THE TRUE AMERICANS

NATIVE AMERICAN INDIANS

Contrary to popular belief, Columbus didn’t discover America, the Indians already called this vast land home.  With all that is going on in America today regarding rights and prejudices, how many have ever stop to think about how the American Indian has been pushed and shoved since the colonization of America.  If anyone has ever had a right to object, then these people had that right.  They were forced to move many times as the encroaching colonization of America took hold. We must realize these people were herded away from their lands like animals.  And like any person defending their home or territory, the Indians fought to keep their land.  This resulted in the establishment of approximately 400 treaties signed with different tribes during the period of 1782 thru 1868.  The first treaty I have found dates back to July 9, 1782, known as the Chickasaw Peace Treaty.  But alas, many of these treaties were broken and they were pushed further west.  I pray that this article will open your eyes and hearts to the atrocities of slavery that befell some of these undeserving peoples.

The Forgotten Story of American Indian Slavery
(Just One of Many Stories of Indian Slavery)

When Americans think of slavery, our minds create images of Africans inhumanely crowded aboard ships plying the middle passage from Africa, or of blacks stooped to pick cotton in Southern fields. We don’t conjure images of American Indians chained in coffles and marched to ports like Boston and Charleston, and then shipped to other ports in the Atlantic world. Yet Indian slavery and an Indian slave trade were ubiquitous in early America.

From the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, tens of thousands of America’s native peoples were enslaved, many of them transported to lands distant from their homes. Our historical mythology posits that American Indians could not be enslaved in large numbers because they too readily succumbed to disease when exposed to Europeans and they were too wedded to freedom to allow anyone to own them.  Yet many indigenous people developed resistance to European diseases after being exposed to the newcomers for well over a century.  And it is a racist conception that “inferior” Africans accepted their debased position as slaves – a status that American Indians and Europeans presumably could never have accepted. This is a gross misconception of history. We are just scratching the surface of what this all means. For the enslavement of Indians forces us to rethink not only the institution of slavery, but the evolution of racism and racist ideologies in America.  In the 17th century, Europeans, Africans and American Indians all accepted slavery as a legitimate social institution.

Treatment and status of the enslaved varied greatly from group to group. War captives provided most slaves, though the Europeans made slavery inheritable. Africans and Indians did exchange slaves as commodities, but Europeans introduced an international market economy for labor, as colonial plantation societies developed an insatiable demand for workers, spurring the African slave trade as well as various forms of bond labor for impoverished Europeans. In the American South, European traders, mostly British colonists operating out of Charleston, South Carolina, engaged local and distant American Indian tribes to undertake slaving against their neighbors, who could be made to walk to ships that would carry them to Barbados, New York, Antigua and other ports in the Atlantic world, where they would work as slaves.  The South Carolinians used some of these slaves to work their own plantations, but because of the ability of captives to escape over familiar territory among familiar peoples, their captors preferred to export most of them elsewhere. Capital from selling Indian slaves was used to fund plantations and purchase Africans. It was as if one could create capital out of thin air: The only effort lay in capturing the prey and transporting it to market. Native peoples engaged in slaving for a variety of reasons. In exchange for captives, they received European trade goods. Many also hoped to forge closer relations with the British. To refuse to become slave raiders, they risked becoming categorized as potential victims, with their enemies then filling the role of slavers. The result: A frenzy of slaving infected the region, as natives captured not only their enemies, but people they had never met. Some went farther and captured their friends and allies. Small-scale raids with attacks on fewer than a dozen people evolved into large-scale wars, with the British and their American-Indian allies seeking captives in the thousands. Extending southward from Charleston, British and native raiders followed attacks upon the native peoples of Georgia with a massive onslaught against Indians on Spanish missions in northern Florida. Systematically, the raiders extended all the way to the Florida Keys. Simultaneously, the English established important ties with the Chickasaw, who became the key slavers of the lower Mississippi Valley, extending their attacks west of the Mississippi and south to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Chickasaw, surrounded by enemies on all sides, used slaving as a way to strengthen themselves at their enemies’ expense, but great losses in slaving wars weakened them immensely. The numbers are difficult to calculate, but I estimate that 30,000 to 50,000, perhaps more, American Indians were exported from Charleston. Thousands more were exported from ports like Boston and Salem, and, on a much smaller scale, by the French from New Orleans.

Untold numbers, which scholars are just beginning to calculate, will ultimately include the thousands who were not exported from their region but lived out their lives as slaves on plantations in Virginia, as farm laborers in Connecticut and as domestics in New France.  Although the scale of enslavement pales in comparison to the African slave trade, it is notable, for instance, that from 1670 to 1717, far more American Indians were exported from Charleston than Africans were brought in.  Scholars long have known about the Indian slave trade, but the scattered nature of the sources deterred a systematic examination.  No one had any conception of the trade’s massive extent and that it played such a central role in the lives of early Americans and in the colonial economy.

Indian slavery complicates the narrative we have created of a white-black world, with Indians residing outside on a vaguely defined frontier. The Indian slave trade connects native and European history, so that plantations and American Indian communities become entwined. We find planters making more money from slave trading than planting, and if we look more closely we find Indians not only enslaved on plantations but working as police forces to maintain those plantations and receiving substantial rewards for returning runaway slaves. We are also learning a great deal more about American-Indian peoples.

Most importantly we can now tell the stories – the tragedies – that befell so many who were killed in slaving wars or spent their days as slaves far from their homes. They and their peoples have been largely forgotten. The Natchez, Westo, Yamasee, Euchee, Yazoo and Tawasa are among the dozens of  Indian peoples who fell victims to the slaving wars, with the survivors forced to join other native communities. These are tales that Indians themselves have not told:  Just as the story of Indian slavery was excluded from the European past, it was largely forgotten in American-Indian traditions.  Americans often wish the past would just go away, save for those symbols we celebrate:  Pocahontas saving John Smith, the “noble savage,” and the first Thanksgiving.  The image of Pilgrims and Indians sharing a meal is one of the most cogent images we have of American Indians and of the colonization of this continent.

You can find more about South Carolina and Indian slavery at:

http://www.pantribalconfederacy.com/confederacy/useful/pdf/indian_slavery.pdf

NATIVE AMERICAN OR AMERICAN INDIAN?

