October 27, 2008

My parents’ feral cat, Cat Mama, likes to nibble at her food throughout the day.   She’s usually waiting for Mom outside the kitchen door in the mornings for her breakfast, which she tears into with gusto.  After eating her fill (which might be about half of the food), she’ll do what cats do best–snooze in a cozy spot.  When she gets hungry, she’ll go eat some more.  Mom and Cat Mama go through the same routine for supper.

A couple of months ago, some young raccoons began showing up to polish off Cat Mama’s kibbles.  My worry was that this was happening during the day and raccoons tend to be nocturnal.  Cat Mama probably got a rabies shot when she was spayed, but Mom hasn’t had one.  I’ve kept telling her to trap the darned critters so she (or Cat Mama) won’t have to worry about being bitten by one and the kibbles will again be safe.

Several weeks ago, a large raccoon began showing up after 7:00 pm to finish off Cat Mama’s supper.  Mom picks up any uneaten kibbles around 8 so Cat Mama usually cleans her bowl well in advance of that.  When Mom forgets or Cat Mama doesn’t finish her supper, this new intruder happily eats the remaining kibbles. 

I’ve been arguing with the parents about trapping the raccoons so Animal Control can set them free elsewhere.  Supposedly, Animal Control lets trapped raccoons free in some woods near the Mississippi River, so the critters aren’t euthanized.  On the first attempt, Dad baited the trap with a peanut butter cracker.  In the morning, the bait was gone but no critter was in the trap–not even a cracker crumb could be found.  Mom insisted that a squirrel must have eaten the cracker but I said the raccoon probably managed to get it.  Attempt #2–Dad again tried the cracker/peanut butter method but this time put the cracker in a tupperware bowl.  Cracker was gone in the morning but no raccoon was in the trap.  Third try, he used a plain piece of bread.  Mom and Dad watched from a window as the raccoon reached through the trap to move the bread, went into the trap, then reached over the pedal trigger to get the bread.  One smart critter!

Tonight, Dad was “reinforcing” the trap with bricks.  He set bricks all around the sides so the raccoon wouldn’t be able to reach in and manipulate the bait and he set a brick on top to weigh the trap down.  My suggestion has been to tie the bait to the trap–wrap some thread around a popcorn ball and tie the darned thing to the trap so the raccoon will have to get in there, work hard for his “reward,” and spring the trap.  Dad put peanut butter on a slice of bread as the bait and was confident that he’d “win” this time.  I scoffed and wished him luck. 

The phone rang a couple of hours ago and there was no “hello” from the other end.  Instead, I got “ha ha” from Dad–he was calling to gloat about his success.  The raccoon wasn’t able to reach into the trap this time because of the bricks and finally sprang the darned thing.  Mom will call Animal Control in the morning and the critter will be taken to a new home along the river. 

Now the parents and Cat Mama just have to worry about the young raccoons.

October 25, 2008

I was so excited after reading that there would be a 4th Indiana Jones movie!  The 1st and 3rd movies were such great adventures with Indy saving the world from evil by rescuing Biblical artifacts.  To me, the 2nd movie was a complete dud, partly because of the kid who was Indy’s little buddy and partly because of the bimbo love interest; the plot didn’t help either.  Marion and Elsa were such strong female characters who both had sharp minds and fighting spirits while Willie seemed to stand around looking pretty and/or screaming.  This 4th movie, well it had to be good because Marion was coming back. 

When I went to the theater, I bought my ticket with great excitement and couldn’t wait for the movie to begin.  The opening notes of the theme music sent chills up my spine.  This was gonna be a great roller coaster ride!  Indy was going to be battling Cold War Russians, he was going to Central America where snakes abound, and Marion was back.

