SCRAPBOOK  STUFF 

I'm trying to close out some of my scrapbooks and I want to make sure that some collected "Stuff" is preserved in my blogs, before it is "lost" forever.

Here goes:

01.  KIDS!

Judy Steel writes:  "Having lost weight over the last few years,  I was discarding things from my wardrobe that no longer fit. My seven-year-old niece was watching as I held up a huge pair of slacks. 

'Wow,' I said, 'I must have worn these when I was 183.'  My niece looked puzzled, then asked, 'How old are you now?' "   

02. NEW BEDFORD AND WHALES:

I had somehow missed finding and reading Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund.

"A tour de force imbued with Melville's spirit that at last supplies the 'soprano voice' for Moby Dick."

Maybe, but I doubt it.

03.  SUPER  PLANE

Kelly Johnson, Lockheed Aircraft Company genius was in the news again.  Having built the U2 Spyplane, he was now (1960's) planning to build "the greatest airplane of the 29th century."

Lockheed said "The technology was so far beyond anything known that we might as well have been designing commuter rocket service between the moon and the outer planets."

I wonder if "Super Plane" was ever built.

04.  NEW  BEDFORD LIBRARY MURALS

Early in the 20th century, New Bedford commissioned English artist Francis Davis Millet to paint whaling-style murals around the rotunda of the newly setup Free Public Library.

Armed with sketches and plans, the artist embarked on a trip to New Bedford.  The year was 1912, and the ship was named "Titanic."

The mural project was resurrected 90 years later by the WHALE Organization.

05.  TREPANNING

Even the cavemen knew that drilling holes in one's head relieved suffering.  (UGH!)

In 1345, the Italian Physician, Guido da Vigevano, prepared an illustrated anatomical treatise on trepanning for the use of his colleagues.  (UGH!)

If you have seen the TV serial, Royal Pains, you have probably seen the episode where Doctor Lawson performs trepanning, using a very large drill that was found in an oily garage. (UGH!)

06.  BREAKFAST  TREAT

Betty Jarosz likes molasses and writes: "On cold mornings, the molasses had to be warmed on the stove before it was usable. Our favorite treat was molasses melted together with bacon drippings, then poured over biscuits and pancakes.'

........................................................................

Enough of this nonsense!