What Would Jimmy Do?

Well, we made it through January pretty much in one piece — now we need to get through February. Lots of events in February, starting with today — Groundhog Day. This will be our first Groundhog Day of the pandemic. Little did we think last year at this time that Punxsutawney Phil would have to see his shadow virtually in 2021.

February 2 is also Candlemas that commemorates the ritual purification of Mary, 40 days after the birth of her son Jesus. The day also marks the ritual presentation of the baby Jesus to God in the Temple at Jerusalem. Candlemas was formerly known in the Roman Catholic Church as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary — it is now known as the Presentation of the Lord. 

The Dachs were German-speaking immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania. They developed their own take on the legend of Candlemas in the 18th and 19th centuries bringing with them the custom of weather forecasting using a Hedgehog….  giving rise to the problem there are no hedgehogs in Pennsylvania — so, they substituted a groundhog. Candlemas was when the clergy blessed and distributed candles needed for winter. The Dachs came up with the idea of selecting an animal to predict how many candles they would need for the winter. 

The first ever “Groundhog Day” was created by a local newspaper editor, Clymer Freas, around 1886. He convinced a local groundhog hunter and businessman, and all members of his Punxsutawney Groundhog club, that Groundhog Day was a good idea. Together, they all made their way to Gobbler’s Knob where the groundhog would make the final decision on the weather.

February 2 is when we ask are if we are in for six more weeks of winter — of course, only a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil knows the answer. Every year, people flock to Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to await Phi;’s forecast. But — the coronavirus has forced us to change the way we celebrate holidays and Groundhog Day is no exception.
Punxsutawney Phil will still make an appearance this year, but it will be virtual. There will not be any in-person attendance or guests on the grounds because the potential COVID risks are too great. 

Just about all our Christmas decorations have been taken down — that may be good luck or bad luck, depending on how you view February 2. One school of thought is that it’s supposed to be bad luck to leave you Christmas decorations up after Groundhog Day. And — there’s another group that says any Christmas decorations not taken down by Twelfth Night (January 5th) should be left up until Candlemas Day and then taken down. So I’m not sure where we fit into this — but no matter,  today is Phil’s day… even though he’s like most other prophets — he delivers his prediction and then disappears. Happy Groundhog Day!
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Well, here we are into February — the last month of “winter,” at least in my mind. It’s also a month of lots of “activities,” like Valentines Day, Chinese New Year, President’s Day, etc. But before we get started with all those, we shouldn’t forget that it’s also Black History Month. 

When I was growing up in Oklahoma, I was not aware that there was any such thing as Black History Month. In fact, there wasn’t — Black History Month only came into being in 1976 when President Gerald Ford recognized the “celebration” and called on the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” 

The idea for a way to celebrate African American achievements was started in 1915 by prominent African American figures of the day, notably historian Carter G. Woodson. Woodson was a Harvard-trained historian and he and his group wanted a way to promote achievements of African Americans. (That group is now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.) In 1926, the group chose the second week in February to celebrate what they called “Negro History Week.” The second week of February was symbolic in that it was the same week of the birthdays of former President Abraham Lincoln and the escaped slave and prominent abolitionist movement activist, Frederick Douglas. Due in part to the civil rights movement, the week evolved into an entire month in the late 1960s.

Every year, some interesting African American facts and stories surface during the month of February keeping the celebration fresh and interesting….
Even though Rosa Parks gets the credit as the first person to refuse to give up their seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, months before Rosa gained publicity, Claudette Colvin, a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl refused to move to the back of the bus. She was arrested and thrown in jail. She (along with four other women) later challenged the segregation law in court, and Browder vs. Gayle became the court case that successfully overturned bus segregation laws in both Montgomery and Alabama. Rosa Parks received the publicity because, apparently, the NAACP thought Rosa made a better icon for the movement than a teenager.

The Transatlantic Slave Trade business  operated from about 1500-1866 and shipped more than 12 million African slaves across the world. Of the 12 million, only 10.7 million survived the trip. Over 400 years, the majority of slaves (4.9 million) were transported to Brazil where they suffered incredibly high mortality rates due to the working conditions. Brazil was also the last country to ban slavery — in 1888. By the time the United States became involved in the slave trade, it had been underway for two hundred years. The majority of the 388,000 slaves arrived in the U.S. between 1700 and 1866. The less than 400,000 number  was much smaller than most Americans realize.

