of working cowboys of the American Southwest. Jay still shoots large format film, and the resulting images have resulted in award-winning exhibitions and extensive publication, including his acclaimed first book, The North American Cowboy: A Portrait. During the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Jay will present slide shows and stories from his ongoing and extensive work in the rural West.

The renaissance of ranch-related craftsmanship is alive and well in the American Southwest, with these artists putting their unique stamp on an ever-evolving style. In addition to the photography of Markus and Dusard, this exhibition brings together some of the finest Southwest artists and the work they enjoy doing as either occupation or sideline.

  • Keith Basso, Rawhide Braider, Heber, Arizona
  • Jay Begay, Jr., Navajo Weaver, Tuba City, Arizona
  • Scott Brown, Saddlemaker & Violinmaker, Salt Lake City, Utah via Texas
  • Bobby Burns, Saddlemaker, Clayton, New Mexico
  • Dawson Byrne, Bootmaker & Leatherworker, Wickenburg, Arizona
  • Robert Campbell, Bit & Spurmaker, Amarillo, Texas
  • Wilson W. Capron, Bit and Spurmaker, Midland, Texas
  • Leland Hensley, Rawhide Braider, Meridian, Texas
  • Jay T. Hudson, Leatherworker and Silverworker, Hobbs, New Mexico
  • Gene Klein, Silversmith, Miami, New Mexico
  • Buddy Knight, Blacksmith & Silverworker, Marfa, Texas
  • Jerry Lansing, Navajo Weaver, Shiprock, New Mexico
  • George & Kelly Martin, Leatherworkers & Bootmakers, Animas, New Mexico
  • Sarah Natani, Navajo Artist, Window Rock, Arizona
  • Scott Farrell/O’Farrell Hat Company, Hatmaker, Santa Fe, New Mexico
  • Bob Park, Leatherworker, Phoenix, Arizona
  • Keith “Pee Wee” Peebles, Silversmith, Marathon, Texas
  • James Redman, Bootmaker, Mertzon, Texas
  • Alfred R. Reynolds, Master Bootmaker, Wickenburg, Arizona
  • Tom Paul Schneider, Silverworker, Pearce, Arizona
  • Bud Shaul, Leatherworker, Yarnell, Arizona
  • Edith Simonsen, Navajo Weaver, Window Rock, Arizona
  • Rachel Simmons, Leatherworker, Chino Valley, Arizona
  • Baru Spiller, Silverworker, Wingate, Texas
  • Dew Westover, Bootmaker, Vernon, Texas
  • Stewart Williamson, Silverworker & Bit & Spurmaker, Portales, New Mexico

Southwest Ranch Country is presented with support from the Nevada Arts Council and Margaret T. Morris Foundation. Photographs available upon request.

The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is the nation’s greatest celebration of the American West, its people, culture and traditions. The 28th Gathering will take place January 30 to February 4, 2012, in Elko, Nevada. Every January for the last 27 years, cowboys, ranchers, rural and urban people have traveled en masse to the small community of Elko, to join with friends, family and all those who share their love of rural life in the West. Together, they listen to poetry and music, learn about cowboy culture in the U.S. and around the world, experience great art, watch western films, learn a craft, and gather together to eat, drink and swap stories. Programs at the 28th Gathering will focus on the southwestern United States, specifically Arizona and New Mexico—which are celebrating their centennials this year. In addition to the Southwest Ranch Country exhibition, the Gathering will present poets and musicians from the region, as well as workshops and panel discussions focused on regional food, culture and agriculture.

The Western Folklife Center, a regional nonprofit organization, produces the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Visit the www.westernfolklife.org for more information about the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering and the Southwest Ranch Country exhibition. Tickets to the 28th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering can be purchased at http://www.westernfolklife.org, by calling 775-738-7508, toll-free 888-880-5885, or by stopping in to the Western Folklife Center’s ticket office, 501 Railroad Street, Elko.

The mission of the Western Folklife Center is to enhance the vitality of American life through the experience, understanding, and appreciation of the diverse cultural heritage of the American West.

***

28th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Performers

Ramblin' Jack Elliott by Charlie Ekburg, Sweetlight Photography, Elko, NV.

