Appreciation Div (Nurses Subsection)

It's been called to my attention that today is National Nurses Day. So much attention is currently being focused on their sacrifice and dedication during this current pandemic. However, a couple of personal reflections:

In 2007 after having had 25% of my guts removed for cancer, it was the nurses that saw me through critical dehydration, and just wanting for the pain and hurt to end that gave me the the encouragement, and yes, the orders to fight my problems, get out of bed and drag the post of IVs around the ward. Later that year when my system shut down during radiation, these are the people who saved my life and got my kidneys re-started.

In 2013 it was the the nurses in the Brain ICU of Johns Hopkins that kept me appraised of my late wife Diana's condition and progress (and its lack thereof).
It was her nurse, T*** who put her hand on my shoulder early in the morning of 13 September, to say, "Bear, she's gone, you can let go now." and then give me a hug and a tear.

We rarely acknowledge just how much these professionals give of themselves to ease our suffering, urge, and contribute to, our healing our well being and that of our loved ones.

Thank you to all those who cared for me and mine. I know you will be there in the future to help.
🐻 ❤️

Geography Div (Road trip subsection)

Well, two weeks of old "road" maps. Here's a modern trip -- whooda thunk there were that many
Springfields ??

The Most Efficient Road Trip Through Every Springfield In The Country

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Double Furriners subsection

New album featuring Jean Marie Redon and Luis Gomez. Here's the track called Mr. Gulbo.



 Carol Duran and Raphael Maillet on fiddle, Marta Roma on cello, Josep Traver on guitar, Jesper Rubner Petersen on mandolin, and Maribel Rivero on bass. And, of course, Redon and Gomez on the five.

.... and Mr Redon doing the same number solo ..........

Geography Div (Lost State subsection)

Came across this interesting bit of American history:

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Audie Blaylock and Redline doing Love Is An Awful Thing from their recent album Originalist.



Audie Blaylock (lead vocal & guitar), Even Ward (banjo), Mason Wright (fiddle) and Reed Jones (upright bass)

Geography Div (Social Distancing Subsection)

How far away from another person can you get? Depends on where you live. How big is your state?

           State Size Based On Population Density

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Canadian subsection)

John Reischman and the Jaybirds doing their band standard Saltspring.



John Reischman - Mandolin, Nick Hornbuckle - Banjo, Patrick Sauber - Guitar, Trisha
Gagnon - Bass and Greg Spatz - Fiddle

Geography Div (More ancient roads subsection)

Last week was an ancient "trip-tik" Here's another version of a "road" map; only these are Roman:

The Tabula Peutingeriana, an itinerary map, is a reproduction of a Roman map, showing the highways of the Roman world all the way from England to Sri Lanka. It isn’t to scale and manipulates space to show the road system. Pictured are stopping places, prominent towns, and mountain ranges. The Tabula Peutingeriana is also massive at 22 feet in length. At that size, it wouldn’t be useful for a road trip, but with 555 cities and 3,500 place names, it is a chronicle of Rome’s reach. The map’s geographic information dates back to before at least 79 AD, since you can spot Pompeii. The original map has been lost, but we still have a copy thanks to a monk who reproduced it on 11 scrolls in 1265. 

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Lotsa Fiddlin' subsection)

Becky Buller's new video The Barber's Fiddle. See if you can spot all the "All-Stars."


Becky Buller Band: Becky Buller - Vocals, Fiddle Ned Luberecki - Banjo Dan Boner - Guitar, Fiddle, Harmony Vocal Nate Lee - Mandolin, Fiddle Daniel Hardin - Upright Bass, Harmony Vocal

Fiddle Solos: Laura Orshaw, Michael Cleveland, Stuart Duncan, Jason Carter, Deanie Richardson, Johnny Warren, and Sam Bush

Group Fiddlers: All soloists, Bronwyn Keith-Hines, Jason Barie, Katie Penn, Fred Carpenter, Tyler Andal, Brian Christenson, Laurie Lewis, Shawn Camp, Nate Lee, Dan Boner, and Becky Buller

Geography Div (Nostalgia subsection)

When I entered the travel industry I worked for the Auto Club (AAA) as a "Service Counselor." The biggest part of the job was marking maps and producing "Trip-Tiks" for members. The "trip-tik" was a bound series of strip maps showing the towns, services and points of interest along the route. They were assembled and marked by hand (Mapquest, etc had not yet made an appearance). Many folks were amazed to see one for the first time. However, they've been around for a long time. Here's one from 1250:

At first glance, this medieval itinerary map by Matthew Paris doesn’t even look like a map. Instead, it’s a line of castles and buildings crossed by red text and blue waves. The map charts a route from London to the Holy Land, highlighting all the sights along the way. The mapmaker included rivers and hills, alternate routes, and places to stop on a religious pilgrimage.  At the bottom left of the map, you can see Matthew Paris’s depiction of London as a thick city wall ringing a blue church.  Like many medieval maps, this one was not intended to be carried on the road. It was an expensive work of art that may have been used for an imagined pilgrimage - one where the pilgrim never had to leave England.