Some historians believe that the real “Lone Ranger” was inspired by an African American man named Bass Reeves. Reeves was born a slave but escaped and headed west during the Civil War and lived in what was then known as Indian Territory. He eventually became a Deputy U.S. Marshal, was a master of disguise, an expert marksman, had a Native American companion, and rode a silver horse. In the 19th century, many enslaved Blacks fled to the Wild West hoping for freedom and wages. African Americans made up at least a quarter of the legendary cowboys who lived dangerous lives facing rattlesnakes, weather and outlaws while they slept under the stars and drove cattle herds to market. There was little formal segregation in frontier towns, but Black cowboys were often expected to do more of the work and the roughest jobs compared to their white counterparts. It is thought that the term “cowboy” originated as a derogatory term used to describe Black “cowhands.”

The cartoon character Betty Boop was inspired by a Black jazz singer in Harlem. Created by cartoonist Max Fletcher in 1930, the caricature of the jazz age flapper is considered the first and most famous sex symbol in animation. Betty Boop was best known for her revealing dress, curvaceous figure, and signature vocals. While there has been controversy over the years, the inspiration has been traced back to Esther Jones who was known as “Baby Esther” and performed regularly in the Cotton Club during the 1920s.

During the coming month, I’m sure we’ll discover many more “neglected accomplishments.” Of course, Black history is more than a month and we can learn history anytime — some of those “lesser known” moments and facts are often the most interesting — and important.
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The word vaccination has appeared in the news multiple times every day for quite some time now. Most of us have been inoculated against various diseases starting when we were very young and we still get periodic inoculations or vaccines to prevent various illnesses. Of course a lot, if not most, people are waiting for the COVID vaccine right now. 

I got to wondering…. what was the first “vaccine” and who came up with the idea? Like most things, if you really did into it, the subject gets complicated…. immunization (the act of making someone immune to infection) dates back hundreds of years. Buddhist monks drank snake venom to develop immunity to snake bites and variolation (smearing of a skin tear with cowpox to create an immunity to smallpox) was practiced in 17th century China. But from what I can tell, the practice of vaccinating people against infection began in 1796 by Edward Jenner. He inoculated a 13 year old boy  with cowpox (vaccinia virus) and demonstrated immunity to smallpox. The first smallpox vaccine was developed in 1798.

One of the most interesting stories I uncovered during my extensive research was about a slave named Onesimus.
In 1706 a prominent Puritan minister, Cotton Mather, received a gift from his congregation — a slave from West Africa. Mather gave his slave the name Onesimus, after a Biblical slave whose name meant “useful.” Mather was a powerful figure in the Salem Witch Trials. He believed that slave owners had a duty to convert slaves to Christianity, and to educate them. 

In 1721, Smallpox broke out in Massachusetts and was spreading rapidly. The first victims, passengers on a ship from the Caribbean, were shut up in a house identified only by a red flag that read “God have mercy on this house.” As the sickness swept through the city of Boston, killing hundreds, at a time before modern medical treatment or much of an understanding of infectious disease, Onesimus, owned by Mather, suggested a potential way to keep people from getting sick. Onesimus told Mather about the centuries old tradition of inoculation practiced in Africa. By extracting the pus from an infected person and scratching it into the skin of an uninfected person, you could deliberately introduce smallpox to the healthy individual making them immune. Even though the “operation” was considered extremely dangerous at the time, Cotton Mather convinced Dr. Zabdiel Boylston to experiment with the procedure and over 240 people were inoculated. The process was opposed politically, religiously and medically in the United States and abroad. Public reaction to the experiment put Mather and Boylston’s lives in danger, despite records indicating that only 2% of patients requesting inoculation died… compared to the 15% of people not inoculated who contracted smallpox.

