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Saturday, March 15, 2003
TOWN MAKER
In 1731 it would have seemed highly unlike that a young man, working as clerk in a general store in northern Ireland, would be credited with the founding of two- not just one, but two towns in far off Virginia across the Atlantic Ocean. Both towns were destined to thrive and are doing well today.
We need to look back at our roots and evaluate our beginnings. It is part of nature that a plant without proper roots cannot grow well, or may need changes and treatments of a special nature to make them mature. Finding role models among men and women in our past is a good way to help such inner-growth.
The young man was named Israel Christian. He was thought to have been nephew of one Gilbert Christian. The young man migrated to the New World and landed at New Castle, Delaware in 1726. The many Scots and Irish who came here thorough that common port of entry on the Delaware river, found that the best lands had been taken by the earlier Germanic settlers, so they looked to the wilderness to the west and southwest for their own future holdings. Young Christian went up the long valley extending to the Southwest along the edge of the Appalachian Mountains and in 1732 he removed to a what was then known as the upper reaches of the Shenando River. He started building a home located on a site near a fast-moving creek which came to be know, as it is to this day, as “Christian's Creek”
Drawing on his experience, he became a merchant in the nearest settlement at Beverley's Mill Place. He became a prominent and successful merchant in what was to become Staunton, Virginia. He married Elizabeth Stark. He served from 1759-1761 in the House of Burgesses.
They had four daughters and one son. One of their daughters married Col. William Fleming who was to serve as Acting Governor of Virginia during the two week interim during which the successor would be to Gov. Thomas Jefferson. A second Christian daughter married Caleb Wallace, a man who became prom,prominent in the newly developing Ken tucky area. A third daughter married Wiliam Boyer of Botetourt and the fourth one became the wife of Col. Stephen Trigg They too lived in Kentucky and it was another that Israel's son -William Christian chose to be - liking the active life of frontier tier living. Israel must have found a great deal of satisfaction in know that a county in Kentucky was named for his son William and another honored his Son-In-Law Stephen Trigg.
In Virginia two town were founded by Israel Christian. One is tot town of Fincastle nd the other Christiansburg. They are each the County Seat community of their administrative area, and stand as fitting memorials to the life of a good man, who, I dare say, never dreamed. As lad in Ireland, how important his life would become to so many people.
Take time to reflect on the life of Israel Christian, another Man of Merit.
A.L.M. March 14, 2003 [c519wds]
Friday, March 14, 2003
CALORIC WEAPONRY
One can easily see how the common knife might have developed early with primitive man as he found ways to improve his use of foods.
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A flat sliver of rock might well have served well to separate foods which were too firm, or too hot when dragged form the embers - too hot to handle. Any thinking creature would find he or she could use that sliver of rock as a means of cutting the portions which would be easier to handle and to consume. It is not at all difficult think of those person sharpening the edge of the rook on another harder one and finding it could be used to actually sever portions of foods and other humans, as well. The knife, no doubt became a weapon in many way and useful in ways of staying alive. The oldest knives known today are of flint. They date from the Palaeolithic period spanning 500,000 to 10,000 BC.. Others which suggest such use are even older but cannot be authentic. Men discovered how to use copper and, later on, bronze to make better more durable, more efficient blades. .He had learned, a thousand years earlier, to add handles made of wood or bone and covered with animal skins to protect the users hands. Then he found out even better blade could be fashioned of iron. Iron knives were well distributed a thousand years B.C., and the Romans developed different knives with special uses, such as for ritual removal of animal skins and others designed for cutting human hair. He had already learned, maybe a thousand years earlier, that he could attach wooden handles and to cover them with animal skins or fur to protect his hands. The Romans developed different types of knives... some for use in the ritual removal of skin from sacrificial animals and others for cutting human hair.
Most people agree that the knife preceded the development the fork and spoon. Notice, if you will, that we, in our own day, very seldom list them in any other order than knife, fork and spoon.
The development of spoons and forks could well have been a bit more complicated.
The first forks, you might guess, would have had one tine... a point on the end of a stick. It could be used to stab a piece of food and to lift it to the mouth or to hand it across to another person. A two-pronged form at the extended end of a stock would be a normal trend as primitive person who saw how the claws on the leg of a bird pieced, and clasped foods; how twigs divided naturally into several points and the multi-pronged fork of a tree limb would suggest a natural development which man found would work even more efficiently. A twig from a tree is still used when we roast hot dogs. Who can say when such ideas were “invented.”? Or, sharp thorns of animal claws might well have been attached to thee end of stick or bone used in a like manner.
