St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Ireland

 Eli Dillion

 George Bernard Shaw, known for many things, but I especially like several of his quotes:
"Life isn't about finding yourself, life is about creating yourself."
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds can't change anything."

 James Clarence Mangan

 Jonathan Swift

 And more

 Honored in St. Patrick's Park (Cathedral).  So many gorgeous old cathedrals throughout the country.

 Oscar Wilde

 Yates........so many influential people.  What a lovely way to honor and remember them in this pretty park.

A bit dark, chilly and windy as you can see how wind blown I am in the foreground.  Some of my travel companions walking about behind me.  We managed a few minutes here between the rain drops.  Would have been nice to spend a bit more time and read all the memorials, and enjoy the flowers on a prettier day.

Map of Travels, Dublin post I
Trinity College, Dublin and The Book of Kells

Trinity College, Dublin and the Book of Kells, part I

 The Brian Boru Harp or Celtic Harp which is the official emblem of Ireland.  This is taken in the long room at Trinity College in Dublin.  Trinity College was founded by charter by Queen Elizabeth in 1592.  The oldest part of the library was built between 1712 and 1732.  This is one of the world's great research libraries holding the largest collection of manuscripts and printed books in Ireland.  This harp is the oldest to survive from Ireland and they believe it dates from the fifteenth century.

 The ceiling looks like a ship.  Each section is marked by a bust.  The books are not filed alphabetically by title or by author, but by size.  Since the shelves go floor to ceiling the largest books are the first layer and with each new layer/shelf the books become smaller with the very smallest at the top.  You can see how that gives them the ability to house more books.

 One view of the very tall shelf unit.  You could get a noise bleed climbing the ladder to get a book at the top.

Another view of the books.  Can you smell how musty the place is?

The library and campus get lots of visitors.  Tickets are required.  Prior to our touring the library, we had a local guide (a student) give us a tour of the campus.  The local tour guide was lined up by our tour company, Insight Vacations.

Chief Leatherlips, SHA-TE-YAH-RON-YA, Dublin Ohio

The gravestone of Chief Leatherlips who was executed on June 1, 1810. Ohio had been a state only 7 years when Chief Leatherlips was executed. He was named Leatherlips by White Man because he never broke a promise. He was a good friend of whitemen. He was an important Wyandot Indian Chief. He signed The Treaty of Greenville which put an end to the Northwest Indian Wars after the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August of 1795.

This quote by William Sells: "O, Johnny my heart was touched by the taking away of that good Indiana. His word was as true as Gospel. He proved it by his actions. This certainly gives credence to his name. William Sells witnessed his execution and tried to stop it to no avail. There are several stories about how and why he was executed. Tecumseh's brother Tenskwatawa condemned him to death for giving away Indian Lands. He signed land over to The Whites in The Greenville Treaty. It is also recorded that when The Wyandots moved northward bad health and other negative things happened to them. Chief SHA-TE-YAH-RON-YA (Leatherlips), stayed behind in Ohio; the Dublin area rather than moving on with the tribe because he didn't want to leave his white friends. The tribe thought he'd brought them bad luck and that he practiced witch doctor tactics that caused them to have bad luck.

His own brother, Roundhead sent 6 warriers to carry out the death order of Tenskwatawa. He was, according to one account given an opportunity to move back with tribe which he denied. His executioners sang the death chant with him and then killed him with their tomahawks. Chief Leatherlips wore his finery for the occasion.

This plaque rests in a different location then the above gravestone of Chief Leatherlips. The gravestone is suppose to the area where he was executed. This plaque marks the last known hunting camp of Chief Leatherlips at 7377 Riverside Drive. This location is on the opposite side of the road and is south of the gravestone. Walk up the hill from the historical marker and you see this.

A interesting 12 foot tall Limestone likeness of Chief Leatherlips. The likeness even shows his long flowing hair which flows into the hillside. This monument was dedicated in July of 1990 by The Dublin Art Council. Walk up the hill beside the memorial for a birds eye view.

A great place to take the kids. They can pose where Stanley is and look down over Chief Leatherlips camp. At this point it's like you're on top of his head. As you look around the beautiful park you'll see The Scioto River. No doubt Chief fished and hunted for life game on it's shores. Re-create that with the kids and bring your fishing pole.

To the right of the large impressive monument is this wonderful outdoor theatre where summertime performance take place. Come spent the day, bring a picnic. Bathroom facilities are available, and several parking lots. This is free, please come and enjoy the scenery and reflect on the life of Chief Leatherlips.

Depending on the age of the kids you might not wish to dwell on how The Good Chief died; but you can still discuss how he helped The Whites in what was then very much a wilderness area. Fishing of course will help them remember the activity, even if you're doing the activity here on my blog vs being there in person...you can still go fishing. Make a tent on the close line, let the kids pretent their at camp. Build with clay, or blocks a likeness of someone they know, like a family member. Buy a piece of leather at the fabric store and let them make something with leather. As with all our activities pull in math, let them figure out how long things happened. Word puzzles never get old, make a hidden word puzzle. The important thing is have fun with it, and the kids will learn something along the way.

