Homonym Noun: Words that have the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings. Example one: “A pair of pears.” Example two: “The hot (stolen) jewelry looked hot (very nice) in the hot (temperature) sun.” One of the most commonly mistaken homonyms is: there, they’re and their. The photo with the printing demonstrates my new skill set.
“If you want to know America–if you want to see it for what it was and what it is–you need to look at Indian history and at the Indian present.” “It has always bothered me that the very idea of paying attention to or knowing Indian history is tinged with the soft compassion of the do-gooder, as a kind of voluntary public service.” David Treuer in The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee Both of these quotes are from the epilogue of this very good book. Can… Read More »Do-Gooders
On June 2, 1924 American Indians were granted full citizenship by an act of the US Congress.It wasn’t until 1948 that Arizona allowed Indians to vote. From The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer An embarrassed “no comment” is all I can muster. For 24 years Arizona delayed and obfuscated. Shame. The question we need to ask is: What are we doing today that a hundred years from now will appear so awful? The photo is of some petroglyphs on Shaw Butte in north… Read More »Shame on Arizona
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer If you care about fairness and justice this is a disturbing book. It is also a book about hope. The Native Americans were totally defeated by 1900 their number were down to about 300,000 people. Now 120 years later there are over 3 million Native Americans and they have lots of success stories. The book includes a very good short history of the Native American experience. It is eye opening. That story about deliberately spreading smallpox did… Read More »Worth Reading
Senescence Noun: The natural changes in a cells ability to reproduce. Aging is one form of senescence. Example: “Wrinkles are a form of age related senescence in all humans.” The photo is a detail of the mural by Thomas Breeze Marcus at S’edav Va’aki Museum. If you look at the white bracelet it appears to be three dimensional. It is not. It’s just the way Breeze did the shading behind it. Very cool. See the entire mural here.
“Like all other large bodies, where there is a variety of different interests to reconcile, their deliberations are slow.“ George Washington, 1783 During the winter of 1783 Congress was dithering and the Continental Army was starving. A seditious letter was circulated at Newburgh and Washington made a speech, which included the line above, to quell the potential rebellion. He succeeded and that summer Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. Our government has always been slow and it has often been wrong but eventually it does the right… Read More »Congress Moves
The cost of helping Ukraine now is very low when compared with the cost of dealing with Russia if it is allowed to conquer Ukraine. President Zelensky visits Cave Creek, AZ.
In Cornwall, England they find iron age stones very similar to the stone donuts found in the Hohokam ruins around the Salt River. The royal Museum of Cornwall has identified them as loom weights. The purpose of the stone donuts in the Southwest have not yet been identified. There are a lot of stone donuts at S’edev Va’aki Museum. Some are grooved and some are more bagel like. At the beginning of this month they were taken out of the artifact carts because they might… Read More »Stone Donuts
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Nelson Mandela Photo credit to Tom Burrow. Phoenix from a tall building is the sunset capital of the world during the winter.
Omniscient Adjective: Knowing everything. Example: “To the third graders the tour guide appeared omniscient.” Photo is of a very small Inukshuk I built while at a beautiful vineyard in Sebastapol, CA for a wine tasting.