View allAll Photos Tagged Existence
In the final days of existence, a tired looking X42 is seen in 'death row' of the Melbourne Freight Terminal.
This locomotive was part of the second order of the 'X' classes, built by Clyde Engineering and introduced in 1966 with the Victorian Railways.
The X class locomotives were built to aid the busy Melbourne-Albury railway line, as the 'S' and 'T' classes couldn't endure.
After the demise of the Victorian Railways in 1983, X42 was repainted into the V/Line 'Orange and Grey' livery. The locomotive had spent time hauling both freight and passenger services until 1999, where it was handed over to Freight Victoria.
The locomotive had been repainted into the Yellow and Green colours it is seen in today, hauling freight services throughout Victoria.
After the downfall of Freight Australia in 2004, the locomotive along with a large amount of other rollingstock was passed to Pacific National, where the previous logo had been covered over on the side of the engine.
X42 was officially scrapped on the 9th of May 2019.
Dynon Road, Vic.
10/4/19
Ponderosa pine growing from a crack in a granite boulder. North Fork of South Platte River near Foxton, Colorado.
« L’existence »
Eau, source de vie
Lumière, boule d’énergie
Qui rayonne sur nous...
Comme une bulle éphémère...
La vie se forme, se transforme...
Puis disparaît en un instant...
A Flying Flamingo - @ Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary - Andhra Pradesh, India.
IN FLICKR EXPLORE ON 10-02-2014.
www.flickr.com/photos/59670248@N05/12438630265/in/explore...
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Pulicat lake bird sanctuary is a saline backwater lake lying along the T.N.-A.P coast; part extending to Chengalpattu district of T.N. It has an area of 481 sq.KM and it is the 2nd largest brackish water lagoon in India after Chilka lake in Orissa. The area on the TN side is 153.67 sq.km.
The Pulicat sanctuary is drained by Arni river while the Buckingham canal brings in the city’s drainage water. At the southern end is an opening on to Bay of Bengal through a shallow mouth of 200 m in width. The rest of the lake is closed by a sand bar running parallel to the Bay of Bengal in the form of the Sriharikota island.
The sanctuary has an area of 321 Sq. KM with 108 sq.KM of National Park area.
It lies within 11o 30’ N to 11o 42’ N and 76o 30’ E to 76o 45’ E.
Rainfall ranges from 800 - 2000mm. Temperature varies from 14o C to 33o C.
Altitude ranges from 100’ MSL to 1200’ MSL.
The wetlands eco system are considered as among the richest areas of bio diversity. Pulicat, by virtue of the mixing of fresh water with sea water is found to be an ideal habitat for diverse life-forms. 160 species of fish, 25 species of polychaete worms, 12 species of prawn, 19 species of mollusk and 100 speceis of birds are well documented apart from a number of other aquatic flora and fauna.
Among the most spectacular is the flamingo-a tall gaunt, white-coloured bird with a touch of pink on the wings, pink beak and legs, seen feeding in shallow water. The squat, large-billed grey pelican with gular pouch and a number of ducks are commonly seen. Flocks of sea gulls and terns circling in the sky or bobbing up and down on the water are an added attraction at pulicat. Besides, there are a number of waterside birds and waders such as curlews, stilts, plovers, sand pipers, lapwings, redshank. Egrets, herons, kites etc. are some other birds found here. The lake is also home to crabs, clams, mussels, oysters, snails, fish worms, insects, spiders, sponges, anemone, prawns, plankton and so on including rare endemic species like gilled leech, an unidentified bloodred fish, etc., Rapid siltation has caused loss of bio diversity. It is seen that mangrove opllen is found on Sriharikota Island indicating their existence some years back. Loss of mangroves may be one of the resons hastening siltation, reducing biodiversity and hence depriving fisherfolk of their livelihood.
Source : www.forests.tn.nic.in/wildbiodiversity/bs_plbs.html
Revisited.
Portrait of Heléna.
"and all the children are insane...
All the children are insane,
waiting for the summer rain, yeah...!"
A former Montreal transit bus enjoys a second life on the streets of Havana in this grainy print from February 1996. It is a GM New Look bus,universally nicknamed "Fishbowls". The type was introduced in 1959, coincidentally the same year that Fidel Castro took power, but the US trade embargo ensured that no Fishbowls were delivered new to Cuba. GM Fishbowls, with their raucous two-stroke Detroit Diesel engines, were ubiquitous throughout North America, with over 44,000 produced during the model's long lifespan. US production ceased in 1977, but Canadian output continued until 1986. Among the last in service with their original operators were the trolleybus Fishbowls that operated in Edmonton until 2009.
Someone once said those people without dogs think that it is our chore to take our dog for a walk, but the truth is that our dog is inviting us for an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of existence. For example, on today's walk, these buds remind us of life's ability to renew itself, on many levels.
Please Press L
p.s. November 9 is the last day to sign up for participation for Round 28 of the GET PUSHED group . Please click here to enter if you'd like a challenge.
Je fête 1/2 siècle d’existence aujourd’hui dont plus de la moitié comme passionné d’orchidées, de botanique, de musique et de voyages ! Espérons pouvoir encore bien rire, explorer les forêts et la nature, apprécier les parfums floraux, profiter des bons sons, de la bonne bouffe ensemble pendant un autre 1/4 de siècle les ami(e)s.
Festejo 1/2 siglo de existencia hoy, de cual mas de la mitad como apasionado por las orquídeas, la botánica, la música y los viajes ! Esperemos poder seguir riendo, explorar los bosques y la naturaleza, apreciar las fragancias florales, disfrutar de buenos sonidos y de buenas comidas juntos durante otro 1/4 de siglo amigo@s.
The world class boanical collections in Waimea Valley owe there existence to Mir. Keith Woolliams, a dedicated botanical horticulturist who was trained at the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, on the outskirts of London.
Keith led a rich life traveling around the globe studying botanical collections in England, Japan, Papua New Guinea and Bermuda. He brought to Hawaii his expertise and knowledge of uncommon horticultural treasures, and he acquired seeds, plants, and cuttings from remote places and botanical gardens all over the world. In pre-internet days dozens of letters and packages were dispatched and received daily.
His theme of "Conservation Through Cultivation" resulted in a balance of rare and useful native and Polynesian-introduced plants among exotic horticultural specimens.
What was once an ungroomed valley, filled with koa haole and ravaged by feral cattle was transformed into what you see today by Keith and the many dedicated people he inspired. They oversaw the design, landscaping and construction of the pathways, stone walls and stairs that frame the gardens. Keith's high standards for record keeping and signage persist to this day. He left us in 1998 with a library full of his propagation knowledge, cultivation practices and plant lore which survives to ensure that the precious life forms brought to this valley will thrive here long into the future.
Keith was an inspiring advocate for Hawatian plant conservation and he influenced many young people across the state. He connected Waimea with state, federal and international agencies such as the Center for Plant Conservation, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and the Botanical Gardens Conservation International - partnerships that Waimea Valley continues to uphold today.
Keith was instrumental in bringing in critically endangered plants from Japan's Ogasawara Islands, hibiscus relatives from all over the world, and with international colleagues he tried to assemble wild-source collections of every species of Erythrina in the world. In the periodical, "Notes from Waimea Arboretum and Botanical Garden" published twice a year until 1992 he stated "Waimea is a labeled and documented collection of plants for educational and scientific purposes, a living gene pool for future generations".
