Today, The Grandma has woken up early because she had a busy morning of work ahead of her. The day has been sunny with a temperature no higher than 6 degrees, but a feeling of cold, strangely, more bearable than that of the last cloudy week in Barcelona or Lleida. So, before meeting her friends, she has decided to enjoy a wonderful local breakfast tasting rugbrødand smørrebrød. They are two excellent Danish products you must try.
It is a very different breakfast than the bread with tomato she is used to, but Danish food is irresistible and we all know that one of the best things about travelling is enjoying culture, history and gastronomy.
Thanks a lot Aage, Anders, Benedikte and Ida for your warm welcome
and for making The Grandma always feel like she was at home.
Visiting København is always a great pleasure.
Rugbrød is a very common form of rye bread from Denmark. Rugbrød usually resembles a long brown extruded rectangle, no more than 12 cm high, and 30 to 35 cm long, depending on the bread pan in which it is baked. The basic ingredient is rye flour which will produce a plain or old-fashioned bread of uniform, somewhat heavy structure, but the most popular versions today contain whole grains (cracked or chopped rye kernels) and often other seeds such as sunflower seeds, linseeds or pumpkin seeds. Most Danes eat rugbrød every day.
The dough may be made exclusively with rye flour or contain up to one third whole rye grains. A small amount of wheat flour, sugar or molasses is often added to adjust the taste or because contrary to former times wheat flour is cheaper than rye.
Rugbrød was the major staple of most of the population until potatoes became widespread during the late 19th century, and even up to the 1950s, Danes ate much larger amounts of rugbrød than today. It has been discussed why this bread type prevailed better in Denmark than other Northern European countries.
Rugbrød is implied in the colloquial Danish term for serving prison time, på vand og brød (on water and bread). Until 1933, prisoners could in some circumstances be punished with an allowance of only water, a fixed amount of rugbrød, salt and possibly lard.
Rugbrød is regarded somewhat difficult for home baking. Apart from the sourdough preparation, the loaves must not be leavened for too long, or else the taste can become excessively sour, with the relatively pungent acetic acid taking the lead over milder-tasting lactic acid, and enzymes can cause the gluten (protein structure) and starches to degrade and collapse, creating cavities or dense lumps inside the bread or even causing it to shrink during or after baking. Rarely, recipes replace some of the water with ale or beer, but this is not necessary to create the characteristic sourdough taste.
Sourdough is almost always used for the base dough, as commercial yeasts are unsuitable. The naturally fermented dough will develop a Lactobacillus culture in symbiotic combination with naturally present yeasts. It is essential in baking rye-based breads because the chemistry of rye flour produces an environment that is acidic. The most commonly present yeast species in the production of naturally leavened dough is Saccharomyces exiguus, which is more acid-tolerant than commercially produced S. cerevisiae, although the latter and other strains may also be present. Research has shown that when creating a naturally fermented starter, any naturally present S. cerevisiae will have died off after a few days. Sourdough is thus a stable culture of lactic acid bacteria and yeast in a mixture of flour and water. The yeast produces carbon dioxide which leavens the dough, and the bacteria produces lactic acid which contributes flavor. The bacteria metabolizes sugars that the yeast cannot, and the yeast metabolizes byproducts of bacterial fermentation. Commercially produced yeast will not accomplish these processes in rye flour.
Rugbrød contains little or no added oils and is low in fat. Additional flavourings, other than salt, can include barley malt syrup or sugar. The bread is rich in protein and dietary fiber and not very sweet, unlike Swedish and German rye bread.
Buttered rugbrød is essentially the base for Danish open sandwich smørrebrød.
Smørrebrød, smørbrød in Norwegian and smörgås in Swedish, is a traditional open-faced sandwich in the cuisines of Denmark, Norway and Sweden that usually consists of a piece of buttered rugbrød (a dense, dark rye bread) topped with commercial or homemade cold cuts, pieces of meat or fish, cheese or spreads, and garnishes.
Bread is a very important part of the Scandinavian diet, primarily rugbrød, which is sourdough rye bread. It is a dark, heavy bread which is often bought sliced, in varieties from light-coloured rye to very dark, and from refined to whole-grain. Some toppings are served on franskbrød (French bread), a very light, crusty wheat bread. The bread is usually buttered, though for some variants, a spread of lard is customary.
Traditional toppings include pickled herring (plain, spiced or curried), slightly sweeter than Dutch or German herring; thinly sliced cheese in many varieties; sliced cucumber, tomato and boiled eggs; pork liver-paste; dozens of types of cured or processed meat in thin slices, or smoked fish such as salmon; mackerel in tomato sauce; pickled cucumber; boiled egg, and rings of red onion. Mayonnaise mixed with peas, sliced boiled asparagus and diced carrot, called italiensk salat (Italian salad), remoulade or other thick sauces often top the layered open sandwich, which is usually eaten with utensils. It is customary to pass the dish of sliced bread around the table, and then to pass around each dish of toppings, from which people help themselves.
More festive meals can be loosely divided into courses: fish toppings first (such as herring, shrimp, or smoked salmon) followed by cold cuts and salads, and finally cheese with bread or crackers and fruit. One or several warm dishes are often served with the meats on special occasions, such as breaded plaice filet, fried medister sausage, frikadeller with pickled red cabbage, or mørbradbøf (pork tenderloin with sauteed onions or a creamy mushroom sauce).
