Double Trouble - Walking There Some More

We'll start you off with a leaf.

A really BIG leaf.

A leaf as big as Tammy's surgically repaired foot.

Then we'll talk about our walks - because we can!

Tammy and I continued our streak of consecutive weekends taking a walk/hike in one of Iowa's beautiful places to help her to rehab after getting an Achilles tendon repaired and reattached earlier this year.  But, this weekend was different - we celebrated Fall "Break" by taking not one, but TWO walks!

You might have noticed that I put the word "break" in quotes.  As everyone who has ever worked in education (at any level) will attest, these breaks do not result in teachers actually taking a break from school.  Instead, they are typically trying to catch up with all of the things they couldn't do when classes were in session.

But, to be perfectly fair, it is true that there is a certain freedom that comes with the removal of scheduled classes and meetings for a couple of days.  And, there are fewer interruptions from various individuals (except that annoying husband of hers) when she is trying to grade papers or prepare for future classes.  Enough freedom that the two of us could find time to take a more than one walk over a period of two days.

The first walk came courtesy of a trip to Grinnell to deliver thirty processed turkeys to Local Foods Connection.  I am not sure, but I think this is our fifth season delivering turkeys to LFC and we are told that most of this year's turkeys will go to families in the Head Start program.  LFC purchases turkeys from us on behalf of those who need support to be able to acquire and use local foods.  Back in 2019 (pre-pandemic), they actually held a class where they cooked on of our turkeys so participants would know what to do with their own birds once they received them!

It's a win-win proposal.  Families who need help to address food insecurity receive help in the form of locally produced, high-quality foods.  Local (and regional - in our case) farmers are able to make sales of their product that are consistent - allowing them to continue farming.

In any event, since we had to get to Grinnell to deliver the birds, we brought a lunch with us and selected a nearby park to get our planned walk in for the weekend.  This time around, we went to Rock Creek State Park, just west of Grinnell.

Rock Creek is a park I visited multiple times when I was growing up, so it was nice to be able to visit it again and see how my memories lined up with the reality that is the park today.  Initially dedicated in 1952, the park was created in response to citizens (primarily in Newton) that promoted the idea of creating a man-made lake and developing a "natural" recreation area.

The result of that effort is some popular camping and fishing activities.  It also happens that there are some trails to walk and we took the Rock Creek Lake Trail staring on the East side.  This trail goes through "unmanaged woodland" for the most part.  And if you are wondering what that means, consider the fact that much of the park had been row cropped farmland prior to the creation of the lake.  The trees and bushes and other plants are not necessarily native and many would be consider invasive.  This document by Grinnell College offers a useful overview of the park including some description of the plants that can be found there.  It even includes some overview looks of what the area looked like before and after the man-made lake was made.

Even though this area might have numerous invasive species in it AND even though a significant number of the larger trees came down in the 2020 derecho, we did notice significant bird activity as we walked the trail.  Since we both like birds, that was a positive!

We can give credit to Kip Ladage for his post of a video for his walk at Cedar Bend Park a couple of days ago.  This is a natural area that is much closer to home and requires much less commitment to get there in the first place.  As a result, we got our first "back to back" walk there again trip in since Tammy's surgery - and we consider it a success.

Well, we do now.  Maybe when she tries to walk in the morning, we may have to assess it once again.

I find myself saying things like, this wasn't a difficult walk - and neither of them was.  But, I keep forgetting that this might not be entirely true from Tammy's perspective.  For those of you who do not know, recovering from a torn Achilles is not a small feat.  It was not all that long ago that a slight incline on a perfectly smooth working surface was a challenge.  It's a good reminder to me (and all of you) that the words "easy" and "difficult" mean different things to different people.  And they can mean different things to the same people at different times.

So, before you judge...   But, this isn't a morality lecture, it's a talk about walking somewhere!

But, let's give Tammy credit here!  She is actually beginning to agree that these walks are not horribly difficult.  There is still some issue with endurance and her pace is slower, especially when there are uncertain surfaces or hills to go up and down.  Or, in the case of these trails, stairs.

We do miss seeing leaves in most of the trees.  But, I also have to admit that it is really enjoyable to have that blanket of leaves covering the forest floor and the trail in some places. Thing have been dry, so the leaves are pretty dry too.  That means they make that neat "swoosh" sound as you shuffle through them.

Let's just say I've always liked how my senses react to a forested area in the Fall.  And, we took this walk on a warmer than usual end of October day where there was very little, to know breeze.  The sun peeked out every once in a while, but it was generally overcast.

But, there was this one moment when the sun came out and lit up the color of the grasses on the other side of the Cedar River.

And we were there to see it and appreciate it.

All because we were walking there.  Each of us with our friend.

Let's Send a Letter to France - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to Postal History Sunday, featured weekly on the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  If you take this link, you can view every edition of Postal History Sunday, starting with this one (the most recent always shows up at the top).

Several months ago, we explored what it would take to mail a letter from the United States to Switzerland in the 1860s.  This time around, I thought it might be fun to look at mail from the United States to France.  So, this week is going to be steeped in the postal history part of the story, rather than the surrounding social history.

Either way, you are invited to join me.  I'll do my best to make it interesting and entertaining.  There is no exam at the end and you can feel free to ask questions or, perhaps, point out things I should correct.  Now, let's look at something I enjoy!  

France and the United States of America negotiated a postal convention that went into effect in April of 1857 and provided the guidelines for the exchange of mail through the end of 1869.  This treaty set the postage rate at 15 cents per 1/4 ounce (7.5 grams) and allowed for carriage of the mail via American, British, Canadian (after amendment to the agreement in 1861), French and German mail packets (steamships). 

Trans-Atlantic Routing Choices
The postage collected was actually split between the different postal services based on the parts of the service each country was responsible for covering.  The most expensive part of the service was the Atlantic Ocean crossing, so it mattered which country held the contract with the shipping company that carried the mail.

The following is a simplified description of the different trans-Atlantic routes and contracts that mail from the US to France took during this treaty period.

