What Would Jimmy Do?

Well, tonight we change the clocks again — we move them ahead one hour at precisely 2 am. It then becomes 3 am. Some people like changing the clocks — most don’t. I like having more daylight in the evening, but I don’t really care what the clock says when the sun sets… I just like the light. 

Over the years, I’ve discussed daylight saving time (it’s saving, not savings) and the people like William Willett and Benjamin Franklin that were instrumental in getting it implemented. 

My grandparents never bought into the whole concept and referred to daylight saving time as “city time.” When President Wilson signed daylight saving time into law during WW I, it was commonly called “fast time.” During WW II when it was again put into effect, it was called, “war time.” 

Research has determined that daylight saving time negatively affects night owls more than morning people. Researchers also found that cluster headaches increase during the transitions into and out of daylight saving time. Speaking of researchers — many do not agree that daylight saving conserves energy. One of their arguments is that the increase in air-conditioned homes has offset any savings in lighting.

Globally, about 70 countries around the world implement daylight saving time, but different countries change their clocks at different times. The only major industrialized countries that do not observe DST are Japan, India, and China. Most equatorial countries do not observe daylight saving time because daylight hours are similar during all the seasons.

United States federal law does not require any state to observe daylight saving time. However, if a state chooses to follow DST, it must follow federal start and end dates — beginning at 2:00 am on the second Sunday in March and ending at 2:00 am on the first Sunday in November. 

In the United States, DST is not observed in Hawaii, American Somoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Norther Mariana Islands, and Arizona. (Arizona’s Navajo Nation does observe daylight saving.)

So here we go again — tomorrow, lots of people will be confused for at least a few days. Maybe there should be some kind of a phone alert (like an Amber alert) that goes out to everyone ….
I usually just try to not think of it as losing an hour of sleep — it’s just an hour closer to breakfast. And then again, maybe with the way things are going, we didn’t really lose an hour — maybe it just fled the country…. to Canada or someplace.
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I know I shouldn’t. but sometimes when I see someone that’s “different” I say something like, “gee, he’s a weird guy.” After I say something like that, I always think to myself that it sounds derogatory even though I don’t mean it that way. There used to be a man that attended our church that reminded me of Otis, the town drunk on the old Andy Griffith TV show. His hair was never combed, and he always wore a suit that looked like he’d slept in it. I always said, “there’s that weird guy Otis.” I wasn’t intentionally being “mean” but, in fact, I was. He was a really nice man and I had no reason to judge him as being weird.

So I got to thinking about that word weird. I looked it up in the dictionary and found a couple of definitions… one said it meant suggesting something supernatural or unearthly. The other defined it as very strange; bizarre. 

When we use the word today, we’re usually referring to the second definition — “very strange.”  I think maybe everyone is weird in their own way. Really, we think of a person as weird when they’re unconventional and not like everyone else. I’ve heard it said that no two people are exactly alike, so that means there are infinite possibilities of how anyone/everyone could be different.

Even though I usually use weird in a negative context, it doesn’t have to be — it can certainly be positive. For instance if you say someone is always so incredibly happy that it’s weird, or that someone knows so much about something that it’s weird, those would be positive uses of weird.
Say what you will, weird people are usually not dull and/or unoriginal… and probably what most people consider weird is usually unjustified.

During my extensive research of the word weird, I found that the word originally meant ‘having the power to control destiny’ — that would make it pretty cool to be weird. If the meaning hadn’t changed many years ago, I wonder what we’d call someone that’s unconventional or “different” today….
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Yesterday I mentioned that Sue had visited a cemetery. I’ve touched on this topic before, and while it’s not something you absolutely must know, maybe you can impress your friends next time the subject comes up.  Ok, actually the subject probably won’t just “come up” but maybe you can bring it up and impress everyone. Always a good conversation starter around the table is, “do you know the difference between a cemetery and a graveyard?” So off we go…..

I learned the answer to this age-old question when we were on vacation in Myrtle Beach with Terry and Al. We went on a Ghost Tour, and found it to not only be entertaining, but very educational as well. 

Cemeteries and graveyards are both places we bury our dead, but (technically, at least) they’re not exactly the same. Growing up in Maysville, Oklahoma — when people died, they were buried in the cemetery. At least they were if they were buried in Maysville, because there were no graveyards. So, as unusual as it is for me… getting right to he point, a cemetery refers to a large burial ground, typically not associated with a church. A graveyard is typically smaller than a cemetery and is almost always associated with a church — and is usually part of the churchyard. 

Years ago, the ritual and process of burial was totally in the hands of the church, and burying the dead was only allowed on the land(s) near the church building. This land around the church was called the churchyard. The part of the churchyard used for burial was called the graveyard. Over the years, as more and more people died, the graveyards were filling to capacity. Eventually, there was no more room for church burials and new places for burying people had to be found — these were called cemeteries. 

The term graveyard obviously refers to a yard filled with graves. The word grave comes from old German, and means “to dig.” It’s interesting that the word cemetery comes from the old French word, cimetiere. That word means — you guessed it — graveyard. But the French word cimetiere originally came from the Greek word koimeterion. That word means “a sleeping place.”