Today, The Grandma hasarrivedin Københavnwhere she will be staying until Friday for work. She has just arrived in time to watch the Northern Star, who has a very important match in Maria Enzasduaf (Mödling, Lower Austria) at DatenpolArena, where there are two luxury spectators: Joseph de Ca'th Lon and ClaireFontaine.
During the flight from Barcelona to København, The Grandma has been reading Ausiàs March, on the 567th anniversary of his death, the Valencianpoet who so excellently sang of love and the art of sailing, an art shared with the Scandinavian inhabitants with whom TheGrandma will spend a few days sharing work projects and cultural experiences.
Perhaps one of the best-known poems of Ausiàs March is Veles e vents, a beauty one that expresses the inner struggle of the lover, especially the conflict between reason and love passion.
Ausiàs March uses the nautical metaphor (the winds, the sea, the ship) to represent his state of mind: the rough sea symbolizes his tormented heart; the contrary winds represent the opposing feelings that dominate him and the ship is himself, who tries to stay on course in the midst of emotional disorder.
Love is seen by Ausiàs March as a powerful and contradictory force that causes torment and instability; doubt and inner contradiction and emotional dependence. As in all his love poems, Ausiàs March expresses an intense, deep and often painful vision of love, very characteristic of his work.
Ausiàs March (1397-March 3, 1459) was a Valencian poet and knight from Gandia, València. He is considered one of the most important poets of the Golden Centuryof Catalan literature.
Not much is known of March's life. He was born in approximately 1400 to a Valencian noble family. His father, Pere March, was himself a poet and served at the court of the younger brother of King Alfonso IV, Pere. His uncle, Jaume March II, was also a poet. March was one of the two children of Pere's second wife, Lionor of Ripoll; he had a younger sister, Peirona.
In 1413, the still-young March became head of his family -part of the Valencian petty nobility- upon the death of his father. From a very young age he took part in the expeditions that King Alfons el Magnànim carried out in the Mediterranean. After returning from these expeditions in 1427, he settled in Gandia. After his return, he would never again leave the region where he was born. March was twice married: first to Isabel Martorell (sister of the writer Joanot Martorell), and later to Joana Escorna.
In 1450, he moved from Gandia to Valencia. It was there that he died on March 3, 1459. While March himself was buried in his family's chapel at the Valencia Cathedral, his two wives and family are buried in the Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba. Five illegitimate children but no legitimate heirs have been attributed to him.
Inheriting an easy fortune from his father, Pere March -the treasurer to the Duke of Gandia- and enjoying the powerful patronage of Carles of Viana, prince of Aragon, March was able to devote himself to poetical composition.
He was an undisguised follower of Petrarch, carrying the imitation to such a point that he addressed his Cants d'amor (Love songs) to a lady whom he professed to have seen first in church on Good Friday. So far as the difference of language allows, he reproduced the rhythmical cadences of his model, but this should be qualified as the medieval tradition of locus communis requested this following. This is something Petrarch himself did and it need not to be stressed.
March is a very original and idiosyncratic poet.
In the Cants de mort (Death hymns) he touches a note of brooding sentiment peculiar to himself. It can be said that he developed Petrarch's rhetoric and used it for more inner psychological meditations, as other major poets such a Camões and Shakespeare would.
March was one of the first poets to use the local vernacular, Catalan, instead of the troubadour language, Occitan. His poems are marked by obscurity, a sometimes monotonous morbidity, and a conflicting battle between desire and morality, achieved at its apex in the great Cant Spiritual.
He was fully entitled to the supremacy which he enjoyed among his contemporaries, and the success of his innovation no doubt encouraged Boscán to introduce the Italian metres into Castilian.
March's poetry has been set to music by different composers.
Veles e vents han mos desigs complir
faent camins dubtosos per la mar. Mestre i ponent contra d’ells veig armar: xaloc, llevant los deuen subvenir ab llurs amics lo grec e lo migjorn, fent humils precs al vent tramuntanal que en son bufar los sia parcial e que tots cinc complesquen mon retorn.
Bullirà·l mar com la cassola en forn, mudant color e l'estat natural, e mostrarà voler tota res mal que sobre si atur un punt al jorn. Grans e pocs peixs a recors correran e cercaran amagatalls secrets; fugint al mar on són nodrits e fets, per gran remei en terra eixiran.
Los pelegrins tots ensems votaran e prometran molts dons de cera fets; la gran paor traurà al llum los secrets que al confés descoberts no seran. En lo perill no·m caureu de l’esment, ans votaré al Déu qui·ns ha lligats de no minvar mes fermes voluntats e que tots temps me sereu de present.
Jo tem la mort per no ser-vos absent, perquè amor per mort és anul·lats; mas jo no creu que mon voler sobrats pusca ésser per tal departiment. Jo só gelós de vostre escàs voler que, jo morint, no meta mi en oblit. Sol est pensar me tol del món delit car, nós vivint, no creu se pusca fer: aprés ma mort d'amar perdau poder e sia tost en ira convertit, e jo, forçat d’aquest món ser eixit, tot lo meu mal serà vós no veer. Oh Déu, ¿per què terme no hi ha en amor, car prop d’aquell jo·m trobara tot sol? Vostre voler sabera quant me vol, tement, fiant, de tot l’avenidor.
Jo són aquell pus extrem amador aprés d'aquell a qui Déu vida tol. Puis jo són viu, mon cor no mostra dol tant com la mort per sa extrema dolor. A bé o mal d’amor jo só dispost, mas per mon fat fortuna cas no·m porta. Tot esvetlat, ab desbarrada porta, me trobarà faent humil respost. Jo desig ço que·m porà ser gran cost i aquest esper de molts mals m’aconhorta. A mi no plau ma vida ser estorta d’un cas molt fer, qual prec Déu sia tost; lladoncs les gents no·ls calrà donar fe al que amor fora mi obrarà; lo seu poder en acte·s mostrarà e los meus dits ab los fets provaré.