It is with great honor and gratitude that we remember Mr. Keith Woolliams and his dedication to Waimea Valley.
Family Existence in a City Subdivision with an Atmosphere of Conservative Rural Filipino Way of Life
Lamas undergo monastic practice in Himalayan region from an early age. Children as old as 8-9 years start their chosen path in monasteries studying, practicing and learning the art of living in modest surroundings and understanding the Zen of Existence on this Earth.
Meditation, chanting and repetitive work with the hands to keep a tab with the motion for exact syllabic prayer rituals make them blissful and at peace with themselves first and then the world at large.
Buddhism which was the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent for centuries was driven away by a resurgent and violent bout of Hinduism which burnt down every sacrament and monastic possession of Buddhism from the mainland. Perforce the religion moved over to the foothills and then the interiors of Himalayas a safe distance away from the marauding and blood thirsty forces of Brahmanical revenge meted out in connivance with kings and rulers coming in from Central Asia and getting sanctified in the process as Rajputs of India.
Such was the level of destruction that not even a shred or vestige of Buddhism remained in India. Monasteries carved out of stone and monuments made of impregnable and unburnable rocks survived to tell their tale centuries later when British explorers set about re tracing the steps of Fa Hien and Huan Tsang, two Chinese travelers who visited India on foot in the 5th and 7th century AD respectively.
Today Sikkim, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh have Buddhism as their predominant religious affiliation and it is here that you can find Peace if you ever wanted to search for it.
At Spituk, high up over the Leh valley an old monk of indecipherable age sat making cotton wicks for the votive brass oil lamps that fill up a room in the monastery. The strong, harsh November sun vainly warming the brass and the bones and the peaceful relics of the religion in the secluded Himalayan kingdoms.
_DSC6608 jpeg bnw
Yesterday (June 30, 2021), was truly the end of an era in northern New Jersey. For the entirety of my life, The Fireplace was a constant fixture. It was a restaurant in Paramus, NJ. It was the local burger joint, but they didn't just do burgers. Not fast food, but not diner food. The decor was very outdated and kitschy, but that was part of the allure. It never changed. Very little about this place had changed since the 1950s. The restaurant had been in existence for 65 years. And, I guess, like most things, everyone just assumed it would always be there....just like it always had.
Until, it wasn't. A few months ago, there were rumors on FB that they were going to go out of business. Another business victim of COVID. But the owners put everyone's fears to rest. And then, late at night on July 29th, they put up a new message saying that their last day would be "tomorrow". Open until 4pm. I was fortunate enough to be off for the summer, so I decided I wanted one last Fireplace meal. And I wanted pictures. I was not alone. I got there and found a HUGE line. The whole community had come out. It was a three hour long line. (And the announcement changed from "closing at 4pm" to "closing at 4pm or when food runs out".) And I endured it.
In the heat. I had had no sleep (because that's just how things go for me), I had eaten nothing all day, and by the time I was almost at the counter, I had low blood sugar, was dehydrated and on the brink of heat exhaustion and fainting. I had sun burn and was pretty miserable. But I held in there. And I'm so glad I did.
It was worth it.
I'm sure many people were and are wondering what the big deal was about. If you were a patron of The Fireplace or grew up with it as a fixture, you understand. But if you didn't, it probably seemed like a lot of ridiculous fanfare for nothing. It's very hard to put into words why it was important. But much the way music can be the backdrop to a person's life, the places we find ourselves, consistently, through all the chapters of our lives provide crucial elements of the stage of our lives. The "home" we all return to. We can look back on those places with memories from every aspect of our lives. Our childhoods, the college years, dates and break-ups, and places to collect our thoughts when life gets really hard. The Fireplace was that place. You really don't realize the importance of some of these places (and people) until they are gone. So THAT is what all the big to-do was about. Because EVERYONE (in my area) had this shared experience with this one place. I realized today that I could sit in that restaurant, look out the window, and look directly at pieces of my life that go way back to when I was just a little girl. It's funny, I never lived in Paramus. I never went to school in Paramus. I never had friends from Paramus. But because both my parents grew up in Paramus and have deep roots there, Paramus has been just as intrinsic and formative a part of my life as New Milford ever was. In fact, oddly, in many ways, it has provided more history for me than New Milford has. So, when I learned that The Fireplace was closing its' doors and I only had this one last chance to capture those memories on "film" and have one last meal there, I decided I really needed to do that. Furthermore, I knew that many people were not as fortunate as I was to have the day off. Or to be nearby enough to go. And I felt like I could give a lot of other people that experience through my pictures and by relating the experience. And I was right. There were many of you who really seemed appreciative that I was there and you could share the experience from my reports and pictures.
So, here's what's funny. I didn't sleep the night before. Maybe an hour, if I was lucky. And I needed to be up early. So, I was exhausted to begin with. I laid down to rest when I was able to, but I couldn't really SLEEP. All I could think about was, "If I fall asleep, I won't wake up in time to go to The Fireplace. I will have missed the whole thing. And I really want those pictures. I'd really like one last meal there." So, I decided to forgo the shut-eye and just go. I had NO IDEA it would be the community event that it was. And I would have fared better if I'd gone earlier. But it must have been meant to be because I pretty much got in at the end of the line of people who were actually served, and was pleasantly surprised to see that I wasn't left with the dregs. It wasn't the meal I had planned, but in some ways, it was better. I do wish I'd been better prepared (sunscreen, water, something to nibble on, and a sun umbrella), and it was by no means easy to put in a full day with no sleep, no food, sunburn and bordering on heat exhaustion, but I'm really glad I did it. It was truly a moment to commune. And in the age of Covid, not to mention our current political climate, that was a 'breath of fresh air" (that's a poor covid joke). And I really wasn't sure it was ok to be amongst all those people. I tend to not congregate with large numbers of people (although it's not a hard-and-fast rule, and I will be making another exception this coming week), this was not something I wanted to let Covid steal from me. And it was so nice for people to come together and just be kind to one another. To share a moment. It happens so infrequently anymore. At the end of it all, it was really a very surreal moment. Anyone who was left in the building was roaming around taking pictures and videos with their phones. Almost zombie-like. People didn't want to leave. Alas, change is a constant, and they say change is good. So, as sad as I am (and others are), I'm warmly happy to have the memories and warm fuzzies.
I will be adding more pictures to this album over time. They will all be public and I invite any and all people to share them. If you want the images, you can go to my FB page, where they are public, as well. From there, you can take them. Enjoy the memories.
Our world is so beautiful and peaceful from a distance. It is so sad that this beautiful earth is filled with hatred and anger for such a long time. People killing each other and stepping on each other daily, just to get ahead in life. In the end, does it all really matter? Our existence is only temporary and that one day, we will all have to leave. Why don't we all make a good impression while we are here, to love and help one another, so that we can make this earth as beautiful as it appears.
Please view in Lightbox.
Peace to all my flickr friends!
Note: The picture of the earth and saturn were not captured by me, ofcourse :) Everything else was captured by me.
Still so many things going wrong on Flickr, including 'freezing' almost every time I try to do anything.
The oldest wooden church in North America, apparently. It opened in 1750. A national historic site, this little chapel, built in 1747, is the oldest wooden church still in existence in North America. The first mass was celebrated here by the Jesuits in 1750.
"Tadoussac is quite rightly listed as one of the 50 most beautiful bays in the world.
Tadoussac is also the oldest village in Canada. In fact, the village celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2000.
