Presque Isle Lighthouse

Presque Isle Lighthouse is located on the north shore of Presque Isle State Park at Lighthouse Beach in Erie. The construction of the lighthouse began in September of 1872 and was completed in July of 1873. Initially the square brick tower was only 40 feet high so an additional 17 feet were added to the tower in 1896 to enhance the projection of the light from the Fresnel Lens out into the lake. The Presque Isle Light was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 4, 1983, as part of a group listing of lighthouses and light stations operated by the United States Coast Guard on the Great Lakes.

Erie Land Lighthouse was the first lighthouse at Erie, also the first American lighthouse on the Great Lakes. It was constructed on a mainland bluff in 1818, not far from the site of Fort Presque Isle. In 1870, plans were begun for a lighthouse on the north shore of the Presque Isle peninsula that would replace Erie Land Lighthouse on the mainland. This new light would be several miles nearer the lake, and being located directly on the peninsula, would better mark that navigational hazard. Congress appropriated funds for its construction on June 10, 1872, and proposals were solicited for the necessary building materials. The lighthouse was originally going to be built of limestone, but when this provided to be too costly, bricks were used instead.

Construction on the peninsula began in September 1872, and the light from atop the forty-foot tower attached to the keeper’s dwelling was first exhibited on July 12, 1873. The hazard of landing material at the site was evidenced by the loss of a scow carrying 6,000 bricks. The walls of the lighthouse tower were built with five courses of brick in order to withstand the fierce storms and buffeting winds that blow off the lake. Though square on the outside, the tower is circular inside and supports a spiral staircase, forged in Pittsburgh and barged to Erie. The brick keeper’s dwelling originally had an oil room, bedroom, dining room, kitchen, and summer kitchen on the main floor, and three bedrooms and a drying room on the second floor. Beneath the dwelling were located a cistern and a cellar. The cost for the lighthouse was $15,000.

Charles Waldo was the first keeper of Presque Isle Lighthouse, earning an annual salary of $520. On the day of the inaugural lighting, Keeper Waldo wrote, “This is a new station and a light will be exhibited for the first time tonight — there was one visitor.” Prior to sundown, Waldo would have lit the lantern inside the tower’s Fresnel lens and then throughout the night returned to check the oil level in the lamp. In 1882, the tower was equipped with a revolving fourth-order Fresnel lens that alternately produced a red and white flash every ten seconds. Before this, the tower exhibited a fixed white light punctuated each minute by a red flash. With the other lighthouses at Erie displaying fixed lights, the Presque Isle Lighthouse stood out from the others and was often referred to by the locals as the flash light.

The old Erie Land Lighthouse on the bluff was discontinued in 1880, much of its purpose having been assumed by Presque Isle Lighthouse. The lighthouse was partially dismantled and the property was sold off, but the light was re-established in 1885 after mariners protested the decision to extinguish it.

In 1876, Keeper Waldo’s wife, Mary, gave birth at the lighthouse to a baby girl, the first child to be born on Presque Isle. During their seven-year stay at the lighthouse, the Waldo family had an isolated existence, as the road to the peninsula was not completed until 1927. In fact, Keeper Waldo referred to the station as the loneliest place on earth. To reach civilization, the keepers and their families would have to walk along a 1.5-mile pathway, part of which was originally a boardwalk due to the marshy terrain it traversed, to reach the station’s boathouse on Misery Bay. A lengthy row across the bay and another walk were then required to reach the nearest school or store where provisions could be obtained. The pathway was finally paved in 1925, which led to its being called the sidewalk trail.

The Lighthouse Board noted in 1886 that the shoreline in front of the lighthouse had receded thirty feet during the previous two years. To curb this erosion, contractors built a 400-foot-long and 10-foot-wide jetty composed of stone-filled cribs during the summer of 1886. The work was successful as five years later it was noted that the beach had built up substantially on both sides of the jetty, which extended perpendicular to the shoreline.

In 1894, a tight board fence, 396 feet long and 5 feet high, was built on the east, north, and west sides of the dwelling to protect the station buildings and the keeper’s garden from the encroachment of sand. To increase the range of the light, the height of the tower was increased seventeen feet, four inches in 1896 to produce a focal plane of seventy-three feet. When kerosene was adopted as the fuel for the light in 1898, an oil house was constructed near the northeast corner of the station to provide detached storage for the volatile liquid. A year later, the extended tower was painted white to provide a more prominent day-mark for vessels on Lake Erie.

Andrew Shaw, Jr. became keeper of Presque Isle Lighthouse in 1901 and was recognized multiple times by the Lighthouse Service for saving life and property. In 1916, when the tug Henry E. Gillen stranded on the bar at the entrance to the harbor, Keeper Shaw summoned assistance and cared for articles that washed ashore. Two years later, a yacht was driven ashore near the station, and Keeper Shaw provided food, shelter, and clothing for its three passengers. Keeper Shaw prevented a fire near the station from spreading in 1917, and in 1925 both he and the keeper of Presque Isle Pierhead Lighthouse helped fight a fire that burned for several days on the peninsula.

In 1924, commercial electricity reached the lighthouse, and an oil-engine-driven generator was installed at the station in case of power failure. Presque Isle peninsula was set aside as a state park in 1921, and after the road to the peninsula was completed in 1927, Keeper Shaw abruptly retired, as too many visitors were attracted to the lighthouse. Frank Huntington took over the responsibilities of keeper and served until 1944, after which enlisted Coast Guard personnel tended the light. On January 8, 1928, Keeper Huntington, his wife, and son rescued two boys who had fallen through the ice near the station and were in danger of drowning. The Fresnel lens atop the tower was replaced by a modern beacon in 1962.

Additions were made to the front and back of the dwelling in 1989 and 1990, and in 1998, Presque Isle Lighthouse was officially transferred to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, who used the lighthouse as a residence for park personnel. In 2006, the lighthouse was opened for two days during Discover Presque Isle Weekend, and visitors waited in line for more than two hours to climb the seventy-eight steps to the top of the tower. More than 750 people paid $2 to make the climb, and there was still a lengthy line at closing time on the second day.

Keepers of the Erie Lights was formed in 2006 to gather information on Erie’s three lighthouses and to help with their restoration and interpretation. From 2006 through 2009, the committee focused on Presque Isle Lighthouse, and a Historic Structures Report on the lighthouse was published in June 2007. The report includes a history of the lighthouse and outlines a restoration plan that includes replacing the dwelling’s roof, repointing the masonry, and restoring the porch, oil house, and fence. The public helped the effort by purchasing a Pennsylvania specialty license plate featuring an image of Presque Isle Lighthouse.

In 2014, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources changed a rule that required the manager of Presque Isle Park to reside in the park. After the park manager vacated the lighthouse, and the property was leased to the non-profit Presque Isle Light Station Board, which opened the station to the public in 2015.

Former Head Keepers:

Charles F. Waldo (1873 – 1880)
Orrin J. McAllister (1880)
George E. Town (1880 – 1883)
Clark McCole (1883 – 1886)
Lewis Vannatta (1886 – 1891)
Louis Walrose (1891 – 1892)
Thomas L. Wilkins (1892 – 1901)
Andrew W. Shaw, Jr. (1901 – 1927)
Frank Huntington (1927 – 1944

Presque Isle Lighthouse before the tower was extended.

Early photo of the Presque Isle Lighthouse (late 1800s)

Presque Isle Lighthouse (year unknown)

Presque Isle Lighthouse (year unknown)

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Sherlockian Pharmacist Mike McSwiggin

Mike McSwiggen, decked out for the Baker Street Irregulars dinner  

If you spend much time traveling in Sherlockian circles, sooner or later you will run into Mike McSwiggin, BSI. Mike is Second Most Dangerous Member (vice president) of the Tankerville Club of Cincinnati and one of the speakers at the upcoming Holmes, Doyle, & Friends conference in Dayton, OH on March 28. Let’s meet Mike:   

How and when did you first meet Sherlock Holmes?

I was in the first grade.  My school librarian saw me repeatedly grab Encyclopedia Brown and Hardy Boys books.  She suggested I try something different.  By third grade, I had read them all.

How and when did you become a Sherlockian?

In middle school, I started reading about mystery writers.  Then, at some point early in high school, I came across Baring-Gould’s Annotated Sherlock Holmes.  That opened up Pandora’s Box for me.  Explanations for terms that I didn’t know, theories about why certain things happened, and (probably most importantly) a chronology of the stories – all of these things just lit a fire inside me.  I read everything I could get my hands on.  I went to a few conferences (such as From Gillette to Brett), but kept to myself until I met Paul Herbert and all of the great folks at the Tankerville Club in Cincinnati.  Sharing this interest with other like-minded people truly made me a Sherlockian.

Your talk at Holmes, Doyle, & Friends will be about Solar Pons, who is almost but not quite Sherlock Holmes. How do you rate your interest and/or affection for Pons vs. Holmes?

Pons is certainly not quite on the same level for me as Holmes, but I do enjoy the stories very much.  The magic of the Holmes stories is the relationship between Holmes and Watson: two genuine friends who care about each other and happen to have adventures and solve mysteries.  The language of the stories, the atmosphere, and the genuine goodness of the main characters all set the original Holmes stories at the top tier of detective fiction.  The Solar Pons stories are pastiche – good pastiche – driven far more by mystery and plot than building up atmosphere or characterization.  At their best, the plots are outstanding.  However, they rarely achieve the same emotional complexity as Holmes and Watson.  But that is a very high bar.  I recommend the Pons stories to any Holmes fan who needs more than the 60 stories in the Canon.

And where does Nero Wolfe fit in there?

Ah, now Wolfe is another thing entirely.  The Wolfe and Goodwin stories (which is really what we should call them, especially if I’m saying Holmes and Watson) are the only other stories I put on the same level as the Canon.  We’re both Wolfeans, Dan.  We fell in love with the language of Rex Stout.  It drives me crazy that so many fans of twentieth-century American literature always mention Hemingway and Chandler, yet omit Stout (the word “omit” is a nod to fans of Wolfe).  When at his best, Stout could write RINGS around those two!  I love Chandler, too, but Stout seems to have been forgotten by too many.  The plots weren’t always tops and the two main characters didn’t age in the many decades covered by the books, but so what?  I smile every time I read Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories, and I have read them all multiple times.  Any fan of Holmes and Watson (especially those who read the stories for the relationship) should give Wolfe a try.

