Quechee Gorge

After leaving the Billings Farm we started driving back to our hotel in White River Junction.  On the way we spotted what looked like a fun place to explore, so we stopped at Quechee Gorge and explored the area for a while.

The park's location along US Route 4, and its proximity to many upper-valley attractions make it a popular tourist destination. Hundreds of thousands of visitors stop each year to take in the breathtaking views of the Quechee Gorge. Other visitors seeking an overnight stay enjoy the easy access to the park’s spacious campsites. The focal point of the park is Vermont’s deepest gorge...
--from Quechee State Park site

We first stopped by the visitor center which is shared by the Army Corps of Engineers, the local chamber of commerce, and the state park.

Inside we learned more about the history of the park--a mill was originally located here, but later the land was taken over by the Army Corps of Engineers.

After leaving the visitor center I walked across the bridge to a snack bar located just across the road.

The view down into the gorge is great from the bridge.

I met everyone else who had driven across in the van and took the youngest kid in a backpack and headed down into the gorge to explore.

First we headed down a set of stairs.

I always enjoy seeing maps when I'm visiting someplace so that I can see the entire area at a glance.

The trail went under the road right at the edge of the bridge.

The underside of the bridge looks pretty amazing from this angle.

There was quite a bit of foliage alongside the path.

The view back towards the bridge was pretty amazing once I got down the trail a ways.  I spent some time trying to capture the perfect shot, balancing out the shadows and the sunlight as it was quite late in the afternoon.

The rocks I had walked out onto were quite fascinating.

In some spots the water was flowing fast so I was able to turn a Live photo into a long exposure shot.

It wasn't a long hike, but it was beautiful and well worth the time.

There were only a couple other people in sight.

As I headed back up I paid a bit more attention to the path.

I took the route back to the visitor center in hopes of making a pressed penny, but sadly they had closed for the day and I had to make my way back to the car with no coin.

You can view a few more photos from the gorge in this album.

~Matt

Billings Farm - Part II - Animals

Not only does the Billings Farm have an excellent museum, but it is a working farm with quite a few animals.  The kids really enjoyed the opportunity to see a number of different animals.  We started off by venturing into the milking barn to see the jersey cows.

Billings Farm’s Jersey herd has a pedigree that dates back to 1871 and is still considered one of the finest Jersey herds in North America. Averaging 70 milking cows, heifers, and calves, our cows are known for their award-winning genetics, affectionate disposition, and high-quality, high-protein milk.
--from Billings Farm website

It was nice to be able to show the kids what the cows looked like close up.  They even got an opportunity to brush one of the cows.

I think though that their highlight was when one of the cows emptied their bowels just a few feet away and they got to watch things plop down onto the floor.  Outside we got to get close to some calves.

After that we headed towards the small animal barn.

As we approached I saw there was a sign on the door.

Once there we saw a warning to make sure the goats don't escape.

I think they were definitely correct about the goats being escape artists.

The building also held a number of chickens, which must be part of the farm's heritage breed flock.

According to the signs they were mainly different Cochin varieties.

We also saw some pigs, though I'm not sure if they were the Berkshire pigs that their website says were introduced early in 2018.

Outside plenty of sheep were visible in the distance.

We did get to get up close with one of the draft horses.

The farm sells a number of products related to their animals--most of which are processed off-site by another company if I recall correctly.

We later went back into the barn for a milking demonstration with the farm's Jersey cows.  I've been on dairy farms before, including one that used to be owned by my uncle, so the process wasn't entirely new to me.

I think that the kids enjoyed seeing where milk came from.  I don't remember if they'd seen a demonstration at a fair before this point or not.

All in all it was a very enjoyable experience and well worth the money.  You can find all of the pictures I took of the farm in this album.

~Matt

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park

 Across the road from the Billings Farm Museum is the Marsh-Billings-Rockfeller National Historical Park, named after three men that owned this land in succession and were great contributors to the history of American conservation.

Nestled among the rolling hills and pastures of eastern-central Vermont, the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park is the only national park to tell the story of conservation history and the evolving nature of land stewardship in America. The boyhood home of George Perkins Marsh, one of America's first conservationists, and later the home of Frederick Billings, the property was given to the American people by its most recent owners, Laurance S. and Mary F. Rockefeller. The park was created by an Act of Congress and signed into law by President George Bush on August 26, 1992.
--from Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP site

I'm sure the site currently looks much different than it did when we visited in the summer of 2018.  This screenshot shows the current look of the park's website.

After visiting the shared visitor center on the grounds of the Billings Farm we walked across the road to visit the National Park.  Though originally one property they're not split between the sites, which nevertheless appear to have a very close working relationship.

We strolled towards the National Park's visitor center in the old carriage barn.

Part of the path was through the trees.

Stewardship was definitely an important principle of the individuals the park was named after and a key component of the exhibits.  It is most definitely also a biblical concept as in Genesis God told man to have dominion over the earth, which doesn't just mean to exploit it but to care for it.

I hadn't heard about all of the people who had owned the property, but the last one was familiar.  I'd heard of Laurance Rockefeller when we'd visited Grand Tetons National Park back in 2012 and drove down to the southernmost section of the park and saw the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve.

I enjoyed learning more about Marsh even than we'd just learned across the road at the farm.

We're so accustomed to seeing farms all over the landscape that we don't always think about the environmental cost was when they were created.  Looking back on it now this reminds me of what Charles C. Mann talks about in 1491--of how much the landscape of North America had likely been managed for many years by the inhabitants.  I would agree that farms are vital to feeding people, but we should be careful when we alter the land and we should be good stewards of the land and resources placed under our care.

This model demonstrates how much of the land was deforested (left in 1869) and how much it had recovered after careful tending (right in 1914).

Here is a clearer view of the sheep pastures and deforestation visible by 1869 when the land was sold to Billings.

By 1914 the hill had been reforested and the farm was thriving.

Frederick Billings, who gave his name to the current farm across the road, was a conservationist who bought the property in order to put ideas into action.

Mary French, the granddaughter of Frederick Billings, married Laurance Rockefeller and brought him into the history of the farm.  Of course the Rockefeller's are quite connected with preservation and the National Park Service being involved in Colonial Williamsburg, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Grand Tetons National Park, and more.

We didn't use one, but the park offers adventure packs that you can check out when you explore the trails.

We actually didn't get to walk around much of the grounds.  I think we declined a house tour due to the kids, but we did still see the outside of the mansion.  The trails were sadly too long to explore this trip.

It looks to be an impressive structure and I'd love to tour it someday.

After we saw the house we headed back over to the Billings Farm where we got to see a number of animals.  Read about that experience next time when we go back to summer-time Vermont.  All of the pictures I took of the park can be seen in this album.

~Matt

Book Review: A Night of Blacker Darkness by Dan Wells

A Night of Blacker Darkness: being the memoir of Frederick Whithers as edited by Cecil G. Bagsworth III

By Dan Wells


I first learned about Dan Wells through Brandon Sanderson, who has been one of my favorite authors for several years.  I've read a few of his books and also listened to several of his works on Audible (Zero G and its sequel are both pretty good).

So far as I can tell A Night of Blacker Darkness seems to be exclusive to audible, though the listing says "for a limited time" so it may come out in print eventually or on audio elsewhere.  Regardless, you should definitely check out this volume if you enjoy fantasy and/or historical fiction and have a good sense of humour.  The Audible description actually does a great job of summarizing the book.

"The book is Extremely Silly: imagine a horror story, as written by Monty Python, in the style of the old screwball comedies like The Producers, What's Up Doc?, and Some Like it Hot, and then imagine that for some reason it's also in the style of a Victorian frame story starring John Keats and presented by a fake historian. A delightfully funny novel full of witty dialogue brought to life by the narrative voice talents of Sean Barrett."