While we’re on the subject, when I was going to school, depending on my class schedule, I sometimes worked the graveyard shift. I often wondered why it was called the graveyard shift. Actually, one of the men that I worked with on that late shift years ago, told me. It’s referred to as the graveyard shift because of the “silence” at that time of night — and — there are substantially more (serious) accidents during that shift, compared to other working hours. 

So if you want to be technically correct when you visit, use the word cemetery when you’re visiting the larger burial grounds and graveyard in the burial grounds next to the church.
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I have a Facebook account — so, I guess I’m a “member” of that community. Anyone that wants to check, will find that I don’t contribute to Facebook, and only periodically check the site. The first time I heard of it and after the first time I’d seen it, my thought was that this is a “dangerous” site. I think the idea of it is pretty cool, but even I could immediately  think of hundreds of ways it could be mis-used. My opinion hasn’t changed, but that’s not what this morning’s ramblings are about.

This morning, after checking my e-mail and reading a bit about the Super Tuesday elections, I clicked on Facebook and I found a posting by a favorite reader of this blog — Sue. Seems they had visited the cemetery and she had noticed several humorous engravings on the tombstones. It was an interesting read and was a great example of what Facebook could and should be.

Anyhow, that got me to thinking… I’ve visited lots of cemeteries around the world and I don’t remember almost anything that was engraved on the stones — except for a couple. One that I’ve seen a few times reads, “See, I told you I was sick.” I always thought that was funny. But one that I’ve always remembered, that I think is funny, thought-provoking, and and little bit sad, reads: 
“Here lies an atheist.  All dressed up with no place to go.”
Even though it’s funny, it’s sad… to think that this might be all there is.

I once read that there are very few “significant” last words spoken by someone who’s dying. I suppose that’s true. I remember hearing that Oscar Wilde’s last words were, “This wallpaper is dreadful, one of us will have to go.” Probably not significant , but memorable. But I like the way one of the Harry Potter books ended — “All was well.”
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Well, pretty much every year at this time you hear me sigh with relief — after again making it through February. Goodbye February, hello March! I know I’ve said it before, but I really think the old Roman calendars had it right. They didn’t even give January or February the dignity of naming them. When those two month rolled around, it was just “winter.” Their year began with March. 

March was named for the Roman god of war, Mars. It probably earned that name because it was typically when military campaigns resumed, after being interrupted by winter.

In my mind, it’s now spring, but the vernal or spring equinox actually occurs on Thursday, March 19, at 11:50 pm (EDT.) 
March’s birthstone is the aquamarine, it’s zodiac sings are Pisces and Aries, and it’s full moon is called the Worm Moon.This year it occurs on Monday, March 9, at 1:48 pm (EDT.)

They say that if March comes in like a lion, it’ll go out like a lamb. This falls into the folklore category, but it may be, at least a little bit, based on fact or at least past experience or observations. 

There are a few things to celebrate in March, Like St. Patrick’s — I’ll probably be talking about them as the month goes on. I suppose I should mention that March is National Umbrella Month. Seems like it should be April, but it’s March. This may call for some extensive research on my part. Happy March….
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If you’ve been following along lately, you know that this year I’ve tried to be positive and not get “down” on my least favorite month — February. You’ll notice from the last few entries, I haven’t missed many opportunities to celebrate…. doing my best to lift my spirits and look more favorably on the month of February. 

Most years I’d be done with February and feeling pretty good about March finally arriving — which, in my mind, is kind of the unofficial start of spring. But this year is leap year and here we are still in February. But luckily, this last day of February just happens to be the last Saturday in February. And we all know what that means — all together now, “It’s OTBN!!!” Yep, one of my favorite nights. I won’t bother to describe OTBN yet again — you can check the past blog entries if you don’t know. 

We started this tradition in February of 2007 and last February made 12 years ( and 144 bottles of wine.) Since then we hit another milestone when we celebrated OTBN CL with the 150th bottle. So tonight we complete year 13 — what better way to celebrate  this extra day of my (still) least favorite month.

The fact that February 29 happens to fall on a Saturday makes this OTBN celebration even more special — and unique. The next time we’ll be able to celebrate OTBN on February 29th will be in the year 2048. So hopefully, one of you younger faithful readers will remember and celebrate OTBN MMXLVIII for us. Goodbye February, hello March.
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Yesterday’s blog discussed Tuesday. Today we’re going to talk about Wednesday – specifically, Ash Wednesday. Today, Catholics, and many other Christians, will have ashes applied to their foreheads in the shape of a cross. The ashes symbolize penance, mourning and mortality. The ashes are made by burning the blessed palms that were distributed the previous year on Palm Sunday.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent which is celebrated for 40 days leading up to Easter. But if you take a look at a calendar, you’ll notice that the time between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday is 46 days. Sundays are not included in Lent.

Traditionally, people, especially Catholics, choose to eat fish, not meat, on Fridays during Lent — but — there are some interesting exceptions to the rule…
In 2006, several American bishops gave a special dispensation to eat meat on Friday during Lent because St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Friday and it is traditional to eat corned beef for his feast day.
A couple of years ago, the National Bishop’s Conference approved the consumption of alligator on Friday, because alligator is considered to be in the fish family.
In the 1600s, a group of monks in France allowed Puffins to be considered fish, since their natural habitat was as much terrestrial as aquatic. So the bird could be eaten on Fridays.

