Today marks the anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing on an island near the Bahamas and believing he was in Asia. My, was he wrong. No one in my father’s family was ever wrong, so they thought. They believed they were really French. They just couldn’t reconcile themselves to be Dutch. In reality, they are Frisian, but how do you explain what that means? I never expected Ronald Reagan to be elected president. My, was I wrong.
When have you been really, really, right? When have you been really, really, wrong?
Tuesday the temperature here was 75. Yesterday we had a winter storm blowing in. I was getting ready for work yesterday and I noticed a large welt on my calf. It was a mosquito bite! I searched and saw it flying around in the dining room. The little devil got me while I was wandering around the house with my coffee cup. It probably stowed away in the spinach I harvested on Tuesday night. How ironic! A mosquito bite on the day of a snow storm.
What are the recent or not so recent ironies in your life? Got any good mosquito stories?
I notice that today marks the anniversary of the introduction of the electric blanket in 1946. It sold for $39.50. I suppose that was quite a bit of money for that time. My parents talked about the wonders of rural electrification in the 30’s and 40’s, and how that was such a help for them and their families. I remember that my mother bought an electric blanket in the 1960’s, and what a weird thing it was, with this plastic polyester fabric that had these hard tube-like things inserted in it, and a thermostat that hung out of the edge of it. I suppose it made sense if the gas you paid to fire your furnace cost more than the electricity that came our of your outlets.
We rely heavily on our weird Swedish mixer for kneading our bread, our Breville food processor for chopping everything imaginable, and our Chinese grinder for coffee and spices. I suppose that electric blankets were ousted by down comforters for economy and convenience. We use our down comforter all year.
We are expecting a major winter storm in the next day or two, and I have made sure the remote starter for our gas stove in the basement is operational in case we lose power and I need to heat the house.
What electric appliances do you rely on? How do you keep warm?
Today is significant in history for the 1927 release of The Second Hundred Years, the first Laurel and Hardy film in which they appeared as a team, as well as the 1942 debuts on radio of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and a weekly show by Abbott and Costello. It is also the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire. I suppose Mrs. O’Leary and her cow are a duo, but they are not terribly comic.
I am being deposed. No, I don’t mean thrown out of office or my job. I mean that I will be soon sitting in a room at a court house with four lawyers, their assistants, and a court reporter. I have been subpoenaed as an expert witness in a case related to my work. Three of the lawyers will ask me questions. One will try to discredit me and my testimony, while the other two will like what I have to say. The fourth lawyer is sent from the Attorney General’s office, since I am a State employee, to help me out if needed.
My lawyer from the AG’s office is a very nice man who sent me a list of helpful hints for giving testimony and who will provide all the documents that I was ordered to bring to the hearing. I have testified in court many times before and have given at least one deposition, but it was nice to talk it over with him. I am not a difficult witness, and I know how to behave on the stand. This made me think, though, what a thankless task it will be for the poor lawyer or lawyers who will prepare 45 for giving testimony and answering questions on the stand. I can’t imagine it will be pretty.
Have you ever had to testify in court? Imagine you are a lawyer. Think of some historical or literary characters and tell us how you would prepare them to testify in court.
It snowed here on Wednesday. The header photo is a view out of my work window Wednesday afternoon. The buildings in the background are part of an assisted living facility. The season changed here suddenly, and incontrovertibly.
PJ mentioned yesterday her horror at seeing all the Christmas decorations while she was shopping. I suppose the merchant’s view is that the season has changed, and the store is announcing it.
Husband says we have six seasons out here: Winter, Calving, Spring, Summer, Harvest, and Autumn. I say a sure sign of Winter is green tomatoes ripening in paper bags or boxes in the house. I ordered glaceed fruit and nuts for my Christmas baking today, another sign of seasonal change.
What are the seasons in your year? What do you look for in nature or in people around you for signs of the seasons changing?
Last week was pretty dull for me at work, as two of my favorite floor mates were gone, one to Montana, and one to California. They are Developmental Disability Case managers, and I have worked with them for 20 years. We tease, laugh, and help each other out. We only see each other at work. Work is mere drudgery without them. We are all set to retire about the same time, and imagine ourselves waltzing out the door on our last day like Dorothy, the Scare Crow, and the Tin Man.
Tell about your best work buddies. What made them special?
I think that vanity license plates are aptly named. I was at the grocery store last night in some snowy weather and almost ran into a Mercedes with a license plate that read “GAS”. We have some pretty affluent oil industry folks out here, as well as landowners who have oil royalties. The driver and passenger looked pretty elderly. I would love to know their story.
What are some memorable vanity plates you have seen or heard of? Give some hypotheses about the Mercedes I saw last night.
The following is an excerpt from an article in our local paper, The Dickinson Press, for September 17, 2019, written by reporter Josiah Cuellar.
“An 18-wheeler loaded with a massive, four-ton potato, on its annual tour of the country, stopped by The Hub at West Dakota Oils which was having their grand reopening Tuesday, Sept. 17. The Big Idaho Potato crew filled up and welcomed the public to get photos and ask questions to the truck driver, Melissa Bradford, and the “Tater Twins,” Kaylee Wells and Jessica Coulthard. “No two potatoes look alike, neither do the Tater Twins,” Wells said. “It’s just a really fun campaign,” Coulthard added. The annual tour began in 2012, and the popularity of it keeps bringing the colossal spud back. “They built the potato truck to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Idaho Potato Commission,” Coulthard said, “It was originally supposed to be one-year tour, but it got so popular they just kept it going.” While every trip in the giant, potato-shaped truck is unique, this year’s tour is extra special because it features the first all-female group. “We are the first all-female team that they had on tour,” Wells said. “We get to show other women that you can do anything that you put your mind to, that you can succeed in a man’s world; you can do whatever you want.””
Ok. I think this is pretty silly and weirdly wonderful. No matter what happens in the next few weeks in Washington, I think it is important to remember that this is what makes us a great nation.
What would you like to load up on a big truck and take on tour? Where would you take it?
It seems that whenever Husband and I go to the grocery store our cart is full of dairy products. We are big milk drinkers, and we use lots of butter, cheese, sour cream, ice cream, yogurt, and skyr. I put half and half in my coffee. Thank goodness I don’t have lactose intolerance. I even have read reports recently that whole milk and full fat dairy products may help to prevent heart disease. Our son and daughter-in-law are instructed by the pediatrician to feed their son whole milk. I was told to offer 1% milk when our children were young. Things have changed.
One of my favorite memories of living in Winnipeg was attending the Winnipeg Folk Festival. I loved the music, of course, but also some of the non-musical acts like the poet Peter Paul Van Camp. He is an Ohio native and was a regular on the Canadian folk festival circuit and lived for a while in Winnipeg. He writes and recites some wonderful and clever poems. I wouldn’t be surprised if most Baboons know of him, but if not, I am happy to introduce you. It was really something to be at the Winnipeg Festival out under the stars and hear several thousand people shout, “DAIRY PRODUCTS”, until he began his recitation. The following YouTube clip was filmed at a smaller venue:
What is your favorite food? Write a haiku for hot dogs or a sonnet for soup.
Trail Baboon 