There's Never Enough

Punxsutawney Phil Friendship Circle

2010-02-02T13:48:00.000-08:00

Here we are again, at the day on which we learn about our near future, meteorologically speaking of course. On this 33rd day of the year Punxsutawney Phil evaluates his environment and, to a degree, plans our lives for the next few months.

For about 120 years or so, Mr. Phil has favored us with the wisdom of his experience - for better or for worse. He hides out in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania (NE of Pittsburgh, NW of Altoona, NNW of Johnstown, pop. c. 6,000) and predicts six more weeks of winter if he sees his shadow, or an early spring if he does not see his shadow. Out of 114 prognostications, he has said/shown/indicated more winter seven out of eight times [including 2010}. His scorecard? According to the PGCIC (Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle) he has been correct 100% of the time! According to the Weather Almanac, he comes in at about 39% for being on the mark. I'm not sure how his wife, Phyllis, feels about his low rating - maybe he wants to run for President - of something - or of someplace.

His cousins abound throughout the continent - for example there's "Buckeye Chuck" from Marion, OH (50 mi. N of Columbus, pop. c. 35,000) who predicts an early Spring, and "Balzak Billy", living in Balzak, Alberta (just N of Calgary, W of Rtes. 2 and 566) -hasn't reported in, not to mention "General Beauregard Lee" of Lilburn, GA (on the NE edge of metro Atlanta, pop. c. 12,000) who predicts an early Spring.

Quarryville, PA (SE of Lancaster, W of Philly, pop. c. 2,000) has its own "Octorara Orphie" as a personal identifier of seasonal drifts - sorry, no report, and what of "Brandon Bob" , Brandon, Manitoba (130 mi. W of Winnipeg, pop.c. 39,000), a helper in the Prarie Provinces (alas, no report), then "Shubenacadie Sam" (Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, NE of Halifax, SW of Truro) tells us its going to be an early Spring.

The festivities last Saturday featuring "Two River Tunnel" (Marion Bridge, Nova Scotia - S of Sydney, Cape Breton) were canceled due to inclement weather; they forward the idea that Tunnel probably would not have seen his shadow, hence we will have an early Spring.

Down the Atlantic coast, we could meet "Malverne Mel" in western Long Island (Malverne - N of E. Rockaway, NE of Valley Stream, pop. c. 9,000) who predicts that (at least) six more weeks of winter are left; gliding over, we might see "Staten Island Chuck", whose real name is Charles G. Hogg. They credit him with being 80% correct since he started in the 1980's. He's been doing well - except for biting the finger of Mayor Michael Bloomberg last year. He (the Mayor) was back at the S. I. Zoo for the challenge again this year and held the prognosticator (with heavy leather gloves) as we were told to look for an early Spring.

"Woody", [no middle initial] (in Howell, between Lansing and Detroit, MI) also predicts an early Spring. Hopping over the northern border in a figurative manner, we'll stop first at Kleinburg, Ontario (uninc. community of Vaughan, N of Toronto, off Rte. 400, near the Boyd Conservation Area and home of former Prime Minister Lester Pearson, pop. c. 1,000) to meet "Gary the Groundhog". Gary couldn't share with us today as he was having breakfast with the great-grandson of the P.M.

Well, moving on NW of Toronto, we come to the Georgian Bay region - and Party Headquarters for Prognosticators- and home to "Wiarton Willie" (Wiarton, Ontario, SW area of Georgian Bay, pop. c. 2,300), where the time is considered a Festival - dances, parades, hockey tournaments, curling, pancake breakfasts, sleigh rides, etc. The emphasis began in the mid-1950's and brought along Willie in the '80's. His descendants are noted as Wee Willie, Wee Willie II, and on. Early names for representatives were - Grundoon, Muldoon and Sand Dune, revealing a certain approach to the activities. The people feel they (and Willie) are best situated for rendering a judgment on the future as they are on the 45th parallel, equidestant between the North Pole and the Equator. It must count for something. Locally, Willie's 90% correct; scientifically - they say 37%. Who ya gonna buhleve?

I'm sure you've heard of "Arizona Abner" - unfortunate - he was buried alive under a K-Mart parking lot. Now that means seven years of summers are expected for the whole state of AZ!

*****
Dribs and Drabs - Today is also considered Candlemas Day, the fortieth day of Mary's purification following the birth of Christ. In some quarters there is much ado regarding this celebration. Some lines from Candlemas deal with the proposed seasonal variations:

"If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight;
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again."

