Throwback Thursdays

So far, I've done 1068 posts on this blog. That number surprised me when I saw it. Who knew I had that much to say (Or sometimes, not that much to say, but said it anyway.) I've decided to join Facebook and other social media in a Throwback Thursday. On Thursdays, I'm going to post a previous post based on however my mood strikes me for the day. And here it goes.

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From April 18, 2014

I celebrated National Poetry Month that April with a poem most days. Here is a more serious one from Theo's teenage years.

Ponderings of Theodore--the teenage years.

The teenage years are often a difficult time as we transition from childhood to adulthood. During this time, we try to figure out who we are and who we want to become. We explore, we retreat. We're popular, we're invisible. We're happy, we're sad. In other words, we're in limbo, not quite sure where to land. During some of Theo's teenage angst years, he wrote about this. One of those times was in today's poem.

                                                                 Limbo

                                                            by Theodore

                                          How can you be falling if you never hit the ground?

                                          How can you be flying if you never touch the sky?

                                          How can you love yourself if you never are good?

                                          How can you hate yourself if you never are evil?

                                          When people stare in awe and wonder

                                          And flee before your touch

                                          Neither heaven nor hell will take you

                                          And you want nothing so much

                                          As a solid place to stand

                                          And someone to take your hand.

Thankful Sunday--February 7, 2016

I am thankful the dawn of a new day.

Every day is another day of limitless possibilities. It's a chance to enjoy the big things like telling others how much they mean to you and and a chance to enjoy the little things like Super Bowl snacks--sausage cheese dip, chicken wings, veggies and ranch dip. Are you planning to enjoy some special Super Bowl snacks today?

Hair Wreath

Last weekend, Ward and I decided we wanted to get out of the house for the afternoon. Recently, our outing of choice has been a hike. However, with snow and rain, we guessed the woods were too muddy/snowy for us, so we visited a local historic museum.

Living within an hour or two of Washington, DC and Baltimore, we have MANY very significant museums and monuments to visit as well as current government workings such as the Library of Congress or the Capitol. And much of it is free. Thus, sometimes the smaller local offerings get overlooked. Our recent visit was to one of those.

We toured a house built in 1815. In many ways, this house was like others we have visited. There was a grand entry way and a decorative dining room that was built to impress. The bedrooms were filled with fireplaces, four poster beds, and chamber pots.

However, there was one thing in this house that I don't remember seeing before--a hair wreath (just like it sounds, a wreath made out of hair). Even though they were common during Victorian times and there are quite a few still around, awareness of them somehow escaped me.  I had seen a lock of hair incorporated into a piece of jewelry but not something this large and intricate.

At first, I thought this was a wreath of dried plants instead of hair.

The wreaths were often used to remember a deceased family member, however the one we saw was used to commemorate a wedding. It included hair from several different family members as was often the case. It also won a ribbon at the county fair which I think was well deserved for the intricate work I saw.

The hair was often worked around wire.

I've just touched on the tip of the iceberg of this whole world of hair wreaths and I'm not sure how I feel about them. It seems a little odd by today's standards.  For now, I think I'm content to just have my hair woven into a bird's nest. :)

Want to know more?

http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com/2014/06/hair-wreaths-victorian-mourning-custom.html

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/284289795199575671/

http://www.leilashairmuseum.net/history.html

A Second Look--February 3, 2016

We have had warm weather the last few days which has really helped in melting the the large snowfall we had last week. In some places we're actually starting to see the ground. All of this melting snow has helped bring some of the outdoors in--meaning we have swarming ants in our basement.  Normally, I don't mind a few bugs in the house, but this is just too many. We're still working on getting rid of them.

Most of my Second Look has been done through the windows again, so it involves birds and squirrels. The excitement this week came from a Northern Flicker visit. I don't remember ever seeing one at my house even though they are not a rare bird.  Disappointingly, it hasn't returned.

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker

Crow

Goldfinch

Male Cardinal

Turkey Vulture

Gray Squirrel

Thankful Sunday--January 31, 2016

I am thankful for Buzzr TV.

A few months ago, we started to get Buzzr TV which is a channel that plays only old game shows. It's good for some mindless fun from time to time whether it is a trip down memory lane with Monty Hall and The Price is Right or watching new-to-me shows* like I've Got a Secret and What's My Line.

I find it particularly interesting to see how the old game shows worked with chalkboards and cardboard signs. No flashing lights or music for drama--just game playing. And some good playing at that. This channel also plays the original commercials that aired with the game shows. After watching several, it seems to me that commercials from 50 years ago were more about convincing you that they had a good product than entertaining you like today. For example, one was a man shaving the fuzz off a peach with a Remington razor.  No sports heroes or funny lines--just a man shaving a peach. And when he was done, I was convinced that a Remmington razor could give a close, gentle shave.

All and all, I feel like I'm watching a piece of cultural history when I watch these old shows. That was especially evident yesterday when I saw an episode of I've Got a Secret that introduced Velcro to most of the country for the first time.** The contestant's secret was that she could walk on the ceiling. She demonstrated this by hanging upside down with only the help of Velcro. She appeared with a space technology engineer who was using Velcro to develop things for astronauts.

So all my life, I've heard about Velcro and the space program and yesterday I saw how most of the country learned about this. It was really cool. And for Buzzr TV letting me see this bit of our history, I am thankful.

*I have heard of these shows, but have not seen most of them before.

**Original air date was January 1, 1962.

But wait, there's more:
Contrary to popular belief, NASA did not develop Velcro. It was developed in 1948 by Swiss engineer, George de Mestral. He patented it in 1955. However, NASA did develop many uses for it in the space program and helped popularize it. Velcro first became commercially available in the late 1950's.