Your BSI investiture is “a seven per cent solution” in homage to your profession as a pharmacist. How has that profession affected the way you read the Canon?

Well, I certainly have a better understanding of the poisons mentioned in the Canon than when I first read the stories as a kid.  I did a presentation at A Scintillation of Scions last year entitled “Pharmacy in the Canon,” where I went through the state of pharmacy in the late Victorian and early Edwardian period, as well as talked about every drug and poison mentioned in the Canon.  It is actually pretty chilling the lack of understanding so many in medical world had regarding the substances they were prescribing or recommending.  That’s not to say we live in a perfect world now, by any stretch, but we have a better understanding of how things work.  But honestly, part of what drew me to mysteries is what drew me to pharmacy: I have obsessive-compulsive disorder and am always trying to turn chaos into order.  That is essentially what a detective in a story does: he or she is presented with a problem that needs to be solved.  The world needs to be made right (at least this small piece of it).  So, too, must a pharmacist (or anyone in the medical field) solve a problem presented to them.  Of course, I rarely meet engineers with nine digits, but I do try to help make things better where I can.

Although you and I both live on the same side of Cincinnati, we’ve crossed paths in numerous other cities at scion meetings and at conferences. What Sherlockian groups do you belong to?

Well, our home scion is the Tankerville Club of Cincinnati, of course.  I also belong to the Agra Treasurers of Dayton, the Illustrious Clients of Indianapolis, the Six Napoleons of Baltimore, the Sherlockians of Baltimore, the Denizens of the Bar of Gold (Eastern Shore of Maryland), the Hounds of the Baskerville (sic) in Chicago, the 140 Varieties of Tobacco Ash, the Fourth Garrideb, the Diogenes Club of Washington, DC, and the Baker Street Irregulars.

What’s your favorite Sherlockian event?

As much as I love the Birthday Weekend in New York, I think I have to be honest and say From Gillette to Brett in Bloomington.  Steve and Mark (and everyone else in Indiana) do such an amazing job there.  The guests, the presentations, the movies on the big screen – all fantastic!  Which reminds me, I haven’t nagged Steve and Mark yet this year about when the next one is happening…

What has it meant to you to be part of the far-flung Sherlockian community?

It really means more to me than I can say.  I work a lot, I have a child with special needs, and I don’t have a lot of other hobbies.  I spent a long time reading everything I could get my hands on that involved Holmes, but I never knew the joy of sharing it with others (face to face).  When I finally got the nerve to start attending Tankerville Club meetings, I really began to understand the community aspects of this obsession hobby.  And that has made such a difference to me. Two or three folks in my personal life have said that I am a happier person as an active Sherlockian.  And they are absolutely right.

What is your Sherlock Holmes guilty pleasure?

Without a doubt, it is the much-panned Hound of the Baskervilles starring Tom Baker (BBC, 1982).  Is it great?  Nope.  Does it add an original twist, like Brian Blessed as Geoffrey Lyons in the Ian Richardson version from 1983?  Nope.  Is it at least commercially available on DVD in the United States?  No.  It is the Fourth Doctor from Doctor Who, chewing scenery.  And the title sequence is a cartoon, for some unknown reason.  But I love it anyway.   

You can still register here to take part in Holmes, Doyle, & Friends on March 28, with an opening reception on March 27. 

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Igor Stravinsky: Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka – Nour Ayadi (HD 1080p)

Moroccan pianist Nour Ayadi performs Igor Stravinsky's Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka. Recorded at Théâtre de l'Alliance Française, Paris, on June 15, 2019.

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It was mostly at the urging of then 34 year old pianist Arthur Rubinstein (the "urging" was really an offer of 5000 francs – serious money for a composer reeling from the effects of the First World War) that, in 1921, Igor Stravinsky set about converting three portions of his already famous ballet Petrushka into a three-movement vehicle for solo piano. And yet, despite the lavish attention to orchestral detail that fills every measure of the ballet, it is not at all difficult to imagine the work in pianistic terms: Stravinsky's first sketches of Petrushka (from the summer of 1910) took the form of a concerto for piano and orchestra, and it was only at the urging of impresario Diaghilev that he rerouted his energies into a theatrical vein and produced the work that now is so well-known. Strangely enough, Rubinstein never recorded these Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka, though accounts of his many live performances of the piece testify to his close sympathy with the music.

The three numbers that Stravinsky selected to arrange are, in the order they appear, the "Russian Dance" from the end of the first tableau, "Petrushka's Cell" from the second tableau, and, incorporating almost all of the fourth tableau (including the ending published in the 1947 revision of the ballet), "The Shrove-tide Fair". Everywhere the pianism is brilliantly choreographed (the work is certainly tremendously difficult to bring off, but always packs a wallop when done well), and the transcription to the keyboard is carried out with a finesse not usually encountered in a composer's translation of his own music (usually a certain amount of distance, psychologically speaking, is helpful in successfully carrying out such a translation; hence Franz Liszt's many spectacular piano transcriptions of music utterly foreign to his own compositional style): here is no mere "piano reduction", but rather a full-blown, independent concert work in which the electric, vaguely symmetrical sixteenth-note figurations and sharp orchestral articulations of the "Russian Dance" are reforged into a demanding test of finger dexterity (the "Russian Dance", in its original orchestral form, is actually reinforced by a dramatic, nonstop use of the piano) and, later on, the famous oscillating contrary thirds of strings and woodwinds that open "The Shrove-tide Fair" (clearly originally conceived of at the piano) are translated into a shimmering and wholly idiomatic keyboard figuration that is almost – but not quite – the equal of its orchestral counterpart.

Source: Blair Johnston (allmusic.com)



Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

♪ Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka (1921)

i. Danse russe (Russian Dance)
ii. Chez Pétrouchka (Petrushka's Room)
iii. La semaine grasse (The Shrovetide Fair)

Nour Ayadi, piano

Théâtre de l'Alliance Française, Paris, June 15, 2019

(HD 1080p)

Moroccan pianist Nour Ayadi (b. 1999) has won the 2019 Cortot Prize in Paris at the end of the Concours du Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste at the Alfred Cortot School of Music. Ayadi is the first female Cortot Prize winner since the creation of this competition.

Nour began her piano studies at the age of 6 in Casablanca with Nicole Salmon. At the age of 16, she moved to Paris to pursue her musical studies at the Ecole normale de Musique and the Conservatoire national de Musique de Paris.

She has won several prizes in international competitions. She won First Prize at the Virtuoses du coeur Competition in Paris in 2019, First Prize at the Baku International Classical Music Competition, Second Prize at the Alion Piano Competition in Estonia andthe First Prize at the Moroccan National Music Competition, among others.

Source: pizzicato.lu

More photos


See also

Igor Stravinsky: Petrushka – Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Santtu-Matias Rouvali (HD 1080p)

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Opinion: Margarita of Romania Must Bring Peace, Reconciliation, & Unity to Her Family

Princess Margarita of Romania Must Bring Unity to Her Family or Face Failure as the Head of the Royal House.

By Seth B. Leonard

[Note: The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author alone.]

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On 7 November 2017, King Michael of Romania lay dying in his residence at Aubonne, Switzerland. Members of the king's family traveled to his Swiss home to be by his side. Of Michael's five daughters, all but one (Irina) was able to visit him. Of the king's five grandchildren, only one (Nicholas) attempted to see his grandfather.

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Alas, Michael's eldest daughter Margarita was present at the residence, and, for reasons known only to her, she behaved in a most hawkish manner towards her nephew. Those present at the Aubonne residence denied Nicholas the opportunity to say goodbye to his grandfather. Margarita was the guardian of her father and had become a Swiss citizen in June 2017. Following Nicholas' rebuffed hope of seeing his grandfather, Margarita's press office in Bucharest issued a statement alleging that her nephew had "physically and verbally assaulted staff." It was announced that Margarita had filed a complaint with the Swiss police against her nephew and godson. To this day, Margarita continues her frivolous legal suit against her nephew, despite the fact that the three main witnesses in the case have withdrawn their initial statements supporting Margarita's accusations. Nicholas' response to this devastating event was very simple and heartfelt: "I am deeply saddened, and I do not understand the aggressiveness of the Royal House in doing everything possible to prevent me see from seeing my grandfather and to discredit my image. I am not going to enter into this dirty game. I will choose to respect my grandfather in these difficult moments, because it is necessary, and Christian. I came as the grandson of the King, and I just wanted to see him." However, this cold behaviour from the household at Elisabeta Palace had been experienced by other members of the Romanian royal family as well.

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On 2 March 2016, Margarita of Romania assumed the title of Custodian of the Romanian Crown and announced that she would officially be taking over her father's duties. In actuality, the princess had been acting in this capacity for some years. In this same communiqué, the public relations team at Elisabeta Palace, headquarters for Princess Margarita and her husband Radu, finally made public that King Michael was suffering from cancer. In fact, His Majesty had already received this diagnosis in 2015. The Custodian of the Crown's staff in Bucharest has not always been completely truthful when Romanians desired news of the wellbeing and health of their king and queen.

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As aforementioned, it was clear by March 2016 that King Michael and Queen Anne of Romania were both in ill health. At this point, one of the couple's grandchildren took to a public forum to comment on the issues that were faced by family members who were not in favour with the Custodian of the Crown and her consort. Angelica de Roumanie Kreuger, the only daughter of Princess Irina of Romania, wrote: "I'm sure as long as his grandchildren from Irina are allowed to visit they will. I know the king has meet [sic] his first great-grand child but so far no others." The same day, Angelica left the following insightful comment: "I'm sure if the royal family was more family oriented then the family would be closer." When I posited that Queen Anne seemed to have been the unifying force trying to keep the family together, her granddaughter replied: "Yes, unfortunately the daughters didn't get along for many years. Just sad that it made the grandchildren so distant. Hopefully the family will find a way to keep together for the next generation." These comments from Angelica Kreuger made it clear that a number of the family members of King Michael and Queen Anne were kept from seeing their loved ones.

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On 1 August 2016, Queen Anne of Romania passed away at Morges, Switzerland. She was ninety-two years-old. In poor health for some years, and dealing with dementia, the ultimate cause of the queen's death was lung cancer, according to several private sources close to the royal household. However, Elisabeta Palace made no mention of the queen's illness. Indeed, they made a concerted effort to quash sources who knew of Queen Anne's cancer in an attempt to keep this knowledge from the Romanian public. [Like her cousin Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen Anne of Romania was an inveterate smoker and quite fond of Marlboros. Anne once endearingly quipped: "The only way I could ever stop smoking is if they hypnotized me into thinking I had never had a cigarette in my life."]

