Author: Tammy M Cardwell

Tiny House Part 15: More Shelving

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In retrospect, I could probably have put this information in my last post, but we’ll see. Here’s the other end of the top shelf I showed you last week.

On the far right, you can see the left side of the Monet piece. I’ve mentioned it before, but it and the framed art you can see clearly in this picture are in inexpensive acrylic box frames from Hobby Lobby. They’re lightweight enough that I hang them with pushpins. The art print on the left is just something I cut out of a calendar. Calendars are great resources for art!

You can also, on the right, see part of my blue wire snack basket. This is where I toss candies, toaster pastries, popcorn packets, and other such things. Sometimes it’s mostly empty, and at other times it’s packed, like on Christmas day after I’d opened all of my gifts.

The next thing you see is the green vinyl basket that matches the two in my bathroom. This jewel hides all sorts of things that I don’t use often, including my knives, measuring spoons, plates…and I’m not entirely sure what else is in there. It’s wonderful, though, for keeping things out of reach that I wouldn’t want a child getting their hands on, and I do occasionally have children in the house.

The tin next to the basket is both decorative and practical. I bought it years ago, full of tea bags, and keep my tea in it still. Yes, I enjoy hot tea. I like cold sweet tea too, but don’t do that much at home. Give me a cup of hot tea with honey and sugar and I’m happy. I use both loose leaf and bagged teas. I’ve purchased from several companies, but if you enjoy a cup too, I particularly suggest you check out Adagio Teas. They have some amazing blends!

The cup sitting on top of the tin is the one I use most. It is from Amazon and, like so many of the things I’ve purchased, comes in an array of colors. It’s the Yundu 12 OZ Matte Blue Porcelain Teacup with Infuser and Lid, Mug with Lid for Steeping. It sells for around $12 and has been my favorite for a couple of years.

And then we come to one of my favorite purchases ever! Truly, TikTok made me buy it, and I have never experienced one moment of buyer’s remorse. In following several Europeans on TikTok, I began to see just why they were all about their electric kettles. This one is lightweight, easily pulled down for use and put back up for storage. It heats up super-fast, and sometimes I keep it on the counter for days simply because I use it so much – and it’s pretty. It boils water for my tea, of course, but also for my Solle CinnaMâte, which I like to drink hot, (Check out Tired of Exhaustion? for more info on that), hot cocoa, and such things as ramen noodles, which I enjoy on occasion even though I do know they’re not good for you.

Mine is fuchsia pink, of course, but the Ovente Portable Electric Glass Kettle 1.5 Liter with Blue LED Light and Stainless Steel Base, Fast Heating Countertop Tea Maker Hot Water Boiler with Auto Shut-Off & Boil Dry Protection (Yes, I sometimes share these long descriptions in part because they make me laugh.), as you can see, is available in a variety of decorate-your-home colors.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

THE HEROINES OF BRYANT’S STATION.

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The brave example cannot perish
Of courage.
                                                            Hosmer.

Nor could the boldest of our youth have dared
To pass our outworks.

                                                            Pope’s Homer.

At the siege of Bryant’s station near Lexington, Kentucky, in August, 1782, the water in the fort was exhausted; and as the nearest place to obtain a supply was a spring several rods off, it would require no small risk and, consequently, no common intrepidity to undertake to bring it. A body of Indians in plain sight, were trying to entice the soldiers to attack them without the walls, while another party was concealed near the spring, waiting, it was supposed, to storm one of the gates, should the besieged venture out. It was thought probable that the Indians in ambush would remain so until they saw indications that the other party had succeeded in enticing the soldiers to open engagement.

The position of things was explained to the women, and they were invited to each take a bucket and march to the spring in a body. “Some, as was natural, had no relish for the undertaking, and asked why the men could not bring water as well as themselves, observing that they were not bullet proof, and the Indians made no distinction between male and female scalps. To this it was answered, that the women were in the habit of bringing water every morning to the fort; and that if the Indians saw them engaged as usual, it would induce them to think that their ambuscade was undiscovered; and that they would not unmask themselves for the sake of firing at a few women, when they hoped, by remaining concealed a few moments longer, to obtain complete possession of the fort: that if men should go down to the spring, the Indians would immediately suspect something was wrong, would despair of succeeding by ambuscade, and would instantly rush upon them, follow them into the fort; or shoot them down at the spring.

