What Would Jimmy Do?

The moon was especially big and bright a few nights ago and I just stayed outside and watched it for several minutes. The “sky” has been in the news a good amount lately — a student discovered a new planet, some new stars have been located in the Milky Way and a number of black holes have been mis-behaving, or at least not behaving the way astronomers say they always have….

Since we moved here to West Virginia, I’ve done a fair amount of sky watching, since there isn’t near the amount of ambient light that we had when we were living in Virginia. My neighbor and I often watch the International Space Station when it’s visible from Shepherdstown. We’ve even become pretty good at picking out some of the planets and constellations. 

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but the “sky” is different depending on where you are on Earth. When we lived in the Philippines, we often checked out the Southern Cross — a constellation not visible in the United States. Well, actually that’s not quite true. For much, if not most, of the Northern Hemisphere the Southern Cross never rises above the horizon, so it can never be seen from about the middle of the United States northward. You can see it from Hawaii. In the contiguous U.S., to view the Southern Cross, you need to be in southern Florida or Texas — specifically, you must be at 26 degrees north latitude, or further south. Even in those few locations in the U.S. there is a limited viewing window to catch the Southern Cross — it has to be the right season of the year, and the right time of night. Of course, you also have to look in the right direction…. south would be good.

I’m not an astronomer, but I’ve learned that there are (I think) 88 constellations — the Southern Cross is the smallest of those constellations. But it is a prominent one and one of the best known constellations in the Southern Hemisphere. The Southern Cross was originally (and sometimes today) known as Crux — a Latin name that means “the cross.” The cross shape is formed by the constellations five brightest stars.

Once again, there’s no real point to this — but, I like stars. I’ve been fortunate enough (or unfortunate enough, depending on your point of view) several times to be places that the view of the stars is magnificent. I’ve never been to space, but if the view is any better than a few I’ve had here on Earth, it must be mighty special. Stars are cool — they don’t say anything or judge anyone. Someone once said that you should never complain beneath the stars about the lack of bright spots in you life….
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Some time back, I talked about barns and why they were painted red. One thing that often/usually existed on older barns was a weathervane. At one time, these things were considered essential for farmers to have… today they’re more decorative, but they do still perform the same function and sometimes I think they are about as accurate as weather satellites when it comes to predicting the weather. 

So you guessed it — today’s topic is weathervanes. The components of a weathervane are the vane, the mast, and the directionals, which display the four points of the compass — North, South, East and West. The vane usually resembles an arrow shape, often with some decorative figure on top. The vane rotates freely and points in the direction the wind is coming from. The directionals remain stationary. So if the arrow is pointing north, that means the are coming from the north indicating a “north wind.”

Originally, people tied strings or cloth to the tops of buildings so that they could see which way the wind was blowing. Later, banners became a popular ornament and that’s where we get the “vane” in weathervane — it’s an Old English word that meant “banner” or “flag.”

Probably the first real weathervane (not simply a piece of cloth) was on top of the Tower of the Winds, a First Century B.C. octagonal tower in Athens, Greece. The tower was topped by a bronze wind vane in the shape of Triton, the sea god. The vane was designed so that Triton, who was holding a rod in his hand, would turn so that the rod pointed in the direction of the blowing wind. Obviously weathervanes work best when they’re placed on top of the tallest structure available because there’s less obstacles to obstruct the wind. Before long, weathervanes like the one on top of the Tower of the Winds spread throughout Europe, often on top of towers and church steeples. Usually those on churches were adorned with a cross or an image of a patron saint…. but they all served the same purpose — to turn and point in the direction of the wind.

It seems that he most popular weathervane “topper” now is the rooster. Since church steeples were often the highest structure around they were popular spots for weathervanes. The rooster is an important symbol in Christian churches — primarily because of the story of St. Peter after the Last Supper. The Bible writings tell us that Peter would deny Jesus three times “before the rooster crowed.” The rooster became known to many Christians as the symbol of St. Peter. 

In the 9th century, Pope Nicholas decreed that all churches must display the rooster on their steeples or domes as a symbol of Peter’s betrayal of Jesus. In accordance with the decree, churches started using weathervanes with the rooster. We have a rooster at our church — not on a weathervane, but on a pole. As centuries passed, the rule about placing roosters atop churches went by the wayside — but roosters stayed on weathervanes. 

