Old Glyphs In The Desert...!

Here is a little mystery fairly close to home. It's always fun to try and figure out why these types of drawings and carvings were made.

Sometimes it seems like the more we discover, the less we actually know. Sorta the old "one step forward, two steps back" thing, ya know?

The Blythe Geoglyphs

Photo credit: Ron Gilbert

The Blythe Intaglios are a collection of dozens of geoglyphs found in the Colorado Desert near Blythe, California. They show various representations of animals, geometric shapes, and giant humans, the largest depicting a 50-meter (170 ft) man. The true scope of the geoglyphs was unknown until 1932, when it was viewed from the air.

Based on their location, they were likely constructed by the Quechan or Mojave Indians. The etchings are supposed to represent important figures from these respective cultures. Two, for instance, are thought to represent Mastamho and Kataar, two creator deities found in Mojave culture.

But we still know remarkably little about the carvings for certain. They could have been made as long as 10,000 years ago or as recently as 450 years ago.

You just have to wonder who actually made them and why. Another one of those mysteries that we may never know the answer to, I reckon!

Coffee out on the patio this morning. It's gonna be another hot one!

Cartoons For Sunday...Again !

Seems like we do this every Sunday, but that's OK! Some of us like them!

I always wondered why some folks don't like the cartoons. Oh well, to each his own, I reckon.









Well, that's all for this morning. Notice I didn't interrupt with small talk? Figured I'd just let you enjoy the 'toons. You have a nice day, OK?

Coffee inside again. It could rain later, so why take a chance?

Bugs And Their Paid Babysitters...!

Sometimes mother nature puts us to shame as far as forming partnerships.

Often these can be very surprising, and can almost stagger the imagination. I'm thinking that we might learn a thing or two from these mutually beneficial team-ups.

Stick Insects Pay Ants To Be Babysitters

Photo credit: Peter Chew

In a strange symbiotic breeding relationship, certain stick insect species lay eggs that resemble seeds sought by roving groups of ants. The ants pick up the eggs and carry them into their own colonies, protecting them from predatory wasps, fire, heat, drought, and numerous other threats to their viability and survival. In return, the ants remove the capitulum of the egg and feed it to their offspring as a highly nutritious food.
The unlikely relationship between these two insects is a fair bargain. The stick insect eggs suffer little or no harm from the ants removing the edible part. After the capitulum is removed, the ants ignore the eggs, which can then hatch in relative safety.

  I find it interesting that insects can act more civilized at times than many folks I know. That's kinda sad, ya know?

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. Raining again!

Happy Holiday...I Think ?

Sometimes the dates involving important happenings in our history are questionable at best.

Seems there is some different opinions about when the actual Independence Day should be celebrated! Here's what I mean.

Born on the Second of July… or August

“In Congress, July 4, 1776,” begins the Declaration of Independence, pictured above, “a declaration by the representatives of the United States of America, in general congress assembled.” From this document began the United States, and from that line comes Independence Day, celebrated annually in the U.S. on the fourth of July.

But some believe that July 4, 1776, is not truly America’s independence day. That honor should fall to either July 2, 1776, or August 2, 1776.

On June 11, 1776, the Continental Congress created a sub-committee of five delegates — Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman — empowered to write a first draft of a declaration of independence. Jefferson took the lead and the quintet delivered their draft on June 28th. After a few days of debates and revisions, the Congress voted to declare independence — on July 2nd, not July 4th. The next day — July 3rd — Adams wrote a letter to his wife, Abigail, discussing the Declaration and its significance. In part, Adams wrote:

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

While Adams appropriately described the revelry, he whiffed on the date. Instead, we Americans celebrate independence on the 4th, the day the Continental Congress ratified the text of the document.

Ratified — but not signed. According to National Geographic, many of those who signed the famous piece of parchment simply were not present on the 4th of July and the document was not signed until August 2nd. This belief is buttressed by the journals of the Continental Congress itself; as stated by the National Archives, “on August 2, the journal of the Continental Congress records that ‘The declaration of independence being engrossed and compared at the table was signed.’ One of the most widely held misconceptions about the Declaration is that it was signed on July 4, 1776, by all the delegates in attendance.”

