Blog Files, Part 2

Here are more ideas from a folder I used to keep of things I might blog about. I last looked at it a few years ago, but it resurfaced as we were cleaning out our files. I found it curious to see what I might write about. You may or may not be interested, but here is Part 2 of things I saved in case you are. :)

Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian National Zoo

--Notes about our trip to the zoo to see behind the scenes in the primate area. I wrote about it here.

--A list of historic road sign photos and back roads Miss Landers and I took during a trip to West Virginia. I wonder if I could still find those photos and do a post about them.

--Notes about the new neighborhood we moved to during our last move. One was comparing porch sitting in the suburbs and rural West Virginia. This could still be an interesting post.

--A note on the education my parents received. Not sure where I was going to go with that.

--Several paragraphs on my personal life, including my birth, transition to high school, my wedding day, and meeting Ward. I have mentioned many of these in one post or another. Also, were my preferences for color, food, books, and TV shows when I was 7 and then at 50 years old.

Age 7: Any color but red, milkshakes, Box Car Children, Gilligan's Island

Age 50: Green, cottage cheese and fresh tomatoes, Glass Castle, Andy Griffith reruns

This rock ad says something about Brown's Pills.

--Pictures of an old advertisement carved into a rock on the family farm. Unfortunately, I've never found enough information to write a post. However, I am still very curious about it.

-Information about washing clothes during my grandparents' time. This is interesting, and I will write a post about it sometime.

--A chart summarizing my results from measuring vampire electricity around my house. I posted it about it here. That was 10 years ago, so it might be time to repeat the experiment.

This poodle is in the race every year.

--Flyers from the Kinetic Sculpture Race. I have written about it in 2019 and 2016.

--Research on tattoos became this post.

Now I can cross "sort blog folder" off my To Do list. Thanks for sorting with me. :)

Until next time...

Out and About

The other day, I was feeling a sense of uneasiness and restlessness. That's what happens when you contemplate the meaning of life and your place in it. Nothing bad is happening here. In fact, life is good, but a wandering, anxious mind can forget that sometimes. We didn't have anything on the schedule except chores, so I told Ward I needed a change of pace and that we should go exploring. After a bit of a discussion about weather and traffic, we chose to go to a nearby town we had never been to, just to see what it was about. 

We set out on a cloudy day and drove back roads through the rolling countryside of farms and trees. The roadsides were filled with white dogwoods and pink redbuds in bloom. And beneath them, we saw patches of bright yellow bittercress. The variety and brightness of the landscape brightened my mood, even though the sun stayed stubbornly behind the clouds.

The street corners in the first town were flanked with these heavy iron bells. 

We stopped in the first town we came to, even though it was not our destination. We drove around a bit and then parked and took a walk through town. The town was small, and many houses looked to be of the Civil War era or older. Several showed decades of neglect, but we found them interesting. The wind kicked up, and I was cold, so we returned to the car. Ward noticed a town park on the map, so that was our next destination.

The park consisted of ballfields, a tennis court, and a path winding around a spent cornfield. After amusingly watching a school group playing on the ballfield, we set out on another walk, hoping the wind had died down. Our path was mowed through grass and weeds around the cornfield. The other side of the path had a small swath of trees next to a road. And when I say weeds, what I really meant this day was wildflowers. Once again, bright yellow and white blooms distracted me from my busy thoughts.

Following the walk, we drove on to our destination of the day. This town had many of the same elements as the last one we left but seemed a little larger and better off. My stomach was rumbling, so every diner we passed on Main Street seemed like a good place to stop for lunch. We chose the one we could park right in front of and wandered in. After listening to the locals' conversations while eating, we headed out to take a walk around town. However, the clouds had another idea. Large raindrops were falling and coming faster and faster. It seemed like a good time to head home.

We arrived home, happy with our outing, and began some of the morning's neglected chores.

I have been reflecting on our little jaunt. It didn't look great on paper. We didn't go far. We didn't see fancy architecture, houses, or museums. We didn't hike beautiful paths through the woods. But it was an enjoyable excursion all the same, and it reminded me that everywhere has something to offer if you just take the time to look for it.

Here are more pictures from our outing.

Honeysuckle

Garlic mustard

Bittercress

Dandelions

Buttercups

Fleabane daisy

Vertebrae

Deer hoof print

Until next time...

And They Just Keep Coming

Spring is such a beautiful time of year. The grass is lush green, and new flowers are blooming every day. Soon enough, the weather will be hot, the ground scorched, and all but the heartiest flowers will be long gone. But for now, it's spring, and the yard is happy. So here are more pictures of the flowers that just keep coming. 