But above all, Tadoussac is an internationally-renowned whale-watching site." From the link below.
www.authentikcanada.com/holidays/tourist-office-tadoussac
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadoussac
A few days ago, I started on photos taken during the week friends and I spent in Quebec, 12-18 May 2018. Some photos were taken in the small, coastal village of Tadoussac itself, others were taken in the wonderful garden of the home in which we stayed all week, and the rest were taken on several drives we made further along the coast.
At the end of our 4-day stay at Point Pelee, we had to drive all the way back to Toronto, from where we flew to Quebec City airport. From there, we had a four-hour drive to Tadoussac on the coast of the St. Lawrence Seaway. This is such a delightful, small place and in a beautiful setting. One of our friends, Anne B, and her husband have a summer cabin further along the cliff from the few stores and port. She had invited the four of us to go with her from Pelee to spend a week at her beautiful home. What an absolute treat this was! We were able to meet some of her relatives, too, who also have built cabins out there. We were looked after so well, and we were able to see and photograph all sorts of birds and other things.
Several trips were made to see different places along the coast, including the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area, where we were able to see endless thousands of Snow Geese, in flight and also up close. Breathtaking!
We also had two boat trips from Tadoussac - one was a whaling trip in a Zodiac, where we saw very, very distant Beluga and Minke Whales. The Belugas looked almost like the white wave crests - but they were Belugas. The other boat trip was to the Brandy Pot Islands, inhabited by thousands of Razorbills and Common Murres, which were new birds for us, and Double-crested Cormorants that were nesting in tree tops. That long boat trip (in a tiny boat named Juno) started off in the rain and dark clouds and it was soooo cold! Thermal underwear, layers of fleece and toque and gloves were needed. This day was arranged through a contact of Anne's and it was so much enjoyed! Of course, we anchored a distance away from the island and sat there and ate our sandwiches and took endless photos - difficult when bobbing up and down on the rough water! It is forbidden to land on the island at nesting time.
Anne B, I can't thank you enough for organizing this holiday for us all and for inviting us to spend a week at your cabin. You worked so hard and it was so much appreciated by each and every one of us. Thank you for doing all the many hours of driving, too! Janet and Anne, thank you so much for compiling the lists of birds seen each day at various locations, and posted to ebird. These entries will be a huge help while I try and sort out where we were and when, and what species we saw. Miss your cookies and muffins, Janet, that you kindly made for us in Tadoussac, to go along with the wonderful meals that Anne planned and made for us : )
Link to my album (358 images) about Point Pelee and area, Ontario: www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/albums/72157667191771677
Solo-living in the ecological reserve was an amazing organically-structured existence. Operating the facilities at Race Rocks required both indefatigable discipline and patient flexibility. The wind, a controlling and capricious force so much more than the movement of air, could rage and dissipate in minutes. Clear skies that promised spectacular sunsets and brilliant starlight more often than not turned dark and damp each evening, and thick banks of clouds sitting at the entrance of the Juan de Fuca Strait could roll into the Salish Sea and submerge the island in grey. That said, spending 30 months at Race Rocks came with more than its fair share of sunsets; truly no two were the same!
I got this shot just as IB exams were finishing up for the students at Pearson College in May, 2009. Close to the summer solstice, the sun is further North in the sky than most of my sunset shots from Race Rocks and is setting over Church Point towards Sooke, BC. Here, the gulls (a seasonal mix of L. thayeri, L. occidentalis, and newly arrived L. glaucescens) are partaking in an evening ritual: flying into the West wind blowing from the Pacific Ocean down the length of the Strait. The topography of Great Race protects much of the island from these routinely 30+ knot winds but creates an updraft where I've seen eagles, hawks, vultures, and gulls soar effortlessly for hours on end. May was a perfect time for a shot like this because the nesting L. glaucescens do not yet defend their territories, there is finally less moisture in the air after the notorious wet winters, and the last of the bitter NE winds have made way for the more temperate West wind blows.
When shooting into the sun like this there are important things to consider. First, don't look at the sun through your viewfinder: the light intensity can damage your vision! Second, metering mode will have a significant impact on the resulting image. For consistency between images like this I generally use matrix metering on my D300 and play around in Aperture-priority mode. Wildlife photographers all develop "rules" for shutter speed when shooting birds in flight, but incorporating the sun into your images requires specific attention to the exposure. Any moisture, dirt or dust on the lens can ruin your image and (depending on the glass elements in your lens) lens flare can be very distracting.
“Who if I cried out, would hear me among the angel's hierarchies?
and even if one of them pressed me suddenly against his heart:
I would be consumed in that overwhelming existence.
For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror which we are still just able to endure.
and we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us.
Every angel is terrifying.”
(From "Duino Elegies" by Rainer Maria Rilke - Austro-German lyric poet, 1875-1926)
This was shot from the main room leading to the Tomb of the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great (1555–1605) which is in Sikandra, a suburb of Agra, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Whenever my brother Manish and I drive from Delhi to Benaras we often stop there or at the Taj Mahal for a break.
The fun is to try to take pictures of those places with a new angle.
That day the heat was almost unbearable, I went inside the mausoleum hoping to find some freshness, Manish sat at the door surounded by jali screens and I took this picture...
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In Gatchina, the former residence of the Russian emperors in the vicinity of St. Petersburg, on the shore of the "Black Lake", stands a small palace which bears the name "Priory Palace". Although it was originally intended to serve for only twenty years, it is already in its third century of existence. The Priory Palace is so exceptional that it surely ought to be in the "Guinness Book of Records". Everything about this building is unusual: its name, its architectural appearance, the materials and techniques of its construction, as well as the legends which are bound up with it.
Constructed for a prior of the Maltese Order, the palace never actually became a priory, although it was presented to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem by a decree of Paul I dated 23 August 1799. In the 19th century, the Priory was occupied first by the Court choristers, then by the master of the royal hunt; in Soviet times it became a place for outings, a "house of rest", a Pioneers' house, then a museum of local history. Then the palace was closed, being by now in a state of such disrepair that it seemed about to collapse into the Black Lake. At that time the palace bore a new name - people called it the "Crumbling Castle".
A romantic page of Russian history is bound up with the knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta. The year 1999 was the 900th anniversary of the founding of the order, which today numbers about 12,000 members, as well as the 200th year since the election of Tsar Paul I as the order's Grand Master.
It is in Jerusalem, the "city of cities", that the tomb of Our Lord is located. Thousands of Christian pilgrims made their way to the Holy Land to visit it. In the pilgrims' refuge attached to the church of St. John the Baptist, not far from Jerusalem, monks tended the pilgrims and received donations from them as a mark of their gratitude. The emblem of the order is a white eight-pointed cross, symbolising the eight virtues - faith, charity, truth, justice, innocence, humility, sincerity and patience. The monks were bound by their rules not only to provide help for the injured, but also to defend Christianity against the followers of Islam. Thus the order became an order of warrior-monks, who were known as "Knights of St. John" or "Knights Hospitallers". But the crusades undertaken by the order ended in failure and they were forced to flee to the island of Rhodes, which was their home for two centuries. In the year 1522 the forces of the Turkish sultan Suleiman the Magnificent attempted to capture Rhodes. After a six-month siege the Grand Master of the order, Philippe de l'Isle-Adam, surrendered the island. Full of admiration for the knights' courage, Suleiman allowed them to leave the island by ship.
