What Would Jimmy Do?

Today is President’s Day. I usually write something every year on President’s Day and over the years a lot of the information is repeated because there’s only so much you can say about one subject, but I think it’s important because George Washington’s Birthday is one of only eleven permanent holidays established by Congress. You notice I said Washington’s Birthday, not President’s Day. The federal holiday we’re observing today, that we often refer to as President’s Day, is officially called Washington’e Birthday. Neither Congress nor the President has ever stipulated that the name of the holiday be changed to President’s Day. Washington’s Birthday became a legal holiday, observed on February 22 in 1879. Congress passed the Monday Holiday Law in 1968 to create more 3-day weekends. George’s birthday was moved to the third Monday in February, and many people started calling it President’s Day, but the name was never officially changed — it’s still Washington’s Birthday.

To say that Washington’s birthday is confusing is an understatement. George Washington was born when the Julian calendar was in use, on February 11 in 1731. When the Gregorian calendar was adopted, people born before 1752 were told to add 11 days to their birth dates. So George’s birthday changed from February 11 to February 22.

So here’s how we got to today and we (at least some of us) are celebrating President’s Day:
Washington’s Birthday is the federal holiday, the United States Code, Title 5, Section 6103, lists “Washington’s Birthday” as a legal public holiday, observed on the third Monday of February. 
Lincoln’s birthday was never celebrated at the federal level, but is at the state level in certain states, such as Illinois and Connecticut.
President’s Day is an official state holiday in certain states, such as Pennsylvania and California.

In 1968, representative Robert McClory attempted to change “Washington’s Birthday” to “President’s Day,” but the idea wasn’t accepted. The observance was, however, changed to the third Monday in February as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill. This bill moved the observance of Washington’s Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February, starting in 1971. Because of this, many thought that the newly moved holiday was to honor both Washington and Lincoln, or all presidents. 

So you can celebrate whatever you wish today, it’s officially a three-day weekend, but not officially President’s Day. It’s still Washington’s Birthday, well, not actually, he was born on Feb 11, except that doesn’t count anymore either and people pretty much ignore February 22, except for those celebrating National Margareta Day….
Happy ____________ (you fill in the blank.)
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Every day there’s something (actually, a lot) to be thankful for — today I’m particularly thankful that I don’t suffer from Oenophobia. Why? Because that is a fear of wine — and — today is National Drink Wine Day.

We know that humans have been making wine for thousands of years, but no one is certain who was the first to ferment grapes into what we now call wine. Evidence of ancient wine production has been found in China, the Middle East, and Greece — so it appears that many different cultures discovered the process at about the same time.

But wine is a popular drink all over the world and just the other day I discovered that you can get wine-flavored Kit Kats. I am not making this up — I haven’t seen them in stores, but they are available on Amazon.

According to Claire, she became a fan of wine years ago when she was visiting France — they were told not to drink the water, so wine became her drink of choice. The natural fermentation of wine kills germs caused by typhi (salmonella) and cholera. Luckily, she wasn’t visiting Italy, because during early Roman times, it was forbidden for women to drink wine. Wives who were caught by their husbands drinking wine could be killed if caught in the act. (This in no way implies that Claire is old enough to have been punished this way by the Italians.)

Grapes are the most planted fruit all over the world and there are 10,000 varieties of wine grapes existing worldwide — a ton of grapes can produce 720 bottles of wine.
In ancient Greece, the host of dinner would take the first sip of wine to assure that the wine served to guests wasn’t poisoned. This act of courtesy was where the phrase “drinking to one’s health” originated.
Even though China is only the fifth-largest wine-producing country in the world, it is the leading market for red wine. It’s not only because of the flavor, but the red color is considered lucky in Chinese culture and is favored by the government.
As I mentioned, China is only the fifth-largest wine producer — it trails France, Spain, Italy and the US.
Wine in the early days was kept in goatskin bags. The Englishman Sir Kenelm Digby invented the dark green wine bottle that’s popular today. There is a right and wrong way to hold a wine glass. The proper way is to hold by the stem so that the hand does not warm the glass and increase the temperature of the wine.
“Toasting” originated in ancient Rome when they retained Greek traditions — it’s derived from dropping a piece of toasted bread in wine to soften bitter tastes.
Wine with animal symbols on the label are known as “critter wine.”
You need to drink 7 glasses of orange juice or 20 glasses of apple juice in order to get the same amount of antioxidants in a glass of wine.

