Thursday

                      Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives nor is it the most intelligent, it is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

                                           Charles Darwin

As some of you know I am on Pensacola Beach for the month of April. The beach is on a barrier island named Santa Rosa. The speed limit on the entire island ins 30 MPH..not 32 or 33...30. The locals including myself have no problem with driving around at this speed, I am in no hurry. But some of the tourists have a problem with it. I did a survey and determined the ones that have the biggest problem driving this slow are people from Georgia...next is the Tennesseans. On more than one occasion I have been moseying on down the road at 30 MPH and there was a car behind me right on my bumper and the driver red in the face, eventually they would whip into a parking lot, hurry to a parking place, park and go into a restaurant. You are on vacation, y'all. Relax.

I read about a professor on a field trip with some of his students near Haines, Alaska. They accidentally came upon a female grizzly with cubs and she attacked the leader...the professor. He is in serious condition in a hospital in Anchorage.

When I was in Alaska I read about a hunting party with a guide, they were after grizzly. The guide was ahead of the group about 20 feet and disappeared behind a stand of trees. The hunting party heard something and when they rounded the trees the guide was on the ground dead from a bite to the neck delivered by a gigantic grizzly. The bear was glimpsed running away through the underbrush. They reenacted that scenario and determined that the guide was out of their sight for about nine seconds. Springtime in Alaska is a dangerous time. The females have cubs and the males are ganged up salmon fishing...both are very testy.

This Date in History April 21

1836 After a couple of years of intimidation by Mexican dictator Santa Anna when he murdered over 400 Texans at Goliad that had surrendered not to mention the 226 at the Alamo, Santa Anna considered parts of Texas as part of Mexico and he was not about to part with it without a fight and the Texans were not going to settle for anything else other than total independence. During these losses for the Texans, Sam Houston had been training a small but fierce army. On this date, Sam unleashed his army against 2,000 of Santa Anna’s army southwest of what is now Houston, Texas near the San Jacinto River. The howling Texans came boiling out a forest onto the encamped Mexicans screaming “Remember Goliad” and “Remember the Alamo”. The Mexicans fought briefly and then ran like rabbits into the waist deep San Jacinto River where they were picked off unmercifully by the Texans. Among those Mexicans that surrendered and were not killed anyway was Santa Anna himself. He was brought before a malaria ridden Sam Houston and Sam said “I don’t want Santa Anna, I want Texas.” He then told Santa Anna to get his young ass back to Mexico and never come back and recognize Texas as an independent nation. Santa Anna agreed and went back to Mexico. The Texans drew up a constitution and elected Sam Houston as the President of Texas. They then petitioned the United States to become a state. The United States initially refused because Texas was a “slave holding” state and the acceptance of Texas into the Union would upset the balance of “slave” and “free” states. Texas remained essentially an independent nation until Santa Anna began to show his butt again and the Mexican War broke out in 1848. It took the American army crossing into Mexico and kicked Santa Anna’s ass in his own country to put an end to it. An official treaty was signed by Mexico and the US giving the US the contested part of Texas.

1838 On this date John Muir was born in Dunbar, Scotland. He and his family moved to a farm in central Wisconsin when he was just a child. At the time Wisconsin was on the American western frontier. He stayed with his family on the farm until he was 23 years old. He traveled the Midwest for several years. Muir had a mechanical and inventive mind. He was working in a wagon factory when he slipped and scratched his left cornea with a file he was holding. His right eye dimmed in sympathy and he was temporarily blinded. During this period of retrieving his sight, Muir re-thought his mission in life. After getting his sight back, he departed on a 1,000 mile hike to the American West. During his travels he came upon the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California and he was deeply moved. He knew then what his mission was the preservation of this pristine wilderness. He began studying transcendentalism as taught by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau saying that the wilderness is “a window open into heaven, a mirror reflecting the image of God”. He and several others formed the Sierra Club dedicated to preservation of wildernesses. He had his biggest fight when the issue of damming the river in the Hetch Hetchy canyon in Yosemite to provide water for San Francisco. In spite of Muir’s fight, the dam was built and exists to this day. Muir died in 1914 disappointed that he was unable to stop the dam but he lit a fire of wilderness stewardship that burns to this day.

Born today:

1828 French historian Hippolyte Taine. He said “I have made a study of philosophers and cats. Cats have wisdom that is infinitely superior.” They are also delicious, just joking.

1838 Scottish naturalist John Muir. He said “And surely God’s people, no matter how savage or serious, great or small, like to play. Elephants and whales, dancing, humming gnats, and invisibly small microbes, all are warm with divine radium and must have lots of fun in them.” Muir was one in million, y'all.

1958 US actress Andie McDowell. She said “In my next life I want to come back five foot, two inches with the finest ass and tits you have ever seen.” Andie is from Gaffney, SC and married her high school boyfriend about five years ago. As far as I know they are still together.

Died today:

1910 US writer Mark Twain. He said “Sometimes too much drink is barely enough”. Mark Twain is the hero of the most cynical of writers.

1924 English writer Marie Corelli. She said “No I never married. I never had to because I have three pets that serve the same purpose. I have a dog that growls all morning, a parrot that swears all afternoon and a cat that comes in late every night.”

Marie, that sounds a lot like my theory that a black Lab is better than a wife. They only eat once a day and will sleep outside if you want them to, will retrieve birds out of cold water and are eternally loyal. But if they do decide to run away from home it does not cost you half of everything you have ever owned.

         Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow