Category Archives: History

Following the Flood

History, ,

Water. It gives life, adds beauty to the scenery, and it’s great to kayak on. But, when it comes at you in a 40 foot high wall…you’re doomed.

Earlier this summer, we visited the National Park Service’s Johnstown Flood Memorial, and viewed the terrifying video which begins and ends, in otherworldly detail, with images and narration centering around the Grandview Cemetery, where many of the 2,209 victims who were confronted with a deadly wall of water on May 31, 1889 found their final resting place.

On later visit to Johnstown, we decided to visit the cemetery and pay our respects to those victims. We expected some sort of interpretation (a brochure maybe?) to be available, but since none was, we drove around until we found a sizable (over 700 it turns out) number of small white unmarked graves.

That many plain white gravestones with no inscriptions is rather unnerving, but also mesmerizing. I found I had to break my eyes away from their undulating pattern. After viewing the mass site from various angles, we walked around to see where other victims might be buried.

We found whole families of known victims, which was also disturbing. Seeing the same death date on five or six family members’ gravestones brings that day of horror home.

The water tooketh away. From this vantagepoint in history, we can only imagine the reality — as with many disasters, man made or natural. (The Johnstown Flood was some of both). And honor those who were lost.

Monument marking the unidentified victims of the Johnstown Flood buried at Grandview.
Most of the Hochstein family met their demise on that fateful day.
… as did the Hoffmans.
Although bodies kept turning up according to one account as far away as Cincinnati and as late as 1901, some were never recovered at all.

Emissaries from the Past

childhood; stuff; family, History, Holidays

I recently pawed through years of print photos to find “historic” moments in Christmas cookie decorating for a work blog. While searching, I found some fun photos from the past, including with one I will not post because it features me as a child sitting on our camp toilet…nuff said.

The others prompted me to send texts to family and friends bringing back memories, moods and attitudes of times past. These images are not just records of our past exploits and moments caught by chance (or by posing for the camera). They are messages from our past selves, from moments when we were taken over by pure joy, or skepticism, or bonhomie.

Yes, that was really us. And we are still the same people. A little older, but ready to go bravely into yet another year, the turn of a decade. Still ready for experience and adventure. Happy New Year, everyone!

  • Marjorie and I show off our badass Festival attitudes during the 150th anniversary of the Smithsonian in 1996.
  • M.E. comments, “That was back when I could cross dimensions.”
  • Diana and I have a fun moment on a WORK TRIP to Bermuda.
  • Bev, Eliot and M.E. at one of the many Last Dinner on the Titanic parties.