Saturday, July 05, 2003
LIBERIA,TOO?
What is it which makes the present plight of Liberia different from others?
We are trying , it seems, not to “meddle” in their affair. We seem to feel their situation is desperate and may get worse unless some relief is forthcoming - and soon. We are hesitant about taking any actions due to some extent because of our involvements elsewhere.
But the special element of concern to be found therein, I feel, is, to a large extent, because we feel a curious sense of guilt when we remember the dominant role we played in the creation and development of Liberia as a nation.
We seem to have deeply seated feelings of obligation to the nation because we had a major role in its birth. We are, at the same time, not too proud of our in-attention to their needs during the ensuing years. The world, and the African continent, in particular, has seen many changes since the day of our President James Monroe, after whom the presently besieged capital city of Monrovia is named.
The physical placement of the nation in a strip of small African nations, each of which has suffered like ills, is not exactly the best place in the world in which to expect democratic principles to take root and to thrive unaided. We have, I think, had some second thoughts about the wisdom of entering the area in the in the first place.
We have made some poor choices over the years concerning various political groups in Liberia and surrounding countries and we have supported the wrong factions at times which may have seemed to our political leaders controlling our own affairs to have been proper and just for various reasons.
Is it too late? Can any genuine improvements or changes be bought about in Liberia?
I do not envy our President George W. Bush as he makes the decision which must be made within the next few days. I am writing this on July 4, 2003 at a time when we are especially mindful of independence and national sovereignty for all. His is not an easy task, especially, when the subject nation is in such dire turmoil.
President Bush is among those who agree that Charles Taylor, Liberia's President should step down, at least, until such time as peace and security can be restored. It seems almost a sure thing that a small police or peacekeeping military force will be sent to Monrovia soon. Over the longer range studies must be made of recent elections in Liberia to determine if they were legal.
Let's face it. It is one thing to enter such places as Somalia, Bosnia, Croatia, or Granada and quite another to go into Liberia.
A.L.M. July 4, 2003 [c425wds]
Friday, July 04, 2003
WARP! WOOF!
Weaving can be a fine avocation. It is creative every sense and allows the artistic side of one's inner self to find expression in fabric designs unique to an individual. I can see how weaving, started as a hobby, can become a full-time occupational concern.
To hold strands of thread of various colors in your hand, and then to conflate them all into a series of meaningful shapes, figures, symbols and pictorial representations - places, studio props or people, is, indeed, an attainment demanding the greatest of artistic abilities I envy those who can do it with, seemingly, with such ease and enjoyment.
One special incident concerning weaving came my way in the fall of 1973 when I was re-visiting sites I had know thirty years earlier in England. I spent several days at Norwich, in Norfolk County and one afternoon wandering up Charring Cross way hoping to locate a place called “Stranger's Hall.” - an old Flemish leftover, the home of a merchant and a place where many Flemish immigrants lived.
I found the place easily enough and had the odd feeling that it had not changed one whit in the ensuing thirty years. It has become a more formal Museum of Domestic Life now, I understand, but at that time, it was quite open to all. male single spectator who was seated on a long bench just inside the entrance. He nodded a greeting and I joined him.
There were three young girls seated a what appeared to be a large loom-like arrangement. An older woman turned from one to the other giving assistance and guidance for the work they were doing. She was pointing at the fabric giving guidance and instructions, and my bench companion told me they were repairing a damaged tapestry or wall-hanging.
The item on the loom did not look like a tapestry. We were seeing the reverse side. The girls were being taught to examine the flaws
or breaks in the and to repair them, any weak or broken connectives, and to repair them so that the observe side would be more secure and last longer.
They were “apprentices”, I thought at the time, learning the ancient art.
My previous stay in the Norwich area was at the behest of my esteemed Uncle Sam and during war time, when all art works and wall hangings had been removed and stored away in supposedly safe havens. On my return visit I was surprised to see that what I remembered as being bare walls was emblazoned with paintings, art works of all kinds and tapestries in abundance. The Great Hall at St. Andrews, the Guild Hall, the Castle, The Bishop's Palace ...even some commercial locations and many private homes, I would imagine, were suddenly restored.
The warp and woof of history has been busy, as well. It, too, was “set aside” during the years. We have brought back much of what we had developed over the years.
It might be wise to inspect the undersides of those things we saved to be sure the structure is secure. It is nice to be sure the side we see is firmly founded and carefully sustained.
