Santa Claus and The Night before Christmas

 

#152 December 24:  Santa Claus originated as Sinterklaas in Holland and came to America with the Dutch as they settled in New York. St. Nicolas was actually a Turkish bishop. 12/27

#153  December 25:  Santa originally traveled on a donkey and children left hay in their shoes outside their door to be swapped for gifts and to feed the donkey.

#154 December 26:  The Puritans were the first to “wage war on Christmas”… wanting to strip it of any merriment and banning it in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1659.  The Dutch, however, embraced their Santa Claus and kept merry traditions alive. 12/27

#155 December 27:  “The Night Before Christmas” had an original title of “A Visit from St. Nicholas”.  It introduced the idea of Santa Claus being a “jolly old elf” and using reindeer in 1823.  Rudolf didn’t make an appearance until 1939.  Clement Moore may have plagiarized the poem from a farmer named Henry Livingston, Jr, whom academics feel first, wrote it, but their “proof” is sketchy. 12/27

When Did Artificial Christmas Trees First Come Up for Sale?

 

#149  December 20:   When would you think artificial Christmas trees were introduced?  I would have said the ‘50s with the Art Deco, campy aluminum ones.  They are the first ones I remember. Not according to NPR this morning. Here is the very short story.  WOW, can you believe she kept it all those years!!:

In 1920, Dorothy Grant was 8 when her family bought one of the first mass-produced artificial Christmas trees. She lived to 101, and her 2.5-foot tree just sold at auction for $4,000. 

A little more research revealed a picture and the fact that Dorothy lived in England.  Similar ones were sold at Woolworths but had a different base and hers may have been part of a department store decoration.

President Arrested and Pays Fine!!

 

#147  December 18:  Those of you who know me, know that I am a “political animal” and try to keep current and have very definite political leanings!  I’ve tried to keep politics out of this exercise (with maybe the exception of the climate change posts, but that’s science!! Lol)  However, with Presidents being indicted and impeached, I just couldn’t resist this fact that I learned from a historical email blog I subscribe to:  President Ulysses S. Grant was arrested while in office TWICE!!  Both incidents were for speeding in his horse-drawn carriage!  The first time, he got a warning, but the very next day the same officer caught him in Washington DC again and felt he had to arrest him.  He had to put up a $20 bond (almost $500 today) and forfeited it when he skipped court the next day.  He owned up to his mistake and the whole thing blew over fairly quickly.  The officer, one of just two Black police officers in DC after the war was commended for his actions in trying to make the city streets safer.  12/18

 

 

The Singing Highway

 

Route 66 near Albuquerque in 2016.  One tire had to ride on the "rumble strip"

#146  December 17: When Dave and I were traveling in our RV we came across “The Singing Hiway” outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico along Route 66.  It was constructed in the 70’s and used rumble strips or grooves to play America the Beautiful if you drove across it at exactly the speed limit.  We disconnected our little truck from the RV and drove it several times.  We chronicled it in our travel blog, Dave the RV and Me (https://davethervandme.blogspot.com) on March 21, 2016.   I’ve often wondered if it is still there.  I found an article about it.  It was rebuilt in 2014 which explains why we were able to still hear it in 2016.  Sadly it was paved over in 2020 because it was too hard to maintain.  12/17

Three Science Articles in the Paper

 

Luna, my granddaughters' kitten

#143  December 14:  According to an article in the paper today.  Dogs aren’t the only pet that likes to play “fetch”.  Often cats will engage in this activity if they want to!  LOL  Get this:  this is from a peer-reviewed study of cats in the Scientific Reports journal.  I wonder who funded this!  I hope it wasn’t my tax dollars!  These scientists say it is “clear” that cats play fetch to enjoy bonding rewards with their owners and because the object reminds them of prey.  Most cats that enjoy fetching showed this behavior by 7 months old.  My granddaughters have a new kitten and they have noticed Luna likes to “herd” her toys scatter them and then collect them in a central place.  A “shepherd-cat”?????  I’m not sure if she’s a “fetcher.”  12/17

#144 December 15:  A headline in today’s paper: “Scientists find 1000 different species in their suburban home, backyard” This caught my eye.  Three scientists who live together in suburban Brisbane, Australia decided to count the species in their home and yard over a year.  Most predicted that they would find about 200 species.  They found 1150!! I found this interesting but I sort of doubt that I could find laughing kookaburras in my backyard, or a moth whose caterpillar lives inside the dung of a brushtail possum… well we do have possums!! Lol  While the biodiversity in Australia is vastly different from North Carolina, they predicted that most suburban yards would be as diverse.  The whole article really began to make sense when it reported that the search and collection was conducted during the Covid lockdown!!  And I just cleaned out closets!!  12/18

 

