My Oldest Thing

(originally posted on my other blog 7-09-08)

What's the oldest thing you have? Here's mine:

It's not too much to look at, but it's a great old book from 1743. It's bound with hide and written in Latin. It's Volume Seven of a series on Catholic teachings, I think. I'm pretty sure this page mentions the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and eucharist.

I don't read Latin, so I'm not certain of the specifics. If you can translate, please comment!! It has a coverplate from Sutro Library in San Francisco, CA as a lovely valley with a few log homes and a man with a pickax working on the soil.

I got a bit curious about my old book last night. I didn't have the Internet when I bought it! I googled Sutro Library and found it still exists! I also read about Mr. Sutro, who loved books, was mayor of San Francisco for a short time, made millions in the railroad industry and mining, built the Sutro baths, (I had heard of them, but hadn't put the two together). Some of his library was burned in the 1906 earthquake, but some still exists in the Sutro Library. Here's a link about him.

Adolph Sutro

I called the Library this morning and described the book and asked if they had any information about it's history. The lady on the phone took the information, searched in the computer, took some more info about the book, then asked if she could have the Head of Antiquities call me tomorrow. She said "This is very interesting....I know she will be eager to speak with you."


Here's hoping they want the book back for a cool $25G! One can dream, right?? I actually had it appraised years ago. The hippie with the pot smoke floating about his head said it was worth about $200.


I'll let you know what happens with it!

*Update* The Librarian called me back and said that they do indeed have a copy of the book, and she hasn't any idea how this copy ended up in a swap meet in Rocklin, CA. Poof- there goes my 25G...oh well.

Camping Pictures

(originally posted on my other blog 7-7-08)

As you may remember, we camped a little over a week ago. We went to our lovely Sequoia National Forest, which we SO enjoy visiting.

After setting camp, we explored, enjoyed and relaxed. We were blessed to be with our dear friends, R and E and their three kids. R is quite adventurous, and among other things, knows how to rock climb. He brought his equipment and all the children got to climb up and repel down!
I have many more pics, Grandma, if you want them. All the children made it up to Daddy, even Troubles! They had a great time.

We also fished in the pond, with a few little fish being caught. We hiked, enjoyed smores and learned that crushing fern and rubbing it on nettle burns makes the stinging stop.

I found a wonderful exoskeleton of a dragonfly nymph that had "made the change" while clinging to a blade of thick grass. I collected it, but it was accidentally crushed before I got a picture. We also got to see a newly emerged dragonfly resting on his discarded exoskeleton. Here is a photo essay on the process. We observed chipmunks, squirrels, birds of various kinds, water skimmers, trout, and lots of insects. We collected pond water and creek water for observation under the microscope.

At home, we found tiny plants and microscopic little worms in the pond water and had a discussion on why you always boil water from natural sources before drinking it! We haven't looked at the creek water yet, so we won't find anything living, I think.

Here is a picture of all of us in front of the Sequoia in our campsite. The 'cave' in the tree that is behind me was big enough for most of the children to fit inside, all at once. Sequoias often have these hollows.