On Sibling Rivalry and the Neglected History of an Amazing People

I bike past the Fort Meigs Museum and Fort Meigs proper every day so decided it was time to stop in and check the place out. Interestingly this fort was built for the sole purpose of providing logistics support to U.S. armies invading Canada during the war of 1812. 

Needless to say, that perked my interest. As many Canadians and Americans know, back in the early 1800’s Canada was still essentially a British colony, and the 1700s and 1800s were years filled with war and strife on this continent in addition to the great opportunities and growth. The European super-powers of the day, namely France and England, duked it out over sovereignty of our great continen, while the First Nations tried to hold on to their lands and way of life. 

The Great War on Independence that ran from 1775 to 1783 was actually one of the first world wars because it involved Spain, France, the Netherlands as well as England and the U.S. While it did result in the world acknowledging the United States of America as an independent sovereign power, the skirmishing didn’t really end until much later in the 1800’s. Hence the needs to build Fort Meigs as the British were still coming down the Maumee River from the Great Lakes and Canada to capture or

recapture territories.

The fort itself was an amazing structure for its time and a good lesson in warfare tactics of the day. It had seven of what they called blockhouses. A blockhouse is a structure with very dense walls (approximately 2 feet deep) that would withstand being shot at by some of the strongest artillery of the day—namely 18 pound cannon balls. Each housed a cannon on the first floor and had several openings for muskets on the second floor.

The Ohio Historical Society has done an amazing job of restoring the fort and many of the artifacts in the museum were excavated right on the site. The land surrounding the fort had been cleared of all trees so that no one could approach the fort without being fully exposed. As it was the fort was never taken, though the British did try on several occasions. As I mentioned previously, its main purpose was to provide logistics support to troops and militia invading Canada. Ohio consisted of mostly swamp land back then, so provisioning the fort and stocking it to support the US armies going north was no easy feat. The military and merchants alike had to pass through swamp lands approximately 40 miles long and 120 miles wide.

I think the thing that really touched me in a meaningful way about my visit to the museum was the stories about the First Nations, who were really lost so much during this tumultuous time. In history class we never really learn about these great leaders of such strong and proud people. Nor do we learn about how the First Nations tried to reason with the Europeans, who never honored their agreements and eventually ended up fighting for their very lives. The Great War between the First Nations and the American settlers didn’t last for just  a few years or so as was the case with the War of Independence or the War of 1812 (for which Fort Meigs was built). No, they fought for more than three generations – more than 60 years.  Yet still we learn so little about them in our traditional education systems. Maybe we are ashamed, maybe not. Regardless, I would like to wrap up this post by giving a small shout out few great First Nations leaders and warriors of that era:

Tenskwatawa: (March 1768 – November 1836) A great political and religious leader of the Shawnee Tribe known as “The Profit.”

Tecumseh:  (March 1768 – October 5, 1813) Brother of Tenskwatawa and actual leader of the Shawnee Tribe who tried to work with the Americans to bring about peaceful resolutions to the 60 year conflict. Unfortunately the Americans would not enforce or honor their agreements with the Shawnee and settlers continued to encroach on the Shawnee lands not matter often the Shawnee moved or how much land they gave over to the United States of America.

Catahecssa: Also known as Black Hoof was another principal chief of the Shawnee people who supported peace and believed that the First Nations would not win the war against the Americans. Under his guidance, his people adopted modern agriculture and established a saw mill.

I love you: Three little words to use with caution

Three little words that have been the subject of thousands of poems, scientific studies, movies, etc., etc. From long before the troubadours, through the renaissance and Shakespearean era, into the modernist then contemporary, and post-modern ages of culture and society and on into today’s digital era, human beings have been preoccupied with these three little words—at times to the exclusion of all else. A quick Google (in quotes) yields over 500 million returns. Try Googling “the science of love” and you will get over 1.5 billion returns. We pine over it, talk about it, write about it, sing about, and on and on. 

So today, I won’t bore you with more pedantic platitudes on the topic, but do want to write about a simpler notion of these three little words. That is the many forms and meanings that people in the North American culture attribute to them. 

