What Would Jimmy Do?

…. my true love of snow is fading fast.

No winter lasts forever….
—30—

…. it’s still snowing. It’s gone past 12 inches, where will it stop??

Remember, no winter last forever….
— 30 —

Today is the first day of spring… I always feel (at least psychologically) better when spring arrives. Today is a little different — it’s not noon yet and we have between 5 and 6 inches of snow on the ground.

Usually on this day every year, I blog about spring stuff, or at least fun stuff. If you remember last year I was excited when I thought that I had discovered that a broom would “stand alone” on the day of the vernal equinox. Even though it proved not to be true, it was something to get excited over and it was even fun to prove it not to be true.

But today isn’t a fun day — I don’t particularly like snow… well actually, I don’t mind the snow, it’s just that it always seems to come during cold weather, and I hate cold weather. I just checked and the current temperature is 30 degrees. This is the first day of spring and it’s 30 degrees and snowing.

I used to blame all these kinds of things on the Russians, but then the Cold War ended and I blamed it on whoever was in the White House, or which party controlled Congress….  I even sometimes attributed it to global warming. But I’m running out of people to blame…. maybe this time I’ll put the blame on the EPA — especially Pruitt. Seems like a nice guy to blame.
But it is what it is…. they say no winter lasts forever. So, hopefully, that’s true. I guess for now, the best advice is to keep calm. Spring is coming.
— 30 —

This is St. Patrick’s Day… St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t a particularly big deal where I grew up, at least not so much as it is in other places. I remember that St. Patrick supposedly drove the snakes out of Ireland and everyone was supposed to wear green on that day or someone/everyone could “pinch” you. The dish of the day was corned beef and cabbage and all the places that sold beer always had green beer on St. Patrick’s Day. There were never any St. Patrick’s Day parades anywhere in Oklahoma, or the neighboring states — at least that I knew of.

We all think of St. Patrick as Irish but, in fact, he wasn’t… he was born to Roman parents in Scotland or Wales in the late fourth century. He introduced Christianity to Ireland in the year 432. And — not only was he not Irish, his name wasn’t even Patrick. His birth name was Maewyn Succat…. he changed his name to Patricius when he became a priest.

Even though his name isn’t Patrick and he’s really British, not Irish, St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal to the Irish and in the land where he became famous. Today is a national holiday in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.

If not even being Irish isn’t enough to discourage you — green wasn’t really his color. His color was “Saint Patrick’s blue” that is, a light shade of blue. The color green only became associated with St. Patrick’s Day after it was linked to the Irish independence movement in the late 18th century. Want more? For most of the 20th century, St. Patrick’s Day was considered a strictly religious holiday in Ireland and that meant that the nation’s pubs were closed on March 17.

Now how about the snakes… surely St. Patrick really did perform that feat. Well, it’s true that St. Patrick gets credit for driving all the snakes our of Ireland — but — it probably wasn’t much of an accomplishment given that scientists indicate that Ireland has never been home to any snakes. Through the Ice Age, Ireland was too cold to host any reptiles and the surrounding seas have staved off snakes ever since.

When I was growing up in Oklahoma, we referred to the three-leaved plants that sprouted up in our grass as clover. I don’t think they’re exactly the same, but something that looks very similar, called shamrocks, is associated with St. Patrick. According to Irish legend, St. Patrick used the three-leafed plant as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity when he was first introducing Christianity to Ireland.

A lot of people say that on St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is Irish; and… if you’re lucky enough to really be Irish…. you’re lucky enough!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
— 30 —

Almost 50 years ago when I married into Claire’s family, I not only inherited a very large family, but I became a member of a club — the brother-in-law club. I’d never had a brother-in law before, so I thought it was pretty cool. When I met my brother-in-laws, they all welcomed me to the family and “club” and we exchanged pleasantries like most people do when they first meet. When I met Rich for the first time, I remember saying something like, “it’s good to meet you.” His response was, “What’s good about it?” My initial reaction was, “oh, my.” Well, maybe it wasn’t exactly “oh, my,” but I thought that maybe we better start again. On the second attempt, we had a completely normal and pleasant conversation and I think I immediately gained a little insight into Rich that many people, for whatever reason, never got to experience. It turns out that Rich wasn’t the “grouch” that he chose to portray to the world. Over the next almost fifty years, every time I saw Rich, the conversation started out with, “hey, it’s good to see you…” and his response was always, “What’s good about it?” Seemed like we just had to get that out of the way so we could talk.

