Annapolis Triathlon 2011

I completed the Annapolis Triathlon this morning.
Despite the fact that it was a Sprint and the swim was only 500 meters, it was the most difficult one I have ever done. The water was cold and extremely choppy. It was difficult to catch my breath and for the first half we were swimming directly into the tide. I almost gave up and called for help, but managed to press through, despite swallowing a ton of water.

The bike wasn't too bad, but the space was limited. Most of my time was spent trying to figure out how to pass others or trying to let others pass me without going outside the cones and into the rest of the street, where there were cars. The rain didn't help either. It was also very hilly.

The run was only a 5k, but the first mile was uphill and felt longer than 1 mile.

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience and hope they hold another one next year. I did the 2007 Olympic length triathlon in Annapolis, which was sponsored by a different group. This one was much better in they had more and better food after the event. Also, since it ended downtown, we could go to the local bars. The Federal House had drink specials for finishers. The place was packed with people.

As expected, some locals complained about the event. It was moved from a Sunday start to a Saturday one to aaccommodate the local churches that complained so bitterly about the 2007 one. The guy who runs Storm Brother's Ice Cream was complaining about the event, but he didn't open his store until after 11am, when the race was over and traffic was back to normal. Had he opened up early he would have made more money. He certainly alienated many local athletes with his complaining.

Thank you to the volunteers, especially the ones from the Annapolis Triathlon Club who watched bikes, including mine, while I was the bar. The co-owner of the Annapolis Running Shop was also out there volunteering and cheering everyone on.

While there are certainly drawbacks to a large event downtown, the businesses that were open seemed to be doing very well. And the race was over by the time that most people woke up. Events like this are good for the community and ought to be encouraged.

400 years later socialism still doesn't work

I recently started reading History of Maryland  (also available on Amazon) by John Thomas Scharf, published in 1879.

This passage regarding the problems faced by the early settlers of Virginia caught my attention:

But a still more formidable enemy assailed the colonists, born of their own improvidence. Famine, and its accompanying diseases, soon set in, and in one year from the time of their landing, their numbers were reduced from 100 to 38; and these, too, would have perished but for timely supplies of corn, which Smith had procured at great risk from the Indians. Among those who perished was Bartholomew Gosnold, the originator of the expedition; and we can but regret that he did not live long enough to see even the first glimmering success in that adventure he had been the earliest to advocate. The cause of this calamity lay partly in the provision of their charter, which required that the product of the united labor of the emigrants should be brought into the public stores, and that all should draw their supplies from thence. For nearly five years was this provision enforced; and during that time, with the exception of the short period of Smith's administration, the condition of the colony was most wretched. It is difficult to conceive a state of things more propitious to the theories of Communism or Socialism, and yet the failure was most signal. A productive soil invited cultivation, while rapidly diminishing stores admonished to industry and labor, and yet, in the face of certain ruin, the large majority wasted their time in idleness, relying for subsistence upon the stores provided by the industrious few. In this they were encouraged by the censurable course of their officers who controlled the supplies, and feasted abundantly, while others had doled out to them a pint of damaged wheat or barley.

I would imagine that the political leaders of the day justified this policy by citing the Bible. Today, in our less religious society, our leaders rely on the more general themes of compassion. But there is nothing compassionate or wise about this sort of theft. And I do not assume that our leaders today have good motives for their actions either. They suffer from what Augustine called libido dominandi, the lust to dominate. They know that socialist schemes do nothing to help the poor or society as a whole, but they sure like the power that comes from having your money.

Katie Coburn, witch of Plain Dealing Creek, Talbot County, Maryland

I came across a story recently regarding an alleged witch in Talbot County, Maryland. I can find no mention of any court cases involving her or any information about when she allegedly lived. The only information is that she lived in the area of Plain Dealing Creek, so-called because the area was settled by Quakers who dealt plainly with the Indians of the area (as opposed to the Catholics, Anglicans, and everyone else who had no qualms about ripping them off). I did drive to the area and found that the creek is now surrounded by private homes and there did not appear to be a suitable place to get out and search around. There was an old church nearby, but it was in disrepair and appeared to be part of a private residence. If any locals would like to provide me with additional information or point me in a better direction I would appreciate it.