A new place of refuge for the knights was found in 1530, when Charles V, king of Spain and Sicily, gave the island of Malta to the order in return for a symbolic annual payment of one hunting falcon. During the years of its residence in Malta the order of St. John developed into a very powerful and wealthy community; its knights combined a high degree of monasticism with a code of knightly honour. In the north-east of the island they built a fortress which, during the 400 years of its history, no-one has ever succeeded in taking by storm. The name of its builder - Grand Master Jean de La Vallette - has been immortalised in the name of Malta's capital, Valletta.
The French Revolution drove the knights from Malta and deprived the order of its wealth; its estates were confiscated for the benefit of the people. On 6 June 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte, on the way to Egypt, raided Malta. The order allowed the general's forces to enter the harbour, and the invulnerable fortress of Valletta fell without a shot being fired. By Napoleon's decree, all the silver from the churches built by the Hospitallers was melted down. The Grand Master von Gompesch was exiled, and the knights were compelled to leave the island within 72 hours.
Relations between the Russian state and the Maltese order were first established in 1698, when Peter I's ambassador Boris Petrovich Sheremetev was received with honour in Valletta by the head of the order Grand Master Raymond de Pereylos, and, though he was not a Catholic, became the first Russian knight of this Catholic order. During the reign of Catherine II an alliance was formed between Russia and Malta against Turkey. In the Turkish war several officers of the order fought on Russia's side. One of these was Count Yuliy Pompeevich Litta, who received a golden sword "for valour" and the third degree of the Order of St. George. And it was Litta who brought the insignia of the order to Russia for Paul I, with the request that he should take the order under his patronage. On the 29th November 1798 the solemn ceremony took place by which the Russian emperor assumed the title of Grand Master. From Malta certain holy relics were brought to Gatchina - a piece of Christ's cross, the icon of the Mother of God from Philerma, the right hand of John the Baptist.
Paul I was a great admirer of the order. From childhood he had read and re-read the Abbot Vertot's "History of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem". He was shaken by the fate of Malta and came to the aid of the order. An agreement was signed by which the Polish priorate became the Great Russian priorate. Two priorates were established - a Polish, Catholic priorate and a Russian, Orthodox priorate. The Maltese knights came to Russia, where they were granted lands and high office. The residence of the order was transferred to St. Petersburg. Paul judged that this powerful knightly order would be of assistance in the struggle against the revolutionary ideas which were then spreading in Europe. An institute of honorary commanders was established, admission to which was not dependent on proof of noble origin. The cross of the order was awarded for services to the state, either military or civil.
Paul gave to the knights of the Russian priorate the church of St. John the Baptist on St. Petersburg's Stone Island, and the Vorontsov Palace (now the Suvorov Military Academy). Next to the Vorontsov Palace the architect Giovanni Quarenghi built a Maltese chapel, and in Gatchina the architect N. A. Lvov created the Priory Palace for the French emigre Prince Conde, a former prior of the order. (A "prior" is one of the main officials of the order, and "priory" is the designation of a prior's residence.) Before succeeding to the throne, during his travels in Europe Paul had visited the country residence of Prince Conde at Chantilly. He recalled that in Paris Louis XVI had received him as a friend, but that in Chantilly Prince Conde had received him as a king. Mindful of the prince's hospitality, Paul wanted to construct a palace for him in his beloved Gatchina. But Conde never came to Gatchina, and the palace was used by the Maltese knights for meetings of the order under the presidency of their Grand Master, and as a "spare" palace.
Eggs of the rare Carolina Gopher Frog, Lithobates capito. This is one of many southeastern species associated with longleaf ecosystems that have experienced dramatic declines for decades, mostly attributed to fire suppression, conversion to industrial pine forests/agriculture, and other development. The species has been petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act and states where gopher frogs and other closely related species occur are working cooperatively to keep populations stable in the meanwhile.
Have spent the weekend in my archives, creating a traditional birthday book for my husband. Great trip down memory lane. Came across this from last fall when we vacationed in Maine. With all the snow on the ground, I needed a bit of a diversion! This doesn't do justice to the enormous "Mama" shell I found on the beach. Hopefully the hermit crab I disturbed found his way back inside, while the baby snail set out to see the world!
on a more serious note:
“I wiped away the weeds and foam,
I fetched my sea-born treasures home;
But the poor, unsightly, noisome things
Had left their beauty on the shore,
With the sun and the sand and the wild uproar."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson~
on a lighter note!
“I had left home (like all Jewish girls) in order to eat pork and take birth control pills.
When I first shared an intimate evening with my husband,
I was swept away by the passion (so dormant inside myself) of a long and tortured existence.
The physical cravings I had tried so hard to deny finally and ultimately sated ...
but enough about the pork.”
~ Roseanne ~
For the first two years of its existence, the Greater London Authority was based at Romney House, Marsham Street in Westminster.[2] Meetings of the London Assembly took place at Emmanuel Centre, also on Marsham Street.[3]
City Hall was constructed at a cost of £43 million [4] on a site formerly occupied by wharves serving the Pool of London. The building does not belong to the GLA but is leased under a 25-year rent.[5] Despite its name, City Hall is not in and does not serve a city (according to UK law), which often adds to the confusion of Greater London with the City of London, which has its headquarters at Guildhall. In June 2011, Mayor Boris Johnson announced that for the duration of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the building would be called London House.[6]
The predecessors of the Greater London Authority, the Greater London Council and the London County Council, had their headquarters at County Hall, upstream on the South Bank. Although County Hall's old council chamber is still intact, the building is unavailable for use by the GLA because of its conversion into, among other things, a luxury hotel, amusement arcade and aquarium.
This monument represents a white marble temple house, cut in two in the middle. Inside the thin gap, two red granite walls, arranged face to face, bear the names of the peoples who were victims of genocide in the 20th century. The space between the two parts is lit, symbolizing the energy of healing. The broken house rests on five sleepers representing the five continents: an allegory of our responsibility towards a humanity repeatedly struck by all sorts of misfortunes.
A strong commemorative gesture, Reparation constrains memory and chases the genocides of the 20th century and their victims from oblivion. The monument makes this public space a place in the heart of the city which, beyond pain, loss and resentment, offers forgiveness and peace, as its title says: the beginning of reparation. Furthermore, Larivée decided to develop the site as a set of small places for reflection. Paths, analogies of human existence in its movements and deportations, go up temporal spaces in a slow ascent, which leads us to the summit, where the white temple stands.
Parc Marcelin-Wilson, Montréal (Ahuntsic-Cartierville), Québec.
40x40inch/102x102cm Acrylic, Emulsion, Spraypaint and Paint Marker on Canvas.
This is a portrait of the missus.
Le premier témoignage écrit de l’existence d’Esch-sur-Sûre se retrouve dans le « Liber aureus Epternacensis ». Dans ce livre de l’abbaye d’Echternach, il est noté qu’un certain Nebelungus a fait don de ses propriétés avec serfs de « Hesc » à ladite abbaye. Cet acte remonte à l’an 3 du règne de Charlemagne, c.-à-d. entre le 9 octobre 773 et le 9 octobre 774.
