Lost Souls

[_Paz_]

My mother was a Northington before marriage. It is not a common name in the US. There is a cluster of Northingtons around here and another group in Texas. The two groups are related.

Several members of my family have done quite a bit of genealogical research and believe our Northingtons came from England. I did a web search once and came up with Northington Grange. Not sure if we are from there or not, or if it is a common name in England or not.

So I'm just curious. From the online pics Northington Grange looks like an unusual place. I remembered that it was north of the Isle of Wight, which seems like it ought to be relatively close to your Seven Sisters. Along the southern coastline, anyway. It is always hard to guess distances based on studying maps of countries one has never been to.

I also remember reading once that England is about the same physical size as the state I live in, Alabama. But I do not remember if that was England alone or if it included Ireland and Scotland. Either way, I've traveled through most of my state at one time or another so it always amazes me to consider the astounding importance England has held in world history when our size is about the same.

Some of my French ancestors are supposed to have moved to England along with one of the Williams. At the moment I do not remember if that was the Conqueror or if it was William of Orange. Probably Orange since it would be so hard to have searched records so far back. Either way, I know that some of my ancestors lived in England so the country holds particular interest for me. I love seeing pictures from there... and your flying videos are like being there!

I guess I'm one of those strange people who find history fascinating. Most of the movie plots can be found in things people really did at one time or another.

Some pretty interesting events happened within 10 - 20 miles from where I live. The Battle of the Holy Ground, where Alabama Indians learned to their dismay that they were not safe from all harm... and where near the end of the battle, William Weatherford (half white, half Native American, his father owned a plantation and his mother was an Indian princess - fighting on the Indians' side) jumped his horse, Arrow off a cliff and swam across the Alabama River to escape the white soldiers. I do hope those soldiers were able to successfully rescue the white women who were being burned alive but I've never heard.

Spanish explorer DeSoto came through this area and captured a 7 foot tall chief, Tuscaloosa, and held him captive. There was a battle at a place called Maubilla, somewhere along the Alabama River, south of Wetumpka but north of Mobile. There, it was the Spanish who burned the Indians alive. No one knows the exact site of Maubilla, or exactly where the first meeting was, but when DeSoto first met Tuscaloosa, the chief was on top of an Indian Mound. There are lots of them around here. One at Ft. Toulouse and others along the river. There used to be one at Cahaba, the site of the first capital of the State of Alabama, a bit west of Selma, Alabama. The Indian mound at Cahaba was dug up and used as a base for a railroad.

Most every year, Mr. B and I attend an historical re-enactment at Ft. Toulouse, Alabama, which was built about 1717 by the French who originally settled Mobile, Alabama. (And later moved on to found New Orleans.) The French wanted a fort in this area to keep on eye on English traders. Lots of back and forth in allegiances and both the English and the French used support from the Indians to attack one another.

And then, not far to the west is an area of Alabama settled by followers of Napoleon after his fall from grace.

I grew up thinking this place was pretty dull ... before I learned more of our history.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

....I also remember reading once that England is about the same physical size as the state I live in, Alabama. But I do not remember if that was England alone......

That would be England alone - England 50,346 square miles; Alabama - 52,419 square miles. UK in total - 93,278 square miles

You certainly have a lot of interesting history there, Paz.

[Shrimpfarmer]

There is history absolutely everywhere but most of it is just lost to us. My wife is really into English history and so we often end up visiting key places which she has read about. As we walk around we often talk about how amazing it would be if you could just climb into a bubble that travelled back through time and watch what really happened.

Interesting facts from your location Paz. I have to say I had not heard your family name before. No doubt we will visit Northington Grange one day. I will have to take some photos for you and if possible fly aound the place

[_Paz_]

Thanks for looking up that size comparison, John.

Yes, lots of interesting history all over and it does get lost. Fortunately for central Alabama, a man named Albert Pickett wrote down a lot of early happenings here that surely would have been lost.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_J._Pickett

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cmamcrk4/pktfm.html

so we often end up visiting key places which she has read about

Us too! We read a book in our local library that showed a map of Indian Mound locations in our general area and spent one Sunday afternoon driving (as much as possible) from one to the other. Along the way we happened across a small cemetery where the first governor of the State of Alabama happened to be buried. At the end we came to an old house that is currently a restaurant - may have always been an Inn of some sort or another. Sorry, I used to know everything I'd ever learned. Since chemo - no more. At any rate, we were turning around in the driveway and the owners were coming into their drive. Since it was Sunday and they were not open, they were mildly curious about what we were doing there... turns out they personally knew the author of the book and said they'd be delighted to tell him that some (crazy) people had followed the sites on his maps across the State.

No doubt we will visit Northington Grange one day.

If you do, I'd love to see it! And if I ever get rich enough to park a Phantom in my own driveway, we'll re-visit Moundville, Alabama http://moundville.ua.edu/,

and fly around there. I've photographed it before but the site is so large photos simply can't show it.

One thing I've wondered about your Phantom flying... it doesn't seem to scare animals, which is good. Is it super quiet?

[Shrimpfarmer]

Some more footage from the day we filmed Lost Souls including the long flight down to the lighthouse. I picked up a passenger on the way as well.

[_Paz_]

Ken,

If you haven't seen it already, take a look at Sidd's solution for blocking out unwanted areas in a video. I think this could work for eliminating the propellers, especially as they generally only show up for short periods of time. Using either "content aware" fill or the J keyboard shortcut tool to 'paint the sky' should be quick and easy.

http://muvipix.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=104&t=12864&p=110674#p110674

[Shrimpfarmer]

Ken,

If you haven't seen it already, take a look at Sidd's solution for blocking out unwanted areas in a video. I think this could work for eliminating the propellers, especially as they generally only show up for short periods of time. Using either "content aware" fill or the J keyboard shortcut tool to 'paint the sky' should be quick and easy.

http://muvipix.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=104&t=12864&p=110674#p110674

Thanks for the tip Paz that looks very useful.