{"id":573896436,"date":"2023-12-06T21:20:37","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T02:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/?p=573896436"},"modified":"2023-12-11T02:55:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T07:55:59","slug":"this-took-223-years-to-write-and-is-incomplete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/blog\/2023\/12\/06\/this-took-223-years-to-write-and-is-incomplete\/","title":{"rendered":"This took 223 years to write, and is incomplete"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This morning was about grading. I paced things out perfectly. There was a big digital stack of things to read and comment on. Each item unique, each requiring some feedback. And that&#8217;s the thing, really. How much feedback? I, you&#8217;ll be surprised to learn, often have a lot to say. Hopefully some of it is useful. Hopefully some of it gets read.<\/p>\n<p>So I read through and grade and give feedback on one assignment, then take something else off the list, and then back to that. It&#8217;s time intensive, but could be beneficial, so I approach it with great care, spreading them out a bit to bring the same enthusiasm to the last as I did to the first. I&#8217;ve been going at this since Monday evening. Today, I&#8217;ll finish them. <\/p>\n<p>At lunchtime, I went downstairs for lunch, oddly enough. A study break. I had my sandwich and looked up into dark clouds. Storm cloud dark. And then this happened. <\/p>\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute;left:0px;top:0px;overflow:hidden\" frameborder=\"0\" type=\"text\/html\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailymotion.com\/embed\/video\/x8qdd6p\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" allowfullscreen title=\"Dailymotion Video Player\" > <\/iframe> <\/div>\n<p>It was 40 degrees, I checked as that stuff was falling out of the sky. That changed my carefully planned out list. <\/p>\n<p>I had two lists, actually. One on paper, and another in Word. The Word list got changed. So, more grading, and some writing, because there was no way I was going to go outside in the snow. Shame, too, I had figured out the whole day and had time for a nice medium-length ride. So organized was I! But it snowed for 45 minutes. It was just starting to gather in the grass when the cloud moved out. I did more school work while I waited a while to see if it was really over. To the northwest a sliver of blue broke through. <\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/blog\/banners\/bannerbike.jpg\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>So I went for a bike ride. The plan was to combine the two usual routes. This would give me a pleasant 35-mile route, and I was going to enjoy all of that, me and my many layers of cycling clothes that keep out the wind. Here&#8217;s the last of those clouds moving off, during the first route, about 15 miles in. <\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/photo\/dec23\/dec08.jpg\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>I shot a little video soon after that. The last two times I&#8217;d been through there this time of day I saw deer running through the field into the tree line. Two rides ago, four deer ran alongside me, a race to the woods. Last time, I counted seven in a full-on sprint. <\/p>\n<p>White-tailed deer can run faster than I can sprint, but I kept up with them. They might have been running at half speed. But, this time, I was prepared. I was going to round that curve and capture a bit of video of a whole herd of deer jogging to my left. <\/p>\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute;left:0px;top:0px;overflow:hidden\" frameborder=\"0\" type=\"text\/html\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailymotion.com\/embed\/video\/x8qdufy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" allowfullscreen title=\"Dailymotion Video Player\" > <\/iframe> <\/div>\n<p>No deer showed up today.<\/p>\n<p>Five miles later, on the second route, all of the old snow clouds were gone, and we were set to experience a beautiful sunset. This was actually going to be a problem though.<\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/photo\/dec23\/dec09.jpg\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>I started too late. The sunset came too early. I was still going the wrong direction. So I cut it short, turning south so I could eventually head back the other way. And then I started making deals with my legs. I would really like to make it back to the left-hand turn before it gets dark. Or, at least back to the red light at the crossroads. <\/p>\n<p>I did both, but just barely. I saved about three miles by turning around early, and even so, my last mile tonight was in the dark. Good thing I cut the ride short. <\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/blog\/banners\/bannermarker.jpg\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>This is the 19th installment of We Learn Wednesdays, where I ride my bike across the county to find the local historical markers. Including today&#8217;s installment we&#8217;ll have seen 37 of the 115 markers in the Historical Marker Database. <\/p>\n<p>I did not find this marker today, but about a month ago. It was sunny and cool, but I didn&#8217;t linger long. The sun was headed to it&#8217;s home in the western sky and I had to get back on the road. But you have to stick around long enough to admire a bit of history.<\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/photo\/dec23\/dec10.jpg\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re at the oldest AME church in the state, where members can trace their history back 223 years and was apparently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nj.com\/south-jersey-towns\/2015\/11\/mt_pisgah_church_celebrates_21.