A few months ago, Patrick was on a business trip in California, (I think) and in his blog that he wrote while there, he mentioned reading a book about the Johnstown Flood. Memories of my father and his fascination with the Johnstown flood, stirred in my brain. When I was a very young girl, Dad would tell us stories about that devastating disaster. It had taken place in 1889 and neither Mother nor Dad had been born at the time. I told Pat that I was familiar with some of the aspects of the flood. He sent me a copy of the book written by David McCullough, the Social Historian. It is a facinating book and I would recommend it.
In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been rebuilt so that a lake could be created. The rich industrialists from that era wanted to take advantage of the beautiful lands in that area. Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Mellon were among the tycoons that developed the exclusive summer resort named the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. The earth dam was 850 feet across the top and 62 ft. high. It took 15 years to complete when it was first built. When the dam was purchased by the tycoons they did a lot of repair work on the structure. They stocked the lake with fish and planned to open up some of the surrounding area to deer hunters. (club members) They were advised to have the dam inspected time after time but did not heed the advise. Even Johnstown citizens voiced concern after a few years but were ignored. As you already know one of the most devastating disasters America has ever known happened. More than 2000 people killed and $17 billion in damages and as one of the book's chapter titles said, "Our misery is the work of man."
Fast forward to 2010.Harrington Lake is a 2,335-acre artificial lake located in Mercer, Garrard and Boyle counties in Kentucky, USA. The lake was created by Kentucky Utilities' damming of the Dix River in 1925 to gererate hydroelectric power. With a maximum depth of 249 ft. Herrington Lake is the deepest lake in Kentucky. Dix Dam;, the dam that made the lake, was the largest earth-filled dam in the world at the time , and considered to be a major engineering feat. The generating station at the dam is now mainly used for flood control uner control of the Army Corps of Engineers. Kentucky Utilities'main dispatch and communication center is located on the site.
In the March 3 Courier Journal, the mayor of Louisville made a statement about the possible purchase of LG&E by the city of Louisville or the state of Kentucky. He said officials will "explore every option...that would be in the best interests of the rate payers in Louisville and throughout the entire state."
e.On and KU are the present owners of LG&E. It is a German company. The mayor is being advised by a letter writer to the CJ that he and his advisors need to consult with the Kentucky Council for Dix Dam Safety, a "watchdog group" in Frankfort, KY prior to establishing any purchase considerations.
The KCDDS has been demanding for two years that e.On and KU prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that their E.W. Brown Power Station's poorly designed, 287 foot high, 1010 foot long Dix Dam at Herrington Lake is not in dangerous condition, due to insufficient maintenance and minimal regulatory oversight during its 85-year lifespan.
There is a possibility that the dam could fail at any given moment__especially when the Kentucky River is at dangerous floodlevels _ the cities of Frankfort and Danville, and tens of thousands of families and businesses throughout central Kentucky, that rely on Herrington Lake for their water supplies, would suffer immediate, severe, deadly and long-lasting consequences.
Rates should not necessarily be the primary concern when it comes to the E.W.Brown Station at Herrington Lake. Kentuckian lives and properties should be. I don't want my future progeny to be reading about the devestation caused by the failure of another faulty dam. Which is more important, low rates or death and destruction? Be sure you get your priorities in line.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
"Dia Duit" (jeea ditch) Good day, Hello
May you live to be a hundred with one extra year to repent! I've seen many a March in my life time and have celebrated many St. Patricks Days. It is always the high light of the month. It always comes during Lent, so it is a day of dispensation from all of the rigors of the Lenten season. Many a penitent of Lent looks forward to the day, not for the love of St. Pat, but for the hiatus from suffering'. (Real or imagined)
In 1845, 1846, 1848 the failure of the Irish potato crop due to potato blight, had disastrous consequences for the people of Ireland. Millions of people died of starvation and millions more decided to emigrate. Many areas of Ireland were decimated. Even today there are more sheep in Ireland than people. My Great Grandfather, Patrick Charters, born in County Cork, in the village of Buttvant County Ireland and my great Grandmother Catherine Ryan Charters born in County Limerick, Ireland left Ireland and came to America in 1854.
The railroads were just being built in America. at that time and the Irish emigrants were available for jobs. London, Ohio was the place they chose to join many other Irishmen. My mother's family also, came from Ireland and they settled in the farm lands surrounding London, Ohio. Most of the residents of London and the surrounding area were from Ireland. That is where I spent a great portion of my young life. I actually resided in Springfield but London was just 24 miles away.
