Conversations with Theodore--The Early Years

Theodore and

The Logic of a Six-year Old

"Mama, I need more practice lying."
"Why?"
"I need to practice for when a robber comes into the house. If he asks me if I have something worth stealing, I want to be able to lie and say, "No," and have him believe me. That's why I need a lot of practice lying--so I can be ready for a robber."

A Second Look--February 22, 2012

During my Second Look around the yard this week, I was uninspired except for the golf ball I found. So I decided to come inside and take a second look at the flowers Ward gave me for Valentines Day.

Here's What I Saw This Week

  

Lights

Let There Be Light

Presidents Day

PRESIDENT'S DAY QUIZ
(This was originally a paper quiz I made for my friends at work. I've reprinted it here for you.) 
 

How much do you know about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln whom we honor on President's Day? Try your hand at the questions below that apply to either Washington or Lincoln.

1. _____ Stood 6'2” tall.

     2. ______ His mother was born in what is now the state of West Virginia.

3. _____ Used his hat to carry important papers.

4. _____ The first president to wear a beard.

5. _____ Had three hoe cakes and tea most mornings for breakfast.

6. _____ Introduced the mule to America.

7. _____ Had red hair when he was young.

8. _____ His formal education was only 18 months.

9. _____ He patented a system to alter buoyancy of steamboats.

   10.  _____ Had no biological children

Bonus: Both Washington and Lincoln were born in February. What days are their birthdays on?

Click on "Read More"  below to see the answers.

Steamboats

Rumsey monument and house where he lived.

If I asked you who invented the steamboat, you would probably respond, Robert Fulton. Most people do. But not if you're from West Virginia. We all know that James Rumsey invented the steamboat. We learned that in grade school in West Virginia history.


So recently when Ward and I visited Shepardstown, WV,  it was my goal to find where Rumsey lived and worked on this engineering feat. We tracked down his home and the monument marking where he launched his first steamboat. Success. How exciting to see my grade school lessons come to life all of these years later.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
But wait, there's more.

Who really invented the steamboat?

Like many significant inventions, there were several people working on the same thing at the same time. John Fitch and James Rumsey were two of these people. They both demonstrated a successful steamboat within a few months of each other in 1787. Rumsey demonstrated a less successful design in 1783. There was an an extreme rivalry and a nasty battle* between them for the rights to the first viable boat. The battle included pleas to George Washington, whom they both knew personally, for help. Washington didn't get involved. In the end, they both received federal patents on the same day, August 26, 1791. (But we all know, that before the patent, Rumsey was first.)

Now you may wonder, what about Robert Fulton? Where does he enter into all of this? Robert Fulton was the first one to make the steamboat a successful commercial venture with a route between New York City and Albany, NY, 20 years after Rumsey first demonstrated it. By the way, Fulton met Rumsey in France when all of the steamboat designs were being talked about and demonstrated. Another connection of Rumsey to the invention of the steamboat.

*We saw Wynkoop's Tavern in Shepherdstown where Fitch stayed while he was allegedly was spying on Rumsey.

Sources:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fulton
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Rumsey
 http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/mssc/steamboats/booklets1.htm
Shepherdstown Walking Tour Pamphlet