The main source for the story appears to be a book published in 1898, Land of Legendary Lore: sketches of romance and reality on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake, by Prentiss Ingraham.

According to Ingraham:

It was the ideal spot for spooks to haunt, while to enhance the dismalness of the old abode, it became the dwelling place of an old woman known as "Katie Coburn, the Witch." This "witch," the last of her kind known in Talbot, was old, deformed, hideous, and was guilty of diabolical ways and impish incantations to make herself feared. That she was dreaded by all, especially the children and negroes, there was no doubt, for the former were kept out of mischief by being threatened with her, and the latter felt that the sight of her was a hoodoo upon them. The negroes accordingly gave Witch Katie a very wide margin of room when they met her, and wore charms to counteract her spells, the "left hind foot of a rabbit, killed at the dark of the moou," doubtless being in great demand after a meeting with the "Witch of Plaindealing."

Not far from Plaindealing there lived a farmer whose cows pastured near the old burying-ground. One afternoon the boy whose duty it was to drive the cows home had to go near the lonely spot, and beheld to his amazement a stranger there ;—a man tall, stately, in the ancient garb like that worn by those whose portraits were in the deserted mansion. The man spoke to the boy, but the latter tied for home, told his story, and it was not believed. Again he saw the same man, and again, until at last he spoke to him, and for response saw him walk to a certain spot in the burying-ground and point downward, at the same time stamping his foot. This same performance was gone through with several evenings after, between the boy and the silent spectre in quaint old time costume.

On one occasion the spectre led the boy, now no longer afraid of him, into the old home and pointed to a portrait on the wall. The boy saw that the "ghost" was strangely like the portrait, dress and all. Then he was led back to the grave yard and the spectre pointed downward and stamped his foot, as before. As it was growing dark, and the cows had gone on ahead, the boy suddenly decided to go home, and he lost no time in doing so, his parents again laughing at his story. But then came the rumor that "Witch Katie" had not only disappeared from Plaindealing, but also from the country. The boy had not seen her since the coming of the quaint man of the grave-yard.

A similar version of the story is told in an 1876 edition of McBride's Magazine.
According to McBride's: 

It [Plain Dealing] was the very place for a first-class ghost story, and its fitness was heightened by the residence on the premises of Katie Coburn, the last witch of Talbot. This poor old creature, lonely, deformed, repulsively ugly and wretchedly poor, was a terror to negroes and children far and near, who had marvelous tales of her impish ways and diabolical cantrips.

It seems reasonable to think that at least part of the legend is true. A deformed woman may have lived in the area and some, especially the young and uneducated, may have believed that she was a witch. Whether or not she actually was or really wanted others to think that is anyone's guess. But as I argued in Justice At Salem: Reexamining The Witch Trials, there could be certain advantages to having other people think that you were a witch. Others might think twice about harming or taking advantage of you because they fear your supernatural ability to seek revenge. For a poor defenseless woman who no power in her society, this could have been her only means of self-defense against the the unthinking rabble.

Maryland Day, March 25

Happy Maryland Day.

There was a campaign recently to try to change the lyrics of the official state song because it is anti-Lincoln and pro-Confederacy.

Regardless of one's views, we should resist the urge to engage in such revisionism.

The song is what it is. And I think there is something to be admired in its rebellious lyrics, even if the cause was not so great.

The "witch's grave" in Truxtun Park, Annapolis, MD

According to a local legend a witch once lived in what is now Truxtun Park in Annapolis and/or was hanged in the area.
The legend also says she she is buried there.
This, of course, is widely believed to be untrue. The grave likely belongs to a Methodist, which might make the story close enough.

There does appear to be a small graveyard just on the outskirts of Truxtun Park where one crypt appears to have survived. I had to do a little searching around to find it as all the sources on the internet only give vague directions.  In case you want to visit it, here is the location on GPS is 38 57 44.03 n, 76 30 07.50 W.

Here are some pictures I took of the alleged witch's grave:

I did not do any digging on site to investigate further because I didn't have a shovel. Also, digging without permission would be illegal.