Ramblin' Jack Elliott by Charlie Ekburg, Sweetlight Photography, Elko

Mike Beck & the Bohemian Saints, Monterey, California
Baxter Black, Benson, Arizona
Dave Bourne, Agoura Hills, California
Jerry Brooks, Sevier, Utah
Clarence Carnal, Grand Junction, Colorado
Ken Cook, Martin, South Dakota
Doris Daley, Turner Valley, Alberta, Canada
Stephanie Davis, Columbus, Montana
John Dofflemyer, Lemon Cove, California
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Northern California
Rolf Flake, Gilbert, Arizona
Dick Gibford, New Cuyama, California
The Gillette Brothers, Crockett, Texas
Skip Gorman, Connie Dover & the Waddie Pals, Wyoming
DW Groethe, Bainville, Montana
Amy Hale Auker, Prescott, Arizona
R.W. Hampton, Cimarron, New Mexico
Carol Heuchan, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
Yvonne Hollenbeck, Clearfield, South Dakota
Hot Club of Cowtown, Austin, Texas
Jess Howard, Wibaux, Montana
Tim Hus & The Rocky Mountain Two, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Ross Knox, Benson, Arizona
Marley’s Ghost, Mill Valley, California
Michael Martin Murphey & The Rio Grande Band featuring Pat Flynn, Pueblo, Colorado
Wally McRae, Forsyth, Montana
Waddie Mitchell, Twin Bridges, Nevada
Andy Nelson, Pinedale, Wyoming
Joel Nelson, Alpine, Texas
Rodney Nelson, Almont, North Dakota
Glenn Ohrlin, Mountain View, Arkansas
Vess Quinlan, San Acacio, Colorado
Henry Real Bird, Garryowen, Montana
Pat Richardson, Merced, California
Randy Rieman, Dillon, Montana
Ronstadt Generations, Tucson, Arizona
Martha Scanlan, Birney, Montana
Georgie Sicking, Kaycee, Wyoming
Sourdough Slim, Paradise, California
R.P. Smith, Broken Bow, Nebraska
Jay Snider, Cyril, Oklahoma
Dave Stamey, Orange Grove, California
Gail Steiger, Prescott, Arizona
Rod Taylor, Cimarron, New Mexico
Ian Tyson, Longview, Alberta, Canada
Dick Warwick, Oakesdale, Washington
Andy Wilkinson & Andy Hedges, Lubbock, Texas
Wylie & The Wild West, Conrad, Montana
Paul Zarzyski, Great Falls, Montana


Western Folklife Center • 501 Railroad Street • Elko, Nevada • 89801 • 775.738.7508
dminter@westernfolklife.org
www.westernfolklife.org
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Where are Charlie Kuralt and Stephen Fry when you really need them?

Elko, Nevada. Ruby Mountains in right background.

Elko, Nevada, Ruby Mountains in background to right. Notice the "E" on the mountain. Image via Wikipedia

1 Comment | Art, History, Poetry, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

EU charges airlines for carbon emissions on flights to Europe; airlines, other nations rankled

January 10, 2012

Been to court once, looks like it’s going again.  The Economist reported this week:

AS OF January 1st, American, Chinese and all the world’s airlines are being billed for the carbon emissions of their flights into and out of the European Union. About time, too: airlines contribute 2-3% of global emissions, yet they were hitherto free to pollute. The European initiative, which brings airlines into the EU’s existing cap-and-trade regime, the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), is a modest corrective. The hope is that it will speed the creation of a long-promised, more ambitious successor, governing all the world’s airspace.

Foreign airlines, needless to say, are unhappy. So are their governments. Because flights into the EU have been included in their entirety, not just the portion within European airspace, they detect an infringement of their sovereignty. Last month, in response to a suit from an American industry body, Airlines for America (A4A), the European Court of Justice dismissed that concern. A4A, which claims, improbably, that the scheme will cost its members more than $3 billion by 2020, may file a fresh suit in the High Court in London.

Especially hopping mad are warming denialists, who fear that charges for carbon emissions will cause emitters to reduce emissions, which might have an effect on global warming, thereby making the denialists out to be wrong.

Better not to be proven wrong than to have a cleaner planet, they reckon.

