Archive for July 10th, 2012
» posted on Tuesday, July 10th, 2012 by Linda Lou Burton
Marcus Whitman, Missionary Doctor
Linda Burton posting from Olympia, Washington – We saw a lot of faces today. Faces of capitol visitors like ourselves, and faces of history, in bronze statues and busts both inside and out, in renderings of the face of George Washington in the shining state seal and on banners furled from balconies, in portraits of former governors hanging on the wall of the Governors Office, and even on the magnificent Tiffany chandelier hanging in the rotunda. But at the end of the day one face and one story in particular stood out. We aimed for an on-the-hour tour – son Rick, 
grandkids Andrew and Kayla, and me – and arrived just as a bus-load of Japanese students on a summer study program came in. We began clicking cameras at the same time; the Tour Volunteer manning the front desk stepped up to sort us out for Japanese or English-speaking guides. Above the fray I spotted a hale and hearty looking figure; a statue in bronze who appeared to be looking across the room and beyond. I walked over and read the name inscribed across the bottom: Marcus Whitman. His story is one of good intent, with a tragic ending. Listen. » read more
» posted on Tuesday, July 10th, 2012 by Linda Lou Burton
Family Cool
Andrew Shumate, age 16, visiting grandmother in Olympia, Washington – “Come to Olympia while the Journey is there,” GMom said last week, so that’s what we did today, my father, my sister, and me. As we drove up to the capitol the first thing my father and I noticed was how dirty it looked! I mean that building is the center of our state government, where our politicians represent us, where our laws are made, and it looked like someone needed to give it a good hosing down. But I guess that isn’t really important considering the building’s amazing architecture. I visited this capitol ten years ago and didn’t think much 
about its design; I just thought it looked like a fancy government building. But this time around I was able to appreciate how amazing it really is, even if it looked somewhat dirty. I noticed the building was heavily influenced by Greek and Roman architecture. The building features a massive dome, which the tour guide later told us is the tallest masonry dome in North America. The entrance is supported by intricate Corinthian columns and the rest of the building is fitted with the not-so-intricate Doric columns. All of which originated from ancient Greek and Roman architecture. Having studied this stuff for several months I just had to inform everyone of my knowledge regarding this subject. » read more