Smaug on the rampage....

[Hans]

I have read HP, but I'm not aware of any native dragonlore. All of the dragons I know about are imported. The nearest thing I know of to a native dragon is the Piasa 'bird'. They appear, however, to be extinct.

Piasa 'Bird'
(The wings apparently are a later addition.)

Perhaps Katzpotter can take Smaug and Sparky there when he visits, as it is fairly close to St. Louis. It's about 35 miles north on the Illinois side.


[edit]
Why are we still on this page?? 1410/30 = 47, so 1411 should be on page 48!

[edit again]
Okay, now I'm on p. 48. Odd that (above).

[~Smaug~]

That looks like it might be a dragon to me, Hans, though perhaps wingless.

I haven't smelled many dragons, Will and Elwen, apart from a few I have seen, but they all seem to be from elsewhere originally. I wonder where the American dragons are?

I wish I could see one.

No doubt, Lembas.

Elainiel, when the house was built, it was out of town at the top of a tall ridge, but Omaha has grown out around it so that it is almost in the middle. It's a very posh neighborhood.


Here is a view of Hermann, Missouri from atop Stone Hill, where Stone Hill Winery (and more to the point, because we ate there) and Restaurant are.

Hermann was settled by German immigrants starting in the 1830s, and was named for 'Hermann' (also, I'm told, 'Arminius' to the Romans), a German 'king' who defeated the Romans. It's not clear what relevance any of that has to the American situation.

Anyway, in 1871 they built this 'German School', which became a museum after 1955.

They call Hermann "The Rhine City on the Missouri River." It was once a center for building river boats. I didn't notice any castles.



Here's an old switchboard that was used until the 1960s.



And some pipes. (I think Hans would have liked to have one, but he's not a dragon.)

Hans said he learned to sing this song as a child from an identical poster!

This alley is called 'Hollyhock Alley', though I didn't notice any hollyhocks. But it's where we stayed. Or rather, it's where the converted garage was that we stayed in. It goes down hill fairly rapidly.

While it looked like a garage outside (more or less), it is intended to look like an English cottage inside, though nobody would tell me why there would be an English cottage in a German town. Anyway, the chairs were comfy. The landlady provided a fancy desert both nights we were there. Yum.

We took a seat among the pillows by the fire. The fire and fireplace were fake (it's a converted garage, after all), but the pillows were real.

During the day we wandered through the hot summer streets trying to keep in the shade. Hans bought himself a drinking horn, but he won't take a picture of me with it, because he says it makes him laugh too hard. That evening (August 5) a storm came to cool the weather.

Next, back to Illinois and Oak Park.

[Hans]

Smaug insists that I point out that he didn't horde my pen.

And the Piasa 'bird' does look rather dragon-like, and if you follow some of the links (esp. 'Uktena') from the wiki page, there are hints of 'dragon-ness', such as calling it (the Uktena) a serpent that has killing breath. The original painting was discovered by Père Marquette (who didn't show wings in his drawing) in 1673 while exploring the Mississippi with explorer Louis Jolliet. It has since faded, and the current image is a reproduction.


As Smaug points out, Elainiel, it's quite a swanky neighborhood, called the "Gold Coast" of Omaha, though what it's a coast to, I don't know.

[Aniviel]

It looks as though Hans and Bosslady did a very good job at looking after you, Smaug, although Hans is rather a spoilsport for not taking a picture of you with the drinking horn, or even letting you have a beverage or two from it

[Hans]

Last I heard them, Smaug and Sparky were in a serious debate about how to pronounce 'Connecticut'. Eventually they'll get back to sorting through pictures.


[edit]
Lembas, I'd never heard of him (Mr. Winquist), but I discovered this item from the Alcester-Hudson eNews, the web presence of the Alcester Union and Hudsonite:

Winquist to perform at Union County Fair
June 5, 2008
ALCESTER - The Union County Fair will feature a Country Music Concert at the fairgrounds in Alcester on Friday, August 1. Craig Winquist, former Union County resident and 4-H alumni, will be performing live with his band from 7:00-10:00 p.m. Winquist is a Nashville country music singer and song writer.

You can find pictures of him here.

[Kadhryn]

Originally Posted by Hans

Last I heard them, Smaug and Sparky were in a serious debate about how to pronounce 'Connecticut'.