*****
Words about Phil and his like:
20" long
12-15 lbs.
short - ears, legs, tail, but quick
strong jaws (right, Mike?)
can whistle when alarmed
basically vegetarian
young are called kits or cubs
longevity - 6 to 8 years in the wild, 12 or so if sheltered
a staple in many areas in the 1930's Depression era

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

2010-01-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

Every month or so . . . comes the nagging thought that, yes, I should work toward some consistency in the presentation of blogs - so here's the start.
The time-frames in the title fall out like this - Yesterday - the six-month dental checkup brought the news that all was O.K. with the exception of the two crowns needed. Hmmmm. . . Let's try Today - Cardio at the new 10:00 time works out well; finally mailed a friend's books in his direction; on the search for wood putty (and found it); State of the Union presentation tonight; still very hard to connect with this man. Here we are at Tomorrow - lunch with other retired teachers at the Outside Inn, shop for $1 boxes of Blueberries, pick up meds -expectedly.
The writer of the book of Hebrews uses a similar time-frame, but adds a lot of tomorrows as he/she comments "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."(NIV) as the changelessness of Christ is reviewed once more. It's unlikely the activities of the writer would have borne much similarity to my outline, but we both deal with Yesterdays, Todays and Tomorrows. For that I'm grateful.

Last Chance Cafe

2009-12-31T18:56:00.000-08:00

It's December, it's Winter, it's New Year's Eve, and it's the last chance to be a good guy this year.

Must string some letters together . . . .

How about: Had a great week in the capital city of the center of the universe! Friends and family from near and far - mix that with delicious food and a dessert or two - throw in a BBQ from time to time - walk ZooLights - add some kettlecorn - do some scrapbooking - dig for your ancestors (figuratively) - have just one more jelly wreath cookie - attend a Christmas eve service led by a pastor was fortunate to be in attendance, broken elbow and all - share Christmas morning with the good guys - (where are those snickerdoodles?) - golf (for some) - Sunday morning service with the dedication of the newly-adopted twins - read - shop - scrapbook - call family or be called by family - plan for the next gathering.

Well, that wasn't too bad! Wrap that all up in safe travel, and it seems like a time for Thanksgiving all over again!

Have a great and blessed New Year all year long!

Dos Amigos

2009-09-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who is dealing with esophageal cancer and had been keeping track of him through other friends. I finally decided some face-time was appropriate. Wanting to 'take something' with me I contacted another friend who had recently authored a book on the OSS, (pre-CIA) and 'Undercover Leathernecks'. He's had several magazine articles on Civil War settings and now focuses on WW II.

We chatted about archival resources around the country, mutual friends, travel, current aches and pains etc. The conversation prompted me to move on a WW II project which has been on the shelf for a (long) while. (This will be developed in another session.)

The book is signed, I'm knocking on the recipient's door - and his mother informs me that his wife took him to help a lady with her computer! Sounds like a good report to me! He is doing well but there is still more of the road to travel.

All in all, a good day for at least three people.

***** ***** ***

If there has been a rumor abroad that I'm preparing an apology for all this language jazz - it's not true.

Caution: groaner ahead -

Who delivers the Easter treats to all the fish?

The Oyster Bunny

(You were warned!)

09 09 09 0Raine 0my

2009-09-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

Glad I got this in today - I'd have to wait 100 years to catch it again! But then in only 13 months we'll be able to do 10 10 10, and in another 13 months. . . .

Today's paper had a story about a local whose granddaughter is age nine today on this 9 9 09. Devon's greatgrandmother is 93 on this day (we'll call that a partial); she is the ninth grandchild of our patriarch and her mother is his ninth child. Devon's address is 999 on her street. Our patriarch is 81, which when added together total - __ right!

In the battle of the raindrops the good guys lost ground - but not from erosion- we are now at
-6.55 compared to our average y.t.d. Ah, well. . . .

Last year the National Weather Service changed the approach to the designation of the
monsoon period. For years a dew point temperature of 55F or higher for three consecutive days would announce the start - often early- to mid-July and the period would end, usually mid-September, with a string of three days with a dew point of <55F.

