Secrets of the Dead

Watched a fascinating program on PBS tonight, called “secrets of the Dead”.  In Queens, NYC, a body was dug up on a construction site. Police were called in but a forensics specialist determined that the body was at least 100 years old, and was buried in an iron coffin! 

They took it back to a lab, where they found that she was a black woman, but were very curious as to why she was buried in an iron coffin. Upon carefully examining the body, he found that the entirety of it was covered with small nodules. Taking into consideration of the time she was determined to have died, it was concluded that the woman had died of smallpox. This brought the entire process to a screeching halt until they decided whether or not the smallpox was still viable. Specialists from the CDC in Atlanta were brought in and, after thorough examination and testing, concluded that it was not. The iron coffin had been air tight and had killed the virus.

The forensics specialist decided to do more research, and requested the assistance of a forensics professor, who was from a local university. The professor used a scanning x-ray that could basically do an autopsy without cutting into the body. Then, on a special digital screen, they could “peel away” layers and look at not only her skin, but muscles, organs and skeleton!  What was the most incredible was that, in peeling away the layers on her head and being able to “see” inside the cavity of her brain, they found that the smallpox virus had penetrated into her brain, as shown by the dozens of nodules not only on the interior of her brain cavity, but on tissue itself. Wow… 

Smallpox was like a cancer, creeping and spreading into every single are of the body.

Upon further investigation into census records and historical maps of the area, the forensics specialist found not only that the area where she was found had been a cemetery, but also discovered her name, and that she had been married to a man who was the business partner of the man who invented and built the iron coffins!

It all came full circle.

The smallpox vaccine was first used in 1798. In 1977 it was declared to have been eradicated

Helen Keller

Watched a fantastic documentary on PBS about Helen Keller. Wow, she was SO much more than the little girl at the water pump!  Ms. Keller was the driving force behind the creation of both a universal sign language and universal Braille. Until that time, everyone just did what worked best for them, which was fine until they tried to sign to someone else, who did not understand the other person’s signs. It was a huge revelation. She taught herself to talk and traveled the world for speaking engagements, became very involved with politics, and was a fierce advocate for civil rights, women’s rights, and the rights of the disabled. She was friends with Franklin D. Roosevelt. There was so much more that I can’t recall, but it was very interesting and well done. 

Crown of the Continent

We arrived at Glacier National Park a few minutes past 6:00, and I had my Golden Age Pass ready, but there was no one at the gates, so we drove straight in. I was still dark out, but there was a hint of daylight beginning to peek over the mountains. By the time we got up to Haystack Turn, it was finally getting light out. We didn’t stop much to get photos because B wanted to be at Logan Pass when the sun came up, to get some shots of the sun hitting the very tops of the peaks. We almost made it.

Autumn is the absolute best time to see Glacier!  Most of the tourists are gone, there are no loud, obnoxious kids running around and scaring off whatever wildlife there might be, the weather is cool and comfortable, and traffic is almost nil, which means ample parking at both McDonald Lodge and Logan Pass. 

I got some great shots, and we walked up the Hidden Lake Trail just a little ways. There were actually quite a few people up there, I think mostly locals, enjoying “our” park without the crowds. The air was cold and crisp when it filled my lungs, and it felt so good! 

On the way back down the trail we met an elderly Japanese gentleman, who was asking how to get to Many Glacier. He spoke very broken English, but we gave him the best directions we could, and he thanked us and bowed. We bowed back and he smiled from ear to ear. What a sweet old man; very old school and I really wanted to take my picture with him. I’m sure he would have obliged, and maybe would have wanted to take one too, but I decided to just move on.    

On the way back down we stopped at a number of the scenic turnouts and I got some great photos. I really wanted to stop at the Dancing Waters, but the water level was so low that in places the river was nothing more than a very thin trickle.

We did walk the Trail of the Cedars however, which has expanded some since the last time I was there. They’ve lengthened the trail, added little turnouts with benches, and a few interpretive signs. I like it! 

Stopped at the “new” visitors center on the way out (I say new, because it might have been there for a long time, but new since I’ve been there, which has been a long time).

One more stop in Hungry horse for a huckleberry milkshake and some onion rings (nice combo, huh?), to hold us over until we got back to Kalispell, where our plan was to have steaks at the Montana Club. That however, did not pan out because we were both still full from the milkshake and onion rings! We could have gotten something to go, and saved it for the next day, but there was plenty to eat at her house so we didn’t stop.

Another trip out to see the cranes this evening. When we got there, about 40 of them were feeding in the grain field just beyond the parking area, and I got some decent shots, but nothing to be excited about. I did manage a few shots of four or five of them flying over us, with the sun on them.

We decided to go to the other ponds just the next road over, where it was now too dark to take photos, but where close to 300 cranes were settling in for the night! 

There are two ranches bordering this second location, and between the two have donated 400 acres as a conservation easement “in perpetuity”. How awesome is that??  Saving the ponds from being filled in, keeping construction and subdivisions out, and protecting the entire area for the cranes. I love it.

This is an area where the birds gather in very large flocks (as we saw), before migrating south for the winter. I have to wonder if they gather here in the spring as well.  

Heading home tomorrow. It felt good to get out of town for a few days, the trip to Glacier was so good for my soul.

 

 

 

Preparing for Migration

Tonight we drove out a short distance from B's house, where everything is wide open farm land. There we drove on a gravel road to a small parking area that overlooked a pond. Lots of geese and ducks, and once the sun went down, a huge amount of Sandhill Cranes!  They flew in at sunset in small flocks of anywhere from five to twenty birds, some of them landing at the edge of the pond, and others continuing on to places unknown, but oh! We estimated around 150 birds at the pond; I’ve never seen so many in one place at one time!  I got some amazing shots of the cranes flying in against the beautiful colors of the sunset; it was something I will never forget as long as I live.