off the leash

In the National Parks: The Enemies of Canyonlands

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Ken Dowell

(photo by dassel)

(Photo by beccarobison)

Canyonlands National Park is a breathtaking sight. The photos accompanying this blog post are an indication of the unique geologic formations and natural beauty of the park. Yet it has its detractors. As a relatively new national park, founded in 1964, it was created only after a long fight. Canyonlands is a prime example of the conflict that has always been a part of the creation of the national parks system. That conflict involves, on the one hand, the naturalists and conservationists who want to preserve these lands in their natural state and make them available for all Americans to enjoy. On the other hand are the commercial interests who want access to the territory in order to make a profit by exploiting the available natural resources, generally fossil fuels.

Utah is home to five national parks. That is a fact that is proudly touted by those who promote tourism to the state. But not so much by the Republican dominated state house and legislature. And they now have a like-minded administration in Washington.

Attempts in Washington to preserve the canyons area near the confluence of the Colorado and Green rivers date back to 1936 when Franklin Roosevelt’s Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes proposed the creation of Escalante National Monument in the area. The proposal went nowhere, due to a combination of opposition by commercial interests and ultimately the distraction of war.

Another Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall, took up the cause in the early 1960’s. He ran into the opposition of Utah’s Republican Governor George Dewey Clyde. Clyde saw the inevitability of what would become Canyonlands but he sought to minimize its impact by working with Utah’s Republican Senator Wallace F. Bennett to try to shrink the amount of land that would be included and to make it a “mixed-use park” meaning it would be available for hunting, mining and ranching. The National Park Act of 1916 proscribed all of those activities.

Between 1961 and 1964, a number of bills were introduced by Utah’s other senator, Frank Moss, a Democrat, to create Canyonlands. He compromised on the size of the park, the activities that would be allowed there and changed the boundaries of the proposed park to exclude mineral-rich land and replace it with territory with no perceived commercial value. After several failures, Moss eventually had a compromise bill passed by the Senate in 1963. But when it went to the Democrat-controlled House, the mixed-use provisions were struck down. With some minor compromises, it was the House version of the bill that was finally approved in 1964 and signed into law by Lyndon Johnson.

(Photo by skeeze)

More recently, the National Park Service and supporting conservationist organizations found themselves in a protracted legal battle with the State of Utah and San Juan County over the use of a pathway in the park by motor vehicles. The area is question is the Salt Creek, which is the only perennial waterway in Canyonlands other than the Green and Colorado rivers. It had been used by some recreational vehicles as a pathway to the Angel Arch, one of Canyonlands iconic geologic formations.

Citing environmental damage and threats to area wildlife the Park Service at first limited vehicular use of this pathway and then in 2004 closed it entirely to motorized vehicles. The county and the state sued the park service under an 1866 law that was enacted to allow settlers to build roads across public lands. That law, RS 2477, had been repealed by Congress, but it grandfathered established rights of way. A Utah District Court ruled that there was not sufficient evidence of 10 years of continuous use as a roadway, which is what Utah law requires. for an RS 2477 claim. The decision was appealed and it was ten years later, in 2014 that the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court ruling and thus kept the Salt Creek closed to vehicular traffic.

A Road Less Traveled

(Photo by Rauschenberger)

During the creation of Canyonlands, supporters of the national parks in Washington offset the local and state politicians who were often beholden to commercial interests in their state in order to first establish and then support Canyonlands National Park. The current administration in Washington is far different than its predecessors, No one will even confuse Ryan Zinke with Harold Ickes or Stewart Udall.

Zinke was a Republican congressman from Montana who, in running for that office, once referred to Hilary Clinton as the anti-Christ. On his first day in office as Donald Trump’s Secretary of the Interior he rescinded a rule banning the use of lead bullets in National Wildlife Refuges that had been adopted by the Fish and Wildlife Service to prevent lead contamination of plants and animals. He then set out on a study to see which national monuments could be reduced in size. That resulted in recommendations to diminish Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, both in Utah, Cascade-Siskiyou in southern Oregon and northwestern California and Gold Butt in Nevada.

By executive order, Trump shrunk the two Utah properties, Bears Ears by 85% and Grand Staircase by 46%. Interior Department documents recently obtained by the New York Times show that the primary motivation for shrinking these national monuments was the potential for extracting coal and oil. (Oil and coal drove Trump’s call to Shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase)

The documents also show the role Utah’s Republican Senator Orin Hatch played in bringing about this reduction in public lands. He had provided Zinke a proposed redraw of the national monuments’ boundaries that was largely adopted by Trump in his executive offer. So the Utah GOP, which has consistently fought against the creation of national parks in Utah and has sought to shrink them, now has some allies in the White House and the Interior Department.

(Photo by Alan Rither)

Posted in History, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged Angel Arch, Bears Ears, Canyonlands National Park, Donald Trump, GOP, Harold Ickes, national parks, Republicans, Ryan Zinke, Stewart Udall, travel, Utah | 19 Comments

In the National Parks: Living Under the Stars at Joshua Tree

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Ken Dowell

Joshua Tree National Park, California

Photo by Austin Human

Officially Dark

In Tucson, Ariz., there is an organization called the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). One of their duties is to establish and maintain a list of “International Dark Sky Parks.” Joshua Tree National Park received that designation in the summer of 2017. Why do we want to know where to find the darkest skies? Because that’s where you see the stars. The IDA describes an International Dark Sky Park as “a land possessing an exceptional or distinguished quality of starry nights and a nocturnal environment that is specifically protected for its scientific, natural, education, cultural heritage, and/or public enjoyment.” Other national parks with this designation include the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands and Death Valley National Parks.

While the west end of Joshua Tree suffers from some light pollution from Palm Springs and other nearby towns, the east side is the place to go for darkness. Situated in the desert of southeastern California, this is one national park where a night hike might be preferred, not only because of the magnificent dark sky but also because daytime temperatures in the spring and summer often surpass 100.

