What Would Jimmy Do?

When Emily was younger and spent more time at our house, we always played a lot of games. One game that we played was Chinese Checkers. If you go to a toy store, most times you won’t find Chinese Checkers in the game section. I guess it’s considered too old fashioned and not high-tech enough for today’s generation. But Emily always enjoyed playing it when she was here.

The name always fascinated me — it’s not really like checkers, except for the part where you “jump” over the playing pieces. In checkers, when you jump your opponent’s checker, you take it off the board… not so in Chinese Checkers. That’s not the only difference, of course, because they are different games.

I always just assumed that the game must have been invented, or originated, in China. So I figured this would be a good exercise to keep my extensive research sharp. Although, once again, my extensive research, wasn’t totally conclusive — it did uncover the fact the game is not a variation of “checkers” and it didn’t originate in China. Like a lot of things, there’s a bit of historical uncertainty about the origin of the game. Wikipedia, a usually reliable source, indicates the game is of German origin, but more of the sources I found seem to agree that it first appeared as a game called “Hoppity” that was popular in Great Britain in the latter part of the 19th century. The original game (like Chinese Checkers) allowed for more than two players — the board was square and players could play from all four corners of the board, allowing up to four to play. The game did eventually make its way to Germany, where it was changed to play on a six-pointed star shaped playing board. The Germans re-named the game “Stern-Halma.” Halma is the German name for Hoppity and Stern is Star. So the modern-day game as we know it was at least finalized or refined in Germany. But “Chinese” was never associated with the game. When the game showed up in America, it was released by the Pressman Co., an American toy company, under the name “Hop Ching Checkers.” The board was decorated with dragons and Fu Manchu images and the words were written in a chop-suey style font.

The game was released in 1928 and it soon became more popular than either its English or German ancestors. Because the game was so successful, other toy and game companies wanted to get in on the craze — and each of the various companies spin-offs included the Oriental (today, Asian) themes originated by the Pressman Co.
Eventually, Milton Bradley Company patented the name “Chinese Checkers,” for their version of the game, in 1941. And the name stuck. Even in China, the game is known as “Chinese Checkers” although the game has no actual ties to the country.

Claire is always saying she’d like to find something not made in China. I realize that’s getting harder and harder to do, but if you buy Chinese Checkers, it may be made in China, but at least it wasn’t invented there….
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Someone we know recently returned from a trip to Scotland. They seemed to have a good time and talked a lot about the food and things they learned about Scotland. One thing that seemed to escape them was the national animal of Scotland. It turns out that a bit of trivia I learned about Scotland was from Emily, and her fascination with Unicorns. I’m pretty sure that unicorns don’t actually exist, but nonetheless the national animal of Scotland is the Unicorn!

I’m not sure how many other, if any, countries have mythical creatures as a national symbol. Unicorns have been linked to Scotland for centuries. While the animal may be mythological, it was probably chosen for the ideals it represents. In Celtic mythology the unicorn was symbol of purity and innocence — as well as masculinity and power. Tales of dominance and chivalry associated with the unicorn are prevalent in Scottish literature.

The unicorn was first used on the Scottish royal coat of arms by William I in the 12th century. In the 15th century, when King James III was in power, gold coins appeared with the unicorn on them. When Scotland and England unified under the reign of James VI of Scotland in 1603, the Scottish Royal Arms had two unicorns supporting a shield. When James VI became James I of England and Ireland, he replaced the unicorn on the left of the Shield with the National animal of England (the lion) to show that the countries were indeed united.

The unicorn representing Scotland in the coat of arms is always depicted bounded by a golden chain, which is often seen passing around its neck and wrapping all around its body. The unicorn was believed to be the strongest of all animals — wild and untamed, and that it could only be humbled by a virgin maiden. One story that I’ve heard is that the unicorn’s entrapment symbolizes the power of the Scottish kings — they were strong enough to tame even a unicorn.

Benjamin Franklin suggested that America’s national animal should be the turkey. Thinking about the way things are today, maybe a turkey might be appropriate — but — I think the choice of our national animal (the Bison) was a good one, and pretty cool…. but it’s hard to compete with a unicorn.
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One big event that always falls near our anniversary is the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby is held on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. I’ve never been to the Derby, but I’ve watched it on TV a number of times. One thing that I’ve noticed is that a lot, maybe most, people attending the Kentucky Derby are drinking Mint Juleps. That makes sense because a Mint Julep is a bourbon-based drink and Kentucky is known for its bourbon(s). In fact I just assumed that bourbon was the state drink of Kentucky.

But boy, was I wrong. It turns out that until 2005, Kentucky didn’t have an official state drink. In 2005, Kentucky legislators designated the official state drink as milk! Now how in the world did milk become the official state drink in a state that produces 95 percent of the country’s bourbon? Well, in 2005, then-senator Joey Pendleton — a dairy farmer — introduced Senate Bill 93, that asked legislators to designate milk as the official drink of Kentucky. The bill passed with little to no opposition and was signed into law by Governor Ernie Fletcher.

