Donation/ Scholarship Thank You

In a more scholarship-oriented vein, an important letter to know about is the thank you for a scholarship or donation. The thank you for a gift of money is as simple as when someone hands you something you've asked for.

Donor Name

Address Line 1

Address Line 2

Date

Dear Donor, 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your generosity in funding the Scholarship Name that I received this year as part of my financial aid package. I feel very fortunate to have been chosen as a recipient of this award. 

I am currently in class year majoring in subject and I plan to graduate in Month Year with a degree. While I attend School Name full/part-time, insert some personal information to create a connection with the donor. I am truly grateful for the assistance that I am receiving because of your thoughtful gift. When I graduate, I hope that I can use what I have learned at school to make a difference in people's lives, just as you have made a difference in mine. 

Thank you again for the generous contribution which made my scholarship possible. 

Sincerely, 

Signature
Name
Educational Institution

You want to make the letter your own. Personalize it with what information you feel is appropriate: if you're not comfortable with providing a lot of personal information, talk about what your program is doing and what you're learning (this is information which the donor can obtain from the syllabus). With the school year beginning, this is the opportune moment to express gratitude for those who allow fiscal stability in education. 

This format works best for a printed and mailed letter, however, to simplify and transition it into e-mail formatting you may remove the mailing addresses. 

Just a thought...
Stephie

Important Letters

As life progresses I've learned that respect and consideration are some of our most powerful and best tools for proceeding. While in the heat of the moment you may not want to sugar-coat your message it is commonly accepted that less is more in various business settings.

I have been blessed with an exceptional education, but it has not prepared me as well as it should have for life in the business world. I recently discovered this when attempting to terminate my business relationship with a long-time employer.

When I was struggling with my resignation letter I discovered there are quite a few letters young people haven't been taught to write, let along make their own. A quick internet search will reveal dozens of templates; in my next few posts, I'll present my examples for different letters.

Cover Letter
Interview Follow-Up/ Thank you
Resignation/ Two Weeks' Notice
Donor Gratitude
Apology

Herd Immunity

Until a few months ago, the idea of Herd Immunity wasn't really something I'd considered, yet it was, and continues to be, something which protects me from more than simply Polio or Diphtheria. Herd Immunity is something which protects us all from more dangerous forms of diseases such as Chickenpox or the Flu. 

     The theory is that enough people are immunized against the disease or illness that those who cannot get vaccinated are protected through the people around them. With all the 'conversation' in the media about having children vaccinated, I decided to take a deeper look at what exactly Herd Immunity is.

     The TED Talks folks have posted a video of Dr. Romina Libster's presentation to the TEDxRiodelaPlata conference. Her video is in Spanish with English subtitles (more languages are available at TED.com), and explains the evolution of H1N1 in her hometown. Dr. Libster is a medical researcher who looks at respiratory viruses and looks for ways to prevent their spread. 

     While less entertaining than the video by Penn and Teller, Dr Libster's presentation makes a complex idea more bite-sized and palatable. 

Just a thought...

Stephie

Mistletoe

     There is a Norse myth about the tiny plant mistletoe and how such a harmless bush can bring down Balder, the Norse god of Truth and Light. The plant itself is a parasite, it latches onto the crown of a tree or other plant and forms a haustorium, which allows the mistletoe to leech water and nutrients from the host plant.
     In the ancient world it was illegal to fight in the presence of mistletoe. It was the plant of peace, from the time Balder was killed enemies laid down their arms if they happened to pass under the plant. Lore says the mistletoe forevermore agreed to bring love rather than death and it was Frigga's (Balder's mother) tears which became the plant's berries.
     Mistletoe has also been considered an aphrodisiac and has abortifacient qualities linking it with ancient erotica. Here is a root for the modern tradition of kissing under mistletoe during the winter holidays. The mysticism can be compounded by mistletoe's evergreen leaves while its host plant loses all sense of life in the dark winter months.

