What Would Jimmy Do?

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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Besides being the generally accepted date of George Washington’s real birthday, today is National Margarita Day. The February celebrations continue….

The margarita was originally created in Mexico in 1938. Various people have taken credit for “inventing” the margarita, so you can pick your favorite — but I choose Carlos “Danny” Herrera who claims that he developed the drink at his restaurant in Tijuana. 

The margarita’s popularity really took off in the late 1940s… Margarita Sames, a Dallas socialite, served the drink at one of her big parties, and one of her guests happened to be Tommy Hilton. Hilton liked it so much, he added the drink to the bar menu at his hotels. 

Of course the cocktail became more popular when singer Jimmy Buffet made the margarita popular with his mega-hit “Margaritaville.”

We’ll celebrate the day with our own margarita recipe at home or go to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants here in West Virginia. Of course to do it right, we should go to the famous restaurant, Margaritaville — but Nashville is a long drive, even if it is a special day.

I hope you’ll all do your duty and honor this sacred tequila, Triple Sec and lime drink by having a couple. Let’s keep this fabulous February holiday spirit alive.
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A couple of weeks ago we had guests for lunch. Claire served chili — I like chili and Claire makes really good chili. When I was growing up in Oklahoma, we ate “Texas chili” although we didn’t call it Texas chili — we just called it chili. Texas chili was made with beef… just beef, no beans! If anyone even mentioned putting beans into chili, they’d be run out of town. I also don’t remember there being a lot of peppers, onions, etc, either — if there were, they were chopped very fine. I guess chili pepper was added as to taste, but I don’t remember it ever being especially hot.

Just about every restaurant had chili on the menu, but if you tried to order it in say, July — people would look at you like you were an idiot, and of course even though it was on the menu, it wasn’t available. You only ate chili during cold weather. Restaurants usually had it available from about October to February. 

I mentioned that Claire makes really good chili — but she uses ground beef (like hamburger meat.) That would never have happened when I was living in Oklahoma. Chili was made from “chili meat.” Some purists made their chili using hand-cut cubed beef, but most everyone used “Chili grind.” Chili meat or chili grind is, basically, beef ground like hamburger, but a coarser grind.— maybe a size a little larger than green peas, but  the size could vary. 

My uncle was the butcher in my dad’s grocery store and he always had hamburger meat and chili meat available. They were both made with the same machine or grinder. He just put in a larger die to grind the chili meat. I’m not sure if I’ve seen “chili meat” in the local stores around here, but I’ve really never looked for it. Probably any butcher could make it for you, but I don’t know if it’s a “stock” item. Maybe I’ll do some extensive research on it one day — in the meantime I’ll just accept the fact that chili, like a lot of things, has changed and go with ground beef.
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We drove by a Bar/Restaurant yesterday that had a sign out front that said,
“Our Coronas are virus free!”
I thought it was clever — and funny….
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The festivities of February just go on and on — we have arrived at another of those great February Holidays. Today is National Drink Wine Day. I suppose as a public service, I should remind everyone to please drink responsibly. There. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about wine. No one seems to know who created this day, but whoever it was deserves an award of some kind and a place in history. 

Not that you necessarily need a special occasion to drink wine, but when one presents itself, its always good to take advantage of it. Wine is enjoyed on every continent — with the exception of Antarctica. Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s enjoyed there, too. Surely some of those scientists that live and work there, have a wine cellar — what better to do on a long winter night?I’ve read that wine’s popularity is at an all-time high. 

The Roman Empire adopted Catholicism in 380 A.D. During this period, wine became an important part of the Catholic sacrament, so it became necessary to spread the cultivation  of grapevines and the production of wine. As Catholicism spread across Europe, wine went along for the ride.

The French imported grapevines into the area that is now the State of Virginia in the early American colonies, but they weren’t popular for making wine because of the region’s Puritanical roots. Wine making did eventually spread along the Eastern Seaboard of what would become the United States. 

Thomas Jefferson probably gets credit for popularizing wine making in America. Before he became a U.S. President, Tom was the first Minister to France and he became enchanted with French wines and decided to bring French grape cuttings to Virginia. His aim was to create an American wine that would equal the quality of French wines. I’m not sure he ever achieved that goal, but his efforts may have led to the establishment of the American wine industry. 