Well, most people pronounce it with that center "c" silent. Altho there are some people who think they're clever and pronounce it exactly as spelled. The problem arises when one refers to a person from Connecticut. Connecticuter?? Connecticutan?? Actually, to be correct, you'd refer to them as a Nutmegger. (Connecticut is the nutmeg state.) So that settles that.


Great pictures - love the converted garage!! Wonder if I could talk dh into doing that to our garage?

[pmcatnip]

Originally Posted by Kadhryn

Well, most people pronounce it with that center "c" silent. Altho there are some people who think they're clever and pronounce it exactly as spelled. The problem arises when one refers to a person from Connecticut. Connecticuter?? Connecticutan?? Actually, to be correct, you'd refer to them as a Nutmegger. (Connecticut is the nutmeg state.) So that settles that.

I think it's fun to overpronounce the middle c. "Conn-ek-eh-ti-cut." (I know that's not how it's really pronounced.) And I never would've guessed about the nutmeg.

[Hans]

The converted garage was, as Smaug has said, quite comfy, Kadhryn. There's not really a better word for it.

I'd heard of the 'Nutmeg State' nickname, but I'd never heard of 'Nutmegger'.

I found (for Smaug and Sparky's edification) this list of Connecticut nicknames and other useful information (from here):

THE NAME:
Connecticut was an established name early in the 1600's in particular reference to the Connecticut River. The word itself was translated from the Indian name "Quinnehtukqut" and means "beside the long tidal river."
Source: Shearer, Benjamin F. and Barbara S. State Names, Seals, Flags and Symbols Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut - 2001

THE NICKNAMES:
The Constitution State: (Official) John Fiske, the historian, claimed that The Fundamental Orders of 1638-39 comprised the first written constitution in history. Though this claim has been disputed by some, it remains a landmark document. It is thought that many of the features of the Federal Constitution were drawn from this document. The General Assembly designated Connecticut "The Constitution State" in 1959.

The Nutmeg State: Nutmeg, the powder used for seasoning foods, is ground from the seed of the fruit of the Nutmeg Tree, Myristica fragans. [Hans' note: the spice 'mace' comes from the flesh of the same fruit.] A couple of stories exist as to the origin of this nickname. One story has it that this nickname came about as a comment on the ingenuity and shrewdness of the citizens of the state. In a story, perhaps originated by Sam Slick, it is claimed that the people of Connecticut were so ingenious and shrewd that they were able to make and sell "wooden" nutmegs to unsuspecting buyers. A variation on this story maintains that purchasers did not know that the seed must be ground to obtain the spice and may have accused yankee peddlars, unfairly, of selling worthless "wooden" nutmegs. It may be that these wooden nutmegs were whittled by idle sailors on ships coming from the spice island and sold as souvenirs.

The Blue Law State: This nickname was a result of the notoriety propagated by the first government of New Haven Plantation's "Blue Laws." Blue Laws are laws that regulate public morality. Some contend that these Blue Laws were so-named because they were written on blue paper or bound in blue books. Others contend that there is no real evidence that any of these so-called Blue Laws were ever codified. Being that as it may, the stories surrounding the Blue Laws of Connecticut earned the state this nickname.

The Brownstone State: Connecticut was once famous for its Brownstone Quarries at Portland. Brownstone was used to build mansions and public buildings. In the 1800s, the quarry employed 1,500 men from Sweden, Ireland and Italy and operated a fleet of 25 ships to transport the stone down the Connecticut River to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and London. In May, 2000, 51 acres that comprise the town-owned Portland Brownstone Quarries were named a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior.

The Freestone State: This nickname was applied because of the formerly valuable Freestone Quarries in the state of Connecticut.

The Provisions State: This nickname originated during the Revolutionary War when Connecticut provided most of the food and canons to the forces.

The Land of Steady Habits: This nickname came about because of the strict morals of the people of the state. A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles, edited by Mitford M. Mathews (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951) defines "Land of Steady Habits" as "1. Connecticut, applied in allusion to the strict morals of its inhabitants," (page 954).

Sources: Shearer, Benjamin F. and Barbara S. State Names, Seals, Flags and Symbols Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut - 1994
Shankle, George Earlie, Phd State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other Symbols H. H. Wilson Company, New York - 1938 (Reprint)
The Connecticut State Library, (http://www.cslib.org/////faq2.htm), January 20, 2001.

THE CITIZENS:
People who live in Connecticut or who come from Connecticut are called Connecticuters. In 1702, Cotton Mather referred to Connecticuters as Connecticotians. Samual Peters referred to Connecticutensians. Nicknames for Connecticuters include Nutmegs or Nutmeggers.

