View Full Version : Happy Columbus Day
Celebrate or grieve as you see fit.
dado potato
10-10-22, 9:15am
I plan to wait until it warms up to 60 degrees, then plant about 40 cloves of garlic - Zema variety.
As soon as I arrived in the Indies, in the first island which I found, I took some of the natives by force, in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatsoever there is in these parts. And so it was that they soon understood us, and we them, either by speech or by signs, and they have been very serviceable.
-- Christopher Columbus
iris lilies
10-10-22, 11:06am
I plan to wait until it warms up to 60 degrees, then plant about 40 cloves of garlic - Zema variety.
As soon as I arrived in the Indies, in the first island which I found, I took some of the natives by force, in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatsoever there is in these parts. And so it was that they soon understood us, and we them, either by speech or by signs, and they have been very serviceable.
-- Christopher Columbus
It is already 61° down here in the tropics of the lower Midwest, dado.
weeks ago we went to a “garlic festival” and bought many varieties of garlic but I ended up just cooking with them and didn’t plant any. I love garlic, but honestly I didn’t tell a difference between the five different varieties we purchased.
The only thing I’ve learned about garlic is is that elephant garlic is too mild so don’t mess with it.
Planting garlic today as well.
Here in SW WA we celebrate Columbus Day by reminiscing the Columbus Day Storm of 1962. I remember it like it was yesterday even though I was only 8 years old.
https://history.columbian.com/columbus-day-storm-3/
ToomuchStuff
10-10-22, 4:14pm
So new employee moved from Illinois. She was very surprised we have school on Columbus day. I remember a few years ago, backlash about it and trying to change it to Native American day. I expect that is why we have school on this day.
What about in your area, schools in session or not?
catherine
10-10-22, 4:36pm
So new employee moved from Illinois. She was very surprised we have school on Columbus day. I remember a few years ago, backlash about it and trying to change it to Native American day. I expect that is why we have school on this day.
What about in your area, schools in session or not?
I looked up the calendars in my old school district in NJ (where my grandkids are going to school) and also my current one:
In NJ, the township has two days off: October 5 for Yom Kippur and October 24 for Diwali. They do have school today.
In my county in VT, they do have today off, but they call it "Fall Break".
dado potato
10-10-22, 4:58pm
In the garlic planting vein, the temp was 61F when I started and 63F when I finished.
The soil contained a good deal of organic matter, because I use pine needle mulch on my garlic beds. Lots of lethargic earthworms in evidence today!
This year I tried something different: a teaspoon of bone meal mixed into the soil 1.5 to 2 inches beneath the bottom of each garlic clove.
The Zema cloves I planted today were harvested by me in August from last year's crop. I saved the largest bulbs for planting. I hope that the median size of the largest bulbs in this year's crop will be bigger as a result of phosphorus in the bone meal.
I also have an order of about 14 cloves of Purple Glazer variety, which has been shipped. "Please, Mister Postman!". They will go into a raised bed.
I looked up the calendars in my old school district in NJ (where my grandkids are going to school) and also my current one:
In NJ, the township has two days off: October 5 for Yom Kippur and October 24 for Diwali. They do have school today.
In my county in VT, they do have today off, but they call it "Fall Break".
Our local school district combined a couple of teacher "In-Service" days with the traditional Columbus Day date and calls it "Fall Break" as well. Kids got a 5 day weekend out of it and teachers enjoy a 3 day weekend.
I sometimes wonder when all world history will be unceremoniously replaced with feel good holidays based upon nothing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbYZDohsHk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbYZDohsHk
happystuff
10-10-22, 8:09pm
No school today for the kids, but teachers had in-service and custodians had to work. I did get to go in early and, hence, home early.
I made eggplant parmesan if that counts as celebrating. With all of the politically correct renaming around I'm surprised Columbus Day has escaped, so far.
ToomuchStuff
10-10-22, 10:00pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbYZDohsHk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbYZDohsHk
LOL, never seen that movie, might have to look it up.
rosarugosa
10-11-22, 6:28am
We got an email from The Clay School saying that classes would be held as regularly scheduled on Indigenous Peoples' Day.
We got an email from The Clay School saying that classes would be held as regularly scheduled on Indigenous Peoples' Day.
Maine as well:
https://mainestatemuseum.org/learn/lessons_resources/indigenous_peoples/
A prominent peak here was named after an early governor who advocated exterminating Native Americans. It sounds like the new name will be Mount Blue Sky, which is nice.
Not to diminish the atrocities of our European or other ancestors, but I have wondered if it matters that the American Indians frequently took slaves from other tribes, had hideous torture techniques for enemies, and often forced their enemies from their traditional home range. Plus, they generally relegated the women to mundane duties of teepee keeping, hide tanning, and child rearing.
catherine
10-11-22, 1:53pm
Not to diminish the atrocities of our European or other ancestors, but I have wondered if it matters that the American Indians frequently took slaves from other tribes, had hideous torture techniques for enemies, and often forced their enemies from their traditional home range. Plus, they generally relegated the women to mundane duties of teepee keeping, hide tanning, and child rearing.