In the past there has been controversy over the use of these two terms to describe these peoples.  It basically sorted itself out in that either term is acceptable and synonymous.  Some prefer one over the other and some are acceptable with either term.   ” A 1995 Census Bureau Survey of preferences for racial and ethnic terminology (there is no more recent survey) indicated that 49% of Native people preferred being called American Indian, 37% preferred Native American, 3.6% preferred “some other term,” and 5% had no preference.”  Regardless of what term is used, these people deserve recognition of their struggles and survival against all odds.

While you may find many links on the internet in regards to this topic, here is one that you might wish to peruse:

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aihmterms.html

WORDS OF WISDOM:

An Indian Chief, in 1876 said:

“Peace and happiness are available in every moment. Peace is every step. We shall walk hand in hand. There are no political solutions to spiritual problems.

Remember: If the Creator put it there, it is in the right place. The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.

Tell your people, that since we were promised we should never be moved, we have been moved five times.”

BRIEF FAMILY HISTORY:

I am a descendant of the Woccon Indians who lived in eastern North Carolina and who frequented the Outer Banks to gather fish and shellfish.  In 1585 when John White first visited what is now known as Ocracoke, he found the tribe there.  Through the years as the white settlers infiltrated the island, some of them mixed with the Indians.   I discovered this when I was doing genealogy research on my Mother’s family.  I found that my great great great grandfather and his father before him were part of the original Ocracoke pilots who ferried supplies from Virginia to North Carolina.  Somewhere along that line, or even before, there was the mix because they were classified by the 1850 Census of Hyde County, NC as “Free Persons of Color” and designated as Mulatto -  (Reference:  http://coastalcarolinaindians.com/research/genealogy.htm).

While the only physical attribute I carry of those people are my high cheek bones, my Grandmother carries many more of those attributes.   I present my Grandmother, Florence Bragg/Geffrory Smith

Sources:

http://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/pictures/images/indians-021a.jpg

http://www.pantribalconfederacy.com/confederacy/useful/pdf/indian_slavery.pdf

http://www.picturehistory.com/images/products/2/8/6/prod_28603.jpg

http://www.salesianhigh.org/faculty/wri/thanks6.JPG

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aihmterms.html

http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Wisdom/Anon.html

After reading this article you will have garnered a little  knowledge on how these people felt after being forced to do things that were against their grain.

We too are now facing atrocities.  Our freedoms and way of life are being stripped from us one at a time.  Don’t let history repeat itself.  Get involved.  Defend our Constitution.

NOTABLE NORTH CAROLINIAN

North Carolina boasts many famous citizens and I have decided to make some of my threads on some of these outstanding people.  Because the Christmas season is fast approaching, one of my very favorite stories at this time of year was written by the first person I have chosen, William Sidney Porter, otherwise known as:

O. HENRY

Born William Sidney Porter, this master of short stories is much better known under his pen name “O. Henry.” He was born September 11, 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he spent his childhood. His only formal education was received at the school of his Aunt Lina, where he developed a lifelong love of books. In 1879, at the age of 17, he took a position as a pharmacy clerk at his uncle’s pharmacy W.C. Porter & company on South Elm Street in Greensboro.  He became a licensed pharmacist.  While at the pharmacy he entertained the local townspeople with his sketches and cartoons of them coming and going at the drugstore.  He also gained a reputation for being somewhat of a prankster.  Once he noticed a keg of whiskey (used for medicinal purposes only) in the drugstore basement seemed to be disappearing.  He discovered two long straws hidden near the barrel and found a small hole bored at the top of the barrel.  He suspected a coworker and set about proving his suspicions and decided to have a little fun while doing so.  He put ground red pepper in the straws and sent the coworker on an errand in the basement.  Porter waited – all of a sudden he heard screams and the coworker came running up the stairs and down the street to a water pump.  Porter followed him where the coworker admitted he had been drinking the whiskey and vowed never to do it again.

At the age of twenty, Porter came to Texas primarily for health reasons, and worked on a sheep ranch and lived with the family of Richard M. Hall, whose family had close ties with the Porter family back in North Carolina. It was here that Porter gained a knowledge for ranch life that he later described in many of his short stories.

In 1884, Porter moved to Austin. For the next three years, where he roomed in the home of the Joseph Harrell family and held several jobs. It was during this time that Porter first used his pen name, O. Henry, said to be derived from his frequent calling of “Oh, ‘Henry’” the family cat.

By 1887, Porter began working as a draftsman in the General Land Office, then headed by his old family friend, Richard Hall. In 1891 at the end of Hall’s term at the Land Office, Porter resigned and became a teller with the First National Bank in Austin. After a few years, however, he left the bank and founded the Rolling Stone, an unsuccessful humor weekly. Starting in 1895 he wrote a column for the Houston Daily Post.

Meanwhile, Porter was accused of embezzling funds dating back to his employment at the First National Bank. Leaving his wife and young daughter in Austin, Porter fled to New Orleans, then to Honduras, but soon returned due to his wife’s deteriorating health. She died soon afterward, and in early 1898 Porter was found guilty of the banking charges and sentenced to five years in 1898 at an Ohio prison.

From this low point in Porter’s life, he began a remarkable comeback. Three years and about a dozen short stories later, he emerged from prison as “O. Henry” to help shield his true identity. He moved to New York City, where over the next ten years before his death in 1910, he published over 300 stories and gained worldwide acclaim as America’s favorite short story writer.

O. Henry wrote with realistic detail based on his first hand experiences both in Texas and in New York City. In 1907, he published many of his Texas stories in The Heart of the West a volume that includes “The Reformation of Calliope,” “The Caballero’s Way,” and “The Hiding of Black Bill.” Another highly acclaimed Texas writer, J. Frank Dobie, later referred to O. Henry’s “Last of the Troubadours” as “the best range story in American fiction.”

Porter died on June 5, 1910 in New York City at the age of forty seven. Sadly, he was an alcoholic, and he died virtually penniless

THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

O. Henry wrote hundreds of short stories.  This is my very favorite.  I am sure each of you know this story.  Since it is rather long to post, I have only captured here a few excerpts:

…“Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim’s gold watch that had been his father’s and his grandfather’s. The other was Della’s hair. Had the queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty’s jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.

