Our family moved to Gainesville, Florida in July of 1961; Dad had retired after 22 years in the Navy, was going to get a teaching degree at the University of Florida using the GI Bill, and I had just turned 5 years old. Dad wanted to live in "a place where I never have to shovel snow again," and he had been stationed at Vero Beach and at Whiting Field, near Pensacola. I spent my school years, except the summers, in Gainesville, and I also attended the University of Florida after graduation from high school. We lived in the south east section of Gainesville, a relatively poor section of town, outside the city limits. We were friends with people of all colors, races, and religion. We frequently traveled to the island of Cedar Key, in Levy County, in the Gulf of Mexico. I had no idea we were going through what would have been the town of Rosewood, were it still standing. In 1982, information about Rosewood and the horrific racial injustice that happened there became common knowledge. Today, I was saddened by reading a newspaper article about the last house in Rosewood, and I am wondering what it's fate might be.... Please read this article. I wish I had the means to purchase, keep, and develop this building and the land around it, for the sake of all people who have had to withstand injustice - including the current owner. Her story, too, is heart-rending... http://www.tampabay.com/data/2018/06/06/the-last-house-in-rosewood/
Justify, the newly honored Triple Crown Champion, has returned to Churchill Downs and seems to have no ill effects from such a compacted major schedule. He ran in his first race 112 days before he won the Belmont, and won the 13th Triple Crown in 100 years. He will appear for racing fans on Saturday, June 16, in the paddock and on the track. Then he will travel back to Santa Anita, his home base.
And I had to laugh out loud at an owner of another horse in the Belmont Stakes, who claimed that Justify's stablemate, who is not even owned by the same people, was sent out to "run interference" for the big chestnut. Restoring Hope bolted at the start, under jockey Florent Geroux, went wide on the first turn and then moved back closer to the rail. He finished 8th. The horse usually runs back in the middle of the field and then runs in the later stages.
And the orange turkey in the White House seems to loose more marbles every day... First the G7 Summit, where he wanted his pal Vladi reinstated, and then refusing to agree to the final compact. Then he insults all of the members, except Abe of Japan, and tries to belittle and beat down Justin Trudeau of Canada. He leaves early to go to Singapore to met with Kim Jong Un, where he gives the North Korean dictator everything he wants, and gets nothing in return for our country. Stopping the US-South Korea war games is a significant concession to Kim, and to receive in return only a promise of a "complete" denuclearization - rather than the complete, verifiable, and irreversible kind to which the current administration has been referring in the entire lead-up to this summit - is NOT enough, in the immediate term.
Not to mention two of the orange majesty's comments in a news conference about the meeting:
1: "Honestly, I think he's going to do these things. I may be wrong, I mean I may stand before you in six months and say, hey, I was wrong - I don't know that I'll ever admit that, but I'll find some kind of an excuse."
2: "As an example, they have great beaches. You see that whenever they're exploding their cannons into the ocean, right? I said, "Boy, look at that view. Wouldn't that make a great condo?" And I explained, I said, instead of doing that you could have the best hotels in the world right there. Think of it from a real estate perspective. You have South Korea, you have China, and they own the land in the middle. How bad is that, right? It's great."
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
The Métis People
Have you heard of the Métis people? I had not, until I began reading a mystery series written by Peter Bowen. The protagonist in a series of 14 books, so far, Gabriel Du Pré is a Métis man in Montana; he is as good as the world allows him to be, doing all sorts of jobs, and he is an exceptional fiddle player. He plays the "old songs" of the Métis people, he writes his own songs, and he improvises. He is described the way my Dad used to talk about the older farmers and ranchers he knew, although Gabriel Du Pré lives very much in the present day.
Who are the Métis? The Métis live in both Canada and the United States. They are a mixed race people, and "Métis" means mixed. The Métis people helped to shape the Canada of today, mainly in terms of the expansion to the west. The first Métis people were born in Eastern Canada as early as the 1600s. They were the children born to European fishermen and their Native wives. However, it was the Red River region, in present day Manitoba, where the Métis Nation was first established. When the fur trade moved west, in the 1700s and 1800s, many French-Canadian fur traders found Native wive and had children. The children from these unions formed a new Nation in Canada - the "Western Métis." Today there are between 350,000 to 400,000 Métis living in Canada.