Amor, de vós jo·n sent més que no·n sé, de què la part pijor me'n romandrà, e de vós sap lo qui sens vós està. A joc de daus vos acompararé.
Sails and winds shall fulfill my deep longings, forging uncertain paths along the sea. Mistral and Ponent rise up against them; Sirocco and Levanter must then resist, with stalwart allies Gregal and Noonday, making humble plea to wind Transmontane to lend them favor with her billowing that, as one, five might aid my swift return.
The sea will boil like a crock on the flame, transforming her natural color and shape; she will reveal how she distains all that seek her refuge even for a moment. Fish both great and humble, left succorless, will seek a secret nook or hiding place, fleeing what once engendered and protected to pursue a desperate landlocked rescue.
With one voice, all seafarers will take oath, pledging gifts of supplicatory wax; the terror there will unlock the secrets until then unconfessed, hence unabsolved. Through such peril, you will not leave my thoughts, and to the God who joined us, thus my plea: that I be steadfast in my firm resolve, and you my strong companion all the while.
I fear death for the absence it will bring, because love, in death, is perforce anulled; but I do not believe this departure will reverse my own desperate longing. I yearn deeply for your lukewarm heart, and pray my death does not cause your disregard. Life's joy is banished by this thought alone (though while we live I doubt it will happen): that when I die your love will soon falter and all its fury be turned into rage. And I, forcibly cast out of this world, I will only regret not seeing you. My God, were love not infinite, boundless I would stand alone at its furthest point! Then I would know the measure of your love, and trust it all to fate, if fearfully.
No one has loved more ardently than I, save any man whose life God took for love; I, who live, cannot show the heartfelt pain revealed best and alone in lovelorn death. Yet I am at love’s call, for good or ill, and although such fortune ne'er befall me, will stand prepared, unbarred doors open wide, where I'll be found in humble readiness. I so want that which will cost me dearest that there is solace in waiting alone! I am not content to be spared the worst Dear God, it is my life's most fervent plea for then all who watch will see, in action, love's universal and external works made powerfully manifest in me, as these many words I confirm with deeds.
Love, in you, feeling undermines thought, so that to me falls the worst of all lots: as with a bet at any gaming table, discernment is for those not so enticed.
If there is one thing the personalities of Joseph de Ca'th Lon, Claire Fontaine and The Grandma have in common, it is that all three are very shy and extremely discreet people. But of all three, the one who takes first prize is Claire Fontaine,which is why today they have decided to do a nice photo shoot for her (with her permission) while they have visited Lleida, a city that Claire knows perfectly and that she loves madly because we already know that your home is where your heart is.
This morning, all three of them have walked through the historic centre of the city with the omnipresent presence of the Seu Vella, that they have not been able to visit today due to lack of time, but that they know well and admire deeply. They have had a few hours before taking the Avant towards Barcelona and, for this reason, they have gone to visit the two heroes of the city, Indíbil and Mandoni.
During the train journey, The Grandma has taken the opportunity to write this post, because tomorrow, Claire and Joseph will fly to Vienna where the NorthernStar has a very important match and they don't want to miss the opportunity to watch her live.
Indibilis and Mandonius (Indíbil iMandoni in Catalan) were chieftainsof the Ilergetes, an ancient Iberianpeople based in the Iberian Peninsula.
Polybius speaks of the brothers as the most influential and powerful of the Iberian chieftains in that period. Livy calls one of the chieftains of the IlergetesIndibilis. At the same time, Polybius gives "Andobales" for the same person. They agree that his brother chieftain was Mandonius.
Indibilis fought against the Romans and sided with the Carthaginians at the Battle of Cissa in 218 BC, when Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus fought them. Indibilis and Carthaginian general Hanno were defeated at this battle and became a prisoner.
In 217 BC, Indibilis regained his freedom and, with his younger brother Mandonius, decided to harass neighbouring Iberian tribes who were friendly to, or in alliance with, Rome. This harassment was fended off by Scipio Calvus by counter measures that involved killing some of Indibilis' tribesmen, taking some prisoner, and disarming the others. When Hasdrubal Barca, who was in north-western Iberia, heard of this, he returned to help out his Iberian allies south of the Ebro River. At this time, the tide of war took a turn because of unexpected intelligence received by Scipio Calvus from the Celtiberians. The Celtiberi were encouraged to collaborate with Scipio Calvus and invade New Carthage. On the way there, the combined armies took three fortified towns and fought two successful battles against Hasdrubal, Indibilis, and Mandonius. Scipio Calvus' combined armies killed 15,000 of the enemy and took 4,000 prisoners.
As a result, Indibilis and Mandonius and their remaining tribesmen stayed out of the picture until 211 BC. At that time, they gathered 7,500 Suessetani and joined forces with Hasdrubal. Publius Cornelius Scipio, father to Scipio Africanus and younger brother of Scipio Calvus, decided to attack the Iberian chieftain brothers as they were moving across his line of retreat from his camp. Cornelius Scipio did not want to be trapped and surrounded by Carthaginians. He marched at midnight to meet them and skirmished with them at daybreak. Cornelius Scipio was speared with a lance and killed during the Battle of Castulo, part of the Battle of the Upper Baetis. Scipio Calvus was killed at the Battle of Ilorca, the other part of the battle of the Upper Baetis, a few days later.
