The Rock

Probably the most infamous federal prison of the US is Alcatraz but its origin had a different intent. During the Spanish rule of California, Juan Manuel de Ayala charted San Francisco Bay in 1775. He named today’s Yerba Buena Island as “La Isla de los Alcatraces”, which translates as “The Island of the Gannets” more commonly translated as “Island of Pelicans”.

The earliest recorded private owner of the island of Alcatraz is Julian Workman, to whom it was given by Mexican governor Pio Pico in June 1846, with the understanding that Workman would build a lighthouse on it.

The island was sold to the US government in 1849 and the first lighthouse on the coast of California was built there in 1854. Other buildings were erected on the island, and the first permanent army detachment was garrisoned there in 1859. In 1861 the island was designated a residence for military offenders. In 1907 the island was designated the Pacific Branch of the United States Military Prison. From 1934 to 1963 it served as a federal prison for some of the most dangerous civilian prisoners.

There is a poster when you first start your tour of the cellhouse that really sheds the current feel for the purpose of the island.

Aside from the cellhouse on top of the island, two structures stood out to me, for different reasons. One is from the movie “The Rock” where Sean Connery is walking across the shell of the Officers’ Club. I don’t have a picture of Sean Connery, but I do have a picture of the Officers’ Club where I believe the shot was taken.

The other structure that caught my eye was the water tower. Not an imposing structure by any means but its historical noteworthiness were fascinating. In November 1969 Indian activists, including members of the American Indian Movement, occupied the island again, demanding the deed to the island and refusing to leave until they were forced off by federal marshals in June 1971.

I found it interesting that family members of the original occupiers of the 19 month protest were allowed to repaint the tower in 2012 and other areas around the island, so that the history of the island had yet another chapter.

Well, there will be one more post for Alcatraz where I give my take on the cellhouse itself. I know that many others has been there and posted about what all they saw but each person sees this history from a different side. I see it with conflicting issues of history, amazement of how the notorious prisoners lived, all mixed with a heavy dose of sadness of wasted lives.

Let us never waste opportunities to be kind, showing consideration of others and reflect the power of grace offered to us from above.

CFFC: Buildings

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is close to my heart as I hosted last summer amazing stonework buildings in my area. Today, I am highlighting some of those favorite photos. Hope you enjoy.

Massive building built with red granite stone
First Presbyterian Church – 1833

Carnegie Libraries, Moline & Rock Island

***Rock Island County Office Building***

As you look around at the buildings in your area, or buildings you come across in your travels, think on the love and vision of the builders and designers. Some are truly amazing.

And as always, I remind you of the building of kindness. It can be the strongest building you ever build.

Amazing Stonework, August 19

Yes, I am behind schedule. Its been one of those weeks. But I have a beautiful building for you today, built in 1904, out of porphyritic granite. After doing my granite research and verifying the many colors ranging from white to black, I believe this to be Dakota Mahogany, from Milbank, South Dakota. This granite bed is 2.6-2.7 billions years old and that in itself is amazing. This being Iowa, that makes more logic sense that the granite on the east coast, but I am no expert.

The building is still used as a high school and will soon be crawling with teenagers. As I pass by it going home from work, I see the marching band is already practicing, getting ready for football games. Football means fall and I am more than ready to be rid of this 90 degree heat.

In reviewing a lot of the columns you see on buildings today, you see them polished and shinny but these they left in their natural block form that was ground into rounded shapes where they came out from the building. You can see the individual blocks and enjoy their wide variety of color.

But when you look close, you can see the cuts in the stone where they shaped the columns plus making their colors more prominent. Even the feet of the columns are cut and sanded into shape.

Above the doorways on the east and west sides of the building are beautiful arched windows with a masonry balcony above them that has interesting metal grillwork. Here I want to tie in with Monday Window and Ludwig’s challenge of beautiful windows for these are indeed striking.

The north side door is not as artistic but still amazing to look at with scroll work and stone columns at the roofline.

The south side of the building is where the school has expanded down through the next block making a quite large school. And while the extension is made of brick, it just doesn’t have the artistic heart of the older building. So I remind all to look at older buildings with a different eye and see the beauty of architects of old. You could not afford to build buildings of this artistry today. So I remind you before destroying an older building, check to see if there is any soundness left to the structure and if so, find a use for it and let its beauty remain among us.

In closing I remind you of always being kind. Kindness can open doors thought to be closed and let light in through windows once thought dark.

Amazing Stonework, June 28

Good morning friend’s. It is Monday morning and time again for you pics of amazing stonework in your area. While my original concept was buildings, My goal is to highlight the artwork created by builders of long ago, so share your beauties with us. Remember to attach the tag above so that others can follow you as well. Enjoy.

Today’s building is the old Capitol Theater here in Davenport Iowa. It closed in 1977 after a 57 years run. But there has been work going on it for a couple of years so hopefully this beauty is being restored to live once again.