Leave a Comment » | air pollution, Airlines, Airplanes, Climate change, climate_change, CO2, Global warming, Transportation, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

A study in geography: The Red River of Texas – film from Texas Parks & Wildlife

December 26, 2011

Seven minutes on the Red River of the southern U.S., the fickle border of Texas and Oklahoma, the river of story and legend.  Good for a map study, good for the fun of it — how much do you really know about the Red River?

George Washington did not cross the Red River; George Washington may not have known the river even existed.  His loss.

1 Comment | Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Rivers, Texas, Travel, Water | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Glories of Glacier N.P.

November 6, 2011

Seven-plus minutes of good reason to get your tail to Glacier National Park as soon as you can.

Produced and shot by Joshua Thompson, this is part of an award-winning film made to promote the park and get money for the research that the park hosts.

Grizzly Bears, Bighorn Sheep, spectacular sunsets and more…..

Part 3 of the recently shot Glacier DVD. This 20 min. film recently was nominated for best new nature documentary in the music category as well received an award for photography from the Wildlife Film Festival held in May of 2008. All funds for this project are being donated to the Glacier National Park Fund. For more info: http://www.glaciernationalparkfund.org/cart.php?page=glacier_national_park_fu…

I’ve been there only once.  A wise American would get there before turning 35, and return several times.

5 Comments | Environment, Environmental protection, Geography - Physical, Glaciers, National Parks, Natural history, Travel, Wildflowers, Wildlife | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Flying abroad? Pack light

September 20, 2011

Jack Keady, my former colleague at American Airlines, sent this news item:

Airline fees reach $400 mark, USA Today survey finds — The era of the $400 airline fee has arrived. For an overweight checked bag weighing 71-100 pounds, Continental Airlines is charging $400 on most international flights, and American Airlines is charging $450 on its Asian flights. United Airlines charges $400 for checking bags weighing 71-99.9 pounds on flights to another continent. Those are the most expensive fees that airlines charge fliers, a new USA Today survey of what 13 U.S. carriers charge for services available to coach passengers has found. Gary Stoller/USA Today
Buy underwear when you get there, maybe.

 

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Posted by Ed Darrell

Sky islands in Yosemite National Park

September 19, 2011

Nature Notes #16 from the good people at Yosemite National Park:  Sky Islands.

Throughout the Sierra Nevada, high flat plateaus are found at elevations around twelve and thirteen thousand feet. These isolated sky islands are the home to unique plant communities that are found nowhere else.

Leave a Comment » | Botany, Climate change, climate_change, Geography - Physical, Natural history, Research, Travel, Wilderness, Wildflowers, Yosemite | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

August 6, 1945: Hiroshima felt atomic warfare, 66 years ago today

August 6, 2011

Hiroshima citizens float candles in the river, Hiroshima Day 2008

Hiroshima residents float lanterns in the river to remember the dead after a traditional Hiroshima Day concert, 2008; the concert and lantern floating are annual events

66 years ago, U.S. military action brought a quick close to hostilities without an invasion of Japan, with the detonation of two atomic bombs, one over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and one over Nagasaki on August 9.

Events marking the anniversary this year carry the spectre of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which experienced core meltdowns in reactors as a result of a tsunami earlier in 2011.  Anti-nuclear activists in Australia note similarities between the bombs ending the war, and the disaster at Fukushima.

Daily Yomiuri Online carried a description of memorial events in Hiroshima in 2008, from Yomiuri Shimbun:

NAGASAKI–The Nagasaki municipal government held a ceremony Saturday marking the 63rd anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city, at which participants called for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

A total of 5,650 A-bomb survivors, representatives of victims’ families from around the nation and Nagasaki citizens participated in the ceremony. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda also attended the ceremony, which was held in Nagasaki Peace Park near ground zero.

Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue read out the Nagasaki Peace Declaration, which urges the worldwide abolition of nuclear weapons.

“Human beings have no future unless nuclear weapons are eliminated. We shall clearly say no to nuclear weapons,” Taue said.

The ceremony started at 10:40 a.m. Three books listing the names of 3,058 people confirmed to have died as a result of the bombing in the past year were placed inside a memorial box in front of the Peace Statue.

