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In a few days, the 10th anniversary of one of the most horrific days in American History will be upon us, September 11, 2001; it is difficult to believe that 10 years have passed since that fateful day.

This is a reminder to us all that we will never forget the terrible loss of thousands of innocents and brave NY Fire Department fire fighters, and other law enforcement officers who gave their lives in trying to save the civilian victims of this horrendous terrorist attack at the World Trade Center, and the hundreds lost at the Pentagon in Washington DC (where I saw the black smoke billowing out of the Pentagon after the attack--from my office window of the Ronald Reagan Building)
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This photo I took of the Statue of Liberty in 2004 (after visiting Ground Zero), is in a small way my tribute to the victims of 9-11; this stunning symbol of freedom to millions all over the world, reminds me that I will never forget them and their sacrifices, never.

~ Melinda Applegate

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This is a photo of my father, Roland S. Applegate, at his home in Los Angeles, California in 1967. My father was born in 1913, graduated from the University of Southern California in 1932, served in the 777th Artillery Battalion in WW2, and survived a German POW Camp. He was a true member of "The Greatest Generation".

The photo was taken by my sister Ellen Pierce. I restored and enhanced it in PhotoShop after scanning the original.

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This is a restored photo of my father, Roland S. Applegate, taken by my sister Ellen Pierce, at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1967. My father was born in 1913, graduated from the University of Southern California in 1932, served in the 777th Artillery Battalion in WW2, and survived a German POW Camp. He was a true member of "The Greatest Generation".

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INFORMATION ON THE BELL PEPPER:

Bell pepper is a cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, green and orange. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less pungent pepper varieties as "sweet peppers". Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America and northern South America. Pepper seeds were later carried to Spain in 1493 and from there spread to other European and Asian countries. Today, Mexico remains one of the major pepper producers in the world.

The term "bell pepper" is the American name for some fruits of the Capsicum annuum species of plants. The misleading name "pepper" (pimiento in Spanish) was given by Christopher Columbus upon bringing the plant back to Europe. At that time peppercorns, the fruit of Piper nigrum, an unrelated plant, were a highly prized condiment.

The color can be green, red, yellow, orange and, more rarely, white, purple, blue, pink, rainbow, aqua, violet, maroon, black and brown, depending on when they are harvested and the specific cultivar. Green peppers are less sweet and slightly more bitter than red, yellow or orange peppers. The taste of ripe peppers can also vary with growing conditions and post-harvest storage treatment; the sweetest are fruit allowed to ripen fully on the plant in full sunshine, while fruit harvested green and after-ripened in storage are less sweet.

(Source: Wikipedia)

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This is a photo I took with available light inside the lobby of the historic El Tovar Hotel that is located just 20 feet from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We stayed there last May when we visited the Grand Canyon. It is a wonderful rustic hotel full of history.

INFORMATION ON THE EL TOVAR HOTEL:

The El Tovar Hotel, also known simply as El Tovar, is a former Harvey House situated just 20ft from the south rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA. The hotel was designed by Charles Whittlesey, Chief Architect for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway and opened in 1905 as one the chain of hotels and restaurants owned and operated by the Fred Harvey Company in conjunction with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe). It is at the northern terminus of the Grand Canyon Railway, which was formerly a branch of the Santa Fe. The hotel is one of only a handful of Harvey House facilities that are still in operation, and is an example of National Park Service Rustic architecture.

The building has multiple roofs at several different levels that add to its architectural interest, visual appeal, and spatial experience. At the uppermost level is the wood turret, wrapped in shingles and serving as the most important element of the identifiable silhouette of El Tovar. Directly below that is the hip roof with bracketed eaves that shelters the central portion of the building, including the lobby and mezzanine lounge. The three-story wings to the north and south that flank that central portion have mansard roofs pierced by dormers. On the north and south ends the roofs step down to two- and one-story terraces. The main entrance on the east side of the building has a gable roof with a hipped end covering the large entrance porch.

El Tovar's significance lies in its eclectic architecture--a combination of the Swiss chalet and Norway villa as the promotional brochures boasted--and the way in which that transitional architecture bridged the gap between the staid Victorian resort architecture of the late nineteenth century and the rustic architecture later deemed appropriate for the great scenic and natural wonders of the United States. Interlocked with that significance is the building's s importance as the Santa Fe Railway's key structure of its "destination resort" at Grand Canyon which dramatically increased tourism and in turn had an indirect bearing on the area's establishment as a national monument in 1908 and a national park 11 years later.

El Tovar opened its doors in January, 1905, as the luxury hotel at the Grand Canyon for the Santa Fe Railway. The building's style remained steeped in the late Victorian predeliction for the exotic with its roof turret and chalet-like balconies and terraces. Whittlesey's use of log-slab siding and log detailing on the first floor created that rustic frontier atmosphere that the railroad sought. The dark color of the building and the dark interiors contributed to the woodsy ambience. The dark exterior color gave added architectural importance to the building s silhouette--easily distinguishable by its turret and varied roof forms as the most important structure on the south rim by the way it was outlined in the sky.

Over the years El Tovar has housed such dignitaries as George Bernard Shaw, Ferdinand Foch, Gugliemo Marconi, Presidents William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt, and even Arthur Fiedler. Once described as "the most expensively constructed and appointed log house in America" the hotel has retained most of its original character.

The El Tovar has 78 rooms and suites, all with cable television, telephone, full bath and air conditioning. Standard rooms have one double, one queen, or two queen beds. Deluxe rooms have either two queens or one king bed. Suites have a bedroom with either two queens or one king bed, and a sitting room, and some of the suites have a porch or balcony.

(Sources: Wikipedia and the National Park Service)