But all that aside, today is a great day to celebrate — go on a winery tour, a liquor store, grocery store, or just down to the wine cellar. Pour a glass of wine and let’s toast to National Drink Wine Day.
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Well here we are nearing the end of February and still eagerly celebrating all these wonderful February holidays. Tomorrow is another one. If you read the papers or look on calendars, it’s President’s Day, or depending where you are, it may be Presidents’ Day. 

I know — this isn’t something to get all worked up about, but this is really a confusing “holiday.” Both faithful readers have heard all this before, but I can’t let this un-justice go without at least mentioning it annually. Long ago we celebrated George Washington and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays during the month of February. Fine — they were both great Presidents and their birthdays deserved recognition. 

Then, in 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill. That legislation changed the observance of Washington’s Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February. The Bill originally was intended to rename the holiday “President’s Day” but that proposal failed in committees. The legislation passed, making the third Monday of February a federal holiday, but according to the legislation, it’s Washington’s Birthday. 

So — here we are….
Today is still officially called Washington’s Birthday by the federal government. 
Some spell it President’s Day. (refers to one President)
Some Spell it Presidents’ Day. (refers to more than one President)
The difference in spelling denotes that some celebrate George Washington alone on this day and others celebrate George and Abraham Lincoln… and, some may be celebrating all presidents. 
Even though it’s a federal holiday, each state is free to call it what they choose and how they celebrate.

To be fair, there were four presidents born in February — George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, William Harrison and Ronald Reagan. The only names you hear mentioned are Washington and Lincoln. What about Harrison and Lincoln?

Oh well, happy third Monday of February — no matter what you call it, or how you celebrate.
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Well, here it is another one of those big February celebrations — Valentine’s Day. I guess it’s generally considered to be one of, if not the, most romantic days of the year. It’s a long standing tradition that I talk about Valentine’s Day every year on this blog. If you’ve read the February 14 entries over the years, you know that while we celebrate a lot of holidays, we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day — at least not on Valentine’s Day. We’ve always found restaurants or places that we’d like to go on Valentine’s Day just too crowded so we either celebrate the occasion before or after the fact.

Valentine’s Day, like most everything else, has changed over the years. When I was young, we always had a Valentine’s Day party at school. Today, I’m not sure that’s allowed at all schools, and even those that do allow it, operate with some constraints. If you remember last year, I told you that you could find all the romance you need at White Castle — the hamburger chain. I hope you took my advice and made reservations for this year. Probably when I was young(er) I never would have thought to take a date or spouse to White Castle on this, perhaps the most romantic day of the year. See? Things change… so maybe this is a good time to reminisce about earlier times — not to say they were better… just different.

Not sure if this is true, but history’s first valentine may have been written in a prison. In the 15th century, Charles, Duke of Orleans, at the age of 21, wrote a love poem to his second wife after he was captured at the Battle of Agincourt. He was a prisoner for more than 20 years and would never see his valentine’s reaction to his poetry.

Some say Valentine’s Day origin can be traced to a Christian effort to replace a pagan fertility festival that has been dated as far back as the 6th century B.C. During the festival of Lupercalia, Roman priests would sacrifice goats and dogs and use their blood-soaked hides to slap women on the streets, as a fertility blessing. According to legend, women would later put their names in an urn and be selected to be paired with a man for a year. Not sure why you’d want to replace such a fun festival, but apparently someone thought a Valentine’s Day celebration would be better….

Cupid has bee associated with Valentine’s Day for centuries. But — before he was renamed Cupid, he was known to the Greeks as Eros, the god of love. Eros was the son of Greek goddess Aphrodite and would use two sets of arrows — one for love and another for hate to play with the emotions of those he shot. We can credit the Romans for changing his image into the childlike appearance that we recognize today. 

You know those chalky heart-shaped candies that always show up around Valentines Day? Guess what — they started out as lozenges. The machine to create the lozenges was invented by a pharmacist, Oliver Chase. He figured out that the machine could also be used to create candy — these candies later became known as Necco Wafers. Chase’s brother came up with the idea to print messages on the candy and a number of years later the candy was made in heart shapes — that appealed to people, especially around Valentine’s Day.

So I guess the point here is that love is where — and when — you find it. Maybe a hamburger is another man’s rose….
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