Yikes! It's August already! The summer in Seattle, which is normally perfect, is perfect again. We should stay home all summer and enjoy the sun and moderate temperatures. But, we didn't. Instead, we traveled to Newfoundland to visit L'Anse Aux Meadows, the site where Vikings lived about AD 1000. Discovered in 1960 by Helge Ingstad with archeologist wife Anne Stine, L'AAM is at the northern most tip of Newfoundland Island in Canada's easternmost province.
An 'Icelandic Sod House' Like Vikings Built Here
L'Anse Aux Meadows was chosen as the first UNESCO World Heritage site. It is important because humans, radiating out of Africa roughly 100,000 years ago, some heading north into Europe and others heading East into Asia, and later, on into the Americas, finally "completed the circle" here. Canada's First Nations people had lived in the area for thousands of years, though only intermittently at this site. The Vikings must have been at home in this ruggedly beautiful subarctic land with deep fjords and Greenland's icebergs floating by. We posted ePostcards.
Coordinates Is Now Encrypted
The tech community is pushing to increase the use of encryption on the Internet. You can help by changing your bookmark for this page:
- Old link -- http://www.snydersR.us
- New link -- https://www.snydersR.us
News & Notes
When the Vikings were here, there were no moose in Newfoundland. After 7-8 centuries and a couple of tries, someone imported a small herd that survived. They are now a scourge on the Island. In several places an automated system using lasers, radio communication, solar panels and possibly moose kibble, warn travelers. Unfortunately for all concerned, cars and moose come in contact waaaay too much.
C'mon, team, get back in line
For those of us old enough to (vaguely) remember commercial aviation using propeller aircraft, Gander Newfoundland is legendary. All Trans-Atlantic flights stopped in Gander to refuel. The airport was built before the town, and it played a critical role in the WW II Allied air war. When US airspace was closed on September 11, 2001, flights enroute to America from Europe landed at Gander. The airport received 38 widebodies, and the town of fewer than 10,000 people hosted 6,600 stranded passengers for four days with no notice. In a spectacular documentary about the event, Tom Brokow tells the story of their generosity, which later became known as Operation Yellow Ribbon.
Gander International (YQX)
Our favoriate playwright, Brendan Healy, has had two full plays in workshop this summer, and a one act play produced. We have enjoyed them all. The one act was Things to Say When It's Too Late to Say Them, a.k.a. Proof You Were Here. The readings were for Taste and Or, The Whale.
Our friends Noelle and Nancy Lamb have stayed in contact with Turid Urheim, who was a foreign exchange student from Norway when they were high school girls. We were delighted to meet her during a recent visit to Vancouver. In typical "small world" form she has met our Norwegian friend Hilde.
Noelle, Turid, Nancy
With the relish and pickles done, can the tomato soup be far behind???
A Cucumber's Idea of Heaven
Though it's been a while since we visited the Pacific Rim Bonsai Museum in Federal Way WA, we're happy to report that the trees are now even older. Collected by Su Hyung Yoo in 1986 on Seol Ark Mountain in Korea, this Korean Yew (Taxus cuspidata) was a seedling ca. 1500.
Yoo's Yew
