Trivial minutia

Happy Odd Day!

Strangely, having only odd numbers in the date is a rarity. It will only happen six times in a century. 5/7/09 - Do something odd today to celebrate! If you have a lot of time on your hands, you can even enter an odd contest. What will you do?

What were they thinking?

Sometimes a news story just catches my eye. I see the headline and am instantly intrigued/curious/disgusted/shocked. I often don't comment on these stories aloud, I don't want to seem like a trivia addict.

The latest one to catch my eye is sadly fascinating: Priest Missing on Balloon Flight. I looked at the headline, and thought, "balloon flight, as in hot air balloon?" Following the link, I discovered that he did not ascend in a hot air balloon, he hooked himself up to a large number of enormous helium party balloons. Isn't that what we all imagined doing in childhood? Didn't we see the Wile E Coyote hook himself up in an attempt to catch the Road Runner? Would anyone actually do that in real life? What would possess a normal adult to hook himself up to a bunch of balloons and expect to fly?

It is sad that someone has gone missing. He apparently had dual purpose for his lofty balloon mission, to raise money and to set a record for the most hours flying with balloons. While there was a "flight plan" for his journey, the wind had a different journey in mind. A search is on to find the missing priest.

This story is not the first balloon flight story. In 1982 there was Lawnchair Larry who rose to 16,000 feet with 42 balloons tied to his lawn chair. Upon further web investigation, there is a Balloon Performance Artist whose project is to balloon from every state. And, I am sure that there are others. Seriously!? Do they really think that this pursuit is a good idea?!

No wonder my life is so boring! I cook, I clean, I drive children to and from school, I sew and make jewelry, and I go for walks. I have never risen into the sky on a bunch of balloons. (And actually I would never want to)

But the important message here would be: Don't try this at home! Leave it for the "professionals" or the Looney Tunes.

March comes marching in...

March comes "in like a lion, out like a lamb," or so the saying goes. Our March seems to have a case of multiple personalities. We hit a high of 72 degrees on Saturday, March 1. The kids were happy to be outside, riding their bikes and running around the park.

Sunday, March 2, I awoke to blizzard like conditions. Our snow storm left this on my juniper bush...

The snow came fast and furious. Thankfully it stopped during the morning and only left three or four inches for us to deal with. The high was only about 32 for the day.

With a 40 degree drop in temperature in 24 hours, it's a wonder that we aren't all catching colds. (I know they say you can't get a cold from the weather, but such a drastic change in the weather has to take it's toll on our bodies.) Hopefully it didn't take it's toll on my tulips which are peeking out of the snow in this picture.

Our little teaser of spring, even summer-like, weather has left me pining away for warmer weather. I can't wait for the season to change. I want to see what comes up in my garden, plant new flowers and spend time out doors. But the wind and chill keeps me inside.

As Kerry mentioned, the weather leaves us to our at-home tasks and art endeavors. So I sit, at home, making things to use this summer.

This is my version of Kerry's patchwork bag. I can't wait to take this one to the park for a picnic, or to the beach with my book inside. Doesn't it just scream "SUMMER!"

I love the bright turquoise and orange mixed together. It is definitely a summer combination. The colors remind me of the ocean, the sunset, and tropical fruit. Okay, enough dreaming!

So back to the March in like a lion thing, it really has nothing to do with the weather. While writing this, I learned it's really about the constellations, and how Leo (the lion) is in the night sky with regards to how Aries (the Ram or lamb) is positioned at the beginning and end of the month. I never knew.

March is a month with many faces. It is American Red Cross Month and Women's History Month. If you are religious you can celebrate the days of St. David, St. Joseph and don't forget St. Patrick. And of course, this year, there's Easter in March. And for those non-religious, you can celebrate National Reading Day and Pi Day. (Pi, like in math, not pie, like in yum-yum), and don't forget St. Patrick's Day! And then there's the Ides of March and the Equinox--the arrival of Spring. I can't wait for the weather to change. I hope old Henry here isn't correct, and that the warm weather comes as quickly as the first day of spring will come.

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.

