by B.L. Unkel | Sep 17, 2022 | Writing
September is Read a New Book Month. Books are magical, transporting the reader into other worlds, times, careers, and situations they would never otherwise experience. But books wouldn’t be possible without a way to convey this magic. The First Alphabet A book...
by B.L. Unkel | Sep 10, 2022 | Everything Else
Going through my National Geographic magazines recently, I stumbled upon an article about armadillos. I thought I knew these “beer-drinking” critters. Turns out, I didn’t. Since my first “Did You Know?” two years ago was an armadillo story, I decided to revisit the...
by B.L. Unkel | Sep 3, 2022 | Everything Else
In the last two centuries, the world has welcomed many important inventions. But today our lives are almost completely ruled by one. The telephone. History Telephones have come a long way since the construction of that first telephone line in 1877-78. Three...
by B.L. Unkel | Aug 27, 2022 | Everything Else
Have you ever stopped to consider where the traditions you practice come from? Every generation grows up with traditions. Some are family-specific, others cultural. Over time these traditions change. New ones are created, and old ones are modified and/or discarded....
by B.L. Unkel | Aug 20, 2022 | Travel
Carousels reached the U.S. in the 1800s thanks to European immigrants. During the height of the “Golden Age of Carousels” (1880-1930) between 2,000-3,000 hand-carved and painted carousels operated in the states. More than one hundred years later, the number of...
by B.L. Unkel | Aug 13, 2022 | Travel
As an author, I’ve often heard, “Write what you know.” For carousel carvers of old, it was, “Carve what you know.” They knew horses. After all, as mentioned in DYK This Carnival Ride was Created to Train Warriors?, carousels began as a safe way to train warriors on...