Once a year in November Joshua Tree is home to the Night Sky Festival. The park’s campgrounds generally fill up for that event. There are guest speakers during the day and telescope viewing posts at night. And you’ll likely get a little advice about how not to be a light polluter.

photo by skeeze

Pod Living

Photo by Jesse Echevarria

An alternative way to enjoy the night sky at Joshua Tree is to view it from your very own pod at the Wagon Station Encampment just outside the park’s boundaries. A complex of 12 sleeping pods, the Wagon Station Encampment is part of A-Z West which, according to its Web site, is “an evolving testing grounds for living — a place in which spaces, objects and acts of living all intertwine into a single ongoing investigation into what it means to exist and participate in our culture today.” That’s the kind of stuff you want to ponder while you stargaze. In addition to the Wagon Station Encampment, A-Z West features a shipping container compound, a weaving studio and ‘satellite cabins.”

The whole thing was founded by Andrea Zittel, a Bay Area artist who moved to Joshua Tree some 15 years ago. Zittel makes sculptures and installations for galleries and uses the money to fund her social experiment in the desert. There are two months a year during which you can rent a wagon station, but you have to apply with autobiographical info and be accepted. Zittel suggests it’s appropriate for those “who are engaged in cultural or personal research.”

The encampment includes a communal outdoor kitchen as well as showers and toilets. The pods themselves look like metal and wood containers that are raised off the ground. They lift open from the front and inside there is a mattress and hooks for clothing. Up top there is a transparent strip, perfect for lying in bed and stargazing.

Photo by Andreas Selter

Homesteading in the Desert

Stargazing was the last thing that Bill Keys had in mind when he settled on a mining property in 1910 in what would later become part of Joshua Tree National Park. Keys was from Nebraska and his background included a stint training with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. He worked at the mine for about five years and when the absentee owner died he filed a claim for back wages which resulted in his gaining ownership of the property. He then added to his holding by filing a homesteading claim for adjacent land.

Keys was something of a whirlwind on his new property. He continued running the mine, did some farming and started a cattle ranch. He built five dams on the property and roads running through it. He even created the area’s first elementary school, originally for his own kids, of which there were seven. In the forties, Keys had a gunfight with a local sheriff’s deputy that resulted in a murder conviction. He did five years in prison before being released and was later fully pardoned.

The Keys Ranch is now part of Joshua Tree National Park and has been designated a National Historic Register Site. The ranch house, the school, a store and a workshop are still standing and there are various tools and mining equipment on the site. Ranger-guided walking tours are available to visitors to the park.

Photo by sspiehs3

Posted in Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged California, desert, hiking', International Dark-Sky Association, Joshua Tree National Park, national parks, stargazing, travel | 10 Comments

In the National Parks: Fire and Fury in the Rockies

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Ken Dowell

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Fire

On Jan. 7, 2013, the Fern Lake Fire in the Forest Canyon area of Rocky Mountain National Park was declared extinguished. The fire had burned for nearly three months and had covered 3,500 acres. What had started as an illegal campfire was reasonably contained until a period of high winds after Thanksgiving that year caused the fire to spread some three miles in 35 minutes. Some homes in nearby Estes Park were evacuated, but firefighters were able to keep the fire within the park’s boundaries. A snowstorm in December helped get it under control.

One of the reasons the fire spread was that the region had suffered a long-term drought. The National Park Service also reported that mountain pine beetles had killed half the trees in the canyon leaving the remains dry and susceptible. To have a fire at that elevation in the winter is considered unusual and the Park Service believes that the area had not seen a fire in over 800 years.

By May of 2013, the Denver Post reported that the forest and meadows in the area where the fire had burned were actually revitalized. It reported “green shoots of native grass sprouting, and frogs, hummingbirds and yellow flowers emerging amid charred willows and pines.”

Five years later 9News.com reporter Will Swope observed, “..this area is anything but barren. I found flowers growing around the charred logs that lay on the forest floor. Small trees are starting to grow back. It will take time, lots of time, but Rocky’s history is long and the area is resilient.”

Fern Lake Fire

Floods

In 2012 drought conditions led to the fire in Fern Lake. One year later there was water. Way too much of it. Four days of storms included one 24-hour period in which a foot of rain fell. Roads and bridges became unpassable and there were mudslides. Nearby Estes Park was cut off as the two main roads leading into town were shut down. Park rangers emptied the campsites and closed the park.

National Parks Traveler described the damage: “…some of the most obvious storm damage was on the northern end of Horseshoe Park near Endovalley, In paces the road into Endovalley was washed out and washed over with mud, rocks and other debris. The road into Aspenglen Campground also was damaged, and the bridge over the Fall River deemed unsafe for even foot traffic. In Moraine Park, the Big Thompson River ran bankful, as did the Fall River as it surged through Horseshoe Park.”

The park was closed although Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuously paved road in the U.S., remained open. After five days areas of the park began reopening incrementally as roads and trails became passable.

As Storms Ease, Damage to Rocky Mountain National Park is Revealed, Length Rehab on Tap

Snow

While April showers may indeed brings May flowers in many parts of the U.S., at Rocky Mountain National Park those spring months have often surprised with something else. Snow. And lots of it.

In 2009 winter at RMNC extended well into April. Three feet of snow fell within 24 hours at the park on on April 17. Both entrances were shut down as plows worked on getting Trail Ridge Road between the two in passable condition.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

In May of 2011 came a snowstorm of nearly four feet. Park officials measured the snowfall in the Bear Lake region at 44 inches. Avalanches were reported, some naturally and some caused by humans. And a rock slide closed the main highway from Estes Park into the park.

