I'm a public library connoisseur. One of my first acts when we move into a new town is to get a library card. At last count, I have eight active library cards. I would have eleven, but three libraries cut me off. (Oh, by the way, anybody got a NRH library card number I could borrow? I will only use it for on-line audiobooks.) I've found every library has its strong points no matter how small it may be. For instance, my current library, El Dorado County Public Library, South Lake Tahoe, California, has this nifty magazine box in which patrons donate magazines and the library resells them for a quarter apiece. I bought a Smithsonian Magazine from the box the other day in which the main article was "101 Objects that Made America". That bad boy had my name all over it.
It was fascinating to read about what other people think of as iconic. Icons in America can be so loaded when there are so many cultures and ethnic groups clamoring for inclusion. I was a little intimidated by #1 which is 'the buffalo' as portrayed on the Buffalo Nickel. It wasn't the buffalo that was the problem - it was the essay written by David Mamet to kick off the article. Gosh, to be able to write like that. There were some 'objects' which had essays accompanying them like the Mamet essay on the buffalo. Some of the essayists were famous - Martha Stewart wrote about the Singer Sewing Machine. (I think I write just as well as she does, at least.) Frank DeFord wrote about Negro League Baseball. Others weren't famous, but still experts in whatever field the object represented.
As I worked my way through the article, I kept thinking, "We've seen that." Then I began thinking, "Well, how many of these things have we seen?" And Drake's quantitative nature has rubbed off [after 40 plus years of intensive training], so I started counting.... It turns out we've actually seen fifty-nine of the one hundred and one objects. The rarest? Hmmm.... the actual American flag from 1814 - the one that flew over Fort McKinley. You know, the flag Francis Scott Key wrote that song about? The most beautiful? The Audubon book, Birds of America. I was surprised it was so big. Turns out the reason is because all the birds are life sized. The object which completely gobsmacked me once I understood its significance: Clovis Points. The one I haven't seen I want most to see: The Aids Quilt.
So as not to keep you in suspense; here's the list with asterisks beside the ones we've seen.
Buffalo*, pre-historic Duck Decoy, Bald Eagle*, Coastal Redwood*, Stegogaurus skeleton*, Audubon Book of Birds*, Passenger pigeon*, John Wesley Powell's life preserver, Bierstadt Painting*, Neil Armstrong's Spacesuit*, Lewis/Clark Compass, Gold Nugget, Polio Vaccine, Dark Matter Spectograph, Scopes Trial photograph, Ben Franklin's Experiments, Burgess Shale, George Catlin Paintings*, Smithson's will,Walt Whitman photograph, Bell's Telephone*, Remington Typewriter*, Marian Anderson's fur coat, FDR's microphone*, Nat Turner's bible, Langston Hughs' poem: "The Colored Soldier", Middle Mississippi Mask, Andy Warhols' "Michael Jackson", Cesar Chavez's Jacket*, Louis Armstrong's trumpet*, Nam June Paik's Electronic Superhighway*, Justice O'Connor's robe, Telstar*, Lincoln's Top Hat*, Appomattox Table & Chairs*, Gordon photograph*, George Washington's Gilbert Stuart portrait*, Susan B Anthony's gavel, Red Horse's Drawings of Little Bighorn*, Greensboro Lunch Counter*, Predator Drone*, Bell Iroquois Helicopter*, Enola Gay*, Wright Flyer*, Wonder Woman comic, White House charred timber, Colt Revolver*, Clovis Points*, Singer Sewing Machine*, Levi's Jeans*, Cotton Gin*, Eames chair*, Eniac Computer*, Edison light bulb*, Kodak camera*, Morse telegraph*, John Bull Locomotive*, Model T*, Discovery space shuttle*, Ration ticket, Pueblo jars, "This Land is Your Land" recording, suitcase from Japanese Internment*, AIDS Quilt, Emergency Money, John Deere plow*, Negro League baseball*, Psychedelic sign board, Chuck Berry's guitar, Irving Berlin's piano, Barbie*, R2D2*, Teddy Bear*, Ruby Slippers*, Michael Jordan's jersey*, Ali's gloves & robe*, Richard Petty's stockcar, Spirit of St. Louis*, Novus Orbis map, World Trade Center sign, WWI gas mask, Fallout shelter, Mash sign*, Pocohontas portrait*, Giant panda, vintage California wines, USS Maine bugle, USS Oklahoma stamp, Stained glass shards [Birmingham bombing], LBJ's pen [Civil Rights Act], Harriet Tubman's hymn book, Stamp Act proof, The Pill*, US Olympic Hockey Jersey*, Geronimo portrait*, John Brown Daguerreotype*, Thomas Jefferson's desk*, piece of Plymouth Rock*, Clipper Flying Cloud*, original Star Spangled Banner*.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
An Unexpected Terrorist Attack
As everyone knows, we are at Lake Tahoe, one of those absolutely most beautiful places in America. I'm sad to report this area has been attacked by a terrorist. No, there was no bomb, or crashing
airplanes, or silent chemical weapons released into the water system. No, this area is being bombarded by smoke as a result of a raging wildfire set by an arsonist. Oh, I should say 'alleged' arsonist because after all the man who has been arrested for setting the fire is only charged, not convicted. The fire was set on September 13th, and now on September 24th, 90,000 acres are burning with 12,000 homes currently at risk. The wildfire is large enough to be seen from space.