Hmm.

[~Smaug~]

Not only that, Ani, but he was a spoilsport for not letting me (and Sparky) make off with any of the sheep. I mean, with so many sheep, who would notice one or two missing?

Worst of all, he's not letting me take his laptop with, that I've been using to do all my posting.

love the converted garage!! Wonder if I could talk dh into doing that to our garage?

I'll help you convince him if you want, Kate.

"Conn-ek-eh-ti-cut."

That's pretty much what we'd come up with, Kitten. (May I call you Kitten?)


Here we are crossing the Illinois State line between Louisiana, Missouri and Atlas, Illinois. If you look carefully, you might be able to see a wide load traveling in both lanes across the bridge.



Here is a 'General Store' all the way across the floodplain at the base of the bluff in (and constituting most of) Atlas, Illinois.



Griggsville describes itself as the "Purple Martin Capital of the Nation"; those are martin houses. They like to nest together. Hans said he thought he remembered seeing more houses once upon a time, though.

There were again more trees along the road in Illinois (and parts of Missouri), here between Perry and Mt. Sterling. (See! I was paying attention.)

Apparently, once upon a time there were many windmills used in this part of Illinois, and this one is either a remnant or a replica of one. There was a restaurant in town (Industry) named for the mill. (Hans says there used to be a restaurant in a much bigger old mill in Golden, Illinois. That one is now this.)

Here is a view of Macomb approaching it by a back way. If you look carefully, you can see the main water tower about the middle of the picture.

Here is the sunset lighting up some clouds as we approach the Chicago area.

We'll look around the Oak Park area before heading off to Connecticut.

I'll have to remember to look out for those wooden nutmegs.

[Hans]

Sorry Smaug, but with classes starting soon, I'll need it.


At least the ads for the page are appropriate:

• Fire and Ice Dragons
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fireandicedragons.com
• Printable Dragon Pictures
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webcrawler.com
• Dragon Checks
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Dragon-Checks.CheapChecksDirect.com

[Elwen]

VEry funny! Who wouldhave thought that there are so many dragon themed ads!

That's what I got ...

Chinese Dragon
Thinking of buying? Compare 100s of retailers' prices

Dragon Oil
Investment Facts & Figures.

Dragon Pictures
Fantastic prices on decorative arts

Dragon Teeth From £300
Quality Range Of Dragon Teeth

I am particularly intrigued about the last one!

[Hans]

Wow! I would think dragon teeth would be much more valuable than a mere £300.

[lizz]

at the adds. Who wouldnt want a dragon tooth

I got red dragon, thats obviosly a fashion label


Wonderful trip Smaug and Hans and Sparky too
But I´d like to know about the marathon sheep in clothes. Was it really running? I thought it just looked weird.

[Lembas]

[edit]
Lembas, I'd never heard of him (Mr. Winquist), but I discovered this item from the Alcester-Hudson eNews, the web presence of the Alcester Union and Hudsonite:
Quote:
Winquist to perform at Union County Fair
June 5, 2008
ALCESTER - The Union County Fair will feature a Country Music Concert at the fairgrounds in Alcester on Friday, August 1. Craig Winquist, former Union County resident and 4-H alumni, will be performing live with his band from 7:00-10:00 p.m. Winquist is a Nashville country music singer and song writer.

You can find pictures of him here.

Hans, I guess you missed the post where I said I was joking. You didn't have to go to the trouble to look Winquist up. But I thank you for the second link, as it had a pic of Nickel Creek, which features a very beautiful lady who plays the fiddle. Thanks! Great pics, by the way.

[Hans]

Hans, I guess you missed the post where I said I was joking.

No, Lembas, I missed it not, but I thought that was pretty obvious anyway. And since I'd never heard of him either, I got curious on mine own account. [Hans goes old-fashioned.] In this case, it seems to be a case of a 'local-boy-who-made-it' sort of thing. I think it's good that he remembers his roots, which doesn't always happen.

But I´d like to know about the marathon sheep in clothes. Was it really running? I thought it just looked weird.

No, lizz, they weren't running. The sheep judging must have been coming up the next day, and once their young owner gets them cleaned and trimmed to the point of 'perfection' (I've seen blow-driers used in the past, but I think some places don't allow them), they don't want them rolling in the straw and messing things up. Another reason (the two rather go together here) is that once the sheep is shorn, it can be rather chilly (even in summer), so the coverings help keep them warm. (My father-in-law worked for a company that made sheep shearers, and a story he liked to tell is that when he was going through Australia on his way to New Guinea during the war, he found someone using those shears on their sheep, much to his surprise.)

