Historic U.S. Route 80

Sign in Florence, Arizona

Mount Lemmon from the north. Notice remnants of snow in the foreground from the snowstorm 24 hours before. Picture taken from SR 77 between Oracle and Oracle Junction.

At one time, U.S. Route 80 ran across the southern tier of the country from coast to coast. The western terminus was San Diego, California, and the eastern terminus then and now is just east of Savannah, Georgia. The western course of U.S. 80 was decommissioned, so the route now terminates in Dallas, Texas. Portions of the route west of Dallas still exist and in Arizona have been designated as Historic U.S. 80 as the sign above shows.

Recently, I was driving from Phoenix to Oracle, Arizona, for a conference. Somewhat east of Phoenix, signed Historic 80 veers off from U.S. Route 60 to become Historic 80’s northernmost point of the section that I drove down. This interchange is called Florence Junction. The official designation of the road is Arizona State Route 79 (SR 79). Florence, Arizona, is the first town south of Florence Junction, about 14 miles distant. I would like to spend a couple hours in Florence to get a feel for the town.

Historic 80 then continues southward toward Tucson, Arizona, over SR 79 until this numbered road reaches SR 77 and terminates. This location is called Oracle Junction. The original U.S. 80 proceeded from here to Tucson and beyond.

See where SR 79 is on Google maps:

• Florence Junction in the north to Oracle junction in the south, signed Historic U.S. Route 80.

The distance between Florence Junction and Oracle Junction — the length of SR 79 — is about 42 miles. That’s about the same distance as between downtown Phoenix and Florence Junction! Metropolitan Phoenix has spread out along this entire corridor. This is a perfect example of urban sprawl. In contrast, the land south of Florence Junction is undeveloped grazing range land, and I hope that it stays that way.

On this trip, I was interested in reaching Oracle, east of what is aptly called Oracle Junction. The way from Oracle Junction to the town of Oracle, Arizona, is over SR 77 eastward. The most prominent landmark here is towering Mt. Lemmon. Mt. Lemmon is the highest peak in the Santa Catalina mountain range. This mountain range is in the Coronado National Forest which spans southeastern Arizona.

I like this description of this national forest: “The Coronado National Forest spans sixteen scattered mountain ranges or ‘sky islands’ rising dramatically from the desert floor….” (This quote is attributed to the Home page of the Coronado National Forest, but I can’t find it there.) You can see Mt. Lemmon as a sky island in my photo above. The drive from Phoenix to the foot of Mt. Lemmon is entirely a desert floor. As you drive, the elevation gradually rises. Oracle, Arizona, is actually about 3,100 feet higher than Phoenix. It lies northeast of the foot of Mt. Lemmon in a transition zone between the desert floor to the north and the sky island of the national forest. This transition zone is narrow.

All along the trip from Phoenix to Oracle one sees subtle changes in the plant ecology. For example, Saguaro cactuses grow in the lower elevations where there are no freezes during the winter. At some point in the trip, the weather brings freezing temperatures to the desert floor, and Saguaros can’t survive a freeze. One also sees this on a trip north from Phoenix to Flagstaff, Arizona. At first, there are Saguaros everywhere. Then they grow only on the south side of mountains, the warmer side. Then they disappear. The temperature freezes over at night in the depth of winter.

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The Arizona Department of Transportation has a web page describing the history of U.S. 80 in Arizona.

Also see the Arizona Daily Star, Photos of U.S. Route 80 through Arizona,

and AARoads, Photos of Historic U.S. 80

New 50 pence coin to circulate in Britain

The lighting for my camera rendered the reverse of the coin with a yellow tone. It should be the color of nickle.

The Royal Mint of Britain is mandated by law to issue coins with the reigning monarch on the front (obverse) of every coin. Now that King Charles III was elevated to the throne, all coins will bear the likeness (effigy) that he authorized. Eventually, all coins of the UK will bear Charles III’s likeness.

In December 2022, the mint rolled out its new 50 pence coin. I bought one of these coins that is as good as they come — Brilliant Uncirculated (BU). In the U.S., a coin like this is called a “proof.”

The entire packaging of this 50 pence coin is a tribute to the late Queen, Elizabeth II. No mention is made of her son, Charles III.

I consider this 50 pence coin a collectors item even though 4.9 million were in circulation during December 2022. Orders for BU coins were taken until December 31, 2022. I received mine on February 6th. After a production “delay.” Still, I doubt that its BU issue will be rare, so it will likely never be valuable. Still, it’s a memento to a changing time.

