What Would Jimmy Do?

Here it is December already — the 12th, and last, month of 2023. December is always a busy month with lots of holidays, feasts and happenings. It’s a busy month, so take a deep breath and let’s get started…..

The month of December originally consisted of 30 days. When January and February were added to the calendar, December was shortened to 29 days. But then when the Julian calendar came along, two days were added to December, making it 31 days long.

The month of December brings along the winter solstice. This is the shortest day of the year, or at least the day with the least amount of daylight. This year, the solstice is on Thursday, December 21. 
December’s full Moon is called the full Cold Moon and will appear on Tuesday, December 26 — it reaches peak illumination at 7:33 a.m. EST.

Along with Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the Month is filled with activities to keep us busy — December 3 is the first Sunday of Advent, followed by Saint Nicholas Day on December 6. December 7 is one of those days that we should never forget — National Pearly Harbor Remembrance Day.
And the month also includes the Bill of Rights Day, Wright Brothers Day and the first day of Kwanzaa, along with Boxing Day in Canada and the UK and as mentioned earlier, the Winter Solstice.
And — according to legend, frost on the shortest day is said to indicate a severe winter.
So buckle up — let’s get on with December…
— 30 —

Yesterday was our twin granddaughters birthday. Over the past few years, I’ve talked a lot about twins — there’s something about them that just seems very special. And it turns out that I’m not the only one that thinks there’s something special about twins….

Twins account for only about 3% of natural births, but throughout history they’ve had a big impact on human culture. Twins have been worshiped as gods and persecuted as witches. Artists, writers, philosophers and even scientists have obsessed over these dual-beings — twins have left their mark on everything from ancient myths to modern genetics. They’ve often been referred to as double-trouble or twice as nice. Some of my extensive research revealed that twins have been an obsession for a long, long time.

In the ancient world, twins were often thought to embody the dualistic nature of the universe and the battle between good and evil. In Greek mythology, the twin gods Apollo and Artemis governed the sun and moon. And maybe the most famous pair, Romulus and Remus — the twin brothers who were raised by a shed-wolf and went on to found the Roman state.

If you’ve been to China, or just visited a Chinese restaurant, you’ve probably seen the “laughing twins” — these twins are Taoist immortals who have come to symbolize harmony and joy. Their origin is somewhat of a mystery, but they may have been actual historical figures. The “double-motif” is popular throughout China. The “Double Happiness” symbol is everywhere and prominently displayed at special occasions. 

I spent some time in West Africa and while I was there, the daughter of one of the Embassy officials (who was studying African history) told me that the birthrate in that area was around four times the world average and that twins played a particularly powerful role in many of those cultures. The Yoruba people of Nigeria call twins “spirit children,” and believe that thet have an unusual closeness to the supernatural world and can bring good or evil to their families. Among the Yoruba ethnic group, one in 11 people is a twin. In ancient times, the Yoruba viewed twins with suspicion, and sometimes sacrificed them. But today, twins are considered lucky. I also uncovered an interesting fact — the Yoruba consider the firstborn to be the younger of the two. They believe that the “senior” twin sent the younger one out first to scout the world.

So twins continue to be a little “mysterious,” and I think that’s a good thing. But I think most people have come to realize, as we have with Rory and Ellie, that they may look the same, but when you’re around them you begin to see them as unique individuals.
— 30 —

Happy Birthday to Rory and Ellie — the perfect pair of granddaughters. Once again, I hope you have a great year with great adventures and make lots of good memories. 
Another year that I still can’t tell you apart, but I love you both more — and equally.
Poppi
— 30 —

We were watching a reality show on TV the other night and it seems like everyone on the show had multiple tattoos. Tattoos certainly have become more popular lately. I guess the new term for tattoos is “getting inked,” but I just wonder exactly when — and why — did tattoos become so popular.

I figured this would be a great topic for some of my extensive research, but it turns out I just got more confused the further I dug into the subject. I couldn’t come up with who got the first tattoo, or when they got it, but it seems like tattoos have been around for at least 5000 years. Most “experts” agree that tattoos date back to at least the latter part of the Stone Age. Back then tattooing was practiced for various reasons like religious ceremonies or a rite of passage.

When I was growing up, tattoos were not a good thing — there was a stigma attached to them. I think my parents, and most people that lived in Maysville, Oklahoma would have thought anyone that had a tattoo was a “bad person.” I’m not sure why tattoos were considered a bad thing, or a badge of shame, but maybe some of it had to do with religion. All the churches in Maysville were protestant and I think they all had some sort of an ethic about “purity of body.” Also a lot of criminals were portrayed with tattoos. And, on top of that, the Nazis use of tattoos during World War II  to put numbers on bodies for bureaucratic record-keeping was well known.