Thhhpppptttt!!!  I was completely disappointed.  Instead of a great adventure, Speilberg and Lucas relied way too much on special effects.  Army ants that carry people off to their mounds for lunch?  Space aliens entombed in a pyramid?  Come on!  Where’s the snakes?!?  Indy is terrified of those creepy slitherers!  Where was that famous bullwhip?  I can’t remember Indy using it at all.  Marion doesn’t seem so much a partner in Indy’s latest adventure as a sidekick.  The addition of a son is interesting but all of the bickering about parenting got old quickly.

What disappointed me the most was what seemed to be the buy-in of theories put forth by people like Erich Van Daniken–the ancient Americans were too stupid to come up with “civilization” on their own and needed the help of “intelligent beings” from another planet.  Puh-leeze!  I think the Maya, Aztecs, Inca, Anasazi, Puebloan peoples, and many Native Americans were intelligent enough to figure out irrigation on their own.  Is it so hard to believe that the Maya and Aztec were also capable of building pyramids on their own?

Speilberg and Lucas gave many young people an interest in archaeology that they may not have had otherwise.  I wasn’t one of them since I’d planned to be a veterinarian–then I stuck my arm in a cow and realized I should seek a different career path.  Fortunately, I was already interested in archaeology thanks to a friend dragging me out to volunteer at an excavation here in town a couple of years before going to college and then being lucky enough to have professors who were passionate about archaeology. 

The DVD is being advertised now and I know I won’t be buying it.  I’ve read that there may be a 5th Indiana Jones movie.  Please say it ain’t so!

October 14, 2008

That’s an intriguing line from The First Born–Joe doesn’t yet know that Clay is his half brother and tells him that his Pa has said that his mother was like having spring in the house year-round.  The Marie we see in Marie My Love is very bitter and not spring-like at all.  It’s hard to reconcile the picture painted of her in The First Born with the woman portrayed in Marie My Love.  Why would Ben fall in love with someone so bitter and angry with the world?

A couple of months ago, I started a WHI for Marie My Love (MML).  There’s been a discussion on one of the BZ boards about episodes we wish we could change and MML seems to be one that lots of people (not just me) wish had been written with Marie portrayed differently.  My version will only go as far as her marriage to Ben or maybe her arrival on the Ponderosa.  I want to explore what really happened to make Jean leave, why Madame de Marigny hated her so much, and how Ben’s arrival in her life made her willing to put the past behind her and live only for the future she could build with him. 

If Marie was anything like Joe, she was quick-tempered, a bit of a flirt, and enjoyed a good time; however, that’s not the Marie we get in MML.  We get to see how Adam is like his mother in some ways in Elizabeth My Love and how Hoss is like his mother in Inger My Love and Journey Remembered.  Marie deserved a better episode and especially a follow up. 

Hope to have my WHI finished and posted before the end of the year.

October 10, 2008

A few maps of New Orleans (images from the Louisiana State Museum)

New Orleans was laid out as a strategic location on the Mississippi River.  No ships could go upriver from the Gulf of Mexico or downriver to the Gulf without passing this city.   The City was built on a point of high land in a crescent bend of the river and levees were quickly built for flood protection (not that they helped a lot).  Hurricanes wiped out the first few variants of New Orleans and the fire of 1788 destroyed most of the buildings in the City.  After the fire, the architecture of New Orleans changed from French to Spanish, so the buildings seen today in the French Quarter are primarily of Spanish style.   

This is what New Orleans looked like in 1764 according to a map by Jacques Bellin.  New Orleans was confined to what’s called the French Quarter today.

A 1798 map by Carlos Trudeau showed the City of New Orleans in relation to the lands surrounding it.  Lots of cypress swamp that would one day be drained for development.

A more detailed map showing street names of what’s now called the French Quarter, as drawn by Buell in 1802.  New Orleans was still protected by forts at the four corners.  The forts are long gone and under modern streets and buildings.

 

This map of New Orleans was originally drawn in 1817 by Tanesse but updated with fancy artwork around 1824 for the visit by the Marquis de Lafayette. 

