Galveston Bay, TX. Benjamin Franklin dies. Bay of Pigs. Misty’s “Cocklebur”.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

This is the last post which published from Live Writer to Blogger, so I thought that by deleting it, it might get rid of the problem. But it didn't. I copied and pasted it back in, but without Live Writer, the pictures don't show up.


Galveston Bay, TX. Benjamin Franklin dies. Bay of Pigs. Misty’s “Cocklebur”.

For Travel Tuesday”, let’s take a look at Galveston Bay, as the Texas City Disaster happened there, April 16th, 1947. Sixty-five years ago, but many can still remember it, or have listened to the tragic stories of those who were there.







































“Galveston Bay is an estuary located in Southeast Texas near the Houston-Galveston area. In this wonderfully complex system, freshwater inflows from rivers, bayous and streams mix with salty water from the Gulf of Mexico. This mixing provides a unique environment that houses indigenous coastal plants and offers a nutrient rich arena that nurtures juvenile marine organisms such as shrimp, oysters, crabs, and numerous fish.

Galveston Bay is the largest and most biologically productive estuary in Texas, and sits adjacent to one of most heavily urban, industrialized areas in the nation. Approximately 4.5 million people reside in the five counties surrounding Galveston Bay (Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Harris, and Liberty Counties), making the Houston metropolitan area the fourth most populous in the nation. That figure represents over 75 percent of Texas' coastal population! While the western side of Galveston Bay is occupied by the urban metropolis, the eastern side remains largely rural.





Galveston Bay, its bayous, and diverse natural features make this region geographically unique, afford an array of recreational opportunities, and play an essential role in maintaining our quality of life. It is composed of four major sub-bays: Galveston, Trinity, East and West Bays. While Galveston Bay's combined area is 384,000 acres or 600 square miles, it is very shallow; averaging only 7 feet. It is surrounded by 232 miles of shoreline. Extending inland from this shoreline and the shorelines of the bay's tributaries, is 33,000 square miles of land that we call the Galveston Bay watershed.





Natural processes operating over geologic time created Galveston Bay and continue to slowly modify the Bay today. The two upper bays, Galveston and Trinity, were formed approximately 4,500 years as many modern estuaries are, through the drowning of river valleys as sea levels rose after the last Ice Age. The two lower bays, East and West Bay, are coastwise lagoons that were segregated from gulf waters by the linear barrier system, which developed around 4,000 years ago as sea level reached near present levels. East Bay formed as a result of Bolivar Peninsula; West Bay formed landward of Galveston Island.

Although natural processes are at work modifying the Bay, the most visible changes have come at the hands of humans.”



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Economics









“Galveston Bay plays a crucial role in the economic health of the Houston Metropolitan Area. Galveston Bay assets contribute billions of dollars to the region's economy and supports employment of tens of thousands of people through several key water-based industries such as recreational and commercial fishing , shellfish harvesting, and tourism. It's ports, transportation industries, and proximity to rich petroleum reserves in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and South America, form the core of its economy. The pleasantry of having a coastal treasure nearby attracts people to the region. Our region's prosperity is dependent on Galveston Bay's viability.



But the Bay does more than support the human and environmental infrastructure that drives our economy. It provides seafood, recreation, peace and solitude.



People come from all over the country to go fishing in Galveston Bay, and from all over the world to witness the great migrations of hundreds of species of migratory birds, which travel along three of North America's flyways through the Galveston Bay area. The Bay and watershed offers other recreational opportunities, from swimming on clean beaches or canoeing in tree shaded bayous to capturing glimpses of rare piping plovers and Attwater prairie chickens, or seeing the graceful dance of a dolphin from the Bolivar ferry. The Bay enhances the quality of life of those living around it.





Galveston Bay has supported economic growth in the region and is surrounded by one of the most urbanized and industrialized areas in Texas and the nation. Resources in the Galveston Bay watershed have been utilized for construction, transportation, oil, gas and petrochemical production, water supply, fisheries, agriculture and recreational uses.

Port of Houston is the largest port in the U.S., based on foreign tonnage, and the 2nd largest in domestic tonnage. It is the 6th largest port in the world.

Travel dollars within the watershed exceeded $4.2 billion in 1994.

About 90,000 registered pleasure boats and the 3rd highest concentration of privately-owned marinas in the U. S.

Contributes one-third of the state's commercial fishing income and over one-half of the state's recreational fishing expenditures.

Shrimp accounts for nearly half the total Galveston Bay seafood harvest. Between 1994 and 1998, the annual commercial bay harvest of shrimp averaged near 7 million pounds.

Blue crab is a popular seafood species found along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. More blue crabs are commercially harvested in Galveston Bay than in any other Texas estuary, approximately one-third of the state total.

Galveston Bay produces more oysters than any single water body in the United States, and rivals the combined production of Louisiana and Washington.”