Some people today see tattoos as a act of rebellion against society and I’m sure that’s true in some cases but it’s probably only one of the many reason why people have them.
Of course tattoos weren’t always considered to be bad — my extensive research found out that as early at the late 1800s, a tattoo shop was located on Jermyn Street in London (the heart of the high-end fashion district.) And both Winston Churchill and his mother both had tattoos. 

I suppose tattooing has become popular lately because more and more celebrities, athletes, and other famous people have them. That trend seems to have started in the 1970s — before then people with tattoos were considered to be someone with a criminal, or at least, a shady past. Today, advocates of tattoos consider them to be a tool of self-expression. 

While my extensive research didn’t achieve its original goal, It did find a few interesting things about tattoos….
Hepatitis was a big problem after the Second World War and many places banned tattooing.
The most effective way to remove a tattoo is laser removal. 
Ancient Greeks and Romans tattooed their slaves and criminals so they were easier to identify if they escaped. 
If the ink used in a tattoo contains metal, it may become hot during an MRI.
The earliest tattoo inks were made of carbon and ash. 
Today, at least one fifth of the adults in the United States has at least one tattoo.
The word Tattoo is believed to have originated from the Samoan word tatau.
Tattoos have obviously gained social acceptance, so if you want to decorate your body with some art, you don’t have to fear being branded a criminal.
— 30 —

November’s full Moon will look full tonight, but technically, it will reach peak illumination tomorrow, the morning of November 27, at 4:16 A.M. EST. This month’s full Moon is known as the Beaver Moon. It’s called the Beaver Moon because this is the time of year when beavers begin to take shelter in their lodges, having laid up sufficient food for the long winter ahead. During the fur trade in North America, it was also the season to trap beavers for their thick, winter-ready pelts.

(Speaking of beavers — they are are a very important part of the Earth’s ecology. Beavers clear the woods by using branches to build dams and those dams create small ponds in the woods. With the decline of Beavers, we have more dry wood and fewer ponds — that potentially results in “wildfires.” Beavers are kind of like mother nature’s “fire prevention species.”)

Over the years, monthly full Moons have gone by names tied to early Native American, Colonial American, and European folklore. November’s Moon names reflect the actions of animals preparing for winter and the onset of colder days ahead. The Tlingit people used the name Digging (or Scratching) Moon. The Dakota and Lakota term Deer Rutting Moon refers to the time when deer seek mates and the Algonquin Moon name described the spawning time for whitefish — the Whitefish Moon. 

But sometimes Moon names were about the weather, or seasons — the November Moon was called the Frost Moon by the Cree and Assiniboine people. The Anishinaabe referred to it as the Freezing Moon. 

But whether it’s a full Moon or not, the spin-time of the Moon on its axis is identical to the time it takes the Moon to revolve around the Earth. That’s why we only see one side of the Moon — never the far side.
If you’re in line to go to the Moon and want to know how much you’ll weigh there, multiply your weight by 0.165.
— 30 —

We don’t get to see our grandson (or granddaughters) nearly as much as we’d like, but this past weekend we got to see all of them. Locke is nine years old and I’m not sure how the topic came up, but he wants a pocket knife. I got the impression that negotiations for a knife weren’t going too well in his house. I suspect that his parents (I’m guessing more his mother, but I don’t know that) think he’s too  young to carry a [pocket knife.

I’m not sure how old I was, but my dad gave me a pocket knife when I was pretty young — and, of course, my mom thought I was too young. But since that very young age, I’ve always carried a pocket knife. I’m pretty sure I still have that pocket knife that my dad gave me. 
I remember giving Dave a pocket knife when he was about Locke’s age, and I also remember taking it away a short time later, for some reason that i don’t remember.
Anyhow, for people my age, a pocket knife was an essential item. If you went out, you had your wallet, your keys and your pocket knife. 

The first folding pocket knife was created by first century Romans. They were easy for soldiers and other people to carry, but the use and popularity of sheathed knives overtook the pocket knife and it fell out of favor for a while.
But by the late 16th century, pocket knives began to become popular again. They were especially useful in the American colonies. From farmers to lawyers, men in all walks of life began to carry them. It proved to be the ultimate portable tool — useful for a variety of tasks.

Men have been carrying pocket knives for centuries, but with increased security at airports and other buildings, fewer and fewer men have knives in their pockets. But — I think carrying a pocket knife is a manly tradition and it should be continued. 

