Fingal's Cave is a sea cave on the uninhabited island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, known for its natural acoustics.  The National Trust for Scotland owns the cave as part of a national nature reserve.  It became known as Fingal's Cave after the eponymous hero of an epic poem by 18th-century Scots poet-historian James Macpherson.  Fingal's Cave is formed entirely from hexagonally jointed basalt columns within a Paleocene lava flow and is similar in structure to both the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and Ulva.  In these locations, cooling on the upper and lower surfaces of the solidified lava resulted in contraction and fracturing, starting in a blocky tetragonal pattern and transitioning to a regular hexagonal fracture pattern with fractures perpendicular to the cooling surfaces.   As cooling continued these cracks gradually extended toward the centre of the flow, forming the long hexagonal columns we see in the wave-eroded cross-section today.  Similar hexagonal fracture patterns are found in desiccation cracks in mud where contraction is due to loss of water instead of cooling.   Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn visited in 1829 and wrote an overture, The Hebrides, Op. 26, (also known as Fingal's Cave Overture), and was said to be inspired by the weird echoes in the cave.  Mendelssohn's overture popularized the cave as a tourist destination.   Other famous 19th-century visitors included author Jules Verne, who used it in his book Le Rayon Vert (The Green Ray), and mentions it in the novels Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Mysterious Island.  Poets William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Romantic artist J. M. W. Turner, who painted Staffa, Fingal's Cave in 1832 also made the trip.  In 1860 the German novelist Theodor Fontane visited the cave and described it in his travel report Jenseit des Tweed (Beyond the Tweed, Pictures and Letters from Scotland), Queen Victoria also made the trip.  The 19th century Austro-Hungarian guitarist and composer Johann Kaspar Mertz included a piece entitled Fingals-Höhle in his set of character pieces for guitar Bardenklänge.  The playwright August Strindberg also set scenes from his play A Dream Play in a place called "Fingal's Grotta".  Scots novelist Sir Walter Scott described Fingal's Cave as "one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingal%27s_Cave    

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”  This line is spoken by Marcellus in Act I, Scene 4, as he and Horatio debate whether or not to follow Shakespeare's Hamlet and the ghost into the dark night.  The line refers both to the idea that the ghost is an ominous omen for Denmark and to the larger theme of the connection between the moral legitimacy of a ruler and the health of the state as a whole.  The ghost is a visible symptom of the rottenness of Denmark created by Claudius’s crime.  Find characters as Marcellus and Claudius and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (may be played by two individual actors on stage, but given that they always appear together, they essentially function as a single character).  Childhood friends of Hamlet, Claudius and Gertrude summon them to Elsinore with the hope that they can determine why their son is acting strangely.  While they may have once been genuine friends with Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s behavior throughout the play suggests that they care more about themselves than anyone else.  The pair first arrives at the castle in Act 2, Scene 2, and in addition to emphasizing what great friends they are to Hamlet, Claudius and Gertrude offer them a substantial reward for spying on their son.  The fact that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are willing to betray Hamlet’s trust in exchange for compliments and a bribe highlights their questionable moral code.  Link to characters at https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/character/rosencrantz-and-guildenstern/   

• An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not predictable from its constituent elements (as in “kick the bucket”);
• A proverb is a popular saying, usually of an unknown or ancient origin (such as, “a friend in need is a friend indeed”);
• An axiom is a self-evident truth that requires no proof (for example, “blood is thicker than water”)  https://www.prdaily.com/35-idioms-axioms-and-proverbs-to-chew-on/    

Founded in 1877, Fleet Library at Rhode Island School of Design is one of the country's oldest independent art college libraries.  Its circulating collection of more than 150,000 volumes offers unusual depth and richness in the areas of art, architecture, design and photography.  The collection provides strong historical and contemporary perspectives and specialized materials in landscape architecture, ceramics, textiles and jewelry to support upper-level research.  RISD’s specialized library is also noted for its artist’s books collection, rare books, some 400 periodical subscriptions and collection of outstanding visual resources.  https://www.jstor.org/site/risd/  

quockerwodger noun

Synonym of jumping jack (“a toy figure of a person with jointed limbs that can be made to appear to dance or jump by pulling an attached string”) (figurative, slang) A person whose actions are controlled by someone else; a puppet