…”Will you buy my hair?” asked Della.
“I buy hair,” said Madame. “Take yer hat off and let’s have a sight at the looks of it.”
Down rippled the brown cascade.
“Twenty dollars,” said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand.
“Give it to me quick,” said Della.

…She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out. It was a platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretricious ornamentation–as all good things should do. It was even worthy of The Watch.

…   Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table.

…For there lay The Combs–the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims–just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone.

…”Dell,” said he, “let’s put our Christmas presents away and keep ‘em a while. They’re too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs.

…The magi, as you know, were wise men–wonderfully wise men–who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.”

PLEASE READ THIS BEAUTIFUL STORY FOR YOURSELF, OR BETTER YET, GET THE MOVIE, THE GIFT OF THE MAGI.  ALSO, YOU MIGHT FIND OTHER STORIES HERE THAT WILL PEAK YOUR INTEREST AS WELL.

http://www.literaturecollection.com/a/o_henry/25/

THIS IS FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH MOVIE OF THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

Sources:

http://www.lsjunction.com/people/ohenry.jpg

Our State, Down Home in North Carolina magazine – Jan 08 – Article by Janet C. Pittard

http://www.lsjunction.com/people/porter.htm

http://www.literaturecollection.com/a/o_henry/25/

http://www.longlocks.com/41ApJ9Vv55L._SL110_.jpg

http://www.ashton-blakey-antiques.com/proimg/fix/watch-chains-58.jpg

FIRST COLONIAL CAPITOL OF NORTH CAROLINA

NEW BERN, NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina’s first capitol—where governors ruled, legislators debated, patriots gathered, and George Washington danced.

Founded in 1710 at the confluence of the Trent and Neuse rivers, New Bern was settled by Swiss and German adventurers led by Baron Christopher de Graffenried from Bern, Switzerland.  New Bern is the second oldest town in the state.  Royal Governor William Tryon made this seaport his colonial capitol and residence.  Meticulously reconstructed in the 1950’s, the original Tryon Palace was built between 1767 and 1770 for colonial Governor Tryon as the first permanent capitol of North Carolina.

This is Tryon Palace in New Bern, North Carolina. Tryon Palace was built in 1767 to serve as the home to the Royal Governor who was appointed by the ruling monarch of England. The last Royal Governor fled the palace in 1775. Tryon Palace then housed the elected Governor of the independent colony of North Carolina during the Revolutionary War.

The royal coat of arms of George III of England adorns Tryon Palace in New Bern, North Carolina. The motto displayed is Dieu et mon droit, or God and my right.

FORMAL GARDENS

A major port and trading center in the 1800’s, New Bern was captured and occupied by the Union Army after a fierce battle on March 14, 1862.

New Bern has three historic districts with homes, stores, and churches dating as far back as the early 18th century. In fact, there are 36 individual listings and more than 150 sites included in the National Register of Historic Places. History abounds around every corner, with over 150 landmarks – some dating to the 18th century- representing a variety of architectural periods.

Religion has always played an important role in city history, and church graveyards chronicle the lives of the early settlers. Christ Church parish was established in 1715, and the first church building was constructed in 1750. King George II of England gave the church a silver communion service, a prayer book, and a Bible in 1752 that are still in use. The second church was destroyed in a fire that swept away several buildings in the late 1870’s, and today’s church was built on the old foundations. Stones in the graveyard date back before 1800. First Presbyterian Church, established in 1817, was used as a hospital and lookout during the Civil War. The belfry still shows carved names and initials of Union soldiers. One of the founding members of the church was an African American woman. Cedar Grove Cemetery has the graves of Confederates who died in the Battle of New Bern, and the National Cemetery holds the remains of Union soldiers and veterans of later wars.

POST OFFICE

COURT HOUSE

OLD CEDAR GROVE CEMETERY

NEUSE RIVER

NEW BERN IS ALSO THE HOME OF PEPSI COLA

On this spot in his pharmacy, Caleb Bradham invented “Brad’s Drink,” which later he patented as Pepsi-Cola. Today, you can purchase a souvenir or relax and enjoy a Pepsi-Cola at the recreated soda fountain.

NEW BERN WILL BE 300 YEARS OLD  IN 2010

Go to the following link to view official information on celebration events.

http://www.newbern300.com/calendar.php

SOURCES:

http://www.newbern.com/history/oldphoto/pix086.jpg

http://www.newbern.com/history/

http://www.nchistoricsites.org/tryon/tryon.htm

http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles18355.jpg

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2008/12/92892675_e7f6a3b019_o.jpg

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2008/12/1510116446_a148c36fc0_o.jpg

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2008/09/cravencogardens.jpg

http://www.newbern.com/history/oldphoto/pix016.jpg

http://www.newbern.com/history/oldphoto/pix048.jpg

http://www.newbern.com/history/oldphoto/pix079.jpg

http://www.newbern.com/history/oldphoto/pix100.jpg

http://www.newbern.com/history/oldphoto/pix064.jpg

http://www.wegoplaces.com/Attraction_49111.aspx

AMERICA’S SYMBOL OF FREEDOM

by ryansgrammy

THE AMERICAN BALD EAGLE

The Eagle
by Rosalie

With the grace of an angel
She flies through the sky
Wings of soft downy feathers
She’s America’s pride

A symbol of freedom
For all nations to see
She soars from the heavens
To the land of the free

Guard her always we must
For her meaning is clear
She represents liberties
We all hold so dear

Facts about the American Bald Eagle:

• For over 200 years, the Bald Eagle has served as the proud symbol of the United States and has stood for independence and the timeless ideals of excellence and integrity.

• During the Second Continental Congress in 1782, our founding fathers adopted the Bald Eagle as the central image in the official emblem of our new nation

• Indiscriminate shooting, destruction of critical habitat, and widespread use of the pesticide DDT on crops eventually took their toll and caused near extinction of the bird. By the early 1960s, it had become a rare and endangered species (with only a few hundred pairs).

• In 2007, experts projected there were approximately 10,000 nesting pairs in the contiguous United States. Bald Eagles are thriving again in every state of the Union (except Hawaii, where they never existed).

Bald Eagles nests are used over and over again by the same pair.  They add more material and some nests weigh over one ton.