With time, coins with the likeness Elizabeth II will be withdrawn from circulation, but they remain and will remain legal tender.

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The 50 pence coin is in the center. The denominations are on the reverse.

These are the Brilliant Uncirculated definitive British coins that were in circulation during 2022. These will never be minted again. I wanted a memento of the historic passing of a reigning monarch with the fame and appeal of Queen Elizabeth II.

Again, this set is unlikely to be valuable. I’m certain that many like-minded individuals — both British and non-British like me — wanted a special commemoration of the Queen’s life at an affordable price.

‘I got my licks on Route 66’

In 2009, I was driving back to Kansas City from Chicago by way of Interstate 55 between Chicago and St. Louis. This route had once been designated as “US 66.” It stretched from Chicago to Santa Monica, California.

The actual highway number 66 was decommissioned in 1985, though, since the federal interstate highway system had supplanted all the earlier national roads like Route 66. A movement to venerate the highway and what it stood for swelled. Some states renumbered the remaining sections of the “Mother Highway” as state route 66. By now, remaining segments that are used for traffic have been designated across the country as Historic Route US 66, with states adding their name to the signage as you see.

My trip was leisurely. My curiosity prevailed, and I made two stops to visit the old highway. This above sign is from Lincoln, Illinois, where 66 had passed through the town on city streets as it had before it was rebuilt on the outskirts as a 4-lane divided highway that bypassed Lincoln. This rebuilding process in Illinois began after World War II. Segments were taken over for Interstate 55.

This next picture depicts Historic 66 as it passes toward the downtown of Lincoln, Illinois, on an ordinary street. National highways ran point to point from the center of one town or city to the next center.

These two pictures show the old highway’s original pavement as it proceeds out of Odell, Illinois, and wanders through the vast corn fields. The car is my old 2004 Dodge Neon that I acquired used in 2006 and relinquished in 2020 for a new 2018 Kia Rio. The Rio was my first car that didn’t have a previous owner.

Notice the Illinois license plate, if you can. I had been living in Kansas for a year already and hadn’t yet registered it in Kansas. There is a story here but not now.

I took a picture of this display in Interstate 55’s Funks Grove rest area. As you see, it commemorates Illinois’s section of Route 66. You also see the slogan that’s the title of this post “Get Your Licks on Route 66.” However, I’ve always heard the slogan as “Get Your Kicks on Route 66.” I was getting my kicks on my side-trips. I don’t know what ‘licks’ means or refers to.

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“Get Your Kicks on Route 66” is a 1946 song recorded by Nat King Cole.

Happy Hanukkah

I’m posting this during the Jewish holiday Hanukkah, eight days of festivities centered on the candles that we light. On the first night we light one single candle for the holiday. On the second night we light two candles, and so on, until all the eight candles are lit.

Some of us light small olive oil lamps with cotton wicks in place of candles. This reminds us of the candelabra — Menorah — in the Holy Temple that stood in Jerusalem at the time of two miracles.

The miracle that took back the Temple from the hand of the Syrian Greeks was a military victory, about 2,160 years ago. An uprising of a small Jewish army defeated a world power that had taken the Holy Land as a colony. The interloper’s occupation was too costly, so they left. We can see that this is a miracle.

The other miracle was private, in the sanctuary of the Temple, known only to the priests, descendants of the Bible’s Aaron, of the holy compound — an area where no one but priests entered.

In order to light the Menorah, seven arms holding lamps connected to one stem and its base, the priests used pure olive oil of the highest sanctity. They found only one cruse that would last one night and the following day. G-d made a miracle, and the oil didn’t burn down but lasted for eight nights and days until new oil could be procured.

We see that the military victory which spilled blood has been downplayed, and the miracle of the oil has been designated by the Rabbis as the miracle to celebrate.

In our homes, we also call our candelabras menorahs, but all have receptacles for eight lights rather than the seven of the Holy Temple. Menorahs come in all sizes and designs.

My menorah — as you will see — is simple and utilitarian. I’ve had it since my early or mid-twenties when I was first out on my own. (I’m now 71.)

This picture was taken on the eighth night of Hanukkah on December 29, 2019, my first Hanukkah in Arizona.

The prominent mezuzah is fixed to the right doorpost of this room as you enter. The Hanukkah lights are placed to the left opposite the mezuzah.

The beeswax candle is call a shamash — a servant with which to light the lamps or candles.

Many Jews place their menorahs in a window seen from the street. This publicizes the miracle to passersby beside to members of the family.

Many organizations place kerosene or electric menorahs to be seen in public places in cities and towns across the world. Think of a menorah that is about 20 feet or 7 meters tall.

The White House has such a menorah on its lawn. There’s been a menorah lighting ceremony inside the White House every year since the term of President Ronald Reagan, if I’m not mistaken.

The victory in the Holy Land of a small number of determined men and women against a world power should have been a lesson to the Soviet Empire and today’s Russia. You can’t occupy a foreign country and prevail. The Soviets should have known this before they tried to occupy Afghanistan during the 1980s. The people of Afghanistan made it too costly for the Soviets to remain.

It may be unreasonable for the Soviets to learn from the ancient Jews, but they should have learned from weak Afghanistan the lesson that today’s war and occupation of Ukraine would be costly and futile.

Let’s hope and pray that no more Ukrainians die and that they prevail against aggressive Russia. Victory may not seem like a miracle, but it is certain. History has told the Russians so.

May the light of Hanukkah spread and penetrate even the darkest corners of the world. Let all celebrate freedom from tyranny, ignorance, and hunger — for spirituality as well as for relief from poverty.

Jewish Boot Hill Graveyard

Jewish Boot Hill Graveyard | Jewish Pioneers Memorial | Tombstone, Arizona

Early in 2018, I visited Tombstone, Arizona. There, I visited the legendary and infamous Boot Hill Graveyard. I was especially intrigued by the sign that indicated that it had a Jewish Memorial. I stopped and looked around.

I published a post about a year ago about the Jewish memorial. I’ve just determined the source of most of the pictures. I’m repeating the pictures with proper attribution. The text is new.

I’ve cropped and enhanced most of these pictures using Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

DrStew82, Creative Commons. Cropped by Nesanel Segal.

Tombstone’s Boot Hill Graveyard in Tombstone, Arizona.
Gabriel Millos, Creative Commons. Cropped and enhanced by Nesanel Segal.

“The small, segregated Jewish portion of the historic Boothill Graveyard in Tombstone, Arizona,” Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress

The Jewish custom when visiting a grave is to leave behind one’s own stone marker.

I don’t now know where I found this picture. The meta-data doesn’t indicate that I took the picture. I’ve cropped and enhanced the original.

David Conway, “Jewish Pioneers
Memorial.” Find A Grave. Cropped and enhanced by Nesanel Segal.

The Star of David is on one side. The menorah on top reads Shalom — peace. The three rings with figures inside are an Indian symbol — from the past Hohokam culture. It’s not clear to me whether any Indians were actually buried in this cemetery.

“The work on the 100-year-old burial ground was carried out in large part by [Judge C. Lawrence] Huerta, a [full-blooded] Yaqui Indian, who has served as a judge, community college chancellor and member of the state’s industrial commission,” according to The New York Times. “Ceremonial items were sealed into a burnished safe adorned with Jewish and Indian symbols atop the pedestal…. Huerta donated a Yaqui bowl containing items ‘which symbolize the harmony between the Jewish pioneers and the Indians.’”

Said Huerta, “A burial place is sacred to my people, and I wanted this place to be treated with the respect it once had. In honoring my Jewish brothers I feel I am also honoring the lost and forgotten bones of my own people who lay where they fell when the west was being settled” (Southwest Jewish Archives of the University of Arizona).

“When the west was being settled” was uttered by an Indian in 1983 (or so). I would not say such a thing in the third decade of the 21st century in light of what I know. The west was already settled — by Indians — before the Europeans came. I would say, “When the west was being resettled by Europeans.”

AJM, “Jewish Pioneers
Memorial.” Find A Grave. Cropped and enhanced by Nesanel Segal.

This picture (above) looks like it was taken before the wrought iron fence was installed and before landscaping.

AJM, “Jewish Pioneers
Memorial.” Find A Grave. Cropped and enhanced by Nesanel Segal.

You’ll see how two Chinese were buried segregated off to the side of the main cemetery — the “white” section.

Gravemarker from Boot Hill Graveyard, Tombstone, Arizona. Jan Kronsell,
Public Domain. Cropped and enhanced by Nesanel Segal.

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See the Southwest Jewish Archives of the University of Arizona:

• “The Historical Jewish Cemetery at Boothill Tombstone, Arizona.”
• “Tombstone Cemetery Call to Action.”
• “Restoration of a Jewish Cemetery in Tombstone, Arizona,” Congressional Record.