A.L.M. July 2, 2003 [c550wds]
Thursday, July 03, 2003
WASHINGTON' S FUNNY BONE
If you take a long, careful look at Gilbert Stuart's best known portrait of our first President George Washington, you can detect a bright gleam of good humor in his eye. I first noticed it many years ago when, our school tablets and notebooks had that picture on the cover. Then, in England in 1944, as I was descending a flight of steps too elegant to be calla stairway at Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University, when, at the base of the descending flight or riser sections I came upon George - the original from their Gilbert Stuart collection. It was good to see him so far from home, and I swear George smiled at me.
“Parson” Weems,, born as Mason Locke Weems at Ann Arundal, Maryland in 1759, but associated in most people's minds with Vermont where he became an Anglican minister, writer, story teller and tract producer He must have notice that happy glint in George Washington's eye for when he wrote a tract convening the life of the First President he included bits of information not found in other biographies of the man from Mount Vernon. He used materials attributed to little George which seem to have come largely from his own imagination. The tale of little George chopping down his father's prized cherry tree and saying grown-up things about honesty and steadfastness when accused of the deed is one of such literary liberties he seems to have taken. He quotes George Washington';s father, as well. He had never punished the boy and was pleased with his statement concerning truth as being proof of his paternal skill in raising the lad. Weems painted both in [purest terms.
Artist Grant Woods painted a visible version of the Cherry Tree incident which details the activity.
George Washington, according to his own diaries and personal papers, was always ready for a good joke, and I particularly like the humorous treatment he inflicted on General Cornwallis at Yorktown.
When Cornwallis was forced to surrender to Washington he refused to do so personally. He delegated the act of presenting the symbolic sword to the American victor to an underling. I have not read if Cornwallis was present but if within hearing distance he had a message from George anyway. There was ceremonial music by the continental band and it was George Washington who asked them to play “Yankee Doodle”.
That song had originally been a British one, using the old tune of “Lucy Lockett”, put together by Dr. Richard Shuckburgh, a British Army surgeon. The British enjoyed singing the lyrics which satirized the American rag-tag army with whom they have been associated during the French and War. The song ridiculed of the untrained, gangly, uncouth and oft riotous Yankees who peopled the Colonies. The words were intended to be insulting. -and in three ways, too. The word Yankee is from a Cherokee Indian word “eankka” meaning “coward” or “slave”;“macaroni” had nothing to do with pasta - it meant “a fop” or “a dandy”. The word ”doodle” meant “fool” or ”slow-witted”.
Instead of the American being insulted., they liked the ditty and at the Battle of Bunker/Breeds' Hill they devised their own version of what they thought the lyrics should say and it became a sort of battle hymn to many of them. George Washington, who must have had other choices, instructed the band to play “Yankee Doodle” as the background music. It must have rankled, not only the British troops present, but m'Lord Cornwallis, as well, to be reminded that the rag-tag, make-do army they ridiculed as being totally incompetent, had bested them on the battlefield.
Can't you just see the mischievous glint in George's eye when he gave the order that the tune was to be drummed a fifed to all the world during the solemn ceremonies.
The Yankee Doodle man so despised by Cornwallis and his crew had defeated the finest the redcoats could bring forth. It is good that we can see some humor in Georges request. That devilish glint in his portrait eye has meaning to all of us.
A.L.M. July 1, 2003 [c773wds]
Wednesday, July 02, 2003
GOTHIC CATHEDRALS
I was surprised to find, just recently that the largest gothic style cathedral in the world is not in Europe. It is in America at Amsterdam Avenue at 112 the Street, in New York City. In is said to be large enough to hold all of Paris' Notre Dame and have room for Chartres cathedral as well.
Pace it off and you will find it measures 601 feet across the front by 360 feet at the transepts. The big rose window is forty feet in diameter and it is estimated to be made up of about ten thousand pieces of stained glass.
The idea of constructing such a building was much earlier, of course, but construction did not start until 1892. That was the year my mother was born in born at Aspenwall, Pennsylvania and, no doubt, she as a child ,read of , or was told about, the grand new building that was being built in New York City...a new church - real cathedral like those in Europe. I have heard and read about it being built all of my life, and it now appears that my grandchildren may be the ones to see it completed - maybe. Somewhere around mid-century a builder stuck his neck out and predicted that it would be completed by 2001.
They didn't make it. That date having gone by, I felt a need to check on it.
New Yorkers have an expression for such times. I don' t know that people in the Upper West Side, the Morningside Heights section near Columbia University use the expression, but a typical, terse retort to any critical allusion to the long delay might be the cryptic expression: “Not to worry!”
