A Different Kind of “First-Blog-Post-of-the-Month” Blog Post

If you read my blog last week (A Lost Art) or my July e-newsletter, you know I have been decluttering this summer. I have reached an age at which I have realized that I’m not going to live forever and I really don’t want to leave my heirs a massive mess to deal with when I’m gone or incapacitated. Hence… it is time to declutter and part with many of the things, assorted memorabilia, pieces of paper, nice magazines, photographs, and even some of the books I never should have kept in the first place.

It’s time to let someone else get joy from some of my things by taking them to the thrift shop or donating them for a yard sale an organization is holding. It’s time for the recycling center to turn some of them into recycled paper. It is time for the landfill (my least favorite choice) to accept the rest.

In my first blog post of the month, I almost always write about the books I read the previous month. That is not what today’s post is about.

I started reading three or four books in July, but none of them grabbed my interest enough for me to drop everything else and finish reading them. Do you ever have times like that? When nothing feels quite right? When even favorite authors’ newest releases just fall flat?

The entire month of July was like that for me and August has begun in the same way.

Decluttering is exhausting for everyone. Looking at every item and every piece of paper and deciding whether to keep it or let it go is tedious and time consuming. I once again live in the house my parents built when I was seven years old. It is easy for things to accumulate in 64 years!

But that’s not the whole story. In fact, it is just a by-product of the root of the problem.

Some of the challenges of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Due to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, I always have trouble remembering the details of what I just read… and sometimes it is worse than others. I am in one of those worse times now. When it hits, it is unsettling at best and devastating at its worst.

Every time I have experienced this in the 37 years I’ve dealt with this illness, it feels like I will never feel any better than I do at the moment. Perhaps this is the time that I stay stuck forever in the brain fog and debilitating fatigue in which I struggle to put one foot in front of the other. That is the state in which I find myself as I put the finishing touches on this blog post.

As described by the Mayo Clinic, the symptoms of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis vary from one person to another and from one time to another for each individual. Physical and mental activity worsen the person’s fatigue, and rest does not lessen the symptoms.

After 37 years, I no long remember what refreshing sleep feels like. I have very active dreams and my body can’t seem to distinguish between dreamt activity and actual activity. Therefore, I always wake up more exhausted than when I went to sleep. I have to ease into my day and mornings are not good for me.

That makes no sense to someone who has not experienced it, but it is the best way I know to describe my life. As with any other person dealing with a chronic illness, I have to push through each day and do the best I can. This is my life, and I choose to make the best of it.

Part of my brain tells me that I will not stay in this slump forever, so I will hang onto that thought. I have to.

I chose to use the more accurate name for this little-understood syndrome in today’s post rather than my usual use of the American term for it, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). That name is degrading to the people who deal with the illness as patients or as medical professionals. It belittles the illness and the patients. It brings on comments like, “I’m tired, too.” Comments like that only serve to make the patient feel less valued as a human being. The CFS moniker for such an all-consuming illness is tantamount to the early name of Multiple Sclerosis: Malingerers Disease.

What did I try to read in July?

One book that I just didn’t have the mental energy for was Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism, by retired US Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer. It is a very detailed book about a deep subject. The political scientist in me wanted to read it, but I was too tired to give it the time and concentration it needed. Mr. Breyer is very good at explaining laws and concepts in understandable language.

A political thriller I enjoyed but didn’t have time to finish before it had to be returned to the public library was Phantom Orbit, by David Ignatius. I have enjoyed all of Ignatius’ novels. I’m on the waitlist to check it out again.

Until my next blog post

If you tuned in today eager to see what I read last month, I apologize. If I can snap out of this mental fog, I will blog about the books I read in August in my blog post the first Monday in September 2.

Until then, I hope you have a good book to read.

My planned topic for next week’s blog post is the anniversary of the United States’ annexation of Hawaii as a territory in 1898. Time will tell if I am able to do the necessary research on that subject over the next seven days. If not, I hope to return to the blogosphere in the near future.

And please remember the people of Ukraine.

Janet

A Lost Art

How many of us take the time or even think about handwriting a letter today? It has been so long since I handwrote more than a brief thank-you note, I honestly cannot remember. It is easier to text, email, or type a letter on the computer and print it.

I mentioned in my July e-newsletter that I have been decluttering. I have attempted this chore many times in the past with limited success; however, I am on a tear this time.

I should have taken “before” and “after” pictures. I should have weighed how much stuff I donated to the thrift shop. I should have weighed the two recycle bins that were so heavy with paper and magazines that I could scarcely push them out to the road for pick up. I should have weighed the countless bags of trash. I shredded old documents until I thought our paper shredder would start to smoke.

My parents were in college when The Great Depression began. They had to make their way in this world on little money and no luxuries. Their background meant they instilled in me the value of a dollar and one should never throw away anything because “you might need it or be able to use it later.”

I am once again living in the house they built in 1960, so there are many boxes and closet shelves to go through now.

It is a freeing experience to unburden oneself from the accumulation of stuff. As I blogged about on July 1, 2024 ( Books read in June 2024), I was inspired by reading Stop Buying Bins & Other Blunt but Practical Advice from a Home Organizer, by Bonnie Borromeo Tomlinson.

I’m not saying this is the end-all be-all book about decluttering, downsizing, or rightsizing. All I know is that it was the right book for me at the right time.

One unexpected benefit or result of my current decluttering binge was the rediscovery of handwritten letters. If you have lost a parent and had a good relationship with that person, you have probably felt that tug on your heart when you come across something in their handwriting.

Perhaps you found a recipe your mother wrote on an index card or scrap of paper. Perhaps it was nothing more than your father’s signature on a document. My father was a structural steel draftsman, so he usually printed. I can readily recognize his precise printing, whether it be on a blueprint or genealogy notes he made, but it is special when I find his signature because it, of course, is in cursive.