The people in London were mostly first generation Irish and still used many of the expressions and voice inflections of our ancestors. My mother used words that were unfamiliar to most of my classmates in Springfield. She would accuse of of 'foostering' around instead of doing our chores. She would insist that we pick up the clothes or whatever that were 'strewn' around. The habit of ending most sentences with the phrase, 'don't ya know, and beginning sentences with, 'Sure and..." For example: Sure and begorrah, its going to be a hot one, don't ya know? My mother also used some of the Biblical pronouns; "Ye" was used instead of "you".
I hope all of you have a great St. Patricks Day. Maybe a little Irish Soda Bread, some colcannon or some boxty pancakes with some Yellow Man for dessert! ( I realize there are some among you who will insist on a Guinness or two. Ireland stout and whiskey are frequently used to enhance everything that is cooked. Ireland boasts the world's oldest licensed distillery. Bushmills in County Antrim was started in 1494 and became licenced in1608.
My St. Patrick's wish for you: Wishing you always:
Walls for the wind
And a roof for the rain
And tea beside the fire.
Laughter to cheer you.
And those you love, near you,
and all that your heart might desire.
"Slainthe is Saul Agat" Health and life to you !! Ciao
In 1845, 1846, 1848 the failure of the Irish potato crop due to potato blight, had disastrous consequences for the people of Ireland. Millions of people died of starvation and millions more decided to emigrate. Many areas of Ireland were decimated. Even today there are more sheep in Ireland than people. My Great Grandfather, Patrick Charters, born in County Cork, in the village of Buttvant County Ireland and my great Grandmother Catherine Ryan Charters born in County Limerick, Ireland left Ireland and came to America in 1854.
The railroads were just being built in America. at that time and the Irish emigrants were available for jobs. London, Ohio was the place they chose to join many other Irishmen. My mother's family also, came from Ireland and they settled in the farm lands surrounding London, Ohio. Most of the residents of London and the surrounding area were from Ireland. That is where I spent a great portion of my young life. I actually resided in Springfield but London was just 24 miles away.
The people in London were mostly first generation Irish and still used many of the expressions and voice inflections of our ancestors. My mother used words that were unfamiliar to most of my classmates in Springfield. She would accuse of of 'foostering' around instead of doing our chores. She would insist that we pick up the clothes or whatever that were 'strewn' around. The habit of ending most sentences with the phrase, 'don't ya know, and beginning sentences with, 'Sure and..." For example: Sure and begorrah, its going to be a hot one, don't ya know? My mother also used some of the Biblical pronouns; "Ye" was used instead of "you".
I hope all of you have a great St. Patricks Day. Maybe a little Irish Soda Bread, some colcannon or some boxty pancakes with some Yellow Man for dessert! ( I realize there are some among you who will insist on a Guinness or two. Ireland stout and whiskey are frequently used to enhance everything that is cooked. Ireland boasts the world's oldest licensed distillery. Bushmills in County Antrim was started in 1494 and became licenced in1608.
My St. Patrick's wish for you: Wishing you always:
Walls for the wind
And a roof for the rain
And tea beside the fire.
Laughter to cheer you.
And those you love, near you,
and all that your heart might desire.
"Slainthe is Saul Agat" Health and life to you !! Ciao
Sunday, February 21, 2010
A Living Language
I have a great interest in Language. When I was about ten or eleven years old I decided I would like to increase my vocabulary so each day when I got home from school I would spend ten or twenty minutes with the dictionary. I would randomly choose a page and then with my eyes closed I would point out a word on the page. If the word was new to me, I would memorize the definition and pay close attention to the pronunciation. I repeated this two more times so that I had three new words each day. I would try to use the word in conversation with my family, but that didn't always come to pass, so I would use the words in school with the nuns. I loved to use words that they didn't know, I think in many cases we were both becoming educated. When it came to vocab tests on the "State of Ohio Every Pupil Tests" I was a whiz.