The fork was used in the upper classes but only to a small degree. Many people considered the use of a fork to be social affront suggesting the user judged the user felt himself too good to eat as others did. It been came to be considered an insult to God to make use of a fork in eating, suggesting the user thought he or he could improve on God's intended use of the fingers.
The evolution of the spoon from hollowing out the end portion of a large bone to form a shallow cup at the end or finding a way to attach a portion of a gourd to a stick, are among the early applications of the spoon concept, it appears. The fork and the spoon are, then, studies unto themselves. In time, they came to form knife, fork and spoon sets carried along when one left home and used when they did not cause affront to other diners. Small cutlery cases are among man's dietary rubble in Roman ruins and other sources.
A.L.M. March 13, 2003 [c695wds]
Thursday, March 13, 2003
DIMUENDO
Our house has outgrown us!
It's the second time such thing has happened to us. The house in which we have lived for the past ten years, a modern rancher, has become too much . Houses do that, you know. We lived in an on old 1895 farmhouse, with a selection of out-buildings all-round, before moving here. I lived there thirty-four years without a disagreeable word with neighbors on either side or across the road, which was a vacant field.
But, the house changed.
Houses will do that, you know. What seems just right - something to “grow into” serves well and then, suddenly, you realize it has become too large for you. We came to find that to properly manage a twelve room frame house, a barn, chicken sheds, three garages, a grain storage room, another hang cured meats, a shop, a wash house - took more time and effort as we went along. We got out from under all thirty-three acres of the place and moved to a smaller house on the edge of our small Virginia town .
It, too, has served us well, with only nineteen trees and a smaller yard to mow and rake, but now that we are getting older we find we don't use much of it. A much smaller yard to mow and rake. Only nineteen trees. We either can't or don't use some of the features we have enjoyed. Since I had an encounter with some major surgery, and had to stop driving. We no longer needed a two-car garage. It's easy enough to pass a '69 Chevy Pick-Up along to a grandson, but what do you do with a left-over garage? It takes care of itself, I find, and automatically fills up with furniture and an astonished array of someone's “collectibles.” It doesn't take long for them to fill every square foot of garage space and on top of work tables as well. It covered the work tables as well, like Kudzu ivy.. We have trouble fitting just one car in. With sliding doors, it works well, but not with doors that open outward.
There were twelve steps down the basement... a long recreation room with pool table,. Sofas,.chairs, and entertainment. There was a second kitchen in the back room, plus a hobby area and lots of storage shelves. That quickly turns into an “attic”in the:basement, as any honest rat-packer will tell, At the far end of the rec room there is a “multiple purpose” room which, technically, cannot be termed as a “bedroom” because it does not have properly sized windows. It became a sewing room, with a double bed, a dresser, chest and other such furnishings. The big closest became what I called a “piece goods supply house” feeding the sewing machine. The paneled walls were fitted with shelves and bookcases, with books, on all sides except the north end which was hogged up by the brick fireplace Through a utility room, one entered the garage area.
We are looking forward to a smaller house - small yard, no basement, no garden, three trees, no attic, three small trees and about thirty feet of snow-area between the garage door and the street in snow time.
So, another house has outgrown us. I can honestly say that I don't want to go. I didn't want to leave the old farmhouse, either, but we have a specific house nearby in mind and are prepared to make the change.
We now have to build a new “home” in that next “house.”
I'll let you know the new address when we get moved.
A.L.M. March 12, 2003 [c610ds]
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
BLARNY BIT.
"“Faith! Ye kin be shure, our man Bush will ha' drove all the snikes, an' th' likes 'o' 'em n' thereof, from outta old Iraq come St. Paddy's Day!”
Well, to be honest with ye, it might take a bit longer than just next week, but the task has been identified and work has actually begun the effect changes. The time for the proposed vascilations by the untied nations organizations have been set aside as monuments to dangerous times of appeasement and submission to evil forces which could running rampant, ruin all of us.