So today, you mostly see weathervanes on Barns — usually one of the taller structures on a farm, and many of them are adorned with a rooster. I’m not sure why roosters are that popular for weathervanes on farms, but a rooster is a farm animal and the shape of a rooster (especially their tail) makes it the perfect shape to catch the wind. If you wanted to get dramatic about it, you could say that the rooster is the first to see the rising sun and announce the day — it represents the victory of light over darkness while warding off evil….
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Politics and Religion are usually good topics to stay away from. I think I usually avoid those subjects for the most part, and when I do discuss them I’m only expressing an opinion…. not trying to influence anyone else’s opinions or thoughts. 

This past weekend at church, the homily/sermon was about John the Baptist. My mother was a Baptist, my father was a Methodist and I was confused. When I was growing up, religion was always a troubling subject with me. Not that I was an accomplished analyst at 6 or 7 or 8 years of age, but all the things I was hearing just didn’t make sense to me — logically or otherwise. I spent a lot of time in various religious classes and courses over the years trying to make some sense of it. 

Anyhow, what prompted me to write about this today, was the mention of John the Baptist. It reminded me of a story when I was young — my mother told me that she was a Baptist because John the Baptist was a Baptist. Now even though I was probably only 7 or 8 years old, I knew that wasn’t true. I remember that during the discussion, she admitted that really she was a Baptist because my granddad and grandmother were Baptists. I’m not sure why I remember that conversation, but I usually think of it when John the Baptist is mentioned. 

So — with that background, let’s talk about John the Baptist. John was the son of Zachariah and Elizabeth. His birth was foretold by the angel Gabriel to Zachariah. He was born about six months before his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth. John lived as a hermit in the desert of Judea. After a period of solitude in the desert, he started his ministry preaching repentance on the banks of the Jordan River converting and baptizing  people. (He wasn’t baptizing them into any religion (i.e., Baptists) — he was baptizing them into repentance for the coming of Jesus.) Just to prove I was paying attention in church this weekend — a lot of people flocked to hear John the Baptist and Jesus joined this group…. John recognized Him as the Messiah and baptized him saying that “It is I who need baptism from You.”

The “power” of John the Baptist increased and he was placed under arrest by Herod who had him imprisoned in chains in a facility on the banks of the Dead Sea. John the Baptist had preached against (and condemned) Herod because he had divorced his first wife and married someone who had formerly been married to his brother. Salome was the daughter of Herod’s second wife and Herod promised her any reward she chose in exchange for her dancing. Salome demanded that the head of John the Baptist be brought to her on a platter. So that was the cause of John the Baptist’s death — beheaded.

John the Baptist was not a Baptist — one large group split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century and insisted that adults be baptized by immersion in order to join the church. This original group fractured — the more conservative elements eventually  became the Mennonites and Amish. The more liberal became the various Baptist organizations. Some people argue that Baptist is the only religion mentioned in the Bible, but today’s Baptist religion didn’t get its name until the 16th century.

There you have it — a lesson in religion according to Jimmy….
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When I was growing up, the term “Morse Code” was familiar to most people. Many/most people couldn’t read Morse Code and most weren’t even sure what it was, but they had at least heard the term. That’s probably not the case today. Morse Code uses a unique series of dots and dashes, called “dii and dah” for each letter of the alphabet and the numbers 0 through 9. The system was developed in 1836 by Samuel Morse, Alford Vail and Joseph Henry. 

Obviously, morse code played a very important role in the development of timely long-distance communications and it is celebrated by two special days each year. Today, January 11 is Learn Your Name in Morse Code Day. In a few months, we celebrate Morse Code Day, on April 27. These two special days every year are celebrated for similar, but slightly different, reasons. 

As I mentioned earlier, Morse Code was developed in 1836 — a couple of years later, on January 11, 1838, Samuel Morse and Alford Vail demonstrated the use of the electric telegraph to transmit a message in morse code for the first time. The date for Learn You Name in Morse Code Day was chosen because that was the date of the first successful electric transmission of the code over wires. 

