I’ve started work on a blog project which will use the WordPress scheduling feature.
I’m returning to working with material written at the time of the Civil War. Next year, 2011, will be the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the war.
I will be publishing material day by day associated with the same day 150 years earlier. The material is coming from a number of sources – all from the time of the civil war or written by people who lived during that time.
So far, I have 127 posts scheduled.
Right now, the earliest post is for December 17, 1860 – which will be published December 17, 2010. (Tensions are escalating between the North and the South. South Carolina is on the verge of seceding from the Union. )
The latest post, so far, is for May 19, 1861, and will be published one year from today, May 19, 2011. (The nation is split asunder. Five weeks ago, South Carolina forces under Confederate General Beauregard opened fire on United States troops in Charleston Harbor’s Fort Sumter, reducing it to rubble in the 34 hour bombardment. Miraculously, there were no Union soldiers killed during the battle. A Confederate soldier bled to death from wounds resulting from a misfired cannon.)
“Insanity Revisited” is actually the name of Karen’s second “Dear Jane” quilt. She still has a couple more rows to complete and the scalloped blocks around the outside.
Dear Jane quilts are based on a Civil War era quilt made by Vermont resident Jane A. Stickle.
A Dear Jane has 169 blocks, each with a unique pattern and has a total of about 5,600 pieces.
The original quilt was finished in 1863, during the American civil war. It is in the Bennington Museum in Bennington, Vermont, and is on display every September and October.
Karen’s first Dear Jane was named “Insanity.”
The lower quilt picture is the original 1863 quilt by Jane Stickle.
Gallery: South Rim – Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado, September 9, 2009
(click on image for larger version)
Gunnison Point is located just below the park visitor center. This was our second time to visit the park.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is a United States National Park located in western Colorado, and managed by the National Park Service. There are two entrances to the park; the more-developed south rim entrance is located 15 miles (24 km) east of Montrose, while the north rim entrance is located 11 miles (18 km) south of Crawford and is closed in the winter. The park contains 12 miles (19 km) of the 48-mile (77 km) long canyon of the Gunnison river. The national park itself contains the deepest and most dramatic section of the canyon, but the canyon continues upstream into the Curecanti National Recreation Area and downstream into the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area.
The Gunnison River drops an average of 43 feet per mile (8 m/km) through the entire canyon, making it one of the steepest mountain descents in North America. In comparison, the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon drops an average of 7.5 feet per mile (1.4 m/km). The greatest descent of the Gunnison River occurs in the park at Chasm View dropping 240 feet per mile (45 m/km). The Black Canyon is so named on account of its steepness which makes it difficult for sunlight to penetrate very far down the canyon. As a result, the canyon walls are most often in shadow, causing the rocky walls to appear black. At its narrowest point the canyon is only 40 feet (12 m) across at the river.
The extreme steepness and depth of the Black Canyon formed as the result of several geologic processes acting together. The Gunnison River is primarily responsible for carving the canyon, though several other geologic events had to occur in order to form the canyon as it is seen today. (Wikipedia)
Longs Peak, above the lateral moraine across valley of Moraine Park.
Longs Peak (originally Long’s Peak, see below) is one of the 54 "fourteeners" in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. It can be prominently seen from Longmont, Colorado, as well as from the rest of the Colorado Front Range piedmont. It is named after Major Stephen Long, who explored the area in the 1820s. Longs Peak rises to 14,259 feet (4,346 m) above sea level. Surveys conducted prior to 2002 list the elevation as 14,255 feet (4,344 m). As the only fourteener in Rocky Mountain National Park, the peak has long been of interest to climbers. The easiest route is not "technical" during the summer season, and was probably first used by American Indians collecting eagle feathers, but the first recorded ascent was in 1868 by the surveying party of John Wesley Powell. The East Face of the mountain is quite steep, and is surmounted by a gigantic sheer cliff known as "The Diamond" (so-named because of its shape, approximately that of a cut diamond seen from the side and inverted. As with Pikes Peak, there is officially no apostrophe in the name, although a number of Colorado residents continue to object to this ruling by the Board on Geographic Names. (Wikipedia)
Arches National Park is a U.S. National Park in eastern Utah. It is known for preserving over 2000 natural sandstone arches, including the world-famous Delicate Arch, in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations.
The park is located near Moab, Utah, and is 119 square miles (310 km2) in size. Its highest elevation is 5,653 feet (1,723 m) at Elephant Butte, and its lowest elevation is 4,085 feet (1,245 m) at the visitor center. Since 1970, forty-three arches have toppled because of erosion. The park receives 10 inches (250 mm) of rain a year on average. (wikipedia)
In Australia, climate change initiatives have been delayed until at least 2013. Despite that, the Federal Climate Change Department is not considering any cutbacks or layoffs.
TAXPAYERS will fork out $90 million a year to keep more than 400 public servants employed within the Federal Climate Change Department – despite most of them now having nothing to do until 2013.
More than 60 of them are classified as senior executive staff on salaries between $168,000 and $298,000 a year. Their salary bill alone will cost an estimated $12 million every year.
A further $8 million will also be paid in rent for plush offices at Canberra’s Constitution Place until 2012, where it is believed 500 new computers will be delivered this week.
It can be revealed that despite Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s decision on Tuesday to suspend the failed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme until at least 2013, the department has ruled out plans to cut back staff.