When I was growing up, my dad, my uncle, my dad’s friends, and just about every man, all carried pocket knives. For that generation, a pocket knife was an essential tool for daily life. A lot, maybe most, of my adult friends today don’t carry pocket knives. I’ve seen pocket knives used to repair cars, remove splinters, carve toys, opens cans and bottles, sharpen pencils, remove staples, cut zip ties, cut tags off new clothes, clean fingernails, separate LEGOS, strip wire, tighten/loosen screws, cut cheese, clean battery terminals, and probably a lot more that I can’t think of right now. 
Pocket knives may not be as popular as they once were, but they’re just as handy, and sometimes, necessary. So if you ever find yourself in a tight spot, and need some help — just look around for a guy with a pocket knife. He’ll probably be able to help you out….
— 30 —

Here it is Thanksgiving again. It’s become kind of a tradition that I write something about Thanksgiving every year. Of course, it’s hard to come up with something different to write about every year — Thanksgiving is a fairly narrow subject.

I’ve written about the first Thanksgiving before, but I got to thinking about the second Thanksgiving — that doesn’t seem to get much press.
Just about everybody knows the story of the first Thanksgiving — the terrible winter of 1621, in which almost half of the Plymouth Bay Colony died. and how with the help of the Native Americans, the colonists planted crops the following spring, and by fall they harvested a great bounty. After all that, Governor William Bradford called for a celebratory feast, and they lived happily ever after….except they didn’t.

Colonists struggled throughout the next year. The colony, facing potential starvation, abandoned their communal system and each family was given their own land on which they could keep everything they grew for themselves. The change brought dramatic results — more land was cleared, and more crops were planted. Everything was going good until summer arrived. The summer of 1623 was unusually hot with no rain for weeks. 

In 1623, the Pilgrims at Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts, held another day of Thanksgiving. The drought was destroying their drops, so the colonists prayed and fasted for relief. The rains came a few days later and not long after, Captain Miles Standish arrived with staples and news that a Dutch supply ship was on its way. Because of this good fortune, colonists held a day of Thanksgiving and prayer on June 30. This festival, in 1623, is likely the origin of our Thanksgiving Day because it combined a religious and social celebration.

Actually, the first Thanksgiving service known to have been held by Europeans in North America occurred on May 27, 1578, in Newfoundland. In fact, British colonists held several Thanksgiving services in American before the Pilgrim’s celebration in 1621. During that 1621 celebration, the Pilgrims rejected public religious display, so they held a non-religious Thanksgiving feast — except that they did say grace. The three day celebration was really used for feasting, playing games and drinking liquor. So the 1623 (second) Thanksgiving is the one that set the tone for today’s Thanksgiving get-togethers.

So what I remember learning in school about Thanksgiving was probably a little sugar-coated. I remember being taught that friendly Indians (unidentified by tribe) welcomed the Pilgrims to America, and taught them how to live in this new place, sat down to dinner with them and then disappeared. It was kind of implied that the Indians handed off America to the white people so they could create a great nation dedicated to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 
Naturally, that’s not the way it happened — it’d be nice if it did, but it wasn’t bloodless with the Native people conceding to colonialism. Wonder how our nation would have turned out if the history books had been true.
Happy Thanksgiving!
— 30 —

I’ve never considered myself — for good reason — by any stretch of the imagination, to be an author. But I have been asked, by several people, If I’d ever thought about writing a book. 
I’ve heard it said that everyone’s got a novel in them, just waiting to come out. Well, I can tell you right now, that I don’t. But if I did, this month would have been the time to get started on it. 

November is National Novel Writing Month. To those in the know, it’s referred to as “NaNoWriMo.”
This is an annual event in which participants attempt to write a 50,000-word novel in November. The activity was founded in 1999 by Chris Baty and a group of friends in the Northern California Bay Area. Since then, it’s grown to become a world-wide occurrence — with hundreds of thousands of participants.

The idea is that starting after midnight on November 1, writers begin drafting a new novel (or a fresh rewrite of an old one) and attempt to finish by the end of the month.
The challenge ends at 11:59 pm on November 30. Anyone who completes it is considered a winner.

Winners are given digital banners and certificates to display, if they choose — and winners T-shirts can be purchased. But I guess the real “prize” is that if you finish it, you’ll have a draft of that novel that’s in you.
Maybe I’ll think about entering next year — who knows, there may be true literary greatness lurking inside of me…..
— 30 —

Both the regular readers of this blog know that if I had been born even longer ago than I was, and I had the choice, I’d have chosen to be a pirate. On of my favorite days is National Talk Like a Pirate Day. Anyhow, I’ve always been fascinated with pirates. Don’t get me wrong — I don’t condone real pirates and their ruthless activities. I just like the idea of peg legs, eyepatches, parrots, and just swashbuckling in general. 