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The Custodian of the Romanian Crown does not appear to have extended an invitation to all of her sisters, nieces, and nephews to be present to bid farewell to the last Romanian Queen, who was born a Princess of Bourbon-Parma. To illustrate this point, Anne's granddaughter Angelica Kreuger again weighed in on the situation: "I'm sure in this horrible time Irina and her children will likely not attend to spare and [add] more stress to the family. [This is] due to past issues, since grief can make unresolved issues come to light. Right now, people need to realize that this woman wasn't just a Queen, she was a mother and grandmother. While the country grieves for their loss of a Queen the family grieves for the family. Anne's loss will be felt in everyone who knew her. A little light has dimmed in the world, but it is our duty as people to keep her light bright and remember what she stood for. Especially in this world, we live to make it brighter, not darker." Given this commentary, it should not come as a surprise that neither Princess Irina nor her two children were guests at the funeral of Queen Anne of Romania on 13 August 2016 at Bucharest.

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Aged ninety-six, King Michael of Romania died on 5 December 2017 at Aubonne, Switzerland. His funeral was held in Bucharest on 16 December. All five of his daughters were in attendance: the Princesses Margarita, Helen, Irina, Sophie, and Marie. Of his five grandchildren, only two were present: Nicholas of Romania with his wife, Alina-Maria, as well as his sister Karina. The Custodian of the Crown again made a public point of sidelining her family. When King Michael's coffin was transported from Bucharest to Curtea de Argeş aboard the Royal Train, Margarita did not allow her nephew and his wife to be onboard the train with the rest of the family. However, the princess managed to make space for her brother-in-law, Dr. Dan Duda.

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The rapid disintegration of the Romanian royal family is rather mind-boggling. In 2007, King Michael of Romania introduced the Fundamental Rules: this act abolished Salic succession and allowed for his five daughters and five grandchildren to become dynasts and to succeed, should their time ever arrive, as Head of the Royal House. In April 2010, in accordance with His Majesty's express wishes, the King witnessed his grandson take up his role as HRH Prince Nicholas of Romania during a ceremony in Bucharest. During his time as an active member of the royal family, Prince Nicholas carried out hundreds of engagements on behalf of the Romanian royal house.

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The first signs of turbulence arrived on 29 October 2014, when Princess Irina of Romania and her two children were unceremoniously stripped of their place in the line of succession. In January 2015, Princess Marie of Romania relocated from her home in the United States to her father's country, and she eventually began public engagements. On 10 August 2015, Prince Nicholas of Romania was suddenly stripped of his position. The royal house thus lost its most popular and viable hope for the future. In the fall of 2018, Princess Sophie of Romania and her daughter Elisabeta left their home in France so that Sophie could take up a supporting role in Casa Regala. By the end of 2019, anonymous sources confirmed that Princess Marie had stepped back from her role as an active member of the royal house. At this point, the Custodian of the Crown has whittled down the royal house to one other member, her Princess Sophie. Yet, even Sophie's position is not without difficulty, as sources have alleged that her daughter Elisabeta is having difficulties adjusting to life in Romania. Last, but not least, Princess Helen of Romania has always maintained her residence in the United Kingdom, and there has been no indication that Helen ever intends to be a part of Romanian public life. Despite being Margarita's direct heiress, Helen only appears in the country for certain family events and, otherwise, rarely travels to Romania.

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Many might think that 2020 has been another annus horribilis for the British royal family. Arguably, 2020 could prove to be the ultimate horrible year for the Romanian royals. If Princess Margarita finds herself incapable of unifying her family, then she is likely to go down in royal history as an abject failure as a Head of a Royal House. It is the duty of the Custodian of the Romanian Crown to guarantee the future of the dynasty. In the spirit of Christian reconciliation, it is her responsibility to bring together her sisters, her nephews, and her nieces, in order that they can all strive to perpetuate the legacy of the Kings and Queen of Romania into future generations. Margarita of Romania must embrace the maxim, "Duty first, self second." If the Margarita is unable to adapt her behaviour, then her tenure as Head of the Romanian Royal House will not be looked upon kindly by history.

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At the thirtieth birthday party for Prince Nicholas in April 2015, his aunt Margarita gave this toast in tribute to Nicholas' dedication to Romania: "Both Prince Radu and I are very proud of Nicolae, who is like our spiritual son (…) The country hasn’t adopted him much yet, but he already adopted Romania, even if he wasn’t born here. And this is just wonderful." Chapter III, Article 11 of the Fundamental Rules of the Romanian Royal House reads: "The Head of the Royal House of Romania governs the family as a good parent." The Custodian of the Crown needs to start acting like a caring godmother, sister, and aunt if she is to honour the legacy of King Michael and Queen Anne. Nihil sine Deo.

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FEBRUARY 18 = Pluto the Ninth Planet is Found , Then Kicked out of the Planets Club!.