History Day

     When I was in high school I participated in a program called National History Day. It's a pretty cool idea to get kids involved in history and thinking about the events that changed the world--though they definitely don't realize they're doing it. At least, I didn't realize that I was learning about world-changing events and their consequences.
     This year the theme was Rights and Responsibilities and the projects were all good choices. Where I became more and more frustrated over the course of the day was in their inability to string words into complete sentences. Now, I understand that twelve to fifteen-year-olds won't have the same confidence with language that I do after sixteen years of education, but they can at least build a sentence that makes its point without throwing me into a maelstrom of confusion at the mere sight of it.
     I was actually proud to see the projects and see how everything has changed because of the technology available. When we completed our exhibit (I was in a group with two other young ladies) we had to go to the library for primary sources or ask the librarian for help finding and having them sent to us. Now there are so many archives online students can find and access without too much stress that they have more informed presentations and they are more connected to not only their history but also current events.
     The competition is good for the students if they 're hoping to move forward to college and, in my experience, gives them something to strive for academically. The experience is similar to what I experienced working on projects in college--not only do you need to understand research methods, but you must know how to convey your argument clearly and concisely.
     I enjoy working with the program and my greatest frustrations rise when students don't give their best efforts then hope to convince me, as a judge, that it is their top work. Sorry kiddos, been there, done that, I still have the paper somewhere. It's a good program and deserves recognition for introducing young teens to the process and rigor of academic research.

Ancient Aliens

     I absolutely love listening to people talk about the "what-if". I got hooked on the History Channel show Ancient Aliens and it now feeds my hypothetical frenzy. There is also the one speaker (Giorgio A. Tsoukalos) and his crazy hair that makes me laugh because he's so passionate about his subject and doesn't notice his unruly hairdo. He's probably my favorite character to listen to on the show.
     I think it's funny how Ancient Aliens looks into the mysteries that abound throughout history and draw conclusions that point toward not only the existence of aliens but their interference as well. Images that could be anything from misshapen clouds to glow sticks become batteries and electric light bulbs, cogs and joints become technology beyond comprehension, gods and mythical creatures become alien life forms: things we would brush off as something someone ahead of the time created become things humans couldn't have developed without assistance.
     While I won't discount the possibility of advanced life forms interfering with our development, I think when people believe these developments came from elsewhere we're discounting the ingenuity and creativity of the human race. Who is to say we couldn't develop these magical inventions? Even if the ancients had alien assistance, more modern times have created those things we compare the mysterious images to.
     Ancient Aliens is a fun show and I enjoy it because it poses some entertaining theories to the questions in our world and, despite sometimes depressing me with their portrayal of the human race's potential for creativity, I come away from each episode considering how we got to where we are and what would have changed had one thing gone awry in the path.

Just a thought...
Stephie

A Dumping Ground for Whims?

     I'm in a reflective mood today, and there's something intriguing about being on the internet and knowing that there is so much information out there about me. Part of that is the basic terror of "someone could find me and use this information to harm me" and another part is a "what if..."

     For those of us who grew up as the internet became popular there were the usual internet stranger-danger lessons: don't talk to anyone you don't know in real life, don't give anyone your information including your real name and age, don't do this, don't do that. But now that we're all adults the world wants us to give out all that information and live our lives in the virtual realm. There are even sites devoted to sharing everything from your name to what you ate for breakfast to a picture of that breakfast. 

     Personally, I don't understand the desire to share what I ate for breakfast, or a picture of it, with the world (for those of you asking: cinnamon toast and apple juice). But there are times when sharing something is appropriate, like friends posting about their engagements and asking for help with wedding ideas. But where do we draw that line?

     Should  we be posting on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest all the details of our every moment, or should they be reserved for thoughtful or intentional shares? Is the internet, the archive of our present, a place to record the development of our thoughts and ideas or a dumping ground for our every whim?

Just a thought...