Paid for by the United States (aka American Packet)

• The Inman Line from New York to Queenstown, Ireland and Liverpool, England (green)
• The German owned steamship lines from New York (red) that would go on to Bremen and Hamburg after dropping off French mail in Southampton near London
• The Canadian steamship line (Allen Line) that left either by Quebec or Portland, Maine and went via Derry, Ireland and Liverpool (purple)
• The Havre Line that went direct from New York to Le Havre, France (blue)
  

The French paid the British (aka British Packet)

• The Cunard Line alternated from New York and Boston, stopping at Queenstown, Ireland and Liverpool (green)
• The Galway Line went from New York to the west coast of Ireland at Galway (green)
  

Paid for by the French (aka French Packet)

• The French line traveled between New York and Brest, France (blue)
  

Ships that carried French mails but did not visit a French port were off-loaded from their trans-Atlantic packets under the auspices of the British postal system and had to cross the English Channel.  Typically, these mails crossed to Calais, though other entry points (such as Havre) were possible.

Postal Rate Breakdown as They Related to Routes

From the perspective of the postal patron, the rate was 15 cents per 1/4 ounce.  The shipping line used did not change the cost for mailing the letter.  Once again, the route only mattered when it came to figuring out who got how much of the postage.  So, the US Post Office cared and so did the French Post.  And, since I am a postal historian, I guess I care too!  Though you could argue that my reasons might need more justification than the postal clerks of the time did.

Again, you could argue the point.  I'm just unlikely to listen.

Since I collect postal history with the 24 cent stamp, it is actually easier for me to study items that were double weight (or higher) letters. So, the next several items will have required 30 cents in postage for a letter weighing more than 1/4 ounce and no more than 1/2 ounce.

Table 1

Properly paid letters were marked with a credit amount in red.  This amount indicated how much of the postage was supposed to be sent to the French from the United States.

The credit amounts shown in Table 1 are for double weight mail that has been fully paid to the destination in France.  For example, if a letter was sent by a French packet (ship), the US would need to send 24 cents of the 30 cents collected to France.

Remember, with a prepaid letter, the US postal service has collected money for all postal services to be used to get the letter to its destination in France.  However, other postal systems were required to get the letter to its destination.  That means some of the money collected by the United States was necessary to cover services rendered by these postal systems (the British and French posts).  The credit amount is what is due from the United States to France to pay for France's (and England's) portion of the mail services used.  If England was due compensation for its services, it was up to the French to provide payment from the funds passed to them by the United States.

United States Packet direct to France

Double rate via Havre

The item shown above is an example of an American shipping line providing the trans-Atlantic carriage services directly to France.  The New York and Havre Steam Navigation Company (typically referred to as the "Havre Line" by postal historians) sailed between New York and, not surprisingly, Havre.

The 30 cents postage belonged, for the most part, to the United States because it paid the steam packet line for its services crossing the Atlantic (18 cents).  France was credited only 6 cents to cover its own mail services starting in Havre until the letter was delivered in Paris.  The remaining 6 cents belonged to the United States for its 'surface mail' from Philadelphia to New York, where it was placed on board the ship (the Mississippi) that would carry this letter across the Atlantic Ocean.

Other than the circular grid cancels that were used to obliterate the stamps so they could not be re-used, there are three postal markings on the front of this envelope that help us understand how this piece of mail traveled and how the postal systems accounted for the postage.

The red "Phila Am Pkt" circular marking shows the date (Friday, April 26) this envelope entered the mailbag to go across the Atlantic Ocean.  The red "6" inside of this circular marking represents the amount credited to France for a double weight piece of mail being carried by a packet under contract to the United States for direct service to France.

The red octagonal marking reads "Etats Unis Serv Am Havre" and is dated on May 10, 1867, which represents the date this item was removed from the mailbag and placed into the French mailstream.  The French clerk recognized this item as paid because the US exchange office had used red ink for their marking (in Philadelphia).  The square marking with the letters "PD" further confirms that the French were treating this piece of mail as fully paid.  This "PD" marking was an indication to postal personnel that they did not have to ask the recipient to pay for any of the services rendered.

If this had not been properly prepaid, the marking would have been in black ink and the amount in the circle would have shown "24" cents to represent the uncompensated portion of mail service provided by the United States.  There would have been no "PD" marking and the recipient would have been asked to pay for all of the services rendered at the time of delivery.

The one thing that is not obviously referenced by these markings would be the actual sailing that carried this piece of mail across the Atlantic.  This is where Dick Winter and Walter Hubbard's (North Atlantic Mail Sailings: 1840-1875) excellent work compiling sailing tables by referencing sailing documentation in contemporary periodicals comes in handy. The Mississippi of the Havre Line left New York on the 27th and arrived in Havre on May 10.

French Packet Direct to France

Double rate via Brest

Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (CGT) was a French packet line that maintained a route between New York and Brest and it held a contract with France to carry mail beginning in mid-1864.  The route from Brest to New York was designated by CGT as Ligne H, so the French markings include that label.  Since the French were responsible for paying the steamship line, the 18 cents for the trans-Atlantic carriage needed to passed to the French postal service.  Instead of 6 cents credited, it was now 24 cents credited to France.

Again, if this is confusing to you, think about where the money is initially.  The sender of this letter purchased 30 cents in US postage stamps, giving that money to the US postal system.  The expenses incurred for the delivery of each letter could be split into pieces, not all of which were part of the US post.  That which was the responsibility of another post needed to be paid for, but the money that was collected in the form of postage needed to be passed to the postal system that incurred the expenses.  Hence the red numerical markings indicating a credit (24 cents in this case) to the French system.

Not all mail conventions worried about breaking down postage by letter because, as mail volumes increased it was becoming apparent that accounting by piece of mail was too labor intensive.  Some conventions determined breakdowns by weight of the aggregate, acknowledging that most letters averaged a certain weight.  It was also becoming apparent to some administrations that mail volumes between countries was balancing out, making some of this accounting a moot point.  This convention between France and the United States, however, outlined the breakdown per piece of letter mail (Article VII).