Le 3 juin 927, un certain Meginaud a acquis, par échange avec l’abbaye de Stavelot, le site d’Esch-sur-Sûre. Il a érigé une tour d’habitation carrée de 8 x 8 mètres et les bâtiments d’exploitation agricole. À la fin du 11e siècle, les frères Henri 1er et Godefroi 1er ont participé à la préparation de la première croisade. De ce fait, ils n’ont pas su réaliser des travaux au château. Les deux derniers seigneurs de la lignée des comtes d’Esch ont considérablement agrandi leur territoire et leur château. En ces temps, la seigneurie d’Esch-sur-Sûre comptait 19 villages et hameaux et s’étendait jusqu’à Diekirch.
Les premières constructions du château ont donc été réalisées pendant la période romane, tandis que son développement a eu lieu à l’époque gothique.
Avec l’apparition de la poudre au 15e siècle, il a fallu adapter les constructions défensives. Ainsi, tout le village fut entouré d’un mur d’enceinte de 450 m de long et de 1,5 m de large avec deux tours défensives. La tour de guet ronde a également été fortifiée.
La décadence du château fort débuta vers le milieu du 16e siècle pour se terminer au 19e siècle. Après la prise de la forteresse de Luxembourg (1685), les troupes de Louis XIV s’employaient à démanteler les places fortes du pays.
À Esch-sur-Sûre, on n’a pas détruit le mur d’enceinte, parce que des maisons y étaient adossées et certaines le sont toujours (à voir en montant la ruelle à gauche de la mairie).
Vers le milieu du 19e siècle, le château passa entre les mains de bourgeois qui y habitaient. Lorsque Victor Hugo visita le bourg au bord de la Sûre en été 1871, le château abritait toujours plusieurs familles. La chapelle du château fut restaurée en 1906.
De nos jours, il ne reste que des ruines consolidées pour témoigner du fier passé de la seigneurie d’Esch-sur-Sûre.
The first written evidence of the existence of Esch-sur-Sûre can be found in the “Liber aureus Epternacensis”. In this book of the Abbey of Echternach, it is noted that a certain Nebelungus donated his properties with serfs of “Hesc” to the said abbey. This act dates back to the year 3 of the reign of Charlemagne, i.e. between October 9, 773 and October 9, 774. On June 3, 927, a certain Meginaud acquired, by exchange with the Abbey of Stavelot, the site of Esch-sur-Sûre. He built a square residential tower of 8 x 8 meters and the farm buildings. At the end of the 11th century, the brothers Henry I and Godfrey I participated in the preparation of the first crusade. As a result, they were unable to carry out work on the castle. The last two lords of the line of the Counts of Esch considerably expanded their territory and their castle. At that time, the lordship of Esch-sur-Sûre included 19 villages and hamlets and extended as far as Diekirch.
The first constructions of the castle were therefore carried out during the Romanesque period, while its development took place in the Gothic period.
With the advent of gunpowder in the 15th century, it was necessary to adapt the defensive constructions. Thus, the entire village was surrounded by a 450 m long and 1.5 m wide perimeter wall with two defensive towers. The round watchtower was also fortified.
The decline of the fortified castle began around the middle of the 16th century and ended in the 19th century. After the capture of the fortress of Luxembourg (1685), Louis XIV's troops set about dismantling the country's strongholds.
In Esch-sur-Sûre, the surrounding wall was not destroyed because houses were built against it and some still are (you can see it by going up the alley to the left of the town hall).
Towards the middle of the 19th century, the castle passed into the hands of bourgeois who lived there. When Victor Hugo visited the town on the banks of the Sûre in the summer of 1871, the castle was still home to several families. The castle chapel was restored in 1906.
Today, only consolidated ruins remain to bear witness to the proud past of the lordship of Esch-sur-Sûre.
Bodie is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States. It is about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe, and 12 mi (19 km) east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8,379 feet (2554 m). Bodie became a boom town in 1876 (146 years ago) after the discovery of a profitable line of gold; by 1879 it had a population of 7,000–10,000.
The town went into decline in the subsequent decades and came to be described as a ghost town by 1915 (107 years ago). The U.S. Department of the Interior recognizes the designated Bodie Historic District as a National Historic Landmark.
Also registered as a California Historical Landmark, the ghost town officially was established as Bodie State Historic Park in 1962. It receives about 200,000 visitors yearly. Bodie State Historic Park is partly supported by the Bodie Foundation.
Bodie began as a mining camp of little note following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W. S. Bodey. Bodey died in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville (near present-day Mono City), never getting to see the rise of the town that was named after him. According to area pioneer Judge J. G. McClinton, the district's name was changed from "Bodey," "Body," and a few other phonetic variations, to "Bodie," after a painter in the nearby boomtown of Aurora, lettered a sign "Bodie Stables".
Gold discovered at Bodie coincided with the discovery of silver at nearby Aurora (thought to be in California, later found to be Nevada), and the distant Comstock Lode beneath Virginia City, Nevada. But while these two towns boomed, interest in Bodie remained lackluster. By 1868 only two companies had built stamp mills at Bodie, and both had failed.
In 1876, the Standard Company discovered a profitable deposit of gold-bearing ore, which transformed Bodie from an isolated mining camp comprising a few prospectors and company employees to a Wild West boomtown. Rich discoveries in the adjacent Bodie Mine during 1878 attracted even more hopeful people. By 1879, Bodie had a population of approximately 7,000–10,000 people and around 2,000 buildings. One legend says that in 1880, Bodie was California's second or third largest city. but the U.S. Census of that year disproves this. Over the years 1860-1941 Bodie's mines produced gold and silver valued at an estimated US$34 million (in 1986 dollars, or $85 million in 2021).
Bodie boomed from late 1877 through mid– to late 1880. The first newspaper, The Standard Pioneer Journal of Mono County, published its first edition on October 10, 1877. Starting as a weekly, it soon expanded publication to three times a week. It was also during this time that a telegraph line was built which connected Bodie with Bridgeport and Genoa, Nevada. California and Nevada newspapers predicted Bodie would become the next Comstock Lode. Men from both states were lured to Bodie by the prospect of another bonanza.
Gold bullion from the town's nine stamp mills was shipped to Carson City, Nevada, by way of Aurora, Wellington and Gardnerville. Most shipments were accompanied by armed guards. After the bullion reached Carson City, it was delivered to the mint there, or sent by rail to the mint in San Francisco.
As a bustling gold mining center, Bodie had the amenities of larger towns, including a Wells Fargo Bank, four volunteer fire companies, a brass band, railroad, miners' and mechanics' union, several daily newspapers, and a jail. At its peak, 65 saloons lined Main Street, which was a mile long. Murders, shootouts, barroom brawls, and stagecoach holdups were regular occurrences.
As with other remote mining towns, Bodie had a popular, though clandestine, red light district on the north end of town. There is an unsubstantiated story of Rosa May, a prostitute who, in the style of Florence Nightingale, came to the aid of the town menfolk when a serious epidemic struck the town at the height of its boom. She is credited with giving life-saving care to many, but after she died, was buried outside the cemetery fence.
Bodie had a Chinatown, the main street of which ran at a right angle to Bodie's Main Street. At one point it had several hundred Chinese residents and a Taoist temple. Opium dens were plentiful in this area.
Bodie also had a cemetery on the outskirts of town and a nearby mortuary. It is the only building in the town built of red brick three courses thick, most likely for insulation to keep the air temperature steady during the cold winters and hot summers. The cemetery includes a Miners Union section, and a cenotaph erected to honor President James A. Garfield. The Bodie Boot Hill was located outside of the official city cemetery.