It means I am not to worry my empty skull worrying about such delays and postponements. That's the way cathedrals are built. They have always been built that way - with built-in procrastinations. Anyone who thinks he knows anything at all about he subject religious structures will know and appreciate that it takes longer than planned.
In its earliest days, the building of the edifice was deemed to be a joint effoct between the church and the community. Local, unskilled youths were hired and trained by James Baimbridge, a master stonemason from England, to cut the Indiana limestone to the proper sizes and shapes required and in the huge quantities needed.
Actual stone cutting from large chunks of Indiana limestone and estimates said they would use about 24,000 to build the two unfinished towers , and lest we think of it all being done by hand in a medieval manner, be it noted, they used used modern electric saws to cut the stone to exact proportions and even then it was project deserving the best of workmanship.
Grand cathedrals just can't be hurried.
Money, to, has been a delaying factor. At one point the cathedral filed bankruptcy papers. It has suffered several periods of inactivity. World War II saw it closed down from 1939 into the mid '40's. It has been progressing steadily ever since, and the church housed within the cathedral, such as it is today, is a vital part of community.
Let's not fret about when our new world-class cathedral will finished ...completed ...ready to show off. The European models were centuries a-buildin'..
I append a footnote for those of you who may become embroiled in an argument concerning size. Yes. St. Peter's , in Rome, is larger, but it is , “technically”, not a cathedral.
A. L.. M. June 30, 2003 [c622wds]
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GOOD TIMES
We need to learn to make the most of what we have, rather than on that which we desire.
We waste valuable time and treasure when we insist on placing so much emphasis on the future
It will come as a shock to many individuals when they find they realize what a great store of positive values we have available to us at any given time.
In times of so-called social and economic recession, or depression, there may well be fewer innovative values, but the basis ones still exist and will prosper if properly used.
What does it really matter if we drive a car that is not this year's, stub-nosed lump of metal and glass but a rather smooth, sleek looking car of ancient, one-year vintage? And, do you remember when cars and trucks passed you on the nation's highways - each with antenna searching outward and upward to signify they had the CB radio capabilities you wanted so urgently. Everyone thought he or she had to have, at least one such unit, plus a “home base” where they lived when not driving. Where are they now?
They have all switched to cell phones, of course. And , who knows what the next phonic phase might be? Now, those same people who complained about the rather uncertain qualities of their versions of CB communications rigs – and, they were, indeed. A polyglot lot, weren't they? - are now cruising about here and there asking “Do you hear me now?”
Often the new things we want are transitory in nature, but the permanent values continue and deeply inured as an integral part of our very being being. If we simply use what we have, it is amazing how much better life can be or become.
Why wait for something which many never come your way? Put that which is at-hand for immediate use. Don't
just sit and wait.
As starter: try smiling a bit more.
Take stock of your talents. Get to know you - and your worth. And – don't sell yourself short. You are more valuable than your might think. You were “invested” by your parents at birth. It is now time to start clipping coupons ...using accrued values.
.A.L.M. June 26, 2003 [c391wds]
Tuesday, July 01, 2003
GOOD TIMES
We need to learn to make the most of what we have, rather than on that which we desire.
We waste valuable time and treasure when we insist on placing so much emphasis on the future
It will come as a shock to many individuals when they find they realize what a great store of positive values we have available to us at any given time.
In times of so-called social and economic recession, or depression, there may well be fewer innovative values, but the basis ones still exist and will prosper if properly used.
What does it really matter if we drive a car that is not this year's, stub-nosed lump of metal and glass but a rather smooth, sleek looking car of ancient, one-year vintage? And, do you remember when cars and trucks passed you on the nation's highways - each with antenna searching outward and upward to signify they had the CB radio capabilities you wanted so urgently. Everyone thought he or she had to have, at least one such unit, plus a “home base” where they lived when not driving. Where are they now?
They have all switched to cell phones, of course. And , who knows what the next phonic phase might be? Now, those same people who complained about the rather uncertain qualities of their versions of CB communications rigs – and, they were, indeed. A polyglot lot, weren't they? - are now cruising about here and there asking “Do you hear me now?”
Often the new things we want are transitory in nature, but the permanent values continue and deeply inured as an integral part of our very being being. If we simply use what we have, it is amazing how much better life can be or become.
Why wait for something which many never come your way? Put that which is at-hand for immediate use. Don't just sit and wait.
