The most famous lighthouse keeper in America was a woman! Based on a true story, The Bravest Woman in America by Marissa Moss tells the tale of Ida Lewis.
As she grew up near the sea, Ida helped her father tend a lighthouse. She learned to polish the lighthouse lens, how to watch the sea for signs of trouble and most importantly, she learned to row. Eventually, Ida took over the care of the lighthouse, as well as the role of protecting those who ventured onto the ocean. Then one day, wild waves swamped four boys out sailing. And Ida was the only one who could help. Click here to read more.
Last weekend was our 4th anniversary so we decided to have a little outing and rent a car so we could head up north.
Saturday was mostly about driving around and exploring. We saw a truck fire on the way up north (!), had a delicious bruschetta/salad and cream tea at SerndipiTea in Midland, explored in the area and later ended up at a nice spot near Honey Harbour where we had a short walk. Then on the way back home we saw a moose! He was standing beside the road and we slowed down so that I could (of course) try and take a picture, but before I could he turned and headed back into the woods.
My favourite outing was Sunday when we visited
Elora Gorge for hiking.
I took the usual photos of the gorge but I like to take close-up photos because they seem to capture the feel of a day for me.
The hiking around Alora Gorge is very woodsy so there's lots of picturesque moss on the trees and rocks.
At the end of the day we saw some incredible caves near the gorge at the water level but by then it was too dark to take pictures. So here's a picture taken earlier in the day to give you the general idea.
We also saw some rabbits.. all-in-all it was a nice busy weekend.
p.s. I just bought the needlebook.ca domain name. I
On my drive home from the school yesterday, it was overcast, grey and drizzly. One stretch of the road is lined with bare, big-leaf maples.
This time of year, in this location, these trees are nearly completely covered in bright green moss. Moss and ferns growing from the trunks.
(These pictures can't begin to do them justice - taken with my tiny purse-camera, whilst driving, and through the windshield! :-)
The moss in the grey light nearly glowed green as the huge branches overhung the road.
I might have to go back with someone *else* driving, and my window down. :-)
After a decade of work, Oxford University Press and the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute published the African American National Biography(AANB). The AANB is the largest repository of black life stories ever assembled with more than 4,000 biographies. To celebrate this monumental achievement we have invited the contributors to this 8 volume set to share some of their knowledge with the OUPBlog. Over the next couple of months we will have the honor of sharing their thoughts, reflections and opinions with you.
Donald Ritchie, author of Reporting from Washington: The History of the Washington Press Corps, Our Constitution, and The Congress of the United States: A Student Companion, has been Associate Historian of the United States Senate for more than three decades. In the article below he looks at Annie Lee Moss.
A peculiar effort has been underway to rehabilitate Joe McCarthy as a Red-hunting investigator. Some commentators have declared the censured senator vindicated by the opening of Cold War archives that revealed the extent of Soviet espionage in the United States. A key figure in this debate is a witness whose brief appearance before McCarthy helped undo his public reputation: Annie Lee Moss. (more…)
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Coming out June of this year through Praeger books. A perfect companion for anyone interested in the ongoing elections or the workings of politics.
Selling Out America's Democracy How Lobbyists, Special Interests, and Campaign Financing Undermine the Will of the People
Description:
America's historic greatness is in decline, subverted by moneyed special interests and their lobbyists who take advantage of our system of campaign financing to thwart the will of the people. Monuments to the impact of factions include inadequate efforts to curb global warming, infrequent increases in the minimum wage, no universal health care, unchecked inner-city crime, and limited stem cell research. Ineffective political leadership, corroded by special interest manipulation, has landed the nation in foreign intervention that takes American lives and spends obscene amounts of U.S. resources.
Moss portrays the motivations and methods of those who corrupt our political system and betray the legitimate interests of the American people. He quantifies the gains reaped by beneficiaries of lobbyist successes. Selling Out America's Democracy focuses on Washington insiders who serve the interests of narrow factions that seek to control the national agenda. Telling interviews represent the views of Congressional and think tank staff, lobbyists, media experts, foreign diplomats, and nonprofit citizen advocacy groups. Moss concludes by advancing a program of policy changes calculated to revive our democracy.
Amazon link
by Maureen Johnson
Harper Teen 2005
I sincerely doubt that I could possibly add anything to the din of reviews that have been generated over this book in the past couple of years. That said, I did read it, and this is what I'm thinking.
I'm thinking about how, when you're a kid with a creative or artistic bent, you keep hoping you've got some secret benefactor that's going to send you on a
by Ranulfo
Harper Teen 2006
On the surface Shakespeare's Hamlet contains all the elements necessary for great Young Adult fiction. There's a remarried mother, a devoted-yet-tragic girl, a sadistic vengeful boy, the haunting of the dead, meddling friends and families, in-jokes and meta-drama, double-crosses and, yes, even multiple premeditated murders. Perhaps the murder isn't a necessary
This looks like a really interesting book! I love historical fiction so I will have to see if our library has a copy. Thanks for the suggestion!