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quockerwodger#English    

http://librariansuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2914  February 28, 2025 

February 26, 2025 email from Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz  (Wade was elected mayor of Toledo, Ohio on November 7, 2017 and took the oath of office on January 2, 2018, becoming the 58th mayor of the city.) 

Today we broke ground on the Glen and Grand apartments which will bring a total of 70 new affordable housing units to Toledo.  The Grand townhomes are at the former Driggs Dairy site in the Englewood Neighborhood, which is one of the City's Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Areas.  Adding these new units not only provides stable, affordable housing for Toledoans, it replaces a formerly blighted property and allows the City to accomplish two goals we have for creating and maintaining neighborhood vitality in Toledo.  Together, these projects represent key steps in our efforts to provide much-needed affordable, safe, and quality housing to our residents.  Both developments are integral to our strategy to expand housing options for families across Toledo, generating approximately $30 million in investment, creating over 250 construction jobs, and significantly increasing the city’s tax base.  Last week, I joined business and community leaders for a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new Innovation Post at the Jefferson Center. We expect the new tenants–Wurtec Incorporated, WorkSpring, Junior Achievement of Northwestern Ohio, and SEGULA Technologies USA–to bring approximately 170 new jobs to Toledo's Uptown area.  https://mailchi.mp/toledo/www-12-4-8629742?e=04f21832ee

The United States has 11 time zones.  Canada has 6 time zones.  Denmark has 5 time zones.  Cyprus has 1 time zone.  Find times zones in countries at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_time_zones_by_country

50 Extremely Common Things That Literally Every Person On Earth Has Been Calling The Wrong Name Their Entire Life  https://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/things-you-didnt-know-had-fun-names  Thank you, Muse reader!   

El Tipico Restaurant   1444 South Ave, Toledo, OH 43609-2108   419-382-0661  “Ohio's only Fresh & Organic Mexican Restaurant.  We have the largest menu for Organic, Gluten Free, Vegetarian & Vegan meals.”  Founded in 1968 by Ezekiel & Consuelo Villa.  https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/ShowUserReviews-g51048-d790053-r963033268-El_Tipico_Restaurant-Toledo_Ohio.html#  open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.  https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/ShowUserReviews-g51048-d790053-r963033268-El_Tipico_Restaurant-Toledo_Ohio.html

The Muser and a faithful Muse reader ate lunch at El Tipico on February 26, 2025.  Wonderful.   

Fresh Huevos Rancheros recipe:   This classic huevos rancheros recipe features fresh pico de gallo on top.  Huevos rancheros is a vegetarian Mexican breakfast with eggs, tortillas and salsa.   

“The beauty of sand . . . smooth, sheeny, satiny; fine as diamond dust . . . like a snowdrift turned to gold.”  Empress of the Nile by Lynne Olson    

February 12, 2025  Books by Lynne Olson:  Madame Fourcade’s Secret War is about a woman—a young mother of two who just happened to be the leader of France’s largest Allied spy network during World War II.  Empress of the Nile follows in Madame Fourcade’s footsteps.  It’s about another strong-willed, trailblazing, history-making woman who fought back against the Germans—an Egyptologist named Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, who after the war was responsible for the greatest archaeological rescue in history.  My latest book, The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück, which will be published on June 3, 2025, is the third volume in this trilogy of books about remarkable, previously unsung heroines of the French Resistance.  Sisterhood focuses on a group of audacious French résistantes who were captured by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where they banded together to help each other survive and to sabotage the German war effort.  https://lynneolson.com/   