Stephie

MASH

     I started reading like crazy this summer, to make up for all that time I spent on required readings, and in looking for something interesting found M.A.S.H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. This was exciting for me because I've been watching the television show since I was a kid. It was fascinating to see the transition of the story: the movie, and television show, were based on this book. I hadn't noticed when I saw the movie or in watching the show--I guess they didn't credit the author unless he or she was associated with the screen production too--so I was surprised when all three of the renditions were similar.
     The show follows Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, a Captain in the US Army stationed at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital situated near the front lines. He lives in "The Swamp" with a rotation of four other officers and makes it through the Korean War by drinking and flirting outrageously with any and all women he comes across. Yet, he is still one of the best doctors in Asian campaign, with an honest care for the well-being of the people around him. Hawkeye and his friends' hi-jinks illustrate the futility of war while still showing their humanity: their pranks and shows of temper are how they maintain dignity in the midst of one of the most brutal situations man faces.

     The movie is a precursor to the television show and based on the novel. A dark comedy about the same characters and problems as in the novel and television show. The 4077 MASH calls in two replacement doctors and gets Hawkeye and Captain "Duke" Forrest. The two encounter their new tent-mate, Major Frank Burns, who is extremely religious and an inferior surgeon to Hawkeye and Duke. A new surgeon arrives, "Trapper" John, whom Hawkeye knew in college. Hi-jinks ensue and Burns is sent stateside. Meanwhile, the unit's dentist confesses to the chaplain that he is considering suicide. He comes to the Swampmen (for they again live in a tent named "The Swamp") for a quick and easy way to finish it. The three men suggest a "black-pill" quick acting poison and prepare a Last Supper-like going away party for the dentist. The black-pill is a sleeping pill and the dentist's confidence is renewed when he spends the night with one of the nurses, negating his worry of inability to perform. The movie then includes Trapper and Hawkeye's journey to Japan to save a congressman's son. Through blackmail and political implication they escape court-martial and run into a friend of Hawkeye's from college. The story ends with a football game between the 4077th and 325th MASH units. Both sides have ringers and the 4077th manages to win through a combination of cheating and trickery. Soon afterward Hawkeye and Duke are discharged and sent home.
     The book is much like both the movie and the television series. Character outlines vary and some characters are combined to create those who appear in both the movie and television show. I found the personifications between the book and shows enlightening. Alan Alda as Hawkeye in the show has always struck me as the perfect character, but in reading the book I realize how much the two are intertwined. Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye in the movie is a good imagining, but he doesn't have as much of the carefree rake in his personification as Alda's Hawkeye does. Yet the Hawkeye of the book isn't quite as much of a womanizer as in the television show. The relationships between characters, though, are spot-on. How they interact and react to each other, in both the show and movie, mirrors a relationship in the book that creates the community the characters can exist within.
     Despite the differences in characterizations between mediums, the MASH characters are powerful examples of humanity in times of trouble and chaos. I enjoyed all three tellings of Richard Hooker's story. What if all franchises had this similarity threading through them?

Just a thought....
Stephie

Thyroid Cancer Prevention?

     I was talking to my grandmother recently and she was reading one of those forwarding e-mails, I don't know how true it is, but it sounds plausible. The info originated on Dr. Oz or some such television show.
     When you go to the dentist and get X-rays most people don't realize that your thyroid is right below your jaw. We're told that constant exposure to radiation can cause cancer and it makes sense that regular exposure to radiation at the dentist (or during mammograms for women) can increase your risk, or cause cancer. But there is a guard to protect you; a flap on the apron at the dentist's office and a "thyroid guard" to wear during mammograms are available, but most people don't know about it or don't use it.
     Why don't we know about it? I don't know, maybe it's just a lack of information. If so, let's spread the word.