#145 December 16:  Another article caught my eye today:  “Science doesn’t yet support broad restrictions on teens’ access to social media, researchers say”  I’ve been all about restricting social media with my granddaughters and while my daughter gives them some leeway, she has pretty strict time limits and restricts access to many sites.  This article says that while depression, suicide, and obesity have been linked, correlation is not the same as causation.  I really liked the analogy they used about taking driver’s ed before getting behind the wheel of a car and the safety precautions needed to drive.  They assert that most studies do not take into account the good research and positive social links teens get from the internet.  I’ve always said that the internet is a tool.  A knife can hurt you, but I couldn’t run my kitchen without one.  I truly don’t envy my daughter navigating this ever-changing medium.  12/18

 

A Couple of Things I Learned While yawning!

 

#141 December 12:  Why do we yawn?  According to a website I consulted, it is to both cool the brain and oxygenate it to make it more alert.  A yawn, especially in cooler temperatures brings in cooler air and adds oxygen to your brain, literally waking it up!  It occurs whenever your brain needs oxygen, or is hot and needs extra cooling and focus. But why are yawns “catching”?  12/17

 

#142  December 13:  According to Real Simple and the National Institute of Health, yawns are contagious and are caused  by empathy. It is called social mirroring and can occur even between species, such as seeing a zoo animal or cat yawn. 12/17/2023

Patience and Persistence Increases with Age

This is from a practice site.  I only found 2 connections.  Can you find all four?

 #139  December 10:  Do I become more patient and persistent as I age?  I’d like to think so.  The New York Times launched the word game Connections in August, but I didn’t find out about it until late October when I read an article about it.  Liking word games and being an ardent player of Wordle (see #104) I immediately gave it a try… and failed… over and over again.  But the concept of forming 4 categories of connections among the 16 words was intriguing and with retirement I have time to play word games (Every morning I play Boggle, Jumble, Wordle, and now Connections.  I have found I don’t have the attention span to play the crossword, though I try it occasionally.)  Connections, however, is very different and requires a different kind of logic and way of thinking.  It took me almost a month to go from failing every day to failing occasionally.  I still get it in just 4 turns (the least possible) only about once per week, but I’m working on it!  Connections helped me flex those patience and persistence skills.12/10

#140  December 11:  One more thing I’ve noticed about my playing the game Connections.  When I “win” the game, the 4^th combination is by default.  And usually I have no clue what the connection among the last 4 is.  Here is an example.  I got the first 3 in 3 tries:

SO, I’ve “won”… but what is the connection between spoon, lining, fox and screen?  SILVER!! 12/17

Pine Trees Pollute and Contribute to Aging! Say It Ain't So!!

 

I loved this image of a pine tree

#138  December 9:  Having grown up in the beloved pine forests of the South, I was stunned to read a sentence buried in an article about climate change in NC that pine trees contribute to “natural pollution”.  That required more investigation.  First, the pine nut smell can trigger asthma reactions.  That was serious, but not a big surprise.  But researchers at Carnegie Mellon have found that pine trees give off gasses that react with airborne chemicals to cause tiny particles that “muddy” the air.  But here is the worst part!  They form free radicals, the same compounds that age our skin, after forming in the atmosphere.  Maybe that explains why Southerners seem to age faster!! LOL  On the flip side there are benefits to pine forests as sources of food and shelter for animals and of course, lumber and our beloved telephone pole!!  12/9

  

Dave and I are Models for Pickles!

 

#137 December 8:  I learned 2 things yesterday and this morning.  Dave and I made the comics!  We always marvel at how cheap and good the rotisserie chickens are at Costco, but somehow the $5 chickens cost us $200!  And yesterday the two $1.25 Christmas decorations at the Dollar Store cost me $52!!  12/7

They are standing on $52!!!!!

The Holiday Has Me Playing Catch Up! Here's a Hodgepodge!!

While I have been jotting a few things in my "Word" journal, I haven't posted anything since before Thanksgiving.  I have finally caught up and have a hodgepodge of things I've learned.  Some are really interesting (to me!), others maybe only mildly so, read on if you're so inclined!! (ok I did the Thesaurus "thing" on smorgasbord to get hodgepod!!... guilty!)

