Author Archives: Sagittarian Seeker

The Heat, the Light and the First Pawtuckets

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Posted by on in Travel

I posted this last summer, while visiting my hometown.  This is the first of two more reposts from my cross-country visits of that time.

After resting up, following my eye exam this morning(Sept. 1, 2011), I decided to walk down to an old childhood favourite:  The Saugus Ironworks.

Many high school students learn in their US History classes that this simple colonial foundry was the birthplace of the American iron and steel industry.  There is a bit more to the story than that.  This place was inhabited by the Pawtucket people (aka Penacook), for several thousand years. The location itself was called Pawtucket.  The hills just to the northwest of the Saugus River were called Tontoquon.  These were the focus of settled activity by the Pawtucket Nation.

  When the Puritans, led by John Winthrop, settled Boston in 1621, they were looking for a place in which to produce iron locally.  At first, they tried the hamlet of Braintree, 16 miles south of Boston, but found it meager as a foundry venue.  An engineer named John Leader came from England, explored the lands of the Pawtuckets, and found a spot on the Saugus River.  He named the place Hammersmith, and began the iron-making operation.  Scottish indentured servants were brought in to do the non-farming labour that was loathed by the Puritans.  The Scots were a rowdy, but hard-working bunch and made a good effort at producing quality iron.  Leader and his Board of Directors were not sound businessmen, however, and the business failed after less than 20 years.

In the 1940’s and 50’s, archaeologists and housing developers found remnants of the colonial-era operation.  Sixty years later, the ironworks is restored, so that we may give the early efforts at self-reliance the attention they deserve.

Here are some close-ups of the forge, the rolling  and slitting mill, the blacksmith shop and the river that helped it all happen.

  The Scottish iron workers, and their descendants, carried the ironworking tradition to other parts of the country.  One such new ironworking locale became Pawtucket, RI, in honor of the ironworkers’ first hosts.  Saugus, the name that the Pawtuckets gave to the river, eventually became the name of the town in which the Ironworks is preserved.

I learned a lot of this, and more, at the Saugus Public Library, when I visited it on an average of 3 days a week from the time I was ten until I graduated high school.

These are two of my passions:  Exploring and learning.

HIGHLIGHT: Walking along the river of my youth.

Book Your Passage Soon

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Posted by on in Social

Leonid Ksonfomaliti, a Russian astronomer, has stated that his analysis of photos taken by an exploratory vehicle on the planet Venus indicates that some objects seen in the photos are possibly living things.  Dr. K says he spotted three objects- a disc, a black flap and a scorpion, which appear to move and shift position independently, in a photo of a Venusian surface.

He suggests “boldly” looking upon these as evidence of life on the second rock from the Sun.  Who will be the entrepreneur who will build a rocket to Venus, and check it out?

The Exterior of Sharlot Hall Museum, Prescott, AZ

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Posted by on in Travel

This is reposted from Xanga

  • I spent the afternoon of December 21, 2011 at Prescott’s  Sharlot Hall Historical Museum. Ms.Hall was a true frontierswoman, who doubled as a historian for Prescott and western Yavapai County.  Her work, and that of her successors, is enshrined in the museum complex that bears her name.  Sharlot Hall, (1870-1943) was a native of Kansas, arriving in Arizona Territory in 1882, and working alongside her mother at their homestead in Mayer, as well as occasionally joining her father and uncle in what were then the manly duties of ranching and panning for gold.  The Halls were among those working the hydraulic operation at Lynx Creek, in what is today Prescott Valley (see “Fain Park” post and album).

    Here are some of the photos I took around the outside of the complex.

    Sharlot Hall’s personal testimony

    This is an iron turbine windmill, used at the Lynx Creek Hydraulic Mining operation.

    Prescott’s first school house, built in 1864.  It was only open 3-5 months of the year, back then.

    This house was used to accommodate the attorneys who worked at the Yavapai County Courthouse.  It was nicknamed Fort Misery by the judge who lived there, in comparison to the nearby Governor’s Mansion.