“The decision was soon made. A few of the boldest declared their readiness to brave the danger, and the younger and more timid rallying in the rear of these veterans, they all marched down in a body to the spring, within point blank shot of more than five hundred Indian warriors! Some of the girls could not help betraying symptoms of terror; but the married women, in general, moved with a steadiness and composure that completely deceived the Indians. Not a shot was fired. The party were permitted to fill their buckets, one after another, without interruption; and although their steps became quicker and quicker, on their return and when near the fort, degenerated into a rather unmilitary celerity, with some little crowding in passing the gate, yet not more than one-fifth of the water was spilled, and the eyes of the youngest had not dilated to more than double their ordinary size.” *

• M’Clung’s Sketches of Western Adventure,

______

Excerpted from Noble Deeds of American Women
(Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls)
Edited by J. Clement
——
With an Introduction by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney
Illustrated
BOSTON: Lee and Shepard, Publishers
Entered by Act of Congress, in the year of 1851,
by E. H. Derby and Co., in the Clerk’s Office of the Northern District of New York
______

Understanding Your Aphant

Tammy M Cardwell2 Comments

Please, if someone you care about sent you this link, especially if they’ve recently discovered they have aphantasia, take the time to read the post. They’re really hoping to help you understand things about them that don’t seem to make sense.

First, if what they’re telling you about having no visual imagination or memories sounds absurd, I assure you it’s not. Only a year or so back, I discovered that most of you are speaking literally when you say, “Ok, close your eyes and imagine.” My mind was blown!

There is actually a scale that ranges from hyperphantasia, which includes those of you who can not only see visual images in your minds but have the equivalent of HD TV in there, through total aphantasia, which is where I land; I close my eyes and I see black. Literally “nothing to see here.” That scale covers a wide range of diversity with each of us often having slightly different characteristics from the next person.

Second, if your friend, loved one, or employee has only recently discovered they have aphantasia, be aware that there is a good chance they are going through very real grief. I’m an active member of Aphantasia Support Group on Facebook and we seem to gain new members every day who have only just discovered what they see as a formerly unknown disability, and they’re devastated. I can’t even offer you an example of something equivalent to help you comprehend, but it can be world-rocking to realize you lack something that almost every other person you know has had all their lives, and it’s even harder to deal with the “loss” when those people can’t even imagine your reality.

So, aphantasia. I, as an example, have absolutely no visual memory or imagination. This is not a case of failing to train my imagination (Yes, I’ve been accused of that). In fact, I have an almost hyperactive imagination, which means those who know me best are aware that there are certain things they can’t share with me. It’s just that I have no visuals to accompany the concepts.

And that’s the difference between you and me. You visualize and I conceptualize. I’ve explained that it’s like my brain is a computer and if I want the data to be available to me later I have to actively input the information and remember to hit save. But that’s all it is – information. For instance, people.

I see my sister and recognize her instantly because I’ve known her forever. Ask me to describe her, though, and… Well, she’s probably about 5′ 6″ maybe 5′ 7″? She has long, dark brown hair. Huh. I literally can’t even tell you what color her eyes are. The concept of her appearance that is in my head has no real visual cues to help me out. This has led me to hurt friends’ feelings on occasion; if you change your hair color, I will likely never even realize it. I have learned to compensate to an extent by paying attention to what others say to you. Compensating is something aphants are good at.

Learning about my aphantasia made me feel worlds better about an incident that happened about 18 years ago. Two co-coworkers were taking photos of a baby, and I asked whose baby it was. They stared at me in shock, and one said, “He’s your grandson!” I was crushed that I’d failed to recognize my own grandson, but in truth most babies look alike to me until I’ve spent a whole lot of time with them. They grow so fast that, without a working visual record, the data in my brain can’t anticipate those changes to enable recognition.

So, if you get frustrated with your aphant because they can literally spend ten minutes talking to someone only to walk away and then be unable to point the person out to you, this is why. It’s not that we’re unobservant by nature; it’s that we have to be consciously observant and try really hard to remember to add the data into our memory banks: yellow jacket; short blond hair, etc. Personally, I work so hard on the conversations that the visual notes don’t always stick.

