Greetings, and welcome to the 300th Post Spectacular Spectacular Extravaganza for JSVB!
Ever since starting up JSVB, I've kept to myself a personal list of posts I'd really like to see. After all this time, I'm finally getting around to making this list a reality. For today's post, I want to uncover nothing less than The Cradle Of Civilization.
Not long after moving to Port Coquitlam, I went on a long walk around the neighbourhood, and I brought my camera. At the far end of the local schoolyard is a typical suburban development. I was strolling in the midst of a row of pretty houses when I was stopped short by what I saw. I took this picture:
Yes, you're reading that right, and no, I'm not making this up. This is the actual and genuine Fertile Crescent of legend, the undisputed Cradle of Civilization, i.e. the starting place for Humanity... the crossing of the Tigris and the Euphrates.
Naturally, you're wondering what this conjunction, perhaps the most imporant real estate in the history of Mankind, must look like. Hang onto your hat, Indiana Jones, I took a picture that zooms out to show everything:
The corner of Tigris and Euphrates appears to be taken up with a handsome two-storey home in the heart of a very quiet neighbourhood within easy walking distance to the Costco.
In terms of human cultural history, the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in ancient Mesopotamia created a rich and fertile zone that encouraged some of homo sapiens' first attempts at sustainable agriculture and communal living. In terms of Port Coquitlam geography, it looks like the suburban developer liked to name streets after major rivers.
But maybe there's more... I brought this photo to some experts I know for deep analysis. By exposing a reverse polarity neutrino stream to the chronaton field of the picture (and using a little Corel Painter), I was able to uncover exactly what the crossroads of the Tigris and the Euphrates must have looked like in prehistoric times:
As you can see not much difference. No next door neighbours, of course, as this address is #1. Mount Baker is erupting in the background, which could happen again anytime now.
It was a lot of fun to put this post together, but it was also a lot of hard work. It turned out to be a real joy to draw and paint in the Hanna-Barbera Flintstones' animation style. It may look simple, but there is a lot of structured artwork designed to make the image look fresh.
Maybe next time I'll draw my own house in its prehistoric look. Yabba-dabba-doo!
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