When I went to high school, we had to take Latin as one of our subjects, no one was exempt. From 'amo,amas,amat to translating Caesar, we all studied Latin! Almost every Latin text book had this opinion written in it," Latin is a dead language, as dead as it can be, first it killed the Romans and now it's killing me." I survived it, but not with out struggles. When I was in Rome, Italy a few years ago and walked up the stone paved embankment that Caesar trod to get to the Forum on that fateful ides of March day in Ancient Rome, I wished I had paid more attention during those high school days. A large percentage of our language (English) is derived from the Latin.
I have spent many years studying and teaching Linguistics. Linguistics is the science of language, including phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. When I was introduced to one class as a teacher of Linguistics, one of my students went home and told her parents that she had a new teacher and she was going to teach them about linguine.
English has more words than any other language. The word smiths estimate that there are more than a million words in the English language at this time. That's more than two or three European countries' languages put together. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English did not exist. When Shakespeare wrote his plays nearly a thousand years later, at the end of the sixteenth century, English was the native speech of between five and seven million Englishmen.There were fewer than 50,000 words at that time. Since the first people that landed at Plymouth Rock and established colonies there, were English, it became the language of our country as well.
When you speak English, you speak words from many different languages. Our language is often referred to as a polyglot of languages. It is thought that practically every language of the world has contributed something to English. Latin derivatives are of course the most common and can probably account for about 80% of our words but many of our everyday words are derived from the Greek, French, Native American, Spanish, German, Italian, African, Czech, Chinese, and Japanese to name just a few.
The first Anglo-Saxons were illiterate. The present generation of English users have more ways to write and record it than ever before. But alas! I am very concerned about the careless use and abuse of the language that is taking place today. The world of technology has ushered in an abomination of language usage. Grammar is totally ignored by many of the Tweeters, and Face Bookers, correct spelling has fallen by the wayside. We have over a million words, as I stated earlier, but we are reduced to using the symbol of a heart to express our love, emoticons to express our feelings, and abbreviated wrds to x-prs r thts. Oh,my.
We talk, write ,and discuss at length, the progress of our students and the quality of education they are getting. We've spent millions on testing materials through the years to make our judgements, but the students still say,"Me and him... Him and her... 'should have went... we are done... vee-hick-el... his pit-cher is in the paper...we was... How could our children spend 12 years in schools and not be able to speak grammatically correct sentences? Is English becoming a dead language? Are our kids killing English or is English killing our kids?
What is the future of the English Language? Do the changes in the English Language among the young, mean corruption and deterioration of the language? Will we still have those among us that can weave some of the million words, that we have to choose from, into lasting works of poetry, and writings that inspire, soothe, comfort, amuse ,entertain, or teach us? I hope the changes in language can revitalize it while helping us keep the beauty of the words that we now enjoy.Ciao.
ciao
When I went to high school, we had to take Latin as one of our subjects, no one was exempt. From 'amo,amas,amat to translating Caesar, we all studied Latin! Almost every Latin text book had this opinion written in it," Latin is a dead language, as dead as it can be, first it killed the Romans and now it's killing me." I survived it, but not with out struggles. When I was in Rome, Italy a few years ago and walked up the stone paved embankment that Caesar trod to get to the Forum on that fateful ides of March day in Ancient Rome, I wished I had paid more attention during those high school days. A large percentage of our language (English) is derived from the Latin.
I have spent many years studying and teaching Linguistics. Linguistics is the science of language, including phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. When I was introduced to one class as a teacher of Linguistics, one of my students went home and told her parents that she had a new teacher and she was going to teach them about linguine.
English has more words than any other language. The word smiths estimate that there are more than a million words in the English language at this time. That's more than two or three European countries' languages put together. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English did not exist. When Shakespeare wrote his plays nearly a thousand years later, at the end of the sixteenth century, English was the native speech of between five and seven million Englishmen.There were fewer than 50,000 words at that time. Since the first people that landed at Plymouth Rock and established colonies there, were English, it became the language of our country as well.
When you speak English, you speak words from many different languages. Our language is often referred to as a polyglot of languages. It is thought that practically every language of the world has contributed something to English. Latin derivatives are of course the most common and can probably account for about 80% of our words but many of our everyday words are derived from the Greek, French, Native American, Spanish, German, Italian, African, Czech, Chinese, and Japanese to name just a few.
The first Anglo-Saxons were illiterate. The present generation of English users have more ways to write and record it than ever before. But alas! I am very concerned about the careless use and abuse of the language that is taking place today. The world of technology has ushered in an abomination of language usage. Grammar is totally ignored by many of the Tweeters, and Face Bookers, correct spelling has fallen by the wayside. We have over a million words, as I stated earlier, but we are reduced to using the symbol of a heart to express our love, emoticons to express our feelings, and abbreviated wrds to x-prs r thts. Oh,my.