The smallpox epidemic wiped out 844 people in Boston — over 14 percent of the population, but it helped set the stage for vaccination. Edward Jenner developed an effective vaccine using cowpox to provoke smallpox immunity in 1796. It isn’t clear whether Onesimus lived to see the success of the technique he introduced to Mather. Not is much in known of his later life except that he partially purchased his freedom, giving money to Mather to purchase another slave. But what is known is that the knowledge he passed on saved hundreds of lives — and led to the eventual eradication of smallpox. Hopefully, we’re on the same path today with COVID…..
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When out kids were young, they both liked a book called “The Digging-est Dog.” I remember reading that book many, many, many times. I’m not sure why, but I thought about the book the other day when I saw a dog digging, 

Well, that got me to thinking… why do dogs dig? Why do dogs bury their bones? Of all the dogs I had when growing up and as an adult, some of them were “diggers,” and others not so much. I’ve mentioned before that when I was a kid, I had a pet crow. Crows apparently are natural thieves — they take things, especially shiny things. I think some dogs also have a bit of that thief instinct — we’ve had some dogs that would  “steal” things and hide them. Sometimes they were shiny things, like a watch and sometimes things that the dog seemed to know were “valuable” to you, like shoes or the TV remote. 

But why do they do that? Probably dogs started burying their bones, or food to keep it from other dogs, or just to save it for later. So maybe it”s just the survival instinct left over from their ancestors. Or maybe dogs have a natural instinct to keep valuable things safe and protected.

It’s interesting that dogs seem to always remember where they buried their bones. I think a dog’s keen sense of smell often helps him locate his stash, and I’ve noticed some dogs just like to dig up their bones from time to time and re-bury them. I guess they want to make sure their booty is still there. 

Another thing I’ve noticed is that some dogs like to bury their bones in private. I remember we had a dog once that if you caught him burying his bone, he would dig it up and take it somewhere else.

I did a little checking on this subject and the short answer as to why they bury things is because it used to be necessary for their survival. Seems reasonable, but I was hoping for a more interesting conclusion to my search. 

So trying to figure out dogs is just as hard as trying to figure out some people. But being a dog in most households doesn’t seem like such a bad life. Although, as one of my favorite dogs, Snoopy, once said, “Yesterday I was a dog. Today I’m a dog. Tomorrow I’ll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There’s so little hope for advancement.”
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January 2021 is kind of like leap year — it doesn’t have an extra day, but it has a special day. Every four years on January 20, it’s Inauguration Day. Inauguration Day 2021 (on Wednesday) will mark the 59th Presidential Inauguration in American history. The tradition of inaugurating a new president began on April 30, 1789 when George Washington was inaugurated as the first U.S. president.

The Constitution originally fixed March 4 as Inauguration Day but it was moved to January 20, with the Oath of Office administered at noon, with the ratification of the 20th amendment in 1933. The reasons given for the date change include the unpredictability of March weather, improved roads, and the desire to reduce the time the previous president remains in office as a “lame duck.”
The first president to be inaugurated on January 20 was Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1937, when he took office for the second of his four terms.

Six times the death or resignation of a president required his successor to be sworn in immediately, so the oaths were administered as quickly as possible. Presidents William Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, and Gerald Ford had no “formal” inauguration Days.

The word “inauguration” means “beginning,” and comes from the ancient practice of augury, which means predicting the future. The day marks the start of a president’s term in office.

The Presidential inauguration takes place in Washington, D.C., on the western side of the U.S. Capitol Building. It has been conducted there since 1801, when Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated. The first Inauguration Day took place in New York City (which was serving as the U.S. capital.) The inaugurals of John Adams and Thomas Jeffersons second term occurred in Philadelphia.

The most important thing that happens on Inauguration Day — and the only event required by the U.S. Constitution — is the swearing in of the new president at noon. 
The exact words of the Oath of Office are: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United. States.”

The Oath of Office is usually administered by the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court — a practice since 1797. The only woman to administer the Oath was Federal District Court Judge Sarah T. Hughes. She was the closest Federal judge to the site of the swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson on Air Force One that was parked at Love Field in Dallas. This happened shortly after Kennedy’s assassination. 