You’ll find lots of information and facts about the Bald Eagle at the site below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Eagle

These pictures were taken in Florida during the winters of 2008 and 2009.  The pair of eagles has been coming to this particular golf course community for many years and delights all of us as we watch them each year raise a new family.

First flight of the fledgling.  There were 3 in the nest the winter of 2008 (which made it a little crowded).  For weeks you’ll see them flapping their wings in the nest before they take their first flight.  The one you see here got a little carried away and eventually fell out of the nest.  People from this wonderful organization came and picked up the bird and took it away to rehabilitate it.  Several weeks later, they brought the bird back to the nest and all was well.

The fledglings are learning to eat on their own with close supervision.  The adult brought them the food in the tree and then flew to another branch to supervise and protect them.

We went to the Great Smokey Mountains this fall and ended up going to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN.  What I didn’t know was that Dollywood is headquarters for the American Eagle Foundation.  They have a fantastic bird show (called Wings of America Birds of Prey) and over two dozen Bald Eagles in an aviary that are being taken care of there because they cannot live in the wild.  At the end of the show, there is a funny bird that’s happy to take dollar bills from your hand and stuff them into a donation box.  The Foundation, in addition to providing a home for dozens of adult bald eagles, is proud that they have been able to raise (with very limited human contact) a number of eaglets that they have released into the wild.  Please visit the site below to find out more about the American Eagle Foundation.

http://www.eagles.org/

Sources:

http://www.freeeaglepictures.com/images/baldEagle-illust.jpg

http://officeimages.microsoft.com/i/0000/MT/j0387/j0387191.gif

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Eagle

http://www.eagles.org/

SPECIAL THANKS:

Another awe-inspiring thread by ryansgrammy.  Let us all remember that the Bald Eagle symbolizes  freedom, strength and power.  United, we can maintain that vision our founding fathers fought so courageously for.

Soldier’s Song

Posted by cynkading

To our Veterans and all branches of the military and their families who sacrifice daily:

The gang at Rosettasister would like to thank you for your service, your love of God and country, your dedication, and for all that you have done and are doing to keep us a free United States of America.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

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Iraq 

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 Afghanistan

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Vietnam 

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Korea

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World War II

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World War I 

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American Civil War

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America has nothing to apologize for!

Anyone that thinks differently should tell it to these men.

http://www.homeofheroes.com/gravesites/abmc/abmc_wwi2_europe.html

A special thanks to cynkading for this powerful page.

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SOURCES:

http://www.war-in-iraq.us/cgi-bin/get-img.cgi?filename=imgs/galls/released/iraq-war-photos/04_16_iraq_f.jpg

http://article.wn.com/view/WNAT7BBD21379272079A1777517E58DB125E/

http://www.hiarmymuseumsoc.org/museum/graphics/helicopters_vietnam.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Korean_War_HA-SN-98-07010.jpg

http://emiljung.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/enola_gay.jpg

http://z.about.com/d/history1900s/1/0/a/3/wwi23.gif

http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/5026454/civil-war-030-main_Full.jpg

COVERED BRIDGE NOSTALGIA

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

A covered bridge is a bridge, often single-lane, with enclosed sides and a roof. They have typically been wooden, although some newer ones are concrete or metal with glass sides. Mainly associated with the nineteenth century, covered bridges often serve as prominent local landmarks and have long attracted the attention of historic preservationists.

Why were bridges covered?

Today covered bridges are considered historical landmarks, romantic structures resembling the past, but what was the purpose of covering these bridges? There were thought to be many reasons why bridges were covered, although not all of these ideas were correct. One explanation was that “the spans were built to resemble barns so farm animals would feel more at home and not stampede as they were driven across the rushing waters.” Other explanations included: to keep snow off the bridge, “to keep the oiled planks of the roadbed from becoming dangerously slippery in the rain”, to cover up the unsightly trusses, to provide shelter to travelers caught in a storm, and to provide a place to court your lady and secretly give her a kiss. One real reason for covering bridges was to protect the trusses from the weather because the environment caused bridges to fail sooner

History of Covered Bridges:

Covered bridges can be dated back two thousand years to a time when they were being built in China and even earlier in ancient Babylon (780 B.C.). But the first covered bridge built in America was built in 1804 by Theodore Burr of Connecticut. This bridge spanned the Hudson River in New York and was called the Waterford Bridge, lasting for 105 years. With time, the idea of covering bridges moved west.

Construction Details:

Early bridges were often made of wood, especially where it was a plentiful resource. Wooden bridges tended to deteriorate rapidly from exposure to the elements, having a useful lifespan of only nine years. Covering them protected their structural members, thus extending their life to 80 years or more.

Most wooden covered bridges employ trusses as their key structural design element. A popular design was the Brown Truss, known for its simplicity, but others were also used.

Given the ready availability of steel, concrete, and other modern construction materials, most modern covered bridges are built either for the convenience of the user, rather than to protect the structure itself, or as a statement of style or design.

A covered bridge in Vermont with the fall foliage forming the backdrop

Covered Bridges in North America

Such bridges are found in rural areas throughout the United States  and Canada, but are often threatened by arsonists, vandals, and flooding. In the United States, Pennsylvania has more covered bridges (over 200) than any other state, many of which can be seen in Washington, Chester and Lancaster Counties.  The U.S. state of Vermont has more covered bridges per square mile than any other place in the world, with 107 bridges located throughout the state. Oregon has the largest number of historical covered bridges in the western United States.  They are also common in places such as Tennessee, Oregon,  Iowa,  Indiana,  and  Alabama. Parts of California, Ohio,  Michigan, Kentucky,  Maryland, Minnesota, Virginia,  West Virginia,  Wisconsin, and the New England states have surviving covered bridges.

There are various structural designs used for covered bridges, such as the Burr Truss.

Opened on July 4, 1901, the 1,282 foot (390 m) Hartland Bridge, crossing the Saint John River at Hartland, New Brunswick, is the longest covered bridge in the world. It is a national historic site.

