I was determined to stick to my editorial calendar for my blog and my blog’s original objectives of sharing with you my journey as a writer and a reader. I hope to someday get back to writing historical fiction, so I want to demonstrate my knowledge of history through some of my blog posts.

As I edited today’s blog post on Saturday, though, today’s topic seemed unimportant. As learned that the Trump Administration declared 6,100 people dead who are still very much alive, I wondered if I should just delete today’s post.

I wondered what difference history makes in a world where the President of the United States through his appointees can declare people he doesn’t like to be dead.

But I had spent time doing some research, so here is the blog post I had scheduled months ago for today. Months ago, when life was simple. I just didn’t realize how simple and good things were a few months ago.

On April 14 in history

Many things of note have happened on April 14 throughout history. I’m listing a few of them in today’s blog post, and then I’ll concentrate on what’s known as “Black Sunday” from 1935.

Lincoln Assassination, 1865

Volumes (literally) have been written about US President Abraham Lincoln being shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. There is nothing I can offer that you don’t already know.

RMS Titanic, 1912

The RMS Titanic hit an iceberg off Newfoundland at 11:40 pm on April 14, 1912, and sank a few hours later.

Bacteria that causes Typhus Fever was isolated, 1914

On April 14, 1914, Dr. Harry Plotz isolated the bacteria that causes Typhus at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City.

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Black Sunday, 1935

“What was Black Sunday?” you may ask.

Was it a day when the stock market tanked? Was it a day like the day after Thanksgiving, which is now known in the US as Black Friday because it kicks off the Christmas shopping season?

No, Black Sunday in 1935 was the day when a “mountain of blackness” swept across the High Plains of Oklahoma and Texas and turned a beautiful spring afternoon into the blackness of the darkest night.

The Great Depression was dragging on and relentless drought pushed farmers and everyone to the breaking point. Farmers saw their top soil literally get blown away. Rain didn’t come, so there was no point planting another crop.

Here’s a quote from the National Weather Service website (https://www.weather.gov/oun/events-19350414) which was still accessible on Saturday. I hope it will still be there when I post this on Monday morning. The way US Government websites, webpages, and agencies keep disappearing, though, nothing can be counted on anymore.

“The wall of blowing sand and dust first blasted into the eastern Oklahoma panhandle and far northwestern Oklahoma around 4 PM. It raced to the south and southeast across the main body of Oklahoma that evening, accompanied by heavy blowing dust, winds of 40 MPH or more, and rapidly falling temperatures. But the worst conditions were in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, where the rolling mass raced more toward the south-southwest – accompanied by a massive wall of blowing dust that resembled a land-based tsunami. Winds in the panhandle reached upwards of 60 MPH, and for at least a brief time, the blackness was so complete that one could not see their own hand in front of their face. It struck Beaver around 4 PM, Boise City around 5:15 PM, and Amarillo at 7:20 PM.”

Black Sunday prompted the writing of songs and the day after “Black Sunday” the region began to be referred to as “The Dust Bowl.”

How The Dust Bowl Got its Name

Associated Press reporter Robert E. Geiger and his photographer Harry G. Eisenhard were in Oklahoma on April 14, 1935. The dust storm engulfed them six miles from Boise City. They had to wait it out for two hours before they could return to town.

Geiger penned an article for the Lubbock Evening Journal the next day. It opened with, “Residents of the southwestern dust bowl marked up another black duster today.”

Where did some of The Dust Bowl dust go?

Some of it quite literally ended up in Washington, DC in March 1935 while Hugh Hammon Bennett, one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s advisors was testifying before Congress to get some relief for the vast midsection of America that was in a dire situation. The sun was blotted out by dust from the Great Plains  during his testimony. He could have pointed out the window and pointed to it if there had been a window in the room. Before the end of 1935, Congress passed the Soil Conservation Act.

If you want to read an historical novel about The Dust Bowl…

Reading about Black Sunday reminded me of The Four Winds, a novel by Kristin Hannah. I wrote about reading it in March 2021 in my April 4, 2021 blog post, 6 Books I Read in March 2021.

And The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, is a classic.

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Hurricane Helene Update

As of Friday, 108 roads in North Carolina were still closed due to Hurricane Helene. That is a decrease of a whopping 31 roads since the Friday before! This count includes seven US highways, 12 state highways, and 99 state roads. Although technically “open” now, I-40 in Haywood County is still open for just one lane in both directions with a 35 mile-per-hour speed limit.

There are still no estimates of when all of the Blue Ridge Parkway will reopen.

I know it snowed in New York this weekend, but it is spring here in North Carolina. People are eager to visit our mountains again to support local small businesses and artisans. Check online sources for recovery efforts in the areas and towns you want to visit. For instance, the town of Chimney Rock is still closed, and Chimney Rock State Park is still closed.

The small businesses in our mountains desperately need our business, so please plan your getaways accordingly. Instead of packing your traditional picnic items, this is an important time to support locally-owned and -operated restaurants and food-producing companies.

Support the incredible western NC arts community. There are quilts and a multitude of fiber arts items made here, as well as pottery, glass-blown items, corn shuck dolls, jewelry, woodworking, etc.

There are also craft shops in many small towns and scattered across the mountains where you can find handmade items of high quality.

The Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Asheville is a must-see gem if you are looking for items made by members of the Southern Highlands Craft Guild. It is located at Milepost 382. It can be reached via the Blue Ridge Parkway access from US-70 near the Asheville Veterans Administration Medical Center.

The Folk Art Center was opened in 1980 as a cooperative effort between the Guild, the National Park Service and the Appalachian Regional Commission. The center is open year-round except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and times during a US Government shutdown when the US Congress is unable to pass a federal budget.

When planning your trip to the mountains (or to any part of North Carolina) this is a helpful website to visit so you can anticipate road closures: https://drivenc.gov/.

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Until my next blog post

This is Holy Week in the Christian faith. Next Sunday is Easter. I saw an ad online for a wreath that was supposed “to make my Easter more meaningful.” The wreath was a red, white, and blue Bald Eagle configured into a circle. If someone thinks the Bald Eagle or the colors of the American flag have anything to do with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, they have missed the entire point of Easter!

I hope you have a good book to read.

Keep friends and family close to your heart

Remember the people of Myanmar (because the US Government isn’t helping the earthquake victims!), Ukraine, and western North Carolina.

Janet