[~Smaug~]

I thought the selling of dragon parts was illegal, Elwen.

I got red dragon, thats obviosly a fashion label.

Well, I am quite fashionable, Lizz, so that seems appropriate.

I was conflicted, Lembas; we couldn't go to both the game and the concert.

That's not what the sheep told me, Hans.


I reminded Hans that Cully had wanted to see pictures of me (this was before I met Sparky) in his library, and not just on the chair or table, so we sat on the shelves next to Mr. Lincoln (bookends) in the biography section.

Then we found some space above the cookbooks.



Then we found a good (but hardly unbiased, I must say) book, and I gave Sparky a selective reading of the accurate parts. (It's shorter that way, too.)



When, suddenly, Sting appeared in Sparky's arms, which made Hans jump a bit.

So I 'knighted' him, so now he can be a slaying dragon. Then Sting disappeared again. Darn.

In a literary mood, we went to find the house Ernest Hemingway's family lived in when he was born.

And we sat on the porch, hoping to be inspired to write shorter sentences.

Then we went to the house where Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote the first Tarzan novel. (It's one of four Burroughs residences in Oak Park.)

Hans said he doesn't know exactly where Bob Newhart grew up, but said he once knew people who grew up with him. He used to be in the parish he grew up in and went to grade school.

Next, we explore more of Oak Park, looking at things related to someone with at least partially a Welsh name.

[Cully]

That's excellent, Hans! I love the look of the library... *sighs in envy*

And Sting appeared and then disappeared? That photo of Smaug 'knighting' Sparky is ultra

[Hans]

Thanks, Cully. The library was three years in the planning, so I'm happy it turned out so well.

As for Sting, it was (perhaps perversely) given to me by my nephew; I checked later, and it was safe back in its case. (Look quickly back and forth between the pictures to get the effect of its appearance.) It must have been something Smaug read in The Hobbit. I'm not sure where exactly, as his version is, shall we say, very non-linear and idiosyncratic.

[Elwen]

Originally Posted by ~Smaug~

I thought the selling of dragon parts was illegal, Elwen.

That's what I thought, too..... Google seems to think otherwise. I guess I'll have to investigate and see what we can do to stop it.

After all, we all love dragons, don't we?


*tumble weed rolls by*


I mean really, we do!


.... great picures again, Smaug!

[Hans]

Tumbleweed? Is it dry where you are?

Did you sneak into the US without telling us?

Following up on Pausanias' Travels Through Greektown?

[~Smaug~]

My version, Hans, is the accurate one, just let me tell you.


Let me know what you find out, Elwen.

And thank you. I do look pretty, don't I, in a draconian sort of way, of course.

Did I tell you that you don't have to worry about me tearing? 'Cause Sparky keeps me in stitches.

Well, you have to hear the way he tells it. I never was good at jokes.



The other person for whom Oak Park is famous is Frank Lloyd Wright (Lloyd is Welsh, from Llwyd). Here is the house he built for himself and his family at Chicago and Forest Avenues. (It's the dark brown one to our right. The color was meant to hide it from the street in the trees and bushes.)

Here is the studio he used until he ran off to Europe with the wife of one of his clients.



Here is a stork column type that he invented because he didn't want to use Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian columns. If he'd used dragons, they would have caught on more, I say.



Here are a couple old houses across the street from his house of a type he didn't like. You can see the red one reflected in the previous picture.

Just down Forest Ave, the street the house faces, is the first house that he designed on his own (in violation with his contract with Adler and Sullivan). When it burned in the early 1920s, he redesigned it, so it is now called the Moore-Dugal House.

Across the street from that house is this house he also designed in 1902, called the Heurtley House.

We went back up to Chicago Ave., and Hans made us walk down the street, where we saw this house.

Hans made us keep walking down the street for two blocks, and suddenly as we were walking past a closed (out of business) restaurant, he had us duck into a door and there we were: Petersen's Ice Cream is still open, though Petersen's Restaurant isn't any longer. It was some of the best ice cream I've had, so it was hard to have to share it with Sparky. (Sparky made a very funny joke under his breath about Hans being too cheap to buy us each a cone.)

Okay, so we've got to pack to go to spicy Connecticut.

