A Second Look--February 18, 2015

What can I say? It's winter and we've been dealing with frigid temperatures in the single digits with snow thrown in then and again. What amazes me is the birds are out in it all acting like there is nothing going on. Even when there have been 30 to 40 mph sustained winds, they seemed unphased. However, I have not functioned so well in the inclement weather, so you may notice that most of pictures this week were taken from inside the comfort of my house.

Here are some things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

The sun came out after the snow ended yesterday. A very beautiful sight although the brightness was a little hard on the eyes.

Mourning dove. A pair of doves spent the day with us but we haven't seen them since.

Can you find the camouflaged sparrow in this picture? (Hint: Look on the branch.)

You can see this sparrow better with its fluffed feathers trying to keep warm.

This junco has also fluffed up trying to keep warm.

Starling and Red-bellied woodpecker. I finally got a good look at the red-bellied woodpecker to see where it's name came from. See the red stripe on it's belly in the second picture. Although it has a dominant red head, in this naming, it's the belly that counts.

These three deer were part of a herd of ten that were visiting one afternoon. Notice their darker winter coats.

Sunset

Presidents' Day

PRESIDENTS' DAY QUIZ
 

How much do you know about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln whom we honor on President's Day? See if you learn something after taking this quiz like I did when I put it together.

The statements below apply to either Washington or Lincoln.

1. _____ Stood 6'2” tall.

      2. _____ His mother was born in what is now the state of West Virginia.

3. _____ Used his hat to carry important papers.

4. _____ The first president to wear a beard.

5. _____ Had three hoe cakes and tea most mornings for breakfast.

6. _____ Introduced the mule to America.

7. _____ Had red hair when he was young.

8. _____ His formal education was only 18 months.

9. _____ He patented a system to alter buoyancy of steamboats.

   10.  _____ Had no biological children

Bonus: Both Washington and Lincoln were born in February. What days are their birthdays on?
Answers:

PRESIDENTS' DAY QUIZ

Answers

1. Washington-- Stood 6'2” tall.

     Washington and Lincoln were both tall for their time. Washington stood at 6'2” tall and Lincoln towered at 6'4” tall.

2. Lincoln-- His mother was born in what is now the state of West Virginia.

      Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks, was born in what is now Mineral County, WV. She died when he was nine years old. You can visit a replica of the cabin she was born in as well as a memorial marker there. 

3. Lincoln-- Used his hat to carry important papers.

     Lincoln's hat was more than a fashion statement. He also used it to carry important papers. If you want to see one of his top hats, visit the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. 

4. Lincoln-- The first president to wear a beard. 

      The story goes that Lincoln received a letter from an 11 year old New York girl, Grace Bedell, who suggested that his thin face would look better with a beard. He grew a beard soon after that. Who knows? It may have helped him win the election. Other presidents with beards were Grant, Hayes, Garfield, and Harrison. Truman supposedly grew a beard while he was on vacation. 

5. Washington-- Had three hoe cakes and tea most mornings for breakfast.

      Hoe cakes were made from cornmeal and were originally baked on a hoe.

6. Washington-- Introduced the mule to America.

     Washington was looking for something that might work better than a horse for work around the farm. The mule, which is a cross between a male donkey and a female horse, seemed to fit bill. 

7.  Washington-- Had red hair when he was young.

     Washington had red hair when he was young and contrary to popular belief, he never wore a wig. However, he did powder his hair which was fashionable at the time. 

8. Lincoln-- His formal education was only 18 months.

     Lincoln only went to school a few weeks here and there when he was not working. However, he always had a book in his hand including when he was plowing a field. 

9. Lincoln-- He patented a system to alter buoyancy of steamboats.

     His device was never manufactured, but he is the only US president to hold a patent. 

10. Washington-- Had no biological children.

     However, he raised two step-children from his wife, Martha, and helped raise two of his step grandchildren when their father, John, died. Lincoln was the father of four boys of which only one survived into adulthood.

Bonus: Both Washington and Lincoln were born in February. What days are their birthdays on?

Lincoln: February 12

Washington: February 22

Sources:

http://www.wvgenweb.org/mineral/nancyhanksmem.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Abe-Lincolns-Step-into-Reading/dp/0679849777

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_with_facial_hair

http://www.amazon.com/George-Washingtons-Breakfast-Jean-Fritz/dp/0698116119

http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Photobiography-Houghton-Mifflin-studies/dp/0395518482

http://www.mountvernon.org/content/meet-george-washington

http://www.mountvernon.org/content/facts-falsehoods-about-george-washington-0

http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/education/patent.htm

Thankful Sunday--February 15. 2015

I am thankful that my children 

grew up to be readers.

Wally in his younger days reading a book from the library.

Some people like to read and some people do not. There are many reasons for this difference, but I'm glad I have a family who enjoys it. Ward and I both enjoy reading, and Ward comes from a family that especially likes to read. The kind of reading that leaves no book unopened, the kind of reading that makes them miss planes, and the kind of reading that had Ward reading every book in his school library. I am thankful that my children have inherited this love of reading. It will serve them well for the rest of their lives.

Clothespins

Recently my aunt found an old clothespin bag from my grandmother and sent me a few of her clothespins as a memento. Seeing the clothespins immediately sent me down memory lane. I remembered the sheets hanging on my grandmother's line when we visited and the overalls that were worn by both my father and Theo that had hung on the same line. But mostly, my thoughts centered around hanging up clothes during my youth.

Our family got a dryer when I was a baby and my mother always talked about how happy she was when she got it. She was finally going to have a way to dry diapers and everyone else's clothes on a rainy day. However, we still hung most of our clothes outside. I remember that my father put up a clothesline just for me and it was my job to hang up all of the washcloths. And as time went on, I took my turn hanging up all of the wash. I learned how to stretch the clothes to have the fewest wrinkles and hang shirts from the tails instead of the shoulders. I also learned about sublimation at home long before I learned about it in school because we hung out clothes all times of the year even when they froze on the line. But they did get dry even if it took a little longer than in the summer.

And I learned at church to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. So when my mother had no other choice than to do the wash on a Sunday, I worried about what the neighbors would think when they saw it hanging outside. Now I understood that they thought here is a woman with a big family that sometimes had to catch up on things after church. But most of all, I learned the wonderful smell of clothes dried in the sunshine. There was nothing better than climbing into bed with freshly washed sheets that had dried outside.

Today, I don't hang up clothes outside because of allergy problems in the family. We dry them either in the dryer or on folding drying racks. Most of the time I don't think much about this part of our laundry routine, but today as I go down memory lane, I sure do miss the smell of freshly dried sheets from the line outside.

A Second Look--February 11, 2015

The winter weather continues typically for our region with temps ranging from teens to actual fifty's over the weekend. Too bad I had to work during that time, but it was good just knowing that it was warm outside. We also went almost an entire week without precipitation, but we are back to the old routine with freezing rain yesterday. However, February shows more hope for the coming of spring than January. Maybe I'm seeing what I want to see, but I think I see more birds and squirrels about. And I'm noticing more buds on trees. Actually they've been there since last fall, but I like to believe that they are a sign of spring.

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Female cardinal among maple buds

Rhododendron bud

There are fresh chips in the hollow of this tree. I vote for a woodpecker since there are other holes in this tree made by them. A sign of spring?

Dogwood buds

Male downy woodpecker. Down for a bite...

Up for a swallow.

Miss Landers sent me this picture. It reminds me that I don't have to be in a natural setting to enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature.