Beyond the Scenery

PARK NEWS

America’s 250^th anniversary in the National Park Service

          On the march toward celebrating the sesquicentennial of the signing of Declaration of Independence is the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, which took place on June 17, 1775.

While this clash between the British and American forces is named for the highest knoll in the hilly terrain of Charlestown, just north of Boston, the combat actually happened on a mound closer to the Charles River, Breed’s Hill.

         In the wake of levies imposed by Great Britain on the American colonies—“taxation without representation”—local militias began stashing guns, ammunition, and other essentials in towns surrounding Boston. Some of these soldiers were known as “minutemen,” ready for battle “at a minute’s notice.”

         When Massachusetts’ royal governor, General Thomas Gage, caught word of this, he sent troops to investigate, leading to the Battle of Lexington and Concord, which I mentioned in my April post.

         This stirred other colonies to action, with New England men—whites, enslaved and free Blacks, and Natives—to gather in Massachusetts, where they expected more encounters with British troops stationed in Boston. They encircled the city, and when they learned the British planned to break through to take the strategic Dorchester Heights to the north and Charlestown Heights to the south, the colonist troops used the cover of darkness to construct an earthen fort atop Breed’s Hill on the night of June 16.

         As dawn broke the next morning, British General William Howe led an assault on the fort, while the British Navy fired off cannon. But the ships couldn’t get close enough to do much good, and the colonists, who knew the boggy terrain much better than their enemies, dug in. Reinforcements arrived to back them up. Howe’s soldiers advanced, and came under heavy fire.

         Howe withdrew, regrouped, and breached the fort, resulting in close combat. The colonists, tired and low on ammunition, retreated. The British chased them as far as Bunker Hill, but neither side mounted any further attack.

         In the two-hour battle, the first major encounter between the two forces, the British had 1,054 causalities, the colonists only an estimated 450. The town of Charlestown was destroyed, but the conflict served to unite the thirteen colonies as never before. Another outcome was the appointment by the Continental Congress, established by American colony governments to organize resistance to British rule, of General George Washington to form and command a Continental Army. I’ll talk about that next month.  

Visit Minute Man and Boston National Historical Parks to learn more about this key battle of the American Revolution. At the former site is a statue of a minuteman, to honor those killed at Lexington and Concord; the latter is where you’ll find the Bunker Hill Memorial, which opened on June 17, 1843.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flag Day

          Why is Flag Day June 14? This also is tied to the American Revolution. It’s the anniversary of the date in 1777 the Continental Congress officially adopted the Stars and Stripes as our national flag.

         The Park Service’s Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, winding through Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virigina, is a 560-mile land and water route telling the story of the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake Bay region.

         The flag had a huge role in that war. Along the trail is Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine where, after that war’s Battle of Baltimore, Francis Scott Key penned a poem called “Defence [sic] of Fort McHenry” (you know, writing “that our flag was still there”). That verse in turn was set to music and retitled “The Star-Spangled Banner.” And we have Ella Virginia Houck Holloway to thank for making that the song we sing with a hand over our hearts. She hounded her congressman for thirteen years to sponsor a bill to make the “Star-Spangled Banner” our national anthem, finally succeeding in 1931.

 

 

 

And who sewed that flag Key saw? Mary Pickersgill, at her Baltimore flag shop.

 

 

 

 

 

This month’s Subpar Parks Review

“Goes on forever” is the take on the Blue Ridge Parkway. 

          Yes, the 469-mile-long road connecting Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks is part of the Park Service. In fact, according to 2024 statistics,  it was the second-most visited spot among the 433 Park Service units, with 16.7 million visitors, just behind #1, Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California (17.1 million).

          Also known as “America’s favorite drive” and a “museum of the American countryside,” the roadway was constructed during the Great Depression by private contractors, with help from New Deal programs such as the Works Progress Administration, the Emergency Relief Administration, and the Civilian Conservation Corps. Three hundred miles of hiking trails run off the Blue Ridge Parkway, with traces of early European as well as pre-historic settlements.