 Pluto, once believed to be the ninth planet, was discovered  on today's date, February 18 in 1930 by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh working at the Lowell Observatory at Flagstaff,  Arizona. Now I will readily admit that in this subject of the study of planetary bodies I am taking on a  subject  about which I know almost nothing. But this seemed like an important subject. So please forgive in advance for all of the mistakes I may end up making!

Planet out There?

First of a all planets are way too faraway to be discovered by simply going out and just taking a picture of it like the one above of Pluto and saying "there it is." In this case of Pluto, just as in the case of the many planets which have been discovered since way back in the 1930's a

planets existence can only be found by unexplained wobbles of the known orbits of known celestial bodies. In this case our view of the orbital patterns of Uranus and Neptune showed a sort of wobble that could only be explained by the gravitational pull of another planetary body (Clyde Tombaugh pictured above). The first man to propose the ninth planet was Percival Lowell based on these wobbles. Lowell calculated the likely position of this ninth planet and searched for it for a decade without finding it. On February 18, 1930, Tombaugh using some of Lowell's calculations, discovered the small faraway planet by the using a new astronomic technique of combining a blink microscope with the photograph plates. It was named "Pluto"   
after the Roman god of the underworld, the equivalent of Hades in Greek mythology. The discovery was confirmed by other astronomers and announced in March of that year.

But Why Was Pluto "Demoted" From Planetary Status?

Pluto exists within the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. And there had been debate for some time on whether it should have  been declassified to just a minor dwarf planet within the Kuiper belt. The discussion came to  a conclusion within the International Astronomical Union with an official definition of a "Planet" quoted directly from Wikipedia:

   (Above: Pluto as photographed from the Hubble Space Telescope in 1998.) 

1.) The object must be in orbit around the Sun.
2.) The object must be massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity. More       specifically, its own gravity should pull it into a shape defined by hydrostatic   equilibrium.
3.) It must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.

Again quoting directly from Wikipedia which is far beyond my level of understanding:

"Pluto fails to meet the third condition. Its mass is substantially less than the combined mass of the other objects in its orbit: 0.07 times, in contrast to Earth, which is 1.7 million times the remaining mass in its orbit (excluding the moon). 
The IAU further decided that bodies that, like Pluto, meet criteria 1 and 2, but do not meet criterion 3 would be called dwarf planets."

  There was considerable disagreement within the scientific community about this  announcement by the IAU. The portion which said Pluto would no longer be considered a planet, due to new rules that said planets must “clear the neighborhood around its orbit.” Since Pluto’s oblong orbit overlaps that of Neptune, it was disqualified.  Alan Stern, principal investigator with NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto dismissed the reclassification out of hand: ""the definition stinks, for technical reasons". Stern has said that under IAU's new rules, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune would not qualify as planets because they all share their orbits with asteroids. Stern also stated that fewer than 5% voted  for it and thus the kick Pluto out of the planets decision was not representative of the many of the astronomical scholars. Again as I said at the start this is way outside my field, so if I've made  some glaring errors please do feel free to write in on the response box below, and as long as you don't get TOO nasty I will publish it right here.  

Sources =

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pluto-discovered

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Your Poor Breathing Habits are Negatively Affecting your Health

Arianna Hoffman, the founder of All Hands on Fitness, is a personal trainer and strength coach with a fascination for the human body.

We take 23,000 breaths per day on average, so we must have mastered it by now, right? Assuming the ever-popular 10,000 hour theory of skill mastery is correct, surely you’ve unlocked Grand Master status after decades of breathing to stay alive. Although breathing is a function of the autonomic nervous system (meaning we don’t need to consciously think about it to do it), there is absolutely a right and a wrong way to breathe. As a personal trainer who has worked with hundreds of clients, I argue that the overwhelming majority of people in the modern era are actually breathing incorrectly. In fact, if you find yourself perpetuating poor breathing mechanics, you are inevitably setting yourself up for a whole host of health issues.

Take a moment to focus on your breath. Are you breathing through your mouth? Do you feel tension in your neck and chest when you inhale? Do you find your breaths to be shallow and rapid? Do you notice that your nose is congested? Breathing through your chest versus breathing through your ribs and belly will have completely different outcomes on your health. Similarly, breathing through your nose versus breathing through your mouth will have opposing effects on your central nervous system. By changing your breathing patterns you can ultimately create physiological and morphological changes within the body.

Poor breathing habits cause a milieu of complications. If you look at many other mammals like dogs, horses, or cats, you’ll notice that those animals breathe almost exclusively through their noses barring cases of overheating or intense physical exertion. Humans are no different, yet as we have distanced ourselves from our hunter-gatherer ancestors, we have also vastly changed our lifestyle habits. With this increase in sedentarism, we note a veritable shift in our physiology and a significant rise in the incidence of chronic illness. I surmise that breathing patterns (and subsequently the development of the facial bones/airways) may contribute to many of these chronic illnesses. Now close your mouth, take a deep breath through your nose and read on…

Well over 5 million American currently wear braces. Perhaps even more with the recent advent of invisible orthodontic appliances. I was one of those kids in high school—I was cursed with crooked teeth, or at least so I thought at the time. I spent nearly 5 years of my life in and out of the orthodontist’s chair subjecting myself to what felt like a form of Medieval torture. Between braces and tooth extractions, I went through it all. What I didn’t realize at the time though, was that this torturous period of my life might have been abated simply by changing my breathing habits.

