Smithsonian Magazine Review

The Smithsonian Magazine is always welcome in my house. I especially like the little sections like "This Month in History", "Wild Things; Life as We Know It" and "What's Up." They always have interesting items to wet your appetite and make you want to know more. The Smithsonian inspired me to take one of the best trips of my travel career. It had a wonderful article about Auburn University architectual school students designing and living in Hale County, Alabama, one of the poorest counties in the nation. The students were using alternative building materials that society often throws away. I just had to see this. It was wonderful. The students and the people they were helping were so very interesting. Being a local historian I particularly like the articles about history and archaeology. The articles are well researched and written but inspire you to want to know more. I have often researched further on a subject once having read about it in the Smithsonian.  The "Last Page " always has something funny but also to give you pause. The February 2009 edition "A Requiem for the Redhead" really made you think.