Pet Stories, Short Stories, Long Stories, and Musings
It was in Lesotho, Africa in 1968 when Ashton-Martin Moejane and i reached Maletsunyane Falls on horseback. There wasn’t much water in the stream that plunged 630 feet to a rocky pool below. We dismounted our horses, and tied their reins to a stubby bushes. Ashton walked right up to the precipice edge with no … Read more
Although dawn was merely a suggestion in early morning darkness, i woke to sounds of cheery banter and laughter as men and women greeted each other in my end of Hamahlong village. Thatched roofs aren’t sound proof. I turned over – a challenge in a tub-shaped torture device masquerading as a bed – and put … Read more
Rada vs Petwo: The Complexities of the Nasyons of Haitian Vodou Haitian Vodou is a religion born at a crossroads of culture. Through the 17th and 18th centuries, West and West-Central Africans were taken from their homelands to work the plantations of the Caribbean. Their beliefs merged not only with each others, but with those … Read more
1914 – 2014 Another Almandsmith Human flight has long been a dream for the inventive and the adventurous. Several ancient cultures experimented with gliders and manned kites, with varying levels of success. Leonardo da Vinci famously sketched several designs for flying machines. Lighter-than-air craft, such as hot air balloons and airships (a category consisting of … Read more
Urban Growth via Chicago and Los AngelesAnother Almandsmith The Industrial Revolution spawned cities of manufacturing all over the world. The first wave of large American cities were built during the industrial period in North America, becoming many of the USA’s major metropolises of the early twentieth century. The Chicago School of urban sociology, as proposed … Read more
From Wnt7a to Human WingsorAn Exploration of Embryonic Limb DevelopmentThrough a Lens of Mad Science Another Almandsmith Preamble: Man has, in many ways, shapes, and means, always wanted to fly—from the myth of Daedalus and Icarus to the Wright brothers. A whole mythos exists dedicated to winged humans, especially those sprouting bird-like feathered wings from … Read more
“Now what on earth are we going to do with that?” mom’s voice blared from the kitchen. We all quickly crowded into the kitchen of our home on the second floor over a tiny grocery store and the downstairs flat; me and my brother Noel, sister Linda Sue, Mom, Dad, our Cocker Spaniel Rusty, and … Read more
Back in about 1975, the Canadian Wildlife Service invited personnel from the International Bird Rescue Research Center up to their regional offices in Winnipeg to instruct agents from across Canada in the cleaning and aftercare of oiled water birds. Alice Berkner and i naturally picked ourselves as the training team. As Alice and volunteers prepared … Read more
James Michael Harris, D.V.M. persuaded the folk at U.C. Berkeley Extension to let the International Bird Rescue Research Center offer a six-week night course in avian anatomy & physiology. This was when the Bird Center was in the warehouse on Eighth Street in Berkeley adjacent to the East Bay Humane Society. I would co-teach with … Read more
Oil spills did not end with the San Francisco spill of January 1971 when i began my 7-year odyssey as Research Director of the International Bird Rescue Research Center, IBRRC. Spills were a constant feature of the shipping business of the Bay. The bilge water of freighters and cruise ships normally collect lubricants and fuel … Read more