The same principle holds true for when we’ve been places with you. Unless the place makes a real impact, those of us on my end of the spectrum may have a hard time recognizing it at first when we go back. If you say, “Meet me at the blue sign,” for instance, I’ll probably ask, “Where’s the blue sign, exactly?”

There are so many areas in which we differ from you that this could go on forever. The idea is just to help you understand that there is a difference so you can be watching for it. In truth, learning about aphantasia made me feel better about many things, like not recognizing my own grandson. Like art and design!

In the past, because I could draw, I was called an artist. I’m not and never have been, and have explained many times that no, I’m a copyist – or I was at one time. I could take a photo, put it by my drawing board, and move my gaze back and forth between the two until I’d copied the picture and ended up with something like this.

I could not compose. I could not work from memory. I could not change anything (which resulted in one drawing that I hope never again sees the light of day), because I could not envision what I wanted to create. If I didn’t see it, it couldn’t exist.

This ended up being a trigger for serious self-doubt and pain at work. I was given a task that included designing artwork on a regular basis. I did it, but every piece took me forever because I just have to guess and play with things until I stumble across something that works. I do still design some pieces, out of necessity, but it takes me much longer than it would anyone else. Could I learn design? Probably, but it would require going to a professional for training, and adapting what they teach to work with my non-visual imagination.

So, if you’re an employer with an aphant, bear in mind that, if they don’t have the training they need to do the job without visualization, you may be asking for more than they can deliver.

I’ve made it sound like aphantasia really is a disability, and to be honest some aphants definitely feel that it is. I honestly don’t see it that way, but only as a difference. I have enough going on in my head with my constant monologue; I can’t imagine also having to deal with pictures that won’t go away. I still love to read, even without being able to see the movie so many have told me they enjoy. (Truly, that is incomprehensible to me.) I don’t watch movies much, even of books I’ve read, but I’m thinking aphantasia helps me with that too because I have no preconceived ideas of what characters will look like. As it is, I skim over most descriptions in books because visual cues are meaningless to me anyway.

I am genuinely happy that I lack many of the visual memories I can’t imagine living with. Watching my stepfather drown? Conceptually and emotionally, I remember it; I am VERY glad there are no visuals to accompany those concepts. I have a feeling that may also be part of why I never suffered from PTSD as a result of that accident.

Do I have any regrets now that I know what I’m missing? Honestly, I can only think of one. I wish I could remember my loved ones’ faces. I’ve always kept photos around because that is all I have to help me remember. Knowing the rest of you have those visual memories available all the time? Yeah, that one hurts. So, side note, probably one of the best gifts you could give your aphant friend or loved one is a digital picture frame loaded with photos of those they care about.

Overall, though, I find the tradeoffs fair now that I understand why I am the way I am. God made me this way and I am happy with me. Hopefully your aphant will reach the point where they are happy with themselves too.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

For more information on aphantasia…
Aphantasia Network
Aphantasia Newbie Guide

Complacency Leads to Neglect

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At some point, I decided to start playing solitaire on my phone as a way to pass a few moments here and there and also to push my brain. It was hard, though, so I opted to start off easy, playing only one suit, and build up as I got better at it.

But I forgot my purpose. Once I mastered the single suit, I just kept playing at that level. I didn’t even work on increasing my speed or decreasing the number of moves I made. I just played the easy stuff to pass time.

I was complacent. No brain growth required.

Too often, we do the very same thing with our faith. We learn that faith is a necessity if we want to please God, so we “put our faith out there” for something. It may even be a legitimate stretch for us to trust God to shut down a headache or lead us to the best parking spot. But then we grow comfortable in that level of faith. We think we’re walking by faith because we always park up front and center, but forget that faith is like a muscle and must be stretched to grow.

Just like I got comfortable at the level I’d chosen for my solitaire games, and as a result I’d forgotten that a large part of playing the game in the first place was to push my brain, we get comfortable with our faith level and forget that a large part of using our faith is to push it, to stretch it, to make it grow, and to build its endurance.