Just to add a little info on Unigov since I knew some of these folks . . .  The person who actually wrote much of the legislation that created Unigov (in cooperation with Servaas and Dick Lugar) was Charles LeRoy Whistler.  If you are curious, Google "whistler unigov" and you'll get plenty of info.  Thank you, Muse reader!   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2913  February 27, 2025 

 

 

Lessen dark circles under eyes:  Put something cold on the undereye area.  Visible blood vessels may contribute to dark circles under your eyes.  Try holding a cold, wet cloth against the area to help shrink the blood vessels.  Or use a cold teaspoon or a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a soft cloth.  When you go to bed, raise your head with pillows.  This helps prevent puffiness caused by fluid pooling in your lower eyelids.  Sleep more.  Although short nights alone don't usually cause undereye circles, a lack of sleep may make shadows and circles you already have more obvious.  Avoiding drinking too much alcohol.  Alcohol overuse may contribute to dark circles under the eyes.  https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/dark-circles-under-eyes/in-depth/sym-20050624?p=1#:~:text=Try%20holding%20a%20cold%2C%20wet,to%20buy%20without%20a%20prescription.   

Museum director Otto Wittmann, Jr. (1911-2001) was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri.  After graduating with a degree in fine arts from Harvard University in 1933, he returned to his hometown as Curator of Prints at the Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art (today the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art).  Due to the incredible financial difficulties of the Great Depression, he could not afford to reenroll at Harvard for graduate studies.  However, in 1937 Paul J. Sachs, future member of the Roberts Commission, named Wittmann his assistant so he could enroll in his legendary Museum Studies course without cost.  In the following years he worked as an instructor of art history at Skidmore College and curator of the Hyde Collection, the prominent private collection of Renaissance and eighteenth-century works of art in Glen Falls, New York.  He worked closely with Mrs. Hyde to transform the collection into a respected museum.  Wittmann was drafted into the U.S. Army in early 1941 and served as an interviewer of incoming draftees.  After several months, he returned to the United States on reserve status and accepted the position of Assistant Director of the Portland Art Museum.  Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Wittmann was called back to service with the Air Transport Command, the first worldwide airline built specifically to move troops and supplies by plane.  Wittmann later became Officer in Charge of the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).  He traveled to Europe on many occasions, conducting investigations on Nazi looting activities, most notably the dealings of the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR).  He assisted Monuments Officer Lt. Bernard Taper with the interrogation of the Nazi art dealer Hans Wendland, who was involved in the transfer of ERR-looted works of art to the infamous Fischer Gallery in Switzerland.  For his work with the ALIU, he was named an Officer of the French Legion of Honor, Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (the Netherlands), and Commander of the Order of Merit (Italy).  Upon his return home to the United States in 1946, Wittmann began a thirty-year career at the Toledo Museum of Art which included his appointment to Director in 1959.  Under his leadership, the museum established internationally-ranked education programs, tripled its collection, and doubled its exhibition space.  His keen eye and innate understanding of the art market guided acquisitions of some of the best American, Dutch, and seventeenth-century Italian and French paintings available.  He organized numerous successful exhibitions, including France:  The Splendid Century (1961) and The Age of Rembrandt (1966).  In honor of his retirement in 1976, the museum presented Treasures for Toledo, a retrospective of his most notable acquisitions.  Wittmann’s success at the Toledo Museum of Art attracted the attention of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California.  In 1976, following the death of its founder, billionaire oil baron J. Paul Getty, the museum became the sole beneficiary of a $700 million estate (today, almost $3 billion).  The museum’s board of trustees, which consisted of businessmen with little knowledge of art, enlisted the help of Wittmann, who guided the museum through its most transformative period.  From 1978 to 1989 he served as chair of the museum’s acquisition committee, vastly expanding its collection by acquiring Greek and Roman antiquities, French decorative arts, and Old Masters outside the spending limit of typical museums.  His election to trustee in 1979 and appointment to acting chief curator in 1980 effectively placed the museum within his sole control.  In 1980 he established the J. Paul Getty Museum Trust, which endures today as one of the world’s leading providers of international grants for the humanities.  In 1987 he was awarded the American Association of Museums’ Award for Distinguished Service to Museums.  In addition to his work with the J. Paul Getty Museum, Wittmann served as a trustee of both the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.  He was a founding member of the National Council on the Arts and an advisor to both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He was a two-time President of the American Association of Art Museum Directors, Director of the College Art Association, and a member of the American Association of Museums.  https://www.monumentsmenandwomenfnd.org/monuments-men-and-women/otto-wittmann?srsltid=AfmBOopXZsr_-F2ckWHcbniqMsYUeJGAGxMWuZa1DGzJJcNiGsoaOUvP   