[Cully]

My gosh, you've got some very interesting architecture in the US. A couple of those look like could come straight out of the Brothers Grimm - I love them, especially the Moore-Dugal House! Bit different from the Guggenheim...

That red house is indeed a bit of an abomination!

[Hans]

Your version is, um, interesting, Smaug.


I very much doubt that the bright red color is original, Cully, and it's more the internal geometry of the house (rooms off a central hallway, for instance) that FLW didn't like. Also as I recall, neither would have been there when the house was built. If I recall correctly, the area north of Chicago Ave. was still prairie in those days.

The Moore-Dugal House (according to the plaque [that I photographed] behind the wall [and just to the left of] where Smaug and Sparky posed) was designed by FLW as a half-timbered English Tudor with a porch; "that never happened before", he said.

Chicago has been a hotbed of architecture pretty much since the Chicago Fire in 1871. (Skyscrapers were invented here.) You can get some idea by looking through the Chicago Architecture Foundation (architecture.org) web site. Many of the Tour pages have pictures of 'sample' buildings. Or check out the relevant Wikipedia page.

[Elainiel]

Wow! I agree with Cully - you have some impressive looking houses out there. Some of them are gorgeous. I'd love to have a house like some of those!

Although I have to disagree that Petersen's is the best icecream that Smaug has had.... He comes from Swansea remember - home of Joe's Icecream. Arguably the best icecream in the world! According to their slogan "Everything else is just icecream". It's sooooo good! http://joes.webmediaworks.co.uk/

[Kadhryn]

Oooo, Oak Park!! That's very close to where I grew up in Chicago. Hans, if you know the city at all, I grew up a couple miles directly west of Midway airport. My family still lives there. Can't wait to see you, Smaug and Sparky! I'll have the nutmeg ready!

[Hans]

To be fair, Elainiel, he did say some of the best ice cream he'd had. And Petersen's used to have a display of all the Blue Ribbons they'd won at the Illinois State Fair over the years; I don't know what's become of it.



You mean in Summit, Kadhryn? I think Smaug is pretty well packed and ready to go.

[~Smaug~]

I must say, Cully, that it looks like it would have been a fun place to ransack and loot.

Hmmm.

Maybe some day.


Of course it is, Hans.


Well, Elainiel, I couldn't say, "Oh, this is awful stuff, take me to Joe's", could I? I mean, he was too cheap to buy us each a cone, and he's going to take us to Wales? I don't think so.

Besides, it was pretty good, especially after the forced march he put us through to get there.


I can't wait to get there, Kate, my dear. I can smell the nutmeg already.


On Monday, Hans took us for a going-away lunch to a place where he sometimes goes for breakfast. There we met (another) Kate. She loved us.

And Jan, who hugged us.



And they fed us!



Then we went to explore routes to Connecticut. We saw many industrial sites (this is one of them), a lot of which are very interesting visually (this is not one of those).

But it is across from the 'Chicago Portage National Historic Site', which (Hans tells me now) is near where our Kate is from. It's where Père Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet became the first Europeans (well, Louis was Canadian) to cross from the Great Lakes basin to the Mississippi River basin (via the Illinois River) in 1673. Père Marquette is the one who, on that trip, first recorded the Piasa dragon in writing.

Those French guys were tall!

It seemed like a propitious place to explore for routes to Connecticut.

This seemed like a sign.

I have a good feeling about this direction.

But don't forget to stop and smell the flowers.

We even found signs of a lost civilization.

Ah, here we are, the water route to Connecticut! Sparky and I will just dig out this log to make a canoe and some paddles.

OFF TO CONNECTICUT!

[Hans]

I can confirm that Smaug and Sparky have left for Connecticut. (Though I talked them out of the water route, because Kadhryn has to be reached in time.)

[Lembas]

We went back up to Chicago Ave., and Hans made us walk down the street, where we saw this house.

Wow, I like that house and the Moore-Dugal House also! Beautiful.

Chicago has been a hotbed of architecture pretty much since the Chicago Fire in 1871.

Speaking of which, I heard that fire was accidentally started by a dragon sneeze. What do you think, Smaug?

[Kadhryn]

No no, Lembas - the dragon kicked over a lantern in Mrs. O'Leary's barn. Really! I read this in my history book!


Hans, Summit is a little too far west - we were still in the city proper, but Summit was just a mile or so away. And for what it's worth, my dad worked in the big industrial complex in Argo just the other side of Summit.

OK, boys, I'm waiting for your arrival!