Hmmm, seems you could substitute our culture for Native culture in those instances. We took slaves. We are guilty of hideous torture. We relegated women to mundane duties until women rose up in the last century to claim their rights.
You're right. Nobody's perfect. But we're the ones who are responsible for our own actions. And we're the ones that are sitting here today because we basically stole someone else's homeland. I' not saying reparations are in order, but I think we have to recognize that Indigenous people are part of the soil of this country--a lot of it is bloody soil. They also have a lot to teach us still about how to see nature and be at one with the world. We've kind of messed that up. I have a feeling you agree with me, Rogar. This is just my gut reaction to your comment.
ETA: Oops, seems to me you were making my point in your post! Am I dumb or what?
ETA: Oops, seems to me you were making my point in your post! Am I dumb or what?
Of course you're not dumb. If I had a point to be made and it wasn't clear it was probably my error. The point being that there is a tendency to elevate the moral status of native Americans above what is reality and ignore some unpleasant historical facts of their traditional practices. It's not exactly an us bad, them good picture.
It remains that our European culture was able to basically institute a campaign of genocide and eminent domain which is extremely grievous and above any sins of the Indians. Although it might be said that if they had better weapons and technology some tribes might have tried.
Plus, they generally relegated the women to mundane duties of teepee keeping, hide tanning, and child rearing.
Because, as we all know, the noble savage lived in teepees....
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Chaco_Canyon_Pueblo_Bonito_digital_reconstruction. jpg
Some tribes were matriarchal, IIRC.
Some tribes were matriarchal, IIRC.
Weird, it's like there were ~1000 different cultures in North America before that Columbus fellow arrived on the scene, each with their own ways of living.
Because, as we all know, the noble savage lived in teepees....
I have been there. I suppose I meant teepee in a more general sense to represent wikiups, great houses, cliff dwellings, igloos, wigwams, long houses, etc.
Indeed there were diverse cultural practices and we tend to generalize things. Like the romantic misconception of the pure noble savage living peacefully with nature, much different from us Europeans. For example, there is evidence that some elements of the Ancestral Puebloans practiced cannibalism, but perhaps more commonly known for deforesting their ecosystem. And may have moved into cliff dwellings to escape other tribes who were trying to kill them or steal crops or maybe take slaves.
I made eggplant parmesan if that counts as celebrating. With all of the politically correct renaming around I'm surprised Columbus Day has escaped, so far.
A "journalist" called Childrens Protective Services on a Republican State Senate Candidate for celebrating Columbus Day with her daughter. Journalist Calls Child Protective Services On Senate Candidate And Single Mom Over Columbus Day Tweet | The Daily Wire (https://www.dailywire.com/news/journalist-calls-child-protective-services-on-senate-candidate-and-single-mom-over-columbus-day-tweet)
A "journalist" called Childrens Protective Services on a Republican State Senate Candidate for celebrating Columbus Day with her daughter. Journalist Calls Child Protective Services On Senate Candidate And Single Mom Over Columbus Day Tweet | The Daily Wire (https://www.dailywire.com/news/journalist-calls-child-protective-services-on-senate-candidate-and-single-mom-over-columbus-day-tweet)
That's just full of....wow. There should be consequences for this sort of nonsense.
I posted "Happy Indigenous People's Day" on Facebook, and I think I *may* have been "unfriended" by a person of Italian-American heritage taking it as a slam on Columbus and posting back that Columbus Day is really to celebrate all of America.
My home town has a relatively large population of people of Italian heritage and every year there's a bit of a kerfuffle over it all. We owe something to our Italian ancestors, too. In the big scheme of the world's problems it doesn't seem like it should be much of a big deal.
rosarugosa
10-13-22, 6:26am
I am partially of Italian-American Heritage, and the idea of Indigenous People's Day doesn't bother me in the least.
littlebittybobby
10-22-22, 10:44am
Okay---I'm celebrating Columbus Day, just like any other Holiday. See---Columbus Discovered America, after Leif Eriksen, that we know. So--it should be amended to: "Eriksen-Columbus Day" Yup. There was nothing but undeveloped land & hunter-gatherer savages here, at the time. The stone-age primitives of Northeast Asian descent--mistakenly referred to as indians-- did not have horses, a written language, & they did not make use of the wheel, guns or firewater. Nope. They were about like our Homeless People, living in tents made of wildlife skins. See?. It was in 1492, of course, which was also the year Queen Isabella kicked anyone who did not want to be Cathlic out of Spain. Yup. So yeah---you kids can see I got a pretty good grasp o' history, even if I don't have a masters' degree in feminist studies or something. Hope that helps you some. Thankk Mee.
littlebittybobby
10-22-22, 10:54am
I am partially of Italian-American Heritage, and the idea of Indigenous People's Day doesn't bother me in the least.Yes, I agree---we need an "Illiterate Stone Age Hunter-Gatherer Day"(which sounds more inclusive), so gummint employees can have another paid holiday. Yup.
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