My article about flags

         My oldest brother, the Latin and Greek scholar, would know this, but I had no idea the study of flags is vexillology, and there’s a North American Vexillogical Association. I had fun writing this 2022 piece for Fodor’s Travel. I also had fun coming up with its alliterative subtitle (“A curious chronicle of peculiar pennants”), and a line in the third paragraph (“These vexillologists voiced vehement views over various vexilla”).

The article's opening photo is from a national park site, which I'm sure you recognize as Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. And yes, the flag-flying entrance is pretty cool.

God’s flag

Vexillology comes from the Latin word vexillum, which was a banner, or standard, carried by some Roman soldiers. This signal conveys the idea of a rallying point, a place where troops gather under a leader to prepare for combat. The book of Exodus tells the story of Moses raising his hands as Joshua and his forces battled the Amalekites; as long as he kept his arms up, they prevailed. The Lord then instructed Moses to write down this incident so the Israelites would remember how God fought for them, and also build an altar. Moses called it Jehovah Nissi, which in Hebrew means “The Lord is My Banner” (Exodus 17:12-16).

In the Song of Solomon, the author gushes over his romance with a Shulamite woman. The book also illustrates God’s love for His people, most poignantly in chapter 2, verse 4: “his banner over me is love.” Solomon’s protective love exemplifies Jehovah Nissi’s love for us, especially in Jesus’s sacrifice to save us from our sins.

Rally ‘round that flag, and find rest (Isaiah 11:10).

 
Park News

Christmas and Winter Holidays in Our National Parks

 This is the title of yet another of my national parks programs. There are many holiday celebrations in the Park Service this time of year—here are two:

• The National Christmas Tree lighting took place on December 5, but only those who entered a lottery could attend in person (since the president, and often the First Lady, are there, security is tight and so attendees must be vetted in advance). CBS will broadcast the event on Saturday, December 20.

This takes place on the Ellipse, part of President’s Park, which also includes Lafayette Park and the White House, 82 acres in all (yes, our Chief Executive lives in a park site). The tradition began in 1923 during the Coolidge administration with just a tree cut down from the Coolidges’ home state of Vermont. Over the years other things have been added—a “Pathway of Peace” of small trees representing the 50 states, 5 territories and the District of Columbia, and Santa’s workshop.

Also, a living tree is used these days, a Colorado blue spruce planted in 1978. A variety of musicians and the United States Marine Band round out the ceremony.


Since 1979, a National Menorah also is erected on the Ellipse, lit on the first night of Hanukkah and each subsequent day of the festival, this year from December 25 to January 2.
 
 
 
• On the other side of the country, another tree is the centerpiece of a seasonal observance. The General Grant Tree in California’s Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks not only holds the honorary title of the Nation’s Christmas Tree—as opposed to the National Christmas Tree mentioned above—it also happens to be our country’s only living national shrine. General Grant is the second largest tree in the world as well.
On the second Sunday in December—this year, on the 8th—park rangers conducted a Trek to the Nation’s Christmas Tree, laying a wreath at the tree’s base. This is a war memorial ceremony and also includes music and a non-denominational Christmas message.

Yay, Presents!

 Looking for gift ideas for a national parks fan? Cavallini & Co. puts out lovely vintage mini and large notebooks, notecards, a stationery set, poster, mug, gift bag, and puzzle.

 Book-loving kids might enjoy the National Parks of the USA Series, or this National Parks Picture Matching Magnetic Game from Melissa & Doug, suitable for ages 3 and above.


 I use Ranger Doug’s postcards to send out quick notes by snail mail. He offers a slew of other products—notecards, luggage tags, magnets, posters and window stickers, all reproducing serigraphed (silk screened) national park images done by the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration.

 This agency was part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, which employed people to carry out public works projects during the Depression. Our national park system was a major recipient of many New Deal programs, the posters being just a small part.