In going through decades of stuff this summer, I have come across birthday cards signed by my parents, various aunts and uncles, and dear childhood friends who are no longer with us. Some have brought a lump to my throat and a sting to my eyes as tears begin to form. Those cards are set aside and not yet tossed in the trash or recycle bin. Someday that’s where they’ll land, but not today.

The lost art I referenced in today’s blog title is the handwritten letter. I have found many of the letters my mother wrote to me while I was away in college and in my early 20s when I found employment several hours from home. I was struck by the contrast between that time in the 1970s and early 1980s as compared to today.

Today parents text or call their children who are in college or have otherwise left home and struck out to make their way in the world. They think nothing of making that phone call or sending that text. When I was in college and during my young adult years it was expensive to call “long distance.” You had to have a very good reason for calling home when I was in college.

There was one telephone on the wall in the hallway in my freshman dorm. I knew if I received a call from my parents, it was probably to relay bad news or something that couldn’t wait two or three days for them to tell me in a letter. And there were no long conversations because every minute cost money.

I am so glad that’s the way it was because it means today I can reread all those letters my mother wrote. Today’s college students and young adults will not have such tangible memorabilia.

Several years ago, my sister and I helped a friend organize in archival binders and archival sleeves the letters he and his wife wrote to one another while he was in the military service as a fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War. He will turn 100 years old in October. He calls occasionally to thank us again for what we did. He lives alone and the days and nights are lonely. He says he finds great comfort and joy in opening those binders and reading those letters.

We have photocopies of portions of letters one of our great-grandfathers wrote to his parents and sister while he was serving in the military during the American Civil War. How valuable those letters are to us!

While going through a box of papers last week, I came across a typewritten letter from my eldest first cousin from some 30 years ago. She was much older than I. In that letter, she shared some recollections of her mother’s. (Her mother was my father’s eldest sister and was 14 years older than he.) I had forgotten about the letter, so it was new and fresh as I read it last week.

From the letter I learned that my grandmother won prizes for her jams, jellies, canned fruits, eggs, and Rhode Island chickens. Since my grandmother died 23 years before I was born, I never knew her. However, that one sentence in my cousin’s letter gave me a beautiful glimpse into my grandmother’s life that I would not have known otherwise.

It is nice today that we can call a friend or relative and hear their voice, but in the process of making our communications so easy and instant we have lost the art of letter writing.

Do you still write letters to loved ones and friends who live faraway? Do you still have letters you have received?

For now, I’m holding on to those letters from my mother. The day might come when I’m ready to part with them, but today is not that day.

Until my next blog post

Is there someone who would appreciate a hand-written note or letter from you this week?

I will continue to go through boxes and closets and the basement. This decluttering/rightsizing thing isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. I have only just begun!

I hope to get back to work on my Seasonal Affective Disorder devotional book this week.

I hope you have a good book to read.

Don’t forgot the people of Ukraine.

Janet

Exploring Qualla Boundary

Several weeks ago, my sister and I spent several days in Cherokee, North Carolina. We have visited Cherokee many times, but I had never seen the “Unto These Hills” outdoor drama. Since the drama was rewritten a few years ago to give a truer presentation of the Cherokee Indian perspective on their history, I was eager to see it.

A leisurely drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway is always an activity we enjoy, so we got on the parkway on the southern edge of Asheville and took it to its end at Soco Gap. We went through 15 tunnels on that 80 or so southernmost miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Various wildflowers, including the Flame Azalea (or native/wild azalea) was at or just past its peak.

Flame Azalea along the Blue Ridge Parkway

National Park Service sign noting the highest elevation on the Blue Ridge Parkway Motor Road at 6,053 feet.

We had perfect weather all week, including the night we had tickets to see “Unto These Hills.” The acting was superb. It was amazing to see the history of the Cherokee people presented in two hours.

The play emphasized how the Cherokee and the European explorers, traders, and settlers had a congenial relationship in the beginning. It wasn’t until the Europeans started cheating the Cherokee and tricking them into poor decisions and hollow treaties that things deteriorated.

A scene from a visit to the White House in the “Unto These Hills” outdoor drama

The last straw, of course, was when the United States forced the Cherokee to give up their beautiful and lush ancestral lands for what turned out to be a death march to the Indian Territory of present-day Oklahoma. They were promised a good life, but it was just another broken promise by the white man.

A scene from “Unto These Hills” outdoor drama in Cherokee, NC

The Cherokee people who refused to leave the Great Smoky Mountains hid in the hills. It is the descendants of those brave souls who now populate the Qualla Boundary and are officially known as the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.

By visiting the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and the Oconaluftee Indian Village, you can learn a great deal about the Cherokee Indians’ rich history and traditions. For instance, they lived in houses, not teepees. They did not wear elaborate feather headdresses like the Plains Indians. Cherokee men back in the day were up to seven feet tall and the women averaged only a few inches shorter.

An example of a Cherokee house from an earlier century. (The cutaway is not a window; it is there to show the wall’s construction. Cherokee houses did not have windows because they were only used for sleeping. All their work was done outside.)

Weaving display at Oconaluftee Indian Village in Cherokee, NC

A pottery display and demonstration at Oconaluftee Indian Village in Cherokee, NC

Many Cherokee people continue to master the time-honored crafts of making clay pottery, intricate bead work, exquisite basketweaving, and wood carving. It takes weeks and sometimes months for the native plants and other natural resources for these items to be gathered and prepared, not to mention the intricate work to create the finished products. Those priceless items can be admired and purchased at the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, Inc.

Cherokee ceremonial masks were made from various natural resources, including wood and even hornets’ nests (as seen on the left in the photo.)

Although some of the signage indicates otherwise, the Qualla Boundary is not a reservation. The Cherokee people own their land and the Qualla Boundary is held in trust for them by the United States Government.