Rich and myself had quite a bit in common — we both liked cars, to build models, the Cleveland Indians, and we were both into airplanes and lots of stuff that NASA did. We could spend hours and hours, probably even days, at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. We almost always went there when he came to visit. And on top of all of that, it turned out that we were both curmudgeons. We griped and complained about pretty much everything.

Seems like every time we got together, whether it was Marge and Rich visiting us, or at some family gathering in Cleveland, Rich always suggested that we go for a walk. He liked to walk, and to a certain extent, I do too. During these walks we covered just about every topic you can think of. Rich almost always relaxed and really “opened up” on these walks — it was kind of like going through a portal into a different world. We talked a lot about NASA…. Rich retired from there and over the years I did a lot of work with NASA. We solved world problems and critiqued almost everyone. One subject that almost always came up during these walks was our wives — and of course we complained about them, because — well, because that’s what curmudgeons do. Rich would always say that he wished Margie liked to do this, or that and that he wished she would walk more or something along that line. But I don’t ever remember being on one of those walks that he didn’t say, referring to Margie, “but I really do love her.” Never. Not one time can I think of that he didn’t say “…. but I really do love her.”

I’ve heard it said that the best gift any father can give their children is to love their mother. If that’s true, and I think it might be, then Rich truly gave the Kovachik kids the greatest gift.
— 30 —

Today is Presidents Day — a national holiday. However, neither Congress or the President has ever declared there is such a thing as Presidents Day. Even though today is an officially observed federal holiday, it is actually on the books as Washington’s Birthday.

In 1879, under President Rutherford B. Hayes, Washington’s Birthday became a legal holiday and was observed on February 22 – George’s actual birthday. Every year, George Washington’s birthday was a big celebration — especially in the Washington, D.C. area. But then in 1968, Congress passed the Monday Holiday Law to “provide uniform annual observances of certain legal public holidays on Mondays.” The idea was that creating more 3-day weekends would bring substantial benefits to both the spiritual and economic life of the nation. At least that’s what Congress thought.

So we celebrate this third Monday in February every year as Presidents Day even though neither of the Presidents it supposedly honors was born on that day — but what the heck, we get a 3-day weekend to benefit our spiritual and economic life.

Rather than just let this matter, go let’s complicate it further…George Washington was actually born on February 11 in 1731. How can that be, you say? Well, During Washington’s lifetime, people in Great Britain and America switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. As a result of this calendar reform, people born before 1752 were told to add 11 days to their birth dates. Those born between January 1 and March 25 also had to do one year to be in sync with the new calendar. By the time Washington became President in 1789, he celebrated his birthday on February 22 and listed his year of birth as 1732.

We get a 3-day weekend today, but let’s not forget about George… I think he deserves his own day, so let’s raise our glasses to George.
— 30 —

Time sure flies — here it is Battery Day again. One year ago, right here on this blog, a fairly long discussion of batteries ensued. To say the battery has changed our lives would be an understatement. I don’t know where batteries stand on the list of the most important inventions of all time, but I’d guess they are (or should be) near the top.

We often hear about the invention of the wheel being important — and it is, but when you think about it, a lot of wheels today turn via power supplied by a battery. A high percentage of toys with wheels are battery powered, skateboards, hover boards, scooters and even some bicycles run on batteries. The wheels on one of our cars are turned by a battery a good portion of the time — especially at the lower speeds.

Batteries continue to pop up in places and things that we never even knew needed batteries before. For many years I wore a watch… and never had to worry about replacing the battery — because there wasn’t one. Today, finding a watch that doesn’t have a battery is difficult — might even be impossible. At one time, candles were all lit with a match, or some source of fire — today, a lot are battery powered.

Of course, the list could go on and on — batteries are an integral part of our lives. So if some inanimate object deserves its own special day, I suppose it should be the battery…. Happy Battery Day!!
— 30 —

Well, January is in the books, and so far I’m doing good with my new year resolutions — now it’s time to think about another new year — Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year begins on the new moon that comes between January 21 and February 20. This year, it’s February 16 and is the Year of the Dog. The year will end on February 4, 2019 when the Year of the Pig begins.