Now they appproach it less as a baseball statistician would, and have the man-on-the- street welcoming style. The monsoon period is now designated as June 15 to September 30.
Take care- don't let the meteorologist-eavesdropper hear you say monsoons - as in "the
monsoons are late this year". Smiles will come if you call it monsoon, but not if you call it "the monsoon season". Huh? Monsoon is an Arabic word meaning "season". You should be able to note the social awkwardness quickly and shy away from it. The 'season' must include a change in the wind direction - ours goes from being mostly westerlies to a south/southeast direction. The heat of the summer (110'sF) pulls the moisture up from the baja and the Gulf to rain on our parades now and then.

The most during this period has been 9.36" and the least was .35 - this is why we measure in hundredths of an inch - quarter-inch groupings would never do.

***** ****
Painting indoors? Wear an old pair of socks over your shoes; it saves the shoes from drips and
easily rubs up splatters on the floor.

Raine, raine, do your thing, See what blessings you may bringe

2009-09-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

Right on schedule (every four or five months) - somebody hits the switch (maybe it's the lightning), and the presses start rolling again. Actually the pressure is not so much on the switch as it is on the individual - I just wanted to stop the yelling! So, for a period of time, and some degree of regularity it may come to pass that words will flow which will contain an acceptable level of understandibility. And maybe interest.

After a delicious meal at home or abroad, I'll often say "Pretty good, what there was of it" knowing full well that seconds are readily available. So far, faint smiles outnumber the slaps. . .

These words could be applied to our rainfall (y.t.d.) in this southeastern corner of a Southwestern state. Numerically speaking, our annual rainfall just bumps over 14". The y.t.d. average is just under 11" and this year we're sporting 4.39". That leaves us with- just a minute- (tap tap, tap, tap tap tap tap, tap)- here we are6.5" short so far this year, with our wettest month, August, well behind us. What to do? More on Mr. monsoon next time.

This nursery rhyme is often used by those well beyond elementary-grade years -
Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day (and often with. . .
Little Johnny (Brenda, Arthur, Elspeth, etc.) wants to play.

[People from the Eastern U.S. and Cananada, with their uncertain, untimely and undisciplined 'rain showers' repeat this oftenly in the summer season.]

The rhyme goes back at least to the late 17th Century - John Aubrey, the holey one, is almost certainly a brother of some sort and note children using 'Raine, raine, go away, Come again a Saturday', to "charme away the Raine".

***** ***
WHAT MEANETH THIS: ad hoc, as in "ad hoc committee" ? A good Latin term indicating
'for this', with the idea of 'for this task only'.

2009-05-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

Now is the time for every good man to come to.

Those are the Breaks! Part the Second

2009-03-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

We're recuperating nicely in Arizona, thank you. How nice not to need a store-bought heavy jacket, nor a home-made scarf, nor the four layers of outdoor readiness (with the exception of the waning hours of our NY stay).

Things were just ducky during our last full day cruising the Northern border. At a pond at one of our breaks we saw 12-15 Mallards - drakes and hens - come skidding to a stop on the chilled water, shake themselves, and let the water roll . . . you know how water behaves with these creatures. Great sport! At first one walked (waddled) on the thin layer of ice near the edge of the small pond and soon many of the gang were attempting it - with expected results. It provided many solid digital shots.

Another break in the day was when we were alerted to a mink scurrying from the pond to the woods with a reward of some type in its mouth (nothing Mallard-like). We may or may not have a distinct pic - its under review at the moment.

Let's take a break from the breaks and dabble in an older word or two from our wonderful language. (No extra charge.) The question is - would you rather be an eggler or a flunkey?
As an eggler you would gather and sell not only eggs of all kinds for eating and hatching, but nests, snakes and other items for curious purchasers.
The eggler was outside in his travels, and the flunkey moreso. He was a 'servant of the livery'. When the coach left, the flunkey ran along with or ahead of the horses carrying a lantern or torch to light the way, pay tolls, or otherwise be ready to meet the needs of the coachman or passengers.

What a life those teens had - fresh air - exercise - entrepeneurship opportunities- travel and adventure - little, if any, homework. Rugged individualism at its best. Right!

Those are the breaks!

2009-03-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

[Note: Recent inactivity on this blog will not be commented on until a thorough review of plausable explanations has been listed, field-tested and approved by the director.]

On this day, as in several previous, one finds oneself 20 miles from the Canadian border in Plattsburgh, NY. We had a break in the wind. (Do I need to reword that?) What had been a force of 15-25mph [c.25-40kph [for our bi-numeral acquaintances]] was down to three to five mph [five to eight kph] for today.

We also had a break regarding the temperature. Gone was the 25 F [Celcius on your own], here came 45 F.