I was definitely laughing out loud quite a number of times as I listened to the story unfold.  It started out pretty crazy with the narrator (Frederick Whithers) faking his death to get out of prison.  He wakes up as the coffin he'd been smuggled out in is about to be buried.  However, as he pounds on the lid the gravedigger remembers his promise and opens the coffin, only to run away a short time later as the grave is surrounded by vampires.  These rather inept creatures keep turning up as they follow Frederick and his companions all around town convincing themselves and others that because Frederick isn't susceptible to any of the normal vampire failings (garlic, crosses, holy water, sunlight) he must be the prophesied "great one" who can control all of the undead armies of darkness!

Do yourself a favor and check out this delightful short audio tale and give your funny bone a good workout.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Summary: A delightfully comic Victorian fantasy of a con artist who must chase a madcap cast of characters (some of whom are also chasing him) across southern England in an effort to con a bank into giving him a £90,000 inheritance.
Technical: 6 hours 18 minutes in length, narrated by Sean Barrett.  Available via Audible.

~Matt

Book Review: Eating Việt Nam by Graham Holliday

Eating Việt Nam
Dispatches from a Blue Plastic Table
by Graham Holliday

I picked up this book a couple of years ago while browsing a local dollar store.  I don't remember exactly what caught my eye, but I decided it would be worth reading after the first couple pages grabbed my interest.

The volume sat on my shelf for a while, but I started reading at some point and then put it down.  A few weeks ago I decided to continue on to the end.  I mention this not to insinuate that the book is boring, but this is how I read--I'm usually in the middle of a decent number of books at a time and only the very best get devoured quickly with no interruptions.  Other volumes are ones that I go back and forth between.

This book tells a very compelling story.  The author spent time in Vietnam in the employ of the British government and then as a journalist.  He also met his wife their and their son was born in the country, so it is very much a part of his life.  While in the country he decided to try many different foods and even ended up starting the very first street food blog.  Each chapter tells the story of a different dish, including the interesting ingredients in some of them as well as the unusual places where he encountered the food.

I really enjoyed the writing, but personally I don't think I would enjoy many of the foods he described.  While some do sound quite strange to the standard American palate others are just not quite my cup of tea, being defined by a large number of herbs and vegetables.  However, even if you don't think you'll find yourself eating the dishes I think you'll find the stories he tells interesting to experience.

The book starts out describing Graham's time in the northern city of Hanoi (or Hà Nội) and then moves to his time in the south in the city known as Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon (or Sài Gòn).  While Graham says he was never conversant in Vietnamese he peppers his book with as many local words and spellings as he can, so I'll admit I had to guess at many pronunciations.  Though I grew up with many Vietnamese classmates and friends I sadly didn't pick up very much of the language.

You'll also find a few pieces of artwork sprinkled throughout the book that were drawn by the author.

Note: there are several passages that include curse words, so take note if you want to utterly avoid those.  Also many different parts of animals not commonly eaten are described (eating various offal, a uterus, drinking blood, etc...) so if you have a weak stomach this may not be something you'll enjoy.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: A travelogue/food exploration through many street vendors and back alleys of Vietnam in pursuit of new and unusual culinary dishes.

Technical: 337 pages, less than a dozen illustrations.  Hardcover with dust jacket.

~Matt

Book Review: 1491 by Charles C. Mann

1491
New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Second Edition
by Charles C. Mann


Recently I posted an image of a new book on Facebook and a friend asked that I post back after I'd read it in order to inform others what it was like.  That got me thinking about reviewing books, something I haphazardly did on Amazon over a decade ago for a short time, but haven't touched since.  (Sidenote: while just investigating those old Amazon reviews I discovered a snippet from my review of The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams posted on the author's website, which was cool to see)  I figured that rather than posting my thoughts on Facebook it would be better to enter them here on my blog.  So here goes.

