Thursday, November 1, 2012

October 11, 2012. The Hawthornes Are At Stone Mountain, Georgia.

The Hawthornes were on a jaunt from 
October 4 -  17.
Today's post is from October 11.
The Hawthornes are at Stone Mountain, Georgia.


Next stop on the Hawthornes' little excursion
was Stone Mountain, Georgia.


Stone Mountain is a massive, 
bowl-shaped granite formation
that formed beneath the Earth's surface
some 300 million years ago.
Eventually Stone Mountain became exposed 
through a combination of weathering
and the passage of untold centuries.
Due to its size, prominence, and visibility
from great distances,
Stone Mountain has been a landmark
and a gathering place for years.
Artifacts have been found that link to people
living around the mountain as early as
8000-10,000 years ago.
The Creek Indians occupied this area
 during the Spanish exploration of the New World.
During the 1500s,
Cherokee tribes forced the Creeks farther south in Georgia,
and Stone Mountain became a buffer zone
between the Creeks and Cherokees.
It was used as a neutral meeting place and a ceremonial place.
Through Colonial times,
the Indians farmed around the mountain
and actively traded with the British, French, and Spanish.
In the late 1600s, Europeans - traders and slave raiders -
traveled to Stone Mountain.
Disease followed these Europeans to central Georgia,
killing thousands of Native Americans.
In the 1700s, the surviving indigenous tribes,
in response to the threat posed by contact with whites,
made alliances with one another.
These alliances became known as the Creek Confederation.

This is the back of the mountain, the south face,
which we could see from our hotel room.


You don't think you're getting away
without the geology lesson, do you?

"Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome monadnock
in Stone Mountain, Georgia."

Please, let me explain what that means,
in case you've forgotten from high school science class.

Quartz monzonite is a type of intrusive igneous rock.

Igneous is one of the three main types of rocks,
the other two being sedimentary and metamorphic.
Igneous rock results from the cooling and solidification
of magma, or lava.
An intrusion is liquid rock that forms from magma
that cools and solidifies within the crust or
under the Earth's surface.
Extrusive rock is rock formed above
the surface of the crust.
For example, by a volcanic eruption.

Sedimentary rock is formed
by the deposition of material at the earth's surface
and within bodies of water.
Sediment is formed by erosion and weathering
in one place, then transported by water, ice, wind
to the place of deposition.

Metamorphic rocks are produced from the
transformation of existing rock types
in a process known as metamorphism.
The protolith, or original rock,
is subjected to heat and pressure,
causing profound physical and chemical change.

 Back to quartz monzonite.
Quartz monzonite is intrusive igneous rock
containing feldspar, and quartz.
Because of its coloring,
quartz monzonite is often confused with granite;
however granite contains more than 20% quartz,
whereas quartz monzonite is comprised  of 5-20%.
Rock with less than 5% quartz is classified as monzonite.

A monandnock, also known as an inselberg,
is an isolated rock hill or small mountain,
that rises abruptly from a gently sloping plain.

Monadnock is a Native American term.
Inselberg is German for "island mountain."

Technically, Stone Mountain is known as a pluton,
which is a body of intrusive igneous rock
that has crystallized from magma
cooling beneath the earth's surface.
The most common rock types in plutons
are granite, granodiorite, tonalite, monzonite,
and quartz diorite.

The mountain was formed during
the complex folding and faulting
that created the Blue Ridge Mountains,
although Stone Mountain is not part of that range



Covered bridges or "lattice bridges" were common throughout the Eastern U.S. during the nineteenth century.  This bridge formerly spanned the North Fork of the CoconeeRiver in the city of Athens, Ga., connecting College Avenue and Hobson Avenue.
Clarke County Ordinary S.M. Herrington let a building contract 26 March, 1891, for $2470, to W.W. King.  It cost $18,000 to move the bridge from Athens, 60 miles, to this point.  Bridges like this were refuge for travelers during storms, courting couples, and robbers who hid themselves on the overhead timbers and dropped down on the unsuspecting victim.

These dogs were having a grand time
playing "stick."

Dixie would have loved it.
"Stick" and "ball"
were her two favorite games.








