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The New American Digest

For Followers of Gerard Van der Leun's Fine Work

  • About American Digest
  • About New American Digest
  • “The Name In The Stone”
  • Remembering Gerard Van der Leun
    • from the website: Through the Looking Glass
    • from the website: Barnhardt
    • from the website: Neo’s Blog
  • Articles
    • The Overland Stage
      • The Holladay Overland Stage: 1 – The Central Route
      • The Overland Stage – 2 Company Operations
      • The Overland Stage – 3 Exploring The Route – An Overview
      • The Overland Stage: 4 – South Platte/Julesburg/Ft Sedgwick
        • Jack Slade
      • The Overland Stage: 5 – Julesburg to Junction Station (aka Ft Morgan)
      • The Overland Stage: 6 – Junction Station to Latham
      • The Overland Stage: 7 – Latham Crossing to Fort Collins
      • The Overland Stage: 8 – LaPorte to Virginia Dale
      • The Overland Stage: 9 – Virginia Dale to Cooper Creek
      • The Overland Stage: 10 – Cooper Creek to Pass Creek
        • Fletcher Family
      • The Overland Stage: 11 – Pass Creek to Bridger Station
      • The Overland Stage: 12 – Bridger Pass to Duck Lake
      • The Overland Stage: 13 – Duck Lake to LaClede
      • The Overland Stage: 14 – LaClede to Almond
      • The Overland Stage: 15 – Almond to Rock Springs
      • The Overland Stage: 16 – Rock Springs to Fort Bridger
      • The Overland Stage: 17 – Fort Bridger to Weber Station

I find I don’t wish to explore new lands, but to explore again those I have already passed through, trying to see what I’d missed in the first hectic rush … Gerard Van der Leun

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In A Foreign Land

The New American Digest Posted on July 3, 2025 by SKJuly 3, 2025

by SK via Comments

I am in a foreign land at the moment, staying with friends in a small town at the base of the Alps.

The heat you all are hearing about is real. The air is dry and the sun is scorching. Feels like desert heat. There has been rain but it mostly evaporates before doing the earth any good. Although lawns and fields are crispy and brown there is still a lot of green to be seen from heavy rains in May. The trees are huge and healthy. Oleander is in full bloom.

The food is delicious- fresh and simply prepared. No fussy sauces or dips, no crusts on fish or chicken. No gigantic appetizers. Ham is just air-dried or baked – no unpronounceable ingredients or plumping salt water injections. Good bread made from only 4 ingredients- water salt yeast and flour. No butter, only olive oil. Good yoghurt made from milk and active cultures, nothing else. People drink coffee, tea, water and wine, no fruit juices or soft drinks. They are on the menus but come in tiny tin cans if ordered, or fresh squeezed at breakfast. Fresh fruit is on every dessert menu. Berries are served in a bowl with lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar.

Food is abundant and cheap. The fruit and vegetables are ripe and flavorful. The selection of cheese is dazzling.

Gas is crazy expensive and so is electricity. Few homes have air con. Windows are opened at night to let cool air in then shuttered in the day to keep heat out. Shutters and doors are always double locked and alarmed. Gardens are walled, fenced, gated and locked. There is an ancient, ingrained fear of invaders and thieves, now largely justified by the real invasion of folk from non Christian places.

People are generally cheerful and friendly. And slim. And patriotic. They all wear locally well made and beautiful sandals, shoes and boots. They walk a lot. Everyone talks about going to the seaside or the mountains for relief from the summer heat. A lot of very old people ride bikes on busy roads and up steep hills.

You dont need a watch. You can tell the time of day from the rhythm in the streets and the church bells that ring. The bells also announce funerals in long, slow, sad gongs. There are many, this is an old country.

No one seems deeply concerned about the world’s woes. Though you hear occasional anti Trump sentiment, fueled mostly by the press and their depiction of life in America or fear of tariffs, there is no real animosity, mostly admiration and fascination with the size and scale of everything American- it is still viewed as a land of opportunity and freedom. Mostly they talk here about food, music, football, cycling, beautiful women – but above all, food. It’s an obsession.

I’d say we still have a lot to learn from the old countries.