    This is an herb garden, in spring and summer.

    Here is a ranch house, similar to the Hall family’s second home, at Orchard Ranch, near Dewey.

    Here’s a close-up of the log exterior of the Governor’s Mansion.

    Much of the year, this plot is filled with roses.

                                                            

    A couple of memorials to pioneers.  Cloetta was a frontierswoman, like Sharlot.  Pauline was actually a man, and a rather tough one, at that.

                

    You guessed it, this was the Governor’s Mansion- at one time, accommodating three families.

    This was the house of John C. Fremont, of California Gold Rush fame, when he was Governor of Arizona Territory (1878-1882).                                                                                                                                   

    Gazebos were popular in the Gilded Age, as community gathering places.  I still think they’re pretty neat.

    The Transportation Museum, shown above, contains various vehicles used in Arizona from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.


San Clemente’s Casa Romantica

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Posted by on in Travel


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    There is a very striking Scandinavian presence in southern California, and not just in Danish-themed Solvang.  Ole Hanson, also of Danish descent, was the founder of San Clemente. Mr. Hanson built a clifftop residence, Casa Romantica, in 1927, and partnered with the builders of what became Richard Nixon’s Western White House (Casa Pacifica, now a private residence).  I have two albums on Casa Romantica- one featuring the exquisite gardens which surround it, and the other, featuring the interior of the home and the ocean views which inspired its location.


    Here are some selections from those albums.


    From start to finish, Casa Romantica is about gardens, fragrance, romance- and weddings.



    The Frog Fountain greets visitors, charming us with its Italianate tiles.



    The holiday season, and its arboreal majesty, were still much in evidence on Dec. 29, 2011.



     


    This being southern California, though, the palm tree was essential to any ambiance.




    What attracted Mr. Olson in the first place was the glorious Pacific Ocean.  San Clemente’s harbor and pier are as fine as any in this part of California.


     


      


    The staff and benefactors of Casa Romantica were as varied as California itself.



      



    Mr. Olson was a dedicated father, and entertained his children with such as this toy train and track.

     


  • The aura of a northern Christmas was transplanted here, in the person of Grandfather Frost.


  • There you have it.  18 reasons to visit Casa Romantica- each speaking for itself.


 

A Personal Homage

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Posted by on in Personal goals, Travel


  •  (Reposted from Xanga)


    I stopped for about an hour on 12/29/11, at Inglewood Community Cemetery, just west of Los Angeles, to pay respects to the first American member of the Baha’i Faith.  He was  Thornton Chase (1847-1912).  After an upbringing in the Baptist Church, and some dabbling in the teachings of the mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, Mr. Chase encountered the Baha’i Faith, while living in Chicago in the 1890’s.  He became the first American Baha’i, in 1895, and confirmed his faith further, by visiting ‘Abdu’l-Baha in the Holy Land, in 1899.


    Mr. Chase moved to Los Angeles in 1909, a move orchestrated by his employer, so as to diminish his involvement in Baha’i.  It only resulted in his being more involved, as he traveled the West Coast for business, and spent time with Baha’is in the Bay Area and in Seattle, in the course of his professional duties.  His funeral in early October, 1912 was attended by ‘Abdu’l-Baha and nearly a hundred other Baha’is.


    His grave site is elegantly marked:


                       


    The inscription at the top of his tombstone is in Arabic, and translates in English as “God is the Most Glorious”.



Any suggestions?

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Posted by on in Personal goals

Being fairly new on here, my question is- How does one get any comments on this gig?  Many of my friends on my other site say “Word Press sucks, nobody ever bothers to read my posts.”

My take is that it’s a bit like investing money. You can’t just let it sit and expect a magic fortune.

I see there are over 700,000 people here, or some such thing.  So, I will continue to post, and try to vary my subject matter, though photo journeys, to all sorts of places, are my favourite mode.

I am going to boost a couple of earlier posts from my other site, and reorganize them, WP style, to give you an example of what I mean.