Even though the chieftains were generally pro-Carthaginian, for which they were rewarded by being given back their tribal territories after the death of the two Scipios in 211 BC, they soon changed their minds after the conduct of the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal Gisco. He demanded money from them for his own benefit. He also required that the wife of Mandonius and the daughters of Indibilis be held at New Carthage in pledge for their fathers' fidelity. The hostages were part of the booty when Scipio Africanus captured New Carthage in 209 BC. Africanus treated them with much dignity and returned them to their rightful places, which impressed the Iberians.
The two brothers soon abandoned the Carthaginians and sided with the Romans. In 209 BC, they concluded a treaty of alliance with the Romans which involved most of the Iberian tribes. They then collaborated in a campaign against Hasdrubal Gisco which ended in a victory at the Battle of Baecula in 208 BC.
Because of the presence of the Roman general Africanus, Indibilis and Mandonius maintained a friendly association with the Romans. However, when a rumour spread in 206 BC that Africanus was seriously ill and possibly dead, they started a rebellion aimed at getting the Romans to leave Iberia. This rumour also started a mutiny at the military camp at the Sucro River, which involved some 8,000 soldiers. Indibilis and Mandonius sided with the mutineers. Africanus recovered and returned to good health and ultimately defeated the mutiny with the thirty-five ringleaders beheaded. He then fought the armies of Indibilis and Mandonius and defeated them. Indibilis and Mandonius surrendered to Africanus asking for mercy. Indibilis and Mandonius were subsequently released by Scipio on favourable terms.
The next year, Africanus left Iberia in the hands of his generals L. Lentulus and L. Manlius and returned to Rome to prepare for an attack on Carthage. Since Africanus was the only Roman general of whom Indibilis and Mandonius were afraid, they roused the Iberian tribes and assembled an army of 30,000 foot soldiers and 4,000 cavalry and decided to rebel again. In a battle with the Romans, the Iberians were all but destroyed. Indibilis was killed during the battle and Mandonius escaped with the remnants of his forces. As part of the peace terms dictated by Rome, he was given up by his tribesmen to the Romans; what became of him is unknown.
La veu Mandoni i les cadenes trenca, i estén los braços de genolls alçant-se... Mes ai que xiula la destral, llampega, i un tronc desploma’s i una testa salta.
La mare al poble gemegant la mostra: -Què has fet, oh raça de tants hèroes? Guaita, i a eix preu te vens a los botxins? Desperta! Venjança i llibertat!... I el poble calla.
The voice of Mandoni and the chains break, and he stretches his arms from his knees, rising... But alas, the axe whistles, flashes, and a trunk collapses and a head jumps.
The mother in the village groans and shows it: -What have you done, oh race of so many heroes? Look, and at this price you sell yourself to the executioners? Wake up! Revenge and freedom!... And the village is silent.
After observing the syzygy last night, Joseph de Ca'th Lon, Claire Fontaine and The Grandma have decided to have a good breakfast in Àger and visit the medieval city and the CollegiateCastleof Sant Pere.
Then, they have taken their cameras, zooms and binoculars and have headed towards the Mont-rebei Gorge, a spectacularly wonderful and unique natural space located between Pallars Jussà, LaNoguera and BaixaRibagorça, this in the part known as the Franja, the territories of Catalan language and culture that are part of Aragon. The journey was spectacular and the three friends have enjoyed another of their great hobbies: ornithology.
In the middle of the Vall d'Àger, high on a hill stands the ancient canonry of Sant Pere, one of the most important sites of the Catalan Romanesque. Surrounded by a wall and situated in a strategic point that dominates the entirety of the valley, its stones bear evidence to a part of the history of the Christian conquest.
The origin of the site is found in the castle erected by the Arabs. The vall d'Àger, like the majority of the territories in Lleida, was under Islamic control at the beginning of the 8th century. It wasn't until the end of the 11th century that the Christians, commanded by Arnau Mir de Tost, occupied the fortification.
Arnau Mir and his wife Arsenda converted the castle into their political centre and residence and ordered the construction of the church of Sant Pere, soon housing a community of canonries.
The building that formed the ancient canonry exemplifies diverse styles, transformations and constructions: the major church, with an older part that shaped the crypt, the Romanesque cloister that in the 14th century was substituted for a Gothic cloister under the orders of Pere I, Count of Urgell, and Gothic dependencies, renovated in some cases to match new styles, like the Renaissance refectory.
After a time of splendor, largely due to the privilege of Episcopal exemption, the Sant Pere de Àger went into decline in the 15th century due to the depopulation of the Vall d'Àger and the war against Joan II. The 16th century marked the secularisation of the abbey which was later converted into a collegiate church. The canonry didn’t resist the passage of time and was crumbling from the devastation of wars, sieges and pillaging, the Segadors, the war of Sucession and the Peninsular War, among others.
Sant Pere is a fortified site with Romanesque and Neogothic touches, erected in the 11th century by Arnau Mir de Tost, leader of the county of Urgell. With this operation the leader wanted to obtain political and religious power at the same time, creating canonical site that would directly depend on the Holy See.
The foundations rest on the remains of a Roman castle, subsequently seized and also reconverted by the Arabs. The site was built during the 11th century: the castle-palace and the collegiate church, which was managed by a canonical order.
