Throw your diamonds in the sky if you feel the vibe.
Let's have a look at Charleston for the second blog in the trifecta series. As a refresher, I'm looking at the birth flower, birthstone, and month item. Specifically, how they tie into the start and end of our 12 puzzles. Keep in mind, some of the connections do feel a bit more challenging which is expected of the diamond puzzle. They are there none the less. To start, we are provided a clock in the shape of Fort Sumter for our month item. The attack of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 was the event which which began the Civil War. This monumental April event in conjunction with the fort, leads us to Charleston. Confirming the start of the puzzle with the daisy is a bit tricky but clever. The paraphrasing of the Treasure Island passage has long been believed to tie to the pirate monument on S. Battery near Church St. Across the street at the corner of Church and S. Battery is Villa Margherita, also known as The White House of the South. The house was designed by the Charleston socialite Daisy Calhoun for her and her husband. Byron even references the house at the end of the verse. The ending of this puzzle has given searchers fits over the years but I find it fairly straight forward. The bar that binds references The Moultrie Monument and Sargent Jasper's heroic actions with the flag during the Revolutionary War. Jasper wouldn't allow the flag to remain broken after it was shot down. He bound it to a sponge staff and personally supported it till a replacement was found. If we look at the etymology of the word diamond, we arrive at adamant. A very hard stone or unbreakable/inflexible. Unbreakable is quite fitting for this event. On a cursory note, there is much discussion on Blyden who was well known as the father of the Pan-African movement with heavy ties to Liberia. I question if the reason Blyden was chosen was due to the 1980 assassination of William Tolbert, Liberian President. Something most informed Americans would have seen in the news and read about in papers. Oh, I forgot to mention the assassination also occurred on April 12th. 119 years after the Fort Sumter attack. To recap, April Sumter clock gets us to Charleston, the Pirates Monument starts the verse and stands across from Daisy's "White House of the South", and we end at the unbreakable flag which Jasper proudly bound.
The pressure's on, but guess who ain't gonna crack? Haha, pardon me, I had to laugh at that. Music - Kanye West, JAY-Z -Diamonds From Sierra Leone