“Endurance?” you ask? Yes, endurance. I heard a man point out, once, that one of the meanings of “little,” as in Jesus referring to people having “little faith,” is “short lived” or “not lasting.” In other words, sometimes we start out walking in faith just like Peter started out walking on the water, but then when our trials get more challenging and the wind blows stronger we are distracted and start to sink. That is a lack of endurance.

So, just like we should exercise to build our physical endurance, we should use our faith actively to build its endurance. Then, when it is challenged, it will keep holding us up.

I did start adding more suits to my solitaire games. I’m also determined to work more on my physical strength and endurance. My faith? Right. It will definitely not be neglected!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Keeping Busy & Exciting News

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What progress looks like.

I have multiple projects running simultaneously today, so my bed has officially become part of my desk.

I’m particularly excited about what’s on the bed, because it represents a definite start on my next book. I’ve been asked repeatedly if I would write something else, and I’ve had a few ideas I wanted to pursue, but none were quite right.

Until now.

Those of you who appreciate my reactions to scripture in Experiencing the Bible will be happy to know this is going to be similar. Note: Not the same, but similar. At this point it’s looking like it might be a devotional, though it’s too early to know that for sure.

I’m so excited about it that I’m seriously considering starting a newsletter so I can keep those who are interested up to date on the progress. If you would like to receive it, probably twice a month at most, email me at tammymcardwell@gmail.com so I can notify you when I open subscriptions.

And now I need to get back to work. I pray you have an amazing day!

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

Tiny House Part 14: Open Shelving

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I said last week that I was determined to have open shelving. My dream was actually floating shelves, so I was beyond delighted when I realized that’s what was being built for me. They were also able to take advantage of the framing to give me two built-ins that you’ll see later.

These floating, open shelves are above my washing machine and the top shelf runs all the way to the far wall. I love how my decorator friend put my art on the wall behind my dishes. I am not at all gifted in this area and would never have gotten that far out of my box! This print in particular adds just the right touch behind my clear and white bowls. For the curious, it’s Claude Monet’s Sunset in Venice.

I found this print of Sunset in Venice on Amazon. It is slightly larger than mine at 16×11.

And for the record, one of my glass bowls sacrificed itself when I decided I needed to confirm the name of the painting. I now only have one clear glass bowl sitting up there. I am sad. (Not really, just disappointed in myself for dropping my phone on the stack of bowls while trying to take a picture of the small print instead of just pulling the frame off the shelf.)

My friend also created the floral piece on the bottom shelf, not only to add color but to help tie in the gold of the upper shelf’s baskets. When I was searching for those three baskets, I was hoping for yellow to match the stripe in the multi-colored basket, but true yellow is hard to find. After I’d dubiously decked out the top shelf and sent her the photo, she set about creating some gold accents that would pull the color further into the room. You’ve already seen one of them if you read the library post. She actually painted a medical dictionary (An intentional salute to my love of words) gold and laid it on the shelf as an accent piece.

All four baskets are of woven rope. The three oval baskets on top came as a set. The rectangle basket on bottom came in a set of three as well; you’ll see the other two later. All the baskets arrived squished flat. This is why some are more consistently formed than others; I only devoted so much effort to getting them properly shaped. Both styles are available in a wide range of color options!

The top three baskets contain, from left to right, cereal (Yes, I like cold cereal – dry, because I don’t like milk), whatever I need the second basket to hold at the moment, and my hair stuff (dryer, flat iron, straightening brush, combs and brushes…) You can see that, at roughly 13 by 8 by 8 they hold a lot. So does the basket on bottom, which is 15 by 10 by 10. It handles the bulk of my cleaning supplies, which you can see peeking out a little bit.

So, basket links…

CubesLand Yellow Baskets for Shelves Storage/Organizing,Cube Shelf Closet Storage Baskets Bins Set 3,Long-lasting &Skin-friendly Toy Storage Basket Bin,Stylish Room Decor Basket,Cotton Rope Basket

MINTWOOD Design 3-Pack Storage Baskets for Shelves, Playroom and Classroom Storage Basket, Book Basket, Decorative Storage Cube Bins, Woven Closet Organizers, Nursery Baskets, Rainbow

To the left of the rainbow basket is my glass jar filled with Arm & Hammer Plus OxiClean. I do have the same laundry detergent as a liquid in the rainbow basket, but these pods are my go-to. It’s my favorite detergent, and the colors are perfect for my house.