The Cherokee not only had their own written language; they also had their own newspaper starting February 21, 1828. Although the United States Government tried to eradicate the Cherokee language and traditions, that policy failed. Today the Cherokee language is making a comeback. There is even a Cherokee immersion school in which only Cherokee is spoken.

On our recent visit, we used Cherokee as our base. One day we drove through the center of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to and including Little River Road and Clingman’s Dome and back to Cherokee.

Another day we drove 10 miles to Bryson City, North Carolina and the Deep Creek entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We hiked to three waterfalls we’d never seen before and enjoyed learning lots of facts about the park along the way to two of them with a park ranger.

When planning your trip, check online for the planned hikes and lectures offered by park rangers at the Oconaluftee Visitors Center near Cherokee, NC, the Sugarlands Visitors Center near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Cades Cove near Townsend, Tennessee, and at the Deep Creek entrance to the park at Bryson City.

The Cherokee honor water and the residents and visitors alike are blessed to have the Oconaluftee River flowing right through the town of Cherokee. This shallow, wide, rocky river is the perfect place for tubing and splashing around in the water. I have memories of enjoying the river on my first trip to Cherokee when I was a young girl.

Deep Creek in the section of the national park is a popular creek for tubing. Many families were taking advantage of the creek for tubing on the very warm day we were there. If I were just younger and braver…. It looked like a lot of fun!

People tubing on Deep Creek near Bryson City, NC in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

All that hiking and tubing will make you hungry. My sister and I enjoyed the buffet at Granny’s Kitchen Restaurant on US-19 North going from Cherokee toward Maggie Valley. The wife in the couple who own and operate the restaurant is a Cherokee Indian. It is said if you want to find a good place to eat, look where the locals eat. This was certainly the case at Granny’s. (I am receiving no compensation for publicizing the restaurant. It is a good value and experience for the money. You will not leave hungry!)

People from all over the United States enjoy the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Qualla Boundary, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We kept track of the different license plates we saw. When the trip was over, we had seen cars from 42 of the 50 states and several from Ontario, Canada.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most-visited national park in the country. People are drawn to it by its beauty and biodiversity.

If you wish to learn more about Cherokee, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the Blue Ridge Parkway, I recommend my vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. I packed as many facts and as much history into the book as Arcadia Publishing would allow. The book is available in paperback and e-Book from Amazon.

Since my last blog post

I continue to declutter by going through closets, old magazines, and boxes of memorabilia, photographs, newspaper clippings, and recipes. It is satisfying to look at what I’ve accomplished. My fiction writing has suffered for it, but this really needed to be done.

Until my next blog post

Keep reading and traveling every chance you get.

Visit your local public library, if you are fortunate enough to have one. If you haven’t visited it recently, you might be surprised to find some of the things it offers: Internet access, free access to software such as Ancestry.com, magazines you would like to read but cannot afford to subscribe to, music CDs, used books for sale, a magazine swap, ….

Remember the people of Ukraine.

Janet

#OnThisDay: Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, 1975

This was not planned, but when I started to write this blog post I realized the event whose anniversary we mark today happened 200 years and one week after the historic petition I blogged about last Monday. It’s nice when serendipity happens.

Whereas last Monday’s blog post was about a petition written in 1775 as the American colonies were on the verge of war with Great Britain, today we jump forward to mark an historic joint space exploration venture between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Both events now seem like ancient history in light of where space exploration has taken us today, so it is sobering for me to realize the event I write about today happened a couple of months after I graduated from college. It seems like just yesterday! The passage of time is beyond my understanding.

What was the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project?

The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first multinational space exploration project.

Photo of the night sky filled with stars — Photo by Jack Cohen
on Unsplash

A little background

What made the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project particularly surprising and interesting was that the two participating countries – the United States and the Soviet Union – had been serious and unfriendly competitors in space travel since the late 1950s. The era was known as “the space race.” Each of the countries was determined to beat the other one in reaching every progression in space travel with the ultimate goal of putting a human being on the moon.

This is an over-simplification, but with the United States putting humans on the moon in 1969, the space race transitioned into a posture of sharing knowledge. It was an outgrowth of the “Détente” that started in 1969. Détente brought about more relaxed relations between the US and the Soviet Union.

Things get real in 1973

In the first half of 1973 the two countries announced the names of the astronauts and cosmonauts for the project as follows:

U.S. Commander Thomas P. Stafford

U.S. Command Module Pilot Vance D. Brand

U.S. Docking Module Pilot Donald K. “Deke” Slayton

US backup crew: Alan L. Bean, Ronald E. Evans, and Jack R. Lousma

Soviet Commander Aleksei A. Leonov

Soviet Flight Engineer Valeri N. Kubasov

Soviet backups: Anatoli V. Filipchenko and Nikolai N. Rukavishnikov

The crews trained together for the first time at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in July 1973.

Some details of the project

Soyuz

Launch: July 15, 1975, at 8:20 a.m. EDT
Launch Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Flight Crew: Alexey A. Leonov, Valery N. Kubasov
Landing: July 21, 1975

Apollo

Launch: July 15, 1975, at 3:50 p.m. EDT
Launch Site: Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Flight Crew: Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand, Donald K. Slayton
Landing: July 24, 1975

Mission

Docking Time: July 17, 1975, at 12:12 p.m. EDT
Undocking Time: July 19, 1975, at 11:26 a.m. EDT
Total Duration of Joint Activities: 19 hours, 55 minutes
Orbital Inclination: 51.8 degrees

(Source: The Apollo-Soyuz Mission – NASA)

Both spacecraft made orbital adjustments over the first two days to pave the way for the two vehicles to dock in space. People all over the world watched the docking at 12:12 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, July 15, 1975. Hatches on both vehicles were opened at 3:17 p.m.

Celebratory handshakes and commemorative gifts were exchanged between the astronauts and cosmonauts. U.S. President Gerald Ford and Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev called them to express their congratulations. The astronauts and cosmonauts shared a meal and the hatches were closed for the day.