Lady pirate might not sound like a job description your great-great-grandmother would have gone for, but according to history books, many women did really  pursue lives of plunder on the high seas.
The most famous female pirates operated during the golden age of pirates throughout the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Often dressed as men and running away from arranged marriages or following their lovers, these women have contributed to a significant chapter in history.
If you look up the “top ten” lady pirates, or the most famous — or notorious — female pirates, you’ll get a lot of names. There doesn’t seem to be any agreement as to who should be at the top of the list.

On of the earliest lady pirates was Artemisia of Persia, whose fleet preyed on the city-states of Greece during the 5th century B.C. The Athenians put a price of 10,000 drachmas on her head, but there’s no record of anyone ever collecting it. 
Around 230 B.C. Ceuta of Illyria was a pirate queen that led raids against Roman ships. Another notable female pirate was Alfhild, a Viking princess who reportedly kept a viper for a pet and whose all-female longboat crew ravaged the Scandinavian coast. Prince Alf of Denmark captured Alfhild, but her beauty so overwhelmed him that instead of beheading her, he proposed marriage…. and they ruled together happily ever after. 
One name that seems to make all the lists of lady pirates is Grace O’Malley. Born in 1530, O’Malley’s father, an Irish chieftain, educated her in seafaring. When she was a child, Grace shaved her head and dressed as a boy to sneak aboard her father’s ships. When her father died, she took to the seas, and even gave birth to her son Toby while at sea. The story has it that the very next day, she led her men to a victory over a Turkish warship.

Maybe one of the most notorious of all pirate queens was Madame Ching Shih. She was originally a Cantonese sex worker, but she married a powerful pirate named Cheng I. The couple quickly built one of China’s most formidable pirate armies. When her husband died, Ching Shih took power and partnered with her trusted lieutenant and lover, Chang Pao. Over the following years, they plundered their way across Southeast Asia and assembled an impressive fleet of around 300 Chinese ships and a pirate army of between 20,000 and 40,000 men, women and children. Madam Ching ruled with an iron hand — anyone caught stealing loot for private use was executed immediately. But she was relatively kind to some of her prisoners — she ordered that captive women and children not be hung by their hair over the sides of her ships.
Anne Bonny and Mary Read both dressed as men and served aboard pirate ships that sailed the Caribbean. They met when Marty, disguised as James Morris, joined a ship that was commanded by Anne and her husband, Calico Jack Rackman. One night while the men were sleeping off a rum binge below deck, Anne and Mary were left to face down a British man-of-war alone. But their ship was quickly captured and the pirates were hauled off to prison. After learning that Calico Jack had received a death sentence, Anne’s last words to him were: “I’m sorry.. ..but had you fought like a man, you need not have been hanged like a dog.”
At least that’s one story — of course there’s a little blarney in every pirate yarn.
— 30 —

A few days ago I was talking with someone who had recently gotten a new dog and he said it was the best dog he’d ever had…. he also said it was the most expensive dog he’d ever owned.
Well, that got me to thinking — until the last few years I/we have always had dogs. When I was growing up, I don’t ever remember a time that we didn’t have at least one dog in our house.
And until I was an adult, I don’t remember ever “paying” for a dog. Back in Maysville most people had dogs, and when dogs had puppies, people just gave them away. I suspect that if you had suggested that someone would  pay money for a dog, you’d have thought there must be something wrong with them. 

Of course that’s all changed today — there’s pretty much no such thing as a “free dog.” I’m not sure when this happened, but apparently a dog — any dog — is big business nowadays.
I suppose some of it has to do with “animal cruelty” and the various associations concerned about the treatment of animals — and that’s a good thing. 
I read somewhere that dogs are expensive because of the pandemic. With people stuck at home and working alone, to make-up for the lack of in-person meetings and connections, people opted for dogs instead. Could be something to that. 
But as I think back, when I was a kid, I didn’t know of any “dog breeders.” People just had dogs and dogs had puppies. Today, almost everyone is a dog breeder. And from what I can tell, it costs a lot to breed healthy puppies
So just like about everything else, owing a pet has changed a lot over my lifetime. Dogs are still great pets and companions — and they’re still “man’s best friend,” but that friendship is just more expensive now.
— 30 —