Author: Rich McClear

Egypt, Religious5 Comments

The Evolution of Egyptian Pyramids.

Rich McClear

Egyptian pyramids evolved.  They did not just pop out of the ground at Giza.  A series of mistakes litter the desert.  In a short space of miles you can see those mistakes and follow that evolution. Saqqara has a stepped pyramid (and rubble of a step pyramid that didn’t hold up so well.)  It was an early incarnation of Pharaonic funeral monuments.  Then the builders decided to shift to smooth sided pyramids.  The Collapsed Pyramid at Meidum was their first big mistake.  The builders made the angle too steep.  Instead of the pressure of the weight at the top of … Continue reading The Evolution of Egyptian Pyramids.

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Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar,– I.M. Pei’s symphony of geometric light and shadow.

Rich McClear

The gem of Qatar is the Museum of Islamic Art, with pieces from the time of Mohammad to the beginning of the 21st century.  The building, by American Architect I.M. Pei, is designed to allow for the play of sun and shadow on both the outside and inside the atrium.  Natural light plays against structural forms, floor patterns, winding staircases, balconies and light fixtures to create massive geometric patterns that move with the sun and complement the micro geometric patterns common in Islamic art.  In this building you can get lost in yourself, the art and perhaps infinity. Having lived in … Continue reading Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar,– I.M. Pei’s symphony of geometric light and shadow.

France, Religious1 Comment

“A Mighty Fortress” The fortified churches of Thierache, France.

Rich McClear

In Eastern France there are several war related “roads” to follow, the “road of the fortified towns,” “The road of the battlefields” linking battlefields of the two world wars, and “The road of the military cemeteries.” Wars happened here with alarming regularity.   The road I found most fascinating was the “The Road of the Fortified Churches” celebrating about 65 churches (God’s castles someone called them) built in the Thierache region for the protection of the civilian population.  These towns sat on the border between Champagne and Picardy near Flanders.  They could not afford to wall themselves.  Many did not have … Continue reading “A Mighty Fortress” The fortified churches of Thierache, France.

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Prizren, the Picture Perfect Balkan Town

Rich McClear

Prizren is the picture perfect Balkan town.  It’s cut in two by the Drini River; a graceful Turkish arched bridge unites the two halves of the town.  A 15th century Mosque dominates the riverbank.  That Mosque is built on Roman foundations.  At least 5 other minarets pierce the skyline.  The citadel overlooking the town was first built in the 4th century BC by the Illyrians and used, in turn, by the Romans, Byzantines and Turks.  Halfway up the hill sits a Byzantine monastery.  Another Orthodox church sits near the main town square.  Then there is the clock tower and Turkish … Continue reading Prizren, the Picture Perfect Balkan Town

Oman, Qatar, Tanzania2 Comments

Sea Arabs, Oman, Qatar and Zanzibar

Rich McClear

I rewrote this post from three family letters, written in 2010 from Dubai, 2011 from Doha and 2012 from Zanzibar. People think about Arabs as a desert people, riding camels, “The ships of the desert” as I was taught in school, across waves of sand.  But in my travels I learned that Arabs were also master seafarers taking their dhows all around and across the Indian Ocean, carrying trade goods, culture and Islam to East Africa, India, Malaya and Indonesia just as the ships of the desert carried the same across Arabia and North Africa.  Along the coast of the … Continue reading Sea Arabs, Oman, Qatar and Zanzibar

Ferries, Sitka1 Comment

Alaska Day in Sitka, Alaska, 2013

Rich McClear

Alaska Day in Sitka Alaska Day commemorates the day in 1867 when the United States took possession of Alaska from the Russians.  It’s Sitka’s day.  Up until that time Sitka ran on the Julian calendar and was west of the International Date Line.  Sitka jumped ahead about two weeks in an instant when the American flag hit the top of the pole on Castle Hill. In most Alaska communities Alaska Day is just a substitute for Columbus Day, which is a federal but not a State holiday.  In 1980 when I worked at KTOO in Juneau, we did a vox … Continue reading Alaska Day in Sitka, Alaska, 2013

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Harbor Mountain Redux, Sept 2013

Rich McClear

The weather obliged with rain during “Running of the Boots” this morning but the clouds broke and the sun broke through a dramatic sky mid-afternoon.  Suzi and I decided to run up to the top of Harbor Mountain for much of the afternoon.  The autumn has progressed, the colors are a little more vivid than they were earlier in the week when I posted.   Continue reading Harbor Mountain Redux, Sept 2013

Sitka2 Comments

Harbor Mountain, Autumn 2013

Rich McClear

Our trees do not turn to the colors of the hardwood forests in the East, but alder leaves do turn yellow and the alpine tundra in the mountains above Sitka turns red, gold and brown while the spruce, hemlock and cedar lower on the slopes retain their different shades of green.  On Tuesday the skies unexpectedly cleared, the weather bureau was caught off guard, and we had sun through Wednesday afternoon.  I got in the jeep and drove 2,000 feet up Harbor Mountain both to watch the new weather front come in from the Gulf of Alaska and walk through … Continue reading Harbor Mountain, Autumn 2013

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College Fjord, Glaciers in Prince William Sound.

Rich McClear

Visitors to Anchorage who come by cruise ship dock in Whittier.  Whittier was a secret port on Prince William Sound built during World War II.  It was almost always covered with clouds so the Japanese planes could not see it most days.  It worked.  It was on no Japanese charts or maps.  One of the town’s unofficial slogans is “It’s Sh!@#ier in Whittier.” Whittier is connected to Anchorage by rail through a long tunnel that goes from Whittier to Portage Lake where Portage near Portage Glacier.  The tunnel is now open to cars and Whittier is where many people from … Continue reading College Fjord, Glaciers in Prince William Sound.

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See Alaska before it melts! Portage Glacier

Rich McClear

In 1991 I took my mother to visit the Portage Glacier an hour drive south of Anchorage.  We went to a program at the visitors’ center, heard the lecture and saw the movie on glaciers.  At the end of the performance the ranger opened the curtain behind her and there was a close up view of Portage Glacier including a lake filled with little ice burgs.   By the time Kevin was married in 2007 and we brought the wedding party to Portage Glacier the glacier was no where to be seen in the vicinity of the visitors’ center.   … Continue reading See Alaska before it melts! Portage Glacier

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Mat Su Valley, Sept, 2013

Rich McClear

We got to spend two days driving with our friends Dave and Carol Lam, one through the Matanuska-Susitna valley (MatSu) and one down Turnagain Arm to Girdwood.  We enjoyed the last days of summer and the first of fall in Anchorage and environs.  The colors up on the mountains had turned and the mountainsides were red, rust, yellow and green.  When we arrived the tops of the near mountains were clear of snow.  When we left “termination dust” the first snow dusting the mountain peaks, had arrived.  Alaska had a hard winter and a glorious summer.  When I posted pics … Continue reading Mat Su Valley, Sept, 2013