The Métis people had/have a distinct way of life that incorporated aspects of both both French-Canadian and Native cultures. The fur traders had married, mainly, women of the Cree, Ojibwa and Saulteaux tribes. Most of the traders were French and Catholic, and their Métis children were exposed to both the Catholic and Native belief systems.
The Métis were skilled voyageurs, buffalo hunters, traders and interpreters. Their understanding of both societies helped bridge cultural gaps, which resulted in better trading relationships. Over time, the Métis became valuable employees of both fur-trading companies in Canada - the Hudson's Bay Company, which was British, and the North-West Company, which was French.
Between 1795 and 1815 a network of Métis settlements and trading posts was established throughout what are now Michigan and Wisconsin, and, to a lesser extent, Illinois and Indiana. As late as 1829, the Métis were dominant in the economy of present-day Wisconsin and northern Michigan.
During the early days of territorial Michigan, Métis and French played a dominant role in elections. It was largely with Métis support that Gabriel Richard was elected as the delegate to Congress. After Michigan was admitted as a state and under increased pressure from European-American settlers from eastern states, many Métis migrated west and north. They went into the Canadian prairies, including the Red River Colony and the Southbranch Settlement. Others identified with the Chippewa tribe, and some were subsumed in an ethnic French identity. By the late 1830s, the only area where there was a widespread recognition of the Métis as a part of the community was in Sault Ste. Marie. Another major Métis settlement was La Baye, located at the present site of Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1816 the majority of La Baye residents were Métis.
In Montana, a large group of Métis from the Pembina region hunted there in the 1860s, eventually forming an agricultural settlement in the Judith Basin by 1880. This settlement eventually disappeared, with most Métis leaving the settlement.
The Métis are recognized as a Native tribe in Canada, and have their own flag. They are not recognized as a tribe in the United States - usually being referred to as a "breed." (How awful!)
I am very grateful to author Peter Bowen for introducing me to this wonderful race of people!
Who are the Métis? The Métis live in both Canada and the United States. They are a mixed race people, and "Métis" means mixed. The Métis people helped to shape the Canada of today, mainly in terms of the expansion to the west. The first Métis people were born in Eastern Canada as early as the 1600s. They were the children born to European fishermen and their Native wives. However, it was the Red River region, in present day Manitoba, where the Métis Nation was first established. When the fur trade moved west, in the 1700s and 1800s, many French-Canadian fur traders found Native wive and had children. The children from these unions formed a new Nation in Canada - the "Western Métis." Today there are between 350,000 to 400,000 Métis living in Canada.
The Métis people had/have a distinct way of life that incorporated aspects of both both French-Canadian and Native cultures. The fur traders had married, mainly, women of the Cree, Ojibwa and Saulteaux tribes. Most of the traders were French and Catholic, and their Métis children were exposed to both the Catholic and Native belief systems.
The Métis were skilled voyageurs, buffalo hunters, traders and interpreters. Their understanding of both societies helped bridge cultural gaps, which resulted in better trading relationships. Over time, the Métis became valuable employees of both fur-trading companies in Canada - the Hudson's Bay Company, which was British, and the North-West Company, which was French.
Between 1795 and 1815 a network of Métis settlements and trading posts was established throughout what are now Michigan and Wisconsin, and, to a lesser extent, Illinois and Indiana. As late as 1829, the Métis were dominant in the economy of present-day Wisconsin and northern Michigan.
During the early days of territorial Michigan, Métis and French played a dominant role in elections. It was largely with Métis support that Gabriel Richard was elected as the delegate to Congress. After Michigan was admitted as a state and under increased pressure from European-American settlers from eastern states, many Métis migrated west and north. They went into the Canadian prairies, including the Red River Colony and the Southbranch Settlement. Others identified with the Chippewa tribe, and some were subsumed in an ethnic French identity. By the late 1830s, the only area where there was a widespread recognition of the Métis as a part of the community was in Sault Ste. Marie. Another major Métis settlement was La Baye, located at the present site of Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1816 the majority of La Baye residents were Métis.
In Montana, a large group of Métis from the Pembina region hunted there in the 1860s, eventually forming an agricultural settlement in the Judith Basin by 1880. This settlement eventually disappeared, with most Métis leaving the settlement.
The Métis are recognized as a Native tribe in Canada, and have their own flag. They are not recognized as a tribe in the United States - usually being referred to as a "breed." (How awful!)
I am very grateful to author Peter Bowen for introducing me to this wonderful race of people!
Vive le Métis!