This would be the old mill stream.
And that would be the 100 year old grist mill.








This is the entrance to the Summit Skyride,
a high speed Swiss cable car,
which whisks its passengers
to the top of the mountain.


Stone Mountain sculpture,
with reflections from the window.

Not to worry,
Rosie got shots from the ground.

Video going up:




Stone Mountain Park has several large and beautiful forests that differ in ages and location and therefore differ in plant and animal composition.

The forest at the base of the mountain's northern slops is called the mesic forest.  The mountain's immense bulk shades this forest from the summer's heat and drying winds while supplying ample moisture from rainfall draining off the mountain's steep and rocky slope.

Another forest of special interest is found at higher elevations, along the northwest slopes of the mountain.  This forest consists of many rare and beautiful herbs and shrubs.  Together they form an absolutely unique, natural community, found nowhere else.


The vast natural areas within Stone Mountain Park provide rich, secluded habitats for numerous animals, including many mammals.  The diversity for the mammal communities reflects the diversity of the plant communities they inhabit.

These creatures play important roles in their environments.  Many harvest and eat the fruits of plants, later distributing the plant seeds to new locations.  Others are predators, which feed on the harvesters and this controls their populations.  Together these animals form complex food relationships that when left undisturbed help renew and sustain the resources of the habitats.

While gray squirrels and chipmunks are common sights, most of the mammals are rarely seen because of their nocturnal natures. 

The diverse, expansive habitats around the mountain make Stone Mountain Park a natural attraction for numerous bird species.  Many live year-round in this area, while others pass through briefly during their seasonal migrations.

Beyond the pleasant attributes of their beautiful colors and melodic songs, these creatures maintain the long-term health of their habitats by spreading seeds, controlling harmful pests, and contributing their part to the natural food chain, as either predator or prey.

 
Any guesses what you're looking at?

We reached the summit.
Elevation - 1686 feet






This semi-barren landscape is composed
 of bare rock and rock pools. 



Water has been the most forceful agent of erosion to act upon the mountain's surface since it was exposed to the earth's atmosphere 15 million years ago.  Heavy rains produce torrential flows of water off the steep, smooth slopes near the summit.  On gentler slopes, water flows in shallow sheets across the mountain's surface.  This can make walking on the mountain very dangerous, especially in the winter when this water freezes into sheets of ice.

As rainfall travels down the slopes, it collects in the lowest points of the mountain's uneven surface.  Over time, the water wears away the granite, forming both deep and shallow channels down the surface of the mountain.  Below the channels, sandy granite soils collect, which then provide a moist habitat for various plants and animals. Even when dry, it is easy to trace the path with which water drains down the mountain.




The weight of the earth's crust above the buried granite rock exerted intense pressure on the granite.  When the earth's crust eroded, this pressure began to lessen and the granite began to expand.  Each type of mineral within the granite rock expands at a different rate and this caused small joints to open which ran both vertically and horizontally through the large mass.  The pressure of freezing water in these cracks, as well as the force of growing plant roots, have acted to open the joints further.  Over time, huge boulders are cleaved from the once solid granite mass.  These boulders continue to break down into smaller stones and over thousands of years these stones erode into a fine granite soil on which the native mountain plants depend.  The circular depressions in the surface of the mountain have often been attributed to lightning strikes, but this is not the true cause.  The minerals that formed the granite rock have different degrees of hardness and are not uniformly distributed.  These pits exist where concentrations of softer minerals once existed but have eroded away at a faster rate than the surrounding minerals.  Over millions of years, the pits have been exposed to wind and water which create circular eddys.  With the additional action of small grains of sand and the organic acids produced by plants, these weathering elements have scoured and dissolved the granite to form the numerous smooth pits you see today.




The rocky slopes of the mountain provide the habitat for a surprisingly large number of beautiful plant species.  The community of plants depends on the depth of the soil and how much water is available.

Where the soil is several feet thick, there will be patches of trees, shrub, and vines.  These areas provide the food and shelter for birds and small animals.

In areas where the soil is shallow, smaller herbs and grasses provide seasonal displays of color.