In the church we can still see the section with the three naves headed by three apses, although this basilical layout was incorporated in later works. The bell tower dates back to the 12th century, and took the defensive style of the site due to strategic recommendations, for the site bordered the Arab part of Catalunya. The building works of the church's cloister, initiated by Count Pere Urgell, took place between the 14th and the 15th centuries.
Important relics of the rich interior decoration are still preserved, such as ornaments and Romanesque mural paintings, in the Museu Diocesà de Lleida, in the Catalonia National Art Museum and in the United States.
It must be added that the sculptures are also noteworthy, and they follow the same style lines as those in the Barcelona Cathedral.
The Mont-rebei Gorge is a place that is part of the Noguera Ribagorçana-Mont Rebei Partial Natural Reserve. It is located on the border between Aragon and Catalunya. To the west, is the Baixa Ribagorça (Franja) and to the east the Pallars Jussà and the Noguera (Catalunya). It is formed in the narrowest part where the Noguera Ribagorçana river crosses the Montsec mountain range.
On the south-eastern side, it belongs to the municipality of Àger, in LaNoguera; on the north-eastern side, to Sant Esteve de la Sarga, in Pallars Jussà. On the western side, it belongs to the municipality of Viacamp i Lliterà, in BaixaRibagorça.
It is a place of undoubted ecological value for the wild fauna that it houses, among which birds of prey should be highlighted, and for the beauty of its rugged landscape. It is very attractive for climbers and speleologists, as there are excellent walls and a cave such as La Colomera. The maintenance of the reserve is in charge of the Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera.
It can be reached by road from the Montanyana and Sant Esteve de la Sarga bridges to the north, and from Àger to the south. There is an unguarded public car park located on the plain formed by the eastern bank, just north of the gorge. There is an information hut and in the summer educational talks are held there.
On the Aragonese side, the right bank of the river, north of the gorge, is dominated by the tower of Girbeta Castle and two Romanesque churches: Nostra Senyora del Congost and Nostra Senyora del Congost Vella, the latter in ruins.
On the Catalan side, the passage through the gorge is made entirely by a path dug into the rock, and in some places by tunnel. It should be remembered that this path is located at high altitude and does not have a railing, so it is not recommended for children or those who suffer from vertigo. To the south, the path gains altitude and runs along the slopes of the mountain until you can see the reservoir.
The Mont-rebei Gorge is, without a doubt, one of the most unique natural spaces in the Pre-Pyrenees, both from a landscape point of view, as it is the only large gorge free of infrastructure, and for its great biodiversity.
Several interesting faunal species live there. Among the birds, there are many large birds of prey typical of the cliffs: the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), the sable (Neophron percnopterus), the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), as well as the yellow-billed jackdaw (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) and red-billed jackdaw (Pyrrhocorax graculus) and the rockhopper (Tichodroma muraria). Among the mammals, there is the common otter (Lutra lutra), the wildcat (Felis silvestris), the marten (Martes martes), the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), the mole (Talpa europaea) and numerous species of bats.
Joseph de Ca'th Lon arrived in Barcelona yesterday to spend four days with TheGrandma.
This afternoon, they have taken their telescopes and an Avant to Lleida where Claire Fontaine was waiting for them to organize their visit to Àger, where tonight they hope that the sky will be with them, there will not be many clouds and they can contemplate the syzygy or planetaryalignment of six planets and the Moon, a spectacle that does not happen every day and that is always something fascinating to see and experience. Once they have arrived in Lleida, they have driven along the C12 to this beautiful town that hosts one of the best Astronomical Parks in the country.
Àger is a municipality of 637 population in the comarca of La Noguera in Catalunya. It is situated in the north-west of the comarca, and the territory of the municipality stretches between the Noguera Ribagorçana and Noguera Pallaresa rivers. The Terradets reservoir on the Noguera Pallaresa is situated within the municipality. The village is linked to Balaguer and Tremp by the L-904 road.
In astronomy, a syzygy (from Ancient Greek συζυγία (suzugía) union, yoking, expressing the sense of σύν (syn- together) and ζυγ- (zug- a yoke) is a roughly straight-line configuration of three or more celestial bodies in a gravitational system.
The word is often used in reference to the Sun, Earth, and either the Moon or a planet, where the latter is in conjunction or opposition. Solar and lunar eclipses occur at times of syzygy, as do transits and occultations.
A syzygy sometimes results in an occultation, transit, or an eclipse.
-An occultation occurs when an apparently larger body passes in front of an apparently smaller one, obscuring it from view.
-A transit occurs when a smaller body passes in front of a larger one.
-In the combined case where the smaller body regularly transits the larger, an occultation is also termed a secondary eclipse. It is commonly used to refer to cases where a planet travels behind its host star as viewed from Earth.
-An eclipse occurs when a body totally or partially disappears from view, either by an occultation, as with a solar eclipse, or by passing into the shadow of another body, as with a lunar eclipse.
The term is also used to describe situations when all the planets are on the same side of the Sun although they are not necessarily in a straight line, such as on March 10, 1982.
Apparent planetary alignment involving Mercury, Venus, Mars, andJupiter; the Moon is also shown, as the brightest object.
Because the orbits of all the planets in the Solar System (as well as the Moon) are inclined by only a few degrees, they always appear very near the ecliptic in our sky. Therefore, although an apparent planetary alignment known as a planetary parade may appear as a line (actually, a great arc), the planets are not necessarily aligned in space.
Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.
Today, The Grandma has started reading The Navajo People and Uranium Mining a very interesting book about one of the darkest and hardest stories that the Navajo Nation is still suffering, the uraniummining.