The following day Brand joined Kubasov in the Soyuz and Leonov joined Stafford and Slayton in the Apollo spacecraft. TV interviews and tours were given, experiments were conducted, and lunch was eaten. Afterwards, Kubasov and Brand left the Soyuz and joined Slayton in the Apollo. Leonov and Stafford then spent time in the Soyuz.

By mid-afternoon the historic exchanges were completed, there was another round of handshakes and goodbyes were said.

At 8:02 a.m., July 19, 1975 the spacecraft were undocked.

Quoting from the NASA website: “As the Apollo capsule backed away, it blocked the sun from the Soyuz vehicle, creating the first human-made eclipse and enabling the cosmonauts to photograph the sun’s corona. The two spacecraft then docked once more, with final undocking at 11:26 a.m.

The end of the successful project

The Soviet cosmonauts continued to conduct life-science experiments for another day. The Soyuz 19 landed near its target on July 21, 1975. It was the first time a Soviet space mission launch and landing were televised.

The Apollo capsule remained in orbit with the astronauts carrying out space-science and Earth-observing experiments for five days after the undocking. It was the last planned ocean landing for U.S. human spaceflight. Splashdown occurred at 5:18 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time on July 24, 1975.

Until my next blog post

What happened on Saturday was an attack on democracy. Let’s hope this week is less eventful than the weekend.

I hope you have a good book to read.

Enjoy some time with your friends and family.

Don’t forget the people of Ukraine.

Janet

#OnThisDay: Olive Branch Petition, 1775

On July 8, 1775, the Second Continental Congress adopted the so-called Olive Branch Petition as sort of a last-ditch effort to avoid war with Great Britain. It was written by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania. He hoped against hope that America would not break with its mother country.

The petition’s words were couched in language meant to convince King George III that the colonies did not want to break away but that Britain’s actions had forced her “still faithful Colonists” to arm themselves in self-defense. It mentions the “distress” the very thought of such a break was causing the colonists.

The petition ended with, “That your Majesty may enjoy long and prosperous reign, and that your descendants may govern your Dominions with honour to themselves and happiness to their subjects, is our sincere prayer.”

This was just a scant three months after American militiamen had fought British troops at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. Colonists’ beef was primarily with Parliament. There was still hope among same of them that King George surely wanted only the best for his subjects – even those across the Atlantic.

On September 8, 1775, Richard Penn and Authur Lee, representing the Continental Congress, traveled to England to present the petition to King George III. But King George refused to accept the petition.

When word came to the colonies that the king had refused to even receive the petition, the tide turned and the colonists realized the king did not have their best interest at heart.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Until my next blog post

I hope you are reading a good book.

Remember the people of Ukraine.

Janet

Books read in June 2024

The first Monday of July is here, so my blog today is about some of the books I read in June. It’s hard to realize 2024 is half over.

Being Henry: The Fonz… and Beyond, by Henry Winkler

I began June by listening to Being Henry: The Fonz… and Beyond. It was enlightening and enjoyable, partly because it was read by the author, Henry Winkler. I hadn’t known anything about Henry Winkler’s childhood or how much out of his comfort zone his portrayal of Fonzie was on the TV sitcom “Happy Days.”

In the book you learn how Henry Winkler went to great lengths to try to keep his character from overshadowing Ron Howard. The show had been created to feature Ron Howard, but the public became enamored with “The Fonz.”

The book takes you on Henry Winkler’s journey as an actor and shines a light on how he met his wife of nearly 50 years. He tells of his struggles to break into acting and how he landed the part of Fonzie on “Happy Days.” He is painfully honest about the support he did not receive from his parents.

Henry Winkler describes himself as a shy and private person, which tells us what a good actor he was in his portrayal of Fonzie!

A Calamity of Souls, by David Baldacci

I will start out by saying that I highly recommend this book. Stop reading right now and get on the waitlist for it at your local public library.

This is a book that Baldacci worked on for a decade. It was a story he was compelled to write. It is a novel about race relations in the United States in 1968. It is not set in the Deep South. That would have been too easy. Instead, Baldacci did the difficult thing. He set this novel in his home state of Virginia.

A well-known formerly affluent white couple are murdered in their home. When a black man who works for them is found by sheriff deputies in the house with their bodies, it appears to be an open and shut case.

Not so fast! There are twists and turns and family secrets in this story. The tension builds and builds until the killer’s identity is revealed.

This is a novel you won’t want to put down once you start reading it. If I didn’t have several hundred books on my To-Be-Read List, I would probably read it again just to study the clues and red herrings.

The Berlin Airlift: The Cold War Mission to Save a City, by John Tusa and Ann Tusa

This was one of the books I skimmed through as I did research about the Berlin Airlift so I could blog about its 76^th anniversary last Monday. The book goes into detail about the airlift, in case you want to know more than I was able to condense into 1,000 words for my purposes. In case you missed last Monday’s blog, here’s the link:#OnThisDay: Berlin Airlift, 1948.

Stop Buying Bins & Other Blunt but Practical Advice from a Home Organizer, by Bonnie Borromeo Tomlinson

As I age and am very much in fear of leaving a bunch of clutter for my heirs to have to deal with some day, I discovered this book. It struck a nerve with me and prompted me to pull out every article of clothing I own. Some garments went in the trash – where they should have gone long ago. I’m talking about 30-year-old tee shirts that had holes in them. Not a good look for me even when doing yardwork! Nearly half the garments were donated to a thrift shop. I have lost about 16 pounds in the last year, so many of the things did not fit and I don’t want to grow back into them!

A major point in the book is that you must know why you are decluttering or downsizing, and you must have the right mindset. For several reasons, the time was right for me to do some major downsizing.

The book drives home the point that you don’t have to keep everything just because you kept it in the first place. It says you don’t have to keep things passed down to you just because they remind you of that person. Keep the memory, but don’t necessarily keep the item unless it brings you joy.