Bush-Now is,in a sense,following a path set by that eminent Scot who did so much for old Ireland, in that he is returning to a storied locale where the name Bush has been heard before in a time called the Desert Storm. The Bush-Now is quite different form the Bush-Then. The Patrick who was slave during his first stay in Ireland, returned to Emerald Isle - a man named Patrick - to be called a “Saint”..a man, trained equipped and well-established with a firm mission to perform. While the need may have been p received decade or so earlier, the necessary action was not taken. Bush-Then and Bush-Now are alike, father and son, you might acknowledge, but also very quite different.
It does not come a surprise to the world to find that Saddam Hussein has been living and thriving on borrowed time, but many have close ties to Iraq in economic, social and religious life. Jordon depends on Iraq for all of their oil supplies, for instance, and only one who can see nation who have found it profitable ale deal with Iraq in recent years as a mark of mutual benefit. Russia has met many of Iraq's needs for mechanical equipment and been available and has been an adviser and collaborator in bringing about improvements in many aspects of life. Among other nations, such as Turkey, which faces a problem with their minority Kurd population's independence aspirations. Much depends on what becomes of the many Kurds who populate Northern Iraq .just across the border. All have ties of a religious nature which tend to make them favor each other, at times,ofen without sufficient reason in our judgment. Just how important this faith factor is going to be in overcoming Hussein's mystique in Iraq remains to be seen.. The Muslim faith is not as unified as many westerners seem to think it might be, As with our own religious life, there are many different sects, groups, denominations and cults and with varied degrees of involvement and dedication among individuals associated with each of them or with fusions and factions thereof.
March 17th is marked.
“Sure, an' it's a foin day t' b a'startin' the likes o' anything in the way o' change for the bettermint of all Mankind!”
A.L.M. March 11, 2003 [c484wds]
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Tuesday, March 11, 2003
AMONG THE BEST
I usually refrain from saying any one thing is the best of the lot.
To make such a choice, one needs to have studied the entire collection. Right? I cannot honestly say which one is I think to be best of all until I had examined all other contenders.
I keep coming across a small fragment of verse which always hits me as being one of the prime expressions to be found in the English language with more poetic imagery per square inch than most other writing.
It is not a widely accepted piece of poetry at all. I see it in the oddest places - everything from folksy scrapbooks assembled over many years by some little old lady and only recently "published" as a random collection of humorous or inspiring bits of writing. This particular item is often center-paged and set apart in a suggested frame of some sort, as if the keeper of the pages thought it to be especially worthwhile. I have yet to see anyone credited with having written it, not even "Anon". There is never a credit line ascribing the simple thought to any one person.
It attests, in four, simple, straightforward lines, to an item intrinsically and innately beautiful. It is not complex in the sense of any complicated verse form such as that of the Japanese Haiku. It is not quirky, uniquely syllabic or ornate. It is not a limerick, and certainly not intended to be controlled or manipulated in any manner.
As with the finest jewels to be found anywhere, it may not be impressive at first sight. It can be easily overshadowed by gaudy baubles held nearby, so be prepared to read and, then, re-read the item with reflective evaluation in full running condition. Ready? Without any encumbering title or name...
" As a candle
in a quiet place.
Such is the beauty
of an aged face."
I don't know where it came from. It is, to me, a fine fragment of man's appreciation of a fleeting realization of goodness which fill out lives and which, so often, goes unseen... unheard... unknown. I have come across versions of it, too...changes of a few words, but it never seems to detract from the total image. i.e: "As a candle held in a quiet place. Of such is the beauty of an aged face." The next time you find yourself in the presence of an older person sitting relaxed and waiting, repeat those simple lines softly and you will become aware you are seeing true beauty, for the first time, perhaps.
A.L.M. March 10, 2003 [c440wds]
Monday, March 10, 2003
PACKAGED HOME SWEET HOMES
Until quite recently, I was unaware of the fact that the use of the word “trailer”- meaning a home which has qualities of mobility - has dropped out of our general-use vocabulary.
For many years we thought of a trailer and being as part of a substitute, temporary dwelling which was dragged from place as owner's work background demanded. It lived a relatively short life, as a rule, standing on stacked cinder block. It became modified, perhaps, as a “travel trailer” for a time, but, as such they got so ornate, fancy, frilly and frivolous that they defied normal types of lifestyle. Many even had swimming pools attached. It was more dragging of basic hotel facilities along behind a car or truck if one wanted to “travel:"or just move with the season to a warmed or cooler climates.