Born in 1919 in Indianapolis, Beurt SerVaas grew up during the Great Depression.  After losing work as a salesman, his father was jobless for two years.  During this time, his mother worked as a full-time teacher for half-time pay.  Young SerVaas pitched in and carried two paper routes, did housework, and helped care for his younger brother and sister.  During his teens, SerVaas edited the high school newspaper, became an Eagle Scout, and earned his amateur radio license.  At the same time, he pursued both academic and commercial courses in school and helped the family finances by selling oil to garages and truckers.  His grades and activities in high school earned him a scholarship to Indiana University's Extension Division, where he worked as a janitor to earn his board.  Next, he enrolled at the University of Mexico, living with a Mexican family and earning his keep by teaching the children English.  Then he returned to finish at Indiana with degrees in chemistry, history, and Spanish, along with a teaching certificate.  SerVaas began his career building low-cost housing, but his plans were cut short by World War II, which he spent as a naval officer in China for the Secret Intelligence Division of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).  After the war, SerVaas took $5,000 in savings and returned to Indianapolis to begin again.  Eventually, he purchased and successfully reorganized more than 20 small- and medium-sized diversified companies.  In 1970, he acquired and became chairman of Curtis Publishing Company, which published more than a dozen magazines, including the Saturday Evening Post.  His business empire, SerVaas, Inc., eventually included 21 companies that specialize in everything from European foreign trade to pharmaceutical licensing and manufacturing.  As a member and president of the Indianapolis City Council for 37 years, SerVaas was an unabashed booster of the Hoosier capital.  He often said Indianapolis was "a dirty old city" that had never really recovered from World War I, let alone World War II.  Under his tenure, the city and surrounding Marion County were consolidated under the model of Uni-Gov to make a more efficient government, with Indianapolis quickly ranking 14th in size in the nation.  With an avid interest in health and medicine, SerVaas entered Indiana University Medical School as a part-time student when he was in his 40s, earning a doctorate in medical science.  He became involved in medical research as well as the development of new drugs and instrumentation aimed at the 21st century practice.  Through a foundation, SerVaas and his wife, Corey, continued to publish Saturday Evening Post and several children's magazines such as Jack & Jill, Humpty Dumpty, Weekly Reader Magazine, Children's Digest, Child's Life, and Turtle.  https://horatioalger.org/members/detail/beurt-r-servaas/    