British Packet via Britain

 

Double rate via Britain and Havre

 

Things get a bit more complicated when we add a third postal system into the mix.  British steamers owned by the Cunard Line (British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company) were under contract with the British postal services, so money had to get to Britain in order to pay for the trans-Atlantic service.  Typically, the mail was off-loaded at Queenstown (Cobh, Ireland) and taken by rail to eastern Ireland where it crossed to England via the Holyhead and Kingston Packets OR the mail was taken all the way to Liverpool.  The French mail was then taken by rail to London where it was forwarded across the channel from Dover or Southampton.  This transit service also incurred costs that went to the British.

Since there was a great deal of mail traffic between France and Britain, the portion of the postage due to Britain was actually passed on to France by the United States.  France then used their own arrangements with Britain to settle up for the transit costs via Britain.  These costs were approximately 12 cents (for a double weight letter) for the trans-Atlantic service and 4 cents for the transit through England and across the Channel.  

 

The United States still kept 6 cents for it's internal mail transit, which remains consistent throughout each of the options explored here.  On the other hand, it is interesting to note that the breakdown of postage seems inconsistent for the French surface mail.

 

The letter shown above has a small detail that I find interesting.  Most mail that transited England on its way to France entered France at Calais.  It is uncommon to find an item that traveled via Britain and entered France at another point.  In this case, Havre was the entry point, which made sense because that was the letter's destination.  But, to do that, the mail was sent via a private ship rather than one contracted specifically to carry the mail.  

American Packet via Britain

Double rate via Britain and Calais

 

United States, Canadian and German steamers were all operating under contract with the US government to carry mail, which means any mail to France carried by these steamers would be given the same rate breakdown.  The Liverpool, New York & Philadelphia Steam Ship Company (Inman Line) carried the envelope shown above.  The credit amount to France is only 12 cents, allowing the United States 18 cents to pay the 12 cents to the steamship company and six cents for internal surface mail.  The French paid the British 4 cents for the transit via their mail system and they kept the remaining eight cents for their own expenses.

The Cunard Line as American Packet beginning 1868

Cunard Line trans-Atlantic crossing in 1868

This next letter serves as is a reminder to me that a seemingly unrelated act can effect change where we don't necessarily expect it.  The United States and Britain enacted a new postal convention on January 1, 1868, which reduced the postage rates between the two.  Further, the new convention no longer differentiated between British and American contract packets.  Instead, the postal service at the point of departure was responsible for the cost of the trans-Atlantic packet.  In other words, every ship carrying mail and leaving the American ports was an expense for the United States postal system.  The net result for mail to France?  Every packet that went via Britain was now an American packet, so the credit became 12 cents for Cunard Line ships as the United States now paid them for their services.

Triple Rate Letter

A letter weighing more than a 1/2 ounce and no more than 3/4 ounce would require 45 cents in postage.  Here is an example of a triple rate that was a British Packet via Britain.  The credit marking is for 36 cents to France.  Look for the red pencil marking that reads "36/3" (36 cents credit to France at a 3 times letter rate).

A triple rate letter to France

If you take a moment to look at this item, it illustrates a couple of interesting things that could help with reading pieces of postal history from the period.

Routing and Shipping Directives
The top left of the letter has hand written text (docketing) that reads "per Cunard Steamer of Wed Dec 5th from Boston."  It is not uncommon to find these sorts of directions on mail during the 1860's.  These directives could have been written by the sender, by the postmaster at the originating post office, by a forwarding agent acting on behalf of the sender or perhaps by the foreign mail clerk at the exchange office.  The purpose of this sort of docket could either be to indicate the preferred route, especially if it differed from the postal services default routing, or it could have the intent of trying to show the recipient when something was sent and how it was intended to arrive.

Names and Addresses Removed
If you look at this item closely, you might notice that the name of the recipient has been crossed out, making it difficult to decipher the actual name.  In many instances, pieces of postal history were acquired from correspondents who wished to have contents separated from the covering (an envelope or folded piece of paper).  Some went further, attempting to remove any personal information, such as addresses or names in an attempt to maintain privacy.  

Full Rate Markings in Addition to Credit Markings
This cover also shows a red "45" at the bottom left.  Up to this point, all of the other items only show numbers for the amount to be passed on to France to cover services not rendered by the United States postal system.  In the case of this item, the "45" represents the postage required to send the item (45 cents).  I am guessing that the marking was applied in Newport, Rhode Island, the post office which postmarked the stamps on December 4.

So, why bother with a "45" marking when there are 45 cents for all to see on the cover?  It really seems like extra work, doesn't it?  But, if you consider possible scenarios it doesn't seem so odd.  

A person walks into the post office with a letter for France.  The clerk weights it and informs the sender that it will require 45 cents.  The sender pays the clerk and the clerk marks the letter with a "45" and puts it into a pile to be processed later so the clerk can continue to work with other customers.  

At a later point in the day, the clerk adds the appropriate postage and postmarks them.  This scenario is not so hard to believe since I have witnessed the same procedure in my own experience mailing larger items that require more than a typical amount of postage.  The clerk weighs the item out and writes the postage amount on the package.  I pay and the clerk completes the process of putting stamps or a meter on the item at some later point in time.  Does that mean this is what happened here?  Not necessarily.  But, it seems a likely explanation for something that looks a bit redundant on this cover.

Short Paid Mail

Insufficiently paid mail treaty as unpaid mail

So, you think treaty mail is confusing now - just think what it must have seemed like to people when there were different postal rates to each country (and often more than one rate to the same country). 

We can only speculate why the person who mailed the letter shown above used a single 24 cent stamp.  But, since it appears to be a business correspondence it is possible they just confused this with a letter to England.  After all, the rate to England was 24 cents per half ounce.  But, this letter was to France and it clearly weighed more than 7.5 grams and apparently was less than 15 grams, so the postage required was 30 cents, meaning it was short paid by 6 cents.

A sensible person might feel as if it would only be fair to collect the French equivalent of 6 cents and be done with it.  But, that is NOT how it worked at the time with the postal convention in place.  Instead, short paid mail was treated as wholly unpaid, which means the recipient had to pay the entire rate for the privilege of receiving the letter.  The "16" on the cover represents 16 decimes (1 franc, 60 centimes), which was due on delivery.  Now, the French have collected the entire postage, but they need to send some money BACK to the United States to cover the US surface mail expenses.  Hence, the 6 in the black New York marking as a debit to France requesting payment.