While the July 4th date is, probably, the least relevant of the three, it does lend itself to a fantastic coincidence. Of the five drafters of the Declaration, Adams and Jefferson would go on to become President of the United States. And both Adams and Jefferson share something else in common: both died on July 4, 1826 — fifty years to the day the Declaration was ratified.

Despite any confusion, the day we all should celebrate is Independence Day, the 4TH of July. We can all be proud that our nation is one where many freedoms are enjoyed. However, freedom isn't free! More than a few good men and women have paid the ultimate price so that we could enjoy the blessings we have today! Remember to thank a vet when you can, and pray for those that still serve today.

Coffee out on the patio this morning. Ice cream for breakfast anyone?

A Little Presidential History For Thursday...!

Sometimes we tend to forget that some of the folks in the White House were, for the most part, regular people... sometimes!

Like many of us, they often struggled to become comfortable with the latest technology and that's understandable. I often have some of those same struggles. Here's one story about one such case.

Benjamin Harrison’s Fear Of Electricity

Benjamin Harrison served as president from 1889–1893. While he didn’t have the most remarkable tenure, he embraced the technology of the era. He was the first president whose voice was recorded on a wax phonograph cylinder, and he modernized the US Navy, which only had two warships in its arsenal when Harrison took office. He also introduced electric lighting into the White House, although he and his wife were too afraid of being electrocuted to actually touch the switches.

In historical context, this was not such a silly notion. The 1890s was the time of the so-called “War of the Currents,” when even scientific heavyweights like Thomas Edison staged all kinds of horrifying publicity stunts to demonstrate just how dangerous alternating current electricity could be. On August 6, 1890, the electric chair was used to execute William Kemmler, who had murdered his common-law wife with a hatchet. Unfortunately, the execution was botched, and the first jolt failed to kill Kemmler. He was then hit again, resulting in an “unbearable” stench as his flesh began to singe. The fact that Harrison would rather sleep in a bright room than risk a similar fate hardly seems strange in retrospect.

I guess that being the Prez doesn't exclude you from having a few cases of the jitters with the latest in gadgetry. Sort of makes those guys seem a little more likable...sorta.

Better have our coffee in the kitchen this morning. Rain is coming back today.

Bison Hunting On Western Wednesday...!

I know that you think you already know what this post is about, but maybe you'll be surprised.

Not everything turns out like we want them to, and that includes some mistaken ideas about the famous "Bison" hunts in the old days. Now, I'm not talking about the hide only hunting done by the whites at times, but some of the tactics used by the native Americans as well!

Native Americans Didn’t Always Use The Whole Bison

By Dustin Koski on Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Native Americans are often revered for how in touch with nature they were. One of the things most often cited as evidence of this is how they would use every single part of every bison that they killed. In reality, many tribes engaged in extremely wasteful practices. Some Blackfoot, for example, would drive entire herds over cliffs and pick out the pieces they wanted to use from the pile at the bottom.

In light of the crimes against humanity that the Native Americans endured, their various cultures have been heavily romanticized. They were often portrayed in popular culture as being spiritually in touch with the Earth in a way that most Western societies don’t even really attempt anymore. This image of them is actually of them is actually a fairly recent notion for some tribes.

Take the notorious idea that Plains Native Americans used every part of the bison because they were not wasteful. For centuries this couldn’t have been further from the truth, and not just in terms of parts of bison. Paleoindians in areas like the Rio Grande in the Blackfoot territory of the Northwestern Great Plains areas had a technique of killing large numbers of bison. Through the use of prairie fire or other methods of spooking them, they would cause a stampede which would send as many as 1,000 bison over cliff edges to their deaths. Whole animals would be passed up in favor of cuts of the younger and more delectable catches (and the ones on the bottom of the pile would be crushed beyond use anyway). This system was tolerated because, with the limited speed with which humans could move, there wasn’t a more feasible method available. The belief pervaded at the time that the Earth would provide an endless supply of game even though numerous species had already been driven to extinction on North America by these hunters.