The Grandma is a great admirer of Native American cultures, especially the Navajo,since she became interested in studying their language over twenty years ago.
Naabeehó Bináhásdzo(The Navajo Nation) is a Native Americanreservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in Window Rock, Arizona.
At roughly 71,000 km2, the Navajo Nation is the largest Indian reservation in the United States, exceeding the size of ten U.S. states. It is one of the few reservations whose lands overlap the nation's traditional homelands.
In 2010, the reservation was home to 173,667 out of 332,129 Navajo tribal members; the remaining 158,462 tribal members lived outside the reservation, in urban areas (26%), border towns (10%), and elsewhere in the U.S. (17%).
In 2020, the number of tribal members increased to 399,494, surpassing the Cherokee Nation as the largest tribal group by enrollment.
The United States gained ownership of what is today Navajoland in 1848 after the end of the Mexican-American War. The reservation was first established in 1868 within New Mexico Territory, initially spanning roughly 13,000 km2; it subsequently straddled what became the Arizona-New Mexico border in 1912, when the states were admitted to the union. Unlike many reservations in the U.S., it has since expanded several times since its formation, reaching its current boundaries in 1934 and retained sovereignty.
The official language of the Navajo Nation is Navajo Diné Bizaad.
The Navajo People and Uranium Mining (2006) is a non-fiction book edited by Doug Brugge, Timothy Benally, and Esther Yazzie-Lewis; ituses oral histories to tell the stories of Navajo Nation families and miners in the uranium mining industry. The foreword is written by Stewart L. Udall, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
The Navajo People and Uranium Mining has 12 chapters. Seven chapters contain stories of the Navajo told through interviews of the miners or their families. The remaining chapters describe the health effects related to uraniummining, and how these medical issues adversely affected the lives of the miners and their families.
The relationship between uranium mining and the Navajo people began in 1944 in northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, andsoutheastern Utah.
In the 1950s, the Navajo Nation was situated directly in the uranium mining belt that experienced a boom in production, and many residents found work in the mines. Prior to 1962, the risks of lung cancer due to uranium mining were unknown to the workers, and the lack of a word for radiation in the Navajo language left the miners unaware of the associated health hazards.
The Navajo Nation was affected by the United States' largest radioactive accident during the Church Rock uranium mill spill in 1979 when a tailings pond upstream from Navajo County breached its dam and sent radioactive waste down the Puerco River, injuring people and killing livestock.
The cultural significance of water for the Navajo people and the environmental damage to both the land and livestock inhibits the ability of the Navajo people to practice their culture.
On the Navajo Nation, approximately 15% of people do not have access to running water. Navajo Nation residents are often forced to resort to unregulated water sources that are susceptible to bacteria, fecal matter, and uranium. Extensive uranium mining in the region during the mid-20th century is a contemporary concern because of contamination of these commonly used sources, in addition to the lingering health effects of exposure from mining.
Water on the Navajo Nation currently has an average of 90 micrograms per litre of uranium, with some areas reaching upwards of 700 micrograms per litre. In contrast, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers 30 micrograms per litre the safe amount of uranium to have in water sources. Health impacts of uranium consumption include kidney damage and failure, as kidneys are unable to filter uranium out of the bloodstream. There is an average rate of End Stage Renal Disease of 0.63% in the Navajo Nation, a rate significantly higher than the national average of 0.19%.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been cleaning up uraniummines on the Navajo Nation since as part of settlements through the Superfund since 1994. The Abandoned Mine Land program and Contaminated Structures Program have facilitated the cleanup of mines and demolition of structures built with radioactive materials. Criticisms of unfair, inefficient treatment have been made repeatedly of EPA by Navajos and journalists.
In October 2021, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights agreed to hear a case filed by the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining, which accused the United States government of violating the human rights of Navajo Nation members. Environmental journalist Cody Nelson explains further that: the US government and its Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have violated their human rights by licensing uranium mines in their communities (Nelson, Ignored for 70 Years': Human Rights Group to Investigate Uranium Contamination on Navajo Nation). Nelson also describes that There is moral value in having an international human rights body lay bare the abuses of the nuclear industry and the US government's complicity in those abuses.
In 1944, uranium mining under the U.S military's Manhattan Project began on Navajo Nation lands and on Lakota Nation lands.
On August 1, 1946, the responsibility for atomic science and technology was transferred from the military to the United States Atomic Energy Commission. Authors Dr. Doug Brugge and Dr. Rob Goble from the National Library of Medicine explain that After its initial dependence on foreign sources, the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) announced in 1948 that it would guarantee a price for and purchase all uranium ore mined in the United States. This initiated a mining 'boom' on the Colorado Plateau in New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona that replaced a more limited mining industry centered first on radium and then vanadium, which are found in the same easy-to-mine, soft sandstone ore. The US government remained, by law, the sole purchaser of uranium in the United States until 1971, but private companies operated the mines (Brugge and Goble, The History of Uranium Mining and the Navajo People). Widespread uranium mining began on Navajo and Lakota lands in a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War.
Large uranium deposits were mined on and near the Navajo Reservation in the Southwest, and these were developed through the 20th century. Absent much environmental regulation prior to the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 and passage of related laws, the mining endangered thousands of Navajo workers, as well as producing contamination that has persisted in adversely affecting air and water quality, and contaminating Navajo lands.
Private companies hired thousands of Navajo men to work the uraniummines. Disregarding the known health risks of exposure to uranium, the private companies and the United States Atomic Energy Commission failed to inform the Navajo workers about the dangers and to regulate the mining to minimize contamination. As more data was collected, they were slow to take appropriate action for the workers.