Who’s In Charge?

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Posted by on in Social

I know for sure that the election season has started.  The crazies are trotting out the rumours of Obama being a Muslim (“One of his college classmates even said so!”), wanting to be President-for-Life (That’s one way to lower one’s life expectancy.) and of both Romney and Obama being handpicked by the Club for Growth (Wowabunga!)

People don’t seem to have a hold on their senses, when it comes to dealing with other people or institutions in which a great deal of power is invested, by statute.

In reality, though, those same people who fear “the powerful”, “the rich”. “the liberals”, “the conservatives”, “the Christians”, “the atheists” are not exactly being proactive when it comes to exercising their own power.  Each of us is given strength in at least one key area.  Another writer in Word Press pointed out this morning that we are learning about ourselves, and growing, throughout our lives.  I am still finding out things about myself, at the age of 61.

Today, I was challenged by one reader on another blog site, regarding my Faith.  I was also threatened by another reader on that same blog site, also for mentioning my Faith.  In neither case did I insult or denigrate the other person’s beliefs.  Each of us is responsible for, in charge of, learning the truth for ourselves.

So often, of late, we see people of limited self-awareness and excessive sense of entitlement, imposing themselves into the lives of others.  Ironically,  the post in which I was threatened was written by a friend, who was making that same point.

An example of the above is about to occur on the tiny Dutch-owned Caribbean island of  St. Maarten.  A young woman, with the approval of the Dutch government, set sail alone some two years ago, and has sailed nearly around the world.  As she makes ready to land at St. Maarten and complete her mission, there is word that a grandstanding Dutch school official    plans to have her arrested upon docking, for not keeping up with her studies to his satisfaction, while on her journey.  This has had the effect of causing the young woman, who has bothered no one, to want nothing further to do with the land of her forebears.  She has hinted strongly that she will move elsewhere, to the land where she was actually born.

Who’s in charge?  It seems each person needs to approach this carefully.  There are too many of us, coming from too many backgrounds, with too many genetic makeups, for a “One size must fit all” take on life.  Perhaps the overriding theme of this century will actually be “The Death Throes and Demise of Fundamentalism”.

Triggers

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Posted by on in Personal goals

I got a form letter from the Bereavement Coordinator of Penny’s hospice, a few days ago.  I wrote back and touched base with him.  It set me to thinking about what triggers thoughts of her, and of us, and how those triggers affect me.

Some of those triggers are:

Sunsets- I went through a period where I would shut the blinds, right before sunset.  Now, I want to leave them open and let it be visible.  We always enjoyed the sunset, no matter where we were.

Couples together- That’s a no-brainer, and the recent series of posts by some of my friends moving in together, planning weddings, even becoming a couple for the first time, actually makes me smile- a lot.  You are going to enjoy one of life’s strongest experiences.

Dachshunds- Our little one kept us amused and feeling loved, for fifteen years.  The dachshunds I have seen lately all act frenetic and happy, just like our “Lady”.

A phone call from our son- This is, naturally, something that raises my spirits.  It’ll be less frequent now.  He is at sea, somewhere in the Persian/Arabian Gulf.

Vegetarian cooking- Penny always had a goal of being a vegetarian and we worked at it, in fits and starts.  I had an almost veggie meal tonight.  Only the cocktail hot dogs interrupted it.

Her photos- I won’t put them away, ever.

I guess the triggers are actually helping me define my spot in the world.

The Dells in My Backyard

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Posted by on in Hiking and Nature

I am going to translate a photo blog from Xanga, of a natural area near my home.  It is a western segment of Granite Dells, large boulder formations along the valleys of Willow Creek and Granite Creek, on the northern tier of Prescott, AZ.  The Dells extend south, almost to downtown Prescott, west to near Granite Mountain, which predates the Dells by about a million years, north to near the city’s boundary with Chino Valley and east to near Glassford Hill.

