What Would Jimmy Do?

Where I grew up in Oklahoma, we didn’t get much snow — I never saw a white Christmas until I was much older and had moved out of the area. On the rare occasions when we did get snow, my mother always made snow ice cream. I don’t think people were so obsessed with germs back then, and she just scooped the snow off the ground.
I remember it being really good and very special because we only got it when it snowed, and that rarely happened.

I have no idea when people started making ice cream using snow, but apparently they’ve been doing it for a long, long time. The Chinese, Iraqis and Persians have tinkered with various combinations of snow, ice and sweeteners for thousands of years. In the 17th century, members of the Neapolitan aristocracy sent their servants into the Alps with large chests to collect snow, that was then soaked in wine and decorated with fruit and fennel. Native Americans sweetened snow with maple sugar. Canadians have long poured hot maple syrup onto snow to create sticky maple toffee.

As I indicated earlier, we didn’t seem to worry so much about germs when I was growing up — I recently read that the EPA says snow could pick up particles that are byproducts of the combustion fossil fuels from vehicles on its way to Earth. And some health officials are concerned because of what the snow might pick up on the ground. Their argument is that you wouldn’t drink from a water puddle on the sidewalk, so why would you eat snow from the same source?

One school of thought is that snow gets cleaner the longer it snows — that the first few inches of falling snow capture most of the pollutants in the air. I guess if it’s a major snowstorm and it keeps a lot of the vehicles off the road, there would also be lower emissions to pollute the air and snow.
So I guess the conclusion is that the deeper the snow, the better for making snow ice cream. Of course, we live less than 2 miles from the Dairy Queen…..
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When I was growing up, one of the ‘rites of passage’ that almost everyone went through was a snipe hunt. In case you didn’t experience it when growing up, or don’t know what a snipe hunt is…. it’s basically a fool’s errand, or a hopeless cause — the pursuit of something unattainable.

I’m not sure I recall all the details, but it goes something like this: the “victim” is primed with some story about a strange animal (known as a snipe.) The subject is led to a secluded spot (I remember it always being after dark) and left with a burlap bag (readily available when I grew up) to catch the snipe. He is told to hold the bag and wait until the others drive the snipe to him. It’s important to hunker down and hold the bag open until the snipe runs into it. What happens is that everyone goes home and leaves the victim alone with all the spooky noises in the woods at night.

I remember that once you’d gone on a snipe hunt, you had proven your bravery and were considered “one of the club.”
It seemed like an innocent practice when I was a kid — I don’t know if the younger generation does things like this or not…. it probably has all sorts of legal implications today.

I didn’t find out until years later that there really is such a thing as a snipe — they are small shore birds. They resemble the American woodcock but are slightly larger and have different color patterns and longer bills. But I’m pretty sure they’re hunted with guns, not burlap bags…..
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They’re predicting snow here today — somewhere between 4 and 7 inches. When we lived in Vienna, the mere mention of (possible) snow sent everyone into a panic mode. If you went to the store, most of the shelves were empty. If you wanted/needed to buy milk, or bread or toilet paper — forget it!

This morning, here in Shepherdstown, we went out to run a few errands and stopped at our only food store (Food Lion.) There were probably a few more people in the store than usual, but we were in and out in a short period of time. Claire insisted that I take a picture of the bread isle (see the photo.)

I guess these people in Shepherdstown don’t realize that if 4 inches of snow is predicted, you have to have a six week supply of bread…. sure hope they can all survive the storm.
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Two or three weeks ago we decorated our church — a couple of days ago, we un-decorated our church. This got me to thinking… when is the “proper” time to take down Christmas decorations? In our house, Claire thinks sometime around Easter is about right. Obviously when Christmas decorations are removed is entirely a personal preference, but there seems to be a long standing tradition (since the Victorian era) that decorations be removed on the Twelfth Night. Christmas was traditionally a 12 day celebration, beginning on December 25. So decorations should be removed on January 6 — or maybe January 5. There’s some disagreement as to the date because if you count Christmas, the Twelfth Night would be January 5, but some people say it’s January 6 because it is the 12th day after Christmas. But tradition says Twelfth Night — January 5 or 6 — and whichever date you choose, a day sooner or later is considered unlucky and if decorations are not removed on Twelfth Night, they should stay up all year according to the tradition.

Before all the commercialized glitter, tinsel and lights became popular, people decorated for Christmas using greenery, like holly and ivy. It was a popular belief then that tree-spirits lived in the greenery and during the festive season the decorative greenery provided shelter for these spirits, but once Christmas was over, they needed to be released outside — and if they weren’t, greenery would not return and vegetation wouldn’t grow, causing agricultural and food problems. Some people still take down decorations on the 6th — I guess there’s no sense taking a chance with the tree spirits.

So if you’ve already taken down your Christmas decorations, good for you. And if you choose to leave them up until Easter, good for you.
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They’re building a couple of new houses in our neighborhood and the last few days they’ve been digging the basements. When I was growing up in Oklahoma, I think the only house that I knew of that had a basement was our house — and that wasn’t really a basement, more of a very small cellar under one corner of the house.
When I came to the Washington D.C. area, a house without a basement was a rarity.

I got to thinking about this and at first, it really didn’t make much sense. During a tornado, the safest place is usually underground. We had lots and lots of tornadoes in Oklahoma and none of the houses had basements.

As you may have guessed, my extensive research mode kicked in on this one. The soil in Oklahoma is mostly red clay and that absorbs a lot of moisture. It turns our that the water table in the state is very high. The red clay soil also has a tendency to dry out in heat and that causes contraction and expansion that puts a lot of pressure on concrete-reinforced walls in basements and they tend to crack.