I want to combine Amazing Stone work with Ludwig’s Monday Window as this building has wonderful windows.

Even though the window is more modern, the stonework around it is beautiful. The details cut into the granite (?) is quite amazing. The building corner that this was originally built for theater,

Other details along the front of the building show more intricate details.

Since entrance into the building was not an option, I did find this picture in an article showing historical theaters of the area. I wanted to share as well. Hopefully this building will get fully restored to re-share it’s beauty with us.

And remember, even buildings has stories to tell and tell stories is how we keep history alive. Combining history with kindness can prove that we were, still are and can always show love to each other.

Tuesday Photo Challenge, Stone

Yes, I am way behind but I still want to play with the TPC challenge as I actually went hunting for ideas for this prompt. Then I took pictures of lots of things and forgot to post my pictures of stone. Some of us are more challenged than others in remembering what side of the street we need to be on. Thanks jansenphoto for the weekly fun. This week we are playing with stone and since I am late, I have already read a lot of the post and they are great.

IMG_20190924_123351 — Quad-Cities Timer Capsule

What a fun thing for a city to do to measure its growth, good or bad. Probably wont be around another 30 years to see whats in it.

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Below is another stone depicting the German immigration into the area back in the late 1800’s.

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There are several statues around town for the different peoples who fled their oppressed country to come here to start over. I will post those one day.

And remember, all of us are sometimes hurting, some a little, some a lot. Reach out with kindness and help them get through the day.

flower kind1

Horrifying to Amazing, Worship

ND Cross — Even with the roof debris scattered on the floor, the cross remains…and seems to be glowing.

So many feelings have run through us over the tragedy at Notre Dame. Watching it blaze, knowing what the building stood for over the centuries. The history that took place in that building. The love the people of Paris, France and around the world people had for this building. The art it contained. Such a loss, and yet, now as the dust is settling, we are amazed at what was not lost. The millions of people who visit this place daily were not there. The most sacred artifacts were saved. A lot of the artwork was saved. Some of the beautiful stained glass windows as in the beautiful rose window was saved. The fireman did an amazing job saving as much of the structure as they did from the over 200 foot high flames that rose about this structure with an intense heat that I could never imagine.

The unity of the people on the streets as they sang hymns in loving memory of what it used to be but I think the comment I heard says a lot about this tragedy and the fact it is Holy week. As Christ died this week, he arose to bring new life. This building will again rise to bring new life. My hope is that the love and passion felt in the streets as it seemed the building would die, would remain and go forward in the Godly love that is to come out of any building of worship of our Father. However, Acts 7:48 reminds us that ‘The Most high does not live in houses made by man.’ We must never worship the building or anything in the building. And we must also remember that we who follow Christ have Christ living in us and we together are the church. We go to worship in a specified building to honor him for what he did for us on the cross. This is Holy week and that must be our focus, whether we are a fine church or a tent meeting, needs to be Christ and what He did for us.

Jansen-photo challenged us for today’s Tuesday Photo Challenge on Worship in honor of the tragedy of Notre Dame.

I am enclosing pictures of my church as it is nearly 200 years old and has many beautiful stained glass windows. It would be tragic for us if we lost it but we know we would continue onward. In 1955 a tornado took off the tall spire of this church and it was not replaced when repairs were done.

Below are the 3 large windows that I thought you might enjoy. All of the windows in the sanctuary and parlor are beautiful stain glass that reflect color all through the room when the sun is shining.

IMG_20190416_120314 — My favorite. Jesus carrying us, His beloved lambs.

IMG_20190416_120337 — Jesus in His youth

As we focus on the meaning of this week, Holy Week, let us remember to share the love God shared so richly with us. You never know what tragedy someone may be going through in their own life so always remember to be kind. Kindness is a reflection of God’s love.

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Burning Feet

Go Dog Go Cafe writing prompt for Tuesday’s Challenge is : Describe about a recent world event without saying what the event actually was.

Their feet were hot with the souls of their boots literally melting with each step. The jungle of broken concrete and iron beams made it difficult to walk as the hopeless search for life continued. The billowing smoke raised ever higher shrouding where the building once stood but now lay in melted heap as the acrid smell of jet fuel still filled the air. The search dogs were horrified as this scene did not match their training. They were supposed to be able to find life but none was to be found and the sadness for man and beast alike would be a long time healing, if at all.

As humans, we show our best likeness to God when we show compassion and kindness to those affected by tragic and desperate times. Remember to be kind.

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TV From Box to Screen to Phone, #SoCS & #JusJoJan

The track of television from beginning to now has been rather amazing. What is next for the technological future of this apparatus? Since I am older than some of you who read my Jots, lets do a little of my history with TV. When I was young the TV was a large box that housed the TV screen and the large vacuum tubes inside them that made it work.

These tubes gave off a slight heat and I remember my old dog would sleep next to it to feel that warmth. The TVs at that time showed only black and white images and some of the shows we watched were Wagon Train, The Rifleman, The Lone Ranger, Roy Roger & Gunsmoke. Westerns were very popular in that era. And as time went on some of the TVs got put in bigger cabinets.