The total number of books listing the names of the deceased is 147, and the number of names is 145,984.

Representatives of surviving victims, bereaved families, the prime minister and Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba placed flowers at the site.

At 11:02 a.m., the time the atomic bomb struck, ceremony participants offered a silent prayer. At the same time, local high school students rang the Bells of Nagasaki.

In the peace declaration, Taue read from an academic paper written by four people, including a former U.S. secretary of state, which promoted a new policy for developing nuclear weapons. The proposal encouraged countries to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The mayor said world nuclear powers “should sincerely fulfill their responsibility of nuclear disarmament,” and urged the government to pass the three nonnuclear principles into law.

This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Takashi Nagai, a medical doctor who helped rescue of victims after the bombing.

The mayor referenced one of the doctor’s remarks, saying: “There are no winners or losers in a war. There is only destruction.”

Shigeko Mori, 72, representing survivors of the bombing, read out an oath for peace that said Japan should promote its Constitution and the three nonnuclear principles to the rest of the world to prevent nuclear proliferation.

Fukuda gave a speech, saying, “Japan should play a responsible role in the international community as a nation cooperating for peace.”

(Aug. 10, 2008)

Other information:

Other related posts at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub:

Remembering that U.S. involvement in World War II as a combatant came after the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, one may respect and appreciate the Japanese national desire to commemorate the brutal end of the war with conversations about peace and how to achieve it.  The film below is a short, touching introduction to the Hiroshima Peace Museum website:

4 Comments | 1941-1945, Atomic Bomb, Hiroshima, History, Nuclear weapons, Travel, World War II | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Full Moon, waterfalls in Yosemite, modern cameras: Voila! Moonbows!

July 7, 2011

Dick Feynman taught in Rio de Janeiro for a while.  He was frustrated at the way Brazilian students of that day learned physics by rote, instead of in labs.  In a lecture he looked out from the classroom to the sun dancing on the waves of the Atlantic, and he realized it was a beautiful, brilliant demonstration of light refraction, the topic of the day.  Sadly, the students didn’t understand that the beauty before them was a physics problem.  (Was that story in Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman,  or What Do You Care What Others Think?)

Here, a marriage of physics, moonlight, spring runoff over a cliff, and modern photography, in Yosemite.  If you don’t gasp, call your physician and find a new sensei:

(Programs and maintenance of this park are threatened by Republican budget writers, BTW.)

Leave a Comment » | Art, National Parks, Natural history, Nature, Outdoor Recreation, photography, Physics, Travel, Video and film, Yosemite | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Watching the drought roll in at Colorado Bend State Park

July 6, 2011

It took me a couple of tries to figure it out — last week when I told people Kathryn and I were off to Colorado Bend State Park to spend time on the river, several people commented about how much cooler it would be there.

What?  West of Killeen about an hour, ten miles of dusty road outside of Bend, Texas (population 1,637), Colorado Bend is not cooler than Dallas.  It was over 100° F every day we were there, stayed well above 90° most  of the nights.

Kathryn Knowles checking wildflowers, Colorado River, Texas

Kathryn studied wildflowers at a spring at the side of the Colorado River during a break from kayaking; this spring's flow was reduced, but still moist enough to create a near-oasis.

Our well-wishers were geographically confused.  They thought we were headed to the Colorado River in Colorado, not the Colorado River in Texas, which is not the same river at all.  I didn’t bother to check the temperatures in Colorado, but one might be assured that it was cooler along the Colorado River in Colorado than it was along the Colorado River in Texas.

It was a return trip.  We stumbled into the park 16 years ago with the kids, for just an afternoon visit.  The dipping pools  in the canyon fed by Spicewood Springs captivated us.  It took a while to get back, and then the kids were off doing their own thing.

So, just a quick weekend of hiking/camping/kayaking/soaking/stargazing/bird watching/botanical and geological study.   Park officials closed the bat caves to human traffic in hope of keeping White Nose Syndrome from the bats; we didn’t bother to sign up for the crawling cave tour through another.

Ed Darrell at Colorado Bend State Park, Texas

The author, still working to master that Go-Pro camera on the hat -- some spectacular shots, but I don't have the movie software to use it all; you know it's hot when SPF 75 sunscreen is not enough.