Just a thought....
Stephie

Sequester: Air Tower Closures

     I was stunned to learn that the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) is closing down several of their locations because of the sequester. I went searching for information and according to a Forbes article even though air traffic makes up only 20% of the Department of Transportation's budget, it is taking 60% of the cuts to transportation. I would like to see some reasoning behind this--Why is the FAA getting the lion's share of the cuts?
     The cuts will close 149 air traffic control towers that are run by subcontracted employees, meaning that the controllers are employed by outside companies rather than the FAA itself. Out of 250 towers nation-wide, the FAA originally planned on closing 189 towers but changed the plan because of "national interest."
     My shock was mainly at the scale of the closures. The 149 towers are in 46 states, they are in small towns and the outskirts of large cities alike. But the closures aren't really closing down the entire facility, instead they're pulling the air traffic controllers and closing the towers. Some "have likened the tower closures to a city suddenly losing its stoplights. It doesn't mean that crashes will happen, but pilots will have to be that much more vigilant" the article said. 
      As someone who travels to small towns and has family and friends in aviation, the closures are concerning; there are ways to deal with an empty control tower, but a location that has been functioning with personnel will be handicapped at least initially by these decisions. I just hope we don't have to hear about a tragedy because of the FAA's cuts. 

Just a thought...
Stephie

Boomerang Nebula

Hubble Space Telescope

     So I was talking to a friend today and we got into some pretty interesting stuff about science and the universe. Bottom line is that this guy knows a whole lot about physics for a history major. He told me about this place that's known as the coldest naturally occurring place in the universe: the Boomerang Nebula. Apparently it's in the Centaurus constellation and it's colder than actual space.
     The Nebula has such a cold temperature because it's releasing gas from the star's core and expanding at a rate of 164 km/s. It's located 5 thousand light years away and is pretty neat. The scientists who first saw it in 1980 only saw the Nebula's bend, but after viewing through the Hubble Space Telescope some scientists now call it the Bowtie Nebula.
     There are places that are colder, such as Wolfgang Ketterle's lab at MIT in Cambridge, where temperatures have reached 810 trillionths of a farenheit degree above absolute zero, but the Boomerang Nebula is the coldest known naturally occurring place in the universe. It's incredible!

Just a thought...
Stephie

Does it Hook You and Drag You In?

     In reading for Capstone, I came across a literary critic who, just after his mother's death, used photography and photographic theory to try and recapture his mother. that was Roland Barthes' (said "Bart") foray into photography in Camera Lucidia, which was originally written in French. The fact that it was translated helps to understand why the actual words on the page don't always make sense.
     The main things Barthes talked about were the punctum, studium, and unary photograph. When he talked about these different ideas he used the word affect to describe the emotions it made him feel. The punctum is described as a detail in a photograph that hooks into the reader and draws their attention. Studium is something that you notice, but the attention doesn't get caught on. A unary photograph is a photo that is so perfectly composed that it doesn't do anything to the attention--the observer says "hmm" and walks away--like the pictures that come in picture frames.
     My argument is that everything has this sort of element--it's not in the art itself, but in the observer's experience. The three parts are dependent on each other to exist, but without the observer there is nothing for them to relate to and create the affect that Barthes seems so stuck on. I understood affect to be the emotional meaning that creates the three responses, when you look at a wedding photo you're usually happy because weddings are happy occasions.
     It's difficult to make my argument make sense to other people because I'm not applying a photographic theory to photography, so I have to explain as well as show that what I'm saying is not only possible, but also plausible. I'm enjoying the application of my take on Barthes's theory, but no matter how interesting I find it, explaining his theory is a pain.

