Posts

Summer 2025 The Shape of Time

Image
The summer solstice will occur tonight at 10:42 pm for the Northern Hemisphere. It will be the longest day and shortest night of the year. The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol ('sun') and sistere ('to stand still'). This annual event has been celebrated by many cultures for thousands of years. Many monuments have been built around the world to mark the event such as Stonehenge in England, Chichen Itza in Mexico, Machu Picchu in Peru, Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, Serpent Mound in Ohio, Newgrange in Ireland, and the Pyramids in Egypt. The oldest known may be Gobekli Tepe in Turkey.  While you can not actually see time, these structures were an attempt to document and calculate the passing of time in a physical form.  Another shape of time can be found on model globes of the earth.  The figure eight shaped analema diagrams the position of the sun in the sky as viewed from a fixed location on earth at the same time each day throughout the year.  Due ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Big Bird Day

Image
Big Bird Day No not the one above.  I am referring to the threatened one below.  Today is world migratory day. FMI follow this link here .  I want to use this opportunity to promote upcoming program presented by the Pontine Theatre at the Conway Public Library Thursday, May 22, 2025 from 6-7 pm.  They will use a "toy theatre" like the one above in their unique approach to storytelling. You can find more info on the program here .  They will  present original adaptations of two stories by two New England authors. In a previous blog here , we looked at Robert Frost’s The Star Splitter .  This blog focuses on Sarah Orne Jewett’s A White Heron. P ublished in 1886, it is often seen as a coming of age story about a young city girl, Sylvia, who comes to live with her grandmother in the country. She meets a young ornithologist who is hunting a rare bird he recently spotted in the area. Sylvia wants to please the young man by revealing the heron’s location, yet...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Star Splitter

Image
Today is Astronomy Day. I want to use this opportunity to promote an upcoming program at the Conway Public Library.  On Thursday, May 22, 2025 from 6-7 pm the Pontine Theatre will present "Sojourner Stories" which uses their unique storytelling techniques to x original adaptations of two stories by New England authors Robert Frost and Sarah Orne Jewett.  Today's blog focuses on Robert Frost’s poem "The Star Splitter."  Published in 1923, the story explores the conflict between societal expectations and individual passions. A farmer’s reckless pursuit of a telescope leads to the loss of his farm and home. This loss initially evokes ridicule from the townspeople.  However, their subsequent contemplation reveals the importance of forgiveness and understanding. Frost uses the image of a telescope, "a star-splitter," as a symbol of the farmer’s "life long curiosity about our place among the infinities.” We will cover the second story, Sarah Orne Jewett...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mass Mistakes

Image
a Everyone knows that Paul Revere rode to Concord Massachusetts to warn the militia of the approaching redcoats leading to the "shot heard around the world."  As children we learned these truths in school and summer travels with the family  visiting battlefields, historic sites  x x x x x x  The heroic response commemorated every year .... with reenactments  x x x pic/s patriot's day reenactment/s use one showing both sides  Last month, on April 19 Mass celebrated their Patriot’s Day  Honoring event/s of April 18 and 19, 1775 threat of redcoats While may be patriotic, not good history  Honor actually belongs to NH  Mass pr and propaganda  Major Mass mistakes  Before Paul Revere’s midnight ride and the battle of Lexington and Concord  Celebrating April 18, 1775 And the battle shot heard round the world  Dec 13, 1774 He rode to Portsmouth NH There were important revolutionary events that occurred in NH leading to the first m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Big Trees and Bad Little Bugs

Image
If you see this type of "blonding" on your tree, you can kiss your ash goodbye.  This is what is going on beneath the bark. Yesterday I attended an interesting program on the Emerald Ash Borer and increasing damage to other trees presented by Wendy Scribner at the Freedom NH public library.  Tonight there was a program on successful big trees at the Conway Public Library presented by David Govatski. More on that later in this blog and in a future blog    Wendy covered how to id ash trees and the evidence of damage done by the Emerald Ash Borer. She also covered ways to manage the problem. In some cases this is being done with introducing good bugs to kill the bad bugs.  Last year the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room was involved in exhibits and outreach programs in which we covered the role of ash in making baskets, dog sleds and Windsor chairs. We offer these programs for free to local schools and community groups.  You can see a previous blog o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Happy Pi and Potato Chip Day

a Are you ready with your "pie timber" for these upcoming holidays tomorrow? z
Post a Comment
Read more

Spring ahead

Image
Spring began today (March 20, 2025) at 5:01 am EDT in the Northern Hemisphere, marking the spring equinox, when day and night are nearly equal in length.  The illuminated manuscript featuring March from between 1412 - 1440 depicts some of the French farming practices from that time.  In the foreground you can see plowing the fields with oxen. Beyond that they are pruning the vineyards and behind that to the left they are caring for sheep.  At the top are the constellations, zodiac and image of Apollo with the sun. Phebus is another name for the sun god and he is featured in a poem by Thomas Randall of Eaton, NH here  about the birth of spring and the death of winter.  The poet Donald Hall captured a less optimistic scenario in his poem about maple syrup here .  While astronomical spring began today, meteorological spring began on March 1.  March is a time of variable weather and authors and poets had words to say about that too.  One of my favorit...
Post a Comment
Read more