What did we see?  Drought has a firm grip on Texas, especially in the Hill Country, especially outside of Dallas.  The Colorado River  is mostly spring fed; many of the springs are dry.  No water significant water flowed through the park while we  were there — kayak put-ins have been reduced to the downriver-most ramp, and the bottom of the boat launch ramp is three feet above water.  Gorman Falls attracts visitors and scientists, but the springs feeding it are about spent this year — just a few trickles came over the cliff usually completely inundated with mineral-laden waters.

Drought produces odd things.  The forest canopy around the park — and through most of the Hill Country we saw — is splattered with the gray wood of dead trees, many of which at least leafed out earlier this spring.  The loss to forests is astonishing.  Deer don’t breed well in droughts; deer around the campsites boldly challenge campers for access to grasses they’d ignore in other seasons.  One ranger said he hadn’t seen more than about three fawns from this past spring, a 75% to 90% reduction in deer young (Eastern White Tail, the little guys).  Raccoons are aggressively seeking food from humans, tearing into tents and challenging campers for food they can smell (lock your food in the car!).  Colorado Bend is famous for songbirds, including the endangered Golden Cheeked Warbler, and the elusive, spectacular painted bunting.  But the most commonly-sighted birds this year are turkey vultures, dining on the young that didn’t make it healthy into the summer and won’t survive until fall.

Warming denialists’ claims of “not so bad a drought” ring out as dangerous, wild delusion.  (By actual measurement, Texas average rainfall the past nine months was 8.5 inches, the driest ever recorded in Texas, shattering the old record drought of 1917).

Great trip.  Kathryn’s menu planning was spectacular.  The old Coleman stove  — a quarter century old, now, with fuel almost that old — performed like a champ even without the maintenance it needs (later this week).  Other than the hot nights, it was stellar.

Stellar.  Yeah.  Stars were grand.  It was New Moon, a happy accident.  A topic for another post, later.  Think, “Iridium.”

So posting was slow over the weekend.  How far out in the Hill Country were we?  Neither one of us could get a bar on our phones.  We were so far out the Verizon Wireless guy was using smoke signals.

Thoreau was right, you know.

7 Comments | Biology, Botany, Geography - Physical, Hiking, Natural history, Nature, Outdoor Recreation, Public Lands, Science, Texas, Travel, Wildflowers, Wildlife | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Fun with Lyndon, George and Bill – and Audie

June 18, 2011

Five days on the road and we hoped to make it home Friday night.

Ed Darrell, presidents on weekends

"I've got the Presidential Seal / I'm up on the Presidential Podium. / My Mama loves me, she loves me . . ."* Playing around with the podium and teleprompter at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas.

Air conditioning on the bus failed, and then the vacuum system failed and we lost the ability to close the door, and we started to lose brakes.  Fortunately, we were within sight of Dallas when things really came to smash.

So our Teachers Tour of Presidential Libraries came to an interesting end last night.  More good fortune — the bus stalled out in the parking lot of a gas station with a Dickey’s Barbecue attached.  Ross Perot is right, at least about this:  Dickey’s food is worth the stop.

Other stops along the way provided nutrition for our minds, and for our classroom preparation.  Education experts at the 13 National Archives-related Presidential Libraries work together, and work separately, to create classroom friendly and classroom ready materials.   Beyond the museums, we were looking for history to use in our classes.  We got a lot of pointers to documents our students can use in class to learn history and how to write it.

This is the second year of this particular Teaching American History grant, from the U.S. Department of Education to the Dallas Independent School District.  It’s important that you know that, because Republicans in Congress propose to cut this program out.  This is one of the few programs I think has value way beyond the dollars spent on it.  TAH may become just one more victim of the conservatives’ War on Education.

I hope to post more about what we learned.

We toured the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, the Audie Murphy and American Cotton Museum in Greenville, Texas, the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, and the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

It was a rowdy group of teachers, of course, and we closed down every bookstore we found along the way.  The bus driver hopes never again to hear a single verse of  “99 Student Essays to Grade on the Desk.”

How’s your summer been so far?

_____________

*  Paul Simon, of course.