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
45's Border Wall
I am still hysterically disgusted by the current Presidential Administration's pan to "Build a Wall" dividing the United States from Mexico. In the last treaty boundary negotiation between the United States of America and the Estados Unidos de Mexico in 1970, it was agreed exactly where the border was. However, two parts of the boundary line are established by the treaty as being "the deepest part of the middle channel of the Rio Grande" and "the deepest part of the middle channel of the Colorado River." Whenever there is a torrential rain and flooding, or a hurricane, these two boundaries can move.
Let's look at some numbers and some topographical areas. In the boundary treaty of 1970, the national borders extend 18 miles into the Pacific Ocean and 12 miles into the Gulf of Mexico. According to the US Border Patrol, the "border regions" extend 37 miles from the shores in both directions. The border between Mexico and the US is about 1,989 miles, depending on the the river courses. The boundaries run from below sea level on both ends, along the deepest part of the middle channel of two rivers, up over the Continental Divide, near Columbus, New Mexico (altitude 3,900 feet), and across the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts.
Currently, there are 670 miles of many different types of fencing stretched out between the American states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, and the Mexican states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas. There have been large reductions of illegal aliens crossing the border for quite a few years. Since the regime of Twitler began, the numbers have fallen even more.
Let's face some ugly facts. Americans do not want to do what they consider menial labor. Each of us grew up being told we can be whatever we choose to be. Parents today are still telling their children that. The truth is that there are huge needs for so-called blue collar workers. People today believe that each and every one of them deserve to work inside and office, behind their own desk, and spending, maybe half their time working, and the other half schmoozing, while receiving a salary of at least $200,000 per year. I've had high school kids and college students tell me that those were their work expectations. Americans do not want to do any type of job that will make them break a sweat, get them dirty, or appear to be subservient in any manner.
Face it, America needs immigrants who will work hard for a minimum wage. Throughout our farmlands, there is a severe shortage of people who are willing to work in the fields. Crops are rotting in fields because there is no one who will go out and bring the crops in. A Georgia farmer offered to pay anyone willing to help him bring in his crops $15 per hour. He was told that the work was too hard and too hot, and people would not even agree to be hired by him. That speaks volumes about the current American mindset. Americans are just "too good" to actually work for a living. Personally, I find that sad.
It also seems that the tangerine tyrant is trying to get into a fight with our northern neighbor, Canada. Is he going to want another wall, blocking the US and Canadian border? That boundary, including the Great Lakes, is more than 5,525 miles (1,538 is Alaska's border alone).
The border wall is complete and total nonsense... America is what it is because of its diversity - we need to continue to open our arms to all people who wish to start their lives anew, in freedom. The 45th Administration are all plunder-monkeys seeking their own glorification. They need to be ousted.
Let's look at some numbers and some topographical areas. In the boundary treaty of 1970, the national borders extend 18 miles into the Pacific Ocean and 12 miles into the Gulf of Mexico. According to the US Border Patrol, the "border regions" extend 37 miles from the shores in both directions. The border between Mexico and the US is about 1,989 miles, depending on the the river courses. The boundaries run from below sea level on both ends, along the deepest part of the middle channel of two rivers, up over the Continental Divide, near Columbus, New Mexico (altitude 3,900 feet), and across the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts.
Currently, there are 670 miles of many different types of fencing stretched out between the American states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, and the Mexican states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas. There have been large reductions of illegal aliens crossing the border for quite a few years. Since the regime of Twitler began, the numbers have fallen even more.
Let's face some ugly facts. Americans do not want to do what they consider menial labor. Each of us grew up being told we can be whatever we choose to be. Parents today are still telling their children that. The truth is that there are huge needs for so-called blue collar workers. People today believe that each and every one of them deserve to work inside and office, behind their own desk, and spending, maybe half their time working, and the other half schmoozing, while receiving a salary of at least $200,000 per year. I've had high school kids and college students tell me that those were their work expectations. Americans do not want to do any type of job that will make them break a sweat, get them dirty, or appear to be subservient in any manner.
Face it, America needs immigrants who will work hard for a minimum wage. Throughout our farmlands, there is a severe shortage of people who are willing to work in the fields. Crops are rotting in fields because there is no one who will go out and bring the crops in. A Georgia farmer offered to pay anyone willing to help him bring in his crops $15 per hour. He was told that the work was too hard and too hot, and people would not even agree to be hired by him. That speaks volumes about the current American mindset. Americans are just "too good" to actually work for a living. Personally, I find that sad.