Dogwood. Dogwood is one of the last spring trees to bloom and my favorite.

Tulips. There are yellow ones in this bed, too,
but they always bloom later than the red ones.

The azaleas in the front are starting to bloom.

Another one of our large apple trees. It has lost several major limbs,
but last year, we finally got a decent amount of apples from it.

Lilac. Even though there are not as many blooms on the lilac bushes this spring
 because of pruning, I can smell them when I step out onto my back porch. 

Our little apple tree is also in full bloom now.

More blooms on the wallflower.

Bluebells

We have two crabapples in bloom, but both have been limbed up for easy mowing under them. This lone bloom on a lower limb was the only picture I could easily get.

Viburnum

And here's another picture of the phlox. Well, because...just look at it!

That's the flower parade for now. I'm sure I'll be back soon with more.

Until next time...

Blog files, Part 1

 I used to keep a folder of ideas that I might blog about. I last looked at it a few years ago, but it resurfaced as we were cleaning out our files. I found it interesting to see what I thought I might write about. You may or may not be interested, but here are some of the things I saved in case you are. :)

--Notes about differences in hot dog preferences in West Virginia. This came after visiting Hillybilly Hot Dogs in Lesage, WV. I learned a line running through West Virginia separates those who prefer slaw on their dogs and those who like chili. The details are more complex than that, and maybe I'll write about them someday.

--An article on George Orwells Six rules for choosing the right word. This was something from my mother, a writer in her later years. I have all but given up on proper writing because so many rules seem to be changing. As you have noticed, I have chosen a more conversational style than a more formal one. 

--Notes for the A-Z Challenge, 2018. In case you're not familiar with it, the A-Z Challenge is an annual challenge during April to post daily (no Sundays) for a different letter of the alphabet. I chose not to do it this year, but I always have mixed feelings. Coming up with a different post daily can be arduous, and I tire quickly of it. However, I have written some of my most interesting posts during these Aprils. Something about necessity is the mother of invention...

--Also, from 2018, an article about doing a podcast when I was toying with the idea of doing one. I'm still interested, but it would be hard to compete with the copious amounts of them available these days. In addition, I have no equipment to work with for any kind of decent sound quality. However, who knows? When I retire, maybe I'll look into it.

--An article from Mental Floss about why bird poop is white. I included some of this information in this post in 2018; B is for Bird.

--A letter to my mother telling her she had won a spot on a local TV game show. I think she won a TV, among other things. I was always fascinated with this story, but she didn't talk about it much. I still may do something on this.

--A copy of two utility bills from the 1940s that we found in my family's home just hours after one of the residents at my mother's nursing home told me that her uncle used to live in our house. The bills were in her uncle's name. It was one of several connections I made at the nursing home while visiting my mother. I wrote about it here.

--Playbills for Sweeney Todd, Fickle, Godspell, and The Magic Play. I never got around to writing about any outings to see these shows, but I did write about seeing Dial M for Murder. 

Tune in next time to see what else I pull out of the folder.

April Showers

 April Showers Bring May Flowers, 

or April Showers Bring April Flowers

Here are some photos of April flowers around the yard this week.

Grape hyacinth

The sunshine and warm temperatures brought out the bees.

While some daffodils have faded, others are in full bloom.

This is a first time bloom for these. I planted the bulbs from a friend several years ago and they have only shown anemic growth of the leaves. What a special treat to find these blooms.

Wallflower

Violets

The peas have finally come up. Time to put the garden fence up before the rabbits find them.

Our little apple tree is blooming.

As well as one the bigger apple trees.
However, we have never gotten more than an apple or two from it.

The cherry tree is blooming, but the wind is causing its blossoms to rain down.

Another daffodil.

The phlox is in full bloom.

Are April showers bringing April showers where you are?

Until next time...

Celestial Happenings

 Or The Eclipse Has Come and Gone but Is Not Forgotten

Image from James Webb Space Telescope

Most people are moving on after Monday's eclipse. They have posted their pictures on social media and told stories of the traffic they endured in the path of totality. I've moved on, sort of.

We viewed the actual eclipse in our backyard with the neighbors. We had an 87% blackout at our location and were lucky it was only partly cloudy. While the "lights" dimmed, the biggest change we noted was the marked drop in temperature. It was enough so that I retreated inside for a jacket. Ward and I were duly impressed and may travel to see the next one in a couple of years in Spain. But that's just a pipe dream for now.

