Category: america

Castanea dentata

Castanea dentata seedling
Fortunately, there are not too many parallels between COVID19 and the American Chestnut blight. But in common there is awareness and awakening. Minimize death, be careful. The awakening part… Have you planted a tree during this life? What are you waiting for? It is a rehabilitative and blessed thing to do. Plant. Now. #growingtowardthelight
large dead chestnut tree
The Family of James and Caroline Shelton pose by a large dead American chestnut tree in Tremont Falls, Tennessee, circa 1920. Courtesy of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Library

Greatest forest loss in history

The American chestnut is an historic and beloved part of America’s landscape. Its extinction would be the loss of a symbol of American strength, endurance and resourcefulness. Saving the chestnut and restoring it to its native range at scale could also help give other endangered tree species a new lease on life and directly offset the effects of climate change and deforestation. While no single intervention can completely eradicate chestnut blight, together the science of breeding, biotechnology, and biocontrol (3BUR) offer our best hope for rescuing the American chestnut tree.—The American Chestnut Foundation

Three Soldiers

Negative reactions to Maya Lin’s design for the Memorial wall were so strong that several Congressmen complained, and Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt refused to issue a building permit. As the most highly ranked sculptor in the competition,[5] Frederick Hart was commissioned to create a sculpture in order to appease those who wanted a more traditional approach.–Wikipedia

Ray

Capitol, 1998
“What’s past is prologue” is a quotation by William Shakespeare from his play The Tempest. The phrase was originally used in The Tempest, Act 2, Scene I. Antonio uses it to suggest that all that has happened before that time, the “past”, has led Sebastian and himself to this opportunity to do what they are about to do: commit murder, or make another choice.
In contemporary use, the phrase stands for the idea that history sets the context for the present. The quotation is engraved on the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, and is commonly used by the military when discussing the similarities between war throughout history.–Wikipedia