Just a thought....
Stephie

Sasquatch

     I live in the Pacific Northwest, I have my entire life, and I still don't understand how people can't believe that there is something out there that we don't understand. I'm watching whatever this is on the History channel about Bigfoot. They keep talking about skunk apes and mutant gorillas, or even the missing link between humans and the apes. They've gotten a group of "experts" together to look into whatever the sightings might really be.
     They wonder what Bigfoot eats, where he lives, why he is secretive or hides, where did he come from, and what is he doing? They look at what Bigfoot had to evolve toward in order to survive. They mapped out where sightings have been reported, they're focused along the western coast in North America, and the experts compared that to what they believe to be the best climate for a large omnivorous ape. Supposedly they match almost perfectly. The sightings describe a tall, broad, hairy-looking man that walks on two legs, can run like a man or an ape, makes calls into the night and hunts in the forest.
     The scientists compare the Bigfoot sightings they're researching to the Loch Ness monster and to the Yeti as mythic creatures. When they compare the Bigfoot to creatures we know to exist they usually compare them to humans or to chimpanzees or gorillas. They talk about the Yeti living in the snow fields and being compared to the Mande Burung and the Yeren in Asia, and to the Oreng Pendek in Indonesia. These are creatures that have been seen for thousands of years and match a human ancestor called Heidelbergensis.
     The name Sasquatch is a native american term and the tales match up with each of these different ancient human examples. There is another theory that the Bigfoot creature is a modern human that has become the "Wild Man" and evolved to live in the wild. It wouldn't necessarily be a future example of humans, but a parallel species. They cite the similarity to humans in diet, shape, possible rituals, and purported sexual desire (apparently Sasquatch has an attraction to human women and the tribes of the Pacific Northwest take care to protect their female guests) to draw lines between human ancestors, giant apes, modern human cousins, or even modern homo sapiens.
     I'm just interested in what's out there. Is it a spiritual location for the native tribes where the shamans become wild people and transform into a completely different kind of person? Is there a cousin or ancestor to modern humans wandering the forests? Or is it just a trick of the eye? I think there is something out there; I know of at least one person who has seen something like the typical image of Sasquatch, and I'm sure there are more.
     There is some magic in the mystery of Sasquatch and the other Bigfoot, as well as in the Loch Ness creature. I don't understand why we, as a human collective, insist that there isn't something in the forests and waters of the world. One day we might know what's out there, but I hope that we still have some of the mystery that pervades our planet when we do discover what it is.



Just a thought...
Stephie

Novelistic Settings

     I was getting ready to write about a book I read years ago, The Secret at Shadow Ranch. It's a Nancy Drew Mystery, short and sweet, but I just couldn't remember the plot so I decided to search the internet for it. I came up with a Wikipedia site for Shadow Ranch--it's a real place!

     I was shocked to discover this so I continued reading, only to find that the ranch in real life is in California, while in the book it's in Arizona. All interest lost. But then I got to thinking: how many places in books have existed in real life (other than what we expect to be on the map) and how to people come up with them? 

      Then I heard about a book that's become extremely popular lately: the Fifty Shades books. My friend was complaining about how they're set in Seattle yet nothing about the setting is realistic, other than the rain. Another friend chimed in that it was because it's Twilight fan fiction and the author lives in Australia. While that's all good and fine, there are so many other, good books that have a better description of Seattle than the Twilight series and so many other ways to discover more about the area than to use another fictional book. 

     I know Jayne Ann Krentz lives in the Seattle area. Her books are usually set in the Pacific Northwest and have a pretty realistic setting. While you can't go to a particular part of town and say "Oh, So-and-so lived in that building on the fourth floor" you see parts of the city that the characters walk through and live in. 

     Why is it that some authors write much more realistic settings into their books than others? The mythical realms are usually the most detailed: Narnia, Middle Earth, Alagaesia, and so many other worlds have more dimension than places that really exist. But why? Is it so much more difficult to paint a picture in your reader's mind of a place they could actually go and visit than one only you can see?

Just a thought....
Stephie

The Wild Man

     I took a Fairy Tales & Fantasy class last year where we looked at the psychology behind some of the common fairy tales. It was a great class and I finally got to look into the history and motivations commonly thought to be behind the stories I've been hearing and reading for years. The story we looked at in the most depth was the story of the Wild Man. Now, the Wild Man is a wise man who lives in the forest. In the story he is known as Iron John, a man who lived in a pond and mentored a young prince.