However, the real excitement for the eclipse began a few months ago when I was told that I needed to do a program about the eclipse. I was putting one together before I remembered that we had previously had someone from NASA come to our library to do programs. She said yes, a date was settled on, and I relaxed a little. So much better to have an expert come than for me to educate myself and try to come up with something. We advertised through the normal channels, and I encouraged my friends and family to come. I was worried we would have a small turnout, which I didn't want for our speaker. 

And then it all began. On Thursday, the day of the program, the phone calls started coming in. Did we have eclipse glasses? Yes, but they are for the program. We'll pass out any leftovers after the program on a first-come, first-served basis. We were surprised when people started to line up 1 1/2 hours ahead of time. We opened the doors 15 minutes early, and the 70 chairs in the room were filled quickly. The doors closed, and others were told that they could go into the library for glasses. I stayed in the room to introduce the speaker and do crowd management. I was lucky. I got to hear an interesting program with an engaged audience.

Meanwhile, outside the program room, the line started to grow out of the lobby onto the sidewalk. That's the line Ward was in. Everyone seemed to need another pair of glasses for someone who couldn't make it. When no exceptions were made, people were upset. I was lucky that I didn't get the brunt of that. We had 253 pairs of glasses that were all passed out that night. 

There were phone calls and walk-ins asking for glasses the following days until everything came to a fevered pitch Monday morning before the eclipse. It was reminiscent of the toilet paper frenzy during COVID. The phone calls came in much faster than we could answer them. It was crazy, and I felt sorry for the people who had other library business. I was exhausted from the chaos and glad I got off just in time to go home to view the event.

We're a small local library with friendly customers, so these large numbers of inquiries were out of the ordinary for us, as were the short tempers. However, let me clarify that most people were polite, even when they were surprised that we didn't have any glasses for them. I don't know if they ever found any last-minute ones, as all the libraries, Walmart, and the drug stores were out. Hopefully, they found someone to share with as we did with our neighbors and Theo with his coworkers.

I am really happy that the program was a success, and I think I will remember the excitement at work around the eclipse more than I will the covering of the sun during the middle of the day. Maybe. The eclipse was really amazing.

Until next time...

Happy Birthday, Wally!

Wally, first grade

We are going to celebrate Wally's birthday today. Birthdays often cause reflection, whether they are your own or a loved one's. Children may be the prime candidates for this reflection—at least, they are for me.

When I thought about writing about Wally, several things came to mind, like I often read on other people's social media post tributes: Wally is intelligent, kind, and hardworking, and he has added a richness to my life that I never imagined possible. But when I read one of those tributes (including mine), I think, yeah, yeah, yeah. All of our children are wonderful, especially through our eyes. You would think we all live in Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average. (Oops! A little of my cynicism slipped out there. 😀) So, instead of a list, I'm going to focus on one of Wally's traits I often admire and try to emulate - the way he handles stressors. Here are a few examples.

--When Wally was in second grade, we went to Disney World during a school break. We had a great time the first day, but that night, Wally couldn't sleep. He said that he kept seeing images from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and they scared him. So, he took the TV remote to bed with him, and every time he had a scary thought, he pushed a button on the remote to change the channel in his brain. Ward and I learned about this the next morning, and we were pleased that he had figured out a way to take care of things for himself.

--We moved to Maryland from Texas when Wally was 10 years old. It was a big move, and everyone was stressed about it, especially Theo. He was getting in all kinds of trouble at school, and managing him took all of our attention. After a couple of weeks of helping Theo, we realized we still needed to talk to Wally about the move, so I asked how he felt about things. And his answer was simple. He said, "I sat down one day and thought about all the negative things about the move, and then I told myself I was done with them. Now, I only allow myself to focus on the positive things." 

--Wally changed from T-ball to coach pitch around first or second grade. I watched along the sidelines at his first practice when the coach pitched and pitched and pitched until Wally finally hit the ball. There were many more pitches than any of the other kids needed, and I was dying watching it, hoping the coach would stop and say that they could try again later, but he didn't. We generally tried to teach our kids to stick with something, but I was ready to say Wally could quit if he wanted. However, after practice, I asked Wally what he thought. He just said, "It was fun, but I think I need more practice." I had very mixed feelings about that. But Wally stuck out the season. He got better, but not much; however, he was there to have fun, and that's what he did. 

Wally has continued to handle life's difficulties in this way. Of course, as an adult, it's not quite as easy, but he still exercises good coping skills. Good coping skills are an area in my life where I am very much a work in progress. So, thank you, Wally, for setting a good example for me to follow. 

Happy Birthday!

Note: I didn't include examples from Wally's recent years. Those are his to write about if he wants, but I will respect his privacy. Maybe, I'll ask him if he wants to share any. And the answer will probably be, as it usually is, "No, thank you."