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Video: “A Day on Galveston Bay”: http://www.gbep.state.tx.us/video/day-on-galveston-bay.asp



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Support GBF Through the EarthShare of Texas Tear Pad Program at H-E-B in April



“H-E-B has again selected EarthShare of Texas to be the beneficiary of its in-store coupon promotion for April, in recognition of Earth Day. This means that customers can tear off and add check-out coupons worth $1, $3, or $5 to their total bill to support environmental work.



The tear pad program runs through the first week of May. Learn more by clicking here, and start donating today!”



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Fourteenth Annual Marsh Mania to be Held Saturday, May 5, 2012





“Please make plans to join the Galveston Bay Foundation at the fourteenth annual Marsh Mania. Bring your family and friends for a fun and muddy time!



Saturday, May 5, 2012, Baytown Nature Center



Registration: 8:30 am, Planting 9:00 am - 12:00 pm



Lunch & Door prizes: 12:00 -12:30 pm



Register today!”



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Join Us At Bay Day June 9, 2012



“Bay Day will be held on June 9, 2012, at the Kemah Boardwalk. Volunteers are needed to set-up, work, and breakdown the festival. We are also looking for schools, clubs, organizations, N





GOs, and businesses to exhibit at Bay Day. Consider exhibiting at Bay Day to teach local citizens how your organization works to conserve natural resources, highlighting Galveston Bay.



Saturday, June 9, 2012, Kemah Boardwalk,



Event: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm



Register to volunteer today!”



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Sailing in Galveston Bay



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Mystery Ship Found in a Texas Bay

The 162-foot-long ship was unearthed by Hurricane Ike in Houston.





“The remains of a shipwreck. Circa 1886, the wreck of an unusual ship was found in Galveston Bay. Belfiglio says this ship's construction is typically Roman. Nautical experts doubt this. but they will admit that real Roman craft were perfectly capable of sailing to Texas.”



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The Legend of Jean Lafitte



“Day after day, ships laden with gold ventured to the far reaches of Galveston Bay and West Bays, only to return empty. LaFitte himself directed several ships to the mouth of Clear Creek, from which he would lead a small boat with treasure, head up the creek, and return for more. LaFitte did not adhere to the standard pirate lexicon of “Dead men tell no tales,” so certainly a great many of his men knew the exact whereabouts of the buried riches.

On March 3, 1821, only hours before the Navy’s deadline, LaFitte set torch to the Campeche stronghold and sailed away. No further word was heard of him. It is assumed that LaFitte, only in his early 40s, and his entire force perished off Yucatan in a hurricane in 1826.

But the gold is still buried; none of it has ever been reported found. Certainly, shifting sands and vanishing islands in Galveston and West Bays have hidden a great deal of it forever. But somewhere, perhaps beneath a highway, under a fire station, in a backyard, or only inches beneath the salt grass, untold riches await only the turn of a shovel.” From: http://www.kemahhistoricalsociety.net/legend1.html



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May 6th, 2012, Blessing of the Fleet Boat Parade @ the Kemah Boardwalk.





44th Kemah Blessing of the Fleet and



4th Annual Shrimp Gumbo Cook-Off MAY-5-6 HERE







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“The Kemah Boardwalk is open daily providing fun for everyone! Located just 20 miles from downtown Houston, the Kemah Boardwalk is home to fabulous waterfront restaurants, amusements, charming retail stores, festivals and seaside shows every day.”







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On This Day:



Benjamin Franklin dies, Apr 17, 1790:

“On April 17, 1790, American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer Benjamin Franklin dies in Philadelphia at age 84.



Born in Boston in 1706, Franklin became at 12 years old an apprentice to his half brother James, a printer and publisher. He learned the printing trade and in 1723 went to Philadelphia to work after a dispute with his brother. After a sojourn in London, he started a printing and publishing press with a friend in 1728. In 1729, the company won a contract to publish Pennsylvania's paper currency and also began publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette, which was regarded as one of the better colonial newspapers. From 1732 to 1757, he wrote and published Poor Richard's Almanack, an instructive and humorous periodical in which Franklin coined such practical American proverbs as "God helps those who help themselves" and "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."



As his own wealth and prestige grew, Franklin took on greater civic responsibilities in Philadelphia and helped establish the city's first circulating library, police force, volunteer fire company, and an academy that became the University of Pennsylvania. From 1737 to 1753, he was postmaster of Philadelphia and during this time also served as a clerk of the Pennsylvania legislature. In 1753, he became deputy postmaster general, in charge of mail in all the northern colonies.



Deeply interested in science and technology, he invented the Franklin stove, which is still manufactured today, and bifocal eyeglasses, among other practical inventions. In 1748, he turned his printing business over to his partner so he would have more time for his experiments. The phenomenon of electricity fascinated him, and in a dramatic experiment he flew a kite in a thunderstorm to prove that lightning is an electrical discharge. He later invented the lightning rod. Many terms used in discussing electricity, including positive, negative, battery, and conductor, were coined by Franklin in his scientific papers. He was the first American scientist to be highly regarded in European scientific circles.