The yellow daisies (Helianthus porteri) bloom from late summer into fall and are abundant in almost every plant community on the mountain.  Their blooming varies from year to year because the daisies are not resistant to hot and dry conditions.  They will be most abundant after a spring and summer of rainy weather.  The botanical (species) name porteri came from the Reverend Thomas Conrad Porter, who in 1846 was the first recorded botanist to visit Stone Mountain and the first to collect a specimen for study.

The yellow daisies are known only to grow on granite outcrops in the southeast.



As for the cityscape ...

... if you answered Atlanta,
you would be correct.

We met the most charming couple - Gunter and Gizelle-
on top of the mountain.
Lovely people, they are.
We've already made traveling plans with them
for the near future.

Plants in the Protected Area
This fenced area protects one threatened and one endangered plant from millions of out footsteps each year.  Poolsprite and Quillwort are tiny, delicate, aquatic plants that live in the seasonal pools of water here on the top of Stone Mountain.  Look for them in early spring.  Help us further ensure the future of these special plants by keeping trash in its place.

 Yes, I know you want to see what these threatened plants are.
This one is poolsprite.
Its general habitat is granite outcrops
occurring on "large isolated domes
or gently rolling flatrocks in full sunlight.
This plant typically occurs in shallow flat-bottomed
pools found on the crest and flattened slopes
of unquarried outcrops...
These pools retain water for several weeks
following a heavy rain and completely dry out
with summer droughts.
The seeds can lie dormant over several seasons 
until moisture becomes available."


The poolsprite, Amphianthus pusillus, is another ancient species of plant found growing in the mountain's rock pools.  It is currently on the federal government's Threatened Species List, and it occurs in small numbers at 65 locations in Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina.  The poolsprites begin their life cycle when the pools start to hold water for long periods.  Seeds in the soil germinate in late fall to produce small clusters of leaves at the bottom of the pool.  From these clusters emerge long, thread-like stems, each with two small bracts which float on the water's surface much like tiny lilypads.  Miniature flowers develop both underwater and at the surface.  Late in the winter these flowers produce seeds in small capsules.  With the onset of warmer temperatures, the capsules dry up and deposit the seeds of future poolsprites onto the soil

And this is quillwort.
Quillwort is an unusual survivor of a
 just-about-extinctclass of plants, the Lycopodiopsids.
This class evolved even before the ferns
and has been around 400 million or so years.

The black-spored quillwort, Isotetes melanospora, is one of the rarest plants in the United States.  It is found in only 8 locations, all on rock outcroppings in the state of Georgia.  It is currently on the federal Endangered Species List.  The quillwort family was one of the earliest families of terrestrial plants on the earth.  The black-spored quillworts are well adapted to the seasonal changes of the mountain's rock pools. During dry periods, their above-ground parts may dry out and disappear, but their roots survive in a dormant state below the soil.  When sufficient moisture returns, the quillworts grow and can be seen again.


Granite gooseberry, granite coreopsis, Georgia aster, mountain mint, rock aster, Georgia oak, St. John's wort, poolsprite, quillwort, and glade windflower are all found growing on or near Stone Mountain and are rare.  Some are in serious danger of becoming extinct.

The mountain ecosystems consist of an incomprehensible number of individual chemical, physical, and biological cycles.  Each cycle consist of my many special elements.  Together the elements and the cycles create a complex web of interdependent relationships.

Aldo Leopold, considered the father of wildlife management, observed in 1953:
"The last word in ignorance is the man who says of a plant or animal, 'What good is it?'  If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not.  If the biota, in a course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts?  To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent thinking."








The Diamorpha (Diamorpha smallii), usually called "Red Moss," are well adapted to living in places on the mountain where the soil is very shallow.  Their seeds germinate in the fall and the plants complete their growing cycle during the winter and early spring while moisture is more abundant and temperatures cooler.  During the summer Diamorpha dry up, becoming gray skeletons after leaving their seeds in the soil to begin a new cycle in the fall.




The marginal ecotone refers to the transitional area that exists between two distinct habitats.  Differences in the amount of sunlight, heat, water, and wind in this area attract a diverse community of plants and animals.

