A sure way to get a giggle out of your young child is to challenge him or her to SPELL “Mississippi” — and fast! M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I. M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I. It’s actually not as hard as it looks, once you get the rhythm of it. The Old South state of Mississippi, not the lazy “Old Man River” Mississippi, on […]
Safely Rest
Posted November 24th, 2010 at 12:33 pm (UTC-4)
Even if you’ve not been to Washington, D.C., perhaps you’ve sized it up for possible places to visit. So you’re allowed to answer this question: What would you guess is the most popular tourist attraction in the capital city of the United States of America? If you said the Smithsonian Institution museums, such as the […]
Only in America: John Brown’s Body
Posted November 15th, 2010 at 2:25 pm (UTC-4)
If you started to softly sing “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,” most Americans would quickly identify the tune as “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” And they’d be right — but only up to a point. The words to one of America’s most performed — and most bellicose […]
Virginia Byways and Pieways
Posted August 5th, 2010 at 1:34 pm (UTC-4)
I told you a bit about Virginia last time but didn’t have the time or space to describe the full scope of what just might be our most historically significant state. It was not only an incubator of American independence and the cradle of American presidents — eight of them — but also the scene […]
Abe
Posted February 12th, 2009 at 6:37 pm (UTC-4)
When I was knee high to a bobcat, as my mother liked to say, the birthday of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, was a huge day in school. We reviewed and recited the many accomplishments of “Honest Abe,” the “Rail-Splitter.” This classic photographic portrait of Abraham Lincoln was created by Alexander Gardner, a Mathew Brady […]