On a final note, deep below the ocean’s surface, the Titanic rests with most of its original wine bottles still intact and undisturbed. There have been rumors that a few bottles may have made their way to the mainland and were sold to a collector, but so far none of the actual wines from the Titanic have been recovered and/or tasted.

So now you know enough about wine to be really popular at your next cocktail party. The guests will all marvel at your knowledge — just remember to swirl you glass as you talk….
Cheers!!
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Today is pretty much the “closing ceremony” for the Chinese New Year activities — it’s the Lantern Festival. People eat Yuanxiao (a rice ball stuffed with different fillings) and watch lanterns. It is the first significant feast after the Chinese New Year and it is regarded as the most recreational among all the Chinese festivals and a day for appreciating the bright full Moon and family reunions. 

So how did the Lantern Festival come to be? As the story goes, the Jade Emperor (You Di,) became angered at a town for killing his goose. He planned to destroy the town with fire, but was thwarted by a fairy who advised the people to light lanterns across the town on the appointed day of destruction. The emperor, fooled by all the light, assumed the town was already engulfed in flames. The town was spared, and in gratitude the people continued to commemorate the event annually by carrying colorful lanterns throughout the town.

I’ve never been in China for the Lantern Festival, but I’ve seen some of the lanterns used — during the festival, they are in the street, in each house and store, but some are displayed (I guess) year round and their various shapes and types demonstrate traditional Chinese folklore. 

Guessing riddles is regarded as an indispensable part of the Lantern Festival. People write all kinds of riddles on pieces of paper, and paste them on colorful lanterns to let visitors guess. If someone has an answer to a riddle, he can pull the paper to let organizers verify the answer. Gifts are presented to the people who get the right answers. 

The holiday marks the first full Moon of the new lunar year and the end of the Chinese New Year festivities. The Lantern Festival aims to promote reconciliation, peace, and forgiveness. Seems like we could all use a few days like that about now….
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Today is Valentine’s Day — both readers know that we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. Well, that’s not exactly true… we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day on Valentine’s Day, we do it a day or so before or after. If you don’t know why, and are even interested, you can check the blog entries for past Valentine’s Days.

Even though today is supposedly one of, if not the, most romantic days of the year, it actually marks the date of the execution of St. Valentine by the Roman emperor Claudius II during the third century AD. No one is exactly sure of the crime he was executed for, but the most popular theory is that he’d been officiating at the weddings of soldiers, despite the fact that marriage had been outlawed for them. Apparently, the emperor thought that love and romance made for weaker soldiers.

A long time before St. Valentine’s execution, February 14 had come to be associated with fertility ± and blood. Between February 13 and 15, Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia by sacrificing a goat and a dog and then whipping naked women with the hides, all in the interest of making women more fertile. In the fifth century, AD, Pope Gelasius I outlawed Lupercalia and officials declared February 14 to be the feast of St. Valentine — Valentine’s Day.

Even though Valentine’s Day continues to associated with hearts and flowers and candy, in the last century, it has also continued to associated with blood splatter and murder, like:
The Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929.
The unsolved murder of young lovers Jesse McBane and Patricia Mann that occurred on Valentine’s Day 1971.
The unsolved murder of teenagers Nicholas Kunselman and Stephanie Hart (who were dating) on Valentine’s Day 2000.
The murder of Reeva Steenkamp by Oscar Pistorius on Valentine’s Day 2013.
The murder-suicide of an elderly couple in Alabama on Valentine’s Day 2015.
The U.S. school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day in 2018.

But today is Valentine’s Day, a special day for love, and love is never wrong. Charles Schulz said that all you need is love…. but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.
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Today is Super Bowl Sunday. Hopefully, it’ll be as good a game as most of the playoff games turned out to be. One thing is certain — a lot of people will tune in to the Super Bowl… even a lot of people that don’t care about the game — some want to watch the commercials, some just want to go to a Super Bowl party, but I read that of the top 10 most watched American television programs of all time, nine of them are Super Bowls. I didn’t “fact check” that, but it may be true.

A lot of people will apparently eat their way through the game — according to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, this Sunday in February is the second-highest day of food consumption in the US, behind only thanksgiving.

This year’s game will take place in the new SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, making the seventh time Los Angeles has hosted the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl has used Roman numeral since Super Bowl V, which took place in 1971. Lamar Hunt, then owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, is credited with introducing the idea. The initial four Super Bowls were retroactively changed to reflect the move to Roman numerals. Since 1971, the only Super Bowl to not feature Roman numerals was Super Bowl 5o.