I’ve been to most parts of this amazing range of granite boulders.  The area shown below is largely in private hands, and is not on the usual hiker’s route, although cyclists are fond of the Pleasant Valley Drive route, on the south rim of Willow Creek Canyon.

As the weather is much improved here this week, I thought to venture outside and go somewhere which didn’t require use of the car. Between my house and downtown, there lies a segment of Granite Dells which I had not yet explored.  So, off we went, the pink Kodak digital and I.

Here’s the view, once past my back gate.

This great pasture extends from our lot to Willow Creek.

The clientele aren’t impressed by the pasture.

Here is the dry bed of Willow Creek.

Nevertheless, a bridge goes over it, just in case.

To the north, lies Pioneer Park.

Here are several shots of the Dells, in the area of Willow Creek Canyon.

 

 

 

At the end of the public road, there was the Yellow Brick Road, with no Munchkins,

but a playful puppy.

 

The puppy really didn’t want to be photographed.

Going back, I focused my attention a bit more on the short, but scenic Willow Creek Canyon.

 

 

Lastly, a lone sapling asked:  “Who did this to me?”

There is much to astonish, out one’s back gate!

On Oracle Road

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Posted by on in Social

This is a repost from Xanga, but it expresses my feelings about what went down a year ago, in Tucson.  My site, my rules.

A year has now come and gone.  The Tucson shooting rampage has had its predictable First Anniversary media blitz.   Congresswoman Giffords is on the road to recovery, and may well run for reelection.  Her husband is at her side, as he has been, to the extent possible, all along.  The families of those killed grieve on and virtually all are giving back to the community which stood by them.  The President is silent, and suitably so.  He needs to stay in the background for this one.  The wounded progress and live their lives in the way that best suits each of them.

I read through the entire newspaper segment on how each of them are doing.  It is a low day for me, for obvious reasons- a trigger, but I made it through, just because I could.

The media did not have to look far to find a gadfly to the hoopla.  He is George Morris, widower of one of the slaying victims.  He blames Mark Kelly for his wife’s death, for not having provided security on that day.  I am sorry for your loss, Mr. Morris.  I know what it’s like to have lost a soul mate.  Contrary to your understanding, though, let me point out something:  The spouse of a congressperson is not  who provides security at congressional events.  My Congressman, Paul Gosar, provides his own security, through his office budget.  I believe it’s the same across the institution.  Ms. Giffords most likely had no idea she would be attacked at a minimall.

He also faults Kelly for “going off into space”, while his wife was in the hospital.  Fact is, that space flight was a GROUP decision.  Ms. Giffords, Kelly’s daughters, both sets of parents and NASA all weighed in on the pros and cons.  It was his last flight, so to him, it was six or a half-dozen.  Since Morris regards Ms. Giffords as “worthless”, how would the space flight matter.

Well, grief leads people to say strange things.  This, I know.  Personally, I grieve for the Tucson victims, also.  I grieve for Judge Roll, Gabe Zimmerman, Mr. Stoddard, Mrs. Schneck, Christina-Taylor Green and for George Morris’s wife, Dorothy.  Each had a good life ahead.  If Judge Roll had lived, he’d have seen the courthouse he planned for Yuma get built.  If Gabe had lived, he’d be the one coaching Ms. Giffords back to health and might have been a fine surrogate candidate, had she been unable to run.  If Mr. Stoddard and Mrs. Schneck had lived, they’d have seen their grandkids on to higher levels of achievement.  If Christina-Taylor had lived, the sky would have been the limit,  If Dorothy Morris had lived, perhaps George would have had the chance to clear the air with his Congresswoman, instead of lashing out at her now.

We’re all adults here, so I sense Ms. Giffords half-expects to get some tongue-lashings from the disgruntled among us, even as she works on recovery.  Such is life in the public eye.  The vast majority of Americans, however, are pouring out good will, and not because we’re media sheep.  It’s because we’re human and the hurt of one, or of the few, is the hurt of all.

The scene we see today, on Oracle Road, is of a memorial.  For a long time to come, may its cause not be repeated.