Not everyone was, or is, happy with the state drink and currently there is a petition being circulated to change it. The petition states its case very clearly: “Milk is boring, bland and contributes next to nothing to Kentucky’s image or economy. Bourbon, on the other hand, is wildly popular around the world, unique to the Commonwealth, a source of pride for its citizens, a major economic driver and conjures an idyllic image of our state in the minds of those who might choose to visit or do business here. This is very stupid.” The petition makes a good point — in 2016 Kentucky ranked 27th among milk-producing states and contributed more than $180 million to the state’s economy. Bourbon, on the other hand, in 2016, contributed $8.5 billion to the economy and generated 17, 500 jobs.

As of today, milk is still Kentucky’s state drink… but I just can’t imagine all those ladies with fancy hats attending the Derby standing around drinking milk. The official drink of the Kentucky Derby is, of course, the Mint Julep, a bourbon-based cocktail. The Mint Julep became the official drink of the Derby in 1939 — after prohibition. After prohibition ended and Mint Juleps were again available at the race track, track managers noticed that people were stealing the julep glasses, taking them home as souvenirs of Churchill Downs. In 1940, the first official Kentucky derby Mint Julep glasses were made and sold as souvenirs. Since then, a different glass has been created annually, and the glasses have become collector’s items. The front of the glass has a new design each year, and the back of the glass lists all the winners of the race. Now the price of the glass is built into the drink. You don’t have to go to the race to get an official glass — you can order one online… just do me a favor, though, and don’t put milk in it.
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We’ve both been fortunate in so many ways throughout our marriage, that it’s actually hard to believe some of the “issues” that some people have faced. A few weeks ago I heard about a phobia that I didn’t even know existed — pentheraphobia. If you don’t know what that is, it’s the fear of your mother-in-law. I’m not making this up. The origin of the term comes from the Greek — Penthera means mother -in-law and phobia means fear.

Phobias usually result from heredity and a combination of external events. Many specific phobias can be traced back to a specific triggering event. I’ll leave it up to you to imagine how/why someone would develop pebtgeraphobia — I can think of some pretty funny scenarios that might lead to such a condition.

Again, we were both lucky in this area — Claire got along with my mother better than I did, and I think I had a pretty good relationship with her mother. Just another thing we can add to our long list of things to be thankful for…..
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For the past fifteen years, today (May 22) has been known as Anniversary Day around our house. If my memory is correct, 15 years ago today, Kelly and Chris got married. And on that same day, Mike and Sue celebrated their fifth anniversary — by attending Kelly and Chris’s wedding.
So — Happy 20th Mike and Sue and Happy 15th Kelly and Chris.
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Boy, if you’re not careful you’ll learn something new all the time. That happened to me again the other evening. We were at a gathering with some friends and one of the guys (who usually knows what he’s talking about) said he had discovered why dogs, when getting ready to go to the bathroom, seem to make a big ritual out of it — spinning in a circle before finally squatting. Our friend said that dogs spin to get a feel for the Earth’s magnetic pull. Well, of course he got some funny looks but, amazingly, there wasn’t much discussion on the subject. Most people thought that dogs circle before pooping for much the same reason they spin around before lying down — the spinning flattens the grass around and keeps the blades away from their tushes while they poop.

Well, I figured this subject deserved some of my extensive research — and — turns out our friend was probably on to something. A Czech researcher, Hynek Burda, suggested that dogs spin to get a feel for the Earth’s magnetic pull. The Earth has a magnetic field around it protecting it from radiation from space, and some animals seem to use it to get a sense of where the North and South poles are. (It’s how birds know which way to migrate.) In 2013, Burda published a study in the journal Frontiers in Zoology suggesting dogs have a strong internal compass, too. He and his team spent two years watching 70 dogs poop and pee and recording which way they faced and how strong the magnetic field was.

As it turns out, when the magnetic field was calm (which it is about 20% of the time when its light out) dogs preferred to poop facing either north or south. When the magnetic field was less stable, they faced any old way. The pattern couldn’t explain why dogs like facing the Earth’s poles, but the researchers think it might help them remember where they marked their territory.

Here in Deerfield Village we’ve got a lot of dogs that poop — I suppose there is a science to where they poop. If we did a scientific study of their owners, it would probably reveal that only about ten percent of them know they’re supposed to pick up their dog’s poop….
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I was watching a quiz show a day or so ago and one of the questions was, “What is the only state that once had a king?” Actually, I knew the answer… Hawaii. Well, that got me to thinking. A number of years ago, I was in one of my least favorite European countries — France. When I was in Paris, I remembered seeing a plaque on a wall indicating that the place had at one time been the Embassy of Texas. I couldn’t remember all the details, so I had to do some of my extensive research to remember what I had seen. According to what I found out, the building I had been in was the Hôtel Bataille Francès (currently the Hôtel de Vendôme) and there is indeed a carving on the wall that reads: “Embassy of Texas in 1842-1843 this building was the seat of the Embassy of the Republic of Texas in Paris.” By the French-Texan Treaty of 20 September 1839, France was the First Nation to recognize the Republic of Texas, an independent state between 1836 and 1845. So here’s the background….