Finally, you have my paper towel holder and, hiding behind that, a small crock with my toothbrush and toothpaste.

And this has gotten long, so we’ll handle the other end of the top shelf next week.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

HANNAH DUSTIN

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                        Experience teaches us
That resolution’s a sole help at need ;
And this, my lord, our honor teacheth us,
That we be bold in every enterprise.
                                                            Shakespeare

On the fifteenth of March, 1697, a band of Indian prowlers broke into the house of Mr. Dustin, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, and captured his wife, her nurse,* and a babe about one week old. The last was killed before leaving the town. The other two were marched through the wilderness for several days till they came to a halt on an island in the Merrimac river about six miles above Concord, New Hampshire. There they were placed in a wigwam occupied by two men, three women, seven children of theirs, and an English boy who had been captured about a year previous at Worcester, Massachusetts. The captives remained there till the thirtieth of that month before they planned escape. On that day the boy was requested by Mrs. Dustin to ask his master where to strike “to kill instantly;” and the savage was simple enough to tell, and also instructed him in the art of scalping. “At night,” to use the concise language of Mr. Bancroft, “while the household slumbers, the captives, each with a tomahawk, strike vigorously, and fleetly, and with division of labor, -and of the twelve sleepers, ten lie dead; of one squaw the wound was not mortal; one child was spared from design. The love of glory next asserted its power; and the gun and tomahawk of the murderer of her infant, and a bag heaped full of scalps were choicely kept as trophies of the heroine. -The streams are the guides which God has set for the stranger in the wilderness: in a bark canoe, the three descend the Merrimac to the English settlements, astonishing their friends by their escape, and filling the land with wonder at their successful daring.”

Mrs. Dustin had the happiness of meeting her husband and seven children, who had escaped from the house before the savages entered, and the honor of a very handsome present from Colonel Nicholson, governor of Maryland, as a reward for her heroism.*

* Eleven years after the capture of Mrs. Dustin, a party of French and Indians from Canada made an attack upon the inhabitants of Haverhill, and killed and captured about forty persons. Several women exhibited on the occasion a remarkable degree of sagacity, courage and presence of mind. We condense from Mirick’s History of Haverhill.

   Ann Whittaker escaped the tomahawk by hiding in an apple chest under the stairs, – A negro servant, named Hagar, covered a couple of children with tubs in the cellar and then concealed herself behind some meat barrels. The Indians trod on a foot of one of the children and took meat from the barrel behind which Hagar had hidden, without discovering any of them.-The wife of Thomas Hartshorn, took all her children except the babe – which she was afraid would cry -through a trap-door into the cellar. The enemy entered and plundered the house, but did not find the way into the cellar. They took the infant from its bed in the garret and threw it out of the window. Strange to say, though stunned, it lived and grew to rugged manhood. – The wife of Captain Simon Wainwright, after the enemy had killed her husband, let them into the house and treated them kindly. They at length demanded money, when she went out, as she pretended, to get it. They soon ascertained – though too late to find. her – that she had fled with all her children but one, who was taken captive.

______

Excerpted from Noble Deeds of American Women
(Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls)
Edited by J. Clement
——
With an Introduction by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney
Illustrated
BOSTON: Lee and Shepard, Publishers
Entered by Act of Congress, in the year of 1851,
by E. H. Derby and Co., in the Clerk’s Office of the Northern District of New York
______

The Woman in the Basket

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In Zechariah chapter 5 we see our prophet friend having an absolutely bizarre vision, one I’ve heard more than one person attempt to explain – never in a way that made sense to me. But I may finally understand it.

Then the angel who was talking with me came forward and said, “Look up and see what’s coming.”
“What is it?” I asked.
He replied, “It is a basket for measuring grain, and it’s filled with the sins of everyone throughout the land.”
Then the heavy lead cover was lifted off the basket, and there was a woman sitting inside it.
The angel said, “The woman’s name is Wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and closed the heavy lid again.
Then I looked up and saw two women flying toward us, gliding on the wind. They had wings like a stork, and they picked up the basket and flew into the sky.
“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel.
He replied, “To the land of Babylonia, where they will build a temple for the basket. And when the temple is ready, they will set the basket there on its pedestal.”