Just last May some 42 inches of snow fell on the park in mid-May. The storm closed roads throughout the park and park officials warned of a very high avalanche possibility; Park rangers warned those looking to ski, snowshoe or hike that they should have specialized gear and training.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Colorado, Estes Park, national parks, Rocky Mountain National Park, Rocky Mountains, travel | 9 Comments

In the National Parks: Yellowstone’s Friends in High Places

Posted on February 13, 2018 by Ken Dowell

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho

1903

Probably the greatest conservationist among all American presidents was Theodore Roosevelt. When he visited Yellowstone for a vacation in 1903, it wasn’t a quick run through. He stayed for 16 days. He was joined by naturalist and writer John Burroughs and by Park Superintendent Major John Pritcher. He dedicated a new archway to the park from Gardiner, Mont., that was named after him. He also met with architect Robert C. Reamer to go over plans for the construction of the Old Faithful Inn which would be completed the followed year.

But what Roosevelt was most interested in was the wildlife at Yellowstone and he recorded his observations. Here’s an excerpt from Roosevelt’s April 16, 1903 letter to C. Hart Merriam at the Department of Agriculture, including his observations of the elk at Yellowstone. “From very careful estimates, based for instance on actually counting the individuals in several different bands, I am convinced that there are at least fifteen thousand of these elk which stay permanently within the Park. But an insignificant number of them are killed by hunters… The cougars are their only enemies, and in many places these big cats, which are quite numerous, are at this season living purely on the elk, killing yearlings and an occasional cow; this does not damage, but around the hot springs the cougars are killing deer, antelope and sheep, and in this neighborhood they should certainly be exterminated.”

While he was president, Roosevelt created five national parks, 18 national monuments, 51 bird sanctuaries and created the National Wildlife Refuge slystem. In 1947, President Harry Truman created the national park that is named after him, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota.

President Theodore Roosevelt’s 1903 Visit to Wyoming

1937

Franklin D Roosevelt, accompanied by his wife Eleanor, his daughter and son-in-law arrived at Yellowstone by train on Sept. 25, then took a drive through the park in an open car. They spent the night at the private home of Harry Child, president of Yellowstone Park Company, and the following day visited Monmouth Hot Spring and had lunch at the Old Faithful Inn. Eleanor recorded her observations:

“Of course, the first thing that strikes one is the extraordinary hot springs, bubbling up and changing constantly so that what is a colorful terrace today with the hot water flowing over it, will in a little while be white as chalk when the water ceases to bubble and flow and keep the tiny plants alive which give the color to the hillsides.

“The next greatest interest is the animals. The herd of buffalo was interesting though we only saw it from a distance, but we saw a wonderful sight in a great elk with fine antlers close to the road, herding his harem of ladies. A little later we saw a lone elk, all by himself against a background of pines and wondered if he had been driven off and had lost his ladies to the other gentleman. Even in the animal world the ladies seem to cause some trouble!”

FDR’s greatest contribution to the national park system was the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps which provided much needed jobs during the Depression and sent an army of workers into the parks to improve infrastructure, build roads, plant trees and work on soil conservation projects. He also created 11 national monuments during his terms.

My Day, by Eleanor Roosevelt, Sept. 27, 1937

1978

Jimmy Carter and family took a fishing trip to Yellowstone, setting up on an island in Yellowstone Lake and accompanied by famous fly fisherman Bud Lilly. Based on the book “Yellowstone Ranger” by Jerry Memin the Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune provided an account of the scene on the day of Carter’s visit.

“In 1978, President Jimmy Carter arrived by helicopter to Yellowstone Lake’s southern arm.

“When the helicopter landed the rangers rode over to introduce themselves. The Marine in charge said his only worry was grizzly bears.

“Then came the president, his wife, daughter and entourage. The Secret Service deployed in canoes, along with the First Family. The female anglers, especially Amy, were quick to catch fish. Things began to look awkward for the president.

“’Judging from the body language some seemed to be holding their breath while others seemed to be hyperventilating. Then the president caught a fish,’ Memin wrote. ‘a sigh of relief swept through the onlookers, and everyone seemed to relax.’

“Then Memin hopped off his horse so the president could ride it… ‘I would say he was an accomplished gentleman and an adequate horseman,’ Memin wrote.”

Carter made several visits to the park after his time in office and is remembered for joining the park staff for pizza in an employee pub at the Lake Hotel. His signature is still on the wall there.

In 1980 Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. The law created 10 national parks and preserves, two national monuments and nine national wildlife refuges. All told it set aside 104 million acres of land.

Park ranger found a life of adventure in Yellowstone

Posted in History, Travel | Tagged Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, history, Jimmy Carter, Montana, national parks, Old Faithful, Theodore Roosevelt, travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone | 3 Comments

In the National Parks: Lost in the Tetons

Posted on February 6, 2018 by Ken Dowell

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Missing teen

Word reached Cincinnati on the evening of Aug. 5, 2016 that a local teenager was missing in Grand Teton National Park. The 17-year-old had gone to the park on a conservation project with a group called Groundwork USA. She was working with a group of other teenagers on a trail making project when she headed off on a bathroom break and never returned. The news seemed even more ominous the following day when KLWT5 News in Cincinnati reported that one of her hiking boots had been found.

The TV reporter reached her math teacher who expressed his concern: “I’m really worried about her safety because I know her and I know this is not something that she would do of her own accord.” He added that she is a straight-A student and president of the Vegan Club. Just the day before going missing she had posted on her Instagram account “Last day in Wyoming is tomorrow. I can’t wait to be home and see everyone. Today I am blazing a trail, pretty siked.”

The search initiated by the park rangers was broadened to include the Teton County Sheriff’s Office and the Wyoming Civil Air Patrol. More than 100 people were involved. And they found her! But when they did, she tried to run away. And she had cut and dyed her hair and changed her clothes. Eventually they corralled her and held her under “protective custody” until her parents arrived and brought her back to Ohio.

I trust all is well now and she will be able to look back on this incident and dismiss it as “one of the stupid things I did when I was 17.” We all have some of them.