In fact, it was Europeans who put an end to mass bison canyon slaughter and who brought about the extremely efficient use of bison, albeit indirectly. This is obviously not meant to sing the praises of Europeans in anyway or to condemn Native Americans as crude, savage, or any such thing, but the truth of the distant past for many Native American tribes was not one of the complete harmony with nature we are usually taught about.

The first step was the 16th-century arrival of conquistadors who brought horses and horse riding with them (along with plagues and mass murder). Horses actually had lived on America centuries before the Spanish arrived, but were one of the numerous species that had been hunted to extinction. Once the Plains tribes started using horses, they began to hunt much more efficiently.

The idealized notion of ecologically-minded Native Americans seems to be a product of the 1960s. It was a period where anti-modernist ideals were fashionable and where Native Americans were campaigning for more of a political voice. Probably the most notorious image from this period was that of the “Crying Indian” from the Keep America Beautiful public service announcement. In such an environment misconceptions are inevitable.

I'd like to think that the native Americans used as much of the animals they hunted as they could, but in truth how do we really know? Cave drawings and passed down myths can't always be counted on to tell us the whole truth, I reckon.

Coffee out on the rather warm patio this morning. Feels like a storm brewing to me!

A Concrete Piece Of History...! (UPDATE)

Once in a great while, I find an article about something I've never heard of before. This is one of them!

Just imagine how important these things were back in their day. If I found one, I'd spend a long time trying to figure out just what it was. Until this article anyway.

The Concrete Arrows That Range Across The United States

By Nolan Moore on Monday, June 30, 2014

Back in the early days of airmail, flying across the US was risky business. Pilots didn’t have radar and had to rely on landmarks to find their way. Wanting to make things easier (and speed up delivery time), the USPS decided to set up concrete arrows across America, pointing the way from one coast to the other.

If you ever take a road trip across America, you might stumble across a peculiar sight. Well, you’ll probably encounter quite a few peculiar sights, but the one we’re talking about looks like a bizarre clue from a National Treasure movie. Strewn across the US are a series of giant concrete arrows, stretching from east to west. If you happen to discover one of these strange landmarks, don’t jump to any weird conclusions. They’re not the work of extraterrestrials or any secret societies. Instead, they’re part of a project devised in the 1920s by the United States Postal Service.

During the early 20th century, the USPS used locomotives to transport letters across the country. All that changed, of course, with the introduction of the airplane. Excited by this new invention, the USPS established the Transcontinental Air Mail Route, a coast-to-coast delivery system that was successfully flown in 1921 by a group of seven pilots. Planes truly revolutionized the mail industry, cutting cross-country mail delivery down from several weeks to a mere 34 hours. However, there was one slight drawback. These were the days before radar and guidance systems. Thanks to these technological constraints, pilots could only fly during the day, assuming the skies were clear. Not only did they depend on good weather, they also relied on landmarks to lead the way.

Wanting to make things easier on the pilots and speedier for customers, the USPS came up with a rather simple plan. They’d just build a bunch of arrows to point from one coast to the other. Beginning in 1923, the government started spreading these 15–20 meter (50–70 ft) concrete arrows from New York to San Francisco, covering a whopping 4,230 kilometers (2,629 mi). Each marker was spaced 16 kilometers (10 mi) apart from the next, and they were all painted a bright yellow, a color clearly visible from the sky. In addition to the arrows, each marker was accompanied by a 15-meter steel tower equipped with a beacon. These lights flashed coded messages so pilots always knew where they were, and if conditions were right, pilots could see the next tower up in the distance. Of course, if the sky was too murky, they could always glance down at the arrows and know which way to go.

While the project was finally finished in 1929, the arrows soon became outdated. When radar and radio systems came along, the project fell into obscurity. Eventually, the Department of Commerce shut the whole thing down in the 1930s. Later on, a few of the towers were converted into TV antennas, but most were scrapped during World War II. However, the arrows are still out there. They’re all faded gray now and don’t serve any purpose other than reminding us of how quickly time and technology changes.

Seems to me that there must have been a better way to give directions, but I reckon they did the best they could with what they had. Still, it seems a better way could be found. Just my opinion, ya know.

Coffee out on the patio this morning...OK?  

(Updated Version)
So many folks have asked for more info on these arrows and their location, I have a link that may be of some use to you. More info can be found right here!