More and more people started putting them on a lot and built a regular house around them, so you would never know the original core had been a trailer at least from the outside. In time, the inside also became deceptively permanent to the casual visitor. l
”Trailers” are now a nostalgic oddity thought to be funny. Lucy and Desi Arnez took a vacation trip in one years ago in a motor less contraption lugged along by a pinned-on car or truck. We remember the flour-dusted predicament Lucy suffered when she rode in the trailer portion while Desi drove the overall rig remotely. That was, of course, illegal at the time, but it was done anyway other than in films.
We still have some trailer towns around the edges of our cities. Most of them stem from hard economic times when clusters of such dwellings festered in oft-times moldy groups on the edge of large cities. Some are still there, but they are being replaced for the simple reason that they are now thought of, and spoken of, as “slum areas” units.
The modern modular home, of course, is a totally different form of housing. They may have had a background of trailer-lore. Our American home also has a nostalgic factor in the form of the traditional log cabin, wigwam, hut or hogan. Modular home have become, in a real sense,come, which are to be placed on a permanent foundation , which happens to have been constructed somewhere else and transported to the site in sections and segments. The design and workmanship can be as as good as, or superior to, on-site construction which is subject to weather changes, environmental restrictions, noise regulations, material and supply shortage competitive labor problems and many other puzzling hazards. Such conditions add to the costs of construction, as well. In-plant construction of modular units makes more sense in many ways and is speedily becoming the accepted mode. Notice, if you will how roof trusses arrive at the on-site construction location completely assembled and are place in position and pinned down while suspended on a huge crane or derrick unit. The entire roof structure arrives on one truck and can be set in place secured and covered in a matter of hours rather than days, or weeks.
Housing styles,too, are changing rapidly, of course. In most of America what is being built most often is a two or three-car garage with living quarters attached. They will, naturally, tend to look very much alike with a central features given to it as a place to best keep the families wheeled vehicles.. Utility is the main theme, rather than beauty in anesthetic sense. The practical side of building can be a thing of beauty in an economics consideration and a joy to the pocketbook forever,too, enabling some people to be able to afford a good home The can have their dream come true much more reasonably.
To start with a home has to be a house. Making it a home is up to the people who choose to live there. Check on changes in zoning laws in your area. They are “a'changin'” and a modular home may prove to be right for your future.
A.L.M. March 9, 2003 [c690wds]
Sunday, March 09, 2003
PEACEFUL MEANS
We talk a lot about "peace" but we really don't do a great deal about bringing it about through positive actions.
Protest is one thing; solving is another. Can we learn to encourage the concept of peace?
I think so. It calls for honesty with one's self as well as with those in opposition.
The poet, Alexander Pope. said many years ago that: “Seas but join the regions they divide.”
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Think about that for just a moment.
Take time from our fear-fractured day of work and worry to realize how Pope's simple words apply both to geographical reality in, but in a wider sense - to describe and dispel the oceans of doubt, uncertainty, mis-information, fabrications, fables, lies and other such tidal currents of opposition between ourselves and others.
In a world so divided, or a community, or family, for that matter, it is wise to realize that the froth which forms the fringe of surf on each side is pretty much the same. The swell of water between them, often riled and sullied by tempestuous currents, ill-applied, defenses and fortifications against imagined inroads, see only foreboding doom as certain. Those same waters join the opposite shores just as readily as they seem to separate them!
That's so very true. The same principles which guide men and women on one side to achieve positive values in their lives are the very same others are using on the opposite shore. It only in the fear men and women feel of facing up to the seas of frustration that keep them apart... even widen the seas and placing deposits of social silt and political debris in the channels by which one may gain access to the other.
To an unthinking, complacent, or ignorant person on one side, the waters seem to divide him from those on the other side, but they also join both at the same time. We have to become aware of those element of uniformity rather than dwelling constantly on the differences.
When even opposite views are exchanged, it is possible to realize how alike portions of life can be . To build a bridge, to sail a ship, to dig a tunnel, or to fly across the dividing waters in a winged craft, demands thought and effort of many people working on each side of the troublesome expanse of intervening sea.
Work at it. Accept it. And the poet's words will ring true for all of us: "“Seas but join the regions they divide.”
A.L.M. March 8, 2003 [c427wds]
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