Sending Morse Code over telegraph lines allowed for instant, coast to coast communication of information. Even after radios arrived on the scene, Morse Code continued to be a major means of communications. Morse Code was in use in the military, ham (amateur) radios and other means of communication for decades. It remains in use, although limited, even today. As a communication tool, morse code in being replaced by modern technology. There is no mainstream use of Morse Code now and the system is, in fact, in danger of disappearing as a means of communication. The ability to send and receive Morse Code was always a requirement to be able to obtain a ham radio license. However, in 2007, that no longer was required to obtain a license from the FCC. 

Morse Code Day celebrates the invention of Morse Code and the electric telegraph machine. The celebration date was chosen to be Samuel Morse’s birthday — April 27, 1791.

Learn Your Name in Morse Code Day was created to stir up interest in Morse Code, to encourage people to learn and use it — and — to keep it from disappearing altogether. 
I did have to learn Morse Code when I was younger and used it a number of times over the years…. so, here’s my name in morse code:
(J) • — — —
(I) • •
(M) — —
(M) — —
(Y) — • — —
Happy Learn Your Name in Morse Code Day — maybe we should all learn it, then we’ll have two “secret” ways to communicate — morse code and cursive….
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Did you ever have a bowl of Cheerios and notice that when there are only a few Cheerios left floating on top of the milk, they tend to cluster together in little bunches — usually around the edge of the bowl? Did you ever wonder why they do that? Well, I’ll tell you, I’ve wondered about that for many years. 

If you’ve read this blog over the years, you know there are a lot of things that I wonder about. Sometimes I wonder about something for some period of time and finally I just don’t wonder about it anymore. Or, sometimes I solve the puzzlement to my satisfaction and then I stop wondering.

It turns out that I wasn’t the only one wondering about that mysterious behavior of Cheerios. Finally, the scientific community took action and performed a scientific study to explain the behavior. Thanks to Brown University for looking into this phenomenon. 

Here’s what’s happening — it has to do with surface tension, the tendency of molecules on the surface of a liquid to stick together, forming a thin film across the surface — and — gravity. Small objects like Cheerios aren’t heavy enough to break the surface tension of milk, so they float. Their weight, however, does create a small dent in the surface film. When one Cheerio dent gets close enough to another, they fall into each other, merging their dents and eventually forming clusters on the milk’s surface. 

That certainly puts my mind at ease. The study went on to develop a method to measure the forces that cause small object to cluster together on the surface of a liquid. I really don’t care about the forces involved — I just needed to know why they congregated. 

The study did, however, name the phenomenon the “Cheerio effect.” I do like the name — now I can truly enjoy my next bowl of Cheerios….
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A few days ago we were driving near Boonsboro in Maryland. We passed a couple of nice barns and Claire remarked that they should be painted red — they were both white. Well, that got me to thinking — when we’re driving, a lot, if not most, barnes we see are painted red. You’ve probably guessed by now that this is a subject that just begs for some of my extensive research. 

Turns out, barn paint is an interesting subject. Many years ago, farmers didn’t have a choice for paints or sealers and had to be resourceful in finding (or — usually — making) a paint that would protect and seal the wood on their barns. Hundreds of years ago, many farmers would seal their barns with linseed oil, which is an orange-colored oil derived from the seed of the flax plant. They usually mixed milk and lime to the oil, but also ferrous oxide. (Ferrous oxide is basically just rust.) Rust was plentiful on farms and because it killed fungi and mosses that might grow on barns, it was a very effective sealant. When mixed with the linseed oil, it turned the mixture red in color. Years later, when paint became more available, many farmers chose red paint for their barns because of tradition. 

My research could have ended there, but it was a slow day and I dug a little deeper. Another theory as to the red color claimed that, farmers (especially rich farmers) mixed the linseed-oil/milk/lime concoction  with blood from a recent slaughter. As the paint dried, it turned from a bright red to a darker, burnt red. (Actually, the term “barn red” isn’t the bright, fire-engine red that we often see today — it’s more of a burnt-orange red.) At any rate, no matter how a farmer tinted his paint, having a red barn became a fashionable thing. 

Now I should mention that the road in Maryland we were driving on is known as the Old National Pike. My research uncovered the fact that while red barns are still a tradition in most US farming regions, white barns are the norm along the Old National Pike. One reasonable explanation that the red barn tradition never took root along that path is because the road made freight, including white lead, accessible to nearby farmers. Basically, lead paint simply wasn’t available in most rural areas before the 1880s except in very narrow corridors with good transportation (like the Old National Pike.) 