Weather and Other Things

We've had over 1 1/2 inches of rain so far today.
(Looks like we need to fix the time and date.)

 You know what they say: if people didn't talk about the weather, they wouldn't have anything to talk about. That rings very true to me because the first thing I thought about when beginning this post was to describe the weather. And that's what I'm going to do.

It is a cold rainy day. It's been raining for a few days and will rain for a few more. This afternoon, the system that caused the devastating tornadoes in the Midwest will be coming through. We are told to expect wind, rain, and hail, with a chance of a tornado. As the system moves north, Mary Ellen, who lives in ME, said they expect 2 feet of snow. I know that I am lucky that we will probably not suffer either of these extremes here. I wish strength for all who are dealing with them.

Because of the weather, Ward and I have postponed the errands we had planned for the day. None are urgent, so there's no need to go out in the mess. Instead, I'm puttering around the house, and Ward is in his shop working on a table he is making. He hopes to get some work in before the storms this afternoon.

Miss Landers made a bunny cake for Easter dessert.

However, the weather on Easter Sunday was beautiful. It was a warm, sunny day with temperatures in the low 60s. A perfect day to spend time outside with our company. We had a small family gathering (10) for Easter lunch. We made a few dishes, and others brought the rest. 

I am slowly making progress on our spring yard cleanup. However, we are entering the stage where it is hard to outpace the weeds as we are clearing the dead foilage. I planted peas a couple of weeks ago because the forsythia was blooming—a general rule of thumb for when to plant this cool-weather crop. However, the weather has been cold since then, and I don't see anything sprouting yet. I hope the seeds don't rot in the ground before it warms up.

What's the weather in your neck of the woods?

Until next time...

Jelly Beans

Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

I have a busy day getting ready for a crowd for dinner, so I'm running a post from the files about jelly beans. Enjoy.

Jelly Beans

The techniques for making jelly beans have been around for hundreds of years, but when they were first made is uncertain. One thing that people seem to agree on is the first time they were mentioned in writing in the US, which was in 1861 by William Schrafft, a candy maker, encouraging people to send jelly beans to the troops. In 1905 they were selling for 9 cents/pound in Chicago.

Did you know that jelly beans weren't associated with Easter until the 1930s when someone decided they looked like eggs, as well as beans? Before that, they were considered a Christmas candy, and even today, after Easter, Christmas is the next most popular time for jelly bean consumption. That is a fact that is broadening my horizons because I have never associated jelly beans with Christmas. However, a quick Google search showed that there are plenty of people out there who are happy to sell you red and green jelly beans, so there must be something to it.

And speaking of jelly beans looking like eggs, when I think of jelly beans, I always think of eggs. Never as beans, which now seems curious since they are called jelly beans. However, when I mentioned the Christmas and Easter facts about the candies to Ward, he said he guesses that they could look like eggs, but he always thinks of them as beans because, after all, they are called beans. And after all of these years of marriage, who knew we had such differing ideas about jelly beans? :)

One of my thoughts for this post was maybe I could make some homemade jelly beans and share my experience. I had no idea how to make them, but it's the day of Google and YouTube, so I thought there would be some easy instructions to find. And I was right. There were several recipes involving gelatin, sugar, candy thermometers, and lots of time for drying. It would have been an interesting experiment, but I should have thought of it before last night.

I had a few more things to share on the subject, like Jelly Bellies being the first jelly beans to add the flavor to the inside instead of just in the coating, but I think this post has reached its natural conclusion. I'm hungry now, and I don't think anything will satisfy me except jelly beans. And I may not even wait until they are marked down after Easter to buy some.

Owl Pellets

 

Barn owl, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Owl/id#

As part of my job, I lead STEM programs for 4 - 10 year olds. Usually, I choose the topic and design the program. However, my supervisor asked me to do one on owl pellets for the last one I did. I said sure, even though I knew nothing about owls, including their pellets. 

If you're unfamiliar with owls, they are predators and eat small animals, primarily rodents, which they swallow whole. They can't digest the bones, fur, or feathers, so their gizzard (second stomach) compacts those parts into a pellet, which the owl coughs up. This clears room, so they can eat more. Scientists have long studied the pellets to get information about the owls and their environment. They are a favorite to use in classes, and there are companies that collect the pellets, sterilize them, and sell them for educational purposes. Armed with 30 of them, I set out to learn enough to lead a program.

I thought I had remembered that Wally and Theo had dissected owl pellets at school, so I asked them if they would like to help me. Wally said he didn't remember much about them and said no, thank you. Theo said he remembers everything about them, and no thank you! So, I read, watched videos, and began designing the project.