Dr. Mike Mew, an orthodontist based out of the United Kingdom has spent his entire career trying to improve oral posture and breathing mechanics in his patients. He believes that part of the reason why braces are pervasive in the 21st century is because many people maintain an open-mouth position throughout the day. Further, he maintains that kids who place their tongues properly on the roofs of their mouths will certainly have better facial growth and airway development than their mouth-breathing counterparts. The tongue acts as the foundation for the growth of the bones in the face (like the teeth, the maxilla and the mandible). When the tongue is pressed against the palate, it encourages the palate to grow wider over time, and the teeth will also grow neatly into place around it. For individuals who keep their tongues relaxed on the bottom of their mouths, the palate stays narrow and their teeth grow in crooked.

Braces can temporarily mediate this by moving the teeth back into their proper positions, but they won’t treat the root of the problem. This is why so many children have to wear retainers for the rest of their lives after getting braces: they don’t change their lifestyle habits.

Don't be a mouth breather like Napoleon Dynamite!

So simply by mouth breathing as a child, you can negatively influence the growth of your teeth, your mandible (lower jaw) and maxilla (cheekbones). When the mouth is open, the mandible has to stay in a lengthened position and the muscles, ligaments and tendons adapt to accommodate that. Studies have found that individuals who breathe through their mouths tend to have longer faces and more recessed chins than people who breathe through their noses. When the muscles and bones of the face don’t develop properly, this will necessarily restrict the airways, as the tongue has to sit back further than it should. Thus, respiratory problems may also be attributed to an open mouth posture.



When it comes to exercise performance, nasal breathing serves many advantages over mouth breathing. For one, the nasal passages are responsible for the filtration and temperature regulation of the oxygen you inhale. If you’ve ever run in the winter time, you have probably felt that horrible burning sensation in your chest from breathing the cold air. By breathing through your nose in lieu of breathing hard through your mouth, your nasal passages will effectively heat and humidify the air you inhale, lessening the discomfort.

For individuals who are suffering from exercise-induced asthma, nasal breathing can actually reduce the incidence and severity of their attacks. This is partly because mouth breathing facilitates the process of bronchoconstriction (meaning your airways tighten). On the contrary, nasal breathing stimulates bronchodilation (opening of the airways), which allows for greater total delivery of oxygen to the brain. You don’t have to be a medical professional to understand that more oxygen to your brain is undoubtedly a good thing. If you want to regulate your respiration and your heart rate on your morning run, you should keep your mouth closed.

Athletes of all sports can benefit from maintaining proper oral posture during training and competition. While this position may be difficult to maintain under fatigue, their oxygen uptake will be far more efficient than that of their mouth-breathing opponents. At an elite level of sport where competition is tight, tiny advantages matter. Improved bronchodilation and oxygen uptake could potentially mean shaving seconds off of your split.

Breathing through the mouth also has a fundamentally different effect on the state of the central nervous system than breathing through the nose does. Mouth breathing activates a “fight or flight” sympathetic nervous system response. When the sympathetic nervous system is called into action, the breath becomes shallow, the heart rate increases, and your body’s hormonal chemistry changes (adrenaline and noradrenaline are released). Historically, the sympathetic nervous system was reserved for situations of extreme stress like being chased by a predator or times of food scarcity. That being said, in the 21st century, many of us live in the sympathetic nervous system for nearly our entire lives. Between tight work deadlines, constant push notifications, sleep deprivation, and financial woes, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed with stress on a daily basis.

You will notice that when you breathe through your mouth, you instinctually will overuse the muscles in your neck and chest. Excessive tension in the neck muscles is a common side effect of stress.

Conversely, by choosing to breathe through the nose, we are able to mitigate some of the physiological effects of stress. Nasal breathing encourages diaphragmatic activation (a large umbrella-shaped muscle that sits under the ribcage), slows down the heart rate, and allows for you to take full, deep breaths. This simple change will quickly shift you body into the parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system. Experienced meditators are masters of their own central nervous systems.

If you ever find yourself feeling stressed or anxious, monitor your breathing. Chances are you are breathing through your mouth and overusing the muscles in your neck and chest. Simply opting to spend 2-3 minutes focusing on slow, controlled nasal breathing can have a profound effect on your emotional state.

A lot of the clients that I have worked with throughout the course of my career are prone to excessive mouth breathing. The current body of literature supports my notion that mouth breathers may be more prone to sleep apnea, maxillofacial problems, allergies, chronic stress, and oxygen deficits. With that in mind, it’s never too late to change your habits! Make an effort to monitor how you’re breathing and adjust accordingly. This small change in your routine just might be a catalyst for improving your overall health and wellbeing.

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Princess Traute of Lippe Celebrates Her 95th Birthday!

Princess Traute of Lippe.
Photograph (c) Presse-Foto-Seeger.

Today, 16 February 2020, Princess Traute of Lippe marks her ninety-fifth birthday.

Princess Traute and Prince Armin of Lippe in 1997.
Photograph (c) Presse-Foto-Seeger.

The princess was born Traute Becker on 16 February 1925 at Hänigsen, Germany. She was the daughter of Gustav Becker (1893-1963) and Charlotte Meyer (1893-1978), who had married in 1922.

Prince Armin and Princess Traute of Lippe in 1997.
Photograph (c) Presse-Foto-Seeger.