A much longer covered bridge (5,960 ft) between Columbia  and Wrightsville, Pennsylvania  once spanned the mile-wide Susquehanna River, making it the longest and most versatile covered bridge in the world during its existence. It featured railroad tracks, a towpath for canal boats crossing the river between two canals on either bank, and a carriage / wagon / pedestrian road. The popular toll bridge was burned June 28, 1863, by Union Militia  during the American Civil War to prevent its usage by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the Gettysburg Campaign. A replacement wooden covered bridge was destroyed by a windstorm a few years later. It was rebuilt as an open-air steel bridge.

As of 2008, the longest covered bridge in the US is the Smolen-Gulf bridge spanning the Ashtabula River  near Ashtabula, Ohio.

The town of Blenheim, New York  has the longest single-span covered bridge in the world (232 ft), built in 1855. The bridge crosses the Schoharie Creek  in the northern Catskills. It is one of only six “double-barreled” covered bridges in North America; that is, a bridge with two traffic lanes separated by a supporting truss. There are other double-barreled bridges in Vermont (2), Ohio (1), Indiana (1), and West Virginia (1).

Covered bridges are generally considered old-fashioned and appeal to tourists, but the enclosure acts as weather protection over the working part of the structure. A bridge built entirely out of wood, without any protective coating, may last 10 to 15 years. Builders discovered that if the bridge’s underpinnings were protected with a roof, the bridge could stand for 70 or even 80 years. The existing covered bridges have been renovated using concrete footings and steel trusses to hold additional weight and to replace the original support timbers. Some covered bridges, such as the ones in Newton Falls, Ohio  and Elizabethton, Tennessee  also feature an integrated covered walkway.

We all know this famous song by Simon and Garfunkel – however I discovered these two versions that I thought were really beautiful

While there were many videos on covered bridges, I chose this because of the fall scenery

SOURCES:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/Larrys_Creek_Covered_Bridge.JPG/267px-Larrys_Creek_Covered_Bridge.JPG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covered_bridge

http://www.fredbecker.org/News%20Letter/HistoryCoveredBr.htm

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Vermont_fall_covered_bridge_2009.JPG/180px-Vermont_fall_covered_bridge_2009.JPG

http://www.co.ozaukee.wi.us/history/Images/CoveredBridge.jpg

http://www.vtliving.com/coveredbridges/tom01.jpg

http://www.dot.state.ga.us/travelingingeorgia/coveredbridges/PublishingImages/watson/backs_sm.jpg

http://www.dot.state.ga.us/travelingingeorgia/coveredbridges/PublishingImages/stonemt/elev_sm.jpg

Why Leaves Change Color

Posted by ryansgrammy

If you are lucky, you live in one of those parts of the world where Nature has one last fling before settling down into winter’s sleep. In those lucky places, as days shorten and temperatures become crisp, the quiet green palette of summer foliage is transformed into the vivid autumn palette of reds, oranges, golds, and browns before the leaves fall off the trees. On special years, the colors are truly breathtaking.

How does autumn color happen?

For years, scientists have worked to understand the changes that happen to trees and shrubs in the autumn. Although we don’t know all the details, we do know enough to explain the basics and help you to enjoy more fully Nature’s multicolored autumn farewell. Three factors influence autumn leaf color-leaf pigments, length of night, and weather, but not quite in the way we think. The timing of color change and leaf fall are primarily regulated by the calendar, that is, the increasing length of night. None of the other environmental influences-temperature, rainfall, food supply, and so on-are as unvarying as the steadily increasing length of night during autumn. As days grow shorter, and nights grow longer and cooler, biochemical processes in the leaf begin to paint the landscape with Nature’s autumn palette.

Where do autumn colors come from?

A color palette needs pigments, and there are three types that are involved in autumn color.

· Chlorophyll, which gives leaves their basic green color. It is necessary for photosynthesis, the chemical reaction that enables plants to use sunlight to manufacture sugars for their food. Trees in the temperate zones store these sugars for their winter dormant period.

· Carotenoids, which produce yellow, orange, and brown colors in such things as corn, carrots, and daffodils, as well as rutabagas, buttercups, and bananas.

· Anthocyanins, which give color to such familiar things as cranberries, red apples, concord grapes, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums. They are water soluble and appear in the watery liquid of leaf cells.

Both chlorophyll and carotenoids are present in the chloroplasts of leaf cells throughout the growing season. Most anthocyanins are produced in the autumn, in response to bright light and excess plant sugars within leaf cells.

During the growing season, chlorophyll is continually being produced and broken down and leaves appear green. As night length increases in the autumn, chlorophyll production slows down and then stops and eventually all the chlorophyll is destroyed. The carotenoids and anthocyanins that are present in the leaf are then unmasked and show their colors.

Certain colors are characteristic of particular species. Oaks turn red, brown, or russet; hickories, golden bronze; aspen and yellow-poplar, golden yellow; dogwood, purplish red; beech, light tan; and sourwood and black tupelo, crimson. Maples differ species by species-red maple turns brilliant scarlet; sugar maple, orange-red; and black maple, glowing yellow. Striped maple becomes almost colorless. Leaves of some species such as the elms simply shrivel up and fall, exhibiting little color other than drab brown.

The timing of the color change also varies by species. Sourwood in southern forests can become vividly colorful in late summer while all other species are still vigorously green. Oaks put on their colors long after other species have already shed their leaves. These differences in timing among species seem to be genetically inherited, for a particular species at the same latitude will show the same coloration in the cool temperatures of high mountain elevations at about the same time as it does in warmer lowlands.

How does weather affect autumn color?

The amount and brilliance of the colors that develop in any particular autumn season are related to weather conditions that occur before and during the time the chlorophyll in the leaves is dwindling. Temperature and moisture are the main influences.

A succession of warm, sunny days and cool, crisp but not freezing nights seems to bring about the most spectacular color displays. During these days, lots of sugars are produced in the leaf but the cool nights and the gradual closing of veins going into the leaf prevent these sugars from moving out. These conditions-lots of sugar and lots of light-spur production of the brilliant anthocyanin pigments, which tint reds, purples, and crimson. Because carotenoids are always present in leaves, the yellow and gold colors remain fairly constant from year to year.

The amount of moisture in the soil also affects autumn colors. Like the weather, soil moisture varies greatly from year to year. The countless combinations of these two highly variable factors assure that no two autumns can be exactly alike. A late spring, or a severe summer drought, can delay the onset of fall color by a few weeks. A warm period during fall will also lower the intensity of autumn colors. A warm wet spring, favorable summer weather, and warm sunny fall days with cool nights should produce the most brilliant autumn colors.

