Did you know Theodore Henry Korthanke was born on November 14, 1860, in Warrenton, Missouri, and died on November 12, 1941, in Hiawatha, Kansas? In 1918, Theodore and Emma Korthanke moved from rural Hiawatha into the city. The house is located on 2nd and Miami Street in Hiawatha. Korthanke quickly adorned the home with sugar maple trees surrounding the house. The “grandaddy” of the sugar maples still stands today!
Theodore took the seeds from his sugar maples and began planting trees in a vacant lot north of the home. As soon as the sugar maples were big enough to transfer, Theodore started sharing these beautiful trees with anyone willing to plant, water, and care for these trees.
The generosity and vision of sugar maples indeed danced in Theodore’s head many a night, and the result paid out in colorful brilliance that surrounds the town view that is breathtaking to behold. Many years later, in 1973, a memorial honoring Theodore Korthanke for his maple tree vision was erected. The 400 block of Oregon Street memorial features a fountain and two benches most significantly adorned by two sugar maple trees.
Theodore Korthanke was known by the people who loved him as “Teddy,” and he was the “Johnny Appleseed” of Maple Trees. Theodore upset the local nurseries by giving away the seedlings to anyone who might care for the tree. Theodore began charging $1 for labor digging up the person’s tree to avoid further upset. If you are equally amazed by the colorful brilliance of fall, be sure to check out Hiawatha, we are confident the colors are something you are sure to “Fall in Love with!” who knows, you may find a lot more to Fall in Love with! #historymysteries
So, as many of you know, my head is usually off in the clouds on a history mystery, or a campaign to be a better global citizen #kindnessmatters #kindnessmypersonalbrandofglitter #defendingmyzipcode, or maybe writing some poetry (that happens a lot!!)
Today though, I am on another mission entirely. Everyone knows I love trees, and there may be multiple photos of me hugging trees. One of my favorite books is the “Giving Tree” (read it! it is well worth the five to ten minutes it will take you!!). Listen Up!!! We can be better, do better! So… I challenge everyone reading this right now to plant a tree. If you love the earth, plant more than one tree. Don’t scatter your litter on the ground! Please pick it up! You can also do your part and spend five minutes picking up trash someone else left. No one is following you to ensure you are doing the right thing, but I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t know what planet we can inhabit if we don’t start to REALLY make an effing difference!!! (excuse my toilet bowl mouth) I know what mission I am on today! #plantatree #arbordayfoundation (PS, I wrote about Forest City previously, and this is a very cool concept. Listen up, let’s be better humans!)
There is a climate crisis in Pakistan right now; at the last point, I checked a lake spanning 61 miles that landed in a catastrophic number of beautiful people’s backyards. The lake systematically arrived in a very short time, roughly 45 days. Is anyone else waiting for another lake to show up? I say beautiful, not because I know them personally, and I don’t! I say beautiful because we all matter, every single life matters. Every one of these people is, and in no particular order, mothers, fathers, daughters, sisters, brothers, grandmas, grandpas, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, sons and daughters, and grands. They also might be someone you pass on the street or not, and they might be someone who wishes you happiness and joy or prays for you!
Did you know… that the best way to fight climate change is through preservation and restoration (that’s right, replant, restore) forests! Through this critical work, we can fight off carbon emissions and slow, and maybe if we work hard enough, STOP climate change! Be a part of the solution, not the problem! #historymysteries
Did you know that Donald “Donnie” Roan Dunagan was a child actor that would later be the voice of young “Bambi” in the Walt Disney Film? Bambi was the fifth full-length feature film for Walt Disney and was released on August 13, 1942. Donnie would have been 8 when the movie was released. Donnie was also a Major in the US Marines Donnie earned the distinction of being the youngest drill instructor in Marine Corp history. Donnie served three tours in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star (usually awarded for merit and excellence in combat) and THREE Purple Hearts (awarded to those wounded or killed in battle)
Throughout Donnie’s military career, he kept his acting career private!