Boot of missing Cincinnati teen found during search of Wyoming Park

Ohio teen found in Grand Teton National Park had changed her appearance

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Missing ring

Richie Jones had a plan for proposing to his longtime girlfriend Ashley Allen that no woman could refuse. Packing away a purple sapphire engagement ring, he set out with Ashley to conquer the Grand Teton, a 14,000 foot peak that is the tallest at Grand Teton National Park. It took them two days to reach the summit. Here’s a companion climber’s description of what happened when they got there.

“Richie stepped back, took a knee on the summit of the Grand Teton, and looked deep into Ashley’s eyes.

“’Will you marry me, Ashley?’

“She threw her hands in the air, screamed in obvious delight, and with tears of joy streaming down her face she reached toward the ring box as Richie held it out and opened it.

“She gave Richie a puzzled look.

“Richie returned the puzzled look. He slowly rotated the box and an expression of utter astonishment swept across his face.

“The ring was gone.”

He later told ABC News “One of the guys saw it bounce off the rock and it goes spiraling, just spinning with this top spin down through the air, and saw it on another rock.” Allen never got to see the ring, but she said yes anyway and Jones tried to look on the bright side: “To know our engagement ring is on this incredibly dramatic, spectacular peak just sitting up there, what more could you ask for?”

Not exactly what he planned but a memorable proposal nonetheless. No word on whether anyone ever found the ring.

A Mountaintop Proposal Doesn’t Go as Plannd Engagement Ring Lost on ‘Spectacular’ 14,000-Foot Peak ‘Meant to be There’

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Missing skier

A Houston man and two of his buddies from Wyoming, ranging in age from 24 to 37, were spending Christmas in 2016 skiing at the Jackson Hole Ski Resort, adjacent to Grand Teton National Park. But at 6:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve one of the men’s girlfriend got a text that they were in trouble. She called Teton County Search and Rescue who forwarded the alert to the park rangers.

The skiers were hoping to reach the Rock Spring Bowl but after they left the ski area’s boundary, they got lost in the poor visibility. They were able to hike to an area where they could get some cell reception and contact with the park rangers was established at about 10 p.m. It was determined that the men were uninjured and that they had some equipment with them, including probes and shovels. They were instructed by the Rangers to build a snow cave and fire and the rescue would take place in the morning when it was not as dangerous.

Two park rangers and two members of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Ski Patrol started their Christmas morning on the tram that goes to the top of the mountain. They skied into the area where they believed the lost men were camped out, were able to find their ski tracks and followed them to the three skiers. The men were safe, albeit cold, and the rescuers escorted them down the mountain and back to Teton Village.

The advice from the park rangers: “remind those that venture outside of the ski area boundary that they should be prepared for emergencies and the potential for extended stays outdoors.”

Lost Skiers Rescued in Grand Teton National Park on Christmas Day

Posted in Travel | Tagged Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole, national parks, rescues, skiers, Teton County, travel, Wyoming | 6 Comments

The Wounded Knees Diary

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Ken Dowell

As I write this I am three weeks into recovering from a double knee replacement. I think that name makes it sound worse than it is. You don’t get your knees replaced, it’s really about slapping some titanium in where your cartilage has aged out. Rehab takes a long time and while it has been described as painful it is more about being uncomfortable. All the time. And I’m getting a little bored. (If you’re a hacker following my social media accounts to find out when no one is around, you’re out of luck. I’m here 24/7.)

(not my knees)

Prior to the surgery I had osteoarthritis in both knees for about 3-4 years. It is apparently more common than I would have guessed, at least judging from the vast array of relatively worthless cremes, lotions and roll-ons you can find at any drug store aimed at the knee pain sufferer. The hospital where I had the surgery does 60 knee replacements a week. I half expected them to load me up onto a conveyor belt, but if that happened they apparently did it after they knocked me out.

Since this seems so common I thought some might be interested in what I learned along the way. But first one warning. I am the last person you should look to for medical advice. Prior to my recent knee episode you could measure my time between doctor visits in decades. I know nothing about medicine. Nothing about pharmaceuticals. And subjects like anatomy and biology are blank spots for me.

Doctor #1 – My first venture into getting some professional help for my knee problem is when I mentioned it to a general practitioner who I was visiting for a long-overdue physical. He asked if it was keeping me awake. No, it wasn’t keeping me awake and in fact never did. His advice, “Don’t go to an orthopedist until you can’t sleep at night.” No idea why he said that but I suspect it was bad advice. Had I started to get some sort of treatment early on it likely would have saved me some painful times.

This is not my knee either.

Orthopedist #1 – Why are doctors seemingly so distrustful of other doctors? One of the first things this guy told me is that I was lucky I didn’t go to a university hospital because if I did they would send me straight to surgery. Not sure the rationale behind this advice either but I’ve never wanted much to do with hospitals so I readily accepted it. This visit set me on the strategy of trying to avoid surgery, of doing everything possible before going that route. He gave me cortisone shots which usually but not always relieved the pain for 3-4 months. Three times over a period of two years he gave me three-shot treatments of orthovisc. This stuff is supposed to strengthen your cartilage. It did nothing for me. He prescribed naproxen, which is prescription-strength Aleve. At one point my right knee, which had been my good knee, suddenly became my bad knee. My orthopedist diagnosed a torn meniscus. I had arthroscopic surgery to repair. I felt great for a week. Then the painkillers wore off and I discovered I was no better off than before the surgery. Not long thereafter I came across a story in the New York Times about how this surgery is likely the most often performed unnecessary operation there is. I suspect that I did have a torn meniscus, but that isn’t what was causing me the pain. Instead it was what the professionals refer to as “bone on bone,” another way of saying your cartilage is gone. I asked about physical therapy and was told “it won’t help you.” Another piece of bad advice.

