Desert Secret

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           Desert Secret

He told me that he liked to hike, and there is a lot of desert to hike. He said that he would often take along some boys who also liked to hike, and explore the desert.

One time he and the boys had hiked two miles into the desert. Some of the boys had ranged on ahead. They stopped in their tracks as they saw the body of a man hanging. Moving closer they saw that the man had zipped himself into a sleeping bag, pulled the hood over his face, and stepped off a plastic bucket at the foot of the tree.

A couple of the boys trudged back to the road to call the police. The police arrived using an ATV to cross the desert.

That's all there is to it. But several questions remain. Such as "Why would he have chosen to walk two miles into the desert in order to commit suicide?" And why the use of a sleeping bag?" " Did he find the bucket, or carry it in?" And "Who was he?" The desert has long kept its secrets. And this is only one.

     Aloha
     Grant

A Story of Three Minerals

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       A Story of Three Minerals

In the vast empty reaches of the Southwest, where Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado all meet together, lies the Navajo Nation. The Navajo scratch out a bare living herding sheep.

The federal government had a hospital built, along with offices and residences for doctors. The well dug to supply water was found to be filled with arsenic. As a result, the buildings now stand empty and abandoned. And the Navajo still are without a hospital.

The next story is about the result of the mad rush to mine uranium. The tailings from the mines and the dust on the ground became a playground for Navajo children. The result was radiation poisoning.

My final story concerns the people living in Lake Havasu, Arizona. The city lies alongside the Colorado River. The lake was formed when Parker Dam was built. For a number of years I wondered why the citizens of Lake Havasu could not get its water from the Colorado River. I now know the answer. The water drawn from the Colorado River is strictly regulated. Much of the water is used by farmers in California.

Lake Havasu draws its water from wells. And the water contains manganese. The people living there have reverse osmosis filters in their homes. The filter traps the manganese, which looks like black gunk.

It's in all the news. The city of Flint, Michigan, began drawing its water from the Flint River as a cost-cutting measure instead of from the Detroit water system.    The river contains lead. Many children have been poisoned.

So, friend, how's the water where you live?

       Aloha
       Grant

Matthew Brady and Me

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        Matthew Brady and Me

Take down a book of Civil War photographs from a shelf, and you will often find that many of the pictures were taken by Matthew Brady. The Civil War was the first of America's many wars to be photographed.

I feel that I can really relate to him as I, too, was a photographer. Although the equipment he used, and the conditions under which he was forced to work, were vastly different than mine.

For example, he had to use a large, heavy, bulky camera with bellows placed upon a tripod. The camera used glass plates that were coated with a light-sensitive material. These plates were kept in light-tight holders. When a picture was to be made, a holder was placed in rear of the camera. A slide was removed  to make an exposure.

The major problem Brady faced was that to take a picture, a long period of exposure was necessary. And, if the subject moved, a blur was created.

Once the photo was made the next step was to develop it. Brady had a light-proof tent sitting atop a horse-drawn wagon. He had to work in the dark with chemical fumes, and no ventilation. How he must have suffered!

The subjects of his pictures shows us all the horrors of war. The dead bloated bodies of fallen soldiers. The ruined cities. The huge cannons, and much, much more.

It was the Union General Sherman who said, "War is hell." Brady shows us exactly what he meant.

There is one big difference between Brady and me. He never took any photographs from an airplane.
                       
       Aloha
       Grant  

Chernobyl Revisited

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         Chernobyl Revisited

The firemen were the first ones to die. Many others would soon follow. All they knew was that there was a fire at the reactor. What they did not know, was the danger of radiation. They soon found out, when in the hospital their bodies were swollen up like balloons. Sores covered their bodies. The wife of one fireman said that her husband's mouth became filled with bits of his liver and lungs. Most of these men died within fourteen days.

Some soldiers were ordered to fight the fire, and they didn't know about radiation either. Busses were called to evacuate children in the area. People in the affected area were forced to leave their homes.
Those leaving boarded up windows and doors. The names of the owner of the houses were painted on the outside of the buildings.

Some of the fields around villages were frosted with a white powder. There were tiny holes in the leaves of trees, and tiny holes too in cucumbers and tomatoes. But they were eaten anyway.

No information was forthcoming. Some thought that radiation was colored white, while others said that it was black. And all the while, the papers and radio claimed that the situation was under control.

And what about the animals grazing in the fields? They ate and died. The now silent houses in the surrounding villages saw dogs awaiting their masters return.

The authorities believed that dog and cat fur carried radiation, and enlisted twenty hunters to kill all the dogs and cats. The dogs greeted the hunters, only to be shot dead. Later on the dogs began to hide from the hunters. Cats were much harder to find and kill. One such hunter said that he was haunted by the memory of one black poodle which had to be buried alive because all the hunters were out of ammunition. Strangely, none of the pigs were killed.

The passing years saw the collapse of the Soviet Union. Some people returned to their homes, only to find them looted of everything.They did not seem to care very much, as they rejoiced in the freedom to go and do what they pleased, on their own land.

The schools in Chernobyl had sand covering the surrounding area. The children had to remain indoors all day. The government issued one suit of clothes to each student, which was supposed to be washed daily.

Teachers found that their students were tired, and failed to play games. And it was almost impossible for them to repeat sentences when given them.

What I have written above is my attempt to summarize what happened at Chernobyl. All of my information is from a book "Voices From Chernobyl," by Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the Nobel Prize For Literature 2015. Her book is a series of interviews she had with people who survived the disaster. She points out that those who survived were shunned by members of society, in the same way the survivors of Hiroshima were treated.