A basic retelling of the story:
     Something strange is happening in the forest near the king's castle: people go in, but they don't come out, so people stop going into the forest. A mysterious hunter shows up and  asks the king if there's anything dangerous around. The king points out the forest and the hunter goes in with only his dog. When they pass a pond, something reaches out and grabs the dog. The man returns to the castle, gathers some people, and returns to empty the pond. They find Iron John, tie him up, and lock him in the castle dungeons.

     One day the prince is playing with his favorite golden ball when it rolls away and into the Wild Man's dungeon. Iron John says he'll give it back if the prince releases him, the boy runs away and returns twice more before saying he couldn't release Iron John even if he wanted to. To which the Wild Man replies, "the key is under your mother's pillow."
     The prince steals the key when his parents are away, and tries to release the Wild Man, but hurts his finger in the process. When the man is free he cries, "don't leave or they will beat me" so Iron John takes the prince up on his shoulders and they escape together. The King and Queen notice the escaped prisoner and missing prince and scour the lands for them without success.
     Iron John feels compassion for the prince, who can never return home, and sets him to the task of watching a spring, not letting anything fall into it. The boy sees golden fish and creatures moving in the pure water, and unknowingly slides his hurt finger into the pond. It turns to gold! When the Wild Man returns the prince is given two more chances to right the wrong, but he allows a single hair from his head, then the entire shock of his hair to fall into the pond. The Wild Man sends the boy out into the world to experience poverty because of his failure.
     The boy went in search of work, having no skill by which to earn his living he wandered until he found a large city. He went into the palace and asked for work, and while they didn't know what he could do, they liked him and set him to fetch and carry for the kitchen. One day the cook sent him to deliver food to the king's table, but the boy didn't want the king to see his golden hair and kept his hat on. The king found this disrespectful and ordered him fired.
     Instead of firing him, the cook took pity and traded the prince for the gardener's boy. One summer day he took off his hat and his golden hair sparkled and glowed in the sunlight. The princess saw and demanded the boy bring her flowers, when he arrived she tricked him into taking his cap off. He tried to escape, but she caught him and gave him a bag of coins. The prince handed them over to the gardener for his children. On the next day the princess tried again to see the boy's hair, but he held his cap on and she gave him another bag of coins that he handed over to the gardener. On the third day, he held onto his hat and refused the bag of coins.
     Soon a war broke out in the country. The boy decided he was man enough to go to war and declared his intention. The soldiers mocked him and left him a lame horse. The boy called at the edge of the forest three times "Iron John" and the Wild Man came. "What do you want?" the boy replied a strong war-horse. So Iron John provided a magnificent war horse and a band of iron-clad warriors. They drove back the enemy force and won the battle for the King, but rather than riding directly back to the castle, the prince returned the gifts to Iron John and rode the three-legged horse home.
     The king decided to host a festival to bring out the mysterious knight ending with the princess throwing out the golden apple. The prince went back to the forest and asked Iron John to catch the apple, the Wild Man gave him a chestnut horse and red armor to protect him. He rode onto the field and when the princess threw out the golden apple, he caught it, immediately riding away. On the second day the prince wore white armor and rode a white horse, caught the apple and rode away. The king became angry and told his men that if the mysterious knight didn't come and report his name, "chase him and give him a blow with your sword." On the third day Iron John gave the prince black armor and a black horse. He caught the apple and fled, but the King's Men followed and knocked his helmet off. They returned and told the king all.

     The princess went the next day to the gardener and asked after the boy. He replied, "he went to join the festival and got home late last night. But he showed my children three golden apples he won." She returned to her father and the king called the boy. The princess took his cap and his golden hair astounded the court, the king asked if he was the knight. The boy replied yes, revealed he was the mysterious knight from the war and that his father was a notable king, and when the king offered a reward, asked for the princess in marriage.
     When the two were celebrating their marriage feast, a baronial king burst through the doors with his attendants, hugged the young man and said, "I am Iron John, enchanted into the Wild Man, you have freed me and all my treasures are now yours!"
And they all lived happily ever after...