Twelve teams have yet to win a Super Bowl…..
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
Los Angeles Chargers
Minnesota Vikings
Tennessee Titans
Of the 12, the Browns, Lions, Texans, and Jaguars have yet to even make an appearance in the Super Bowl.

You might notice that one of those listed could be taken off the list today — the Bengals, after ending a three decades playoff drought this year might finally put a Super Bowl trophy in Ohio.
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Well, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day — a day we don’t celebrate, at least not on Valentine’s Day. In fact, we’ve already celebrated “Valentine’s Day” for this year….. some years we’re early and some years we’re late.

But today is also a special day that we don’t celebrate. Today is Ganentine’s Day — a day that I didn’t even know existed until recently. I really don’t remember ever watching the television show “Parks and Recreation,” but supposedly Galentine’s Day was created by that TV show, specifically by a fictional character on that show, Leslie Knope.

Apparently during the show’s second season (in 2010) an episode aired called “Galentine’s Day.” In that episode, the fictional character Leslie gathered a group of her gal pals for a brunch of waffles and love. According to Leslie, “Every February 13, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home and we just come and kick it, breakfast style, ladies celebrating ladies.”

I guess this was enough for everyone to add it to their calendars and it’s now become a widely recognized fake holiday. 
I looked it up and according to the Urban Dictionary, Galentine’s Day is celebrated on February 13, the day before Valentine’s Day. It’s a day to celebrate the love you have for your lady friends, whether they’re single or not, and shower them with love and attention… more than you do every other day.

Some people claim that the day is not meant only for women, claiming that at the end of the day, Galentine’s Day is a celebration of friendship and the people who stick with each other even as romantic relationships come and go, so it can be celebrated by anybody.

That may be true, but being “old school” it sounds kind of “girly” to me — I think I’ll just stick to Valentine’s Day, whenever we celebrate it….
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Today, February 12, is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Over the years, February has become known as the months of President’s — I guess probably because two of the best known US Presidents were born in February, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

I’ve always thought that Abe didn’t get the respect he deserved and just kind of got lost in all the February “presidential” festivities. Even though I just referred to him as “Abe,” he actually hated to be called Abe.

It seems like there’s a lot we know about Lincoln, maybe because there are more books written about Lincoln than any other American, or maybe anyone in the world — more than 15,000. But even so, there are some things that aren’t well-know about our 16th President. 

Before being elected President, he was a general store owner, postmaster, a licensed bartender and a lawyer. As a lawyer, he actually lost a case before the Supreme Court in 1849. He did not have a middle name, he was an avid hunter, and was never a member of an organized church. He learned about Christianity by reading the bible.
When Abe was 9 years old, his mother, Nancy, died of a mysterious “milk sickness” that swept across southern Indiana. It was later learned that the strange disease was due to drinking tainted milk from a cow that had ingested poisonous white snakeroot. 
You may note that his mother died in Indiana — even though Illinois is known as the Land of Lincoln, he didn’t move there until he was 21. He was born in Kentucky (in a log cabin) but his family moved to Indiana when Abe was young.

Lincoln loved to tinker with machines and he is the only president to have obtained a patent. He was once aboard a steamboat that ran aground on low shoals and had to unload its cargo. After that incident, he designed a method for keeping vessels afloat when traversing shallow waters — by using empty metal air chambers attached to their sides. His design was awarded Patent No. 6,469 in 1849
.I think I’ve mentioned in the past that Lincoln is enshrined in the Wrestling Hall of Fame — he was an accomplished wrestler as a young man. And, when Lincoln was President, he never slept in the Lincoln Bedroom — he used the current Lincoln Bedroom as his personal office.

Since John F. Kennedy was assassinated (like Lincoln) there’s been a lot of comparison of the two, and some of the comparisons are kind of interesting….
Lincoln and Kennedy were both shot in the head on a Friday.
Their successors were named Johnson (Lincoln’w was Andrew Johnson, Kennedy’s was Lyndon Johnson.)
Lincoln was shot in a theater named Ford, Kennedy was shot in a car (a Lincoln) made by Ford.
The names Lincoln and Kennedy both contain seven letters.