What triggers leaf fall?

In early autumn, in response to the shortening days and declining intensity of sunlight, leaves begin the processes leading up to their fall. The veins that carry fluids into and out of the leaf gradually close off as a layer of cells forms at the base of each leaf. These clogged veins trap sugars in the leaf and promote production of anthocyanins. Once this separation layer is complete and the connecting tissues are sealed off, the leaf is ready to fall.

What does all this do for the tree?

Winter is a certainty that all vegetation in the temperate zones must face each year. Perennial plants, including trees, must have some sort of protection to survive freezing temperatures and other harsh wintertime influences. Stems, twigs, and buds are equipped to survive extreme cold so that they can reawaken when spring heralds the start of another growing season. Tender leaf tissues, however, would freeze in winter, so plants must either toughen up and protect their leaves or dispose of them.

The evergreens-pines, spruces, cedars, firs, and so on-are able to survive winter because they have toughened up. Their needle-like or scale-like foliage is covered with a heavy wax coating and the fluid inside their cells contains substances that resist freezing. Thus the foliage of evergreens can safely withstand all but the severest winter conditions, such as those in the Arctic. Evergreen needles survive for some years but eventually fall because of old age.

The leaves of broadleaved plants, on the other hand, are tender and vulnerable to damage. These leaves are typically broad and thin and are not protected by any thick coverings. The fluid in cells of these leaves is usually a thin, watery sap that freezes readily. This means that the cells could not survive winter where temperatures fall below freezing. Tissues unable to overwinter must be sealed off and shed to ensure the plant’s continued survival. Thus leaf fall precedes each winter in the temperate zones.

What happens to all those fallen leaves?

Needles and leaves that fall are not wasted. They decompose and restock the soil with nutrients and make up part of the spongy humus layer of the forest floor that absorbs and holds rainfall. Fallen leaves also become food for numerous soil organisms vital to the forest ecosystem.

It is quite easy to see the benefit to the tree of its annual leaf fall, but the advantage to the entire forest is more subtle. It could well be that the forest could no more survive without its annual replenishment from leaves than the individual tree could survive without shedding these leaves. The many beautiful interrelationships in the forest community leave us with myriad fascinating puzzles still to solve.

Where can I see autumn color in the United States?

You can find autumn color in parks and woodlands, in the cities, countryside, and mountains – anywhere you find deciduous broadleaved trees, the ones that drop their leaves in the autumn. Nature’s autumn palette is painted on oaks, maples, beeches, sweetgums, yellow-poplars, dogwoods, hickories, and others. Your own neighborhood may be planted with special trees that were selected for their autumn color.

New England is rightly famous for the spectacular autumn colors painted on the trees of its mountains and countryside, but the Adirondack, Appalachian, Smoky, and Rocky Mountains are also clad with colorful displays. In the East, we can see the reds, oranges, golds, and bronzes of the mixed deciduous woodlands; in the West, we see the bright yellows of aspen stands and larches contrasting with the dark greens of the evergreen conifers.

Many of the Forest Service’s 100 plus scenic byways were planned with autumn color in mind. In 31 States you can drive on over 3,000 miles of scenic byways, and almost everyone of them offers a beautiful, colorful drive sometime in the autumn.

When is the best time to see autumn color?

Unfortunately, autumn color is not very predictable, especially in the long term. Half the fun is trying to outguess Nature! But it generally starts in late September in New England and moves southward, reaching the Smoky Mountains by early November. It also appears about this time in the high-elevation mountains of the West. Remember that cooler high elevations will color up before the valleys.

Sources:

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/Spfo/pubs/misc/leaves/top_bg.gif

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/Spfo/pubs/misc/leaves/leaves.htm

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/Spfo/pubs/misc/leaves/sumac.jpg

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/Spfo/pubs/misc/leaves/trees.jpg

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/Spfo/pubs/misc/leaves/trees_v.jpg

Ryansgrammy hits another homerun with this wonderful page.

Thanks grammy!

TAKE A LEAF OUT OF MY BOOK

Posted by ryansgrammy

The Falling Out

by Rosalie

One by one I watch them go
They leave me sadly, at times
Some were very high flyers
During their brief life
Always reaching upwards
Looking toward the heavens
While others never sought the sun
Never wanted the light
They lived in the shadows of others
Comfortable and secure
But were they
Some crashed violently
One last hurrah before they left
While others merely floated away
As if swept by a gentle breeze
Slowly dancing to their death
Enjoying one last moment in the sun
Many left with scarlet faces
As if embarrassed to be seen
Their true nature exposed
Their immortality realized
They were generally the high flyers
Who spent most of their time in the sun
The more cowardly ones
In shades of ambers and yellows
Just below the high flyers
Were greater in number
They were the majority
Comfortable in their numbers
Enjoying their occasional peak at the sun
Viewing it as a gift
Then there were those
Who’s jealously was apparent
Those who left bitter
With no hint of lightness in their hearts
Or evidence of the sun’s brightness
Their envy a destructive force
Which brought them down cruelly
Or so they believed it to be
The same sun was available to all
They merely had to seek it out
They were trapped in shades of darkness
Or so they thought
In the end
Regardless of their exposure
To the magnificence of the sun
Their fate was sealed
As in death
They lie together as one
Grounded at last
And still.

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When we were kids, my dad liked for my sister and I to read poems to him.  I grew up with a love for Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson and many other poets.  This was one of our favorites to recite

WHEN THE FROST IS ON THE PUNKIN

by: James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916)

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin’ turkey-cock,
And the clackin’ of the guineys, and the cluckin’ of the hens,
And the rooster’s hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;
O, it’s thens the times a feller is a-feelin’ at his best,
With the risin’ sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,
As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock,
When the frost in on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock.
They’s something kindo’ harty-like about the atmusfere
When the heat of summer’s over and the coolin’ fall is here-
Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossums on the trees,
And the mumble of the hummin’-birds and buzzin’ of the bees;
But the air’s so appetizin’; and the landscape through the haze
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days
Is a pictur’ that no painter has the colorin’ to mock-
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock.
The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn,
And the raspin’ of the tangled leaves, as golden as the morn;
The stubble in the furries-kindo’ lonesome-like, but still
A-preachin’ sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill;
The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed;
The hosses in theyr stalls below–the clover over-head!-
O, it sets my hart a-clickin’ like the tickin’ of a clock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock!
Then your apples all is gethered, and the ones a feller keeps
Is poured around the celler-floor in red and yeller heaps;
And your cider-makin’s over, and your wimmern-folks is through
With their mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and saussage, too!…
I don’t know how to tell it-but ef sich a thing could be
As the Angels wantin’ boardin’, and they’d call around on me-
I’d want to ‘commodate ‘em-all the whole-indurin’ flock-
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock!