On Main Street stands the Miners Union Hall, which was the meeting place for labor unions. It also served as an entertainment center that hosted dances, concerts, plays, and school recitals. It now serves as a museum.
The first signs of decline appeared in 1880 and became obvious toward the end of the year. Promising mining booms in Butte, Montana; Tombstone, Arizona; and Utah lured men away from Bodie. The get-rich-quick, single miners who came to the town in the 1870s moved on to these other booms, and Bodie developed into a family-oriented community. In 1882 residents built the Methodist Church (which still stands) and the Roman Catholic Church (burned 1928). Despite the population decline, the mines were flourishing, and in 1881 Bodie's ore production was recorded at a high of $3.1 million. Also in 1881, a narrow-gauge railroad was built called the Bodie Railway & Lumber Company, bringing lumber, cordwood, and mine timbers to the mining district from Mono Mills south of Mono Lake.
During the early 1890s, Bodie enjoyed a short revival from technological advancements in the mines that continued to support the town. In 1890, the recently invented cyanide process promised to recover gold and silver from discarded mill tailings and from low-grade ore bodies that had been passed over. In 1892, the Standard Company built its own hydroelectric plant approximately 13 miles (20.9 km) away at Dynamo Pond. The plant developed a maximum of 130 horsepower (97 kW) and 3,530 volts alternating current (AC) to power the company's 20-stamp mill. This pioneering installation marked the country's first transmissions of electricity over a long distance.
In 1910, the population was recorded at 698 people, which were predominantly families who decided to stay in Bodie instead of moving on to other prosperous strikes.
The first signs of an official decline occurred in 1912 with the printing of the last Bodie newspaper, The Bodie Miner. In a 1913 book titled California Tourist Guide and Handbook: Authentic Description of Routes of Travel and Points of Interest in California, the authors, Wells and Aubrey Drury, described Bodie as a "mining town, which is the center of a large mineral region". They referred to two hotels and a railroad operating there. In 1913, the Standard Consolidated Mine closed.
Mining profits in 1914 were at a low of $6,821. James S. Cain bought everything from the town lots to the mining claims, and reopened the Standard mill to former employees, which resulted in an over $100,000 profit in 1915. However, this financial growth was not in time to stop the town's decline. In 1917, the Bodie Railway was abandoned and its iron tracks were scrapped.
The last mine closed in 1942, due to War Production Board order L-208, shutting down all non-essential gold mines in the United States during World War II. Mining never resumed after the war.
Bodie was first described as a "ghost town" in 1915. In a time when auto travel was on the rise, many travelers reached Bodie via automobiles. The San Francisco Chronicle published an article in 1919 to dispute the "ghost town" label.
By 1920, Bodie's population was recorded by the US Federal Census at a total of 120 people. Despite the decline and a severe fire in the business district in 1932, Bodie had permanent residents through nearly half of the 20th century. A post office operated at Bodie from 1877 to 1942
In the 1940s, the threat of vandalism faced the ghost town. The Cain family, who owned much of the land, hired caretakers to protect and to maintain the town's structures. Martin Gianettoni, one of the last three people living in Bodie in 1943, was a caretaker.
Bodie is now an authentic Wild West ghost town.
The town was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and in 1962 the state legislature authorized creation of Bodie State Historic Park. A total of 170 buildings remained. Bodie has been named as California's official state gold rush ghost town.
Visitors arrive mainly via SR 270, which runs from US 395 near Bridgeport to the west; the last three miles of it is a dirt road. There is also a road to SR 167 near Mono Lake in the south, but this road is extremely rough, with more than 10 miles of dirt track in a bad state of repair. Due to heavy snowfall, the roads to Bodie are usually closed in winter .
Today, Bodie is preserved in a state of arrested decay. Only a small part of the town survived, with about 110 structures still standing, including one of many once operational gold mills. Visitors can walk the deserted streets of a town that once was a bustling area of activity. Interiors remain as they were left and stocked with goods. Littered throughout the park, one can find small shards of china dishes, square nails and an occasional bottle, but removing these items is against the rules of the park.
The California State Parks' ranger station is located in one of the original homes on Green Street.
In 2009 and again in 2010, Bodie was scheduled to be closed. The California state legislature worked out a budget compromise that enabled the state's Parks Closure Commission to keep it open. As of 2022, the park is still operating, now administered by the Bodie Foundation.
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the most populated subnational entity in North America and the 34th most populous in the world. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions respectively, with the former having more than 18.7 million residents and the latter having over 9.6 million. Sacramento is the state's capital, while Los Angeles is the most populous city in the state and the second most populous city in the country. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the country. Los Angeles County is the country's most populous, while San Bernardino County is the largest county by area in the country. California borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; and has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the west.
The economy of the state of California is the largest in the United States, with a $3.4 trillion gross state product (GSP) as of 2022. It is the largest sub-national economy in the world. If California were a sovereign nation, it would rank as the world's fifth-largest economy as of 2022, behind Germany and ahead of India, as well as the 37th most populous. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and third-largest urban economies ($1.0 trillion and $0.5 trillion respectively as of 2020). The San Francisco Bay Area Combined Statistical Area had the nation's highest gross domestic product per capita ($106,757) among large primary statistical areas in 2018, and is home to five of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization and four of the world's ten richest people.
Prior to European colonization, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America and contained the highest Native American population density north of what is now Mexico. European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization of California by the Spanish Empire. In 1804, it was included in Alta California province within the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following its successful war for independence, but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. The California Gold Rush started in 1848 and led to dramatic social and demographic changes, including large-scale immigration into California, a worldwide economic boom, and the California genocide of indigenous people. The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850, following the Compromise of 1850.
Notable contributions to popular culture, for example in entertainment and sports, have their origins in California. The state also has made noteworthy contributions in the fields of communication, information, innovation, environmentalism, economics, and politics. It is the home of Hollywood, the oldest and one of the largest film industries in the world, which has had a profound influence upon global entertainment. It is considered the origin of the hippie counterculture, beach and car culture, and the personal computer, among other innovations. The San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Area are widely seen as the centers of the global technology and film industries, respectively. California's economy is very diverse: 58% of it is based on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific, and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5% of the state's economy, California's agriculture industry has the highest output of any U.S. state. California's ports and harbors handle about a third of all U.S. imports, most originating in Pacific Rim international trade.
The state's extremely diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast and metropolitan areas in the west to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east, and from the redwood and Douglas fir forests in the northwest to the Mojave Desert in the southeast. The Central Valley, a major agricultural area, dominates the state's center. California is well known for its warm Mediterranean climate and monsoon seasonal weather. The large size of the state results in climates that vary from moist temperate rainforest in the north to arid desert in the interior, as well as snowy alpine in the mountains.
Settled by successive waves of arrivals during at least the last 13,000 years, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America. Various estimates of the native population have ranged from 100,000 to 300,000. The indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct ethnic groups, inhabiting environments from mountains and deserts to islands and redwood forests. These groups were also diverse in their political organization, with bands, tribes, villages, and on the resource-rich coasts, large chiefdoms, such as the Chumash, Pomo and Salinan. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered social and economic relationships between many groups.