So, what happens to the 24 cents in postage collected by the United States?  In this case, the postal service gets to keep it without any extra services rendered.  Does that seem unfair to you?  Well, consider these two things:

1. Mail during this period did not have to be prepaid in order for it to be taken to its destination.
2. A recipient could refuse delivery.

This begs the question - how much mail did postal services carry for free because it was sent unpaid and the recipient refused delivery?  Still, if this was a legitimate mistake, it does seem a steep price to pay.  The good news is that conventions and postal systems were rapidly changing to charge only the deficient amount as postage due so that the postage applied would still pay for at least some of the services rendered. 

Five or Six Times Rate

I'll just let you to enjoy this one by simply showing the exhibit page.  I might type a bit more after the illustration.

Here's a pretty (and larger) envelope with 90 cents of postage, which would seem to indicate that this was 6 times the 15-cent rate (more that 1 1/4 ounces and no more than 1 1/2 ounces). This letter was carried on a steamship that went direct to Havre on a US contract ship.  So, the credit amount, for a six-times rate would be 36 cents.  But, we muddy the waters this time with then pen marking that looks a bit like a "30" and not a "36."

It is not hard to think of any number of scenarios that explain the inconsistency - among them the real possibility that this WAS supposed to be a "36."  Rather than engage in speculative postal history, I will be content with not knowing for certain what rate this envelope was supposed to be originally.  But, I think I have the right of it that France probably treated it as a five times rate and received a credit of 30 cents.  I also believe I have the right of it that the sender paid for a six times rate with postage stamps.

You can make up your own story as to how that happened!

Forwarded Mail

An item sent to France and forwarded on to London, England

It isn't easy to see, but the New York exchange marking at the center right of the letter above shows a "12" and this cover provides an extra puzzle because the date in the New York marking is struck poorly.  We are left with the most useful clue coming from the red French marking that gives a Dec 8, 1861 date and reads, in part, "Serv Am."  

This is enough to tell me that this piece of mail had to travel across the Atlantic on an American contract vessel.  The two available options from sailing tables are the Inman's Edinburgh leaving New York on November 23 and a sailing of the Allen Line from Quebec on the same date.  Since both ships arrived at Liverpool on the 7th of December, we can assume the Inman sailing simply because the Allan Line sailing for New York mail would be highly unlikely.

This appears to be a letter to A.G. Goodall (Albert Gallatin Goodall: 1826-1887), an engraver by trade, who was to become president of the American Banknote Company (ABC) in 1874, remaining in that office until his death.  As early as 1858, Goodall represented the ABC to obtain contracts with foreign entities, so travel was not unfamiliar to him.  Goodall was also a prominent freemason who often represented the United States branches as liaison for related fraternal organizations worldwide.

Goodall arranged for mail to be sent to the U.S. Legation in Paris during his travels and clearly, the U.S. Legation in London was also aware of his itinerary.  It was not uncommon for a person traveling to arrange with an agent to receive mail.  That agent could either hold mail for the client or forward that mail to another location.  

In this case, the Legation in Paris sent the item on without paying the postage from France to England.  The "More to Pay" marking was applied in London, alerting the recipient and the postal clerk that postage was due (4d per quarter ounce).  It is presumed that the item was rated as a double rate letter by the British and 8d were collected.  The squiggle at top right *might* be a due marking, though I cannot quite bring myself to conclude that this mark aligns with a due amount.  The "P.D." marking was applied in France to indicate that postage from the United States to France had been prepaid, but it did not apply to the forwarding of the mail.

A quick search for A.G. Goodall in 1861 shows a person by that name returning to New York on the Havre Line's Arago on December 26 of 1861 (New York Times, Dec 27, 1861).  So, it seems as if the letter may well have caught him in London.

Where did you learn this stuff?

 A common question that I am asked is, "how did you learn all of these things?"  Well, part of the answer is my good fortune to follow in the footsteps of others who have done research that makes my own efforts easier.  I thought it might be good to share some of that here.  I also access some of the original postal agreements and conventions of that time which helps to inform me about what I am looking at.

• The text of the 1857 postal convention can be found along with amendments at this location on the blog.
• Hubbard, W. and Winter, R.F., North Atlantic Mail Sailings: 1840-1875, USPCS, 1988.
• Hargest,G.E., History of Letter Post Communication Between the United States and Europe: 1845-1875, 2^nd ed, Quarterman, 1971.
• Winter,D, Understanding Trans-Atlantic Mail vols 1 & 2, APS, 2006.
• Starnes,C.J, United States Letter Rates to Foreign Destinations: 1847 to GPU-UPU, revised ed., Hartmann, 1989.
• Postal Laws and Regulations of the United States of America: 1866, Wierenga reprint, 1981.
• List of Post Offices and Postal Laws and Regulations of the United States of America: 1857, Wierenga reprint, 1980.

Thank you for joining me this week.  This entry gives you all a taste of some of the depth and detail that a postal historian may find themselves digging into so they can better recognize and understand what they are seeing when they look at a postal artifact.  And, if you're thinking "geez, 'artifact' is a hoity-toity word," all you need to know is that I was looking for an opportunity to put that word in a blog just because I wanted to!

Have a fine remainder of your day and a fine week to come.

Trail Treasure Hunt

 

Back in September, I threw down the gauntlet - challenging myself and anyone who happens to read the GFF blog - to get people to use their phones and cameras to take different pictures of nature.  The hope was that, by doing this, we would all take a bit more time to look around us and find new textures and new perspectives.  Then perhaps we could take a moment or three and learn some new things about what we had captured in those images.

Since I do not want to be the sort of person who proposes something for other people to do without my also participating, I've tried to take up my own challenge.

Shown above is an interesting bark pattern from the base of a Shagbark Hickory tree.  I have to admit that I haven't really given this particular tree much thought over the years.  For one, most people would tend to not plant these trees in an urban setting because they are deemed to be "messy."  The bark of mature trees tends to curl off of the trunk and fall and they do produce edible nuts (that also fall to the ground).  I'm not sure when we got it into our head that natural shedding from a tree is "messy."  Probably about the point in time when we all collectively decided to keep our lawns mowed short AND when we decided we had to have a turf lawn everywhere...