Zechariah 5:5-11 NLT

According to the vision…

  • The basket is filled with the sins of everyone throughout the land.
  • The woman’s name is Wickedness.
  • The basket will be taken to Babylon.
  • A temple will be built for the basket.
  • The basket will be placed on a pedestal in the temple.

As a reminder, Old Testament prophesies are sometimes literal and sometimes figurative. They also can have multiple fulfillments. With that in mind…

Working our way backwards through this list, it becomes clear that the basket or, more accurately, what it contains, will be worshipped. This is, after all, what happens in temples. Just as God was worshipped in the Temple built for Him, this basket’s contents will be worshipped in the temple built for it.

I’m thinking a figurative temple.

The temple will be built in Babylon, which in the Bible represents the world’s system.

So, if I read this prophecy correctly, it’s telling us that the world’s system will worship wickedness and sin.

Which it takes little discernment to see pretty much sums up the condition of the world right now. Today’s society condones just about everything God condemns. In fact, it doesn’t just condone sin; it exalts sin, pushing it to the forefront in every arena possible, sadly even in the church. The world system we live in, indeed, worships sin and wickedness.

As I see it, this is just one more sign of how close we are to The End.

Celebrating Jesus and looking for His return!
Tammy C

Tiny House Part 13: The Kitchen

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Yes, I once more fell behind on posting about my tiny house. Frankly, I knew what was coming and that it would take a lot of time to prep these next few posts. Ashamed of my procrastination? Undeniably. So, are you ready to head to the kitchen?

This part of the series will definitely be multiple posts, because there are tons of details in this kitchen.

The photo you see above is a close-up from a picture I posted earlier. I can’t remember if I mentioned it before, but I had to convince them that I really did want white walls. This picture shows why. I knew I would be bringing in a lot of color in my art, storage, and accessories! Much of it, especially the art, came with me in the move and I can’t tell you much about it, but many items were bought specifically for this apartment, and I will happily share those details.

Another thing that took a little convincing, though not too much, was the open shelving. I specifically wanted everything visible, looked forward to using my necessities to decorate and not be looking at cabinet doors all the time. Playing off the teak countertop, which I’ll share in a better picture later, they brought in an assortment of woods for me and sealed them for kitchen use. I love it!

One comment I’ve received from readers and visitors is that I have very little counter space. At first glance, this is true, but it’s actually not. My washer and dryer more than make up for the shortage of official counter space. I obviously don’t put anything super heavy on them, but I really don’t deal with super heavy anyway. I have never felt confined in my tiny kitchen.

The rectangular frames you see to the right of the mirror? Yes, this is an old photo, but yes, they are still empty, waiting on me. I have everything I need to teach myself watercolor, but I’ve not done it. It seems like every time I even think about pulling the supplies out I find something else to do instead. Still, learning watercolor is one of my goals for 2024 and those frames are going to hang there, staring at me, until I follow through.

One thing I’ll mention while I’m here, since this is the only photo it appears in, is the towel that’s hanging from the top drawer. It was the result of a lot of searching! Things were different when I had a dishwasher; I could grit my teeth and put up with my kitchen towels that weren’t absorbent and didn’t dry anything. I mean, seriously. Why have a kitchen towel that won’t dry dishes enough that you can put them away?!

So, I headed to Amazon and began my search. My requirements were pretty detailed. First, I wanted a solid color, preferably orange. That ruled out a lot; no surprise there. This towel comes in 26 colors, one of which was exactly what I wanted. I knew I wanted cotton. Also, the reviews had to agree that the thing really would dry well. If a towel wasn’t consistently praised for this one characteristic, I kept scrolling. Too, I wanted something small enough to be practical (this one is 12×12) and was really hoping for a loop I could use to hang it. I didn’t want to have to install a towel bar, but I wanted a towel to always be at hand.

So here you have the Homaxy 100% Cotton Waffle Weave Kitchen Dish Cloths, Ultra Soft Absorbent Quick Drying Dish Towels, 12×12 Inches, 6-Pack, Orange. (Don’t you love the highly detailed descriptions on Amazon? LOL!) The 6-pack sells for around $15. You can also get 4, 8, and 12-packs.

