BenTha'er-Horizons

Worm Moon

Where did the name for the first full moon of spring come from?

Worm Moon - which is present on March 25, just before the big eclipse is present moving from the southwest across the Mid-West to the northeast.

What is a worm moon?
Earthworms might have been on the minds of the Colonial settlers or Native American tribesmen who bequeathed the entire calendar month (not just the full moon itself) this name. But another form of grub (not earthworms) may actually be the true originator of the moniker Full Worm Moon.
It was actually beetles, according to the
Farmer’s Almanac. The story goes, in the 1760s, the Colonial explorer from Massachusetts Captain Jonathan Carver met with the Naudowessie (Dakota) and other Native American tribes. He wrote that the name “Worm Moon” originated from beetle larvae which begin to emerge from the bark of thawing trees and other winter hideouts this time of year.
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What Is A Name

What is a name? My great-great-great grandparents moved from east Tennessee to Missouri and then on the Oregon Trail in 1853 here to the Willamette Valley of Oregon near Lebanon.
Their name was Powell, Joab and Anne, and they had 14 children, all who were living came with them to Oregon.
Yesterday I saw a description of the derivation of Powell. This is similar to family history information.

The Powell's surname is Welsh in origin, not Irish. It is derived from the Welsh name Hywel, with the Welsh prefix ap appended at the start in the same way Mac or O would be in other parts of the Celtic realm, indicating son of. The name Hywel means, we are told, something like eminent.
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Our Girls

The girls, Vada and Victoria, wanted a picture a few days ago taken with Grandma and PaPa.
They were hamming it up for the picture. They are growing up fast.

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Vasa Museum Sweden

Bob and I visited a fascinating museum when we visited Stockholm Sweden in 1997 on a travel trip from Stockholm over to Norway. We saw a lot of the countryside on the drive across.The food selection was better than Norway at that time in restaurants and not as expensive.
While in Stockholm we took a sightseeing boat around the harbor and at one stop went to see the Vasa Museum. The ship in the museum is enclosed in a large dark architectural building. When one enters, you get to see the story of how this ship was sunk in the harbor and raised to become part of the museum. One of the best places to visit I have been.
The following is a description in an article on different museums plus a photo of the museum on the right looking from the harbor.

A massive wooden warship might not seem like most people's first choice for a museum, but then again Sweden has never done things by the book. The Vasa Museum displays an almost fully-intact 17th-century ship, which sunk in 1628 and has since been salvaged. The museum was built around the ship, which stands on a dry dock. You can tour the ship and the accompanying exhibits that detail its history for an engaging and awe-inspiring experience.

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Vigelund Park Norway

I came across an article about unusual museums to consider visiting. Bob and I are good about visiting museums and getting "museum gout". This article had a short blurb about a park in Oslo Norway that is definitely an unusual place to visit. It is called Vigelund Park and I have several photos of a visit we made in the summer of 1993 visiting our Norwegian friends. The photo I will include in this post shows David at 13 years old and Scott at 10 years of age sitting on one of the statuary figures. The following info is from the article

One of the more bizarre museums of the world, the Vigeland Sculpture Park is an open-air park home to more than 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. It's one of Oslo's most-visited tourist destinations, and it's not difficult to understand why. The collection of bizarre statues includes naked human sculptures cast in bronze, iron and stone, and while some are depicted in traditional poses, there are quite a few engaged in weird scenarios, like hugging giant lizards and fighting flying babies. If the weather is sunny, make your way to this park to see humanity portrayed at its strangest.

Vigelund park statues copy
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Signs Rejuvenated

Scott and Olisha found a number of older signs on the property from prior times. They cleaned up and refurbished them to where the signs look closer to new. They certainly stand out. Scott took a photo of the signs placed on the new garden fence and can be seen as people come up the driveway. Background on each sign:

Thayer Copper Sign - was given to me by a cat owning client in Walnut Creek, CA who came to see me at Civic Feline Clinic. The nameplate he said came from the C.A. Thayer sailing ship located in the Alameda harbor. He had done work on the ship and acquired the sign. He gave it to me and we have had it located on our front deck here on Berlin Rd. since the new house was built.