So red barns were originally red for a reason — seems like everything is more interesting when you know the “rest of the story.”
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First snow (in Shepherdstown) of the year, or the decade, or 2020 — your choice.
But the days are getting longer…. sigh
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Benjamin Franklin once said:
“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.”
Me and Ben are on the same page….
Happy New Year!

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The year is drawing to a close and it’s time for me to come up with my resolutions for 2020. As always, I go through this routine telling you how most people (including me) don’t keep their resolutions, so why bother. 

A new year, with a nice clean new calendar is just a sign that its a good opportunity to start anew — a new beginning if you will. Of course we really don’t need a new year — every day is a new beginning. But — no one is going to write new resolutions every day… so the start of the new year is a good time to do it.
Recently, I’ve shortened my list and made resolutions that are more realistic. I’m going to continue that practice again for 2020. So here goes….

• I will drive by the Shepherd Wellness Center at least once a month. I know, the last couple of years I’ve resolved to drive by once a week, and I’ve never achieved that goal. So I’m relaxing the criteria. We all know that keeping fit requires a lot of discipline, but hopefully I’ll stick with it this year.
• I promise to wave more often to strangers. This is sort of an extension of last year’s resolution to make a new friend every month. I think it’ll help make the world a better place.
• I promise to give one compliment a day. Again, building on last year’s pledge to make a new friend every month… I think you may be sensing a trend here.
• I will try a totally new restaurant. This one seems like a slam-dunk, but you never know….
• I will never back up more than necessary….
• I will talk less, listen more. I think I can do this — if Claire reads this, she’ll do the old eye-roll. But, we’ll see around this time next year who’s eating humble pie.

(I was going to quit all my bad habits for the new year, but then I realized that nobody likes a quitter.)
So there they are — my New Year’s Resolutions for 2020. As always, you can check back here next year about this time to see how I did.

We have a whole new year ahead of us. Wouldn’t it be nice if could all be a little more loving, and have a little more empathy — maybe by next year at this time, we’d all like each other a little more.
Here’s hoping that every day of 2020 is filled with happiness, success and prosperity for everyone….
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A day or so ago, I gave everyone an update on how I did on my New Year’s resolutions for 2019. I do this pretty much every year.  And — I usually ramble on about why people even bother to make resolutions because such a small percentage of people keep such a small percentage of their resolutions. So I thought maybe I’d look into the history of resolutions — that might shed some light on why we continue to resolve to do all these things every year that we don’t do.

From what I can tell, the Babylonians where the first people to make New Year’s resolutions, about 4,000 years ago. Back then, the new year began in March, when the crops were planted. Every year they held a 12-day religious festival known as Akitu. During the celebration, they crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king. They also made promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed. These promises may have been the forerunner of our New Year’s resolutions.

In Rome, around 46 B.C. Julius Caesar tinkered with the calendar and established January 1 as the beginning of the new year. January was named for Janus, the two-faced god whose spirit inhabited doorways and arches. The month had a special significance for the Romans — they believed that Janus symbolically looked backwards into the previous year and ahead into the future. The Romans offered sacrifices to the deity and made promises of good conduct for the coming year. 

The early Christians made the first day of the new year the occasion for thinking about one’s past mistakes and resolving to do and be better in the future. 

In 1740, John Wesley, founder of Methodism, created the Covenant Renewal Service — most commonly held on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. These services were also known as watch night services and included readings from the Scriptures and the singing of hymns. They were intended to serve as a spiritual alternative to the raucous celebrations normally held to celebrate the coming of the new year. 
These services are still popular within evangelical Protestant churches, especially African-American denominations — watch night services held on New Year’s Eve are often spent praying and making resolutions for the coming year. 

Today, it seems like a lot of things are “all about me,” and resolutions apparently have taken that route. Instead of making promises to the gods, most people make resolutions only to themselves, and focus purely on self-improvement. 

The last I checked, about 45 percent of Americans at least say they usually make New Year’s resolutions, but only about 8 percent are successful in achieving their goals.

So every year when you read about my lofty goals for the coming year and my confession that I didn’t reach my goals for the past year, just remember that I’m not alone. And me and the other 45 percent of Americans aren’t likely to stop making resolutions — it’s hard to give up a habit that’s 4,000 years old.
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