Lest We Forget…

It has been over two years since the nuclear power plant in Namie-machi, Fukushima, Japan was crippled by the tsunami triggered by the “Great East Japan Earthquake.” In the aftermath of the nuclear accident on March 2011, all 21,000 residents of the town of Namie-machi were forced to flee their homes.

They are still forbidden to enter the city.

On March 27, the mayor of Namie-machi, Mr. Tamotsu Baba, wrote a guest post on the Official Google blog in which he announced the results of a collaboration with Google to find a way that the citizens of that city, and the world, could get a better sense of the devastating effects the disaster had on the area.

With his cooperation, Google Street View cars drove through Namie-machi, capturing images of the city as it is today, with its shuttered shops and deserted streets. These images of Fukushima Exclusion Zone Town Namie-machi are now available on Google Maps. 

One image shared on the Official Google Blog on 3.27.13

The mayor posted several images and commented on their significance. He also wrote, “Ever since the March disaster, the rest of the world has been moving forward, and many places in Japan have started recovering. But in Namie-machi time stands still. With the lingering nuclear hazard, we have only been able to do cursory work for two whole years. We would greatly appreciate it if you viewed this Street View imagery to understand the current state of Namie-machi and the tremendous gravity of the situation…We want this Street View imagery to become a permanent record of what happened to Namie-machi in the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster…Finally, I want to make a renewed commitment to recovering from the nuclear hazard. It may take many years and many people’s help, but we will never give up taking back our hometown.”

Fukushima was not the only region in Japan to sustain severe damage from the earthquake and tsunami. At the Memories for the Future Project site it is possible to view “before” and “after” photos of a number of places throughout Japan. When the people fled these areas they left behind their homes and most possessions, including cherished photos and videos. The Memories for the Future Project was established in order to help people “rediscover lost memories of their homes and towns.” 

These images are powerful reminders of the horrific consequences when the forces of man and nature collide.

Saturday Short Subjects: Exploring the Grand Canyon without Leaving Home

A trip to the Grand Canyon must be on everyone’s Bucketlist; nearly 5 million people visit the park each year. “A powerful and inspiring landscape, Grand Canyon overwhelms our senses through its immense size…Unique combinations of geologic color and erosional forms decorate a canyon that is 277 river miles (446km) long, up to 18 miles (29km) wide, and a mile (1.6km) deep…” are the words the National Park Service uses to describe Grand Canyon National Park on the park’s homepage. 

As early as the 1880s, there were proposals to make the Grand Canyon a national park, but the efforts of locals who did not want the federal government restricting what they could and could not do [sound familiar?] blocked every attempt. When Congress finally passed a bill designating Grand Canyon National Park, Ralph Henry Cameron, an entrepreneur with extensive businesses in the area challenged the bill in a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled against him, but it took years to boot Cameron from the Grand Canyon. The entire tale was recounted in a PBS series on the National Parks. You can read it here. 

For many travelers, a visit to the Grand Canyon is likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience—one that will require careful planning. Do you want to ride a mule down to the base of the Canyon? If so, you better plan at least 13 months ahead. Do you want to see the Canyon from the North Rim? If so, be prepared to drive an extra 220 miles. The NHPS website offers abundant advice on trip planning and a fair number of gorgeous images.

Google has gone one step further. Earlier this week they released Exploring the Grand Canyon on Google Maps. 

The images cover more than 75 miles of trails and roads! You can explore places you think you may want to visit (or revisit trails you previously traveled) and traverse scary paths you know are out of your league. Exploring the Grand Canyon on Google Maps is useful for trip planning, dreaming, reminiscing, or armchair exploring for the joy of it.

Have fun. I spent a bit of time on these amazing virtual trails and along the way discovered some unintended Easter Eggs. [Even Google is not perfect.] See if you can find the artifacts of the photographer’s fingers and faded orange baseball cap. [I swear I saw them once but can not find them anymore.]

What you should NOT find are any plastic water bottles littering the landscape. In 2012 the Grand Canyon National Park eliminated the sale of “water packaged in individual disposable containers, including plastic bottles.” Instead, park visitors rely on designated water bottle filling stations installed in high traffic areas of the park.

Have a great weekend. Happy exploring.

[PS If anyone from Google Maps is reading, I am able to carry a heavy backpack and up for mapping other parks as needed.]

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).

Discoveries in the Produce Aisle

It is late January and snowing in New Haven, and yet another cold front is howling in.

I have turned all the apples we picked in the Fall into sauce. I have cooked all my butternut and acorn squashes. The tastes of Summer I had packed away in the freezer — poached peaches, ratatouille, and bags of Cape Cod cranberries — are dwindling fast.

CitySeed is running a Saturday market in Wooster Square, but only one a month. And the pickings are slim. By no means a locavore, I do try hard to keep my grocery list footprint small. Reasonably local dairy and bread are easy choices, fruits and vegetables much more difficult.

Late last Winter I gave myself a challenge: to scour the produce section of Shaw’s to try to find something from New England (CT is quite small, after all.) And find it I did. Next to the bright orange California carrots were stacked some one pound bags of what looked to be anemic carrot cousins. The something? “Sugar Mountain Fresh Parsnips,” “grown and packed by Manheim Farm, Whately, MA, USA.” (According to Google Maps, 91.4 miles from my address.)

Parsnips were on the short list of vegetables my family never ate. I was clueless, but resolute, and purchased a bag. I turned to The Art of Simple Food and Simply In Season by Cathleen Hockman-Wert and Mary Beth Lind for help. Alice Waters’s advice was to cook the parsnips in salted water until tender and then puree, alone or with other root vegetables. The Mennonites inspired me to try Maple Parsnip Soup — easy to make, thick and creamy, with a wonderful play of tangy mustard against sweet maple (a second New England product.) This success led me to develop my own improvisation— dicing a parsnip and a turnip, and then sauteing them in olive oil before adding to a batch of pea soup. What a nice kick these roots give!

I decided to learn more about these winter wonders. Parsnips, like carrots, are members of the parsley family. From the parsnip chapter of Root Development of Vegetable Crops, I learned that the parsnip has an amazing root system, with taproots commonly extending 8’ down. If you add that to the 17” height of the foliage, that makes a typical parsnip plant nearly 9.5 feet tall, a lot more impressive than what you see in a plastic bag!

Take some time to root around your produce section. Culinary adventures and botanical discoveries await those brave enough to leave their comfort zones.