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Great Smokey Mountains

Sources:

http://www.wnep.com/media/photo/2009-10/23672763045880-16090655.jpg

http://www.poetry-archive.com/r/when_the_frost_is_on_the_punkin.html

We at Rosettasister’s would like to give  ryansgrammy a special thank you for her heartfelt contribution to this blog.  In addition, all pictures presented, except pumpkins,  in this post were taken by grammy.

LOVES ME, LOVES ME NOT

Troy’s wonderful poem gave me the idea of sharing with everyone some of the poems I wrote during a time of heartache of losing someone I truly loved.  So I have picked these three from the fifteen that I wrote back in March 1995.  While these are very simple basic poetry, I hope you enjoy them. For those of you who have gone thru the loss of someone by divorce or just a broken relationship, I hope that you will find a little comfort from them.

A ME WITHOUT YOU

YOU ENTERED MY LIFE LIKE A GUST OF WIND

YOU GAVE ME HOPE THAT SAW NO END.

THE MOMENTS WE SHARED GAVE HOPE IN MY HEART

YET ONE DAY THEY ENDED TEARING ME APART.

NOW MY LIFE IS EMPTY WITHOUT YOU TO SHARE

MY HOPES AND MY DREAMS ARE NOW IN DESPAIR.

I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WITHOUT YOU I’M LOST

BUT I MUST GO ON NO MATTER THE COST.

I KNOW I’LL SURVIVE I’VE DONE IT BEFORE

BUT I CAN’T HELP THINKING I’LL HAVE YOU NO MORE.

LETTING GO

LONG IS THE PATH OF LEARNING TO LET GO

UNDERSTANDING THE WHYS OF THAT AWFUL WORD “NO.”

ACCEPTING AND LIVING WON’T DULL THE PAIN,

OF ONCE WHAT WAS NOT DONE TOTALLY IN VAIN.

MEMORIES STILL LINGER LONG INTO THE LIGHT,

ONES THAT WON’T GIVE YOU PEACE AT NIGHT.

YET DEEP IN YOUR HEART YOU’LL ALWAYS RECALL,

THE JOYS OF LOVE THAT YOU SHARED THRU IT ALL.

SO SEARCH YOUR HEART OVER FOR SOME PIECE OF MIND

AND LETTING GO WILL BE EASIER IF YOU JUST GIVE IT TIME.

DON’T LET THAT OLD PAIN YOUR FEELING ROB YOUR SOUL

OF A NEW BEGINNING WHICH WILL AGAIN MAKE YOU WHOLE.



OVER YOU

MY WORLD FELL APART WHEN YOU SAID GOODBYE

I FELT LIFE WAS OVER AND WANTED TO DIE.

THE SUN CAME UP AND I STILL HAD LIFE

BUT I REALIZED I WOULD NO LONGER BE YOUR LOVING WIFE.

I LOOKED ALL AROUND AT THE MEMORIES OF YOU

AND WONDERED IF YOU WERE FEELING JUST AS I DO.

THE YEARS HAVE DWINDLED TO A PRECIOUS FEW

AND NOW VAGUELY REMEMBER THE LOVE WE ONCE KNEW.

I MADE IT WITHOUT YOU, I DON’T KNOW JUST HOW

IT WAS HARD TO LET GO BUT I ACCEPT IT NOW.

IT DID TAKE ME TIME TO UNDERSTAND

THAT YOU NO LONGER WANTED TO BE MY LOVING MAN.

SO MY DEAR I’M SADDENED TO KNOW I LOST YOU

I WOULD HAVE GIVEN MY LIFE FOR YOU TOO.

THEY SAY IT’S NOT EASY TO BEGIN ANEW

BUT SOMEHOW I MANAGED TO FORGET WE WERE TWO.

(Sorry couldn’t resist a little Hell Hath No Fury humor)

Sources:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gTJMEP-c2fo/SLffWxbyLXI/AAAAAAAAEBM/8kuyjKaCu_4/s1600-h/CatsKissing.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gTJMEP-c2fo/SLfiFN5Z62I/AAAAAAAAECk/3H0rdxXzmOw/s1600-h/Cat_Lovers.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gTJMEP-c2fo/SOPMS2mNL2I/AAAAAAAAGTY/dybnfPcxuE0/s1600/Cats_Love_10.jpg

ALL THAT GLISTERS IS NOT GOLD

ALL THAT GLISTERS IS NOT GOLD
from Shakespeare’s Merchant Of Venice
by jrinNC

One of the most frequently misquoted phrases. The original phrase is “All that GLISTERS is not gold” and comes from Shakespeare’s Merchant Of Venice. The majority of people now misuse it, replacing the archaic verb glister with the much more understandable glitter, and since the two mean near enough the same thing, one can see why. The phrase simply means that just because something may look valuable, desirable or attractive, it does NOT mean that it definitely will be worth having once you discover its true nature. So basically, don’t rely on the superficial.

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD – “The appearance of a thing or person can be deceptive. This proverb is similar to the L*tin: Non omne quod nitet aurum est. (‘Not all that shines is gold.’) The proverb was used by Chaucer (c. 1374-87), by Cervantes in ‘Don Quixote’ (1605-15), and by Shakespeare in ‘The Merchant of Venice’ in 1596. First attested in the United States in the ‘Winthrop Papers’ (1636).” From “Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings” by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).

Agreed that the proverb has been around a long time in various forms, but it was Shakespeare who most famously gave us the generally accepted form. Chaucer’s version differed.