See you next time!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

HUMANE SPIRIT OF A FOREST MAID.

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                        “Beneath the gloom
Of overshadowing forests, sweetly springs
The unexpected flower.”

Some of the noblest attributes of humanity are sometimes exhibited by the wild children of the forest. These attributes, in such cases, seem, like trees in the remotest wilderness, to have gained, by their spontaneous growth, surprising height, symmetry and beauty.

A lovelier character than Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan, king of the country where the first white settlement in Virginia was made, is rarely found among any people. She was lovely in the broadest as well as noblest sense of that word – lovely in features, lovely in disposition, lovely in the highest adornments of’ Christian grace. She was, in 1607, “a girl of ten or twelve years of age, who, not only for feature, countenance and expression, much exceeded any of the rest of her people, but for wit and spirit was the only nonpareil of the country.” Such was Pocahontas, as described by the first white man, probably, who ever saw her, and in whose behalf, at the above date, she displayed the tenderness and true grandeur of her nature.

The colonists, writes Mr. Hildreth, in his new History of the United States, “were specially instructed to seek for a passage to the South Sea; and it was thought that possibly the Chickahoming might lead thither. Having ascended as high as he could in his barge, Captain Smith followed up the stream in a canoe, with two colonists and two Indians for companions; and when the canoe would float no longer, he left the two colonists to guard it, and struck inland with a single Indian as a guide. Set upon unexpectedly by a large party of natives, who had already surprised and killed the two men left to guard the canoe, Smith bound his Indian guide to his arm as a buckler, and made a vigorous defence, killing three of the assailants; but as he retreated backward, he presently sank into a miry swamp, and was taken prisoner. His captors would have killed him, but he amused them with a pocket compass. Carried in a sort of triumph through several villages, he was taken before Powhatan, the same chief whom he had visited in company with Newport. An attempt was made to engage his services- at least so Smith understood it- in surprising the colonists at Jamestown. Having failed in this, after much consultation, it was resolved to put him to death. He was dragged to the ground and his head placed upon a stone; Powhatan raised a club to dash out his brains”- and now view the highly dramatic scene which follows, as pictured by Mrs. Sigourney in a few lines of masterly coloring:

   The sentenced captive see -his brow how white!
Stretched on the turf, his manly form lies low,
The war club poises for its fatal blow,
   The death-mist swims before his darkened sight;
Forth springs the child, in tearful pity bold,
Her head on his reclines, her arms his neck enfold,

“The child! what madness fires her? Hence! Depart!
   Fly, daughter, fly! before the death-stroke rings;
Divide her, warriors! from that English heart.”
   In vain, for with convulsive grasp she clings:
She claims a pardon from her frowning sire;
Her pleading tones subdue his gathered ire,
   And so, uplifting high his feathery dart,
That doting father gave the child her will,
And bade the victim live and be his servant still.

After Smith had been an inmate of Powhatan’s wigwam awhile, he was permitted to leave the Indians. Sometime after this the savages, becoming alarmed by witnessing Smith’s wonderful feats, “laid a plan to get him into their power under the pretence of wishing an interview with him in their territory. But Pocahontas, knowing the desire of the warriors, left the wigwam after her father had gone to sleep, and ran more than nine miles through the woods to inform her friend Captain Smith of the danger that awaited him, either by stratagem or attack.”

Subsequently the colony at Jamestown was threatened with famine, when, accompanied by a few companions, she was accustomed to go to the fort every day or two with baskets of corn, and thus her

            –“generous hand vouchsafed its tireless aid
            To guard a nation’s germ.”

At the age of seventeen or eighteen, Pocahontas married a pious young English officer, named Thomas Rolfe, and went with him to England, where she was baptized and called Rebecca, and where she soon died. Well may it be said of her, in the language of the poet, slightly altered,

            It is not meet such names should moulder in the grave.

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Excerpted from Noble Deeds of American Women
(Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls)
Edited by J. Clement
——
With an Introduction by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney
Illustrated
BOSTON: Lee and Shepard, Publishers
Entered by Act of Congress, in the year of 1851,
by E. H. Derby and Co., in the Clerk’s Office of the Northern District of New York
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