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2912  February 26, 2025 

My mom’s vision . . . was that there would be glass so she could see, every day, the change of colors, the trees, and the ships travel up and down the Hudson River,” says Michael Wolf in the short documentary Origins about the home his parents, Benjamin and Ruth Wolf, commissioned.  Built in 1949 by the preeminent American architect Philip Johnson, Wolfhouse is a classic Mid-Century Modern home tucked into a hillside in Newburgh overlooking the river.  Inspired by German Modernist pioneer Mies Van der Rohe, Johnson’s signature architectural style favored open-plan designs allowing for easy circulation within the home and a seamless integration with the outdoors through the use of plate glass walls.  Among Johnson’s best-known works are the Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 Madison Avenue in New York; and the Museum of Modern Art’s sculpture garden.  In 2017, Jeremy Parker purchased a brick Federal-style home in the city of Newburgh, which he says has a “vast housing stock of really incredible homes.”  Two years after buying the house, Parker joined forces with his friend Jiminie Ha, senior director of graphic design at the Guggenheim Museum, to buy investment property in Newburgh.  Wolfhouse caught their eye.  As part of their offer, the partners wrote a compelling letter to the seller, who accepted their proposal.  “I knew other buyers were more interested in tearing down the house and using the land to rebuild,” Parker says.  “Fortunately, the seller intended to sell to somebody interested in preserving it.”  Once the papers were signed—a week before the pandemic shut the city down—it was time to start the rehab.  “The trees were dying, and wild grapevines were growing all over the trees and the yard, which was essentially brown,” describes Ha.  Previous owners took liberties outside by painting the entire home baby blue, adding wood paneling around the house so you could not see any of the first-floor brickwork that was originally there.”  Parker located the original floor plans at the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University in New York City.  “All of the specifications on how to rehab the home were provided—the type of wood, measurements, how many wood panels, etc.,” says Ha.   In addition to outdoor modifications, the first floor had old carpet, and the second-floor bathrooms had cheap tubs covering the originals.  “Luckily, there were enough remnants of fixtures and hints of what was supposed to be underneath that we were able to salvage it and follow the floor plans,” says Ha.  See pictures at https://upstatehouse.com/the-restoration-of-wolfhouse/   

How to Cook Snow Peas

Prep Time  5 minutes   Cook Time  5 minutes    Total Time  10 minutes    Servings  4   8 ounces snow peas   Find ingredients and instructions at https://www.stetted.com/how-to-cook-snow-peas/#how-to-cook-snow-peas    

Bar Keepers Friend is an American brand of mass-produced cleaning agents.  The original canned scouring powder product has been manufactured and sold since 1882.   It was invented by a chemist in Indianapolis, Indiana, where it continues to be manufactured by SerVaas Laboratories.  The canned product's primary active ingredient is oxalic acid.  Bar Keepers Friend has various cleaning uses.   It was invented by chemist George William Hoffman in Indianapolis, Indiana. The product was originally sold to bars in Indianapolis and Hoffman asserted in a patent application that the name had been used since January, 1887.  The formula contains oxalic acid as a primary ingredient.  The Bar Keepers Friend logo represents the swinging doors of a saloon.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Keepers_Friend    

The Monuments Men is a 2014 war film directed by George Clooney, and written and produced by Clooney and Grant Heslov.  The film stars an ensemble cast including Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett.  The film is based on the 2007 non-fiction book The Monuments Men:   Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter.  It follows an Allied group from the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program that is given the task of finding and saving pieces of art and other culturally important items before Nazis destroy or steal them during World War II.  The Monuments Men was co-produced by Columbia Pictures (in association with 20th Century Fox) and Babelsberg Studio.  It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $156.4 million worldwide against a $70 million budget.  In 1943, the Allies are making good progress driving back the Axis powers in Italy. Frank Stokes convinces President Roosevelt that victory will have little meaning if the artistic treasures of Western civilization are lost.  Stokes is directed to assemble an Army unit nicknamed the "Monuments Men", comprising museum directors, curators, art historians, and an architect, to both guide Allied units and search for stolen art to return it to its rightful owners. that Stahl is taking her gallery's contents to Germany as the Allies approach Paris.  Richard Campbell and Preston Savitz learn that Van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece was removed by the priests of Ghent Cathedral for safekeeping, but their truck was stopped and the panels taken.  Eventually, they find and arrest Viktor Stahl, who is hiding as a farmer, when they identify the paintings in his house as masterpieces, at least one stolen from the Rothschild Collection.  Even as the team learns that the artwork is being stored in various mines and castles, it also learns that it must now compete against the Soviet Union, which is seizing artwork from its occupation zone of Germany as war reparations.  Meanwhile, Colonel Wegner is systematically destroying whole art caches.  Eventually, the team has some success, as it discovers at least one mine hiding over 16,000 art pieces.  In addition, the team captures the entire gold reserves of the Nazi German national treasury.  See plot at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monuments_Men   