Finally, an 1834 map of New Orleans.  This would have been Marie’s New Orleans.  Several neighborhoods (faubourgs) are shown, such as the New Faubourg Marigny which was an expansion of the original Faubourg Marigny (in black to the viewers’ right of the French Quarter).   She could have shopped or dined in New Orleans proper or in one of the many Faubourgs (Marigny, Treme, St. Marie to name a few). 

October 8, 2008

As time allows, I plan to add information on New Orleans from 1800 to 1850.  New Orleans was a very cosmopolitan city at the time of the Louisiana Purchase and Americans who visited there commented that it was as if they were in Europe instead of the United States.  The blend of French, Spanish, and African combined with Americans swirled around during the colonial era creating a city that was unrivaled until Katrina (but that debacle is a whole other story!). 

Hope to have stuff to add here soon.

October 1, 2008

I’m the president of a small, regional organization made up of historical archaeologists.  The majority of members are from 5 states–Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas with folks from east Texas and west Georgia attending every now and then–and the organization includes academics, government (state and federal) archaeologists, folks in cultural resources management (the archaeologists who work under contract for developers and government agencies), and those who choose to do archaeology for fun.   We have a great time listening to each others’ presentations as well as oohing and aahing over slides of pretty artifacts, maps made with GIS, and getting a good laugh from pictures of some members from many, many years ago. 

This year’s conference was in Arkansas at Petit Jean State Park.  I’d never been there before and was wowed by the beauty of the place.  I’m not used to mountains anymore (my very young years were spent in West Virginia) so the altitude difference bothered me for part of the first day.  The weather was absolutely perfect, though–sunshine, cool evenings, and warm days (hi temps were in the 80s). 

One evening, we gathered together to share coolers of cold beer and to socialize.  I was chatting with someone from Tennessee and she made a comment that it’s funny how archaeologists love to talk shop.  It’s true!  We talk about the sites we’ve worked at over the years, who’s had Lyme disease, current research, interesting artifacts, field schools, where so-and-so is now, and colleagues who’ve passed away.  The most of us are very passionate about what we do and wouldn’t swap professions.  What other job allows one to play in the dirt, risk tetanus and other diseases, travel to far-away lands (even if it’s just a few states from home instead of another country), play with trash (artifacts), and then try to explain what the trash means?  

Each site opens a window onto what life was like for a family or a community; many times these are families or communities that weren’t recorded for posterity in history books.  Sometimes, families or members of a community don’t want the archaeologists to excavate because a truth that’s been hidden may be revealed (great-granny really ran a bordello instead of a boarding house, for example).  Most of the time, families and communities are very interested in what’s being found and will share family stories and records (family bibles, letters, wills, etc.).

I learned some interesting things about Arkansas.  In 1849, Arkansas’ government sent out a call for men to travel to California’s gold fields and bring back some of the wealth; of course the men had to provide their own provisions and transportation.   The majority of those who went didn’t get rich and those who returned weren’t much better off than before they left.  It wasn’t just individuals heading West with visions fueled by gold fever–it was also state governments hoping to make some money, too.

After the conference, I had the opportunity to see 2 rock shelters.  They were fabulous!  I could kick myself for not bringing a camera.  The shelters were used at least 8,000 years ago as shelter from the elements.  By 600 or 700 years ago, Native Americans were pecking and painting “art” on the ceilings and walls.   No one will probably ever know what the symbols mean, but does it matter?  Those symbols had meaning for those who put them there, whether it was for religious purposes or just as art.  It’s amazing to see these symbols in such a vibrant red that’s lasted for centuries.  What’s sad is the graffiti that’s been added to the walls–things such as “Bobby loves Susie” or “John was here”– in Sharpie or carved into rocks with a sharp tool.  Folks traveling to the West 200 years ago did the same to Native American rock art (not with Sharpies, lol) yet now that’s considered a large part of the narrative of our history. 

Seeing this rock art did inspire a few plot bunnies.  Think I’d better finish the stories I’ve been working on first.