Orthopedist #2 – I thought it was time for a second opinion. But without so much as looking at an x-ray, this guy’s opinion was that I was going to need surgery and since he didn’t perform that surgery he lost interest in me as a patient right away. In fact the guy spent his whole 5 minutes with me talking to his tag-along intern. I might as well have been one of the posters on the wall that shows deteriorated joints. I did, however, prevail upon him to give me a prescription for physical therapy.

Physical therapist #1 – Physical therapy helped me more than anything I had done to this point. (Except for maybe buying the Hoka sneakers that I wore everywhere for two years.) Two weeks before she started treating me, my physical therapist was a full-time bartender. But she never chose to put my knees on ice. Instead she taught me how to exercise and what I was able to do on my own in the gym afterwards. The PT loosened me up to the point where I felt better than I had in a while. I had a prescription for eight weeks of therapy and then I renewed it for another 8 weeks. I spent a full hour twice a week with my physical therapist as opposed to 5 or 10 minutes per shot with all of the doctors. So I felt she knew me and my knees better than anyone I had been treated by.

Acupuncturist #1 – Determined to try absolutely everything, I decided to see an acupuncturist and ended up doing about eight treatments with him. We got along great. We had similar tastes in books and music and common political views. So we had a lively conversation while I laid on a table with needles stuck in me for an hour or so. Not a bad way to break up the day. As for my knees? It did nothing.

At this point I was maintaining myself on quarterly cortisone shots, working out in the gym four or five times a week and taking naproxen daily. I was uncomfortable continuing with the medication because of warnings about prolonged use making you susceptible to other things, like strokes or heart attacks. And while I could do most things, I had stopped playing tennis, I couldn’t run, I didn’t take my dog for long hikes in the woods anymore, and I found myself avoiding anything that involved a lot of walking. It was time.

Orthopedist #3 – This time I went for the best surgeon I could find. This was a guy whose waiting room walls were adorned with New Jersey Nets and New York Giants jerseys, apparently worn by guys who had their knees done there too. No question in this guy’s mind that I should go for the surgery and that I should get both knees done. (One of my knees was much less painful so there was some question in my mind about doing one or two.) This guy I had confidence in. For one thing, he looked at my x-rays and determined that I also had had a stress fracture of the fibula in my right leg. That explained why one leg felt worse than the other even though the knee cartilage looked equally decrepit on an x-ray. Why didn’t any of the other medical professionals or radiology shops notice this? So I took the plunge. That was three weeks ago.

So here are some of the issues you might think about if you are in a similar situation:

(image by Autumn Goodman)

To operate or not? All the other things that are offered to people with osteoarthritis in their knees, the creams and ointments, the braces, the shots, are intended to make a bad situation tolerable. (The only crème I found that helped was some Tiger Balm that my wife brought back from Thailand. But it also smelled so strong that even my dog didn’t want to come near me.) You won’t get better! The best case scenario is that you reach a point where you are not that troubled by the pain and are not limited in what you want to do in life. Not being prepared to accept that, I went for the surgery as what I perceived as the only cure. There are some stories out there about people who had a bad experience and had to have the surgery repeated, in some cases multiple times, but everyone I talked to who had the operation or knew someone who had it was glad they did. Some even described it as life-changing.

One knee or two? I’m not sure why you would have the cartilage deteriorate in one knee and not the other but I guess that happens. As I said up front I really know nothing about this stuff. A case can be made for doing one knee. The recovery is no doubt much easier and much less limiting if you are operating on one good leg. I also had one knee that was considerably worse than the other so in that way the one-knee option made sense. Ortho #3 talked me into the dual remake. I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to go through this and then find I had to do it again a couple years later. The decision to have surgery a second time is likely even tougher than doing it once.

Now or later? As described above I had followed a plan, in concurrence with doctor #1, orthopedist #1 and physical therapist #1, of doing everything possible before submitting to surgery. While it made sense to me at the time, I would urge some caution in following this. I’m probably a little younger than the average knee preplacement patient and don’t have any other health problems. How otherwise fit and healthy you are has a lot to do with how well you are going to recover from this. So there is some risk in putting off surgery and finding yourself in a less advantageous position to deal with it further down the road.

At this point I’m happy with the decisions I made to have the surgery and to go for the double. The rehab, which some described to me as brutal, isn’t really. But it is tough and long. All and all, I’m doing alright. I doubled my time in the gym for the weeks prior to surgery. I think that helped with the recovery. I was walking after a couple weeks and only use a cane for stairs.

Don’t expect me to update this anytime soon, because I’m thinking of getting out of here and doing stuff on my new knees.

Canine therapy

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged acupuncture, hospitals, knee replacement, knees, operation, orthopedics, physical therapy, rehab, surgery, torn meniscus | 19 Comments

Headless Art and Scary Stuff from Asia

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Ken Dowell

A Walk Through the Newark Museum

Headless Art

Lady Walking a Tightrope, Yinka Shonibare

Headless reveler in the dining room of the 1885 Ballantine House, which is now part of the Newark Museum. This was the home of John Ballantine, sone of New Jersey beer baron Peter Ballantine.

Scary Stuff from Asia

Mahakala mask, Tibet, early 20th century

Shakumi mask, 18th century, Japan

New Georgian bust, Salomon Islands, 19th century

Malagan Ancestor Figure, New Ireland, 19th century

Articulated Dragon, Meiji Period (1968-1912).