     There are so many things we talked about in this story, like the golden ball. The class discussion came up with the golden ball as innocence. Around eight years old, something happens that the world is no longer a happy-hunky-dory place. For some people this is sooner and for some this is later, but for the most part, something happens at eight. The time in the king's kitchen is reminiscent of the work that everyone has to do to figure out their own identity and who they want to be in the future. It continues over into the work with the gardener, only that is more of the busy work that you do until you've managed to put into action who you want to be; like a first job before you start your career. Finding the princess is, in this case, finding the inner female or the anima. I was fascinated that Iron John's spell was broken because he mentored another young man in the ways of the Wild Man, and in doing so helped him to achieve his fortune and destiny. It speaks to the idea that you're not completely done with your life's work until you've helped and led another into the beginning of their life's work. A resounding advocation of mentoring programs. I enjoyed the story, while it isn't my favorite myth or fairy tale it does show how these stories are reflections of the society and time they came out of.

Just a thought....
Stephie

Tea! The Morning Pick-Me-Up

No, this is not my tea set. But I do wish it were.

     Some people drink coffee, some people drink soda, but I am one of those people who drink tea. I love my tea, but I kind of fell into it by a process of elimination. Soda is all well and good, but a little too sweet. Coffee has something in it that gives me migraines. Tea is only as sweet as you want it to be, and has the necessary caffeine to wake me up. I was just a little curious about the different types of tea. Here's what I came up with:

• tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world (the first is water)
• drinking tea is good for you -- it's filled with great stuff, even some anti-inflammatory
• tea can help regulate food intake
• it can produce a meditative state and causes an alert and focused calm
• there are white, yellow, green, oolong, black, and post-fermented teas
• most teas in tea bags are blends of different types of tea (but you can get "single estate" teas too)

There's so much more to know about tea, but I'm not going to bore you with it all. I'm off to enjoy my cup of Earl Gray.

Just a thought for a good night...

Stephie

Columbia, California

     So I was off roaming around the country this last week and visited some family in Central California. It was great; there was a wedding, we went to see Magic Mike and Brave (two great movies for two completely different audiences), and we did the touristy thing and visited Columbia.

     Columbia is this great old-time mining town that has been preserved as a California State Historical Park. There are all sorts of things to do, including mining for gold, riding the stagecoach, making your own candles, watching the blacksmith at his craft, and watching the Nelson's Columbia Candy Kitchen make their homemade candies. We've been going as a family for years and still love to walk around and see the sights. My favorites are the Candle Courtyard and the candy shop. 

     At the Courtyard you can buy candles that have a basic shape, and dip them in hot wax to add color and your own unique spin on the candle. They have the traditional taper-shape and other shapes, like roses. It's great fun for kids, though you'll want to be careful with the wax . 

     Nelson's has a great selection of old-time candies: chocolate dipped honeycomb, fudge, divinity, hard candies in all sorts of flavors, jellies, lollipops, gummy candies, and even sugar free selections. Most candies are made in the shop, but there are a few that come from elsewhere. 

     There are other saloons and shops as well as street vendors. This last trip there was a cart selling old-fashioned root beer floats and lemonade and another with popcorn and other goodies. There's Brown's Coffee House & Sweets Saloon, the City Hotel, Kate's Teahouse, Columbia Booksellers & Stationers, and many other shops and eateries. 

     My favorite part of the town is that it started out as an actual mining town and has been restored. There are mini-museums throughout the town as well as a bowling alley from the 1800s and citizens dressed in era clothing. All the while, the town has grown up around its historical center and incorporated the park into the life of the town. 

     Columbia is a great place to visit for a touch of the California Gold Rush, but by no means the only attraction to the area. Nearby are Sonora, Jamestown, Angels Camp, and Murphy, California. Each have their own touch of history including Jamestown's Railtown 1897 State Historical Park. Stop by and enjoy what Tuolumne County has to offer. 

Just a thought...

Stephie