The first Europeans to explore the coast of California were the members of a Spanish maritime expedition led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542. Cabrillo was commissioned by Antonio de Mendoza, the Viceroy of New Spain, to lead an expedition up the Pacific coast in search of trade opportunities; they entered San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542, and reached at least as far north as San Miguel Island. Privateer and explorer Francis Drake explored and claimed an undefined portion of the California coast in 1579, landing north of the future city of San Francisco. Sebastián Vizcaíno explored and mapped the coast of California in 1602 for New Spain, putting ashore in Monterey. Despite the on-the-ground explorations of California in the 16th century, Rodríguez's idea of California as an island persisted. Such depictions appeared on many European maps well into the 18th century.
The Portolá expedition of 1769-70 was a pivotal event in the Spanish colonization of California, resulting in the establishment of numerous missions, presidios, and pueblos. The military and civil contingent of the expedition was led by Gaspar de Portolá, who traveled over land from Sonora into California, while the religious component was headed by Junípero Serra, who came by sea from Baja California. In 1769, Portolá and Serra established Mission San Diego de Alcalá and the Presidio of San Diego, the first religious and military settlements founded by the Spanish in California. By the end of the expedition in 1770, they would establish the Presidio of Monterey and Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo on Monterey Bay.
After the Portolà expedition, Spanish missionaries led by Father-President Serra set out to establish 21 Spanish missions of California along El Camino Real ("The Royal Road") and along the Californian coast, 16 sites of which having been chosen during the Portolá expedition. Numerous major cities in California grew out of missions, including San Francisco (Mission San Francisco de Asís), San Diego (Mission San Diego de Alcalá), Ventura (Mission San Buenaventura), or Santa Barbara (Mission Santa Barbara), among others.
Juan Bautista de Anza led a similarly important expedition throughout California in 1775–76, which would extend deeper into the interior and north of California. The Anza expedition selected numerous sites for missions, presidios, and pueblos, which subsequently would be established by settlers. Gabriel Moraga, a member of the expedition, would also christen many of California's prominent rivers with their names in 1775–1776, such as the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River. After the expedition, Gabriel's son, José Joaquín Moraga, would found the pueblo of San Jose in 1777, making it the first civilian-established city in California.
The Spanish founded Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776, the third to be established of the Californian missions.
During this same period, sailors from the Russian Empire explored along the northern coast of California. In 1812, the Russian-American Company established a trading post and small fortification at Fort Ross on the North Coast. Fort Ross was primarily used to supply Russia's Alaskan colonies with food supplies. The settlement did not meet much success, failing to attract settlers or establish long term trade viability, and was abandoned by 1841.
During the War of Mexican Independence, Alta California was largely unaffected and uninvolved in the revolution, though many Californios supported independence from Spain, which many believed had neglected California and limited its development. Spain's trade monopoly on California had limited the trade prospects of Californians. Following Mexican independence, Californian ports were freely able to trade with foreign merchants. Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá presided over the transition from Spanish colonial rule to independent.
In 1821, the Mexican War of Independence gave the Mexican Empire (which included California) independence from Spain. For the next 25 years, Alta California remained a remote, sparsely populated, northwestern administrative district of the newly independent country of Mexico, which shortly after independence became a republic. The missions, which controlled most of the best land in the state, were secularized by 1834 and became the property of the Mexican government. The governor granted many square leagues of land to others with political influence. These huge ranchos or cattle ranches emerged as the dominant institutions of Mexican California. The ranchos developed under ownership by Californios (Hispanics native of California) who traded cowhides and tallow with Boston merchants. Beef did not become a commodity until the 1849 California Gold Rush.
From the 1820s, trappers and settlers from the United States and Canada began to arrive in Northern California. These new arrivals used the Siskiyou Trail, California Trail, Oregon Trail and Old Spanish Trail to cross the rugged mountains and harsh deserts in and surrounding California. The early government of the newly independent Mexico was highly unstable, and in a reflection of this, from 1831 onwards, California also experienced a series of armed disputes, both internal and with the central Mexican government. During this tumultuous political period Juan Bautista Alvarado was able to secure the governorship during 1836–1842. The military action which first brought Alvarado to power had momentarily declared California to be an independent state, and had been aided by Anglo-American residents of California, including Isaac Graham. In 1840, one hundred of those residents who did not have passports were arrested, leading to the Graham Affair, which was resolved in part with the intercession of Royal Navy officials.
One of the largest ranchers in California was John Marsh. After failing to obtain justice against squatters on his land from the Mexican courts, he determined that California should become part of the United States. Marsh conducted a letter-writing campaign espousing the California climate, the soil, and other reasons to settle there, as well as the best route to follow, which became known as "Marsh's route". His letters were read, reread, passed around, and printed in newspapers throughout the country, and started the first wagon trains rolling to California. He invited immigrants to stay on his ranch until they could get settled, and assisted in their obtaining passports.
After ushering in the period of organized emigration to California, Marsh became involved in a military battle between the much-hated Mexican general, Manuel Micheltorena and the California governor he had replaced, Juan Bautista Alvarado. The armies of each met at the Battle of Providencia near Los Angeles. Marsh had been forced against his will to join Micheltorena's army. Ignoring his superiors, during the battle, he signaled the other side for a parley. There were many settlers from the United States fighting on both sides. He convinced these men that they had no reason to be fighting each other. As a result of Marsh's actions, they abandoned the fight, Micheltorena was defeated, and California-born Pio Pico was returned to the governorship. This paved the way to California's ultimate acquisition by the United States.
In 1846, a group of American settlers in and around Sonoma rebelled against Mexican rule during the Bear Flag Revolt. Afterward, rebels raised the Bear Flag (featuring a bear, a star, a red stripe and the words "California Republic") at Sonoma. The Republic's only president was William B. Ide,[65] who played a pivotal role during the Bear Flag Revolt. This revolt by American settlers served as a prelude to the later American military invasion of California and was closely coordinated with nearby American military commanders.
The California Republic was short-lived; the same year marked the outbreak of the Mexican–American War (1846–48).
Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States Navy sailed into Monterey Bay in 1846 and began the U.S. military invasion of California, with Northern California capitulating in less than a month to the United States forces. In Southern California, Californios continued to resist American forces. Notable military engagements of the conquest include the Battle of San Pasqual and the Battle of Dominguez Rancho in Southern California, as well as the Battle of Olómpali and the Battle of Santa Clara in Northern California. After a series of defensive battles in the south, the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed by the Californios on January 13, 1847, securing a censure and establishing de facto American control in California.
Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2, 1848) that ended the war, the westernmost portion of the annexed Mexican territory of Alta California soon became the American state of California, and the remainder of the old territory was then subdivided into the new American Territories of Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah. The even more lightly populated and arid lower region of old Baja California remained as a part of Mexico. In 1846, the total settler population of the western part of the old Alta California had been estimated to be no more than 8,000, plus about 100,000 Native Americans, down from about 300,000 before Hispanic settlement in 1769.
In 1848, only one week before the official American annexation of the area, gold was discovered in California, this being an event which was to forever alter both the state's demographics and its finances. Soon afterward, a massive influx of immigration into the area resulted, as prospectors and miners arrived by the thousands. The population burgeoned with United States citizens, Europeans, Chinese and other immigrants during the great California Gold Rush. By the time of California's application for statehood in 1850, the settler population of California had multiplied to 100,000. By 1854, more than 300,000 settlers had come. Between 1847 and 1870, the population of San Francisco increased from 500 to 150,000.
The seat of government for California under Spanish and later Mexican rule had been located in Monterey from 1777 until 1845. Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of Alta California, had briefly moved the capital to Los Angeles in 1845. The United States consulate had also been located in Monterey, under consul Thomas O. Larkin.