In 1951, the U.S. Public Health Service began a human testing experiment on Navajo miners, without their informed consent, during the federal government's study of the long term health effects from radiation poisoning. Navajo pathologist Phillida A. Charley states that The Navajo miners were never told about the health or environmental effects of mining uranium and that Some miners took rocks from the mines to build their homes or chimneys (Charley, Walking in Beauty A Navajo scientist confronts the legacy of uranium mining). The Navajo miners continued to work, unaware of the experiment, nor the significant health impacts.
In 1932, the USPHS began an earlier human testing experiment on African men in their Tuskegee syphilis experiment. The experiment on Navajo mine workers and their families documented high rates of cancers (including Xerodermapigmentosum) and other diseases which manifested from uranium mining and milling contamination. For decades, industry and the government failed to regulate or improve conditions, or inform workers of the dangers. As high rates of illness began to occur, workers were often unsuccessful in court cases seeking compensation, and the states at first did not officially recognize radon illness. In 1990, the US Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, to address cases of uranium poisoning and provide needed compensation, but Navajo Nation applicants provide evidence RECA requirements prevent access to necessary compensation. Congressional modifications to RECA application requirements were made in 2000, and were introduced in 2017 and in 2018.
Since 1988, the Navajo Nation's Abandoned Mine Lands program reclaims mines and cleans mining sites, but significant problems from the legacy of uranium mining and milling persist today on the Navajo Nation and in the states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. More than a thousand abandoned mines have not been contained and cleaned up, and these present environmental and health risks in Navajo communities. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that there are 4000 mines with documented uranium production, and another 15,000 locations with uranium occurrences in 14 western states. Most are located in the Four Corners area and Wyoming.
The Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (1978) is a United States environmental law that amended the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and authorized the Environmental Protection Agency to establish health and environmental standards for the stabilization, restoration, and disposal of uranium mill waste. Cleanup has continued to be difficult, and EPA administers several Superfund sites located on the Navajo Nation.
On April 29, 2005, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. signed the DinéNatural Resources Protection Act of 2005 that outlaws uranium mining and processing on Navajo Nation lands.
Pressure for uranium mining increased in the postwar years, when the United States developed resources to compete with the Soviet Union in the Cold War.
In 1948, the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) announced it would be the sole purchaser of any uranium mined in the United States, to cut off dependence on imported uranium. The AEC would not mine the uranium; it contracted with private mining companies for the product. The subsequent mining boom led to the creation of thousands of mines; 92% of all western mines were located on the Colorado Plateau because of regional resources.
The Navajo Nation encompasses portions of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, and their reservation was a key area for uranium mining. More than 1000 mines were established by leases in the reservation. From 1944 to 1986, an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 Navajo people worked in the uranium mines on their land. Other work was scarce on and near the reservation, and many Navajo men traveled miles to work in the mines, sometimes taking their families with them. Between 1944 and 1989, 3.9 million tons of uranium ore were mined from the mountains and plains.
In 1951, the US Public Health Service began a massive human medical experiment on approximately 4000 Navajo uranium miners, without their informed consent. Neither the miners nor their families were warned of the risks from nuclear radiation and contamination as USPHS continued their experiment. In 1955, USPHS took active control of Native American medical health services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the experiments on nuclear radiation continued.
In 1962 it published the first report to show a statistical correlation between cancer and uranium mining. The federal government finally regulated the standard amount of radon in mines, setting the level at .3 working level (WL) on January 1, 1969, but Navajo people attending mining schools before working in the mines were still not informed of the health risks from uranium poisoning in 1971. Reports continued to be published from USPHS's non-consensual medical experiments at least until 1998. The Environmental Protection Agency was established on December 2, 1970. But, environmental regulation could not repair the damage already suffered.
Navajo miners contracted a variety of cancers including lung cancer at much higher rates than the rest of the U.S. population, and they have suffered higher rates of other lung diseases caused by breathing in radon.
Private companies resisted regulation through lobbying Congress and state legislatures. In 1990, the United States Congress finally passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), granting reparations for those affected by the radiation. The act was amended in 2000 to address criticisms and problems with the original legislation.
The tribal council and Navajo delegates remained in control of mining decisions before the adverse health effects of mining were identified. No one fully understood the effect of radon exposure for miners, as there was insufficient data before the expansion of mining.
Beginning in the 1960s, uranium miners were beginning to become ill with cancer at increasing rates. The state of Utah did not recognize radiation exposure at the time as a category of illness, making workers compensation unattainable for many of the sick Navajo (Dawson and Madsen 2007). Private industry's treatment of the Navajo workers was poor, according to recent standards: companies failed to educate workers on precautionary measures, did not install sufficient engineering controls, such as adequate ventilation; and did not provide sufficient safety equipment to protect workers to the known dangers related to the mines.
The Navajo were never told of the radiation effects, and did not have a word for it in their language. Many Navajo did not speak English and trusted the uranium companies to have their interests in mind. Navajo workers and residents have felt betrayed as the results of the studies became known, as well as the long delays by companies and the US government to try to prevent the damage, and to pay compensation. Lung cancer became so prevalent among the Navajo people that working in uranium mines was banned on Navajo lands in 2005.
Following the Gold King Mine Spill in 2015, farmers lost 75% of their crops due to the lack of clean water. The EPA provided the Navajo with water, but it was contaminated with oil, poisoning the land and killing the livestock.