Armin's parents: Fürst Leopold IV zur Lippe and Fürstin Anna.

In March 1953, Traute Becker married Prince Armin of Lippe (Detmold 18 August 1924-Detmold 20 August 2015). Armin was the only son of Fürst Leopold IV of Lippe (1871-1949) and his second wife Princess Anna zu Isenburg und Büdingen in Büdingen (1886-1980), who wed in 1922. Six years after their wedding, Traute and Armin welcomed their only child, a son: Hereditary Prince Stephan (b.Detmold 24 May 1959).

Princess Traute and Prince Armin of Lippe with son Prince Stephan, daughter-in-law Princess Maria, and their three grandsons: Prince Bernhard, Prince Heinrich, and Prince Wilhelm. (January 2000)
Photograph (c) Presse-Foto-Seeger.

In October 1994, Traute's son Prince Stephan of Lippe married Countess Maria zu Solms-Laubach. Born in 1968, Princess Maria of Lippe is the daughter of Count Otto zu Solms-Laubach (1926-1973) and Princess Madeleine zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (b.1936), who married in 1958. Stephan and Maria gave Traute and Armin five grandchildren: Bernhard (b.1995), Heinrich (b.1997), Wilhelm (b.1999), Luise (b.2001), and Mathilde (b.2003). Traute's son Stephan succeeded as the Head of House Lippe in 2015 when Prince Armin passed away.

Princess Traute of Lippe lives in Detmold. We wish the Princess many happy returns of the day!

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Alexander von Preußen Marries Jenny von Rumohr On Saint Valentine's Day

Note: Thank you to my friend Hein Bruins of Hein's Royal Genealogy Page for providing this information!

Valentine's Day newlyweds: Alexander von Preußen and Jenny von Rumohr

On Friday, 14 February 2020, Alexander Prinz von Preußen, eldest son of Prince Adalbert of Prussia and Eva Maria Kudicke, was married in a civil ceremony at Munich to Jenny von Rumohr, the elder daughter of Joachim von Rumohr and Baroness Amélie von Holzing-Berstett.

14 June 1981: The wedding of Prince Adalbert of Prussia and Eva Maria Kudicke
Photograph (c) Alamy / Wolfgang Kühn

Born on 3 October 1984, Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm Victor Marcus Prinz von Preußen is the eldest of the three sons of Prince Adalbert of Prussia (b.1948) and Eva Maria Kudicke (b.1951). Adalbert and Eva Maria married in 1981. Their three sons are Alexander and the twins Christian and Philipp (b.1986). Alex von Preußen is a Senior Director at Holtzbrinck Digital in Munich. In 2006, the prince graduated from Bocconi University, where he studied international economics. He then went on to receive his masters in International Business from Maastricht University in 2009.

Jenny von Rumohr

Born on 15 December 1985, Jenny Charlotte von Rumohr is the elder of the two daughters of Joachim von Rumohr (b.1950) and Baroness Amélie von Holzing-Berstett (b.1959). Joachim and Amélie married in 1983. The couple's daughters are Jenny and Elena (b.1987). Jenny von Rumohr is the Head of the Migration Office for Bavaria and Thuringia at the nonprofit organisation Malteser Deutschland GmbH. She received a bachelors in European studies from Maastricht University in 2008. Jenny then went on to receive her masters in International Peace and Security from King's College London.

Margrave Friedrich VII Magnus of Baden-Durlach

Princess Augusta Maria of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, Margravine of Baden-Durlach

Alex von Preußen and Jenny von Rumohr are very distantly related: the couple are tenth cousins, to be precise. Alex and Jenny both descend from Margrave Friedrich VII Magnus of Baden-Durlach (1647-1709) and Princess Augusta Maria of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp (1649-1728). Alex von Preußen is a descendant of Friedrich and Augusta's daughter Margravine Katharina of Baden-Durlach (1677-1746), who married Count Johann Friedrich von Leiningen (1661-1722). Jenny von Rumohr is a descendant of Friedrich and Augusta's son Margrave Karl III Wilhelm of Baden-Durlach (1679-1738), who married Duchess Magdalene Wilhelmine of Württemberg (1677-1742).

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Christmas and New Year Greetings from Romania!

Each year, many of us send Christmas cards to cherished family and friends. Oftentimes, for those of us who are royal enthusiasts, we also mail letters containing good wishes to royals around the world whom we admire. This year, my favourite over-the-seas Christmas card came from Nicholas and Alina-Maria of Romania. They are a very kind couple - dedicated to charitable endeavours and devoted to their country. Nicholas is the grandson of King Michael and Queen Anne of Romania. Nicholas and Alina married in 2018 at Sinaia in what was the first royal wedding in Romania since that of Princess Ileana, the great-great-aunt of Nicholas, in 1931. Last year, Nicholas and Alina founded the Asociatia Principele Nicolae (Prince Nicholas Association), a nonprofit organisation that aims to continue the mission started by his ancestors, the kings and queens of Romania. Nicholas and Alina are focused in furthering historical and ecological projects. I hope that 2020 brings Nicholas and Alina all the best: they certainly deserve it!

Embed from Getty Images

To learn more about the Prince Nicholas Association, you can visit this link: Asociatia Principele Nicolae

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