Somethings Old

Wheel of Law, Thailand, 7th Century

Small Drum, Japan, Edo Period (1603-1868)

The Newark Museum’s Tibetan Buddhist Altar was visited by the 14th Dalai Lama in 1990

Somethings New

Seeking to Unravel the Shape of an Enzyme, Alfred Jensen, 1977

Television, New China Series, Ma Jun, 2006

Tibetan Locks and Keys, Robert Rauschenberg, 1987

Some Burger Art

Meso-American Big Mac Pyramid, Diego Romero

and Warhol’s Juice

Campbell’s Tomato Juice, Andy Warhol

Posted in Art | Tagged art, Asian art, museums, New Jersey, Newark, Newark Museum, sculpture, travel | 5 Comments

Thanks to Prohibition, We Now Have…

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Ken Dowell

In Alabama, there are 24 of the state’s 67 counties where you can’t buy liquor. Except in 23 of those 24 counties there is one city where you can. If you’re in Kansas don’t volunteer to bring the beer for the Memorial Day, Independence Day or Labor Day picnic, because you can’t buy beer on those holidays. In Kentucky you can’t buy alcohol on Election Day. The 21^st Amendment which repealed the 18^th Amendment still left the doors open for states and municipalities to set their own rules. Mississippi didn’t give up on Prohibition until 1966.

So now as we approach the 100^th anniversary of Prohibition we find as part of its legacy a sometimes bazaar, but nearly always inconsistent set of liquor laws that ensures that Americans who live in different parts of the country have different rules to live by. But the mixed up alcohol regulations are fairly trivial compared to the influence Prohibition had on American lifestyle, culture and politics.

For one thing, Prohibition irreversibly changed nightlife in America. Tens of thousands of saloons closed. Ten of thousands of speakeasies opened. The image of the saloon drinker is a workman with a mug of lager set up next to his lunchpail. The image of the speakeasy patron is a young, stylish man or woman sipping cocktails in a carefree party atmosphere. It is the speakeasy that created the romantic image of the “roaring twenties” and one of the biggest changes is that it was about, and henceforth would always be about, men and women.

It was the young, urbane speakeasy crowd that would set the tone for style in America. While Prohibition may in some ways be viewed as the last gasp of a moralistic, conservative Protestant America, the result of Prohibition for many meant the abandonment of the restrictive social and sexual mores that went with conservative religion.

Not only did men start hanging out with women, but there were also some glimpses of an integrated society emerging. It is easy to make too much of this as America remained a very segregated country and even when white revelers headed up to Harlem for the jazz clubs, many of these clubs still only had black doormen and musicians while the patrons were as white as they were downtown. But there were also some “black and tans,” truly integrated clubs where black and white customers intermingled on an even footing.

And the roaring 20’s introduced America, and all Americans, to jazz. This would not be the last time that a predominately African American inspired musical form would be adopted by Americans of all races and become part of the national culture. Some 30 years later primarily black rhythm and blues musicians would provide the foundation for rock n roll.

Our politics as well reflect changes that came about because of Prohibition. Prior to this era voting lines were still largely drawn according to the country’s division over slavery and the Civil War. The Republicans were the party of Lincoln. As such they had the black vote locked in while the white South was dominated by the Democrats.

All this began to change with the issue of banning alcohol. Prohibition was the solution of white, Protestant, rural America. On the other side of the line stood the working class, the immigrants and the city dwellers. This clear division showed itself at the polls in the 1928 Presidential election between the Democrat, a “wet”, Catholic New Yorker, Al Smith, and the GOP candidate, an Iowa born backer of Prohibition (at least publically) Herbert Hoover. Hoover won that vote, but by 1932 Franklin Roosevelt and the Democrats were swept into office and in just about every election since the Democrats have carried the urban, ethnic and minority vote. It was Prohibition that changed black voters’ perception of the GOP from the party of emancipation to the party of repression and the KKK. On Election Day all over the country we still view the Democrats ability to marshall the black and ethnic vote as a key indicator. And likewise we still see Republicans at the state and local level trying to find ways to disenfranchise these voters.

And finally, Prohibition turned out to be something of a trial run for what later generations would call the war on drugs. The alcohol ban created the idea that drinking was a crime While it is doubtful that most Americans shared that perception, it is what various law enforcement groups ran with and as a result our prisons filled up with non-violent offenders, criminals whose offense might be brewing a little home wine and selling some to your neighbors.

(Image by Pablo Padilla

While the speakeasy folks made the twenties roar in a relatively undisturbed manner, the brunt of enforcement came down on immigrant and black populations. How different is that from what is happening in America with respect to marijuana. Blacks and Hispanics make up a disproportionate volume of incarcerated recreational drug offenders in our prisons. And while polls and referendums clearly show most Americans support legalization, we once again have a right wing administration preaching heightened enforcement through Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Few today see Prohibition as anything other than an abject failure. It didn’t stop Americans from drinking. It gave rise to a widespread criminal underbelly. And it only exacerbated the already existing divisions in our society. And while Prohibition has been repealed, those divisions have certainly not gone away and if anything have become more acute.

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Sources:

The War on Alcohol, Prohibition and the Rise of the American State, Lisa McGirr, 2017.

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, Daniel Okrent, 2010

Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America, Edward Samuel Behr, 1996

Posted in History, Uncategorized | Tagged 18th Amendment, 1920's, history, immigrants, liquor laws, marijuana, Prohibition, roaring 20's, speakeasy | 5 Comments

Prohibition and Hypocrisy: Living Wet, Voting Dry

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Ken Dowell

Do our public officials vote based on their conscience? Or do they bend with the tides, an eye on their next exposure to the electorate? Or maybe they are motivated by providing some ROI for their biggest donors.

It is hard to say when hypocrisy began to play a role in the American democracy but one suspects it was pretty early on. Clearly it is alive and well today. Consider the Western Pennsylvania congressman who campaigned as a pro-lifer until his former mistress went public with his entreaties to her to have an abortion.

Prohibition was high time for hypocrisy, in Washington, in state houses and in city halls. There was, in the words of Last Call author Daniel Okrent “a large and liquid gulf between how people voted and how they drank.” It was a time for voting dry, but living wet.

Starting at the top, Warren Harding was President when Prohibition went into effect. The Harding Administration is renowned for rampant corruption. The President himself may have been more a victim of bad judgement rather than an outright crook. And that bad judgement applied to more than just filling his administration with scoundrels and shysters. This is a guy who brought his 20-year-old lover into the White House and made love to her in a broom closet. So it’s not surprising that he might have slipped a bottle or two of contraband into the Presidential home.