In Stone Mountain Park, one of the most fascinating marginal ecotones exists between the mountain's rocky slopes and the adjoining forests.  Another can be found along the lake shores and the edge of the forest.  Often, animals that find shelter in the forest venture into the marginal ecotone because of its abundance of fruits, seeds, and insects.

Granite graffiti.

Carved into the granite;
MCC 
D. Wagner
July 4, 1912 MD
Baltimore

I have a question,
does the MD mean Wagner's a doctor
or does it mean Wagner's from Maryland?
Make that two questions.
Also, what does the MCC mean?
Did Wagner try to write the 
date by Roman numerals and fail?
Inquiring minds want to know.

Notice the pool in the background.
The clear freshwater pools are formed by rainwater
gathering in eroded depressions.
These pools become home to unusual
clam shrimp and fairy shrimp.
The shrimp appear only during the rainy season.
It is believed the adult shrimp die
when the pools dry up,
leaving the eggs behind to survive until the next rain.



Once exposed to the surface of the earth, the ringed cracks in the granite, called expansion joints, were vulnerable to the continuous process of erosion caused by water, wind, fluctuating temperatures, and organic acids.  Eventually some of the cracks were hollowed in small depressions of various sizes and depths.

Some of the depressions formed with an intact rim which could collect and hold soil and rainfall.  The deeper depressions, which can hold water for several days or weeks at a time, are called rock pools or vernal pools.  Since ancient times, these pools have provided the habitat for a unique and fascinating community of plants and animals.


In the fall and winter, with lower temperatures and more frequent rain, the pools will hold standing water for longer periods, sometimes weeks.  This begins the growing season for several unique granite outcrop species.


In the summer of 1939, Edwin Creaser, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, observed tiny aquatic creatures in the rock pools near the summit of Stone Mountain.  They were fresh water shrimp, he knew, but not ones he had ever seen or studied before. He collected specimens for study, and in 1940 the shrimp were accepted as a new species of small crustaceans named Branchinella lithaca.  These fascinating crustaceans have been commonly known to their more mystified observers as the Stone Mountain Fairy Shrimp.  You may see shrimp in the rock pools if you are here between May and September, but they are probably not the Stone Mountain Shrimp that Dr. Creaser described years ago.  The Fairy Shrimp have not been documented on Stone Mountain since 1951, when Elias Nour rediscovered them.  Unfortunately, it is possible that they may now be extinct.  The crustaceans that you might see, equally mystifying, are called clam shrimp, Eulimnadia diversa. They are named for the transparent, clam-shaped shell which covers their body.  The clam shrimp are well adapted to the frequent changes in the rock pool habitats.  They can complete their entire life cycle within one week.  They produce minute eggs which the females carry for a short time on their backs, under their shells.  These eggs quickly develop into tiny embryos which become dormant inside a thick and spongy protective covering.  Within hours these dormant eggs, called cysts, drop from their mother's shell to the bottom of the pool.  They can survive for years in the soil until future favorable conditions stimulate them to hatch and grow.  Research has shown that fairy shrimp and clam shrimp cysts can survive unharmed through the digestive systems of birds and a variety of other animals that are known to eat them.  It is likely that one of these animals, having recently fed on the shrimp, cleared its waste atop Stone Mountain, leaving the cysts in a suitable environment to begin a new generation.


This is a survey marker.
For information or to report damage
 write the director National Geodetic Survey
Washington, D.C.
Stone Mountain
1873 

Formerly known as the U.S. Coast Survey,
The National Geodetic Survey is a federal agency that defines
and manages a national coordinate system,
providing a foundation for mapping and charting,
transportation and communication,
and numerous applications of science and engineering.

The U.S. Coast Survey was established by 
Congress in 1807 to conduct a survey of the coast.
It also conducted inland surveys towards the west.
This organization reflects Thomas Jefferson's
interest in science and stimulation of international trade.

Reorganized in 1878,
it was known by a new name,
the Coast and Geodetic Survey, until 1970.
Reorganization in 1970 led to the formation of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
and the National Ocean Service (NOS).
Later, the parts of NOAA which were involved in
carrying out Geodetic activities
were called National Geodetic Survey.
The NGS controls a national system of coordinates
which provides support to transport and communication networks,
preparing maps and charts,
among other engineering and scientific applications.
The NGS explains, maintains, and controls the 
National Spatial Reference System
which ascertains the location, altitude,
distance, gravity, and shoreline
throughout the United States.


which is cool.
Put your zip code in the 
"Go to Location" on the menu.