The book says if you don’t value something enough to display it, then get rid of it. Someone else might enjoy having it.

A local library had a craft swap last week. It was time for me to get rid of most of my cross-stitch supplies and books. I can’t see well enough now to do much small needlework.

Now that I have my clothes and craft items under better control than they have been in years, I’m ready to tackle my “stuff” in general, one room at a time.

There is a chapter about helping an aging parent downsize. There’s a chapter about parting with those adorable pictures your children colored. There’s a chapter about how to go about clearing out a house after a death, even if you live a long way from the house you’re having to clean out.

The book was well worth the $3.99 I spent for the Kindle version.

Until my next blog post

I wish my fellow-Americans a safe and happy Independence Day on Thursday!

I hope you are reading a good book.

Don’t forget the people of Ukraine.

Janet

#OnThisDay: Berlin Airlift, 1948

When I read that today was the 76^th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, I must admit my mind was a little short on details. One of the perks of writing this blog is that I get to study events in history and then share what I have learned.

Three of my last four blog posts have been light-hearted as I regaled you with details of my recent trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was a fun trip and I enjoyed sharing my memories and photographs with you; however, it is time for me to return to real life with my blog and other aspects of my life.

I learned a lot about the Berlin Airlift so I could blog about it today. If you, like me, were born after 1948, you maybe never studied mid-20^th century history when you were in school.

Background

At the Potsdam Conference at the end of World War II, it was agreed that Germany would be divided into four parts for the country’s transition into a post-war economy and government. The United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union were designated to occupy the four sectors. The city of Berlin, which sits in the center of Germany, was also divided into four sectors with the same plan for occupation.

The Russian sector covered the eastern half of Berlin and the other three countries split up the western half.

Under the plan, it was the responsibility of the Allied countries to support the German people in their designated sectors with food, medical supplies, and fuel until Germany could recover from its defeat in the war.

Berlin was in the middle of the Soviet-controlled sector of the country. In hindsight it is easy for me to see that this situation had trouble written all over it, but I must be reminded that the Soviet Union, France, Great Britain, and the United States were allies in World War II. That is difficult to get my mind around, since I grew up during the so-called “Cold War” of the 1950s and 1960s.

The straw that broke the camel’s back

The United States, Great Britain, and France introduced a new currency – the Deutschmark – in an effort to revive the German economy. The Soviet Union balked at the proposal because it wanted to continue to bring Germany to its knees.

In response to the monetary proposal made by the Western Allies, the Soviet Union imposed a blockade of Berlin on June 24, 1948 after giving the Western Allies just 24 hours’ notice.

It was on that day, 76 years ago today, that the roads and waterways into Berlin were closed to American, British, and French access.

The Soviets wanted to starve West Berliners and through the very threat of starvation wanted to force West Berliners into coming across to the Soviet side.

The blockade meant that the Western Allies could no longer bring supplies in via roads or the rivers. For a while, East and West Berliners could freely move from one sector to another. Many of them needed to travel into the opposing sector for jobs.

But in October 1948 new regulations prohibited free movement. Seventy-one roadblocks were set up and everyone wishing to cross into or out of the Soviet-occupied sector was searched.

The solution

The solution to the Soviet-imposed blockade was the Berlin Airlift. The Germans called it Luftbrücke which translates into English as “airbridge.”

I have found conflicting statistics about the Berlin Airlift, which lasted until the blockade was lifted on May 12, 1949. Allied planes were constantly landing around-the-clock at airfields in Berlin. One source said it was every three minutes, and another source said at its busiest a plane was landing every 45 seconds.

It was described as a constant noise, but it was a noise that reminded Berliners that they had not been abandoned by the United States, Great Britain, or France when the Soviet Union left them out to dry. They were not at the mercy of the Soviet Union.

It is said that the airlift brought more than food, medical supplies, and fuel into Berlin. Perhaps most importantly, it brought Berliners hope. The Berliners did not just sit idly by waiting for help. More than 10,000 of them worked at the airfields in various support positions to keep the airlift running as smoothly as possible.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created on April 4, 1949, which sent a strong message to the Soviet Union and, no doubt, prompted an end to the blockade five weeks later.

After the Berlin Airlift

West Germany was established as a democratic state two weeks after the end of the Berlin Airlift. Soon thereafter, East Germany was created.

For those of you too young to remember and who have not studied post-World War II world history, West Germany continued to exist as a free country and East Germany existed as a communist country until the reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990.

East Germany had to put a stop to East Germans fleeing to West Berlin. The Berlin Wall went up literally overnight on August 12, 1961 and encircled West Berlin until 1989. Overnight tens of thousands of West Berliners lost their jobs in East Berlin because the wall could not be crossed.

A small section of the Berlin Wall. Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash.

The Berlin Wall was a series of concentric barriers – a concrete wall with guard towers, anti-vehicle trenches, beds of nails and barbed wire. It was rare for anyone to successfully cross the wall. At least 171 people were killed trying to escape East Berlin.

The Berlin Wall. Photo by Tomas Val on Unsplash.

The tearing down of the Berlin Wall

Sign at “Checkpoint Charlie” in Berlin. Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash.

On November 9, 1989 the East German Community Party announced new policies regarding border crossings and the gates were opened.

People took picks and hammers and started tearing down the concrete wall. Bulldozers pushed down sections of the wall until it was gone.

After 44 years, Berlin once again became one city. And Germany was finally once again one sovereign country.

In conclusion

This is a condensed version of what happened and all sources do not agree on every date. If you wish to do your own research, there are many books that offer the details and idiosyncrasies of the airlift. Check the public library and the internet for a list of reputable sources.

Until my next blog post

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog today.

My next blog post will be on July 1. June just flew by!

I hope you have a good book to read – one that you don’t want to put down!

Value the time you have with friends and family.

Remember the people of Ukraine.