And when color TV came along you had movies like the Wizard of Oz that started off black & white in Kansas then turned to color when she got to Oz. All the kids went to one house or the other to watch through their TVs. That was a simple time when you did not have to worry where your kids were because all moms took care of what kids were in their house at the moment – and some moms were cooler so that was usually where everyone went. Oh, and at this time TV was FREE.

Then later, about my college years, came the BIG box TV with a 40 something inch screen but still in a box. By this time the technology had totally changed and you were actually looking at a projection onto the screen from inside the TV.

Now TVs are on a screen as thin as the computer screen which also had a similar history of development. If you miss a TV program now, you just look through your DVD player where you recorded it and watch it at home or on you hand held device because now you buy your programs through cable or satellite.

The one really good things about today’s TV, if you record everything and watch it when it is actually thought recording, you can zip right though the commercials or any part of the show you wish not to see.

So Linda G Hill challenged us today with Stream of Consciousness Saturday and Just Jot January with the prompt of Television. Hope you enjoy my version of its history and hope it spawned many fond memories of your own history.

And as a posting reminder from me to anyone who reads, please remember to be kind. This world has a tendency to be harsh and cold so a spark of tenderness and kindness goes a long way.

kindness10 — Be someones bright spark for the day

I Saw Mama Kissing Santa

IMG_20181214_115826 — Santa and the Mrs. by the tree

I have Christmas all over my house, even in the bathroom. No room left undecorated.

The woodland forest in the bathroom with it’s pine cone hedgehogs cuties.

While Christmas giving has gone way overboard in some cases and in my belief the true meaning for Christmas revolves around Christ’s love for us, there is the fun side and history surrounding the fat guy in the red suit. So today’s fun story is about good ole Santa.

According to history, in 280 AD they was a young man born to a well off family. They lived in Patara, Asia Minor now known as Turkey. His name was Nicholas. While he was still a young man, his parents died and left him quite rich. But Nicholas was a gentle soul and was aware of those less fortunate than he. So he would secretly give gifts to those in need. Now in research I was uncertain if he was a monk or later became a monk but regardless he was christened as St. Nicholas and was favored by children and sailors. Not sure how all that happened but he was prayed to for safe journeys on the seas with many legends and stories of his help and appearances.

During the 16th century in Northern Europe the stories, legends and traditions became unpopular but they still wanted a deliverer by which presents came at Christmas. So the UK came up with Father Christmas or Old man Christmas and France had Pere Noel. Other countries like Austria and Germany had Christkind which was a baby with golden hair and wings that represented the baby Jesus. Early settlers in the US used the Christkind idea but revised the name to Kris Kringle. Later Dutch settlers in the US combined the old stories of St. Nick with Kris Kringle and he became Sinter Klaas which later became what we now use as Santa Claus.

In the 19th century the poem The Night Before Christmas was written making him an elf with 8 tiny reindeer. Coca Cola has always had wonderful pictures of full size Santa on their cans. asanta coke

This is a very special time of year where good laughter, great love and cheer is spread to all. So in the Ho Ho Ho laughter of Santa I wish you the very happiest Christmas. And in the love of Christ of this wondrous season I wish you peace and good will. I have an ornament on my tree that shows even Santa shows a love and gentleness to baby Jesus.

IMG_20181118_144005 — Gentleness of Santa, Love of Christ

May you share the gentleness and love of both of these Christmas joys and share them with others through the gift of kindness, the best gift of all.

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A Day That Went Down in Infamy

On February 2, 1941 was a normal day in the USA and a wonderful day for my parents. It was the birth of their 1st child, a sweet girl who grew to learn the salesman’s techniques so well she could have sold a freezer to someone living in an igloo.

me chropped — Coolest bed ever to keep mosquitoes out

Ten months after her birth, on December 7, the USA was rocked by the devastation of greed and destruction from another country who thought this was their path for world power. Why does anyone think this is a good choice to prove their dominance by killing many innocent people.

We as a nation, honor this Day of Remembrance, those servicemen and women and all current military for the protecting our country. We have many remembrances of this day still sitting on the bottom of the bay floor.

If all people of the world would realize the beauty of all of life, of all people and how we could all work together accepting each others differences and how to use them to make this a better world….wow. What a wonderful world this would be. Maybe someday…

Until then, I salute all of our military personal from the USA in hopes that they know how much they are appreciated and hoping that as this season approaches, many of them get the opportunity to get home, if just for the holiday.

And for other countries military personnel, may you all be safe this holiday season also with a chance to be with family.

If I could have my one wish for Christmas it would be the classic beauty pageant request for world peace, where we all live in love, gentleness and profound kindness. I am reminded of the wonderful concept of “RACK” – Random Acts of Christmas Kindness.

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As you go through the season remember this concept and make someone smile.