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Replies

Happy “I Forgot Day”

The New American Digest Posted on July 3, 2025 by DTJuly 1, 2025

It was yesterday.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Reply

July

The New American Digest Posted on July 2, 2025 by DTJuly 1, 2025

It’s the time of year where everyone starts complaining about the heat. I just want to remind you of what’s coming … when everyone starts hoping July comes soon.

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Replies

Happy Dominion Day

The New American Digest Posted on July 1, 2025 by DTJune 30, 2025

Being from Detroit, the week containing Dominion Day and July 4th was cause for celebration. In 1972, I was old enough to appreciate July 1 on a Friday and the 4th on Monday – and young enough to take full advantage of it. The fireworks shows from Belle Isle were something to experience.

Seems now most all of that is forced and over-celebrated … and even less so now that Canada is no longer our friendly neighbor.

Canada ceased being “Canada” when they changed their flag and went metric. I recall buying gas in Imperial gallons: 5 quarts to the gallon. Remember – the industrial Revolution which formed the basis of today’s technology was measured in imperial units, not French Revolution units.

Sorry, Canada – it was so good to know you.

Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Replies

Tunes For Tuesday – Uriah Heep “July Morning”

The New American Digest Posted on July 1, 2025 by DTJune 16, 2025

A sample of some obscure – and some maybe not obscure – tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.

Today’s selection: Uriah Heep “July Morning” 1971

Considered by some the best composition by Uriah Heep; released on the 1971 album “Look At Yourself”.

Formed in 1969, the band name still exits with only one original member – the lead guitarist, Mick Box – remaining.

Posted in tunes, Uncategorized | 1 Reply

A Regular’s Book Recommendation

The New American Digest Posted on June 30, 2025 by DTJune 30, 2025

Jean wrote me and recommended this book: “one of the best books ever written for all ages…“

I’m happy to pass on her suggestion to y’all.


“The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse“
by Charlie Mackesy

From another reviewer: “I can’t recommend this book enough, whether you are 12, 22, 42, or 92 years old.“

“How do they look so together and perfect?” Asked the boy. “There’s a lot of frantic paddling going on beneath,” said the horse.

“The greatest illusion,” said the mole, “is that life should be perfect.”

Have at it …

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Replies

Bluegrass In Seattle

The New American Digest Posted on June 30, 2025 by DTJune 28, 2025

from a long time ago …

A couple of these guys were work buddies but I lost touch not long after I left the area. Seattle was funky weird then instead of psycho weird like it is now.

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Replies

Comnenos Mosaic of Ayasofya

The New American Digest Posted on June 29, 2025 by DTJune 28, 2025

Last of three Eastern Roman Empire churches erected on this site; built 360, completed 537AD in a grand style of Byzantine architecture.
This mosaic dates from 1122

John in Christ the God, faithful king born in the purple, Autocrat of Romans, the Kommenos.

Emporer John II Komnenos (1087 – 1143) & Empress Princess Piroska (Eirene) of Hungary (1088 – 1134) m. 1104 stand on either side of Mary the Virgin and the Christ child.

The mosaic was plastered over rather than destroyed upon the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The plaster was removed in the 1930s.
I had a chance to visit while it was still a secular museum; the structure was re-converted to a mosque in 2020.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Replies

Train Time

The New American Digest Posted on June 28, 2025 by DTJune 27, 2025
Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Replies

Cat Tales

The New American Digest Posted on June 27, 2025 by DTJune 25, 2025

Introducing “Little Calico”:

I’ve never made any secret of my fondness for cats. I have nothing really against dogs but to have a dog – or dogs – requires room to run, at least in my eyes. I don’t like fencing a dog in yet most places I’ve lived do not allow dogs to roam free nor are dogs of the size I like suitable for the apartments I’ve lived in.

Yes, I know there are exceptions.

I wouldn’t mind having two right now – two, because I live in coyote country and a coyote will injure or kill a single friendly dog, even of German Shepherd size. The dog wouldn’t realize it was in a serious fight right away. But Wile E won’t mess with two though – two dogs would tear the coyote apart if it wasn’t fast enough on the escape. Can’t though; I’d have to keep them penned up where I live. I wouldn’t want a feather duster; I’d want one or two to take boonie-bouncing with me.