Namaste, sometimes called namaskār and namaskāram, is a customary Hindu manner of respectfully greeting and honouring a person or group, used at any time of day.  It is used worldwide among the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions.  Namaste is usually spoken with a slight bow and hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointing upwards, thumbs close to the chest. The gesture of folding hands during a namaste is called the Añjali Mudrā.  In addition to namaste, this mudra is one of the postures found in Indian classical dance such as Bharatanatyam, and in yoga practice.  The gesture is widely used throughout the Indian subcontinent, parts of Asia and beyond where people of South and Southeast Asian origins have migrated.  Namaste is used as a respectful form of greeting, acknowledging and welcoming a relative, guest or stranger.  In some contexts, namaste is used by one person to express gratitude for assistance offered or given, and to thank the other person for his or her generous kindness.  Since namaste is a non-contact form of greeting, some world leaders adopted the gesture as an alternative to hand shaking during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic as a means to prevent the spread of the virus.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namaste  Pronunciation:  naa·muh·stay   

A stray Lamb stood drinking early one morning on the bank of a woodland stream. That very same morning a hungry Wolf came by farther up the stream, hunting for something to eat.  He soon got his eyes on the Lamb.  As a rule Mr. Wolf snapped up such delicious morsels without making any bones about it, but this Lamb looked so very helpless and innocent that the Wolf felt he ought to have some kind of an excuse for taking its life.  “How dare you paddle around in my stream and stir up all the mud!” he shouted fiercely.  “You deserve to be punished severely for your rashness!”  “But, your highness,” replied the trembling Lamb, “do not be angry!  I cannot possibly muddy the water you are drinking up there.  Remember, you are upstream and I am downstream.”  https://fablesofaesop.com/the-wolf-and-the-lamb.html  “The tyrant will always find an excuse for his tyranny, and it is useless for the innocent to try by reasoning to get justice.”   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2911  February 25, 2025 

Quotes by novelist Nelson DeMille 

Everyone looked pensive, which is good cover-up for clueless.    Somehow our devils are never quite what we expect when we meet them face to face.   

In America, "chai" has become known as a flavor of tea with predominantly cinnamon or cardamom notes.  But in India, chai is not a flavor of tea; it is tea—chai literally translates to "tea" in Hindi, so when you are saying "chai tea," you are basically saying, "tea tea."  Chai culture in India developed out of British colonization.  During this time, the British East India Company was thriving, with tea from Assam, India being one of its biggest commodities.  Tea consumption in India grew, and eventually, Indians took the British preparation of tea—black with milk and sugar—and put their own spin on it, with the addition of spices such as ginger, cinnamon and cloves.  Nowadays, India is not only one of the largest producers of tea in the world, but also one of the biggest consumers of it.  In most big cities, you'll find chaiwallas (vendors who specifically sell chai) on every corner, with their enormous steel pots or kettles full of simmering chai.  Chai almost always includes milk, and that milk is usually whole.  Chai can include a number of different spices.  Cardamom is the most common ingredient, followed by some mixture of cinnamon, ginger, star anise and cloves.  Pepper, coriander, nutmeg and fennel are also used, but they are slightly less common. https://www.foodandwine.com/tea/chai-tea/what-is-chai-how-to-make-chai   

On a recent trip to San Diego, I stumbled across a little garden tucked into a public state beach—a thoughtful space full of native plants, each labeled with its name, the child who planted it, their grade in school, and which wildlife species it supported.  Curious, I stopped to chat with the woman pulling weeds nearby.  That’s when I met Cassie, the force behind this humble yet powerful project.  Cassie lives near the garden in Palisades Park and is pursuing an MA in Wildlife Conservation Biology.  She’d been noticing how cultivated, non-native plants were taking over her community—draining precious water and offering nothing to the wildlife around them.  But her neighbors were skeptical about native plants.  They worried a native garden would look messy or uncared for.  Instead of arguing or trying to convince them with words, Cassie decided to show them. 