On the other hand, Shagbark Hickory trees can be excellent, long-lived and sturdy shade trees.  They are native to the Midwest (including Iowa) and, unlike many trees, they seem to to like to be intermixed with other trees, like oaks, maples and pines.  And, of course, that's where we found this one and others like it.  They are frequently found in Northeast Iowa woodlands, so a trip to the Yellow River Forest or Backbone State Park will give you a chance to see them in person.

According to this site, the name "hickory" is from pawcohiccora, an Algonquian word for the oily food removed from pounded kernels steeped in boiling water and a yellow dye can be created from the inner bark of a Shagbark Hickory.

We also discovered that it is not just plants that attract the six-legged critters.  Apparently rock outcroppings at Backbone State Park provide habitat for different insects in October.  The East Lake Trail has a couple of rock benches you can use for a quick rest if you need (or want) it.  While Tammy availed herself of that opportunity, I couldn't help by take note of the Paper Wasps that were walking and buzzing around the rock face.  Then, I also noticed a few Box Elder bugs and a Lady Beetle.

Box Elder Bugs are considered to be a "nuisance bug" by many people as they like to find a warm place to over-winter - and that often means a house or other building.  Otherwise, they don't really spread disease, they don't really bite or sting, and they don't destroy desired plants.  Generally, it is simply the fact that they can find their way into small cracks to get to a place where they can survive the cold months.

The Ladybug, on the other hand, is generally appreciated... until the Asian Lady Beetle got introduced and it decided it ALSO liked to be a nuisance bug, taking a page from the Box Elder Bug's book. Based on the characteristic "M" shaped marking on the back of the head of this specimen, this is an Asian Lady Beetle.

These, and the Seven-spotted Ladybug, have very strong populations in the United States largely because vegetable farmers began purchasing ladybug populations to control aphids.  I have to admit that we considered this option at one point in time until we read how it would impact the native ladybug populations.  As a result, we accepted the slower approach and let the populations come to us.  You see, the Asian Lady Beetle and the Seven-spotted Ladybug DO eat aphids.  But, they also out-compete native populations, which means those populations are declining.

It also explains why we have so many Asian Lady Beetles on the sides of buildings (and rock faces) in the Fall.  Regardless, this is another insect population I am fine with having.  I would rather have the natives, of course.  But, I'll take the non-natives over the aphids too.

As a last offering, here's another way to look at things.  Sometimes the play of light and shadows is worth spending the time observing what goes on there.  I am not entirely sure what I was trying to capture this time around - but maybe I'll figure it out with future attempts.

It doesn't matter, because I was enjoying looking at things in different ways.  And now, I feel good that I learned some new things to supplement things I already was aware of.  Maybe you came away learning something new too?  Or, perhaps, you were mildly entertained for a few moments of your day.

I'll take that as a positive thing too.

A Walking There Again Threepeat

We've done it!  A Walk There Again Threepeat!  Three weekends in a row where the two of us took a walk in one of the beautiful places of Iowa to help rehab Tammy's Achilles and Rob's mind.  While the Achilles seems to be making significant progress, we're still a bit uncertain as to the progress Rob's mind is making.

But, we'll keep trying!

The best news is that Tammy was able to walk on a trail that has some challenge to it - this was not a perfectly level and smooth trail.  

Surprisingly enough, neither of us remembers ever walking the East Lake Trail at Backbone State Park.  The Hiking Project site linked to in the prior sentence rates the hike as an "intermediate" difficulty, which certainly seems to be correct.  But, if you've recently had your Achilles tendon re-attached, successfully walking this trail is a huge accomplishment.

The really great news is that Tammy was able to walk (with the aid of walking poles) with a gait that was close to normal.  And when we thought about how she did in her walk on the Backbone Trail two weeks ago, her progress is nothing short of amazing.  Let's just say that I am very proud of her for the effort and dedication she has shown in her rehab efforts.

And, by the end of Sunday, she was pretty tired.

If you actually take the link for our Backbone Trail visit, you might be shocked to see how different things look just two weeks later.  But, cold temperatures and high winds can really change the status of leaves in Iowa pretty darned quick!

The forest floor was completely carpeted with yellow, brown and reddish leaves and there was enough on the trail for me to shuffle through and get that satisfying "swish" sound that leaves make.  I'm not entirely sure why I took such delight in doing that - but I did.  

Maybe Rob's mind is improving?

There wasn't much green left that wasn't on the coniferous trees, such as the periodic white pines scattered here and there.  And we had the pleasant musky smell that dried leaves have on a sunny day mixed with pine needles in some spots of the trail.  If our goal had been to "sit there again" I suspect I would have found several good spots to just rest and absorb the sights, sounds, textures and smells.

One of the attractions we have with backbone is that you have the opportunity to observe the living trees next to running water while also seeing the bones of the earth represented in rocky outcroppings.  Since the tree canopy is much thinner with the absence of much of the leaves, we could get a good look at the blue sky and see the sun sparkling on the water.

I particularly liked the ability to move from areas of dappled sunlight to mostly shaded parts of the forest and then areas that had very little tree cover.  The contrast of light and dark provided more interest for the senses.  I am guessing that you all can understand how it would affect what (and how) my eyes see what is around me to move from shade to sun.  But, if you let yourself think on it, you might recognize that things smell different when they are being baked by the sun versus when they are shaded from the sun.  The air temperature differs and the wind was typically less evident in the sheltered areas too.

The most difficult thing we've had to deal with on these walks is determining exactly when we need to turn around and head back.  We have to rely on Tammy's judgement as to how much energy remains so that she can safely return to the starting point.  Thus far, her estimates have been accurate - and each time we have been able to do more than we did the previous walk.

And we know she is progressing because Rob is finding it more and more difficult to stop and take some photos without having to really hustle to catch up!

I wonder if we can make it four weeks in a row?  Tune in next week to find out.

For the Good of Others - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to Postal History Sunday, featured weekly on the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  If you take this link, you can view every edition of Postal History Sunday, starting with this one (the most recent always shows up at the top).