We are all familiar with the troubadour-style, “I love you with all my heart and soul, would gouge out my heart with a spoon for you, jump in front of a train for you, need you with every cell of my entire being, can’t live without” meaning of “I love you.” You know the meaning, it is the one that we often see in movies, on soap operas, or read in great romance novels. 

However, what about multitude of other forms? For example there is the, you’re an idiot, but I love you anyway, form of “I love you.” Or what about the awe you really are so darn cute right now, form of “I love you.” And what about the, you are being annoying as hell right now and you are lucky that I put up with you, “I love you.” 

Of course there are the lusty forms. There is the fuck me, fuck me now and do it good form of “I love you.” There is the ooh that was fast, but I love you anyway form of “I love you.” And don’t forget the one that no-one of really likes to hear, the yes I love you but I need space form of “I love you.”

Lately I find myself saying the I understand you not one little bit, but seem to be preoccupied with thoughts of who the hell is this guy anyway form of “I love you.” Hmmm, maybe that one is the natural cultural divide between two nations, ethnicities, cultures, general human experiences and I am just over thinking the whole darn thing. 

Regardless, there are many many other forms of “I love you.” As anyone reading this post will know, too many to list them all here. There are a few more, however, that do beg to be mentioned. There is the, that was the most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me form of “I love you.” Don’t forget the I am so sorry that I hurt your feelings and am so darn thankful that you are a forgiving soul form of “I love you.” There is the isn’t it cool that we can just sit comfortably and quietly beside one another and not have to say a single word form of “I love you.” And even the I know that was the corniest joke I have ever said out loud and thank you for laughing form of “I love you.” 

All of that said, whatever the form of “I love you” that you happen to be saying today do remember that with those three words, comes great responsibility. To express feelings of love for someone in any form creates expectations of safety, value, and care within the recipient. When we hear these three little words we allow ourselves to be vulnerable in ways that we would not do otherwise. So all of the romanticizing, philosophizing, poking fun at and scientific studying aside, remember that these three little words – I love you—are also the most powerful words in the English language. So, when it comes to these three little words, use with caution!

Ride to Work

It seems that lately I have just been hanging around with not much to write about. So this week, I thought I would share a short photo journal of my ride to work each morning and back. It is aproximately 15.75 kilometers (8.5 miles for my American Friends) and takes me between 45 and 50 minutes each way. Here goes:





My Bike





My Gear



 

Farm House



Eckle Junction School

Fort Meigs Drive (leads to Fort Meigs)

Fort Meigs Museum

Fort Meigs

Fort Meigs Cemetary

Maumee River

Conant Street Bridge

Entrance to the River Trails

River Trails

River Trail Residents

The Hill

Last of the nice parts

Dangerous Part

Last of the Dangerous Parts

Final Destination Ivy Bridge College

South Park and Broadway

And what exactly does South Park have in common with one of the best Broadway musicals of the decade? Trey Parker and Matt Stone, that’s what.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone partnered with Robert Lopez to write the Book of Mormon, the Broadway Musical, The Book of Mormon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Mormon_(musical)). This play is spectacular and intelligently hilarious. In true South Park style Parker and Stone don’t shy away from highly controversial subjects framed in side wrenching satire.  

You wouldn’t think it but seeing the South Park humor acted out by actual real life humans, as opposed to round silly drawings in a cartoon, was actually more surreal than the cartoon. The actors did an amazing job of bringing that cartoon animation type element to the live performance—something that added a level of intensity to the characters that is rare in live performances.

The thing that I really loved about the play was how the writers wove so many “stranger than fiction” types of realities into the story. For example, there was one line where according to the Book of Mormon, black people became people that could be saved by Jesus in 1976. This also happened to be the year that the state of Kentucky signed the Proclamation of Emancipation that declared African Americans were not only free, but persons (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/transcript.html).

The actual Book of Mormon really does just ask to be poked fun at because the book itself is so filled with moronic ironies. This made it perfect material for a satire of this sort. After all, their founder got his messages from a hat, which the play didn’t even touch on. Nor did it go anywhere near the special underwear. They also steered clear of the polygamy issues. But really why are all the modern religions about polygamy instead of polyandry. Why?Why?

