This month is National Landscape Architecture Month. April is also African American Women’s Fitness Month, International Cesarean Awareness Month, Emotional Overeaters Awareness Month, Irritable Bowel Syndrome Month & Nationally Sexually Transmitted Diseases Month just to name a few. (From the site here.) I’m promoting Landscape Architecture since I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Landscape Architecture (B.S.L.A.) from Purdue University. I am a Registered Landscape Architect with the State of Indiana. I am a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).
Personal
Elberton, Georgia
A few months ago I wrote an entry on the Georgia Guidestones that I visited while on vacation. American Profile Magazine did a story on Elberton, Georgia, the home of the Georgia Guidestones. The article talks about their long (200+ yr) tradition of granite monument creation. If you were interested in the Georgia Guidestone entry, you might like this as well. You can find the article posted online here. There are also some interesting things at the Elberton Granite Association’s website here.
Merry Christmas!
This is the last post before Christmas and I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I don’t know if having everything coated in ice qualifies as a white Christmas, but there’s some snow under there too.
The Christmas Pug was stolen from a card we received from Cal-Pro Fence. Thanks guys. Becky and I used to have a pug, though we would have never gotten A.J. to sit still long enough to wear a hat for a picture.
This has been a tough year for everyone, but I want to thank the clients that have stuck with us. I also want to thank the ECC staff that have worked hard this year. Here’s hoping next year is a better year for all of us!
Merry Christmas to everyone and Best Wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous New Year! Safe travels for those of you that will be out in the weather. To the rest of you, be safe at home.
Kevin
Francis Ellert in the General Assembly
I had lunch with Francis last Friday. I’ve been friends with Francis for more than a decade now. We met when we served on the Culver Chamber of Commerce Board together. He is someone I respect and we meet on occasion to attempt to solve the world’s problems… or at least to discuss how they’re currently affecting us.
Well, Francis has stepped up and is taking it to the next level. He has made the choice to get politically involved and actually do something about it. He has announced that he is running for the District 17 State Representative position. Not that he hasn’t been involved before now. He has served on many boards such as the Chamber Board where I met him. He’s well known in the community and I think he has an excellent shot at this.
I’m pretty stoked about the possibility of having someone of Francis’s quality representing us in the General Assembly. He has a good head on his shoulders and and he’s not afraid to take on a challenge. Plus, the main thing I like about Francis is that I know he will listen. I am constantly frustrated by politicians that make decisions for us without understanding the issues. How hard is it to ask those that it will affect? I trust Francis to make informed decisions. I also trust him to have the humility to accept it when I bust his chops if he slips up on this! Ha!
Best wishes for a successful campaign, Francis! I think we would all benefit from your success in this endeavor.
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Update: WTCA Radio has some good background information on Francis on a web page here.
Georgia Guidestones
Last week Becky and I took some time off and went south. The 5 degree temperatures this morning made us wonder why we came back!
We spent some time in Atlanta with friends and one of the things we did was visit the Georgia Guidestones. The Guidestones are in Elbert County, Georgia, east of Atlanta. They’re on a hilltop out in the country and a little difficult to find. I had read about them in a newspaper article a while back and we’re always looking for interesting things to do while we’re there. This was a nice drive and an interesting display.
The stones have a sort of manifesto inscribed on them, which appears to be a blueprint for a new civilization after some catastrophic event. It is carved into the stones in eight different languages. They read as follows:
- Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
- Guide reproduction wisely – improving fitness and diversity.
- Unite humanity with a living new language.
- Rule passion – faith – tradition – and all things with tempered reason.
- Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
- Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
- Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
- Balance personal rights with social duties.
- Prize truth – beauty – love – seeking harmony with the infinite.
- Be not a cancer on the earth – Leave room for nature – Leave room for nature.
They have several precise cuts in the stones that have astronomical significance, such as a hole through which the North Star can be seen and and an aperture in the capstone that allows a ray of sunlight to shine through at noon each day. One of the other interesting things is that there is a time capsule and some inscriptions that remain unfinished, even though, by all accounts, the work was completed per specifications.
It’s unfortunate that some individuals have taken it upon themselves to deface them. Whatever their intent, the Guidestones are an interesting feature on the landscape. It’s probably not something I would make another trip to see, but it was worth one visit.
Wikipedia has an entry on the Georgia Guidestones here. More of the story about how the Guidestones came to be can be found at the Wired Magazine site here.