I got out of the habit of keeping track of how many Postal History Sunday entries I have offered once I reached the 100 blog mark.  But, someone asked me how many I was at now and that got me curious.  It turns out that this is entry number 114, which is a good, healthy number.  And now that we've gotten that bit of trivia out of the way, let's share a little postal history and maybe we can all learn something new today!

This time we're going to start with a folded letter that was mailed in New York on August 28, 1858, to William Rathbone, Jr in Cumloden near Newton Stewart, Scotland.  This is one of those times where much of the postal history story can be easily read because the markings are all clear and the hand writing is not difficult to decipher.  That is why an example like this one is desirable, we don't have to go cross-eyed trying to read what is there this time around.

The foreign mail clerk at the New York Post Office accepted this letter which bears two black, 12-cent postage stamps to pay for the 24 cents in postage required.  The clerk applied a red circular grid marking to deface the stamps and make it hard for someone to try to re-use them.  They also put the big circular marking that reads "New York Am Pkt 3" at the top center.  Once that was done, they slipped this folded letter into the mailbag that was bound for Liverpool on the trans-Atlantic steamship named the "City of Washington," and it stayed in that mailbag until it got to Liverpool on September 9.

Once it entered the British postal system in Liverpool, it was taken north to the town of Newton Stewart, where a marking on the verso tells us it was received at the local post office on September 10.  There are no postmarks that tell us when it was taken to Cumloden, but it was likely on that same day.

Everything lines up nicely.  A twelve day transit from the origin to the destination was pretty normal for a letter mailed in 1858.  The City of Washington is known to have sailed for the Inman Line, which had a contract with the United States to carry the mail.  We also have a docket at the top left identifying that ship AND the New York marking indicates that the ship to carry it was an "American Packet."

And finally, we can locate the recipient, William Rathbone Jr, as having purchased a property at Cumloden, near Newton Stewart, in the Spring of 1858.  But, before we talk more about this individual, let's look at some of the surrounding postal history.

Postal Treaty between the US and the British

A postal treaty had been signed in 1849 between the US and the British that set the conditions for the exchange of mail between the two countries.  This postal convention was still in effect at the time this letter was mailed in 1858 and it stated that the cost of mailing a simple letter was 24 cents (1 shilling in the United Kingdom).  To be a "simple letter," the item could not weigh more than 1/2 ounce.  This agreement would remain in force until the end of 1867.

The United Kingdom was the most popular destination for mail that crossed the Atlantic Ocean from the United States, but at the time this letter was mailed there were no 24 cent stamps issued.  In fact, the 12-cent stamp was the highest denomination postage stamp issued by the US Post Office.  It was not until July of 1860 that a 24-cent postage stamp would be issued in response to the increased demand for letter mail to the United Kingdom.

And this is what a simple letter using that new 24-cent stamp looks like.  This one was mailed from New York to London in September of 1860.  

This particular design would only be in use for about one year.  The event of the Civil War in the United States presented a problem for the US Post Office.  To prevent representatives of the seceded states from using stocks of US postage for their benefit, a new design was placed in use in August of 1861.

Shown above is an example of the newly designed 24-cent stamp on a letter mailed in 1862 from Boston to London.  If you are not someone who does much with philately (collecting and studying postage stamps), you might have a difficult time seeing the difference.  Perhaps the easiest way you can train your eyes is to look for the number "24" at top left and top right on the 1861 issue. One of the requirements placed on these new postage stamp designs was that the value of the postage stamp should be represented by numerals and words, whereas the previous issue only showed words.

This design would be in use until a new 24 cent stamp was put in use in 1869.

Who was William Rathbone, Jr?

Let's bring you back to our original letter that was sent from New York City to Newton Stewart in Scotland.  The recipient was one William Rathbone, Jr. (1819 - 1902), the sixth of a line of William Rathbones from a family of Rathbones that were instrumental in the growth of Liverpool as a major trans-Atlantic port of trade.  

So, this was a piece of correspondence to a person of some prominence and who had reasonably significant means at his disposal. This should should not surprise us because, first of all, those with significant business interests and/or power were the most likely to be corresponding with individuals outside the country via the postal service in the 1850s.  But, even more important, it would be these people who would be most likely to SAVE the envelopes and folded letters for records (and posterity) AND keep them in a excellent condition. 

photo circa 1880 - from Wikimedia commons

Rathbone did, in fact, hold a position with the family business until 1885, but he also had a career in British politics from 1868 to 1895.  He apparently played a role in the formation of the University of Liverpool and the University College of North Wales.  But, this is not what drew my attention for this particular individual.  I found the book William Rathbone, a Memoire online and was drawn to his work with the nursing profession.

If you don't want to read all of the quote below from that text, the idea that stood out for me was that Rathbone felt wealth and business success were actually a means to accomplishing public and philanthropic works. He felt it was a moral imperative to use acquired power to aid others.

"In  deciding  how  to  spend  his  income,  he  thought, 
a  young  man  should  consider  not  only  the  immediate 
objects  of  his  expenditure,  but  also  its  effect  on  his 
character.  Saving  and  giving  are  both  habits.  It 
often  happens  that  a  man  of  naturally  generous 
nature  is  obliged  while  he  is  young  to  work  hard 
and  to  be  economical.  He  yields  to  this  necessity, 
hoping  when  he  has  made  a  fortune  to  use  it  for  the 
good  of  others.  But  by  the  time  success  comes 
he  has  allowed  the  saving  habits  of  his  youth  to 
master  him  so  completely  that  he  is  affected  by  a 
sort  of  "  pecuniary  paralysis."  This  very  frequently 
befalls  even  men  who  while  poor  have  been  generous 
in  giving  on  the  modest  scale  suitable  to  their 
means,  so  that  it  is  exceptional  to  find  a  man  who 
has  grown  very  wealthy  without  becoming  less 
generous  as  his  wealth  increased.  It  follows,  then, 
that  a  man  who  would  escape  this  moral  disease 
must  give  something  for  the  sake  of  practice,  even 
out  of  small  means,  and  as  his  income  swells  (and 
this  was  the  point  he  laid  most  stress  on)  he  must 
increase  not  only  the  amount,  but  the  proportion  of 
it  to  be  devoted  to  public  objects." (pages 121-122)

In 1859, an event occurred that provided focus to Rathbones's philanthropic efforts when his wife, Lucretia, passed away after an illness.  Since they had means, a nurse had been secured to aid during that illness.  