This book caused me to remember that my family and I once lived in what was called the "Danger Zone." We were told what to do in case of the failure of the nuclear power plant. We were advised to drive North on the single main highway. What then? We lived seven miles from the Fermi II power plant, and at one time I rented a dock for my sailboat directly across from one of the cooling towers.

        Aloha
        Grant

Mara's Story

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           Mara's Story

"There are not many White Russians left,most of them are dead." she said.
"The Revolution of 1917, was a long time ago." I replied.
"I was born in Shanghai." she continued.  "Many White Russians moved to China, they couldn't go back to Russia and be killed."

"So what did your parents do in Shanghai?" I asked. "They sold some silverware and a samovar, and started a business."
"What did they sell?" "I don't know, but we lived pretty well." "That was until the war between Chang Kai Chek's Nationalists and Mao Tse Tung." "And when the Red Army won,we lost everything." "There were two countries we could go to, Argentina and Brazil." "We chose to go to Brazil." "We were so poor."

"Did you learn to speak Portuguese?" "Yes, and I went to school.""How did you manage to come to America?" "We had an aunt living there and she sponsored us."

Do you have anything that you brought here   from Russia?" "Yes, I have a large white scarf  that was given to my father, who was a soldier." "And down on one corner there is the name of the czar Nicholas II." " It must be very valuable,you should frame it." "I think I will, and give it to my daughter.

         Aloha
 
         Grant





















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Herman Melville and Me

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        Herman Melville And Me

The world famous author of Moby Dick, Herman Melville, and I have quite a bit in common. For instance, both he and I worked in stores here in Honolulu. I do not know what was sold in the store where he worked in 1841, but I sold tee shirts at the Hawaii Yacht Club during the 2015 Trans-Pacific Yacht Race.

But the strongest bond between us is that he went whale hunting, and so did I. He first sailed on the whaleship, Acusnet, and later on other ships. Many times my wife and I sailed on the Star of Honolulu. Melville's ship was seeking Sperm whales for their oil.  We were seeking humpback whales for good photographs.

Five times last season, my wife and I went seeking whales, and failed to find any. But you do get a rain check for a future trip. Most of the whales seemed to have been around the island of Maui.

Both his ship and ours had food aboard. The whaleships during his day fed the thirty-five man crew, an endless  diet of salt beef or pork, tea, dried peas, potatoes (while they lasted), dried beans, flour, and molasses. Of course upon sailing away they enjoyed fresh chicken and pork from pens lashed to the deck.

I am very sure that he would have preferred the food we had aboard. Taro rolls, blueberry muffins, link sausages, scrambled eggs, rice, fresh fruit, and tea or coffee.

I should mention that the galley (kitchen) of a whaleship was about five by eight feet  and the cook fed some 35 men. The cook was the poorest paid, and so they often jumped ship. I don't know the size of the  galley of the Star of Honolulu, but I can relate. I  measured the kitchen in our condo and it is about the same size. I have only to cook for the two of us, except during holidays when the number is inflated to at least thirteen. And, I don't have to tend a stove that must remain level while the whole ship rocks and rolls.

In a related item I should tell you that the wreck of a whaleship Two Brothers, was found 600 miles north west of Honolulu on12 February 2011. The wood had all rotted away, but harpoons and the great cauldrons for boiling down the whale fat were found. This was the ship from Nantucket that was captained by George Pollard and was run aground. His earlier command was the Essex which was sunk by a whale. The tale of the Essex is one of survival and cannibalism. Pollard was considered unlucky, and never returned to sea. He served out his life as a night watchman.

Melville married the Essex tale of the ship being sunk by a whale into his novel, Moby Dick.

Humpback whales continue to come to Hawaii to breed and raise their calves, before returning to the cooler waters around Alaska. If you are ever in Hawaii during whaling season be sure to go and see the largest mammals in the  world.

        Aloha
        Grant

These Three

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          These Three

There are three often neglected, or lost in the shuffle of Christmas Stories. The first one to come to my mind is a short story "The Gift of the Maji" written by O. Henry (William Sydney Porter). The warm charming story tells about a couple who so loved each other and didn't have any money to exchange gifts. They each made a sacrifice  to make giving possible. This story is a good bet for Hallmark t.v. but they have probably already used it.

The second neglected work is "The Journey of the Wisemen," by T.S. Eliot.  The poem tells the difficulties they faced. An excellent    short poem.

The third neglected work is another long poem "A Child's Christmas in Wales," by the Welch poet Dylan Thomas. This is probably my favorite Christmas poem. New Directions published a slim booklet of the poem many years ago. I thought so much of the poem that I copied it for my students.

I am fortunate to have a recording of the poet reading it. The poem tells of the events taking place in this Welch town on Christmas. I remember reading that when the recording took place, the poet sat on the edge of the theater stage with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. He probably had a few drinks too. Alcohol in the end killed him. Some images from the poem come to mind. He recalls the gifts he received, the aunt who was drunk and singing like a big bosomed thrush in the backyard. Two men smoking their pipes on a walk in the snow. Eternal snow since last Wednesday. People with their cheeks stuffed with goose pressed against the window pane. Small boys wanting to write in the snow,"Mr. Daniel looks like a spaniel." Oh there is so much. I cannot begin do this poem justice. If you are not familiar with the work, do yourself a treat and enjoy.

      Aloha

      Grant