Janet

May 2024 – Not my usual month of reading!

I read bits and pieces of various books in May, but there were only two that I read from cover-to-cover or deserved a mention on my blog today. I went on a nice vacation and ended up not reading any of the books I took with me.

Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential, by Tiago Forte

*Building a Second Brain*, by Tiago Forte

I was intrigued by this book’s title after reading a reference to it in passing in a blog post. I was able to borrow it from the public library immediately.

If you’re like me, you feel like your brain is constantly overloaded. As a 71-year-old person trying to learn something new every day, honing my writing skills by reading what the “experts” recommend, and taking notes from the variety of history and other nonfiction books I read… whew! It just seems like too much for my brain to absorb and remember.

Building a Second Brain, by Tiago Forte gave me much to consider and some techniques to try. The “Second Brain” he is talking about is a digital way to record and store the things you wish you could remember. The method the author lays out that works for him is a tad more involved than I want to pursue at this stage of my life and my level of tech savvy, but I did pick up some helpful lessons and things I want to implement.

The book also talks about various apps, some of which I’ve looked for and others I haven’t gotten around to yet. Did you know there are apps that will automatically capture the things you highlight in an ebook? Learning that is probably my best takeaway from the book!

I was intrigued by the idea presented in the book about being able to capture all the lines I’ve highlighted in my Kindle books; however, as I pursued that it seemed no matter which route I took it was going to cost me. I looked into Readwise.io and Evernote.com. Readwise.io Lite is $5.59 per month. I’m not sure my limited budget wants to add that new expense. I need more information before I make that decision. Anytime a website says, “Get started for free,” I proceed with caution.

It was deeply instilled in me in high school to be ever-cautious to never ever, ever plagiarize. My high school term papers were probably nothing more than a string of quotes from my research sources because I was afraid to distill the information into any semblance of a summary. And heaven forbid I take my source material and have an independent thought!

As a writer now, I appreciate the laws and rules against plagiarism; however, the fear ingrained in me as a teenager has almost paralyzed me as an adult. When I take notes from a history or other nonfiction book, I tend to take meticulous notes because (1) due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I have memory problems and (2) if I ever want to quote from a book or even summarize it, I don’t want to plagiarize.

This book prompted me to start condensing the notes I’ve take from books about the craft and mechanics of writing and still have access to the original verbatim original notes I took. That was time well-spent.

One last point… As usual, I’m probably the last person on Earth to learn this: Did you know you can sign into your Amazon account and then go to read.amazon.com and see all the things you have highlighted in each of your Kindle books?

Outer Banks Mysteries & Seaside Stories, by Charles Harry Whedbee

*Outer Banks Mysteries & Seaside Stories*, by Charles Harry Whedlbee

This little book contains 15 stories from the Outer Banks and other coastal counties of North Carolina.

Here’s a sampling:

“The Dram Tree” is about a cypress tree that was in the harbor of Edenton, NC for hundreds of years. Every ship that came in would stop and a bottle of rum would be left at the tree. Every ship would pause by the tree as it left the harbor. A bottle of rum would be retrieved, and the crew would share a drink to fortify themselves for their voyage.

“The Gray Man of Hatteras” is about the apparition of an old man that has appeared to Coast Guardsmen and others. It is said he appears when a hurricane is approaching.

I enjoyed this book so much that I ordered a used copy of it and used copies of Mr. Whedbee’s other books.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read.

Enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

Remember the people of Ukraine.

Janet

This Writer Needed a Change of Scenery — Part III

Between the piedmont of North Carolina and the Outer Banks there are many interesting places to visit. Here’s a sampling of the places my sister and I stopped to enjoy in the northeastern coastal plain on our way to and from the Outer Banks a month ago.

Somerset Place State Historic Site and Lake Phelps

On the way, we visited Somerset Place State Historic Site (https://historicsites.nc.gov/all-sites/somerset-place) again and ate a picnic lunch at Pettigrew State Park (https://www.ncparks.gov/state-parks/pettigrew-state-park) on Lake Phelps. Somerset Place is a restored plantation.

The plantation house was not open for tours on this trip, but we were more interested in seeing some of the slave buildings. The foundations of some of the buildings used by the Africans who were enslaved there in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries have been excavated. Several have been identified as buildings that were used by the slaves to prepare their midday and communal Sunday meals.

Excavated foundations of buildings at Somerset Place

There was also an on-site jail, stocks, and descriptions of the punishment meted out to some of the slaves who attempted to escape.

Below is a photo of a building called Old Sucky’s House. It is a reconstruction of one of the many dormitory-like structures at Somerset Place that housed as many of 26 people. Old Sucky Davis was known as a matriarch among the hundreds of slaves that were held at Somerset Place.

Old Sucky’s House (Reconstructed) at Somerset Place

Interior of Kitchen House at Somerset Place

Needless to say, Somerset Place was a somber first stop on our trip. If you want to learn more about this plantation, I highly recommend Somerset Homecoming: Recovering a Lost Heritage, by Dorothy Spruill Redford with Michael D’Orso.

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Our next stop was the visitor center for Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge on the Scuppernong River in Columbia, NC. This is on the Inner Banks on the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula in the northeastern part of the state. In case you are not familiar with the word “pocosin,” it is derived from a Native American word that means “swamp on a hill.”

The refuge has a sponge-like organic soil called peat. It varies in depth there from two inches to 12 feet, and it takes 100 years for one inch of peat to be created. Tree stumps four feet in diameter have been found there which indicates there was once a white cedar and cypress swamp forest there.

Peat can burn underground and even as it floats on water. Some peat fires here have burned for months on end. As one can imagine, it is difficult to extinguish such a fire. The pond pine and some other plants there depend on fire for their propagation. The heat from fire is necessary for the pond pine cones to release their seeds.