Our cable car is headed back down.

Video going down:




The best view of the carving is not from the cable car,
but from the ground.
Stone Mountain is said to be the largest exposed
piece of granite in the world.

Snow machine!


And this is what we came to see-
the iconic bas-relief sculpture on the north face,
the largest bas relief in the world.
The memorial carving
pays tribute to three Confederate leaders -
Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee,
 and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.
The carving of the three men towers 400 feet above ground,
 measures 90 x 190 feet, and is recessed 42 feet into the mountain.
The deepest part of the carving is at Lee's elbow,
which is 12 feet into the mountain's surface.

The entire carved surface measures three-acres,
larger than a football field and Mount Rushmore.


Too bad the sun was in the wrong position
for me to get a good picture.



In 1887, the Venable brothers
bought all of Stone Mountain for $48,000
and ran a quarrying operation.
Stone Mountain granite was shipped worldwide.
It was used at the federal gold depository at Fort Knox.
It was used at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.
It was used in the Panama Canal.
It was used in the foundation of the Lincoln Memorial.
Virtually every state has a building that uses
Stone Mountain Granite.

In 1909, Mrs. C. Helen Plane,
a charter member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy,
and, no doubt, another blue hair
(You gotta love those women.  They get stuff done!),
envisioned a memorial to General Lee and to the Confederacy.
In 1916, the owner of Stone Mountain,
Samuel H. Venable,
deeded the north face of Stone Mountain
to the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
The UDC was given 12 years
 to complete a Civil War monument.

During the Confederate Memorial Carving's creation,
three sculptors worked on the carving.

In 1915, Gutzon Borglum  
(who later went on to carve Mt. Rushmore)
was hired as carving consultant.
The Stone Mountain Monumental Association
appointed Borglum as carving sculptor in 1916.

Due to World War I and funding problems,
Borglum wasn't able to begin work until 1923,
at which time he was given $250,000
and a three year time limit.

 By 1924, after dynamiting large portions of mountain,
Borglum completed the head of Lee,
unveiled on the General's birthday, January 19.

January 1925 saw the minting 
of Confederate Memorial Half Dollars
to raise funds.

In February 1925,
 the managing association
and Borglum butted heads over an issue.
After disagreements, 
Borglum's contract was cancelled.
The conflict led Borglum to leave,
taking his models and sketches and papers and pens with him ...
... and stomp all the way to South Dakota.

And Hello, Mount Rushmore.


Heh.
I'd love to see the faces of managing association
getting aload of Mt. Rushmore.

The Hawthornes visited Mount Rushmore  a few years ago
and these are Rosie's pictures.


 If you ever go to Mount Rushmore, 
be sure to ask for the "behind-the-scenes" tour.
You'll be glad you did!



 I don't know what the
  Borglum/Management conflict was about,
but most conflicts are either about money, land, or a woman,
and/or any combination thereof,
so I'm guessing it's money.

It might have had something to do with
Borlum's vision and rather grandiose plans
for the carving.
He envisioned seven central figures
accompanied by "an army of thousands."
Ahhh ...
And that would be about $$$$$.

Now I'm wondering
who the other 4 Confederates might have been.
And that cast of thousands 
would have been something else!

 
OK
Back to the Memorial Carving.

In 1925, the second sculptor, Augustus Lukeman,
resumed work on the Memorial.
Lukeman's project included
carving the three central figures 
of the Confederacy on horseback.

In 1928, Lukeman went so far as to remove
 Borglum's work from the mountain,
 as in blasting Borglum's oeuvre
 from the face of the mountain.
He worked diligently with pneumatic drills,
but in 1928
Lukeman's work ceased due to lack of funds.
Lukeman died in 1935,
with his work on the mountain incomplete.