Lansberry-Wolfenbarger "The Bonanza"- was a sign that was made and bought at the Oregon State Fair. It was the name of our 1 acre property and cabin located on Day Rd. In LaPine OR. This was a special getaway spot for my parents and maternal grandparents who bought the property and built the cabin. There was a lot of hunting and fishing recreation in that area.

V.L. Thayer, DVM - was a sign made for my first location at Civic Dr. for Civic Feline Clinic in Walnut Creek CA. The practice is still operating though on Broadway Dr. in Walnut Creek. It was a profitable and still is growing, active cat practice. I am so proud of what I did and it has become.
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No Tails For Us

It appears that scientists may have found a reason why humans and apes do not have tails yet monkeys do through evolutionary history. It is all in the DNA…
Here is
the story:

<NYU Grossman School of Medicine suggests that a genetic change in our ancient ancestors could partially explain why humans don’t have tails, unlike monkeys.
Recently published in the journal Nature, the work compared the DNA of tail-less apes and humans to that of tailed monkeys and found an insertion of DNA shared by apes and humans, but missing in monkeys. When the research team engineered a series of mice to examine whether the insertion, in a gene called TBXT, affected their tails, they found a variety of tail effects, including some mice born without tails.>>
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Monowi Memories

I often come across in travel info emails about Monowi, NE. It is a town with a population of one. We have visited there and my great-grandparents, grandparents, and mother lived not far from Monowi. They homesteaded the area in the 1890s.
From what I understand it was a small thriving community at one time with over 100 people living in the town. I have a photo where the population was listed as 6 in the 1980s when Mom and Gram went to visit.
One can stop at the Monowi Tavern and have a burger and a drink. I would not recommend using the bathroom facilities since they are pretty primitive and no plumbing.
I would love to come across any remaining relatives there but we shall see.
Here is a short blurb about Monowi in this article.
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Chalmette Battlefield Next

Another one of the six battlefields one can visit and we have is in Louisiana, just outside New Orleans…
Located downriver from New Orleans, Chalmette Battlefield was the site of the last great battle of the War of 1812, fought between the U.S. and Great Britain. Although the Treaty of Ghent was signed in late 1814, the war continued. On January 8, 1815, General Andrew Jackson assembled troops from across Louisiana and the southeastern U.S. to defeat the British military and prevent them from gaining control of a critical port on the Mississippi River. The Battle of New Orleans was hailed as the final victory in the “Second War of Independence,” and for decades it was celebrated as a national holiday, much like the Fourth of July. A visit to Chalmette Battlefield offers the chance to walk in the footsteps of General Jackson (who went on to become the seventh U.S. President) and his troops. It contains a reconstructed American rampart, an original home from the 1830s, and the stunning,100-foot-high Chalmette Monument. Delve further into the history of the battle site via films and exhibits at the visitor center, where you’ll find outdoor exhibits, self-guided tours, and daily ranger talks. Also of interest is Chalmette National Cemetery: Established during the Civil War in 1864, it shelters more than 14,000 graves of Americans, dating from the War of 1812 to the Vietnam War.
Chalmette Battlefield cemetary copy
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Six Must See Battlefields

While reading through a Daily Passport email, one of their story leads was about six must-see battlefields in the United States. We have visited all six at some point. I will start with the last one we visited last October, Shiloh Battlefield, located in southern Tennessee just over the Tennessee-Mississippi border. The largest loss of life in a battle in the U.S. and in some respects a draw between the Union and Rebel forces.

From the article:
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was one of the most significant battles in the Mississippi Valley Campaign of the Civil War. The Union’s victory on April 7, 1862, came at a high cost, resulting in more casualties than in all of America’s previous wars combined. Occupying over 5,000 acres, Shiloh National Military Park offers visitors the chance to discover several historic sites. These include the Corinth Battlefield Unit, which preserves the Siege and Battle of Corinth, and the Shiloh National Cemetery, the resting place of around 4,000 fallen soldiers. Also found here are the Shiloh Indian Mounds, an archeological remnant of the South Appalachian Mississippi culture that lived in the area around 1200 CE.  A great way to explore the park is by driving its 12.7-mile, 22-stop self-guided tour of the battlefield. Alternatively, visitors can hike along trails or ride a bicycle or e-bike around the paved roads. Whichever way you get around, you’ll get the chance to spot local wildlife, including 186 bird species, such as the majestic bald eagle and great-horned owl. 

Shiloh Battlefield sign
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