"His  wife  had  been  attended  during  her  last 
illness  by  a  nurse,  Mary  Robinson,  whose  skill  had 
done  much  to  ease  her.  Seeing  how  much  differ- 
ence trained  nursing  could  make,  even  in  a  home 
where  every  comfort  and  appliance  that  affection 
could  suggest  was  provided,  William  Rathbone 
began  to  think  what  illness  must  mean  in  the 
homes  of  the  poor,  where  comforts,  appliances, 
and  skill  were  alike  wanting.  He  resolved  to  try 
an  experiment.  He  asked  Nurse  Robinson  to 
engage  herself  to  him  for  three  months,  to  nurse 
poor  patients  in  their  own  homes  in  a  certain 
district  of  Liverpool.  She  was  provided  with  the 
most  necessary  appliances,  and  arrangements  were 
made  for  supplying  such  nourishment  and  medical 
comforts  as  might  be  required  to  make  her  nursing 
effective.  After  a  month  had  passed,  she  came  to 
her  employer  in  tears,  and  asked  to  be  released 
from  the  rest  of  her  engagement.  The  amount 
of  misery  she  had  to  see  was,  she  said,  more  than 
she  could  bear." (pages 156-157)

To make a long story a bit less long, Rathbone was able to prevail upon nurse Mary Robinson to continue with her efforts.  After three more months, she proclaimed that she would not return to her prior nursing position and found that this service was her calling.  She had seen the good a trained health care provider could bring for those with less means.  People who would have died, lived instead.  People who struggled with ill health found healing.  Families were better able to cope with difficult situations because they were not also attempting to care for ailing family members.  

This was all because skilled nursing, with appropriate supplies and tools, had been provided.  This motivated Rathbone to develop a system where skilled nursing could be accessible to people, regardless of income, in their homes throughout the United Kingdom.

Rathbone consulted with Florence Nightingale and then pursued the construction of a training facility in Liverpool for nurses.  The school was established in 1862 and this model was used in other districts (district nursing system) throughout the United Kingdom.  Rathbone continued to work to improve health care and helped establish the Queen's Nursing Institute (1887).

from wikimedia commons

This is probably the barest of summaries outlining Rathbones efforts in this area.  But, we do have access to the memoir written in 1905 by Eleanor Rathbone, his daughter, if you want to learn more.  And, as a side note, Eleanor was also a social reformer and politician, working for women's rights and support for refugees. 

Contrast and Comparison

It is interesting to me to explore the motivations of an individual who was predisposed towards a philanthropic lifestyle as William Rathbone, Jr appeared to be.  In his case, the focus for much of his heralded works came after tragedy, the loss of his wife in 1859 - even if it didn't precipitate his involvement in charitable works.  The experience of dealing with Lucretia's illness and death provided him with the duel revelation that skilled nursing could do much to alleviate suffering and the knowledge that he was privileged to receive that help when he or his family needed it.  He recognized that most others were not in that same position and sought to do something about it.

The August Postal History Sunday titled Quarantine! focused on Dr. John Swinburne, another individual who was from a family in a privileged position.  Again, Swinburne appears to have subscribed to the idea that his position afforded him the opportunity to perform public service - using his medical knowledge to serve as a volunteer army surgeon in the Civil War.  He was then appointed as the Health Officer of the Port of New York, in charge of the quarantine facilities there.  He would later volunteer his surgical and organizational expertise during the Siege of Paris and later set up a free clinic in New York that served many who could not afford medical care.

Unlike Rathbone, I detected no specific personal event that served as a revelation and turning point for Swinburne.  Yet, he was clearly motivated to help those who seemed to need it.

Then there is the case of Amicie Lebaudy, which we looked at in Business, Madness and Social Betterment back in March of 2021.

Unlike Rathbone and Swinburne, the Lebaudy family apparently saw business simply as a means to gaining power and wealth.  Amicie Lebaudy was an exception to this rule.  She was able to carve out a space to perform philanthropic work and do some writing while her husband still lived by using a pseudonym.  But, she was hesitant to place the name "Lebaudy" on her charitable works because she said that "Lebaudy was synonymous with money ill-gotten."

However, like Rathbone, the death of a son from tuberculosis seems to have been a turning point that provided focus.  After her husband's death (and her other son, Mad Jacques had also died), Amicie felt free to create Groupe de Maisons Overieres, which still creates affordable housing for those without means to acquire suitable homes otherwise. She was also involved in providing medical care and provided funds for new hospital facilities.

All three of these people were, I am certain, imperfect and the solutions they championed to help others were also flawed.  And yet, I cannot help but have the greatest admiration for each of them and all others who find within themselves - whether they have significant wealth or not - the desire to provide service...

for the good of others.

---------------

Thank you again for visiting me today as we let postal history items lead us to stories that can be very interesting.  I am hopeful that you were entertained and that, maybe, you learned something new.

Have a great remainder of your day and a fine week to come!

Be Like Water

Be like water... follow the path of least resistance to get to your goal.  Ease your way around the rocks, logs and other obstacles.  Let gravity do most of the work for you until you become a part of the sea.

Be like water... change with the conditions.  A mist on a cold, autumn evening or driving raindrops in a powerful summer storm.  Ice on a January day or evaporating to create a cloud pillar in the sky during a warm, humid day in July.  Join with your brothers and sisters like waves in the ocean or float slowly on your own through the sky as a snowflake.

Be like water... be persistent and don't give up.  Eventually the stream erodes its banks on a sharp turn or it finds its way around, under, or over once it builds up enough pressure and volume.

Be like water... give what you have so other things can live.  Soak into the soil and make yourself available to the growing plants as they seek you with their roots.  Form a pool so living creatures can take a much needed drink.

Be like water... choose a moment to be strong, invincible, and maybe even a bit frightening to remind everyone to not take life and the gifts of living for granted.