Mormonism and all of its oddities aside, it was a lovely play and a lovely day. I went with my dear friend Judith Murray. It was performed at the Palace Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio. Just seeing the theatre itself was worth the trip! Built in the 1920’s this theatre really embodies all the glamour of that era. Ms. Murray and I immediately began snapping up the pictures you see here until some nice usher-type person, told us that everything in the theatre was copyrighted and we had to stop. It was really too late by then. 

The drive down was uneventful. The drive back we outran a major storm – not a tornado this time, but a real torrential down pour, which finally caught up with us shortly after we arrived home.  Regardless of the weather, the elegance of the theatre, the engrossing satire and surrealness of the play, all made for a wonderful day. However, I really can’t shake this absence of polyandry in our modern world.

Is It a Warning or a Watch?

Who cares, both are scary situations!

If you are in a watch situation it means that there are severe weather conditions, such as exceptionally strong winds, rains, lightning and thunder, or even hail. Winds that are strong enough to start a tornado, which is incredibly strong.  Watch warnings are issued by the National Weather Services (http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/the-difference-between-tornado/61817).

The really scary situation, however, is the “Warning”. A Warning is a tornado event that is happening NOW! It is accompanied by tornado alarms that sound like train whistles and large buzzing warnings that come over your television set. These override any currently active programming and are followed by, “this is a tornado warning, take cover now!” A warning happens when a tornado is happening in your area.

Last Thursday, when the tornado blew through Perrysburg (incidentally where I live) it wasn’t the train whistle-like sirens that originally woke me around midnight, but rather a text message from my dear friend Ms. Murray that said, “take cover, there is a tornado Warning.” The lightening had woken her and caused her to turn on the television where she heard the warning alert. Being a prudent woman, by the time she texted me, she was already safely ensconced in the inner-most room of her suite (a few apartments over and two floors down from mine), which just so happened to be the bathroom (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/13/1215839/-PARTICULARLY-DANGEROUS-SITUATION-Powerful-Derecho-Tearing-into-Ohio-LIVEBLOG#).

Once awakened however, I quickly got out of bed and went to look out of the window—apparently that is something you shouldn’t do during a tornado. I could hear the alarms going off, but I still hadn’t clued in to the fact that they were tornado alarms. The sky was lit up like daylight, and rains were a torrent, Of course, being ignorant of the protocols, I watched the windstorm as it wrapped itself around the apartment complex. The winds were so strong it looked like they could rip the trees right out of the ground.

The internet was still working so I Googled tornado alerts and discovered there was a “watch” and a “warning,” which I have already explained above.  So, I texted Ms. Murray back and asked, “is it a watch or a warning,” to which she replied (still ensconced in her bathroom), “warning.” At that point I will admit that I was becoming somewhat concerned, because a warning means your are either in a tornado or directly in its path.  I went into the bathroom, my innermost room, and sat on the toilet for about five minutes. Then it occurred to me that my apartment happens to be on the third floor of a not that well-built building.  If a tornado was actually coming, being in the bathroom probably wasn’t going to offer me that much protection. So, I went back out to the bedroom and resolved to watch it through the bedroom windows.

It is probably obvious to anyone reading this blog, that I did indeed survive the tornado. It was a little bit scary, but I am no worse for wear. The next morning on my bike ride to work,  I did see a lot of stuff scattered and strewn across roads and in gulley’s and had to get off my bike and lift it over deadfall a couple of times. However, all of the ado aside, what really surprised me was that there wasn’t just one tornado that night, but five tornadoes. Thankfully none were too severe like some of the others that have happened in this area this year (http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2013/06/14/at-least-5-tornadoes-touched-down-in-ohio-during-this-weeks-storms/).

Ode to Rapids that are Grand!

Are these rapids really grand? 

 
Perhaps I am a bit biased. I come from the mountainous region of the Pacific Northwest in British Columbia where rapids are considered dangerous and potentially lethal. Of course these do attract a certain population of folks I like to call adrenalin junkies who embark on crazy adventures such as whitewater rafting (http://interiorwhitewater.com/).