In 1849, a state Constitutional Convention was first held in Monterey. Among the first tasks of the convention was a decision on a location for the new state capital. The first full legislative sessions were held in San Jose (1850–1851). Subsequent locations included Vallejo (1852–1853), and nearby Benicia (1853–1854); these locations eventually proved to be inadequate as well. The capital has been located in Sacramento since 1854 with only a short break in 1862 when legislative sessions were held in San Francisco due to flooding in Sacramento. Once the state's Constitutional Convention had finalized its state constitution, it applied to the U.S. Congress for admission to statehood. On September 9, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850, California became a free state and September 9 a state holiday.
During the American Civil War (1861–1865), California sent gold shipments eastward to Washington in support of the Union. However, due to the existence of a large contingent of pro-South sympathizers within the state, the state was not able to muster any full military regiments to send eastwards to officially serve in the Union war effort. Still, several smaller military units within the Union army were unofficially associated with the state of California, such as the "California 100 Company", due to a majority of their members being from California.
At the time of California's admission into the Union, travel between California and the rest of the continental United States had been a time-consuming and dangerous feat. Nineteen years later, and seven years after it was greenlighted by President Lincoln, the First transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. California was then reachable from the eastern States in a week's time.
Much of the state was extremely well suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general. Vast expanses of wheat, other cereal crops, vegetable crops, cotton, and nut and fruit trees were grown (including oranges in Southern California), and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production in the Central Valley and elsewhere.
In the nineteenth century, a large number of migrants from China traveled to the state as part of the Gold Rush or to seek work. Even though the Chinese proved indispensable in building the transcontinental railroad from California to Utah, perceived job competition with the Chinese led to anti-Chinese riots in the state, and eventually the US ended migration from China partially as a response to pressure from California with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.
Under earlier Spanish and Mexican rule, California's original native population had precipitously declined, above all, from Eurasian diseases to which the indigenous people of California had not yet developed a natural immunity. Under its new American administration, California's harsh governmental policies towards its own indigenous people did not improve. As in other American states, many of the native inhabitants were soon forcibly removed from their lands by incoming American settlers such as miners, ranchers, and farmers. Although California had entered the American union as a free state, the "loitering or orphaned Indians" were de facto enslaved by their new Anglo-American masters under the 1853 Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. There were also massacres in which hundreds of indigenous people were killed.
Between 1850 and 1860, the California state government paid around 1.5 million dollars (some 250,000 of which was reimbursed by the federal government) to hire militias whose purpose was to protect settlers from the indigenous populations. In later decades, the native population was placed in reservations and rancherias, which were often small and isolated and without enough natural resources or funding from the government to sustain the populations living on them. As a result, the rise of California was a calamity for the native inhabitants. Several scholars and Native American activists, including Benjamin Madley and Ed Castillo, have described the actions of the California government as a genocide.
In the twentieth century, thousands of Japanese people migrated to the US and California specifically to attempt to purchase and own land in the state. However, the state in 1913 passed the Alien Land Act, excluding Asian immigrants from owning land. During World War II, Japanese Americans in California were interned in concentration camps such as at Tule Lake and Manzanar. In 2020, California officially apologized for this internment.
Migration to California accelerated during the early 20th century with the completion of major transcontinental highways like the Lincoln Highway and Route 66. In the period from 1900 to 1965, the population grew from fewer than one million to the greatest in the Union. In 1940, the Census Bureau reported California's population as 6.0% Hispanic, 2.4% Asian, and 89.5% non-Hispanic white.
To meet the population's needs, major engineering feats like the California and Los Angeles Aqueducts; the Oroville and Shasta Dams; and the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges were built across the state. The state government also adopted the California Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960 to develop a highly efficient system of public education.
Meanwhile, attracted to the mild Mediterranean climate, cheap land, and the state's wide variety of geography, filmmakers established the studio system in Hollywood in the 1920s. California manufactured 8.7 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II, ranking third (behind New York and Michigan) among the 48 states. California however easily ranked first in production of military ships during the war (transport, cargo, [merchant ships] such as Liberty ships, Victory ships, and warships) at drydock facilities in San Diego, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. After World War II, California's economy greatly expanded due to strong aerospace and defense industries, whose size decreased following the end of the Cold War. Stanford University and its Dean of Engineering Frederick Terman began encouraging faculty and graduates to stay in California instead of leaving the state, and develop a high-tech region in the area now known as Silicon Valley. As a result of these efforts, California is regarded as a world center of the entertainment and music industries, of technology, engineering, and the aerospace industry, and as the United States center of agricultural production. Just before the Dot Com Bust, California had the fifth-largest economy in the world among nations.
In the mid and late twentieth century, a number of race-related incidents occurred in the state. Tensions between police and African Americans, combined with unemployment and poverty in inner cities, led to violent riots, such as the 1965 Watts riots and 1992 Rodney King riots. California was also the hub of the Black Panther Party, a group known for arming African Americans to defend against racial injustice and for organizing free breakfast programs for schoolchildren. Additionally, Mexican, Filipino, and other migrant farm workers rallied in the state around Cesar Chavez for better pay in the 1960s and 1970s.
During the 20th century, two great disasters happened in California. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and 1928 St. Francis Dam flood remain the deadliest in U.S. history.
Although air pollution problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution have continued. The brown haze known as "smog" has been substantially abated after the passage of federal and state restrictions on automobile exhaust.
An energy crisis in 2001 led to rolling blackouts, soaring power rates, and the importation of electricity from neighboring states. Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Company came under heavy criticism.
Housing prices in urban areas continued to increase; a modest home which in the 1960s cost $25,000 would cost half a million dollars or more in urban areas by 2005. More people commuted longer hours to afford a home in more rural areas while earning larger salaries in the urban areas. Speculators bought houses they never intended to live in, expecting to make a huge profit in a matter of months, then rolling it over by buying more properties. Mortgage companies were compliant, as everyone assumed the prices would keep rising. The bubble burst in 2007–8 as housing prices began to crash and the boom years ended. Hundreds of billions in property values vanished and foreclosures soared as many financial institutions and investors were badly hurt.
In the twenty-first century, droughts and frequent wildfires attributed to climate change have occurred in the state. From 2011 to 2017, a persistent drought was the worst in its recorded history. The 2018 wildfire season was the state's deadliest and most destructive, most notably Camp Fire.
Although air pollution problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution have continued. The brown haze that is known as "smog" has been substantially abated thanks to federal and state restrictions on automobile exhaust.
One of the first confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States that occurred in California was first of which was confirmed on January 26, 2020. Meaning, all of the early confirmed cases were persons who had recently travelled to China in Asia, as testing was restricted to this group. On this January 29, 2020, as disease containment protocols were still being developed, the U.S. Department of State evacuated 195 persons from Wuhan, China aboard a chartered flight to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, and in this process, it may have granted and conferred to escalated within the land and the US at cosmic. On February 5, 2020, the U.S. evacuated 345 more citizens from Hubei Province to two military bases in California, Travis Air Force Base in Solano County and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, where they were quarantined for 14 days. A state of emergency was largely declared in this state of the nation on March 4, 2020, and as of February 24, 2021, remains in effect. A mandatory statewide stay-at-home order was issued on March 19, 2020, due to increase, which was ended on January 25, 2021, allowing citizens to return to normal life. On April 6, 2021, the state announced plans to fully reopen the economy by June 15, 2021.