Interpretive Boardwalk at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Wild irises were in bloom the day of our visit. More than 100,000 ducks, geese, and swans over-winter on the refuge. The refuge and surrounding area are home to an estimated 8,000 black bears. To learn more about the refuge, visit https://www.fws.gov/refuge/pocosin-lakes/about-us.

Wild Irises at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

On the way home, we visited Jarvisburg Historic Colored School, the Great Dismal Swamp Canal (https://dismalswampwelcomecenter.com/), Merchant’s Millpond State Park (https://www.ncparks.gov/state-parks/merchants-millpond-state-park), and Sylvan Heights Bird Park (https://www.shwpark.com/) – three places I’d never made time for before.

Jarvisburg Historic Colored School

First, we stopped at Jarvisburg Historic Colored School at Jarvisburg, NC. (Yes, that’s the official name. I’m not being disrespectful.) Established in 1868, the school building is on the National Register of Historic Places. Unfortunately, it was closed for restoration. (That was a recurring theme on our trip!)

Great Dismal Swamp

We saw just a miniscule part of the Great Dismal Swamp, a portion of which is in Virginia. It once covered a million square miles. The canal was created by slave labor in the 1700s. It is unimaginable the miserable work that was in the heat and humidity of northeastern North Carolina, not to mention the poisonous snakes, alligators, and mosquitoes.

Dismal Swamp Canal (a.k.a, Lake Drummond Canal)

Constructed about 1805, the canal is now part of the Intracoastal Waterway and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There were five boats and small yachts moored at the landing near the visitor center when we arrived. One was from Maine, one was from Toronto, and one was from Washington State.

Boats and small yachts moored at Great Dismal Swamp Canal Visitor Center

Across the canal is the Dismal Swamp State Park. It has a visitor center and walking trails. Exhibits in the visitor center include wildlife, early Native American, commercial logging in the swamp, and the swamp’s participation in the Underground Railroad during the American Civil War.

Dismal Swamp State Park entrance at canal drawbridge

Unfortunately, every acre of the Great Dismal Swamp has been logged at least once.

When we were leaving the walking trails on the other side of the drawbridge, we got to see a small vessel cross through. The canal traffic has right-of-way over pedestrians, but we were entertained by seeing both ends of the bridge rise while the middle section of it swung to the side.

Dismal Swamp Canal Drawbridge in Operation

Merchant’s Millpond State Park

Merchant’s Millpond State Park is just a few miles west of the Great Dismal Swamp Canal. There is a 19.5-foot dugout canoe from the 1800s on display in the visitor center.

View of Spanish Moss hanging on trees at Merchant’s Millpond State Park

Cypress trees at Merchant’s Millpond State Park

We thoroughly enjoyed walking on the trail there. It was quite something to see. The park includes 3,500 acres, the millpond, and Lassiter Swamp. We did not see any of the native alligators, but that’s okay.

Boat ramp at Merchant’s Millpond State Park

Sky and clouds reflected in water at Merchant’s Millpond State Park

Sylvan Heights Bird Park

The last destination on our trip before visiting a friend in the Raleigh area was Sylvan Heights Bird Park at Scotland Neck, NC. The Sylvan Heights Bird Park and adjacent Sylvan Heights Avian Breeding Center just might be North Carolina’s best keep secret! In today’s blog post I’m sharing just a small fraction of the photos I took at the park.

It was a perfect last stop on our trip home from the 120-mile string of barrier islands that form the outer coast of North Carolina. Here’s a bit of the history of the park and avian breeding center…

Mike and Ali Lubbock moved to the United States from England in 1981. They had extensive waterfowl knowledge and founded Sylvan Heights Waterfowl in the mountain town of Sylva, NC.

In 1989 the internationally-known aviculturist Lubbocks moved their entire collection and operation to Scotland Neck in northeastern North Carolina where they founded the Sylvan Heights Avian Breeding Center. Today, the center cares for more than 2,500 individual birds, including more than 1,000 hatchlings every year.

The center is an avicultural training site for biologists with an interest in conservation. Professionals from zoos from across the United States go there to learn advanced avian husbandry techniques.

Quoting from the website, “Sylvan Heights is home to breeding populations of some of the world’s rarest waterfowl. In some cases, fewer than 250 individuals of these species remain in the wild, and the collaborative captive breeding programs taking place here may be their last barrier against extinction.”

Himalayan Monal – The National Bird of Nepal

Sylvan Heights Bird Park opened in 2006. The park “seeks to advance conservation of waterfowl and wetlands, to act as a local educational resource for avian biology and wetlands ecology, and to serve as an international center for avicultural training and research.”

Guinea Turaco (Underneath side of its wings are bright red!)

Sylvan Heights has the largest collection of exotic and rare waterfowl in the world. It houses more than 3,000 birds representing 140 species. Together, the park and the breeding center form the world’s largest waterfowl collection and the second largest collection of birds in the country.

The Sylvan Heights Avian Breeding Center is not open to the public, due to the nature of its work, but the park is open year-round.

Wetland Bridge in Sylvan Heights Bird Park

Whew! This trip had been on my “bucket list” since before the Covid-19 pandemic. I needed a change of scenery, and this trip delivered! Each day held the promise of walking, enjoying the beauty of nature, peace and quiet, relaxation, and learning something new. What more could someone desire?

Are northeastern North Carolina and the Outer Banks now on YOUR bucket list?

Until my next blog post

In case you missed my two blog posts about that trip, here are the links: https://janetswritingblog.com/2024/05/27/this-writer-needed-a-change-of-scenery-part-i/ and https://janetswritingblog.com/2024/06/03/this-writer-needed-a-change-of-scenery-part-ii/.

Unfortunately, my publisher did not let me compile books of vintage postcards from either the piedmont or coastal plain of North Carolina because the company was not set up to market regional books, but don’t let that stop you from purchasing my vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Please look for it on Amazon!

I hope you have a good book to read.

Remember the people of Ukraine.