·         She called and emailed city and park officials, a lot.

·         She canvassed her neighborhood.

·         She recruited volunteers and teachers to get on board.

·         And then she dug in—literally—moving two tons of earth and weeds to bring the garden to life.   

What’s especially remarkable is that she did all of this on public land—a space tangled in red tape and approvals.  And that garden has done something the internet or a local Facebook group rarely manage:  it’s fostered conversation, not shouting.   

·         Kids now know the plants and wildlife they’ve nurtured.

·         Neighbors see firsthand that native plants can be beautiful, not messy.

·        And without a single “comment thread,” trust and connection have grown where skepticism once lived.    

In a time when the internet bombards us with endless information—some helpful, much not—and social media sows distrust between neighbors, this garden is proof of the power of quiet action.  It’s not a debate.  It’s not a post.  It’s just there—living, growing, and inspiring.  Cassie didn’t just restore a patch of land; she restored a sense of community.  What could you show your neighbors in your corner of the world?  Thank you Muse reader!   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2910  February 21, 2025

Samuel Jones Tilden (February 9, 1814–August 4, 1886) was an American politician who served as the 25th governor of New York and was the Democratic nominee in the disputed 1876 United States presidential election.  Tilden was born in 1814 into a wealthy family in New Lebanon, New York.  Attracted to politics at a young age, he became a protégé of Martin Van Buren. After studying at Yale University and New York University School of Law, Tilden began a legal career in New York City, becoming a noted corporate lawyer.  He served in the New York State Assembly and helped launch Van Buren's candidacy in the 1848 United States presidential election.  A War Democrat who opposed slavery, Tilden opposed Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election, but later supported him and the Union during the Civil War.  Afterward, he became the chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee and managed Horatio Seymour's campaign in the 1868 presidential election.  Tilden initially cooperated with the state party's Tammany Hall faction, but he broke with them in 1871 due to boss William M. Tweed's rampant corruption.  Tilden won election as governor of New York in 1874, and in that office, he helped break up the Canal Ring.  His battle against public corruption, along with his personal fortune and electoral success in New York, made him the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 1876.  Tilden was selected as the party's nominee on the second ballot.  In the general election, Tilden faced Republican nominee Rutherford B. Hayes.  Tilden focused his campaign on civil service reform, support for the gold standard, and opposition to high taxes, but many of his supporters were more concerned with ending Reconstruction in the Southern United States. 

Tilden won the popular vote by 250,000 votes.  However, 20 electoral votes were in dispute, leaving both Tilden and Hayes without a majority of the electoral vote. As Tilden had won 184 electoral votes, one vote shy of a majority, a Hayes victory required that he sweep all of the disputed electoral votes.  Against Tilden's wishes, Congress appointed the bipartisan Electoral Commission to settle the controversy.  Republicans had a one-seat advantage on the Commission, and decided in a series of party-line rulings that Hayes had won all of the disputed electoral votes.  In the Compromise of 1877, Democratic leaders agreed to accept Hayes as the victor in return for the end of Reconstruction.  Tilden is the only presidential candidate to win an absolute majority of the popular vote while losing the election.  Tilden retired in the early 1880s, living as a near-recluse at his 110-acre (0.45 km²) estate, Greystone (now part of Untermyer Park and Gardens) in Yonkers, New York.  He died a bachelor at Greystone on August 4, 1886, at the age of 72.  He is buried at Cemetery of the Evergreens in New Lebanon, Columbia County, New York.  In reference to the 1876 election, Tilden's gravestone bears the words, "I Still Trust The People".  Of his fortune, estimated at $7 million (equivalent to $237.38 million in 2023), $4 million (equivalent to $135.64 million in 2023) was bequeathed for the establishment and maintenance of a free public library and reading-room in the City of New York; but, as the will was successfully contested by relatives, only about $3 million (equivalent to $101.73 million in 2023) was applied to its original purpose.  In 1895, the Tilden Trust was combined with the Astor and Lenox libraries to found the New York Public Library, and the building bears his name on its front. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_J._Tilden    

Quotes attributed to Samuel Jones Tilden: 

“I shall receive from posterity the credit of having been elected to the highest position in the gift of the people without any of the cares and responsibilities of the office.”

