There are many ways to celebrate and honor the true purpose of Memorial Day in the Los Angeles area. I suggest a simple drive to reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day. Drive Sepulveda Boulevard between Ventura and Wilshire. This short drive passes three important landmarks.
Los Angeles National Cemetary: On Memorial Day, flags are placed on every grave site. Veterans have been buried here from 1889 to 1973. There is no better place to reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day.
The Getty Center: One of the foundations of American Culture is to give to the greater good. What the Getty Foundation started and has developed is one of the great art institutions in the world. American Military sacrifices have been made to protect American Culture and way of life.
Skirball Cultural Center: Not only is the Skirball a major cultural institution in Los Angeles, it has the primary goal to focus on Jewish Culture and History. American involvement in World War II helped prevent further horrors of the Holocaust.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
1945 National Geographic--Borneo Housewife
I came across this interesting book, Mark Jenkins, editor, Worlds to Explore: Classic Tales of Travel & Adventure from National Geographic (Washington, National Geographic Society, 2006). It is a collection of articles in National Geographic Magazine, including Theodore Roosevelt on Africa in 1911, Edmund Hillary on Everest in 1954, and Anne Morrow Lindbergh on North Atlantic Flight in 1934, among other adventurers.
One article that caught my attention immediate was "Keeping House in Borneo" by Virginia Hamilton (a.k.a. Mrs. Gerrit Middelberg) in September 1945. She gives a great account of living in Borneo by someone who lived there full time. The beauty and challenges of the wildlife as well as the diversity of the plants.
One quote caused me to laugh: "Four inch centipedes were at home in the dampness under potted plants, making gardening not always pleasant. Wooly spiders and black scorpions sometimes found their way indoors. But when I found five young cobras in three days sunning themselves on the doorsill and realized tht the parents must be near by, I nearly moved out . . . "
One article that caught my attention immediate was "Keeping House in Borneo" by Virginia Hamilton (a.k.a. Mrs. Gerrit Middelberg) in September 1945. She gives a great account of living in Borneo by someone who lived there full time. The beauty and challenges of the wildlife as well as the diversity of the plants.
One quote caused me to laugh: "Four inch centipedes were at home in the dampness under potted plants, making gardening not always pleasant. Wooly spiders and black scorpions sometimes found their way indoors. But when I found five young cobras in three days sunning themselves on the doorsill and realized tht the parents must be near by, I nearly moved out . . . "
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