: Warren Harding

Harding was a drinker. Scotch and soda was his preferred inebriant and he reportedly had some stock in a beermaker. He campaigned for Prohibition when he ran for the Presidency because that’s where he thought to votes were. In his book Prohibition, Edward Samuel Behr describes what Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth found when she was invited to the White House for a social event. “Run of the mill guests were kept downstairs, where they were served fruit juice. Harding’s cronies, and other privileged guests, were invited upstairs where liquor flowed like water.”

It was the Treasury Department that was initially responsible for enforcing Prohibition. Harding’s choice for Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, had little use for the new law. Not only was Mellon a drinker but he was part owner of the Old Overholt Rye Distillery.

Herbert Hoover oversaw the last years of Prohibition. He had not been an advocate of the 18^th Amendment, but captured the “dry” vote in 1928 when running against the “wet” and Catholic governor of New York Al Smith. Upon assuming the Presidency, he attempted to enforce it by upping the penalties for violations. This from a man who, in his previous job as Secretary of Commerce, was known to have ended each workday with a visit to the Belgian Embassy for cocktails.

Franklin Roosevelt swept into office in 1932 with a platform that included a call for repeal. But earlier in his career, a young FDR as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, supported banning alcohol in that branch of the armed forces. And in 1919, with the 18^th Amendment approved but not yet in effect, FDR bought four cases of Old Reserve for his New York apartment.

Twenty-two members of the Senate held seats both in 1919 when the 18^th Amendment banning alcohol was approved and in 1932 when the 21^st Amendment, repeal, was approved. Seventeen of those 22 voted for both amendments. Did they see the light of day? Or did they see which way the wind was blowing?

One of the strongest voices for Prohibition in the House, Ohio’s Republican Congressman Everett Denison, got caught smuggling wine after a cruise to the West Indies. Pennsylvania Senator Philander K. Know voted for Prohibition. Then, in the time before it went into effect, scored 20 cases of Old Overholt rye whiskey.

Smugglers reported keeping the basements of the Capitol building well stocked. Okrent quotes one senator who claimed that of all the “drys” in the Senate he only knew of three who didn’t drink.

At the state and local level corruption and bribery were rampant. The large-scale bootlegging operations that were prevalent in cities all over America went about their business often with little impediment because they had local officials, police and judges “in their pocket.”

Here are just a few examples I found:

The State of Georgia tapped a lawyer named Thomas B. Felder to write its Prohibition law. Felder was an alcoholic who would go on to represent a number of smugglers. Eventually he was indicted for bribery.
Coast Guard Captain Frank J. Stuart set the fee at $2,000 for liquor boats looking to land at Montauk.
Colonel Ned M Green was the federal Prohibition czar for Northern California. That is until he was indicted for embezzling confiscated government liquor stores. While he was acquitted of those charges he was later quoted referring to the Volstead Act as ‘silly’ and ‘foolish.’
When the feds raided Mobile, Ala., in 1923 the resulting list of indictments included a state legislator, the Mobile County Sheriff, five deputy sheriffs, the police chief and a member of the county board of revenue.

But if there is one person who is held up as an example of someone who was diligent and dedicated to enforcing Prohibition it was Mabel Willebrandt. Known as the First Lady of Law, she was assistant attorney general from 1921 to 1929. During that time, her office prosecuted nearly 50,000 Prohibition cases and she is regarded as being personally responsible for bringing down the famed Cincinnati bootlegger George Remus. She resigned in 1929 after Hoover snubbed her in naming a new Attorney General and went on to represent a company that produced raisin cake, an ingredient used to make wine at home.

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Sources:

The War on Alcohol, Prohibition and the Rise of the American State, Lisa McGirr, 2017.

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, Daniel Okrent, 2010

Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America, Edward Samuel Behr, 1996

Posted in History, Uncategorized | Tagged 18th Amendment, alcohol, Franklin Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, history, hypocrisy, politics, Prohibition, Warren Harding | 6 Comments

Prohibition and America’s Outlaw Entrepreneurs

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Ken Dowell

Being what many would consider the leaders of the capitalist world, Americans have always celebrated the accumulation of wealth, whether it was the robber barons of the 19^th century or the tech entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley. Some have made their name and their fortunes by living outside the law, not to mention the norms of polite society.

Prohibition brought forward a whole host of criminals who became part of the folklore of the times: George Remus and Al Capone and Lucky Luciano. But there were a host of others who came from all walks of life and who straddled the line between felon and successful entrepreneur. Some were clearly in violation of the ban on selling, transporting and making alcohol, others violated merely the spirit of the law.

Here are some of their stories:

Spanish Marie

Marie Waite was by all accounts a beautiful woman. With mixed Swedish and Mexican heritage, she was six feet tall with black hair and blue eyes. And to top it off she had a ton of money. But she was, in the words of Rum War at Sea author Malcolm Willoughby “a fickle and dangerous person, with morals as free as the four winds.” Many a man was attracted to her charms. And some are believed to have gone from her bedroom to the bottom of the Florida Straits encased in concrete.

Marie took over her husband’s rumrunning business after Charlie Waite was killed in a shootout with the Coast Guard. She set up shop in Havana and through a combination of bribery and ruthlessness became a leading supplier for Florida’s east coast from West Palm to the Keys. One of her tactics was to send an armada of four boats toward Florida. Three were packed with liquor, one with guns. If they were intercepted by the Coast Guard, the gun boat would hold them at bay while the floating liquor stores sped away. She also set up radio communications on her boats. Coded advisories, consisting of common Spanish words, were sent out from a pirate radio station in the Keys.

