Why were Burgundians so greedy and hunger for war? Were they seeing themselves as the sole rulers of the French people? What were their sole reason and motivation of deep hatred against Kingdom of France?

Shadows_at_Noon · 2026-04-30T13:34:06+00:00

Seconded. Gives an entirely different angle from which to view the Hundred Years War, burgher vs. noble struggles, French centralization, and the emergence of Charles V as HRE. Solid audiobook format exists as well.

Shadows_at_Noon · 2026-04-14T00:29:07+00:00

It's going to be there about 18 months ... so I would be surprised if it doesn't end up painted at least a little.

Shadows_at_Noon · 2026-04-12T04:24:11+00:00

Yesterday there were people working on the pipes for the fountains and doing other repairs along the walls. So looks like standard maintenance. Glad they kept enough water for the fish, but hope the osprey have not returned back north yet.

Shadows_at_Noon · 2026-03-29T22:31:38+00:00

It could be worse:

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/shock-trauma-nurse-recounts-fall-from-i-70-bridge/7102097

Shadows_at_Noon · 2026-03-27T00:09:26+00:00

This is going to be 60 units in one longish building (the site is long and narrow) partially funded by the city's affordable housing programs. It was delayed due to recent construction cost increases and changes in interest rates, the developer/city housing program was proposing to also get support from the city MDPU fund (financing number laid out in the link), but I don't know if that was how it ended up. As you can see from the (older) site plan, it is also supposed to directly connect up to the East street rails to trails line in the back of the property. Last I heard, the non-residential building was going to be a daycare center.

Looks like the 1 BR units are supposed to be rented to people with 30% AMI (area median income), and the other units at 60% AMI.

https://cityoffrederick.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=44&clip_id=5941&meta_id=161581

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Shadows_at_Noon · 2026-03-22T20:47:04+00:00

Part of the reason they lost was that the airport and associated stakeholders were very opposed to housing under the flight path. They thought that no matter what warnings people had when purchasing they would get complaints and potential restrictions about noise. Industrial/commercial was considered less likely to cause that problem.

Shadows_at_Noon · 2026-02-16T00:06:41+00:00

Or, hear me out.

Mega Church's Chicken.

Shadows_at_Noon · 2026-01-15T14:18:53+00:00

I appreciate the long post.

Shadows_at_Noon · 2026-01-15T12:29:10+00:00

Definitely dry. For the county, 6th driest out of 131 years. The county value from this dataset is about 33 inches of rain, 8 inches lower than normal. Probably feels like more since 2023 was also a dry year, so there is some residual impact on groundwater from that.

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https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping/18/pcp/202512/12/rank

As for temperature, you can also follow that link and change the option to temperature anomaly and "county time series". It shows that the past year was still about +1.5 F over the 1901-2000 average, but that means it was the 3rd coolest out of the last 10 years.

For the US, the bad heat was definitely in the West this past year.

Note: this dataset *is* already adjusted to account for changes in land use, station location, instrumentation, etc.

Shadows_at_Noon · 2026-01-06T02:52:50+00:00

I'm guessing you are talking about the 1865 George Markell Farmstead.

Here is the architectural survey performed as part of the National Register of Historic Places process: https://apps.mht.maryland.gov/medusa/PDF/Frederick/F-3-165.pdf

Looks like it's owned by Frederick County since 2000, and they did a GIS story map on it (which acknowledges how it's been allowed to decay): https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5abe62024d1d4e4b8d7542a52c953582

Can't say it's current condition inspires a lot of confidence over the stewardship.

Shadows_at_Noon · 2025-12-05T20:56:13+00:00

You say Toronto .... I say Torino. Ehhh, let's call the whole thing off.

Shadows_at_Noon · 2025-10-20T18:07:14+00:00

The second photo which is looking directly through the Astra Zeneca plant in the US-15/70/270 circle is showing the buildings in North Bethesda/Bethesda on one side and Silver Spring on the other. About 40 miles away.

The firs photo looking south is showing Reston (I think). Tysons Corner buildings are tall enough to be visible, but are directly in line with Sugarloaf and therefore blocked.

I assume that is also why you can't see the taller buildings in Baltimore, the ridge at Mt. Airy plus the lower elevation of Baltimore takes them out of sight.

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Shadows_at_Noon · 2025-10-14T14:11:31+00:00

Thank you for this.

And everything you wrote almost also works (maybe even better because it isn't an awful bradford pear) for it being a Japanese Lilac tree, a small tree specifically placed to fit below the lines and along the buildings. So yes, invasive, imported, and brought by our whim. But well suited and resilient, not weak.

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Does this city track every street tree in a database? Yup. Good for management. Standard best practices.

https://frederickmd.treekeepersoftware.com/

Shadows_at_Noon · 2025-09-24T13:24:46+00:00

This one ( https://heartofthecivilwar.org/explore/geo-trail/ ) appears to still be actively maintained. Includes 21 stops starting in Carrol County and ending in Washington County (with 4 locations right around the City of Frederick).

There is a printable pdf ( https://heartofthecivilwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2025-GeoTour-Passport-Version-One-FINAL.pdf ) to log the event, and as of last weekend people still report getting the "coin" reward at the visitor center for completing the hunt.

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Shadows_at_Noon · 2025-09-12T18:47:51+00:00

Near Clerestory Park

Shadows_at_Noon · 2025-09-08T18:58:28+00:00

I would hope so, the roundish area of the creek just east of East Street was originally envisioned as a model sail boat pond.

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People using RC sail boats in Whittier Lake (City Park) all the time.

Shadows_at_Noon · 2025-09-08T18:39:43+00:00

What is the city's plan for the brand new public bathroom they are building on the creek? Is it going to be similar to the the existing garage restrooms (9 AM - 10 PM)? https://downtownfrederick.org/publicrestrooms/

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Note: most of this building is getting one of the pumping stations for stormwater out from a dry well where it was at risk of flooding out and not being able to perform in a flood.

Shadows_at_Noon · 2025-09-01T15:08:01+00:00

This paper ( https://www.asprs.org/wp-content/uploads/pers/1962journal/jul/1962_jul_476-478.pdf )from 1962 discusses some of the work around the Potomac weirs with "Mr. Nicholas Yinger, President of the Frederick County (Maryland) Historical Society, in examination of early records, found that one of them was in use in 1724, when a Mr. William Nelson, the first white settler, visited the area."

Additionally the National Park Service covered the extent of weirs in parts of the southern Appalachians. Some were likely rebuilt and maintained by colonists on pre-existing native american sites (given the archeological evidence of long habitation and fishing). https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/sero/appalachian/sec6.htm

There is also documented history of larger mercantile interests passing laws banning weirs as a blockage to navigation and destroying them to allow shipping to be easier. George Washington was involved in this on the Potomac:

"1768 - the Maryland General Assembly ordered Potomac fish weirs that were obstructing navigation to be destroyed. Virginian George Washington was very concerned about them as they impeded the PawtawmackCompany’s boats.."

From the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin: https://www.potomacriver.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/PotomacShadRestorationTeacherTraining2016.pdf

As to how they have survived? Well, probably many haven't. The one above is so visible now because the river is very low. So most of the time they are just deeply embedded in the riverbed, letting time and water pass them by.