 

#114 November 17^th:  In today’s paper they highlighted the Lance, now Campbell Snack Co. (as in Campbell Soup bought them out).  Not being a big baker, I never knew what the pin pricks were for on top of the Chez-it Crackers.  They are added to let steam escape to keep the crackers crisp.  They can make 16,000 crackers a minute at the plant at the end of the Blue Line!  They didn’t say anything about the cookies you can smell near Hawthorne and Piedmont Middle School.  Something to research.  I always thought that was part of Lance too… but its obviously a shortbread company.  11/25

 

#115 November 18^th:  This summer O’Seas Conservation Foundation tested a shark barrier near an island off of Cape Cod.  Instead of netting which was eco-Unfriendly and caused the lethal extinctions of several shark species and killed dolphins, whales, sea turtles, and other species; this technology which uses pipes with electromagnetic stimuli proved eco-FRIENDLY and 100% effective in keeping sharks off the beaches.  I applaud the company for testing eco-friendly solutions, but I’m not sure we should mess with Mother Nature.  When will they find an “unintended consequence”?  11/25

 

#116 November 19^th:  There was a great article about the Gay Dolphin at Myrtle Beach in today’s Extra section.  Shopping there was always paired with going to Myrtle Beach as a kid.  And I DO remember that you could buy baby alligators and turtles there before we became ecologically enlightened and scared of salmonella. (you could also buy dyed baby chicks, bunnies, and turtles at my Aunt Ellen’s dime store too!!).  But what I didn’t know about the Gay Dolphin are two things.  The 10 levels (quarter and half stories) are because the owners didn’t want to dig into the rocks and hill between Ocean Blvd. and the beach when they were rebuilding after Hurricane Hazel in 1954. They designed a multi-level building that hugged the incline.  These short stairs make it easier for the shoppers to explore the whole building.  I also didn’t know that there is a penthouse apartment with great views for the owners.  11/25

 

#117 November 20^th:  The world’s largest iceberg is drifting toward the South Atlantic.  Designated A23a it has broken free of the seabed after decades of shrinkage.  It used to be the 2^nd largest iceberg, but A68 broke up.  It is the size of NYC and as thick as the Empire State Building.  Another example of climate change and what happens when you “mess with Mother Nature!”  11/25

 

#118  November 21^st:  I heard this listening to the BBC early this morning as I was waking up.  I tracked down the article to make sure I heard it right.  The French sure do have their own way of doing things.  Their Department of Commerce Alliance and the minister for ecological transition are at odds of the latter’s campaign to NOT buy electronics and fast fashion on Black Friday weekend. (First I didn’t know France and Europe had Black Friday too!).  The ecological transition minister was successful in getting the government to subsidize (to the tune of €145,000!) repair bonuses for folks to repair clothing and shoes rather than buy new ones.  He put out an ad prior to Black Friday urging people to repair rather than buy new clothes for the holidays.  Another ad asked folks to repair electronics or buy refurbished ones.  You can imagine this made the Dept. of Commerce livid.  But they aren’t backing down, though they did say the Ecological Transition minister did say he should have targeted online sales versus physical businesses.  Can you imagine if this were happening in the US government?  The papers and political silos would be on fire, rather than it being a rather obscure radio message!! 11/25

 

#119 November 22:  Marilyn Monroe’s first job was in a drone factory!  She inspected the unmanned aircraft used to drop explosives during WWII.  I didn’t know they had drones in WWII!  Marilyn also parlayed the job into a modeling career when a photographer came and took her picture for a photo shoot inspired by Rosie the Riveter.  It went “viral” and she became a pin-up girl.  This led to a screen test for 20^th Century Fox.  11/27/2023

 

#120 November 21:  Picasso was accused of stealing the Mona Lisa.  In fact, he did receive stolen artwork from his former secretary, Pieret.  One piece, a statue was his inspiration for the face in his painting “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”.  When they were accused of stealing the Mona Lisa in 1911, they decided to throw their other stolen loot in the Seine but couldn’t bring themselves to destroy the art.  A handyman named Vincenzon Peruggia later was convicted of stealing the Mona Lisa when he tried to sell it.  11/27

 

#121 November 22: A new study in a bilingual journal shows that folks who are bilingual can efficiently ignore extraneous information and can concentrate on things more easily without being distracted.  I’ve often thought that speaking multiple languages would be a gift, but now I know it improves concentration! 12/4

 

#122 November 23:  1000 folks still die from Covid every week! 12/4

 

#123 November 24:  One of the top reasons folks don’t get vaccinated for Covid is their health providers don’t bring it up.  Dr. Cohen is working on that! 12/4

 

#124 November 25:  A recently launched satellite can detect methane leaks.  It spotted a leak in a pipe in Argentina and was able to alert operators to fix it.  Good for the planet!  However I wonder how much gas the satellite generated on the launch?  It’s going to have to fine a lot!! 12/4

 

#125 November 26:  In the future, our generation may be defined as the plastics generation as our fossils will contain plastic. Recently 175 countries signed onto a pact to end plastic pollution by 2040.  It will take a combination of 9 policies including banning single-use plastics, but it is feasible to reduce plastic waste by 87%!  Most of the policies, however, will use considerable political capital to enact against a powerful petroleum lobby. 12/4

 