The missus and I headed out to a sugar shack to surprise friends in the middle of boiling sap in the process of making maple syrup. Alas, there was no activity to benefit from our surprise. The preceding two nights and days had been too cold for the sap to flow at a good pace. They thought that tomorrow would be a good day for boiling. Earlier in the week, 150 gallons of syrup had been produced. That's dealing with about 6,000 gallons of sap, and I'm not going to try to figure that in liters (or is that litres). Sooooo we searched out other sugar shacks to bother, but none had weather different from our first stop. So. magically, our visit turned into a shopping tour in the gift shop of one of the sugar shacks. Maple cocoa, maple coffee, varieties of shapes of maple sugar items, 2009 syrup, maple cream, pervasive aroma. Just a bit heady. . . . (yes, they will ship).

Several years ago I became aware of birch syrup - from an inquiry about maple syrup in Alaska. I learned that it takes about double the amount of birch sap to develop one gallon of birch syrup - 80 gallons. The aroma and the flavor are somewhat medicinal in my judgement. It is not too distant from the soda Moxie - even the diet variety carries that flavor. It all works out O.K., as it tastes pretty good on Dairy Queen. Really.

So, the day was a break from some of the have-tos of the week and the resignation of sparing ourselves from the 'brisk' winter weather by being indoor people. During our tour of duty in the North Country, I recall the period we called the 'January thaw'. Around the third week or so of January, we would benefit from a warming period - the snow and ice would melt for a few days, and I would allow myself to think 'Ah, we're going to have an early Spring this year. Good for us!' The thoughts and hopes were shattered in not too many days by the return of belligerent Winter weather, freezing the tears on our cheeks.

Those were the breaks.

That fruity flavor. . .

2008-07-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

Just finished a delightful breakfast. On a greater percentage of the days I go with cold cereal. As a base. Many times I could say I go with cold cereals. As a base. I lean toward Life, as often as it can be arranged, supplemented with a compatible grain offering. Then comes the frosting on the cake, so to speak.

Occasionally the availability of various fruit yields a veritable feast such as occured this morning.
Banana (the more mature one of the group), berries of the blue-, rasp- and straw- persuasions and date logs plus peaches (plum size - from the farmer's market last week). Did I miss anything? Oh, nuts! That's it! The chopped pecans and walnuts. Almost forgot them.

Standing in the wings as sort of understudies we have dried fruit - cranberries, slab apricots and a berry mix - most of this by way of [not compliments of] Trader Joe's.

Tastes good enough to eat!

***
To look ahead, there may be more than one or two posts on our Land Cruise, during which we had a non-traditional Sunday morning service. Stay tuned. May have news of other breakfasts handed to us.

A Day for and about Fathers

2008-06-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

If Father's Day was to be considered a contest, it would end in a tie. Well, wouldn't it?

Some common taters, within this household as a matter of fact, bring forth the thought of having a Family's Day. The separated emphases have some plus aspects, but generally, as with the song, "you can't have one without the other". Recent and current attitudes toward family togetherness show some depletion in the numbers of 'full family' members.

What would happen if one all-inclusive day would happen vs. the current bifurcated approach? Flower shoppes and haberdasheries would have to realign their inventories,
greeting-card makers would use fewer trees perhaps. Higher unemployment - maybe for a time, and how about the lighter load for phone lines and cell towers - you'd have many of the celebratees in one location. It would be a great time for reminiscing - and genealogical interest and pursuits could be built up/expanded. Speakers of all ilk would need new sources and outlines for their presentations (so much for the gains in standing timber we had from the card-makers).

A new date would be considered - like the third Sunday in July or the second Sunday in August - helpful to round out a Summer schedule.

Now it's time for all the great thinkers of the world to weigh in on the great consideration before them.

There is probably enough space left to get in a word for my dad here. He'd have celebrated his 102nd birthday earlier this month - but he did celebrate 70 of them. He was somewhat 'playful' in his youth - driving a car 'round and 'round a traffic dummy in the center of town, to the disgust of the lone police officer. A traffic dummy in a small town? Yes, indeed; after all, it was the last stop on the main route from New York City to Montreal. He was bilingual, started work at Sheridan Iron Works at age 15 (after other jobs), and built the first radio in Champlain in the mid- to late-1920's.

He enjoyed electricity,but was conscientious in all he dealt with. I regard him as a craftsman. He talked me through many activities, and showed me the way to accomplish tasks, but not often would he provide a practice time.

