RIVER

Rivers have always been very important to humankind, I say in the intro to my anthology, River.
They’ve been called gods. They’ve been blessed and cursed and venerated and used and enjoyed and exploited and polluted since the beginning of recorded history. They’ve been sung about and dreamed about and followed on epic journeys of discovery.
Gypsy Ninja has picked 10 mighty rivers which made the world in what it is today, including MY river, the Danube, on whose banks I was born in a country which no longer exists.
The Danube is the most international river basin in the world. It springs in Germany’s romantic Black Forest, travels a total distance of 2850 km (1770 mi.), passing through 10 countries and 4 capital cities. It was an important transport route for medieval Europeans. Throughout most of its history, the Roman Empire held the Danube as its northern border. Before the Romans, the Greeks were navigating the river’s lower reaches. With more recent events like the Main-Danube Canal being built in 1992, the Danube is connected to the Rhine and from there to the North Sea.
Read the whole story HERE
Buy River, the anthology, HERE
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You’ve read how many?
BuzzFeed
So little time, so much to read, Michelle Regna says in introducing this list at BuzzFeed.
It’s not a definitive list — it doesn’t even have one of mine, for example — but a neat quiz nevertheless. How did you do?
Read the whole story HERE
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29 Surreal Places In America You Need To Visit Before You Die
If you live in the U.S., Arielle Calderon says at Buzzfeed, you don’t need a passport to see what mother nature has to offer.
RuthChoi / shutterstock.com
Skagit Valley Tulip Fields, Washington
This is one place I know well. It is only a few miles from my home and I have scores of photos like this one.
Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to the tulip fields between April 1–30 to see these gorgeous flowers in bloom. The festival is designed as a driving tour since there is no one designated “site”.
See all the remarkable places HERE
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Elves and Dragons Doing a Fantastic Job of Protecting Iceland’s Environment

Originally Icelanders used mythological creatures as a way to deter people from coming to their island, now they protect it, Sola Agustsson writes at AlterNet.
 
Read the whole story HERE
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Nasa’s Curiosity rover finds water below surface of Mars
New measurements from the Gale crater contradict theories that the planet is too cold for liquid water to exist, Hannah Devlin reports at The Guardian.

The Curiosity rover is currently ascending Mount Sharp, in the centre of the Gale crater.
Illustration: Stocktrek Images, Inc./Alamy
Prof Andrew Coates, head of planetary science at the Mullard Space, said: “The evidence so far is that any water would be in the form of permafrost. It’s the first time we’ve had evidence of liquid water there now.””
Read the whole story HERE
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Quote of the day
A child who reads will be an an adult who thinks.
“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s
story in the slightest.” ~ C.S. Lewis
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Alma Alexander      My books      Email me   
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