It’s clear from a little research that Shakespeare used or adapted a long-known proverb of the time. As can be seen below, it had already started to be misquoted less that 100 years later by the late C17th.

Alanus De Insulis (c. 1280) “Non teneas aurum totum quod splendet ut aurum.” (Do not hold everything as gold which shines like gold)

Freire Cordelier (c. 1300) “Que tout n’est pas or c’on voit luire.” (Everything is not gold that one sees shining)

Chaucer (c. 1380) “But all thing which that schyneth as the gold / Ne is no gold, as I have herd it told.”

Chaucer again “Hyt is not al golde that glareth.”

Lydgate (c. 1430) “All is not golde that outward shewith bright.”

Spenser (c. 1580) “Gold all is not that doth golden seem.”

Googe (1563), Shakespeare (1596) “All that glisters is not gold.”

Bacon (1596) “All is not gold that glisters.”

Cervantes (1615) “All is not gold that glistreth.”

Middleton (c. 1616) “All is not gold that glisteneth.”

Herbert (c. 1630) “All is not gold that glisters.”

Dryden (1687) “All, as they say, that glitters is not gold.”

Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Robert Frost

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Analysis of Poem:

Change and Transformation:

The transitions that things in nature undergo, their growth and mutation, can be viewed as a sign of nature’s glory. For example, the theory of evolution outlined by Charles Darwin in his book The Origin of the Species popularized the phrase “survival of the fittest,” which implies that some degree of worthiness should be attributed to anything that avoids extinction. Similarly, today we use the phrase “to evolve” with the sense that the thing in question is moving toward grandeur and purity, and to a state of being more functionally efficient. Our general assumption is that things change in order to become better. In this poem, though, Frost conveys a feeling of sorrow about the fact that things must change time. He concentrates upon the good things that are lost, rather than the terrible things that give way to a more sensible way of being, From nature, for instance, he mentions how a flower yields its beauty to become a commonplace and homely leaf. Frost, however, could just as well have taken the same plant and depicted it as a hard little seed in the dirt giving way to the flower. In the human realm, he uses for an example the Book of Genesis wherein “Eden sank to grief”: his same biblical source could have provided him with countless examples in which grief gives way to triumph. Frost’s examples are similar in that they are presented as original conditions. His poem seems to tell us that if original conditions are golden, and are subsequently lost, then life apparently is a bleak prospect. But it is not clear if Frost intended us to look at change as necessarily being negative. His last image, of the dawn giving way to day, seems to imply that our attraction to the superficial beauty of “gold” should be disappointed, as inevitably things take a more practical from.

Beauty:

The use of the word “gold” in this poem shows intelligent and careful choice. The word “gold” represents both the color and its namesake, the metallic ore that is valued both for its aesthetic beauty and financially for its rarity. By using this word to explain the brief state of beauty through which the things of the world pass, the poem describes the value of the plant’s first shoot, of Eden, and of the sunrise. Unlike the metal ore, though, the examples Frost gives us of golden beauty are not rare; they are fleeting. Frost’s point is about the transitory nature of beauty: nothing gold can survive.

This relationship between beauty and its own demise has been consistent throughout the world’s history. Some societies find sorrow in the fact that beauty fades, as can be seen in this poem. In other societies, particularly those based on Eastern philosophies, there is less emphasis on a conceptual permanence that never really existed. Therefore, there is less disappointment over the fact that permanence cannot be reached and more appreciation for the role of fleeting beauty in the larger scope of life. For example, to this way of thought the flower referred to in line 3 would not be missed when it is gone, but would rather be appreciated for what it was in the short time it existed.

Sin:

The transformations presented in “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” such as the withering of flowers and the earth’s rotation, are everyday processes that are a part of Earth’s natural order and are independent of human will. It is hard to tell, given this context, what Frost has in mind when he says that Eden “sank to grief.” According to the Book of Genesis in the Bible, Adam and Eve, the first humans, were expelled from the garden of Eden because they chose to do what God had told them not to do. The grief suffered by them, and therefore by the entire human race, was a consequence of their action: according to the Bible, Adam and Eve did not “sink” from the garden paradise into a world of misery, but rather they had jumped. In the context of the poem, though, Adam and Eve’s transgression was bound to happen eventually. Following the same rhythm and syntax of its preceding and succeeding lines, the line “So Eden sank to grief” is tied into those lines’ depiction of natural transformation and growth. Also, the word “sank” is similar in meaning to the words “goes down” and “subsides,” which describe the sunrise and plant growth respectively; these words imply resignation to gravity and exclude any connotation of deliberate action. The poem eliminates the possibility that they might have stayed in Eden and removes the implication that Adam and Eve were ultimately responsible for their sin when they chose to disobey God’s law. At first glance, Frost’s version seems to be gentle to humans, portraying them as no more prone to sin than plants or the rising sun. On the other hand, the poem casts a dark shadow over the nature of mankind, telling us that humans are not innately good but are eventually bound to sin.

“Everything That Glitters Is Not Gold”
Sung by Dan Seals

Saw your picture on a poster in a cafe out in Phoenix
Guess you’re still the sweetheart of the rodeo
As for me and little Casey, we still make the circuit
In a one horse trailer and a mobile home
And she still asks about you all the time
And I guess we never even cross your mind

Chorus:
But, Oh sometimes I think about you
And the way you used to ride out
In your rhinestones and your sequins
With the sunlight on your hair
And oh, the crowd will always love you
But as for me I’ve come to know
Everything that glitters is not gold

Well Old Red, he’s getting older
And last Saturday he stumbled
But you know I just can’t bear to let him go
Little Casey, she’s still growing
And she’s started asking questions
And there’s certain things a man just doesn’t know
Her birthday came and you never even called
I guess we never cross your mind at all

Chorus

Everybody said you’d make it big someday
And I guess that we were only in your way
But someday I’m sure your gonna know the cost
Cause for everything you win there’s something lost

Final Chorus

Sources:
http://www.shakespeare-literature.com/~sub/images/8.jpg

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/18/messages/56.html

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/photos/_GUF2987_DxO_raw.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Gold_Can_Stay_%28poem%29

http://www.answers.com/topic/nothing-gold-can-stay-poem-4

I am offering a special thank you to jrinNC for this wonderful page.

Thank you jr and nice job!