In every moment of every passing day, I wander through a sea of feelings. Some of these feelings are happy, while others are sad, some are overwhelming, and still, others take my breath away, emotions colored by all the shades of the rainbow, I am held captive to each moment and feeling as they wash over me, I have always been a person who believes in gently walking through each moment of every single day, loving and lifting every single being, I believe in giving more than taking and living a life with intention, purpose, and humility, the world has offered more lessons in grace than I would care to impart, but the most profound is that we each should share the gifts we have been given with the entire world. If for no other reason than to share a little light, love, and magic found within each of us. The magic of our individuality weaves us into the most remarkable fabric! The gift then becomes seeing the light in each of us and our ability to lift one another when we recognize giving is more powerful than taking and offers limitless blessings! We can join in the allure of this celebration of each beautiful creation that has ever inhabited this world. For some, beauty is captured through the camera’s lens, while others dance through a menagerie of words falling gracefully from their pen. Still, others illuminate the world in splashes of color that paint their canvas, While others impart wisdom through the words, they might share Some offer inspiration, love, and kindness through acts of tenderness shown with gentle and loving care. There is simply no greater gift than to see what we each have to offer, in taking nothing from others that is not ours to take we can become the most beautiful versions of ourselves if we are only BRAVE!
You wandered into my life, and I am left to ponder where you have always been. Each tender glance you give to me takes my breath away! You fill me with such longing every day. You fill my first thoughts and all the thoughts lazily in between. You fill my thoughts as I sweetly drift off to slumber each night where I am free to dream. I wander through the echos of magical, love-consumed days. I linger in the memory of every one of your touches, kisses, and caresses. I long desperately to feel you in every moment of every single day. You are rays of sunshine that dance and flicker across my skin and haunt me with the memory of where your fingers left their imprint on my skin. You are raindrops falling to earth in a gentle storm of kisses that spring forth renewal and life; each kiss brings forth a shower of goosebumps and color that fills my cheeks. There is no alternative for all the ways you have filled my life, pouring love intensely throughout my soul. Today, and every day that we exist apart, there is an emptiness that only you can fill, and I am bound to our love in an echo that radiates from deep within!
2022 Tenderly, Intellectual Property of Lynn Marie
On this day in history, we remember Princess of Wales, Lady Diana Spencer, whose life was cut short in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997. Princess Dianna was known as the “people’s princess” and was loved for her humanitarian efforts. The accident also claimed the lives of her driver and boyfriend. Diana’s bodyguard survives the crash. Diana lived for a short while after the accident. Diana’s compassion, generosity, humility, devotion, and love of all humanity are greatly missed. #historymysteries
On this day in history, we can remember Harry Butters, who served as an American soldier but also served in the British Army during WWI. Harry Butters was highly educated and inherited his fortune from his father. On August 31, 1916, Harry was ultimately killed during the “Battle of Somme” during his military service. Winston Churchill, who wrote Harry’s epitaph, regarded Harry as one of the brightest, cheeriest fellows Winston had the pleasure to get to know. Winston Churchill recognized Harry’s “nobility” was his compassion for others that Harry offered of his own free will. Today, we have the remarkable opportunity not to remember Harry for his death but maybe for something more profound his love, compassion, and dedication to all humanity! #historymysteries
As a global community, we have witnessed life-altering tragedies since the onset of COVID! There were crises before COVID, and I am confident that we will continue to see such events, but what can be different today is how we demonstrate compassion, support, and love for people during these times. Take a moment today and consider all the ways you might help lift others during times of hurt and offer yourself.
Due to climate change, a 100 km inland lake has been created due to massive flooding in Pakistan that began approximately mid-June. For all those curious, that’s approximately a lake that spans 62 miles. The flooding that continues today created the lake in a short amount of time. Now for those of you who need visualization to help establish these facts. The lake is approximately the same size as Watts Bar Lake, located in Tennessee, 61 miles across, or Lake Wallula, located in Oregon, 61 miles across, or Lake Vermillon, located in Minnesota, 63 miles across, or Lake Ouachita, located in Arkansas, 63 miles across. If climate change still doesn’t feel “real” to you when a massive lake shows up in your backyard, don’t be surprised!!
For anyone and everyone who says climate change is not “real,” I have a little bit of a “wake-up call” that should not come as a news flash to anyone. When overnight a lake shows up, seriously, people, something is going down! As a global community, we get one earth, one shot, and one chance to do things right, and each of us has a profound obligation to be better humans! News flash, every single one of us bleeds the same, and if we systematically are on a “let’s destroy each other” mission, there is absolutely NONE of us that will get out of this alive. We can love each other, we can demonstrate compassion, we can listen, and we can, as a global community, do something about being BETTER! As a historian and a writer, you can see our world history littered with similar stories, and you are welcome to explore the outcomes and see who comes out as the champion! I don’t see anyone as the winner when humanity is pummeled!
Forest of Words 