Duane Yazzie, a Navajo Tribe member, spoke about the spiritual and cultural importance that agriculture plays in the Navajo culture and how both the oil and uranium contamination infringed upon their ability to practice their culture.
In the case of environmental hazards such as the Gold King mine spill, the EPA offers The Standard Form 95 where claims of economic damages, unemployment, loss of income, or damage to property can be filed as a result of an environmental incident. The Standard Form 95 is also a form of environmental racism according to Jade Begay, director of policy and advocacy for the Indigenous-led organization NDN Collective. They explain that The President of the Navajo Nation, Russell Begaye, has announced that he intends to take legal action against the EPA, which has taken full responsibility for this spill. Mr. Begaye has also warned Diné people NOT to use or sign Form 95 for Damage, Injury or Death as a result of Gold King Mine Release (Begay, Tó Éí Ííńá (Water Is Life): The Impact of the Gold Mine Spill on the Navajo Nation). Ethel Branch, the Navajo Nation attorney general also said this form contained backhanded, offensive language that would diminish one's ability to get full financial compensation and restrict their ability to file additional, future claims.
Arizona, our beautiful state, was built on mining. Copper is huge here, and now uranium. And then we have the federal government coming in, writing all these rules and regulations and telling us that we can't do this and we can't do that. We need concise, clear answers.
The Grandma is not a person of habits, but on Thursdays, when she is not outside of Barcelona, she usually does one of her favourite activities: having breakfast with her friends.
As soon as she leaves her home, she crosses the street that separates Sants from Les Corts and, in five minutes, she is in front of the Camp Nou where, after looking at it for a while and discussing with the grandparents in the neighbourhood the current state of the works, she has breakfast with her friends, including Claire Fontaine. Some of them work in a public administration department and others in one of the best clubs in the world.
Breakfasts always serve to catch up on national health issues and dark sports stories of those that are only told to you off the record and that later, after a more or less short time, end up appearing in the national press, because one of the important things that all these friends point out is that sooner or later you always end up knowing the truth.
After breakfast, if weather permits, The Grandma heads to the gardens of LaMaternitat, where she spends the rest of the morning reading a good book. Today she has chosen Le Dernier Jour d'un Condamné by Victor Hugo, the author who was born on a day like today in 1802.
The weather has changed from grey clouds to bright sunshine and a cool breeze that has made reading enjoyable. It has also been a good opportunity to read in French, a wonderful language.
Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (26 February 1802-22 May 1885) was a French Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, humanrights activist and politician.
His most famous works are the novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862). In France, Hugo is renowned for his poetry collections, such as Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles. Hugo was at the forefront of the Romantic literary movement with his play Cromwell and drama Hernani. His works have inspired music, both during his lifetime and after his death, including the opera Rigoletto and the musicals Les Misérables and Notre-Dame de Paris. He produced more than 4,000 drawings in his lifetime, and campaigned for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment and slavery.
Although he was a committed royalist when young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism, serving in politics as both deputy and senator. His work touched upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. His opposition to absolutism, and his literary stature, established him as a national hero. Hugo died on 22 May 1885, aged 83.
He was given a state funeral in the Panthéon of Paris, which was attended by over two million people, the largest in French history.
Hugo
was at the forefront of the romantic literary movement. Many of his works have inspired music, both
during his lifetime and after his death, including the musicals Notre-Dame de Paris and Les Misérables.
He produced more than 4,000 drawings in his lifetime, and campaigned
for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment.
Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's
views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate
supporter of republicanism; his work touches upon most of the political
and social issues and the artistic trends of his time.
Victor-Marie
Hugo was born on 26 February 1802 (7 Ventôse, year X of the Republic)
in Besançon in Eastern France and died on 22 May 1885.
Le Dernier Jour d'un Condamnéis a novella by Victor Hugo first published in 1829. It recounts the thoughts of a man condemned to die. Victor Hugo wrote this novel to express his feelings that the death penalty should be abolished.
Victor Hugo witnessed the spectacle of the guillotine several times and was outraged that society coolly gives itself permission to do what it condemns the accused for having done. It was the day after crossing the Place de l'Hotel de Ville where an executioner was greasing the guillotine in anticipation of a scheduled execution that Hugo began writing The Last Day of a Condemned Man. He finished very quickly. The book was published in February 1829 by Charles Gosselin without the author's name. Three years later, on 15 March 1832, Hugo completed his story with a long preface and his signature.
Hugo's text was translated twice into English in 1840. The first translation was published by George William MacArthur Reynolds, author of penny blood novel The Mysteries of London (1844-48), as The Last Day of a Condemned. The second translation in 1840 was completed by Sir P. H. Fleetwood, titled The Last Days of a Condemned. Fleetwood also added his own preface to the book, outlining why it was important that British anti-capital punishment campaigners ought to read it, whereas Reynolds did not add any substantive new material but reprinted Hugo's preface and provided a few footnotes which he signed as Trans.
Though The Last Day of a Condemned Man is lesser known than some of Hugo's other works, the novel had the distinction of being praised as absolutely the most real and truthful of everything that Hugo wrote by Fyodor Dostoevsky, who referenced it in both his letters and his novel, The Idiot.
Notably, Dostoyevsky had suffered the psychological insight of himself being condemned to death and suffered a mock execution after reprieved. Furthermore, Dostoevsky pays tribute to the novel in the format of The Meek One, citing Hugo's novel as a means of justifying the fantastic idea of writing down a person's thoughts at a moment of distress.
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