By Eilene Lyon My dear Readers, The world beyond my computer beckons, and duty calls, so I must somewhat curtail my output for a couple months. First up is a vacation (Yea!) and then I will be out trampling the cacti in the Chaco region for a bit. Thanks to WordPress scheduler, I have some... Continue Reading →
Starry, Starry Night
By Eilene Lyon I adore the Don McLean song of that name, and the Van Gogh painting that inspired it. Most of all, I love the starry night itself - the one I'm privileged to enjoy just by walking out my bedroom door at night. I live in what you would classify as a "dark-sky"... Continue Reading →
Jumpy
By Eilene Lyon Spring in southern Nevada brings out the hibernating desert tortoises, and the people who look for them. Transects, which are twelve-kilometer squares, three kilometers a side, were randomly scattered on the map for the 2008 crews. A crack GIS team produced individual maps for each transect, along with directions to the starting... Continue Reading →
Unmarried, Childless, and Long-lived
Week 14: #52Ancestors – Maiden Aunt: Catharine “Kate” Rowley (1826 – 1912) By Eilene Lyon When I saw the prompt “Maiden Aunt” I immediately thought of Catharine “Kate” Rowley. She was one of eight or nine children born to Erastus Rowley and Mary Annable (4th gr-grandparents), and she outlived all her siblings, despite the handicap... Continue Reading →
History of the Theory of Evolution
By Eilene Lyon This is the follow-up article to Science and Belief. Darwin’s Observations on the Natural World Charles Darwin formulated his hypothesis of evolution by natural selection based on observations he made during his trip around the world on the Beagle in the 1830s. Some of those observations: Island groups had wildlife differing from... Continue Reading →
John Annable – United Empire Loyalist
By Eilene Lyon My 5th great-grandfather, John Annable, was born in Derbyshire, England and baptized in the village of Kirk Ireton on 28 July 1751.1 His parents were John Lewis Annable and Catherine Clark. In 1774 John sailed to America at age 23.2 A few years prior to John’s arrival in the colonial Province of... Continue Reading →
Gold Medal Waters*
via Daily Prompt: Toxic By Eilene Lyon August 2015: I was working the MAPS bird-banding station at the Oxbow Park and Preserve along the Animas River, just north of Durango. Some of our volunteers happen to be active-duty, uniformed Parks and Wildlife officers, so we heard early on that something was amiss high in the... Continue Reading →
The Runaway
This undated story by my grandfather, Laurence M. Smith, is part of his collection of memoir writings. Smitty, born in 1908 in Colville, Washington, was clearly of the automotive age. Though his father’s delivery business started out with horse-drawn wagons, they soon switched over to trucks. This event took place when he was 18 years... Continue Reading →
Versatile Blogger Award #2
By Eilene Lyon I’ve been nominated for a second Versatile Blogger Award! Thank you muchly to Dane at Bar Stool Talk for the honor. He has a great blog with a theme all related to bars (the kind you drink in, say, as opposed to monkey bars or candy bars). Fun historical bits mixed with... Continue Reading →