As starter: try smiling a bit more.
Take stock of your talents. Get to know you - and your worth. And – don't sell yourself short. You are more valuable than your might think. You were “invested” by your parents at birth. It is now time to start clipping coupons ...using accrued values.
.A.L.M. June 26, 2003 [c391wds]
Monday, June 30, 2003
HOLD OUT
I fear, I am woefully behind the times, in as much as I remain among those few people who have not read any of Harry Potter books.
Certainly, judging from the recent accounts detailing the purchase of such tremendous numbers of the latest book in the series, I hav had opportunity to do so.
Some people deride them by saying: “They're kid's books!” We can all name a score or more of other such writings for “older youth” which have been successfully marketed to people of all ages. I'll get my chance to delve into the cavernous realms of wizardry yet- just give me time.
One thing we should all notice in this success is that young people can read and will do so if acceptable material is placed before them. We have been told and re-told that we have raised a generation of young people who cannot read; have no desire to do. it is good we are being proved so wrong.
It seems that British authoress J.W. Rawlings has touched - not a new nerve b utton to bring about this frenzy of reding by so many young people. The writing is not all that unusual or “mod”, and that too, is a positive factor concerning the books. It seems that the same old things which urged us to read as youngsters, still exist and can be re-kindled by a right kind of writing.
Rawlings' Potter Project - she still has two books planned to complete the set - may prove to be the catalyst which casue sone improvements in our writing styles which have been rather dismal and unsteady in recent decades.
Opening day sales were somewhere in the neighborhood of a million copies which is most unusual for any book. The prices ranged from $16.97 to over $30.00 per copy, depending on where you bought your copy and that adds up to a healthy entry in anyone's check book.
It is obvious by now that the magic worked by Harry Potter and his friends and associates has been in areas involving all of us and literature in general. I do not know what surprising acts of wizardy Rawlings has planned which will power her next two volumes ,but she has already worked an important change in the way we think about our young people, and their reading.
Rawlings is not alone in this phase of a revival of compelling literature for young people. Here in the United States a series of books being written by West Virginia author Mary Rodd Furbee under the collective designation “The Founding Mothers Series” is first-rate reading for young people. Read her “Ann Bailey:Frontier Scout”, for a sampler. All are illustrated biographies of women of various areas and regions in various walks of life ...Mercy Warren, Phillis Wheatley, Anne Royal, Mary Draper Ingles and others. Mary Rodd Furbee's “Outrageous Women of Colonial America” is compelling reading for both young and old.
A.L.M. June 27, 2003 [c505wds]
Sunday, June 29, 2003
WHY DO WE IGNORE OUR OWN?
He was widely honored and in the national news He has been described as one of the most creative engineers ever - a man who took out fifty-some patents before he died in 1927 all concerning the production of power and transmission of power. He had been called “the father of the aircraft radial engine”, and was a pioneer in flight along with Orville and Wilbur Wright, Langley, Curtiss, Berlloit, and others.
This exceptional man – Charles M. Manly - was born in Staunton, Virginia, April 24, 1876.
As far as I know, there is not one, single marker anywhere in “The Queen City” in memory of the man and his accomplishments on behalf of the nation and of the world. His was a short life - barely fifty one years - but in those years he packed a tremendous, amount of good, often dangerous work.
Charles M. Manly has been dead for seventy-six years and it is past time we remembered him ...honored him. I thought one of the newly Industrial Parks might well have been named after him. That would, it seemed to me, be a place to start honoring the memory of this native son who did so much to give us the travel and communications capabilities we know and accept so casually today.
Manly studied Mechanical Engineering at both Furman and Cornell Universities and after his academic years he faced many historic hurdles which faced our nation.
It was Manly who was at the controls each time the Langley airships were “launched.” On one such “flight” attempt he came very near to being trapped and drowned in the wreckage of the shattered plane which fell to pieces in the Potomac River.
Aviation today owes Charles M Manly a debt which can never be fully repaid for his inventiveness and improvements on his original radial engine which has successfully powered so many flights world-wide for a century or more
I appreciate the memorials we have honoring President Woodrow Wilson, Stonewall Jackson's mapmaker Jed Hotchkiss' home on East Beverley Street, and , in modern times, the Statler Brothers Quartet - a prime entertainment group.
It seems improper that we do not, in any way, mark Charles M. Manly as a native son of Staunton ,Virginia.
A.L.M. June 26. 2003 [c442wds]
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