And then there’s the frost line — the level that it freezes down to in the winter. That line is fairly high in Oklahoma because it’s warm. Building codes require sinking the foundation down below the frost line. In a place like Cleveland, when you excavate to go down below the frost line to put a slab in, you’re already halfway there to be deep enough for a basement. In Oklahoma, you don’t have to dig down that far, so the upfront cost to put in a basement is higher.

I’m pretty sure that with today’s technology, it would be relatively easy (maybe not inexpensive) to build a good, solid, dry basement. But people that live in Oklahoma have the perception that they always leak. That, along with the added expense probably means that Okies will continue to build “safe rooms” as their preferred protection from tornadoes….
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Well, here it is January again — I know it’s the start of a new year and all that, but it’s still one of my least favorite months of the year. The holidays are over and there’s the general ‘letdown’ over that, football season is over (except for the playoffs) and the weather is cold and dreary. So again I find myself looking forward to spring.

The Anglo-Saxons called January “Wulfmonath” because it was the month hungry wolves came scavenging at people’s doors. I kind of think I like that name better than January, even though as far as I know we don’t have many wolves in the neighborhood.
January is National Soup Month — that also seems appropriate.
It’s also a fact that more couples separate or divorce in January than in any other month.

I’m tempted to just call it thirty for this blog (you faithful readers know what that means) but this early in the year, I should probably look on the positive side….
January brings a kind of “clean slate” and an opportunity to start anew.
The shortest day of the year is officially behind us — from here on out the mornings will slowly get lighter and the evenings stay light longer
My grass won’t need cutting for a while (we won’t talk about snow shoveling)
The “holiday re-runs” are ending and most of the TV shows I like will start showing new episodes again

So I guess it’s not all bad — and — you can’t start off with a clean slate every year without going through January. Last year was filled with lots of natural disasters, hates and tweets, but there was also lots of love and kindness…. maybe it would have been even better if we had focused on the good rather than the bad.
So here’s to 2019. Let’s all try our best to make it good — starting with January.
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Welcome to 2019 — it may be a new year, but the news headlines seem like they may be left over from last year. The government is shut down, the majority of people think global warming and environmental issues are threatening the existence of the human race, but Washington claims it’s fake news and then of course we have to worry about all the thousands/millions of people pouring across our southern border.

Not that the President needs my help, but I think it’s my civic duty to offer up another topic to add to his tweets. We all know he doesn’t believe in climate change or global warming or anything that pertains to the health of the Earth — I think his next step should be to call out the fake news for spreading the rumor that the Earth is round. I think this topic could be a big hit at his next major rally with his evangelical christian followers.

The Bible plainly states that the Earth is square — not round. If you need proof, go read the Book of Revelation, Chapter 7, Verse 1 — it clearly states the shape of the earth: “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the Earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.” This statement makes it obvious that the Earth has four corners. A circle or sphere does not have corners. So — the President should take this and run with it. He has far more justification for proclaiming that the Earth is square than he has for most of his other claims.
He has long claimed that the press and Hollywood are in alliance with the devil. He can now point to the fact that NASA is also in alliance with the devil for pulling this round Earth sham.

I think this topic, along with border security, should keep the President occupied long enough that maybe Washington can get some real work done.
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With the new year just hours way, I’m thinking about ordering a pizza at about 11:50 and when it arrives, asking what took so long, because I ordered it last year…..
May the upcoming year bring more delight to you than last year. May we all have an incredible year.
Happy New Year 2019 to everyone.
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Oscar Wilde once said, “Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.” But as both faithful readers know,  I usually make New Year’s Resolutions because…. well, I really don’t know why — I just kind of got in the habit and do it almost every year.
And every year I remind everyone (and me) how new year resolutions aren’t very realistic.
The fact is, the only one who really has an investment in your resolutions for the new year is you. It’s in your best interest not to lie when you tell yourself that your are going to be a better you next year.

A few years ago, my only New Years resolution was to not have any resolutions so I wouldn’t disappoint myself…. still disappointed myself. Last year I shortened and simplified my resolution list and tried to make it more realistic and more achievable. I think that worked out pretty good and I had my highest success rate of keeping resolutions ever. Here’s my list for 2019 — all of which will be truly achievable. So — here we go with this years resolutions.

• I will drive by the Shepherd Wellness Center once a week.
(Since this is the only resolution from last year that I didn’t complete to my satisfaction I’m going to try it once more…)
• I will learn the difference between ‘effect’ and ‘affect’
• I will make a new friend each month
(I know I’ve tried this one before, but I think I can do it this time)
• I will make usual things unusual
• I will not run while juggling knives
(I only added this one to guarantee I will keep at least one resolution)

So that’s it for 2019 — my goals for making me a better me. Some people will continue making resolutions with very specific challenges in mind — I admire folks that undertake things while wondering how they are possibly going to do them. But again this year, my goals are doable — check back about this time next year and see how I did…
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There’s been lots of news about the Catholic Church lately. But most of it centers around Priests and their mis-conduct. One group that, as far as I know, has escaped any criticism or scandal is the Nuns.

Well, another bubble burst — I just read that two nuns who worked for decades at a Catholic school in California embezzled a “substantial” amount of money from tuitions and other school funds. At first I thought it might be for a good cause, but it turns out they used the money to pay for gambling trips to Las Vegas.

Apparently both nuns acknowledged the theft when confronted, apologized and are cooperating with an ongoing investigation. They both expressed deep remorse for their actions and asked for forgiveness and prayers.
Church officials don’t plan to press charges at this time and just want the matter resolved internally with the money repaid and the nuns disciplined by their order.
I suppose — even for nuns — it’s never too late to repent….
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