¿Qué Onda Guero?

Karen picked up some catnip at the Green Market. That’s one happy kitten.

Karen is very picky about ingredients. Only the finest components are allowed anywhere near any of her food creations. I’m glad for this because I know just about everything she creates is going to be delicious and worth eating every bite. Not necessarily the most “healthy”, as some define healthy, but always very tasty and very fresh. When available, Karen prefers organic produce, grass-fed beef, free range chicken and hormone free milk, eggs and butter.

The Chicago Green City Market is “Chicago’s only year-round farmers’ market promoting local, sustainable farmers, producers and chefs by connecting them to the public through educational programming and special events.” You just can’t get ingredients like these at your local grocery, but you can get them at the Chicago Green Market. And if you go early on a Saturday morning, like we did, you avoid heavy traffic and crowds.

Little Bighorn was the only hard-and-fast planned stop for us on this trip out west. I won’t go into the history of what happened at Little Bighorn. If you don’t know what happened, you can read about it here and here and in a multitude of books. I suggest, even if you think you know what happened at Little Bighorn, read about it and then go there. I generally think the National Parks Service is the best thing the United States government has going for it, and the way the NPS handles Little Bighorn does not disappoint.

Before we started exploring the landscape, we sat in on one of the ranger talks they do there every couple of hours. The ranger we listened to is a good story teller and seemed knowledgeable and passionate about the subject. I recorded the entire 30 minute talk on my iPhone. Click here to view the video (or right-click on the link to download it to your desktop). You might need to download and install QuickTime for Windows if you’re having trouble viewing it.

One of the uniquely engaging aspects of this battlefield is the stone markers placed on the ground near where individual soldiers and warriors fell. The photo below is of some of the markers on Last Stand Hill, where Lt. Col. Custer and his brother Tom were killed in action. Tom’s marker is directly in front of George’s.

About ten years ago, the National Parks Service began erecting granite markers for fallen Cheyenne and Lakota warriors as well. They chose red granite so it would stand out among the white stone markers erected for the troops of the 7th cavalry.

From the top of Last Stand Hill, looking north.

The sign reads:

The hill in front of you was occupied by Lakota and Cheyenne during the fight on Last Stand Hill. An unknown Sioux warrior wearing a warbonnet was killed here while firing his rifle at soldiers positioned behind a horse barricade on the crest of the ridge behind you. As soldier carbine fire ceased, victorious warriors rushed the hill.

From the top of Last Stand Hill, looking south, towards the Little Bighorn and the Indian village.

About halfway down the path, looking back at Last Stand Hill (on the right), the visitor center (just left of center) and Custer National Cemetery (on the left).

Continuing to make our way down the path, towards the Little Bighorn.

The path ends at Deep Ravine, where the last shots were fired on this part of the battlefield. Historians don’t know exactly why the soldiers were running into the ravine. It may have been a tactical maneuver or an attempt at escape. The text on the sign is red, faded and very difficult to read.

Custer National Cemetery is located on the same land as Little Bighorn National Battlefield. The cemetery contains markers for over 4,500 veterans and their family members.

Some Crow warriors are buried in the cemetery, honored for their service as scouts during the Indian campaigns.

I couldn’t find any references to how much acreage the cemetery covers, but it covers a lot of land. Looking at the aerial view on Google maps, it appears to be a little longer than a football field in length. This first pan is at the beginning of the cemetery, looking east (to the left) and south (to the right).

This second pan picks up where the first pan left off, with the eastern most edge of the last pan behind me. Again, looking east (to the left) and south (to the right).

Another re-post from Pastor Jeff at the anti-itch…

In 1 Samuel 21, David is running from Saul and goes to the temple to talk with the priest, get some food, and a weapon. While there, a guy named Doeg sees him.

It says that Doeg is there because he is “detained before the Lord.” The word “detained” means to be restrained or stopped. God was keeping him there.

In the next chapter, Doeg rats out David and eventually is the only man willing to kill all God’s priests. He’s a real dork. Two things to note about Doeg the Dork:

1) He was at the temple! Presumably he went there to worship God! Just showing up to the building where worship takes place does not mean anything about the state of your soul.

2) God kept him there! God knew there was a plan for Doeg’s life, a bad plan, but a plan nonetheless. God keeps him there so all the priests would be killed.

Man can make a mockery of worship, but God’s plans are not mocked. There is a reason for everything.

Why are you showing up at your church? Are you there to truly worship or are you just playing a game? God will use it, one way or the other, but pray He won’t use you the way He used Doeg.

via anti-itch meditation

A cicada sheds his old skin, sporting a new mode of transportation.

Man, I wish I had a macro lens.

… Jesus is late, in case you weren’t already aware.

Earlier this week I received an e-mail from our local library. The contents of the e-mail are as follows:

“Courtesy reminder -
The following items are due soon                           Due Date
———
The original adventures of Hank                        07/20/2010
Jesus                                                                               07/20/2010

So, for your information, according to the Rhinelander District Library, Jesus is now officially overdue. I thought you’d like to know.

via anti-itch meditation

After leaving the cabin in Stevensville, Karen and I traveled south on US-93 and then west on MT-43 to Big Hole National Battlefield. Big Hole is one of several battles that took place during the Nez Perce war of 1877. We got to the park just in time to see the tipi raising program.

A temporary visitor center is setup at Big Hole because the permanent one is being renovated. Most of the artifacts are setup in a garage, and it’s a little cramped, but still very informative.

The sign next to the painting reads:

Shortly before midday on August 9, 1877, this mountain howitzer was brought into action on the hillside overlooking the battlefield. The gun crew was able to fire the cannon twice before being overrun by Nez Perce men. To this day, the Nez Perce sing of the bravery of these men in a song called, “The Duck and Dive”.

There are many pictures, like these, along the walls of the garage at the temporary visitor center. I thought these were the most interesting. From left to right, the first three plaques read:

Chief Joseph (Hin-Mut-Too-Yah-Lat-Kekht)
Chief Joseph was a respected counselor and a treaty chief for the Wallowa Band of Nez Perce, not a war chief. By October 5, 1877, he was one of the few surviving leaders. After a five day siege near the Bear Paw mountains, he met with Colonel Miles and agreed to quit fighting. He continued to work for the rights of the non-treaty Nez Perce, first from Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and then from the Colville Reservation in eastern Washington. He died in 1904 at the age of 64, and is buried at Nespelem, Washington.

General Oliver O. Howard, Commander of the Nez Perce Campaign of 1877
The Nez Perce called General Howard “General Day-After-Tomorrow” because he always seemed to be a day and a half behind his enemy. He and his troops pursued the non-treaty Nez Perce across Idaho and Montana to the final battle near the Bear Paw mountains. Later, Howard became an avid campaigner for the rights of the non-treaty Nez Perce.

Chief Yellow Bull (Chuslum Mox-Mox)
Chief Yellow Bull was a Nez Perce warrior and sub-chief of the White Bird Band. His son, a young warrior named Sarpsis Ilp-Ilp, was killed in the Siege area. In 1879, Yellow Bull and Chief Joseph spoke before the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington D.C. on behalf of the non-treaty Nez Perce.

There’s a lot more to see and do at Big Hole, including hiking, which we didn’t do because of my knee problems, but it’s one of the places we would like to visit again the next time we’re out west.

From a Minnesota rest stop on the way home from Montana. Stitched from a half dozen or so images.

Words fail me. Click on the image to view the original size.

Some photos from our recent trip to Montana. Karen got some pretty amazing shots too.