Remind me to tell you about the 'mink house'. Maybe on Family's Day. . . . someday. . . .

Once more, with feeling

2008-06-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

It would seem I've been able to learn well the lesson of not rushing into matters, like posting blogs. A degree of insouciance seems to be the order of the day. Since our last meeting much water has gone under the bridge, over the dam and wherever else it has chosen to venture.

* Mary has received the official okey-dokey on her first knee replacement. Dr. Cohen is tops! Lower extremity #2 will be a Jan., '09 consideration.

* Our Sunday School class (25 strong) helped in several projects (painting, fountain, spackle and paint the laundry room, prepare the coolers for summer, etc.) at 'Hospitality House' - a USO-like setting for military personnel in our area. They don't do overnights, but when they do come they have plenty of snack items, books, walking areas, meals, Bible Studies and fellowship to busy themselves with. The host family is very gracious, and the Mr. and Mrs. have undergone considerable training prior to being accepted as setting Hosts. (All this accomplished on Armed Forces Day (May 17) to boot!)

*We attended a Retirement breakfast for those of Mary's associates from Johnston School on Ft. Huachuca. One couple is planning to head to Costa Rica to build and settle in for the next 20 or 30 years. Their setting will be in Nuevo Arenal. His brother is a builder and a long-time resident of the area. Sounds helpful to me. That same evening, we a attended a 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration for friends of ours. Both settings were similar in some aspects - each celebrated an achievement and was a pleasant atmosphere with the recognition from friends and family; as well, in both settings, we were able to renew acquaintances from a few to several years back. I like that in an activity.

*This brings to mind one aspect of one of my retirement activities __ years ago. This was with one of the Elementary schools I was associated with - knowing my feelings toward the brown vegetable, they purchased a pink cord jacket, added several pockets and stuffed each with a variety of candy bars. I viewed this as very thoughtful as I generally refer to them as 'Snowbank Supplies', emergency, readily available and completely adequate items for home or travel, in the event of . . . .

*Did I mention that the following January I received a diagnosis of Diabetes, Type 2? Another of life's mysteries. I must say that these events are viewed as examples of parallelism rather than as cause and effect. Or perhaps genetic predestination. . .

***

Renaming:

The polite snake you saw last week - could be called a civil serpent. Couldn't it?
________________

(Hope you had some pleasant moments with your dictionary, Doug!)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Jer.29:13 has good contemplative qualities. Reading it in THE MESSAGE gives it a bit of urgency.

Adios

What to do... what to do?

2008-04-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

Midst the gentle promptingsss of one's descendants there is at this moment an effort being made to add to the resume' of the writer. New descriptive terms seem to be 'composer', 'arranger', (of words primarily) and of course 'blogger'. Well, here goes....

If there happen to be additional writings they'll likely be an olio of considerations. Some likelihoods are humor (humour, for our guests from the Near North), language, languages, music, religion, travel...

Other interests may include genealogy, nutrition [euphemism for food - of any kind], history, computers, and such.

Fairness dictates clarity for some terms. The main one at this time is interest. Interest, to me, speaks of an acquaintance with and a desire to continue a degree of familiarity with an item or topic. To take myself off the hook, or put up some security fencing around possible hooks, I must state that, for me, interest does not demand nor imply any skill level beyond reasonably correct spelling and reasonably correct pronunciation (all modified by contact with people (often known as them))

As this contact progresses, I imagine it will become more decorative and perhaps include pictures, as the pros do. I'll have some more words on the name for this space as well.

Now, the introduction comes in the place of the benediction. George (named for my deliverer Dr. George Allen of Champlain, NY), C_ _ _ _ _ _ (for no reason I've heard of), Aubrey (elf ruler) was raised South of the Border (from the perspective of Canadians) and traveled to become one North of the Border (from the perspective of Mexicans).

More on this at another time.

Two items to wind up with -
1. a nutritional dream (as I haven't seen it before me - yet) is a spaghetti-flavored, raspberry-filled, chocolate-covered doughnut;
2. Have you had a chance to take a look at the Bible-study site e-sword.net yet? I count it a good site for comparison of a variety of versions - most are free and available in many languages, and some are for purchase; graphics, commentaries and dictionaries are available for free download. Take a look.

Excuse me for a while as I figure out what to do next. . . .

GA

Made it to TN

2008-04-23T18:15:00.001-07:00

We made it from Sunny AZ to Sunny TN today. Good to see #2 son and family. More later.