My last dog was a female Norwegian Elkhound:

Had her as a pup … No, this is not her; even if circumstances had not gotten in the way, she’d have lived her life out sometime in the 80s. By then, my life was on a path that having a pet was not practical.

This was the mid-70s; she was stolen by someone I had thought was a friend – I never saw the dog or “friend” again; never even knew where they went. She was the last dog of mine … I suppose after almost 50 years I don’t miss her much anymore, only had her for about 6 months as a puppy. But sometimes I think about her. Time has a way of fading some memories …

Sometime around 1990, I had a girlfriend with a retriever. We’d travel – for fun or work – but I-Can’t-Recall-His-Name didn’t take to travelling well. Said girlfriend passed ICRHN off to a friend who was better able to take care of him. They got along very well and when the inevitable breakup with the girlfriend came, it turned out the dog preferred to stay with the friend.

God visited me some time ago … oh, it might have been about 1997. I didn’t realize it at the time. Didn’t think about it at the time. No burning bushes but a beautiful healthy German Shepherd deep in the Wilderness.

At least it was a dog that looked like a German Shepherd. Kind of like this picture but a little fuller.

I was out in central Nevada someplace out along US50. There’s a lot of not-much through there. I had pulled off the highway to take a break. This dog came out of nowhere – I was a long way from any town or ranch, yet this dog came up to me from out in the sagebrush and just stared at me.

I stared back.

Where did this dog come from? He obviously hadn’t been wandering for long; his coat was too clean, he appeared well-fed.

A dilemma.
Do I take him in? I live in a small apartment. Besides, if he had wandered off, his owners must be looking for him.
Or did they dump him? I didn’t think about that at the time.
Do I try to bond with him? Then what? I can’t care for him.

So I ignored him until he wandered away.
A few minutes later, I had second thoughts. Called out to him – he couldn’t have gotten too far away yet; no response.

I didn’t think much of it at the time, but – not even being sure “God” exists – I now feel I failed a biblical test.
And it bothers me much more now than it did 30 years ago.

Figure that.

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Replies

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Rules

Gerard Van der Leun
12/26/45 - 1/27/23


Gerard's Last Post
(posthumous): Feb 4, 2023
"So Long. See You All a Little Further Down the Road"

When my body won’t hold me anymore
And it finally lets me free
Where will I go?
Will the trade winds take me south through Georgia grain?
Or tropical rain?
Or snow from the heavens?
Will I join with the ocean blue?
Or run into a savior true?
And shake hands laughing
And walk through the night, straight to the light
Holding the love I’ve known in my life
And no hard feelings

Avett Brothers - No Hard Feelings

The following was posted along with the announcement of Gerard's passing.
Leonard Cohen - Going Home

For a 2005 interview with Gerard


July 2025
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Most Recent Comments

  1. ghostsniper on In A Foreign LandJuly 3, 2025

    Mr KoKo ======= A silly little thing I put together for our grand daughters 10th birthday a couple weeks ago.…

  2. SK on In A Foreign LandJuly 3, 2025

    It is lovely Jean, not heaven, but it's a nice change. JD guessed right, it's Italy.

  3. SK on JulyJuly 3, 2025

    Oh, thank you! Im glad you liked it. I started to write about the heat and got a bit carried…

  4. SK on JulyJuly 3, 2025

    Thank you for the nice compliment. More than anything I'm glad you found it uplifting. It's a town in northern…

  5. ghostsniper on JulyJuly 3, 2025

    Designers are always thinking about their "next house". ie, In my next house I'm gonna have a porcelain sink with…


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Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man,
play a song for me
I'm not sleepy
and there ain't no place I'm goin' to

Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man,
play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning,
I'll come followin' you

Take me for a trip upon
your magic swirling ship
All my senses have been stripped
And my hands can't feel to grip
And my toes too numb to step
Wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin'

I'm ready to go anywhere,
I'm ready for to fade
Unto my own parade
Cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it


Men who saw night coming down about them could somehow act as if they stood at the edge of dawn.


From Gerard's site. The picture always caught my eye.

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