The western (or American) Zodiac has 12 “signs,” each covering a specific span of time. The Chinese Zodiac also has 12 “signs,” called blocks or houses – but each one has a time-length of one year instead of about one month for the western Zodiac. Each of the Chinese blocks or “signs” are named after animals. This year, the Year of the Dog, is the 11th animal in the cycle. The next Year of the Dog will be in 2030.

The years are allocated to each animal in a very specific order. According to an ancient Chinese folk story, the Jade Emperor had called 13 animals to a meeting and announced that the years on the calendar would be named according to the order in which they arrived. This led to “The Great Race.” The rat travelled on the back of the ox and leaped from his back to nab first place. The pig stopped for a snack and a nap… and arrived last. A cat was also in the race but drowned during the competition, leaving only 12 animals in the Zodiac.

Dogs symbolize luck to the Chinese. If a stray dog approaches a house, it is said to show that fortune is coming to the family. The animal is incredibly loyal to its owner whether or not the owner is wealthy. Plus, dogs bark to warn people if an intruder is nearby. Centuries ago, the Chinese would predict good or bad luck according to how many times a dog barked.

Lucky numbers for people born in the Year of the Dog are 3, 4, and 9; lucky colors are green, red and purple. Lucky flowers for dog people are the rose, oncidium and cymbidium orchids and their luck directions are east, southeast and south.

People born in the Year of the Dog are characterized as loyal, sociable, courageous, diligent, steady, lively, adaptable and smart. Not afraid of difficulties in day to day life, they have a harmonious dynamic with people in their lives.

I’m not sure how accurately Zodiac signs (western or Chinese) describe the characteristics of people born under their sign. Read the characteristics of people born in the Year of the Dog in the paragraph above — Donald Trump was born in the Year of the Dog… you be the judge. Happy Chinese New Year!!
— 30 —

We spent some time at Dave and Chassie’s a couple of days ago. Rory and Ellie are getting bigger and beginning to act like little people — more aware of their surroundings and they smile and actually laugh out loud.

On the day we were there, Dave picked Locke up from his “school” and as he probably does most days, asked him what he learned in school… Locke’s answer was, “sex.” Dave asked, “sex??” Locke responded, “Yea.” “You learned about sex?” Again, the response was, “yea.” After a minute or so, Dave said, “do you mean the number six?” Locke replied, “yea… and five.”
Probably a few years ago, any dad or mom would just have assumed the conversation was about six — not sex.

I’m not sure what this tells us about modern education, or the modern world we live in… probably nothing, but I thought it was interesting. Being a granddad is a lot easier (and maybe even more fun) than being a dad.
— 30 —

It seems like we’re living in strange times lately… and 2018 is getting off to a pretty good start to being a strange year. We’ve already had a couple of full moons, super moons, blue moons and lunar eclipses, the groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter, the stock market suffered its biggest one day (point) loss in history and the Eagles won the Super Bowl.

Now if all that’s not enough, here it is Valentine’s Day — but — it’s not only Valentine’s Day, it’s also Ash Wednesday. This is the first time that Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday have fallen on the same day since 1945. Ash Wednesday can fall as early as February 4 or as late as March 10 and begins the fasting season of 40 days of Lent. Liturgical fasting during Lent emphasizes eating plainer food and refraining from “pleasurable foods,” such as meat, dairy and eggs. Valentine’s Day, although originally a Christian feast day is now a secular occasion pretty much set aside for lovers. Many, many people choose Valentine’s Day to dine out with a romantic dinner. If Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday coincide, it creates a problem. The Catholic Church is recommending people celebrate Valentine’s Day a day early this year — on what’s known as “Fat Tuesday.” In our household, we solved the problem years ago — all the restaurants became so crowded on Valentine’s Day, that we have, for many years, celebrated Valentine’s Day either before or after the 14th of February.

But 2018 isn’t done with messing with us… Ash Wednesday kicks off Lent, leaning up to — Easter! In 2018, Easter falls on April 1. April 1 is famously known as April Fools Day when, supposedly, the world at large play pranks on each other. Just like Ash Wednesday, Christians will have to do a little multi-tasking — like maybe a few pranks during the Easter egg hunt….
So far, 2018 seems to be doing a job of confusing holidays… I guess if it doesn’t mess up Talk Like A Pirate Day, I’ll be okay with it.
— 30 —