The Coast Guard eventually caught up to Spanish Marie. She was arrested in 1928 while overseeing the unloading of more than 5,000 bottles of liquor at Coconut Grove. When brought before a judge, she pleaded to be allowed to return to her two young children. He set a relatively low bail of $500 which was posted. And that was the last anyone saw of Spanish Marie. But her legacy lives on. There is a Spanish Marie Brewing Company in Miami and in Key West, Chef Distilled offers a bottle of Bad Bitch Rum with Spanish Marie’s photo on the label.

Bill McCoy

Bill McCoy was the son of a New York state mason of the same name who had fought in the Civil War. The family moved to Florida when he was in his 20’s and he and his brother started a motorboat service. He also built luxury boats for customers like Andrew Carnegie and the Vanderbilts. By the 1920’s, new highways and new vehicles made the McCoys’ boat transport business obsolete but by then it was Prohibition and another opportunity opened up.

McCoy bought a schooner, registered it as a British vessel, and began bringing rye, Irish and Canadian whiskey from the Bahamas to New Jersey. When things got hot along coast, McCoy would anchor his boat three miles offshore in international waters and sell to smaller boats that would head out for a liquor shopping expedition. Eventually the Coast Guard caught up to McCoy, boarding his ship the Tomoka after a chase and hauling him in.

McCoy saw little wrong with what he was doing. He was not a drinker, but he was not a fan of Prohibition either. He was proud of his reputation for selling high quality, undiluted liquor. He is credited with inventing the “burlock” a burlap sack for carrying six bottles of liquor stacked pyramid style. After his capture he pleaded guilty, did a nine-month term in a New Jersey prison, then headed back to Florida. You can still come across the McCoy name in liquor stores where you may be able to find “The Real McCoy Rum.”

Roy Olmstead

Roy Olmstead was born on a farm in Nebraska. He moved to Seattle when he was 18 and got a job working the shipyards. Olmstead later joined the Seattle Police Department and rose rapidly through the ranks until he became a lieutenant in 1919. Washington State had prohibition laws starting in 1916, before the national constitutional amendment. So one of his jobs was to stake out folks running liquor down from Canada, something that gave him an idea for a more lucrative occupation than police work.

Olmstead started bootlegging while still on the force. In 1920 he got caught in a roadblock set up by federal agents. He was fired from the police force and fined $500. Now he had the time to make some real money. He would eventually make more money in one week of bootlegging than he did in 20 years of police work. Olmstead became known as the “the King of Puget Sound Bootleggers.” He became a significant employer in the Seattle area, where most did not consider him a criminal. At the height of his operation he was bringing 200 cases of Canadian liquor into Seattle per day.

Olmstead and his wife Elise started a radio station KFQX. One of its most popular programs was “Aunt Vivian” which consisted of Mrs. Olmstead reading bedtimes stories to children. But the station and the stories went off the air when the Olmstead residence was raided and Roy was arrested.

Olmstead appealed his conviction for conspiracy to violate the National Prohibition Act based on the fact that evidence was gathered from a wiretap that was set up without a warrant. His appeal went all the way to the Supreme Court which ruled in favor of the prosecution. But the dissenting opinion, by Louis Brandeis, eventually would become the basis for anti-wiretapping laws. Olmstead did a four year jail term after which he returned to Seattle and became a fumigator and insecticide salesman. In 1935 he received a full Presidential from FDR.

Jimmy McGhee

(image by Skeeze)

Jimmy McGhee had nothing to do with moving or selling liquor, but he made a significant contribution to rumrunners as the maker of a boat that the Coast Guard simply couldn’t keep pace with. McGhee was a self-taught mechanic in Manorville, N.Y., and during Prohibition he figured out how to attach engines from World War I fighter planes to speedboats to produce a boat that could hit up to 65 mph. Coast Guard boats couldn’t. McGhee’s boats were used by the bootleggers who would go out to meet the larger boats anchored in international waters, fill up with liquor, then speed back to the Hamptons area outpacing the Coast Guard.

McGhee never did anything illegal and never took a cut of the money from the bootlegging his boats enabled. With the end of Prohibition, McGhee continued his mechanical work. He was involved for awhile with race cars and he was brought on as an adviser to a company that made fighter places during World War II.

Georges de Latour

The coming onset of Prohibition sent shock waves through the Napa Valley. But there was one winemaker who didn’t seem that concerned. Turns our Georges de Latour of Beaulieu Vineyard was buddies with the archbishop of San Francisco and with sacramental wine still being legal during Prohibition, his business was set to boom.

(Image by Tim Mossholder)

De Latour founded Beaulieu in 1900 when he purchased four acres of land near Rutherford, Calif. He made a name for himself by importing rootstock from France which was resistant to Pylloxera, a disease that was plaguing other California vineyards. During Prohibition, through his connection with the archbishop, he sold wine to all of the priests in the district. And some of those priests were buying at bootlegger volume. De Latour’s sales increased four times. He frequently hosted priests from all over the country at Beaulieu. A couple years into Prohibition he had distribution outlets in seven midwestern and eastern cities. Last Call author Daniel Okrent notes: “Beaulieu’s wines were put into circulation beyond the alter by the irreversible physics of the era, that form of gravity that deposited potable alcohol in the cupboards of people whose need was not particularly spiritual.”

By the time of repeal, de Latour had some of the best and oldest vineyards in the state. He brought over world class winemakers from France and produced some of the best wines to come out of Napa Valley. Beaulieu still exists, although like most of the liquor industry it went through multiple owners during the late 20^th century corporate consolidation. It was purchased by Heublein, which was then acquired by Nabisco, which sold it to Grand Metropolitan, which merged with Guinness and became Diageo. Most recently, Diageo sold Beaulieu to Treasury Wine Estates in 2016.

Posted in History, Uncategorized | Tagged 18th Amendment, 1920's, Beaulieu, Bill McCoy, bootleggers, George de Latour, history, Jimmy McGhee, Prohibition, Roy Olmstead, rumrunners, Spanish Marie, wineries | 7 Comments