Category: History
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The Burned-over District of new york state
[The Burned-over District of NYS. The area is somewhat larger than what I circled in red, but you get a sense of the geography. Source: Google map search.] If you want the wrath of God to descend upon you and your people, then continue in your evil ways. ~~Imaginary sermon from an imaginary preacher spoken…
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Budapest to amsterdam VI: Nuremberg: why do people continue to deny the truth
[Graffiti on the door of a closed shop. Likely in Nuremberg. Photo is mine.] The Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders, in open court before an international tribunal, had a profound long-term effect in bringing Germans back to democracy and humanity. ~~Anthony Lewis {Author’s note: If you know me and have read some or all of…
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Budapest to amsterdam V: Passau: 3 rivers, Biblical Floods, High Baroque & 2 personal guides
[The confluence of three rivers. The very light olive color water near the top of the photo is the INN river, clay sediment imparts the color. The closer river is the DANUBE, a brown/grey depending on the rainfall and amount of organic material. A third and much smaller river is the ILZ, which is nearly…
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Budapest to amsterdam II: a legend of richard the lionheart
[King Richard I, the Lionheart. Source: Google search.] Even the bravest of us loath war, and those who long for it are the most dangerous. ~~Richard I. If Richard I really did say this, he likely didn’t see himself as particularly dangerous. But the infidels (Muslims led by Sultan Saladin) that he was fighting during…
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Budapest to amsterdam I: 67 locks 5 countries and beyond
[GEFJON. The Norse goddess of the plow, holds the power to move the earth and foretell people’s destinies. It is also the name of the Viking cruise boat that will take us to Amsterdam. Source: Wall mural on the Viking Gefjon. Photo is mine.] This is where I came in. Budapest: Where East meets West.…
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Kicking Leaves in Owego: my imaginarium
[On the left, in the distance, just beyond the white house, just hidden in the morning fog, is the riverbank where I played away my childhood. Photo is mine.] Great Grandpa, what’s an Imaginarium? Oh, Great Grandson, it’s like a rambling and cluttered room, an old room, a very big room. There are lots of…
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the four green fields blog12: Three crescents, a circus & more
[Ceiling of the nave in Bath Abbey. Photo is mine.] Oh! Who can ever get tired of Bath? ~~Jane Austen Northanger Abbey Like a grandfather clock on the landing of a staircase of an old house, like a circular staircase leading to the dark places in a haunted Irish castle, like an elderly couple at…
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the four green fields blog6: a night in my ancestral castle
[Castle Redwood. Lorrha, Co Tipperary, Ireland. Photo source: Tipperary Tourism.] This photo is of Castle Redwood. It’s not a ‘castle’ in the popular sense, the way most are depicted in movies. It’s a Keep, intended to hold the owners in safety during an attack. Walls are nearly ten feet thick, slot windows for defending archers…
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the four green fields blog3:the burren
[Where we were. Photo is mine.] Burren (‘b^ren0 n. A limestone area on the North Clare coast in the Irish Republic, famous for its wildflowers, caves, and dolmens. The Burren is a lot of things. It’s a place in Ireland, a route to tour, and a UNESCO Heritage Site. To me, it’s something else altogether.…
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Below The Equator IV: A Day at the Recoleta Cemetery/ Among the Serene, the violated…and Evita
[Abandoned poster display outside the wall of the Cemetery of Recoleta, Buenos Aires. The advertising is gone, but behind the wall, the city’s dead remain. Photo is mine] My biggest fear in life is to be forgotten. I cast my dreams aside to fulfill those of others. ~~Maria Eva Duarte de Peron (Evita) Readers, you…