1 Comment | Education, History, Libraries, Little Rock Nine, Lyndon B. Johnson, Museums, Teachers, Teaching, Teaching American History Grant, Texas, Travel, veterans, War on Education, World War II | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Anniversary of the Magna Carta, 1215

June 15, 2011

On June 15, 1215, King John affixed his seal to the Magna Carta, in a ceremony at Runnymede, England.

An encore post:

Runnymede, Magna Carta Isle, photo by Wyrdlight, Antony McCallum, 2008 (Wikimedia)

What event critical to western history and the development of the democratic republic in the U.S. happened here in 1215?

A teacher might use some of these photos explaining the steps to the Constitution, in English law and the heritage of U.S. laws. Other than the Magna Carta, all the events of Runnymede get overlooked in American studies of history. Antony McCallum, working under the name Wyrdlight, took these stunning shots of this historic meadow. (He photographs stuff for studies of history, it appears.)

Maybe it’s a geography story.

View of Runnymede Meadow from Engham Village -- Wyrdlight photo through Wikimedia

View of Runnymede Meadow from Engham Village — Wyrdlight photo through Wikimedia

Several monuments to different events of the past millennium populate the site. The American Bar Association dedicated a memorial to the Magna Carta there — a small thing open to the air, but with a beautiful ceiling that is probably worth the trip to see it once you get to England.

Wikipedia explains briefly, with a note that the ABA plans to meet there again in 2015, the 800th anniversary of the Great Charter:

Magna Carta Memorial


The Magna Carta Memorial & view towards the ‘medes’


Engraved stone recalling the 1985 ABA visit

Situated in a grassed enclosure on the lower slopes of Cooper’s Hill, this memorial is of a domed classical style, containing a pillar of English granite on which is inscribed “To commemorate Magna Carta, symbol of Freedom Under Law”. The memorial was created by the American Bar Association to a design by Sir Edward Maufe R.A., and was unveiled on 18 July 1957 at a ceremony attended by American and English lawyers.[5]

Since 1957 representatives of the ABA have visited and rededicated the Memorial renewing pledges to the Great Charter. In 1971 and 1985 commemorative stones were placed on the Memorial plinth. In July 2000 the ABA came:

to celebrate Magna Carta, foundation of the rule of law for ages past and for the new millennium.

In 2007 on its 50th anniversary the ABA again visited Runnymede and during the convention installed as President Charles Rhyne who devised Law Day which seeks in the USA an annual reaffirmation of faith in the forces of law for peace.

The ABA will be meeting at Runnymede in 2015 on the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the original charter.

The Magna Carta Memorial is administered by the Magna Carta Trust, which is chaired by the Master of the Rolls.[10]

In 2008, flood lights were installed to light the memorial at night, but due to vandalism they now lie smashed.

I’ll wager the lights get fixed before 2015.

 

Detail of the Magna Carta monument at Runnymed...

Detail of the Magna Carta monument at Runnymede. I took this photo some time in the early Eighties. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Detail of ceiling of the Magna Carta Memorial detailing play of light, and star pattern, Runnymede – Wikimedia image

More, resources:

Also on June 15:

Leave a Comment » | 1215, Geography - Physical, History, History of Law, Law, Magna Carta, photography, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Yellowstone, Land to Life — a film to free from bondage

March 20, 2011

Yes, it’s a tease.  Drat.  Just a trailer for the film.

But how exquisite is just the trailer!

Yellowstone National Park Orientation Film (excerpt) from Northern Light Productions on Vimeo.

Northern Light Productions made the film for the “Canyon Visitor Education Center in Yellowstone National Park. The film offers a compelling overview of the ‘big picture’ geology that has shaped and continues to influence Yellowstone and its ecosystem.”

Big picture geology?  How about making this film available to schools to talk about geology, geography, and history?

Yellowstone National Park annually gets about three million visitors.  Yellowstone is one of those places that ever American should see — but at that rate, it would be more than 100 years before everybody gets there.

We need good, beautifully shot, well-produced, interesting films on American landmarks in the classroom.

How do we get this one freed for America’s kids, Yellowstone Park?

1 Comment | Geography - Physical, geology, History, National Parks, Natural history, Technology in the classroom, Travel, Video and film, Yellowstone | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

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