-- Henry VanDyke

Happy Rally Day, and other trivia

While flipping through my mom's extensive postcard collection, I found this little gem:

(another freebie image, right click and save to your computer. Happy Rally Day!)

What is Rally Day? I asked myself. A quick check of Google and Wikipedia, found many possible answers. One source says Rally Day is a "warm-hearted homecoming when friends greet one another again," after Labor Day. There are girl scout rally days, church rally days and legislative rally days. Many car clubs use Rally Day to enjoy "Rally Cars and Rally Stars." (Gee wiz, could I be a Rally star someday, I never knew...) Russell Sage College has a week of events leading up to Sweater Night (including sweater stealing) on the eve of Rally Day. But I don't think these little ones are intested in sweaters or cars.

The real Rally Day began at Smith College in 1876 as a celebration of George Washington's birthday. Over the years the celebration has included speeches, awards, performances, music from the glee club, square dancing, carnivals, formal teas, and dinners. This year's Rally Day is today, February 20.

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732. You probably know all the good stuff he did from your American History courses, but did you know he was a high school drop out and never went to college. He never learned Latin, Greek or any foreign language, like his contemporaries. He married late in life, at the ripe old age of 27 and was the happy step-father to Martha's two children.

While Martha was devoted to George, she was a less willing first-lady and is quoted as saying "I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything else, there is certain bounds set for me which I must not depart from..."

Two year's after his departure from office, George fell ill with pneumonia. The pneumonia probably isn't what killed him, though. Most likely, the doctor's perscribed treatment of blood-letting and doses of Mercury Chloride did him in.

But his legacy as the Father of our Country is what we celebrate on Rally Day. Don't forget to put on your Rally Day hats, and send out your Rally Day cards. Be sure to bake yourself a Martha Washington cake ( see recipe below) and celebrate Rally Day!


And certainly, don't forget what Martha said:

I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.

Martha Washington

Happy Rally Day!

*****

Martha Washington's Great Cake
(One of Mrs. Washington's favorite recipes)
Take 40 eggs and divide the whites from the yolks and beat them to a froth. Then work 4 pounds of butter to a cream and put the whites of eggs to it a Spoon full at a time till it is well work'd. Then put 4 pounds of sugar finely powdered to it in the same manner then put in the Yolks of eggs and 5 pounds of flour and 5 pounds of fruit. 2 hours will bake it. Add to it half an ounce of mace and nutmeg half a pint of wine and some fresh brandy.

Happy Birthday, Donna Reed

Happy Birthday, Donna Reed (and other useless bits...)

Today's useless bit of trivial information: Today, January 27, is Donna Reed's birthday. She would have been 87. She was made famous by in her rolls in movies like It's a Wonderful Life (one of my favorites) and her academy award winning performance in From Here to Eternity. Her persona was idealized in The Donna Reed Show. (I was more of a Leave It to Beaver and Family Affair girl, myself) She died in 1986 of cancer.

Why? Why!? Just why do I know this utterly useless bit of information, (or the tasty tidbit about Napoleon) you may ask. I must admit, it is my Sunday morning indulgence. A hot cup of coffee, crawl back in bed and . . . . turn on CBS. I must confess, I watch the CBS show Sunday Morning to start my week. Unlike any regular news show, there is little talk of the spiraling stock market, the increasing insurgency in Iraq and the pontificating of political pundits. This news show is filled with good news and uplifting stories. Why not start my week with a bit of light trivia or thoughtful commentary?

There are more interesting stories as well. Like today's story on the Monuments Men, the men and women whose job it was to recover and return stolen artwork from Hitler's caches after World War II. The book Rescuing da Vinci tells how Hitler and his men looted public and private art collections for their own personal use. They stole the thousands of works by Van Gogh, da Vinci, Botticelli, Kandinsky, Klee, Chagall, and many others from Jewish collectors and public museums. The Monuments Men were assigned to find, recover and return the work. These men, some of them art historians and museum curators, did what they could to rescue major portions of European art and culture from destruction. That was today's art history lesson...

And so, I will fill up my coffee cup, crawl back in bed, and see what commentator Ben Stein has to say this morning.

When you handle yourself, use your head; when you handle others, use your heart.
-Donna Reed