By the day of the event, I was well organized, even though I was not as knowledgeable as I would have liked. The kids were attentive and waited patiently through the announcements and procedure descriptions at the beginning.

Then I played the video*. I warned that they would see a mouse being eaten and a pellet being coughed up. The kids squealed squeamishly and yelled gross throughout much of the video. They were not sure what they had gotten themselves into (and some of the parents were not too sure either). Even though our pellets were dry and not squishy like the ones in the video, I had gloves and masks for those who wanted them. A big line formed immediately to get them.  

And then the dissection began. Despite their trepidation, every kid was into finding the bones in the pellet and guessing what the owl had eaten. One kid hoped to find a snake. Another younger child thought that he was finding dinosaur bones. Each participated in their own way. And surprisingly, I was able to answer most of the questions that were asked. Thank goodness they were so absorbed in finding the bones that they didn't ask many. 

The program was a success, and everyone, including me, learned something.

Here are two videos to watch if you want to know more. The first is an episode of Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs, where he collected owl pellets, and the second is a video about barn owls that goes over all the basics. (Barn owl pellets are the most commonly used for educational purposes because of their larger size. That's the kind we had.)

Dirty Jobs Owl Pellets

*Barn Owls

Unfortunately, taking pictures is not allowed in our buildings, so I don't have any to show you of the day.

This and That!

The pear trees are budding! Unlike some other fruit trees,
 the leaves and the flowers on our pear trees come out at the same time.

Most of my posts recently start with some version of I don't have anything to say and then proceed with this and that about my everyday life. I'm gonna try to change it up today, so get ready for an exciting ride!

There was no greater satisfaction this week than when we dropped off another bag of shredding at the free personal shredding place! This, of course, means that we are continuing to make progress going through our files, which is part of an effort to declutter our house. We started in the bedroom and then moved to our office. Work continues, but we are well over half done! The great thing about not regularly culling papers is that many of them are no longer relevant. Waiting for just the right moment to sort files is our tried and true method of making the job easier - at least for some of the decisions of what to keep!

But don't fear; our files will not be empty! Our recent car drama has created enough paperwork to fill at least one of the drawers alone! We are still working out all the details, but we have a new van, and things are proceeding. And before you know it, it will be settled! Hooray!

I found a hidden surprise the other day - 4 bags of apples! Well, actually, they weren't so much hidden as forgotten. Last fall, we made a big effort to process the apples we got off one of our trees. We did many, but when push came to shove, we put the rest into the fridge in the basement to do at a later time. So the later time is today! Most of the apples had bad places in them when they were stored, so many of them are totally rotten now. Oh, well. I plan on dehydrating what's left for good snacks!

Are you excited yet?! I tried to spice up this post by throwing in exclamation points here and there, whether or not it was appropriate for the sentence. Which brings me to one of my pet peeves. Over the last few years, I've seen increased use of exclamation points in everyday sentences. They don't seem to be saved just to indicate surprise or excitement as they used to be. This is part of a language trend that involves a lot of hyperbole, which I think dilutes the meaning and impact of our communication. I understand that language is constantly changing, but I don't like it. Bah, humbug!

The apples are calling. 

Until next time...

Trees (and Other Things) are a Bloomin'

The plum tree, Saturday afternoon

Last Saturday morning, we went to Virginia to visit my father-in-law. Later that afternoon, we came home and saw that the plum tree was in full bloom! Saturday morning, it was mostly bare branches, and voila, that afternoon, it was full of blossoms. Spring is like that. 

I have been thinking about this post for a while now and was going to feature trees and their new growth processes. But every day, the post I write in my head has to change because nature always seems to be one step ahead of me. So below, before everything skips the rest of spring and becomes summer-like, here are pictures from the past few days around the yard. 

Forsythia. We have a long hedge along our back fence. While it is pretty in the spring,
it grows like wild and requires a lot of upkeep to keep under control. 

The Bradford pears are in bloom everywhere.
This was one we had in our front yard until a storm took it out a few years ago.

The ornamental cherry trees are blooming everywhere, too.
We're lucky that we get to see our neighbor's tree right over the fence.

Our cherry tree is fruit-bearing and hasn't flowered out yet. 

Quince bush. This was much like the plum tree.
One day, it was bare, and the next, it was in full bloom.

Daffodils 

Daffodils

The phlox is just starting to bloom.

The warm weather last week was followed by temperatures in the 20s some mornings, and several things, like these mums, got frostbitten. 

I have to work all weekend, but we're supposed to have flooding rains on Saturday, so that's a good day to be inside. What's happening at your house?

Until next time...