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the only church<\/a> from these parts at the founding conference of the AME Church in Philadelphia in 1816.<\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/photo\/dec23\/dec11.jpg\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Philadelphia had a lot of Georgian architecture, which influences the building here. Perhaps that has something to do with the early church leadership, as well. Rev. Reuben Cuff, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackpast.org\/african-american-history\/mt-pisgah-african-methodist-episcopal-church-elsinboro-new-jersey-1754\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the son of a former slave<\/a>, began preaching in a log cabin out in the countryside a few miles away. <a href=\"http:\/\/downjerseyheritage.com\/uploads\/3\/4\/1\/3\/34130043\/cuff_article_part_3.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Oral tradition has it<\/a> that after the elder Cuff&#8217;s owner died, he might have married that man&#8217;s widow. The couple had three sons, who had some formal education, which wasn&#8217;t locally guaranteed. That last link makes some small leaps about Reuben and his brothers, based on the stories that have been passed down over the years. Like any personal 200+ year old story, it can seem plausible, if the base of it is accurate.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nativeamericansofdelawarestate.com\/Cemeteries\/CuffCemetery\/Cuff_History.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The rest of the story<\/a> goes that Reuben had nine children with his first wife, and three with his second wife. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wikitree.com\/wiki\/Cuff-197\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">He died at 81 in 1845<\/a>. He&#8217;s buried in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findagrave.com\/memorial\/143180818\/reuben-cuff\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a small family cemetery<\/a>, near his father. You can <a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/jlsheridan\/docs\/cuff-dubois_house\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">see his house here<\/a>. That research finds he had the only stone house in the township, more than three dozen acres of land and a barn. <\/p>\n<p>In 1839 an arsonist burned the old church building, but the congregation eventually rebuilt. This one, in the Classical Revival style, opened and <a href=\"https:\/\/media.nj.com\/salem_towns\/other\/aug.26religion.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">took the Mt. Pisgah name<\/a> in the 1870s. <\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/photo\/dec23\/dec12.jpg\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>A quick search shows me <a href=\"https:\/\/external-content.duckduckgo.com\/iu\/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nj.com%2Fresizer%2FSjooMqu35OXkulKjTB0yonErqxY%3D%2F1280x0%2Fsmart%2Fadvancelocal-adapter-image-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fimage.nj.com%2Fhome%2Fnjo-media%2Fwidth2048%2Fimg%2Fsouth-jersey-times%2Fphoto%2F2015%2F11%2F15%2F-0c99c1de3969ae61.JPG&#038;f=1&#038;nofb=1&#038;ipt=8320f6a7778ec936f7bf47829df612d4ffeda0c633cc28a9cdb512472972ae84&#038;ipo=images\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">one photo of the interior<\/a> of the church building. <a href=\"https:\/\/pipeorgandatabase.org\/organ\/772\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">That organ<\/a> has two sliders and 20 stops. It dates back to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackpast.org\/african-american-history\/mt-pisgah-african-methodist-episcopal-church-elsinboro-new-jersey-1754\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the 1960s<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a small cemetery, which was established in 1860, attached to the church. A 20th century Cuff is buried there.<\/p>\n<p>In next week&#8217;s installment of We Learn Wednesday, we&#8217;ll see a building that predates this church. If you&#8217;ve missed any markers so far, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/we-learn-wednesdays\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">you can find them all right here<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>And now to work on some lecture notes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This morning was about grading. I paced things out perfectly. There was a big digital stack of things to read and comment on. Each item unique, each requiring some feedback. And that&#8217;s the thing, really. How much feedback? I, you&#8217;ll be surprised to learn, often have a lot to say. Hopefully some of it is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,32,47,100,11,102,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-573896436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cycling","category-history","category-markers","category-new-jersey","category-video","category-we-learn-wednesdays","category-wednesday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573896436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573896436"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573896436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":573896439,"href":"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573896436\/revisions\/573896439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573896436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573896436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kennysmith.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573896436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}