It seems like Texas has always dreamed of being its own country. From 1836-1845 it did exist as its own country. After breaking off from Mexico and announcing its autonomy, the republic was so eager to boost its international standing that it sent representatives to open embassies overseas. (Actually, these “Embassies” were really Legations — a diplomatic mission managed by someone with a lower-ranking official than an ambassador.) The reason for opening all these “Embassies” was that Texas feared an invasion from south of the border and thought war with Mexico was inevitable, so it began shoring up global support. Texas opened other embassies in Europe — I know for sure there was one in London. But the one in Paris is the only location I’ve visited.

Of course the independent Republic of Texas was short-lived. Texas was annexed by the United States on December 29, 1845 and ceased to be an independent country. It became the 28th state of the United States.

Growing up in Oklahoma, I heard lots and lots of stories from Texans…I imagine even today they are hoping to become their “own country.” I think the last time I was in a Texas airport, they were still selling secession t-shirts. I don’t know — the way things a going, maybe Texas has the right idea…. Of course if they secede they might risk a trade war with the US….
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May 9, 1976 was a Sunday — the President was Gerald Ford, people were listening to Welcome Back by John Sebastian, Abba was in the top five on the hit parade, A Man Called Intrepid was one of the best selling books and at the movies, The Bad News Bears and All the President’s Men were showing. May 9, 1976 was Mother’s Day.

Oh… and one more thing — Kelly was born. Happy Birthday to my most favorite daughter!!
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Today Claire and I are celebrating 47 years of marriage. There’s a lot of things I could write about the past 47 years… I could write about how undeserving I am and how amazing she is and how the last 47 years has been an amazing journey with her. Those things are all true and I could write about, and sincerely mean, them.

But I thought today, I’d just talk about marriage — and ours, in particular. If I remember correctly, when you marry, it’s for better or worse. We’ve had untold “better” times. We have a lot of friends that have been married a long time and appear to love each other very much. But I honestly can’t think of anyone who has had more fun being married than me and Claire. Of course, anyone can endure the good or better times. In the last 47 years, I can’t think of anything that we’ve experienced that would fall into the “worse” category.

I think our relationship with each other is the most important — more important than our relationships with friends, parents, relatives, our iPhones, or even our children. Yea, even our kids… I think they understand that and I don’t think they’d have it any other way. I think we have a pretty good balance between our common interests/hobbies/activities and our “own stuff.” There are things that I like that Claire really isn’t interested in and of course she’s interested/involved in things I don’t care so much about. But we’re supportive of each other and taking time away to enjoy those activities by ourselves or with friends makes our time together more special.

“They” say that in a marriage, communication is everything. I don’t disagree, but communicating with each other isn’t as easy as it sounds… Obviously, we both have different communication styles. I think I usually express my thoughts in a fairly straight-forward manner. Claire tends to be more all over the place when she tells me something. I’m not complaining… we both respect each other’s communication style and, in fact, since we’ve been married, I tend to talk (and ramble) a bit more and I have to say that Claire is better about getting to the point most of the time.

There’s a book titled “ Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” or something like that. Actually, that’s true. That’s because we’re different. We express ourselves differently, we solve problems differently, we respond to stress differently. When we’re driving, I react to the idiots on the road very differently than Claire. She handles difficult situations with much more diplomacy than I do. But accepting each other’s differences is all part of marriage.

Nit-picking is so easy to do….and it doesn’t accomplish anything. There are lots of little things that Claire does that I could pick apart — there are thousands (possibly millions) of things that I do that she could harp on. But life’s too short to nit-pick. We’ve been together long enough to see friends and family divorces, deaths and tragedies and realize how fortunate we’ve been…. so I think we keep nit-picking to a minimum.

So overall, to say it’s been a pretty good 47 years would be a monumental understatement — It’s been a great 47 years. Someone recently said that it was great that I’d found “the one” for me. I’m glad I found “the one” too. But we’d probably all be better off if we just tried to be “the one.” Happy Anniversary to Claire — and me…..
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Starting tomorrow the next week is one of the busiest of the year around our house. In the space of those seven days, we celebrate Cinco de Mayo, the Kentucky Derby, Virginia Gold Cup, our anniversary, Kelly’s birthday and Mother’s Day.

So if you happen to be someone that checks this blog on a somewhat regular basis, you may notice the number of entries slipping… all these special occasions plus the usual spring/supper jobs such as grass cutting may take a toll on the updates — but let’s get these things going. Margaritas and Mint Juleps are probably a good way to start.
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