When I was a boy in elementary school, the classes were equipped with maps mounted on pedestals usually positioned off the to side of the classroom and the maps, I suppose they were more like map stands – with multiple maps in layers, were large enough to be used in instruction from the front of the class so they were actually large enough that important features like national borders, capitol cities and the like were easily seen by the kids in the class – even the kids in back. So you could stare at these things from your little desk while the teacher was droning on and on and on about something or another. I don’t remember much of what they said, but I would stare at those maps and dream of far-away places while waiting for the bell to ring and recess to begin.
Example of Scythian Gold Work Excavated from Southern Russia
http://spongobongo.com/her9710.htm
I’ve always had an interest – actually more of an intense fascination for far-away exotic peoples from long-ago. One of those peoples exerting a draw to my curiosity are the so-called Scythians, an ancient wildly nomadic peoples located roughly north of the Persians in that vast expanse of land from the Danube river across the north shores of the Black Sea to the River Don in present day Russia. A huge land expanse. Continue Reading
I had a hankering for a genuine ‘Bertos-Style’ Burrito and decided this time, it had to be Humbertos in Gila Bend. Period.
The One and Only Humbertos of Gila Bend, Arizona
So to justify the journey, we planned a trip to Organ Pipe National Monument on the Arizona, Mexico border and on the way back up to Phoenix, we could detour along highway 86 through the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation and make a quick tour of Kitt Peak on our way back. Continue Reading
We had stopped at quite a few places on the way up to Springerville, the end of our journey on US Highway 191; sometimes called “The Devil’s Highway” since it’s original Hwy number was 666, but people were stealing all the 666 signs so it was changed to 191. If you keep following it, it eventually goes all the way up to Canada but our plan was to overnight it in Springerville and then return to Phoenix via Hwy 260 to 73 so as to loop around the Fort Apache Indian Reservation going through Whiteriver, Ft Apache, and finally meeting up with 60 and taking that back home.
But first I’d like to tell you a little about Springerville. Continue Reading
In honor of international Pi day (03-14-16 = 3.1416 = Pi to the ten-thousandths place) I am doing a Spherical Hamburger blog since many interesting properties of spheres can be calculated using the mathematical constant Pi:
Sphere where r = radius of sphere
By MarinaVladivostok – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27570340 Continue Reading
Tunnel – Made Possible by the Miracle of Dynamite
When we last left our intrepid adventurers they were sipping Starbucks and, from a safe distance, checking out enormous mines. https://gregole.com/2016/03/08/devils-highway-roadtrip-part-1/
But time had come to Enter the Devil’s Highway… Continue Reading
Look on a map of the State of Arizona and in the lower right hand (southeast) corner is a highway running north from Morenci to Springerville – Highway 191 and this approximately 90 mile stretch is the curviest road in the United States. I’ve wanted to ride a motorcycle on this road since before I owned a motorcycle, and this last weekend made a reconnaissance in the SUV. And now I’m here to tell you about it. Continue Reading
While working my way through a plan to continue and eventually complete my review of The Histories by Herodotus I started getting stuck on all the names and dates; the places, the battles, the people, the customs; not to mention the architecture, the sculptures, the poetry, the dramas, the pottery. Yes, even the pottery made history. The Greeks were awesome!
http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-greece/pictures/greek-architecture/the-parthenon-at-dusk-3 Continue Reading
Here’s a nice love-poem I found on poetryfoundation.org:
A Pity, We Were Such a Good Invention
In honor of an admittedly rare for Phoenix cool and cloudy day, I submit this short poem by Wallace Stevens:
On the Manner of Addressing Clouds Continue Reading