So even though Abe’s birthday will go pretty much unnoticed in most places today, it is a state holiday in California, Connecticut, Missouri and Illinois. Interestingly, Indiana recognizes Lincoln’s Birthday as a holiday on the day after Thanksgiving. 
Happy 213th birthday to my friend Abe.
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We were invited to a Super Bowl party this coming Sunday. I can’t say that I’m not looking forward to the party, but it still doesn’t change my opinion of Super Bowl parties. You may be aware that I’ve been on a campaign to do away with Super Bowl parties and hold Pro Bowl parties instead. At the risk of repeating myself (that’s what you do when you’re on a campaign) the change in venue would be beneficial to everyone. Super Bowl parties are all about the party — no one goes to a Super Bowl party to watch the Super Bowl. Have a Pro Bowl party and it can be all about the party — no one watches, or cares, about the Pro Bowl. You can party on and there’s still a football game on television. 

It’s a win-win — you can have your party and then stay home the next week and watch the Super Bowl.
If you’re a football fan, you know that the Pro Bowl supposedly features football’s biggest stars, but every year more and more of the biggest stars decline their invitations to participate. 

So — considering the lack of player, fan and league interest, why does the Pro Bowl exist? I have the answer, and it’s the only reason — it’s a great day for a party!! Once again, I’ve made my argument and I rest my case….
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I’ve mentioned before that I never intended that this blog would become a “brag book” about my grandkids. But if you look back, you’ll note that I do talk about my grandkids on occasion. I figure that’s my prerogative as a grandad — and — it’s my blog, so I can write what I choose…
So that said, here’s my first, and oldest granddaughter Emily’s school picture — along with a few earlier ones for comparison….
With the school situation being what it is, I’m not sure how this school picture thing works now, but hopefully, we’ll be getting this year’s pictures of Locke, Rory and Ellie soon….
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We took Emily to lunch at a restaurant one afternoon last week and I jokingly said she had to pay. When she said she didn’t have enough money to pay, Claire said, “well I guess you’ll have to wash dishes.” Emily had absolutely no idea what that meant. When we were younger, and went out to eat, is was a common expression if someone didn’t have enough money to pay their bill, that they’d have to wash dishes to “earn” their meal. 

Well, I hadn’t thought about it for a long time, but I don’t remember when I’d heard that expression before Claire used it last week. Of course, that got me to thinking… There are a lot of phrases or expressions that you just don’t hear anymore. I remember my parents and grandparents saying things that, at least at first, didn’t make much sense to me but over time i grew to understand what they were saying or at least what they meant.

Here’s some things I remember hearing pretty often in the past, that I haven’r heard in a long time. A lot of them I never figured out what they meant, but some made sense over time.

I remember my grandparents saying things like: Last time I saw you, you were knee high to a grasshopper; Land’o Goshen; Heaven to Betsy and Great Day in the Morning a lot. Some other popular “things from the past” I haven’t heard lately include….
Cute as a Button; Here’s mud in your eye; Twenty-three Skidoo; The cat’s pajama’s; Sweet as Molasses; Raining cats and dogs; Believe you me; Now we’re cooking with gas; Let’s skedaddle outta here; The proof is in the pudding and Tarnation! What the Sam Hill?

Another saying you don’t hear much today — Close the door, were you born in a barn? And then there’s Drunker than a hoot owl and Three sheets to the wind; Don’t count your chickens before they hatch; We’ve hit pay dirt; Aww, Jeemineez; Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle; Phony as a three dollar bill; and Sitting on pins and needles.

I also remember waiting Till the cows come home; Three shakes of a lamb’s tail; Bats in the belfry; Indian giver: Haven’t seen hide nor hair of him; Not worth a plug nickel; Don’t have a conniption fit; Bet your bottom dollar; Hubba Hubba; Ain’t just whistling Dixie; and Knock on wood.

And before you can say Jack Robinson, I thought of A fine kettle of fish; Two birds of a feather flock together; Gets my goat; Kill two birds with one stone; Buy a pig in a poke; Sharp as a tack; Quick as a wink; More than one way to skin a cat; Keeping up with the Joneses; Thin as a rail; In cahoots; Couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn; and Living high on the hog. 

I’m sure I could think of more, but it “just goes to show” how much our language has changed. I admit I don’t know what some of these saying really mean, but if I made a list of the popular terms and expressions popular today, I wouldn’t know what most of them mean. 

After thinking about it, I forgot a couple of terms that should be on my list of things you don’t hear too much anymore — Please and Thank You…..
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