The Christmas of the New Tree

 Years ago, I wrote this account of a memorable Christmas from my husband’s childhood, and thought I’d share it with you:
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 The old family Christmas tree was out! The new one was up!
 And what a change it was. Artificial trees in the ‘50s were still a novelty—and they looked like it. The first imitation Christmas tree in my husband’s family came standing in a white box, and its flimsy “needles” resembled tinsel. By 1960, a newer model was definitely in order.
 Now, a more modern tree stood proudly on display in the living room, a wondrous sight to behold for a six-year-old. Tony went to bed Christmas Eve anticipating all he might get the next day.
 The sequence of events every December 25 was that Dad would knock on his bedroom wall, alerting Tony and his older brother and sister that they could get up, not to go into the living room, but to snuggle in bed with their parents. Then, at the word from Mom and Dad, the kids could race to look under the tree.
 But this year something was drastically wrong: where were the presents? There stood the new tree in all its glory, with nothing underneath its magnificent branches! What could have happened? Perhaps Santa forgot their house this year, everyone exclaimed. Everyone, that is, except Tony. He stayed quiet, keeping his thoughts to himself, but he felt terrible. This was awful!
 After the initial shock however, the rest of the household didn’t seem too upset they weren’t going to receive anything for Christmas. And Tony, stoic little boy that he was (not to mention a bit stubborn) determined he wouldn’t show his disappointment.
 There was nothing else to do but get dressed, eat breakfast, and prepare for the grand feast to come. Gifts or no gifts, holiday cooking was serious business in an Italian household. Bustling about the kitchen, Mom asked Tony to fetch something from the basement refrigerator. Life went on. Tony obeyed.
 The family’s 8mm camera recorded the rest of the story. Dad was downstairs to catch on film what the others already knew, that there in the corner of the newly-refinished room stood the old Christmas tree, all decorated, its pathetic boughs drooping over a heap of wrapped packages.
 The scratchy movie shows the shy smile of a boy resigned to not having a real Christmas, discovering the tree, tearing open boxes to find, among other gifts, the Robot Commando and Whirlybird Helicopter he’d hoped for. Now he knew what had happened—Santa Claus must have been confused by seeing a new tree, and mistakenly put the presents under the old one!
 Years later, when he realized it was his parents who’d done the deed, was he mad, I once asked him. No, he said, and I believe him. He’s still the kind of guy who’s happy with whatever he gets, and doesn’t make much fuss when things don’t go as planned.
 Just the same, he married a woman who detests fake trees, and lives in a house with no basement.
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God is Right on Time

When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive adoption as His children. Galatians 4:4-5

 Christmas, Hanukkah and even Kwanzaa all are times of anticipation, especially for kids. As a child, I found it hard to sleep on Christmas Eve, thinking of the gifts I might receive. Presents also are given out at Hanukkah, this year running from December 25 through January 2, 2025, and for Kwanzaa, an African American heritage and cultural celebration starting on December 26 and lasting until New Year’s Day.

 Each of these dates occur at set times. While Hanukkah’s changes on the Gregorian, or solar, calendar, the holiday always begins on the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar. All we have to do is look at a calendar (or Google!) to know when they will happen.

 I love the title of a book written by the great Negro Leagues baseball player Buck O’Neil, I Was Right on Time. He became the first African American coach in Major League Baseball, but never got to play in the majors. Yet he refused to feel sorry for himself: “Waste no tears for me. I wasn’t born too early. I was born right on time.”

 Centuries passed before the Messiah, whose coming was promised in the Hebrew bible, which is part of the Christian bible as well, arrived on earth. Innumerable Jewish people suffered and died in expectation of its fulfillment. The prophet Habakkuk, with questions about the future, diligently watched for God’s response. But He only answered, “[T]he vision is yet for an appointed time…wait for it, for it will surely come” (Habakkuk 2:1-3).

 Jesus the Messiah wasn’t born when they thought the time was right. But He was born right on time. In God’s perfect time. Oh, come let us adore Him!