It also seems that the tangerine tyrant is trying to get into a fight with our northern neighbor, Canada. Is he going to want another wall, blocking the US and Canadian border? That boundary, including the Great Lakes, is more than 5,525 miles (1,538 is Alaska's border alone).
The border wall is complete and total nonsense... America is what it is because of its diversity - we need to continue to open our arms to all people who wish to start their lives anew, in freedom. The 45th Administration are all plunder-monkeys seeking their own glorification. They need to be ousted.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Friday, December 5, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Assorted Photos
Bluebirds
Still snowy deep inside Rocky Mountain National Park
Who's that?
In Mongolia, a fish-shaped cloud
Aurora borealis over a smokehouse on the Porcupine River in the Yukon Territory of Canada
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Strange Natural Wonders - III
The Eye of the Sahara (a Richat Structure), Mauritania: This enormous depression, circular in shape and stretching 25 miles wide, is like a bull’s-eye mark in the middle of an otherwise flat and featureless area of Mauritania desert. Visible from space, it has been a landmark for astronauts since the earliest missions. The Eye isn’t the result of any target practice by aliens; rather, it formed as winds eroded the different layers of sediment, quartzite, and other rocks at varying depths.
Sailing Stones on Racetrack Playa, Death Valley, California, USA: No one has ever seen one of the “sailing stones” on Death Valley’s Racetrack Playa move, but evidence of their travels is visible in the long track marks that trail behind them in the dusty ground. Scientists aren’t sure exactly how the rocks—which can weigh hundreds of pounds—make their way across the dry lake bed. The prevailing theory is that when the rocks are wet or icy, they’re pushed along the flat playa by strong winds. The deep groove marks they leave behind indicate they may travel up to 700 feet from their point of origin.
The Stone Forest (Shilin) in Yunnan Province, China: Many of the trees within the forest in China’s remote Yunnan Province are rock hard, literally. The area, which spans nearly 200 square miles, was underwater 270 million years ago, and the sea floor was covered with limestone sediment. Gradually, the seabed rose and the water dried up. As rain and wind eroded the weaker rock, the stronger limestone spires began to take shape. Now they rise skyward, surrounded by leafy trees.
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia: When a prehistoric lake dried up about 30,000 years ago, it left an endless expanse of white hexagonal tiles that stretch to the horizon. Welcome to the world’s largest salt flat, stretching for 4,000 square miles—25 times the size of Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats. The site provides more than 25,000 tons of salt per year to local miners, supports a thriving community of thousands of flamingos, and attracts tourists who can check into the Palacio de Sal, a 16-room hotel made entirely from salt blocks.
Spotted Lake, British Columbia, Canada: It looks almost as if you could play Twister on Spotted Lake near Osoyoos, less than a mile from the Washington State border. Each summer, most of the water in this mineral-rich lake evaporates, leaving behind large concentrations of salt, titanium, calcium, sulfates, and other minerals that form a polka-dot pattern in shades of green, yellow, and brown circles of varying size. The lake is a sacred site to the First Nations of the Okanagan Valley, and the land on which it sits is private property owned by the Indian Affairs Department. You won’t actually be able to get up close to the lake, but you can get a good look from the nearby road.
The Silfa Rift at Thingvellir National Park, Iceland: The shifting of the tectonic plates that fit together like puzzle pieces on the earth’s crust (a.k.a. continental drift) is more visible in southwest Iceland’s Þingvellir National Park than anywhere else. In the park’s ever-widening Almannagjá canyon, you can walk in the seam of the Eurasian and North American plates as they slowly move apart—or you can dive into the crack between continents in the Silfra Rift in Lake Þingvellir. It takes nearly a century for glacier ice to melt and filter through lava into the lake, but once the water gets there, it’s so clear that visibility underwater is nearly 1,000 feet.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
Mountain Scenes
A view in the Alps
The Bad Valley in Romania
In the Canadian Rockies
I'm pretty sure this is in Europe, but I don't know where...
Monday, October 1, 2012
Seen in Canada
A Gourdy Nash
Along the shore of Prince Rupert's Island, British Columbia
Totems at Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Photos: 2012 Equestrian Olympics
Ian Millar and Star Power, of Canada, compete in the Grand Prix Jumping competition
Jan Ebeling, riding Ann Romney's Rafalca (USET), today
Tina Konyot riding Calecto V (USET) today
Steffen Peters on Ravel (USET) today
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)