By the original deadline of 1928,
only Lee's head was complete
and funds were deplete.
The Venable family reclaimed their property
the massive monadnock we call Stone Mountain.
Venable  had agreed in 1916 for a 12-year lease
on the side of the mountain.
When the lease expired, he refused to extend it
unless Borglum was brought back.
The Association refused,
so the work stopped and the project abandoned
until the State of Georgia purchased the mountain.

Stone Mountain, the massive granite edifice,
 remained untouched for 36 years.

In 1941, World War II interrupted
all planning for the Memorial.

In 1963, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association,
based upon recommendations by the Advisory Committee
chose a third carver -
 Walker Kirkland Hancock of Gloucester, Massachusetts,
to complete the project,
according to Lukeman's design.

In 1964, work resumed.
A new technique utilizing thermo-jet torches
 was used to carve away at the granite.
The carving was completed
with the detail of a fine painting.
Eyebrows, fingers,
buckles, and strands of hair were fine-carved
with a small thermo-jet torch.
With the thermo-jet torches,
Chief Carver Roy Faulkner,
was able to remove "tons of stone in one day."
For over eight years, Park guests 
could see and hear the workmen and their jet torches.

If a sudden rain shower threatened work for the afternoon,
carvers could easily stand on a horse's ear
or inside a horse's mouth to escape.

On May 9, 1970,
 a dedication ceremony for the 
Confederate Memorial Carving was held.

It was not until 1972, 
that finishing touches were completed.


One piece of Stone Mountain history 
that they don't tell you about here
is Stone Mountain's relationship with the Ku Klux Klan.
If you check out the transcript of the speech
made by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
August 28, 1968 at the Lincoln Memorial in Wahshington D.C.,
you will see this passage:

And I say to you today my friends, let freedom ring. From the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire, let freedom ring. From the mighty mountains of New York, let freedom ring. From the mighty Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snow capped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only there; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain in Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill in Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

Does anyone know about the above references
to Lookout Mountain and Stone Mountain
in Dr. King's speech?

The Ku Klux Klan first formed on
 Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, in 1866.

Stone Mountain, Georgia
was the site of the resurrection of the Klan in 1915.

William Simmons, a minister
 and organizer for fraternal associations,
 revived the Ku Klux Klan in 1915 in Georgia.

Inspired by D.W. Griffith's silent movie,
The Birth of a Nation,
Simmons organized induction ceremonies,
leading his followers to the top of the granite mountain
to initiate them into the Klan. 

The popularity of The Birth of a Nation
and specifically its opening in Atlanta
scheduled for the next week
proved the major impetus for the
reemergence of the Klan.

Membership to the Ku Klux Klan
was restricted to white American-born Protestant men.
Simmons himself designed the notorious hooded uniform.
He also composed an elaborate initiation ceremony
and ritual for the secret order.
And he secured an official charter
from the state of Georgia.

Simmons may have had another factor
influencing his decision to choosing Stone Mountain
for the awakening of the KKK
from its slumber of forty years.

Even more than the birth of the second KKK,
Stone Mountain also had notoriety 
from the blue-hairs' Confederate Memorial,
conceived by some as a symbol of White South.

On Thanksgiving evening, 1915,
Simmons and sixteen members of the new order
ascended Stone Mountain.

  They ignited a flaming cross
and proclaimed the rebirth 
of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.






6 comments:

  1. Let's hear more about the "behind the scenes" tour! Less about the creepy Klan.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I disagree with the other Anonymous, this was an excellent read. I like it when I learn something new. Thank you Rosie.

    ReplyDelete
  3. To Anony #1 History is not always rainbows and unicorns. Sometimes it's ... dare I say ... creepy.
    And that part about the Klan would be the "behind the scenes" tour.


    To Anony #2 Thank you.

    I encourage all comments. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for sharing, Rosie. Nothing wrong with retelling history. I appreciate it.

    Nice to see you again. I haven't visited in so long, I can't remember if I'm Nicky or Nicki.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello, PickyNicki(y)(?),
    Welcome back.
    And don't stay away so long!

    I always research places I go to and I try my best to be honest and educational in my posts. We need to know our history... so we don't repeat it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. And I try to tell history. Not re-tell.

    But I know what you mean, pickynicky.

    ReplyDelete