Hi everyone,
This is my first-ever blog post, and I'll be building this blog gradually to include some hopefully very rich content that will share some of my interests and things about which I am excited and passionate. I love to write about anything under the sun that is entertaining, funny, educational, historical, and cultural; including but not limited to family, science, nature, travel, technology, music, finding good deals, etc. Just to name a few topics, I love early Federal U.S. coins, U.S. history (especially in the Black Swamp region of Northwest Ohio), travel in the U.S., travel in the Philippines and Philippine culture, vinyl LP records, old maps and lithography, manned space flight and all things aerospace, farming and agriculture, outdoor activities, antique tools, gasoline signs, and farm equipment, and biomedical research. All of this and a wide variety of other subject matter will ultimately show up on this blog - hence the "cornucopia" in the title. I hope you'll enjoy it. I will keep this blog family-friendly with the exception of various descriptions of battle scenes etc. that occurred in U.S. history - nothing more graphic than what was taught to me in my 7th grade Ohio history class.
Regarding early U.S. coins, I strongly feel that they are national treasures that allow us 'commoners' to literally hold history in our hand. I will make every attempt to tie-in individual coins and their decent-quality photographs (some from my personal collection, which is mainly bust half dollars) with contemporary history of that particular date. Moreover, they (along with coins in general) are an outstanding resource to teach kids about history as well as numismatics. I intend to build this site as an educational resource and I hope to be able to add a forum interface for people to contribute their own coin photos and stories. Much of the early Federal period U.S. coinage information and photos will in turn be tied in to contemporary history events that happened in Northwest Ohio from about 1782 through the 1840's. For example, the year 1813 was a critical turning point in many ways with Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's victory in the Battle of Lake Erie, and I will attempt to get some good coin photos posted with various maps and paintings and lithographs depicting the Battle of Lake Erie.
As alluded above, I will additionally be writing about my travels and experiences in the Philippines after 5 trips there over the last 15 years. After 18 years of marriage to a Filipina and strong family ties there, it has been a true joy to visit, and every time I visit I feel more and more comfortable there -- and leaving to come back to the U.S. becomes much harder.