In the Republic of Ireland, Ash Wednesday is also National No Smoking Day, too. Since quitting smoking can be very hard, it has been tied in with giving up vices and pleasure for Lent. 
So today is Ash Wednesday — don’t tell people that their foreheads are dirty.
Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. 
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Today is Tuesday — depending on where you’re from, or how you were raised, it may also be Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day or even Fasnacht Day. Today, February 25th is all of those. It’s the day before Ash Wednesday.

Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday and is another name for Shrove Tuesday. Shrove is derived from the middle English word shriven, that means to go to confession and atone for your sins. Shrove Tuesday is often referred to as Pancake Day.  It’s the day before Ash Wednesday, that marks the start of Lent — a 40 day fasting and abstinence leading up to Easter. Lent is meant to mirror Jesus’ 40 days of fasting while he was in the Judean desert.

Today is often called Pancake Day because during the fasting period of Lent, traditionally, rich, fatty foods such as milk, eggs and flour were not eaten, so making pancakes became a way of using these before the fasting began.

I mentioned in this blog a few years ago, that I hadn’t heard of Fasnacht Day before we moved here to Shepherdstown. Fasnacht Day is an annual Pennsylvania Dutch celebration that falls on Shrove Tuesday. The word translates to Fasting Night in English. The tradition is to eat the very best foods, which are part of the German tradition, before the Lenten fast. 

After we moved here, we got our first Fastnacht from a Mennonite bakery in Sharpsburg. A fastnacht is a yeast-raised potato donut. The Fastnachts we had were square (with no hole in the middle.) But they can also be triangular in shape. Square-shaped fastnachts are meant to represent the four gospels of the Bible, while the triangular fastnacht represents the Holy Trinity.
So whatever you call it, eat up — for tomorrow we fast.
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I see in the news that President Trump has just visited the Taj Mahal during his trip to India. I visited the mausoleum in the late 60s, or maybe it was the very early 70s. I’m sure it’s gotten worse by now, but even back then the surrounding area had become a tourist trap, with about a million vendors that would sell you all sorts of junk associated with the Taj Mahal, or other things that I didn’t even know existed. 

I was very fortunate to have a good “guide” for my visit. I can’t remember his name, but he worked at the American Embassy in New Delhi, and must have been a real student of Indian history. To say he was very knowledgeable about the Taj Mahal would be a gross understatement. 

I don’t remember everything he told me, but I’m sure some of the information was different, and probably more accurate, than the normal guided tours that seemed to be very popular.

One of the first things you learn about the Taj Mahal is that it was inspired by love — the Shah (Jahan) was inspired to build it after his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during child birth. (She died while giving birth to her 14th child and was in labor for 30 hours before she died. She was 40.)

There is a long-standing rumor or myth that the artists and architects involved with the construction of the Taj Mahal were later put to death so that they could never “repeat such a beautiful feat.” My guide assured me that it wasn’t true. It’s interesting that the chief architect wasn’t an Indian — he was Ustad Ahmad Lahuri, a Persian from Iran.

It took 22 years to build the Taj Mahal. Over 1,000 elephants were used to transport heavy materials and supplies for construction. The four towers surrounding it were constructed farther away from the main structure than usual and they lean slightly outward. Again, according to my guide, this was done so that if any of them fell, they would fall away from the tomb. The Taj Mahal contains a working mosque and is closed for Fridays for prayer.

I’m sure it’s much worse now, but when I was there, the white marble used in the construction, was turning a yellowish color — even then it was attributed to air pollution.

The Taj Mahal is located in Agra, a city that President Trump managed to mis-pronounce this morning. But I’m sure he’s having a good time — I hope he enjoyed his tour and found it as informative as I did.
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I read an article the other day — I think it may have been in an ARRP publication, that talked about a study that concluded that kids today can’t run as fast as previous generations. Without reading any further, if you think about it, you know why. They are too fat. Kids sit most of the time, playing video games, or fooling with some tech gadget, or watching one of a possible 500 TV channels available to them. Most of their activities don’t involve any physical exercise. I guess this makes life easier for parents, it keeps the kid occupied — without parental participation.

The fact that kids can’t run as fast anymore, isn’t the only thing they can’t do… many can’t add and subtract. Almost every electronic device like phones, MP3 players, and even watches have a calculator build in — kids have no reason to even try to add and subtract on their own.

Kids can’t read or write cursive. A lot, if not most, of the new curriculums don’t teach cursive. Kids don’t even know how to sign their names.

It also occurs to me that they probably don’t know how to use a library… I’m not sure about this one, but my guess is that if they need to research a subject or “look up” something, they immediately go to Google.

I realize that children are growing up in an entirely different world — a lot different that it was just a few years ago. But a few things haven’t changed…. everyone needs to be physically fit, be able to add and subtract (without a calculator) and read and write cursive. Our children need to be properly introduced to the world in which they live. I’m not sure that’s happening….
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