Earlier this year a colleague recommended 1491 and I spent some time talking about the book with him.  I then added it to my list of books that I want to buy.  This extensive electronic list both helps me to come up with ideas of what to buy if I come into possession of a gift card, but also serves as a starting point for my wife when she is looking for gift ideas.

Unbeknownst to me my wife purchased this book as a Christmas present for me even before it was recommended several months ago.  We opened gifts a day early this year on Christmas Eve since we were spending the week with my in-laws and some of them had to leave where we were staying on Christmas Day.  I spent the next couple days reading and by the end of Boxing Day I'd completed my reading of this engaging volume.

The premise of 1491 is that the traditional view of the Americas before Columbus landed are quite far from the mark and most likely portray a very different picture of what was actually present on the continents of North America and South America.  The argument presented is that Indian* civilizations were must larger than previously thought, had been on the continents longer than assumed, and had had a much bigger impact on the land.  The three sections of the book cover these topics with titles Numbers from Nowhere?, Very Old Bones, and Landscape with Figures.

*Mann acknowledges that there is no single good-term to describe the pre-1492 inhabitants of North and South America (for example technically anyone born on either continent is a "Native American") and has settled on Indian since he says that most people he has interviewed and talked to used the word to describe themselves.

Mann explained that the more he learned the more he was fascinated to discover that the truth might be different than what he was taught.  He figured that this undoubtedly fascinating story would make a wonderful book.

I kept waiting for that book to appear.  The wait grew more frustrating when my son entered school and was taught the same things I had been taught, beliefs I knew had been sharply questioned.  Since nobody else appeared to be writing the book, I finally decided to try it myself.  Besides, I was curious to learn more.  The book you are holding is the result.  ~1491, preface, x

I found the ideas most interesting and the arguments presented persuasive.  For example I've been working on researching the Viking arrivals in the New World circa 1000 AD and remember that one of the reasons the saga give for them leaving was the hostility of the natives.  While later European settlements in North America didn't always get along with the local inhabitants there were not many times when they were powerful enough to force the colonizers to give up and go home.  It would definitely make sense that the Indian population loss after waves of smallpox and other pandemics had swept across both continents several times would preclude them from being able to easily defend themselves and their homelands against invasion.

The most fascinating section to me was the third one that talked about the extensive Indian impact upon the land.  For example the often quoted numbers of tens of millions of bison and billions of passenger pigeons throughout North America are quite likely to be population explosions that occurred after the mass die off caused by European diseases.  It reminds me of the stories of deer or reindeer on isolated islands where the populations boom, then crash, and then repeat the cycle due to the lack of predators.  I can understand the argument that if numerous groups of people had been managing the landscape but were suddenly removed that animals would expand into the habitat.  Also that habitat encountered by Europeans that suddenly wasn't densely populated by Indian tribes could seem like natural wilderness when it was instead managed land.  "Native Americans ran the continent as they saw fit.  Modern nations must do the same.  If they want to return as much of the landscape as possible to its state in 1491, they will have to create the world's largest gardens. (p 375)"

The book also includes a number of maps and pictures that illustrate the text.  I found the maps quite useful as they list the various locations directly described in the text.  I did find some of the map printing a bit hard to decipher against the background, but I was able to make out everything with some work, so it isn't anything big to complain about.

I know I'm not doing an excellent job portraying Mann's arguments, but that truly isn't the point of the review.  Rather I'd encourage you to check out his book directly if you're interested in this portrayal of the Americas on the eve of the Colombian Exchange.  Speaking of that, I've already placed an order for his sequel/companion book 1493 that covers the aftermath of the European-American interaction.  I can't wait for it to arrive next month (sadly free shipping is slow) so that I can read it.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary: If you enjoy history and want to discover a different perspective on early American history definitely check out this well-written, reasoned, and compelling volume.

Technical: 553 pages, text: 392 p, appendices: 21 p, notes 53 p (no footnotes in text).  Includes index and bibliography.  Second edition only available as trade paperback (no hardcover)

~Matt