We talk, write ,and discuss at length, the progress of our students and the quality of education they are getting. We've spent millions on testing materials through the years to make our judgements, but the students still say,"Me and him... Him and her... 'should have went... we are done... vee-hick-el... his pit-cher is in the paper...we was... How could our children spend 12 years in schools and not be able to speak grammatically correct sentences? Is English becoming a dead language? Are our kids killing English or is English killing our kids?
What is the future of the English Language? Do the changes in the English Language among the young, mean corruption and deterioration of the language? Will we still have those among us that can weave some of the million words, that we have to choose from, into lasting works of poetry, and writings that inspire, soothe, comfort, amuse ,entertain, or teach us? I hope the changes in language can revitalize it while helping us keep the beauty of the words that we now enjoy.Ciao.
ciao
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Six Pack of Snow
It seems like ancient history now, but fifty-six years ago when we moved here from Springfield, Ohio. As the movers were bringing our possessions into the house they stopped to ask me where they should put the Flexible Flyer sled and the two sets of skis. They laughed and advised me to put them in the crawl space or attic. They assured me we would not be needing these items here in Louisville. They went on to talk about the scarcity of snow in this part of the country! While the six kids were growing up we did, in fact, have little use for our skis and sleds. It was not that we didn't have any snow, it was just that we didn't have enough to warrent waxing the skis and dragging out the Flexible Flyer.
Doc worked from three in the afternoon until eleven or twelve at night so he stayed up late and slept late in the morning. I used to kid him about the fact that he never got to see the snows we had because they usually just covered the grass, not the streets and usually melted by nine or ten in the morning. Gone by the time he awakened.
During the first year that we lived here, I sent the kids out to get the bus to go to St. Pius to school ( St. Martha had not been built yet) and Marie Chanbers called me up and said,"I see your kids out waiting for the school bus. Didn't you know they don't go to school today?" "Why?" I asked.
"Because of the snow!" she said.
We had maybe,2/10 ths of an inch!! I was astounded. Everything shut down because of the few flakes of snow!
Now, I'm not saying it has been quite that bad for the last fifty years but things really changed big time this year! I* heard on the news that Louisville had had five inches over the normal amount for February and it is only the 14th. day of the month.
The city has really learned how to deal with snow . Now for a day or two in advance they spray the streets with brine and inform all city employees that are part of the snow crew to be prepared to work 12 hours on and 12 hours off. They have the city streets and highways covered 24 hours a day. I was awakened at 3:30 AM by the snow plow going up and down Mamaroneck Rd. By 8AM the street was covered again so they were back. I must say they have done a good job.
Nevertheless, it is rather hard to navigate the roads and side walks and approaches to buildings and places because of the icy patches that somehow or other escape the salt and brine. I, personally love the snow. I love how it cleans up the landscape. Everything looks so pristine, all the dirt and grime of the city is blanketed with its fluffy white cover of snow and it takes on new characteristics. It seems so peaceful and soft. I can remember as a young girl walking to church, before dawn, in the early morning after an overnight snow fall. You could listen to the silence and feel the feathery touch of the snow flakes on your eyelashes and the soft cushion of snow under your booted feet. I always felt safe under the comforting blanket of snow on the trees and shrubs.
We had to go to school, weather or not, there were no school buses and so we all walked. The recesses on the snowy days were fabulous. We made slides that we would line up and run and slide on.We played a game called fox and geese. Somewhat like duck, duck goose except we made a large circle in the snow with cross roads in it and the game of chase was great fun because you had to stay on the tracks. We were forbidden to throw snow balls on the playground so we saved that activity for after school play at home. We chose up teams and built snow forts and had snow ball fights, we had our home made slides there too. Those were the days, my friends!
Louisville has adapted to the snow pretty well this year. This winter does remind me of the winters in Ohio because the snow hasn't melted within 24 hours of falling. It has stayed put and more snow has fallen. I think this is the sixth snowfall we have had since the 1st of February. The railings of the deck have about 8 or 10 inches of snow piled up on them. I have tried to keep the bird feeder filled because of course the birds have nothing to eat. A large variety of birds have come to the feeder because the rural areas have so much snow that the birds come into the city to visit the backyard feeders. We've even had a hawk! I have a bird book and I record the visits of the unusual visitors. It's very entertaining for me.
