The surname "Woods" is of English, Scottish and Irish derivation, and was a topographical name for someone who lived in the woods. However, did you know our family surname "Woods" is derived from a partial translation of the French surname "Brisbois"? Our direct French-Canadian ancestor and his brother came south from Quebec to fight in the American Civil War and Americanized their family name from "Brisbois" to "Woods". Our family genealogist, Frank Woods, has details on their military service in the Civil War, descendants, where they're buried, etc.

We are in transition, having just completed a series of walks totaling about 150 miles on the Appalachian Trail in Vermont and New Hampshire. We are now visiting family and are on route to settle in at our new house on South Mountain near Arendtsville, Pennnsylvania. We still hope to find a few more birds this year, and in fact Chuck saw a first-of-year yellow-throated vireo yesterday, but other activities, primarily moving into and making improvements to our little log house, will take much of our time over the next few of months.

There were two great articles in the Gazette discussing Rob's home in the stockade. They are attached for anyone who didn't catch them.

By James Macintyre Published: 22 September 2007 The Pope is expected to use his first address to the United Nations to deliver a powerful warning over climate change in a move to adopt protection of the environment as a "moral" cause for the Catholic Church and its billion-strong following. The New York speech is likely to contain an appeal for sustainable development, and it will follow an unprecedented Encyclical (a message to the wider church) on the subject, senior diplomatic sources have told The Independent.

John D. Podesta speaks to National Association of State Treasures September 17, 2007 First off, I want to thank Oregon State Treasurer Randall Edwards and the conference organizers for helping make today’s event possible. I also want to acknowledge Tate Reeves of Mississippi, who is the President of NAST and Lynn Jenkins of Kansas, who is the senior vice president—thank you both for your hard work and leadership. And thank you all for inviting me—it is a pleasure to participate in this important and timely event.

Lots of buzz suddenly about the possibility of a sharp fall in the dollar. The Canadian dollar is back at parity with the greenback; there are rumors that the Saudis are planning to diversify into euros, and maybe even that the Chinese might break the dollar peg. A nice summary at Barry Ritholtz’s blog The Big Picture.

This year, there has definitely been a lot more attention given to the issue of climate change: its realities, predictions, mitigation and potential solutions. There's a lot to say on the subject and I thought it would be interesting to start a discussion on the different facets of it. I would be happy to just post some interesting articles on the subject or we could have an ongoing discussion.

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/09/pennsylvania-ma.html Pennsylvania Man Claims He Made Fuel From Salt Water By Kristen Philipkoski September 10, 2007 | 5:54:34 PM This sounds a wee bit nutty, but an article in Sunday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tells the story of an Erie, Pennsylvania man who created a 3,000-degree flame by exposing salt water to radio frequencies. The guy, according to the story, was trying to desalinate seawater with a generator "he developed to treat cancer," when he noticed a flash in the test tube.

Arrived we have at one of the great Mecca’s of American birding. Alas, we are more than a month late. The Kirtland’s warblers have already completed their breeding and are preparing to depart to Eluthera and Abaco Islands in the Bahamas. The males have stopped singing from perches in young jack pines, and the federal wildlife service has ended its tours that provide a chance to glimpse them. The bird’s unique habitat, many acre patches of five to fifteen foot tall jack pines, are created by federal and state agencies through regular clear cutting and planting of the pines.

We are once again in the Eastern Time Zone. Almost shocking, our circle around the forty-nine States is coming to a close. I can’t say that brings particular pleasure or disappointment. We are still entering new territory. Anne is not sure she had ever been in Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota nor Wisconsin. Neither of us has ever been in the “UP” - Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We have yet to cross the Mackinac Bridge. We will make that crossing the day after tomorrow. We will reach familiar territory upon reaching Pennsylvania next week.