Franklin was active in colonial affairs and in 1754 proposed the union of the colonies, which was rejected by Britain. In 1757, he went to London to argue for the right to tax the massive estates of the Penn family in Pennsylvania, and in 1764 went again to ask for a new charter for Pennsylvania. He was in England when Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a taxation measure to raise revenues for a standing British army in America. His initial failure to actively oppose the controversial act drew wide criticism in the colonies, but he soon redeemed himself by stoutly defending American rights before the House of Commons. With tensions between the American colonies and Britain rising, he stayed on in London and served as agent for several colonies.



In 1775, he returned to America as the American Revolution approached and was a delegate at the Continental Congress. In 1776, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence and in July signed the final document. Ironically, Franklin's illegitimate son, William Franklin, whom Franklin and his wife had raised, had at the same time emerged as a leader of the Loyalists. In 1776, Congress sent Benjamin Franklin, one of the embattled United States' most prominent statesmen, to France as a diplomat. Warmly embraced, he succeeded in 1778 in securing two treaties that provided the Americans with significant military and economic aid. In 1781, with French help, the British were defeated. With John Jay and John Adams, Franklin then negotiated the Treaty of Paris with Britain, which was signed in 1783.



In 1785, Franklin returned to the United States. In his last great public service, he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and worked hard for the document's ratification. After his death in 1790, Philadelphia gave him the largest funeral the city had ever seen.”



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The Bay of Pigs invasion begins, Apr 17, 1961:

The Bay of Pigs invasion begins when a CIA-financed and -trained group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the communist government of Fidel Castro. The attack was an utter failure. Fidel Castro had been a concern to U.S. policymakers since he seized power in Cuba with a revolution in January 1959. Castro's attacks on U.S. companies and interests in Cuba, his inflammatory anti-American rhetoric, and Cuba's movement toward a closer relationship with the Soviet Union led U.S. officials to conclude that the Cuban leader was a threat to U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere. In March 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the CIA to train and arm a force of Cuban exiles for an armed attack on Cuba. John F. Kennedy inherited this program when he became president in 1961.



Though many of his military advisors indicated that an amphibious assault on Cuba by a group of lightly armed exiles had little chance for success, Kennedy gave the go-ahead for the attack. On April 17, 1961, around 1,200 exiles, armed with American weapons and using American landing craft, waded ashore at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. The hope was that the exile force would serve as a rallying point for the Cuban citizenry, who would rise up and overthrow Castro's government. The plan immediately fell apart--the landing force met with unexpectedly rapid counterattacks from Castro's military, the tiny Cuban air force sank most of the exiles' supply ships, the United States refrained from providing necessary air support, and the expected uprising never happened. Over 100 of the attackers were killed, and more than 1,100 were captured.



The failure at the Bay of Pigs cost the United States dearly. Castro used the attack by the "Yankee imperialists" to solidify his power in Cuba and he requested additional Soviet military aid. Eventually that aid included missiles, and the construction of missile bases in Cuba sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, when the United States and the Soviet Union nearly came to blows over the issue. Further, throughout much of Latin America, the United States was pilloried for its use of armed force in trying to unseat Castro, a man who was considered a hero to many for his stance against U.S. interference and imperialism. Kennedy tried to redeem himself by publicly accepting blame for the attack and its subsequent failure, but the botched mission left the young president looking vulnerable and indecisive.”



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Yesterday:



Nothing had been done to the making of the drapes for the cargo trailer, because I needed to know how we were going to hang them before I proceeded. Misty and I went to get Jay, so she and Maddie had their walk. She picked up cockleburs on her fluffy legs, it’s that time again.



Jay and I took some different window measurements in the trailer, the width between the brackets under the shelves, over the windows. The drapes need to be mounted behind the lights. We looked in my attic and found some curtain rods that would be suitable, so now I can finish the drapes, when I get time.



I don’t like to make old Misty uncomfortable by pulling, combing and brushing out cockleburs, so I took her in the grooming room. Some people like to see their dogs all cut down, but I don’t, so I invented a pattern for her, which I am calling “Cocklebur”. I cut her down, but left a pom-pom at the top of each leg. So with her tail pom-pom, and topknot, she became a 6 pom-pom dog. But she looks top heavy, so I will probably cut her down today.



Posted by LakeConroePenny,TX at 6:44 AM

Labels: Misty, trailer, Travel, TX

1 comments:



Dizzy-Dick said...

Pecan trees and cedar make our dogs a mess if they get under those trees. Grass burrs are the next worst thing and we run into those on every trip we have taken. Sometimes you just have to shave the long haired dogs.



Tue Apr 17, 02:48:00 PM CDT