“Everybody knows that, after the recent election, the men who were elected by the people were counted out; and the men who were not elected were counted in and seated.”

“It has been our faith and our pride that we have established a mode of peaceful change to be worked out by the agency of the ballot box.  The question now is whether our elective system, in its substance as well as its form, is to be maintained.”

 “Be of good cheer.  The Republic will live.  The institutions of our fathers are not to expire in shame.  The sovereignty of the people shall be rescued from this peril and reestablished.”  https://billofrightsinstitute.org/activities/handout-d-tildens-response-to-the-election    

The William T. Tilden Middle School is an historic, American middle school that is located in the Paschall neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  It is part of the School District of Philadelphia.  The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.  Designed by Irwin T. Catharine and built between 1926 and 1927, this historic structure is a three-story, eleven-bay, brick and limestone building that was created in the Late Gothic Revival style.  t features projecting end bays with one-story entrances, brick piers, and a crenellated parapet.  The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_T._Tilden_Middle_School  The Muser attended high school next door:  John Bartram High School is a public secondary school serving neighborhoods of the Southwest Philadelphia area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the School District of Philadelphia.  Bartram (According to a history of the school published on its 50th anniversary, the school was originally planned to be built at 74th Street and Dicks Avenue, but the site was changed before construction started.)  It was one of the first Philadelphia high schools named for a prominent individual rather than a geographic region of the city.  Bartram served grades 10 through 12 when the Muser attended.    

Boston Terrier, breed of dog developed in the latter half of the 19th century in Boston.  Bred from the English Bulldog and a white English terrier, the Boston Terrier is one of the few breeds to have originated in the United States.  It has a terrier-like build, dark eyes, a short muzzle, and a short fine coat of black or brindle, with white on the face, chest, neck, and legs.  At maturity, it stands 15 to 17 inches (38 to 43 cm) tall at the withers and weighs 12 to 25 pounds (5 to 11 kg).  The breed is characteristically gentle and affectionate.  https://www.britannica.com/animal/Boston-terrier  Thank you, Muse reader!    

This bok choy recipe is a basic stir-fry that can be served as-is, or you can add meat or tofu to make it more substantial.  Serve with fluffy white rice or over noodles in soup.  The amount of raw bok choy may look too much, but it will cook down.  Prep Time:  10 mins  Cook Time:  10 mins  Total Time:  20 mins  Servings:  4   Find instructions at https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/218619/easy-bok-choy/    

Marion Nestle (born 1936) is an American molecular biologist, nutritionist, and public health advocate.  She is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health Emerita at New York University.  Her research examines scientific and socioeconomic influences on food choice, obesity, and food safety, emphasizing the role of food marketing.  Through her work at NYU and her award-winning books, Nestle has had a national influence on food policy, nutrition, and food education.   Nestle became a Fellow of the American Society for Nutritional Sciences in 2005.  In 2019 she received the Food Policy Changemaker Award, as a "leader who is working to transform the food system".  In 2022, the University of California Press published Slow Cooked:  An Unexpected Life in Food Politics, a memoir.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Nestle  Thank you, Muse reader!    

Delaware Park (also known as DelPark) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing track, casino, and golf course in Stanton, Delaware.  It is located just outside the city of Wilmington, and about 30 miles from Philadelphia.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_Park_Racetrack   Thank you, Muse reader!    

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2909 February 19, 2025