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My first condor The Passenger Pigeon was our largest and most colorful wild pigeon but became extinct when the last pigeon died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. It was once the most abundant bird in North America. After the Civil War, these pigeons were observed migrating in gigantic flocks,
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While growing up during the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s my brothers and I often saw B-52 bombers flying over the Ozark skies. The plane had a distinctive appearance but we usually identified the airplane before we saw it because of its unique sound. I have some
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July 4, 2023 The earliest firecrackers date back to China in the 2nd century BCE when bamboo stalks were placed on a fire to keep evil spirits away. The heated stalks exploded with a popping sound and led to the development of firecrackers. During the Tang Dynasty, 600-900 CE,
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Michele and I recently visited the Congressional Library in Washington DC, the largest such library in the world, housing 2.9 million documents. It prominently displays the Gutenberg Bible (one of 21 copies still in existence) produced by Johann Guntenberg in Mainz, Germany in 1455, based on the text of
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Approaching the American Falls As the last scheduled event for the Center for Inquiry conference that I attended recently in Buffalo, NY, a group of us participants piled into two buses and made the forty-minute ride to the Niagara Falls. Enroute, our guide quizzed us with obscure facts about
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Tunnel at the beginning At the end of our 17-day tour of the northwest African coastal region, Michele and I flew from Marrakesh, Morocco to Paris for the last leg of our trip. Both Michele and Megan urged me to visit the Paris Catacombs, something I had missed on
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During a week-long cruise along the northwest African coast, Michele and I joined a day excursion from the port city of Agadir, Morocco (founded by the Portuguese in 1505) on a bus that traveled inland through the arid countryside with fields and olive trees. We passed villages, some in
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Mexican tree cacti Jacques Majorelle (1886-1962), was born to a famous Art Nouveau furniture designer in Nancy, France, who wanted him to study architecture, but Jacques chose to study art at the Académie Julian in Paris. During his formative years, he lived in Egypt for a few years where
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Blog No 26. The Desert Snake--the World's Longest Train Michele and I returned from a 22-day journey to northwest Africa with a stopover in Paris. The highlight was a week voyage on the Swan Hellenic Diana, a 5-star polar ship (a class of its own)
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Large synovial cyst at L4-L5 Soon after I began practicing neurosurgery, I wrote, “Why Back Surgery Has a Bad Name,” that was published in my local medical society’s periodical. Essentially, nothing has changed. The main reason for “failed back surgery” is because the patient was not a suitable
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In 2018, my brothers Alvin, Garner, and I, with a few close friends, camped in this wildlife refuge southwest of Oklahoma City at the beginning of April. Fortunately, our friend Jack T had just acquired a huge shelter that along with a fire, shielded us from a cold front that
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In December 2015, my brother Alvin, our nephew Ruben and I spent a week birding at Cape Cod and the surrounding area. Ruben and his brother Victor, recognized as champion birders, won the Big Year Lower 48 in 2022, shattering the previous record by some by 24 species. Thankfully, our