To give credit where it's due, Drake is the one who has equated the setting of this fire with a terrorist attack. He's absolutely right. The fire is projected to intensify today due to the gusting winds. I'm hoping no firefighters are going to die trying to bring this fire under control. Last week the same weather conditions forecasted for the next few days tripled the size of the fire overnight. Oh, and to make matters worse, what's burning is the El Dorado National Forest, and FYI that belongs to ME and YOU and EVERY AMERICAN.
Something we've really enjoyed at Lake Tahoe is the air quality. Clear and clean in the green with lots of oxygen as only forests can produce. Now, each day's air ranges from orange (unhealthy for the sensitive) to red (unhealthy for everyone). And we're lucky because the actual location of the flames is fifty miles to the west over a 7000 foot mountain. However, when the wind blows from the south/west, smoke pours over the peak into the Tahoe Basin. We're south of the Lake and west of the fire, so we've been living with haze and light smoke. The people on the north side of Lake Tahoe and in Reno, Nevada, are living intermittently in what must seem like volcanic ash conditions. Today, the smoke is moving as far north at Boise, Idaho.
The only other exposure to a wildfire we've had was several years ago when we were on a family vacation to southwestern Colorado. We were at Mesa Verde National Park when lightening started a fire inside the park, and the Rangers evacuated the park. As we joined the caravan of evacuees, we actually drove past huge pine trees that were flaming like giant torches. I was most happy to be gone. We might have to make the same choice here cutting our visit short. Unfortunately, the people who live here permanently are just stuck. I just hope the powers that be prove their case and throw the book at the arsonist.
To give credit where it's due, Drake is the one who has equated the setting of this fire with a terrorist attack. He's absolutely right. The fire is projected to intensify today due to the gusting winds. I'm hoping no firefighters are going to die trying to bring this fire under control. Last week the same weather conditions forecasted for the next few days tripled the size of the fire overnight. Oh, and to make matters worse, what's burning is the El Dorado National Forest, and FYI that belongs to ME and YOU and EVERY AMERICAN.
Something we've really enjoyed at Lake Tahoe is the air quality. Clear and clean in the green with lots of oxygen as only forests can produce. Now, each day's air ranges from orange (unhealthy for the sensitive) to red (unhealthy for everyone). And we're lucky because the actual location of the flames is fifty miles to the west over a 7000 foot mountain. However, when the wind blows from the south/west, smoke pours over the peak into the Tahoe Basin. We're south of the Lake and west of the fire, so we've been living with haze and light smoke. The people on the north side of Lake Tahoe and in Reno, Nevada, are living intermittently in what must seem like volcanic ash conditions. Today, the smoke is moving as far north at Boise, Idaho.
The only other exposure to a wildfire we've had was several years ago when we were on a family vacation to southwestern Colorado. We were at Mesa Verde National Park when lightening started a fire inside the park, and the Rangers evacuated the park. As we joined the caravan of evacuees, we actually drove past huge pine trees that were flaming like giant torches. I was most happy to be gone. We might have to make the same choice here cutting our visit short. Unfortunately, the people who live here permanently are just stuck. I just hope the powers that be prove their case and throw the book at the arsonist.
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