Don't forget to come back next Friday the 13th for Flat Stanley's next adventure. And when you come, bring an orange crayon!
If you've missed any of Stanley's adventures you can travel with him now:

• April 23, 2010 Books and Parks (Upper Arlington, Ohio)
• April 30, 2010 Traitor or Hero (Worthington, Ohio)
• May 7, 2010 Flat Stanley and his friend Captain Pinney (Worthington, Ohio)
• May 14, 2010 First Flight and Flat Stanley (Worthington, Ohio)
• May 21, 2010 Up The Indian Mound with Flat Stanley (Columbus, Ohio)
• May 28, 2010 Flat Stanley goes to Camp (Upper Arlington, Ohio)
• May 31, 2010 Honoring Those who Served on Memorial Day (Upper Arlington, Ohio)
• June 12, 2010 Signs and Flat Stanley, (Worthington, Ohio)
• June 18, 2010 Breathe Easy with Flat Stanley (Columbus, Ohio)
• June 25, 2010 Stanley at The Masonic Museum (Worthington, Ohio)
• July 2, 2010 Special 4th of July with Flat Stanley (Worthington, Ohio)
• July 9, 2010 Free Seats Available, (Worthington, Ohio)
• July 16, 2010 Corn on The Cob and Flat Stanley (Dublin, Ohio)
• July 30, 2010 Bill Moose Crowfoot and Flat Stanley (Upper Arlington, Ohio)

Corn on the Cob and Flat Stanley, Dublin Ohio

This should start off your Friday with a laugh or at least a smile. Flat Stanley here next to 6 foot tall cement ears of corn. Don't rub your eyes you really are seeing lots and lots of these tall cement ears of corn. This is real, there are 109 such ears. I don't know why there are 109 to be exact. This "art"/joke can be seen at the corner of Frantz and Rings Roads in Dublin Ohio.

This is the first piece of public art The Dublin Arts Council paid for (with tax dollars mind you) and it got very mixed reviews. Many thought it was silly, some thought it was art, and to a few who knew why it was planted there it was historical. I've driven by the field of corn many times and wondered. I finally decided it was time to find out what the silly cement corn was all about. Sam Frantz used to farm here, (1935-1963) thus the name of the road. He was supposedly well known for his work with hybrid corns. I say supposedly, because living here some 50 years I've never heard this or run into anyone who knew this. Well known/famous I think perhaps only in very small circles of previous farmers? This location was a test field. The cement corn we see was made from 3 different molds by Malcolm Cochran in 1994 and is Corn Belt Dent Corn Hybrid.

Sam and his wife Eulalia donated this land after Sam retired from working with Ohio State University on hybridization projects. The Park is so named for them. I say park with tongue in cheek though, as I saw no sign indicating this was The Sam and Eulalia Frantz Park, nor have I ever heard it referred to by that name. This 1/2 acre field does have a few benches and a row of Osage Orange Trees off to the very end of the corn art with plagues talking about hybridization; but I've never seen people using the area as a park. There's no parking lot, so it's not inviting to say take the family, play, and have a picnic. I left my car on the road that leads to lots of industrial business buildings.

The various information I found about the Corn Art indicated this was to remind people of the rich agriculture heritage of the area. I even found that a little odd, as Hilliard not Dublin has always and still is to some degree known for wonderful sweet corn. People would go driving in the country to buy fresh corn right off the farmers truck was common place up until a few years ago in Hilliard. In fact there are still stores that proudly display a big sign so locals will known when the fresh Hilliard Corn arrives. In all my years I've never seen a sign indicating there was fresh Dublin Corn. Dublin has become well known in the golf circles because of Jack Nicholas and The Muirfield Golf Tournment; but I always thought the corn field was misplaced when I drove by.

Going farther back in history, to times of Indians in the area though corn would indeed play a part, so perhaps those who spent public money on these giant ears of corn had the right idea after all. I ran into 2 young women on a road trip when I was there with Flat Stanley, they too left their car on the road as they took their photo's. They said they saw a funny picture and thought they'd come to check it out. Parking on the road ties up traffic, so it's hard to come and spend anytime exploring. Perhaps if you drive all the way to the back of the Industrial Parkway to leave your car and walk back to the field, you could spend time. I think kids and their furry friends might really enjoy running among the ears to burn up some energy. The plagues are flat to the ground and not really visible, and I only found them as I walked back to my car after the girls left. That too was probably because I was searching for a sign, it seemed odd to me there wasn't something posted to explain what the corn was all about; so I spent time to search it out; though I think it would and probably is easily missed the bulk of the time.

Ask the kids to make a list of all the things they can where corn comes into play. Draw corn, color corn (don't forget candy corn and Indian corn with the pretty colors). Measure the kids, cut string to represent their height and do the same for the 6 foot tall corn so they can see the relationship of size. Can they count to 109? For those that counting to 109 is easy for try having them count backwards. All of these fun activities help kids learn, and remember. Give them a calendar, have them mark on the calendar how many times in a given period of time you eat corn.

Until next week, Flat Stanley out.