Be like water... be gentle and encouraging.  Chuckle with delight as you run around the pebbles in the creek bottom and provide interest with ripples on the surface or a reflection of the sky when you feel perfectly calm.

Look at water... and let it teach you about awe and wonder.  Let it remind you of gratitude.  Let it remind you to...

Be like water.

Irony and Other Cool Words

We have only seen two Spring training baseball games in person. One in Florida and one in Arizona - both many years ago now.  Of course, I don't have those pictures readily available in digital format.  They only exist in my mind (it's called memories people -remember them?).  

Anyway, the photo above is from our one and only trip to Wrigley...so it has nothing to do with the following story.  It just sets the mood for the story and for the use of the word...

Irony

The first Spring-training game we attended was really a scrimmage between the Cincinnati Reds and..... the Cincinnati Reds. Since this has been my favorite baseball team my entire life (yeah... that's what the red hat should be reminding all of you), it was a very good thing.  After all, my team was guaranteed to win.  

We won't think about the fact that they were also going to lose.

I got to see a guy named Hector Carrasco throw the ball at around 99 mph in the bullpen and figured out why Barry Larkin was an All-Star. It was some good stuff from my point of view.

It was a windy day and that tended to knock the ball down if it was hit to left field - so there were some well-hit balls that might have been a home run on another day.  

Roberto Kelly was the Reds starting center fielder at the time.  Midway through the game - he smacked a ball into left-field and he took his sweet time heading to first. Obviously, he thought it was a home run. Well, the ball died in left at the wall and when he realized this he sped up in an effort to at least get to second base. 

He was thrown out easily.

As he came back towards the Reds dugout, the first base coach, Joel Youngblood, gave him a continuous stream of, um, criticism. If you can picture a coach jawing with an umpire - you might get some idea as to how that went. There was, as you might guess, a fair amount of 'colorful' language. And, we were only a couple rows in back of first base - so we got to see, and hear, the whole thing.

Now - fast forward several years later and we are in Arizona, with an opportunity to see another Spring-training game.

This time, we had a chance to see the Milwaukee Brewers host the San Francisco Giants. The game didn't have much pitching, but it was fun to see nonetheless. We sat four rows back - not far from first base.

The irony?

The first base coach for the Giants was Roberto Kelly.  And yes, he had words for a player when they didn't hustle.

That story made me think of another story, which led me to a new cool word...

Iteration

Tammy and I have one television in the house, and it took us quite a while before we got a flat screen tv like everyone else in the world.  At the time this story occurred, we did not have satellite tv, we couldn't get cable, internet was too slow and the bandwidth wasn't there and we didn't have a converter box.  In short, the tv was there to watch dvd's.  That's all there was to it.

So, what should appear in our mailbox?  A large envelope from the Nielsen Ratings.  Yes, they wanted our household to tell them what we watched on television.  We realized they use a random sampling technique, so we should be just as likely as anyone else to be asked our opinions.  But - if they only *knew*!

We were just going to toss the envelope, but for some reason I opened it.  What should fall out but two crisp one dollar bills...  fresh from the printer (hmmmm).  They also included a SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope).  

 

So....why not?  

 

How did we answer the "What are your three favorite TV shows?" question?  Or the one about our normal TV watching time?   What we probably should have done was select some of the long since terminated shows we watched in the past, or maybe we should have just selected some things we had on DVD.  Maybe I should have said "Sesame Street."  You can't go wrong with that show. Regardless of what we ended up giving for answers, we feel that this is another ITERATION of the word IRONY.  That we, of all people, would be asked by Nielsen to give our viewing tendencies.

 

Fortuitous

We have typically worked hard to figure out our field plans and our seed orders as soon as we can after the prior season is completed.  But, for some reason, we often seem to be ordering our seed in February or March.  This can be a bit late if you want to order the bulk amounts of certain seeds that our farm often requires.  As a result, we find ourselves looking for substitutes.  

 

It's not the end of the world, but a bit of a pain.

One year, we were really looking to get our seed orders in earlier and break this pattern.  We received our first seed catalog and went through it from front to back the same day it arrived.  Evidently we were in the mood for this sort of thing.  Now that we had an idea of what interests us in one catalog, we needed some of the others to arrive in our mailbox.

What should arrive the next day? Another key catalog.  By the time the week ended, all of the catalogs we really needed were in hand!  That, my friends, is my definition for fortuitous.  (Fortuitous - when all of the catalogs you need are where you need them to be....)

Perspicacity

 

Now, here's a word I've always liked.  But, I can't always get my voice to say it without messing it up.  So, I'll type it instead!

Every so often, it seems like one or both of us pick up on things much quicker than normal.  In other words, we exhibit a higher perspicacity at those times.  Last week was not likely one of those weeks for me.  So, if I came across as a bit thick....sorry.  I got better (I hope).  At least I'm trying to refine my vocabulary....whatever that is.

 

Ostentatious

 

The word is, in itself, what it is.  So was that sentence.  But, other than enjoying writing big words in blogs, it is something neither Tammy nor myself wish to be.  But, because we are the Genuine Faux Farm, we have had to call attention to ourselves to make sales and promote what we do.  And we have found over the years that there is a fine line between honorable self-promotion and being ostentatious.

Case in point #1 - many years ago we would set up a trifold display with pictures and information about our CSA and our farm at the Harvest Market on a Saturday.  We both agreed that it was probably a good thing to do, but part of me wondered if it would not go over well with the other vendors who were there.  There is always a fine line to walk between attracting customers and belittling others who are also trying to attract customers.  And, if we went too far over the top with our own self-promotion, we wondered if they might conclude that we *were* ostentatious.

Case in point #2 - Social media.   If those web applications don't invite one to try to call attention to oneself, I don't know what does.   Some of you might not be aware of the 'metrics' each social media tool tries to use to indicate your 'success' at reaching people.  Let's just say they seem to reward those who are ostentatious.

 

We hope you had the perspicacity to enjoy this attempt at irony with respect to the ostentatious premise of this blog post.  We trust that its timing is fortuitous in that it will allow you to read it and....

we hope you have a great day!