O’Leano State Park, High Springs, Florida
Shem (son of Noah) was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber. Shem…Arphaxad…Eber…Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided. ~ Genesis 10:22-25
The name Peleg means “division”. His time was the time of the Tower of Babel.
Since there was much ado about nothing, I combined two days. You should be relieved after yesterday’s post. 😊
01/23/21:
I have nothing of note for today. Blogging, some research and reservations. Blaine went on a bike ride, until it started raining again. (it was that kind of day) The only thing I exercised today were my fingers. That’s it, so I’m adding this to tomorrow’s post. You can take the day off! 😊
Changed my mind.
I did want to share one interesting thing I came across in my research today, but we won’t be visiting. Naturally, it’s from my newest and fondest website, atlasobscura.com.
Julian P. Kanter Political Commercial Archive in Norman, Oklahoma
With an estimated 80,000 recordings of commercials in film, audio, and video format, the Julian P. Kanter Political Commercial Archive presents an impressively thorough timeline of political material from 1936 to present day. Debates, speeches, and campaign ads from presidential campaigns to senatorial, congressional or gubernatorial races are archived in every manner of media, from 35mm film to VHS tapes to cassettes and DVDs. These days, the internet is also in the mix, making collection of these political snapshots that much more laborious to hunt down and collect. Archivists have added student workers and a research assistant to their team to help browse the web during election gear-up, and help wrangle the back up of roughly 1,000 ads and 40 unopened boxes that are in need of being catalogued.
Private collector Julian P. Kanter began the archive in 1956, and sold the collection to the University of Oklahoma in 1985, where it now resides in their Political Communication Center. Kanter continued to curate the collection, which included about 25,000 ads at the time he handed it over to the university. Over recent decades politics have come to dominate the airwaves, which is illustrated in the impressive jump from 25,000 to 80,000 in just 30 years.
Not only do archivists have the responsibility of preserving the media collected over the years, they are also tasked with maintaining equipment for viewing it, a challenging project as that equipment becomes obsolete. To combat this issue, the collection is in the long and arduous process of being digitized. This effort is being supported in part by a $135,000 grant from the Save America’s Treasures program, a collaboration of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Park Service to assist in the preservation of historical gems such as this.
The collection is open to the public during normal business hours, but it’s appreciated if viewers call ahead to request specific material so that material can be prepared for your visit. You can also request a DVD of specific ads with archivist’s approval.
01/24/21:
It’s been so long since I’ve dressed for church, I almost forgot how.
We attended an actual, real, in a sanctuary with other people, worship service this morning! Blaine had read in a previous post that we really liked the Baptist church here, so we decided to go. Yes. Of course we wore masks. So did about half the other people there. But it’s a large sanctuary, and people were spread out. There was no one in our pew, and no one for three pews before nor behind us. It was safe.
And it was amazing! Old hymns that didn’t drag, a nice message by the pastor. Oh, how good it felt to actually participate in corporate worship again! It did wonders to lift our spirits!
We didn’t do anything else note or picture worthy today either, other than I received a “thank you” text from a friend of mine in Ohio. She was thanking me for the Christmas card she received yesterday – postmarked December 8th! Can you believe it?!? LOL!
So much for their motto this Christmas Season. 😊
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. (inscribed on the New York City Post Office in 1914)
While the Postal Service has no official motto, the popular belief that it does is a tribute to America’s postal workers. “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”— is not the official Postal Service motto though it appears chiseled in gray granite over the entrance of the James A. Farley building (renamed for our 53rd Postmaster General in 1982) at Eighth Avenue and 33d Street in Manhattan.
The phrase comes from book 8, paragraph 98, of The Persian Wars by Herodotus, a Greek historian. During the wars between the Greeks and Persians (500-449 B.C.), the Persians operated a system of mounted postal couriers who served with great fidelity.
The firm of McKim, Mead & White designed the Post Office, which opened to the public on Labor Day in 1914. One of the firm’s architects, William Mitchell Kendall, was the son of a classics scholar and read Greek for pleasure. He selected the “Neither snow nor rain …” inscription, which he modified from a translation by Professor George Herbert Palmer of Harvard University, and the Post Office Department approved it.
The popular belief that Herodotus’s description of the Persian postal service was about USPS is a tribute to the men and women who have delivered mail reliably and dependably, through all conditions, for centuries. ~ Denise Varano, USPS blog
Sorry. I always seem to find something to talk/write about. : )