Presidents usually take the Oath of Office with their left hand on a Bible, but that is not required by the Constitution. Franklin Pierce and John Quincy Adams swore their oaths on law books. Lyndon Johnson used a Catholic missal found on the airplane in Dallas. Theodore Roosevelt didn’t use any book. Dwight D. Eisenhower, George H.W. Bush, and Barack Obama used more than one Bible. So far, all presidents except Franklin Pierce have chosen to “swear” rather than “Affirm” when taking the oath.

The Inaugural Address is a speech given by the recently inaugurated president — until 1897, the address was given before the newly elected president took the Oath of Office. But William McKinley waited until after he was sworn in to deliver his speech, and all the presidents since then have done the same.
Taxpayers pay only for the swearing-in ceremony — the cost of all that follows is funded by private donars.

Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021 on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. This year, the in-person gathering will have limited capacity and COVI-19 safety protocols. A lot of the normal inauguration activities will be “virtual.”

So let’s hope that on Wednesday the White House begins the return to “normal” — as well as Washington, the country… and the the world.
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We updated our “weather station” recently and it got a new icon showing the phases of the moon. 
Well, that got me to thinking about the moon — we have a pretty good view of the sky where we live and there’s not too much ambient light around, so we often comment on the moon’s brightness, etc.

The phases of the moon are determined by the amount of direct sunlight that shines on the moon’s surface at any given point in time. The location of the moon, relative to the sun and earth, determines the different moon phases. The first quarter moon and last quarter moon occur when both the moon and the Earth are the same distance away from the sun, illuminating half of the moon. These moon phases are referred to as “quarter” moons because when the moon is in this position, it has either completed one quarter of its orbit, or has one quarter of its orbit left to be completed. A full moon appears when the moon is the farthest away from the sun, exposing the fully illuminated surface of the moon to people on Earth. The new moon phase occurs when the moon’s orbit takes it closest to the sun. At this point, the sun is illuminating the “far” side of the moon, leaving the dark or un-illuminated side facing the Earth.

It seems like full Moons are referred to by their “names” more lately, or maybe I’m just noticing it more. The full Moon names that we normally use date back to Native Americans who live in what is now the northeastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon. When the European settlers arrived, they adopted the customs (and also created some of their own names.)

I thought it might be interesting to do some extensive research on the names we’ll be seeing for the full Moons this year. The first full moon of 2021 will occur on January 28th and be called the Wolf Moon. Here’s some possible reasons the Moons got their names…
January (Wolf Moon) — During the cold and snow of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages, so the name Wolf Moon stuck. Sometimes the January Moon was also referred to as the Old Moon or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes used that name for the February Moon.
February (Snow Moon) — Since the heaviest snow usually fell during February, native tribes of the north and east most often called the full Moon the Snow Moon. Some tribes also referred to this Moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult.
March (Worm Moon) — As the temperature began to warm and the ground began to thaw, earthworms appeared. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter… it was also called the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover became crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. Another name sometimes used was the Full Sap Moon because that time of year signaled the tapping of maple trees. To the settlers, it was known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.
April (Pink Moon) — This name came from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names for the April Moon included the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon and, among the coastal tribes, the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.
May (Flower Moon) — In most areas, flowers were abundant everywhere in May, giving rise to name Flower Moon. Other names included the Full Corn Planting Moon, or the Milk Moon.
June (Strawberry Moon) — Named because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June. In Europe the June Moon is often called the Rose Moon.
July (Buck Moon) — July was normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer pushed out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. This Moon was also called the Full Thunder Moon, because thunderstorms were most frequent during this time. Another name was the Full Hay Moon.
August (Sturgeon Moon) — This Moon was named by the fishing tribes. Sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other bodies of water, were most readily caught during August. Some tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appeared reddish through the haze. Other names were Green Corn Moon and Grain Moon.
September (Harvest Moon) — Also called the Corn Moon by the Native Americans because it marked when corn was supposed to be harvested. (Most often, the September full Moon is actually the Harvest Moon — the name given to the full Moon that occurs closest to the fall equinox. In two years out three, the Harvest Moon is September, but in some years it occurs in October.)
October (Hunter’s Moon) — The October Moon is often referred to as the hunter’s Moon, Blood Moon, or Sanguine Moon. The name for this moon is pretty obvious… the leaves were falling from trees, the deer were fattened, and it was time to begin storing meat for the long winter ahead. The fields were traditionally reaped in September or early October so hunters could easily see fox and other animals that came out to collect food from the fallen grains. The Hunter’s Moon was generally treated with special honor, historically serving as an important feast day in both Western Europe and among many Native American tribes —probably because of the coming winter.
November (Beaver Moon) — This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of winter furs. Some suggest that the name Beaver Moon comes from the fact that the beavers were actively preparing for winter. It’s also sometimes referred to as the Frosty Moon.
December (Cold Moon) — During this month the winter cold tightened its grip, and nights were at their longest and darkest. This Moon is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule as well as Long Night’s Moon — an appropriate name because the midwinter night is long and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. 