The New York Times reported: “An Old West Cemetery for Jews Is Rededicated in Tombstone,” February 29, 1984.

Eileen R. Warshaw, “What became of the Jews of Tombstone?,” Arizona Jewish Life, September 1, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2021.

Bad religion according to Benjamin Franklin

Concerning religion and the state, American Founder and statesman Benjamin Franklin said:

“When a religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when it cannot support itself, and G-d does not take care to support [it], so that its professors are obliged to call for help of the civil power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one.”

In Jon Meacham, American Gospel: G-d, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation (New York: Random House, 2006) p. 60.

Franklin said it all. Now check out America’s denominations.

The Jewish cemetery in Tombstone, Arizona

For a short while during the silver rush of the 1880s, Tombstone, Arizona, had a significant Jewish community. Some died and were buried there in the local cemetery — Boot Hill. There was a tendency for men to die with their boots on, they say. Hence the name.

The cemetery is now a tourist attraction. “Come see the plots and new markers of those who were killed in the Fight at the OK Corral.”

Jews, Indians, and Chinese were buried in a separate lot just below the hill.

An historical society was able to mark some of the Gentile graves on the hill and map it out for tourists. They had located enough historical documents for the task.

Not so the Jews. A club in south-central Arizona, though, sponsored a single memorial marker dedicated to:
The Jewish Pioneers and Their Indian Friends / Erected by the Jewish Friendship Club of Green Valley 1984.

Some of the “friends” were also Chinese.

Photos from Atlas Obscura, “Jewish Pioneers Memorial — Tombstone, Arizona,” retreived March 24, 2020. Photos have been retouched.

Green Valley, Arizona, lies on the highway south of Tucson on the way to Nogales.

See “Restoration of a Jewish Cemetery in Tombstone, Arizona,” Southwest Jewish Archives, University of Arizona.

The New York Times reported: “An Old West Cemetery for Jews Is Rededicated in Tombstone,” February 29, 1984.

Melody of the Israeli national anthem

The famous main theme of “The Moldau” comprises the first musical stanza of “Hatikvah,” the Israeli national anthem, with slight changes.
These changes for the anthem may reflect origin in “La Mantovana, ” a widely popular melody in Renaissance Europe and more recent times.

“The Moldau” (“Vltava”), a symphonic poem by Bedřich Smetana, is from Má Vlast (My Country).

For more about “The Moldau” see Robert Cummings, www.allmusic.com.

The melody of the second stanza of the anthem shifts to “Russian Sailors Dance” in the ballet The Red Poppy,  from a Russian folk tune.

The Red Poppy , 1927, was the first Soviet ballet with a modern revolutionary theme according to Wikipedia.

The entirety of “Hatikvah” is nationalistic. It is also Eurocentric. The direction of Jerusalem in the anthem is toward the east, appropriate for Europeans. For Jews in Baghdad, Persia, and India, Jerusalem is toward the west. Admittedly Jerusalem is also toward the east for Jews in North Africa.

Macron: ‘Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism.’

French President Emmanuel Macron denounced nationalism: “It’s a betrayal of moral values.”

Nationalism is “the egotism of a people only concerned with their own interests,” Macron said on Sunday, November 11, 2018, at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. He was speaking to a gathering of national leaders to commemorate 100 years since the armistice that ended World War I. The armistice of November 11, 1918, marked a victory for the Allies and a defeat for Germany.

“By putting our own interests first, with no regard for others, we erase the very thing that a nation holds dearest, and the thing that keeps it alive: its moral values,” the French President said.

This vision of France as a generous nation, of France as a project, of France as a bearer of universal values was in these somber hours exactly the opposite of the egotism of a people only concerned with their own interests. Because patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism betrays it. By saying we put ourselves first and the others don’t matter, we erase that which is most precious to a nation — that which gives it life, that which makes it great, that which is the most important: its moral values.

(as translated into English from French)

(As reported by The Washington Post, “Macron denounces nationalism as a ‘betrayal of patriotism’ in rebuke to Trump at WWI remembrance,” in its video stream, and by the Associated Press.)

Jerusalem in maps

Jerusalem during the British Mandate and the plan for an internationalized Greater Jerusalem – Corpus Separatem

The Municipality of Jerusalem – 1949 through 1993

Reunited Eastern and Western Jerusalem

 

The Jerusalem Governate according to the PA

Maps have been digitally altered by Nesanel Segal from the source versions.