#126  November 27:  According to an editorial in Thursday’s paper, NC was 13^th in the nation and led the South in limiting deaths during Covid.  By issuing a stay-at-home order and urging folks to follow public health and safety guidelines, Governor Cooper’s policies saved lives.  Wake County (which saw protests about the policies) had the lowest per-capita rate of Covid deaths among the nation’s 88 largest counties.  NC’s death rates were half of Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina.  As we get out from under the pandemic, it is important to look at statistics and policies and generate “lessons learned.” 12/4

 

#127  November 28:  Here’s a list of brand names that became generic words.  A few are obvious but several I never thought about.  Google now means to search, Velcro, and Xerox is copying, but did you know that Zipper was a brand name along with band-aid?  I never thought about it. Escalator started as a brand for moving stairs as did Frisbie for flying discs.  I did know that Frisbie was from the Frisbie Pie Company.  Yo-yo was a brand first. They left Kleenex off the list!!  And of course in the South Coke means any type of pop or soda!! Lol  12/4

 

#128 November 29: In an article about Queen Elizabeth I learned some details about something I “sort of” knew.  I knew that she used her purse to signal her staff, but the actual signals are sort of interesting.  If she switched hands she wished to be ushered away from a conversation; if she put the purse on the floor, it meant she needed saving from an uncomfortable situation and if it ended on the dinner table, she wanted to be whisked away in the next 5 minutes!  If I just had a staff, I might start carrying a purse! 12/4

 

#129 November 30:  Queen Elizabeth probably met more people than anyone else in history.  Since her reign was so long she traveled more than any other monarch to weddings, foreign tours, and other public events.  I wonder if she remembered any of their names.  12/4

  

#130 December 1: Do you know what an enclave country is?  It is completely surrounded by another country.  When I heard this I immediately thought of the Vatican, surrounded by Italy and Rome.  But I didn’t know there were 2 more.  San Marino in the Apennine Mountains of (again!) Italy is another one as is Lesotho, a country surrounded by South Africa.  Its incredibly mountainous terrain has kept it from being conquered.  12/4

 

#131  December 2:  What popular song was inspired by a vaccine?  A Spoonful of Sugar in Mary Poppins!  Folks my age will remember the polio pandemic.  When Jonas Salk invented the vaccine, he refused to patent it.  Albert Sabin developed the method of distributing it on a sugar cube.  I remember several things about this:  not being able to go swimming for fear of getting the disease, friends who limped or were crippled, or who became disabled from the “rebound” as adults, and going to school on a Sunday afternoon to get my sugar cube placed on my tongue.  It was truly a miracle.  I didn’t connect the song from Mary Poppins, but it makes sense both in content and time.  Here’s one more polio fact:  Countries where polio was endemic in 1968: 125…. In 2023: 2.  12/5

 

#132  December 3:  What was the first commercial product made of nylon, the first entirely synthetic fiber?  I would guess nylon stockings which replaced silk stockings during the war.  But the nylon toothbrush debuted in 1938.  Nylon stockings were introduced the next year at the 1939 World’s Fair in NYC.  800,000 pairs flew off the shelves the first day they were available to the public!  I wonder if they sold that many bottles of nail polish to stop the “runs”? LOL… I do NOT miss wearing stockings in my retirement!!

 

#133 December 4:  Is it milk?  My son introduced me to oat milk a few months ago and I regularly stock almond milk because it has a long expiration date and we only use milk for cooking.  Dairy producers have tried suing alternative milk companies for “product deception”.  Is it milk?  As it turns out history isn’t on the dairy industry’s side.  Coconut milk dates back to 3000 BCE and the Romans and medieval cookbooks reference almond milk.  There are references to soy milk in China dating back to the 3^rd century CE.  And I assume Mother’s milk dates back to Eve!!  I guess milk is in the “mouth” of the beholder!

 

#134 December 5:  Next time you are in a full elevator, think of this.  If folks were crammed, elevator-style, all at once and in the same place, they would fit inside Los Angeles.  I found this fact amazing and disturbing!  LA is about 1.2 billion square meters and you can fit 10 people elevator style in a square meter, so all 7.8 billion of us could fit easily in LA… but who would want to?  I remember when we would take our RV across the country, we would marvel at the open spaces in the “fly-over” country of the mid and far West.  The earth really does have room for more, if we can figure out how to sustain them – NOT in elevators!  12/5

#135 December 6:  With the “final” Republican debate scheduled for tonight before the Iowa Caucuses this piece of trivia about presidential debates is fun!  The Kennedy-Nixon debate was NOT the first televised presidential debate. There was an Eisenhower – Stevenson debate televised.  However, they sent surrogates:  two women!  Margaret Chase Smith spoke for Eisenhower and Eleanor Roosevelt spoke for Stevenson, it was aired on CBS’ Face the Nation.  12/6