Janet

This Writer Needed a Change of Scenery — Part II

On the first Monday of each month I usually blog about some of the books I read the previous month. I will write about a couple of the books I read in May in my post on June 17.

Last Monday I blogged about visiting the northern end of the Outer Banks of North Carolina in mid-May. I failed to illustrate Jockey’s Ridge adequately, so here are a few photos to show you just a little of that massive sand dune.

Amateurs learning to hang glide at Jockey’s Ridge in spite of a control burn being conducted that day.

A view of a small portion of Jockey’s Ridge

Jockey’s Ridge State Park covers 427 acres. It is estimated that the dune contains 30 million tons of sand and has been there for 7,000 years. For more information, visit https://www.ncparks.gov/state-parks/jockeys-ridge-state-park.

The southern end of the Outer Banks

The rest of today’s post covers the sights on the southern part of those barrier islands.

I hope you will be inspired by my blog to add the Outer Banks to your “bucket list” as the 120-mile-long string of barrier islands is a natural treasure everyone should get to see at least once.

Enjoy the beautiful Bodie Island Lighthouse and adjoining boardwalk trail. https://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/bils.htm

Set aside time to hike in the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. https://www.fws.gov/refuge/pea-island

Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge – View from hiking trail

Take advantage of beach access stops along the way to enjoy the sand, the churning Atlantic Ocean, and Pamlico Sound.

You might have to hike over a sand dune to get to the ocean!

Be sure to visit the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station in Rodanthe, established 150 years ago, to learn about the bravery of the men who risked their lives for decades to rescue sailors in distress along this “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” The video there is quite informative. For more information to help you plan your visit, this website gives details: https://chicamacomico.org/.

We tend to think of all of World War I taking place faraway in Europe and, indeed, most of it did; however, the Atlantic coast of the US was not immune to attack and the ramifications of sea warfare between Germany and England. Below is a photo of the roadside marker about the nearby sinking of a British tanker, Mirlo, by a German submarine. Coast Guardsmen stationed at Chicamacomico saved most of the tanker’s crew. If you want to read more about the rescue of the Mirlo, I recommend this website: https://www.ncpedia.org/mirlo-rescue.

World War I “Mirlo” Rescue Roadside Marker at Chicamacomico

Rodanthe was in the news again last week because another house fell into the ocean. According to the National Park Service, that’s the sixth privately-owned house to be claimed by the Atlantic in recent years. It makes one wonder why they were allowed to build houses there. Volunteers were sought the following day to clean up pieces of the house and its contents that had been strewn up and down the beach.

I took a picture of several houses the ocean is trying to claim on the beach at Buxton. This situation makes no sense to me.

Looks like some more houses on the Outer Banks are tempting fate!

Buxton is home to the glorious Hatteras Lighthouse – at 198.49 feet it is the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States. One word of caution, though: The Hatteras Lighthouse is undergoing two years of restoration and is currently encased in scaffolding.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse under restoration in May 2024

While it is closed, you can take virtual tour online at http://Cape Hatteras Light Station – Cape Hatteras National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov). Fortunately, I saw it at its original location before its historic move in 1999 to save it from the ocean. The visitor center is open and you can get close enough to take pictures of the lighthouse during the 18- to 24-month restoration.

The iconic black and white painted swirl just can be seen through the scaffolding, but you might want to wait and visit in the summer of 2026 to see it in all its beauty. If you like lighthouses, you’ll love this one!

(This month’s experience reminded us of our once-in-a-lifetime trip to New York City in the mid-1980s. We rode the Staten Island Ferry so we could see the Statue of Liberty even though it was being restored and was completely encased in scaffolding. We have a knack for seeing national landmarks during their restorations!)

If you go to Hatteras Island now, you can visit the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. It has undergone a major remodel and was still closed when I was there on May 16-17. The grand re-opening was held on May 20, so I just missed getting to see the inside of it. Here’s the museum’s website: https://graveyardoftheatlantic.com/. Note that it is not open on weekends or state holidays.

Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum on Hatteras Island

Ocracoke Island

Storms along the Outer Banks wreak havoc with North Carolina Highway 12. Literally! The Department of Transportation constantly must remove sand from the highway, close it due to high water, and – occasionally – relocate the road.

A storm in April 2024 created all kinds of problems along NC-12. It had been restored to good condition down as far as Hatteras Village, but as of three weeks ago the portion on Ocracoke Island (http://First-timers Guide to Ocracoke Island – Visit Ocracoke NC) was still being worked on.

We had planned to take the free NC ferry from Hatteras Island to Ocracoke Island and the fee-supported NC ferry from Ocracoke to the mainland, but due to the one-lane traffic on part of Ocracoke Island we changed those plans and drove back up the Banks to Southern Shores and bridges to the mainland. (Here’s a important website, if you’re planning to use any of the 21 ferries operated by the NC Department of Transportation: https://www.ncdot.gov/travel-maps/ferry-tickets-services/routes/Pages/default.aspx.)

The Outer Banks of North Carolina are truly a national treasure. If you bemoan the fact that you must pay federal income tax, just remember that your hard-earned tax dollars help preserve miles and miles of the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

In fact, I’ve heard it suggested that if you resent paying income tax perhaps you should choose to think that all your tax dollars go to support the national parks, national seashores, and historic sites.

Look for the third and final installment of my blog series about my recent need for a change of scenery next week when I will tell you about the many points of interest we enjoyed on our way to and from the piedmont to the northeastern coastal plain of North Carolina. I think you are in for some surprises!

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read.

In case you missed the first part of my two-post blog series about the Outer Banks of North Carolina, here’s the link to my May 27, 2024 post: https://janetswritingblog.com/2024/05/27/this-writer-needed-a-change-of-scenery-part-i/.

Remember the people of Ukraine.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog! When you have a couple of minutes, I invite you to visit my website to see what I was doing prior to my trip and the types of writing I will continue to do: https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com.

Janet

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