Long will be remembered the Winter of 2010. ciao
Doc worked from three in the afternoon until eleven or twelve at night so he stayed up late and slept late in the morning. I used to kid him about the fact that he never got to see the snows we had because they usually just covered the grass, not the streets and usually melted by nine or ten in the morning. Gone by the time he awakened.
During the first year that we lived here, I sent the kids out to get the bus to go to St. Pius to school ( St. Martha had not been built yet) and Marie Chanbers called me up and said,"I see your kids out waiting for the school bus. Didn't you know they don't go to school today?" "Why?" I asked.
"Because of the snow!" she said.
We had maybe,2/10 ths of an inch!! I was astounded. Everything shut down because of the few flakes of snow!
Now, I'm not saying it has been quite that bad for the last fifty years but things really changed big time this year! I* heard on the news that Louisville had had five inches over the normal amount for February and it is only the 14th. day of the month.
The city has really learned how to deal with snow . Now for a day or two in advance they spray the streets with brine and inform all city employees that are part of the snow crew to be prepared to work 12 hours on and 12 hours off. They have the city streets and highways covered 24 hours a day. I was awakened at 3:30 AM by the snow plow going up and down Mamaroneck Rd. By 8AM the street was covered again so they were back. I must say they have done a good job.
Nevertheless, it is rather hard to navigate the roads and side walks and approaches to buildings and places because of the icy patches that somehow or other escape the salt and brine. I, personally love the snow. I love how it cleans up the landscape. Everything looks so pristine, all the dirt and grime of the city is blanketed with its fluffy white cover of snow and it takes on new characteristics. It seems so peaceful and soft. I can remember as a young girl walking to church, before dawn, in the early morning after an overnight snow fall. You could listen to the silence and feel the feathery touch of the snow flakes on your eyelashes and the soft cushion of snow under your booted feet. I always felt safe under the comforting blanket of snow on the trees and shrubs.
We had to go to school, weather or not, there were no school buses and so we all walked. The recesses on the snowy days were fabulous. We made slides that we would line up and run and slide on.We played a game called fox and geese. Somewhat like duck, duck goose except we made a large circle in the snow with cross roads in it and the game of chase was great fun because you had to stay on the tracks. We were forbidden to throw snow balls on the playground so we saved that activity for after school play at home. We chose up teams and built snow forts and had snow ball fights, we had our home made slides there too. Those were the days, my friends!
Louisville has adapted to the snow pretty well this year. This winter does remind me of the winters in Ohio because the snow hasn't melted within 24 hours of falling. It has stayed put and more snow has fallen. I think this is the sixth snowfall we have had since the 1st of February. The railings of the deck have about 8 or 10 inches of snow piled up on them. I have tried to keep the bird feeder filled because of course the birds have nothing to eat. A large variety of birds have come to the feeder because the rural areas have so much snow that the birds come into the city to visit the backyard feeders. We've even had a hawk! I have a bird book and I record the visits of the unusual visitors. It's very entertaining for me.
Long will be remembered the Winter of 2010. ciao
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Don't tell me you can't teach an old dog new tricks! I finally looked long and hard at the picture that I uploaded and said to myself, "Self, you're supposed to use a flash." You must bear in mind that I had Versed yesterday when I had a procedure done at the hospital and it is some times referred to as Milk of Amnesia. Obviously I was having an amnesia moment when I uploaded that picture. NOW you can see the lovely lavender blooms and the purple leaves. See the Hippporock there in the corner of the table? That in reality, is a beach rock. I picked it up, one day, as I was walking the beach at Garden City, S.C. It looked so much like a hippopotomus that I lugged it around for the rest of my stroll and brought it home to join my numerous other hippos. Cool, right? My hippposham no longer has to hang his/her head in shame. Summer will be such joy. Ciao
The Snows of Louisville
I thought it was time to give an update on my 'Hipposham" You may remember how sad and dejected it looked when I last published its picture, but you can now see how well it is doing and how invigorating the Snows of Louisville can be! Lovely lavender blooms and added purple leaves for all to see! I know it will go on to be one of the show pieces of my large Shamrock garden that lives on my deck during the hot and humid days of summer.
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