Brown Motion

This Memorial Day Holiday we took to the mountains - again.  We visited two most amazing pieces of real estate that are managed and maintained by the US Department of Interior - the Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. Both parks are located around 150 miles due south / south-east of the SF Bay Area and reside amidst the southern flanks of the Sierra Nevada mountains. As parks go these amazing stores of information and beauty are all over the United States and California has a large share of them.  We visited Kings Canyon first and Sequoia NP the following day. Kings River and South Fork merge in the valley in Kings Canyon NP Entering Sequoia NP   As one of the plaques noted (image below) it certainly is a treat to simply visit with nature and gape.  As an aside I find that the word Sequoia (named for a Cherokee Indian credited with defining a written language) is fascinating in that it contains all vowels and is only ...

Of all the silliness in America there are a couple of institutions that do wonders for its people or anyone who cares to visit. First on that list would be the public libraries across all states, counties and towns.  Funded by taxpayer money they have seen a slow degradation of service in terms of open hours or staffing levels (both physical and mental) but nonetheless they serve as a vast treasure for someone just hungry to read.  You will be surprised at the content they carry - in some geographies in several languages. Inspite of the lack of enthusiasm on part of the staff, that I too (inspite of dulling of the senses) remember from two decades ago on our first encounter with this system; the librarians are largely a friendly bunch with the information desk glad to assist if you had a specific query. The library also provides a place of refuge in times of local crises, fires or displacing events.  They serve as a shelter in case of extreme weather and for pe...