Sunday, June 18, 2023

Bottlebrush Buckeye

 

"The naturalist, explorer and plant collector William Bartram first noted this . . . shrub on his travels through Carolina, Georgia and Florida in 1773–78. An old example was still to be found in Bartram's Garden, Philadelphia, in 1930." -- Wikipedia

Saturday, June 17, 2023

Diary Keepers

 


"For this book, I intentionally chose not to excerpt the best-known diaries . . . by Anne Frank, Etty Hillesum, Abel J. Herzberg, or other worthy diaries . . . More diaries, more perspectives, help us to get a far better sense . . . . I was seeking a range of perspectives, not many but various. I wanted to juxtapose and balance voices from the occupation period and provide a rounded view of the war." -- Nina Siegal

Friday, June 16, 2023

Log

 


This section of a tree trunk is from the tulip poplar that stood near the west front of Monticello. Centuries old, the tree succumbed to old age and disease and was removed in 2008. Although traditionally regarded as a tree from the era of Thomas Jefferson, the absence of solid wood and growth rings prevented a precise determination of the tree's age.

Thursday, June 15, 2023

Saunders Bridge

 


Saunders Bridge, opened on July 3, 2002, serves "as Monticello's main vehicular entrance and a link between sections of the Saunders-Monticello Trail on the north and south side of Route 53.


"Thomas Jefferson, himself, envisioned a bridge in the same general vicinity when he devised plans to connect his property at Monticello to land he owned across the road, known then as Montalto (now Brown's Mountain). In his "General Ideas for the Improvement of Monticello" (ca. 1804), he discussed linking the upper (Montalto) and lower (Monticello) park lands without impeding public traffic through the 'thoroughfare' gap." -- monticello.org