However, here in Ohio there are no mountains, not even any large hills. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when I saw several young people slide down the levy into the relatively calm Maumee River below out at the Grand Rapids Park!

Now all of that said, I would like to go the record as saying that spending the day out at Grand Rapids Ohio is a perfectly delightful way to spend an afternoon as long as you aren’t looking to find any actual grandly sort of rapids. Considered one of Ohio’s best historical villages Grand Rapids (http://www.grandrapidsohio.com/) is a beautiful and quaint little place just outside of Perrysburg located on the scenic River Road along the Maumee River.

I had the good fortune of spending the afternoon there on Sunday with the Murrays/McPhersons. We started with a short walk down the main street to see what the place was about, then quickly settled in to the back patio at La Roes restaurant for lunch (http://laroesrestaurant.com/). The food was amazing and plentiful. I had the signature snapping turtle soup while my travelling companions ate salad and yam fries, both of which were also delicious. The view of the river from the patio was splendid.

We then proceeded to meander our way through the boutiques and antique shops for the next couple of hours. The antique shops were packed to the point of clutter, like good antique shops should be, and filled with some amazing treasures.  One even sported a Salvador Dali print and a Berthold Bogner oil painting. There was also exquisitely hand crafted jewelry and local honey.

The buildings were beautiful with a complex mix of old architectures that reflect the multi-dimensional heritage of the United States. Finally, there was a beautiful park behind the main street and along the river complete with swinging park benches—perfect for a blanket and a bottle of wine.

So, if you are the low-key adventuresome type looking for a nice relaxing way to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, I highly recommend the little village of Grand Rapids Ohio. But, if you are looking for something with a little more kick, you’ll need to venture north to find real rapids of a grandish nature.

Notice anything wrong with this picture?

Now before I go any further with this post, I want to say that this cup was a gift from a person who is very special to me. He probably picked it up at one of the many Icelandic tourist shops in down town Reykjavik or even as a last minute gift from the airport. It’s the thought that counts, right?

Also, I love this cup. I brought it with me to the United States and I use it often. After using this cup for a few years now, I happened to notice something the other day. Can you see it?

I will bet good money that many of my Icelandic friends noticed it right away.

Here take a closer look.

Now you get it. Iceland doesn’t have polar bears. In fact the last polar bear that happened to make his way over to the beautiful island was promptly shot (http://www.grapevine.is/Features/ReadArticle/ICELANDS-POLAR-BEAR-POLICY)!  It is true. In fact, until 2008, it had been decades since a polar bear had shown up on the Icelandic shores  (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1024243/First-polar-bear-swim-Iceland-15-years-shot-dead-police-sightseers.html). This poor beast was shot right in front of a group of tourists.

Now don’t let that put you off of Iceland and that isn’t the point of this post. First, Iceland is a beautiful and amazing country filled with beautiful, brilliant, and strong people. The point is that this cup was a tourist artifact schlepped off onto my unsuspecting friend. I have looked and looked to try and find out where the thing was made, but can find no indications other than “Drifa EHF Original Design.” The EHF denotes a legal business entity of some sort. So the thing was definitely designed in Iceland, if not made there. No doubt the artist had a good laugh as he or she added to polar bear to the cup’s many other significant Icelandic facts. All of which are correct just in case you are wondering. Did I also happen to mention that Icelanders have a great sense of humor?

The polar bear faux pa did get me wondering about how many other tourist trinkets we ignorant pilgrim want-to-be types get hooked for. I know I spent a small fortune on a Gucci bag for my daughter in Venice only to find out a year or so later it was a knock off! I also know that since I have been south of the border here I have done a lot of touristing and am hoping I haven’t been taken advantage of too badly in any of these events. In the end I guess it doesn’t really matter. As long as you enjoy the tourist experience you’ve had who care about the trinkets. Most are pure garbage that do little more than clutter up space anyway. However I will say that even after my little polar bear discovery, I still love my cup and use it almost every day!