I tried to test drive this whole blog thing with a word document - see below for how well that worked out.
Tuesday June 25, 2013
So much for posting every day….I can’t even
seem to do it on my test blog….
I am reading a book called Consider the
Fork and learning about how culture and history effects how we prepare and eat
food. Facinating. Today had me considering the recipe that
calls for beating eggs (can’t remember if it is yolks or whites) for three hours
. Having the labor to beat and chop and
grind food smooth was a mark of the wealthy.
I think the author said something like “refined food for refined people.” So now that smooth refined food or as we
like to call it now a days ”processed foods” are for the poor folk and we’ve
got the raw food movement that is for the rich folk. Oh how times have changed.
Thursday May 23, 2013
So yesterday I had a wonderful, if sweaty,
time on the roof a Cedar Hill carriage house trying to recreate a photo from
the 1940s Cedar Hill Observation Post.
The current owners have transformed the building into a cozy and
inviting single family home. In the
process they made it difficult to access the roof and cupola where volunteers
listened and watched for enemy aircraft 24/7 during WWII. Pull down the attic stairs, plop your butt
down in the dark at the top of the stairs, swing your legs over, hunch your way
over to another hole in the ceiling and then hoist yourself into the light
filled octagonal shaped cupola. From
which the door has been removed. So it is over and out the window to the roof. A step back and it was easy to imagine where
the listening device was located, however the trees have grown up so much, the
Hudson River was not visible. And boy
was it hot. But I got my shot which you can see in the July issue of Our Towne
Bethlehem - part of my Then and Now
series.
Friday May 17, 2013
Fear – that seems to be what it was all
about. The warden’s manual (actually
from the 1950s) lists the major hazards of atomic warfare as fire, blast,
radiation, and panic (which sounds like a sci-fi book series). Reading all this not too much after the
bombing at the Boston Marathon got me thinking about how history tells us what
has changed (nuclear bombs vs home made pressure cooker bombs) and what has
stayed the same (our desire to protect ourselves – duck and cover drills in the
classroom – invasive scans at the airport).
Thursday May 16, 2013
WWII seems to be the topic of interest this
week.
My daughter is studying for her AP world
history by listening to series of youtube videos. This morning in the car it was WWII, when did
it really start – and why do historian’s teach about war? because they usually
start and stop at a specific moment – then the professor goes on to d-bunk that
myth
Locally in Bethlehem I have been looking
into Civil Defense and tomorrow will be diving into the town’s archive to find
something called The War Council’s Final Report – sounds ominous doesn’t? It is
from 1946. Did you know that the Cedar
Hill Observation Post, down near Henry Hudson Park, was active through the war
years? A dedicated group of volunteers
manned the post 24 hours a day listening and watching for enemy aircraft. The anxiety and tension they must have felt –
bringing this World War home to little old Bethlehem. The archive’s civil defense records include
lists of emergency billeting facilities, volunteer recruitment cards, and a
warden’s manual. All point to an active
home front in Bethlehem during WWII.
What personal stories will come out of those records? Stay tuned….
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