Besides naming the Moon, we’ve worked the word into our language in various ways — people often say that something is over the moon, or that something happens only once in a blue moon and sometimes we describe long-ago events as many moons ago, some people ask for, or promise, the moon. And of course people go on honeymoons and here in West Virginia we often partake of moonshine.
But it doesn’t matter if you’re on a first name basis with the Moon or not… just remember that we’re all under the same sky, looking at the same Moon.
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“The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole.

Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile.

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
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Even though the “major” holidays have passed, it’s still the holiday season. Back in December, we talked about the 12 Days of Christmas. We’re coming up on the 12th Day, and 12th Night of Christmas. But when is the “Twelfth Night?” Like just about everything these days, something as simple as this generates controversy, or at least disagreement.

Almost everyone agrees that the Twelfth Night is often/usually marked with feasting and entertainment. But is the Twelfth Night the 5th or 6th of January? If you’re anticipating that my extensive research uncovered the correct answer — sorry, there’s still two schools of thought. 

The Epiphany — the Christian feast to mark the visit of the Three Kings (or Magi) to the baby Jesus is 6 January. If you count from Christmas Day, the 12th night is 5 January — the eve of the Epiphany. But some people say you should count the 12 days after Christmas, which takes you to the 6th of January. People treat either the 5th or 6th as the day to celebrate, and there are claims on both sides as to which is the Twelfth Night.

I checked the Oxford Dictionary and even that reference supports both sides. If you look in the Oxford Dictionary for “Twelfth Night,” here’s what you’ll find:
“1. 6 January, the Feast of the Epiphany.
1.1 Strictly, the evening of 5 January, the eve of the Epiphany and formerly the twelfth and last day of Christmas festivities.”

So I suppose you can celebrate either the 5th or the 6th — or both, if you’re really in to it. And this year, the 6th is also the day congress votes to accept the electoral college’s vote. Here we are barely into the new year and we’ve got plenty of controversy already……
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It may be just a superstition, but I didn’t take any chances — I opened the door at midnight so 2020 could leave. 
We’re off and running in the new year and it’s hard to believe it’s been a year since I didn’t become a better person. I know I treat New Year Resolutions kind of like a joke every year, but it’s as good a time as any to start something new, or to change, or at least think about things and get them in the proper perspective. 

Not to put a damper on resolutions but I heard someone say the other day —  my wish for you is, may you become smart enough to realize that resolutions don’t come true and wise enough to know that the difference between a new year and an old year is 1-minute past 12 AM.

Most resolutions sound good, but they’re only words unless we take action. I think we should all have the resolution this year that we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity.
Once again, Happy New Year — let’s all hope for the best in 2021.
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This year is finally drawing to a close and most people are happy to see it go. A few people that I’ve talked with refer to 2020 at the “lost year.” Of course the year wasn’t really “lost,” but when the people who lived through it look back at the timelines of their personal lives, many of them will find a gap where 2020 should be. 

So when you look back at 2020, what do you think you’ll remember most about it? The pandemic has lowered our expectations in many ways, making us more appreciative of things we used to take for granted. It doesn’t take much to make a day feel like a special one…. even running an errand can feel like an exciting expedition. For us it’s like, “we went to Costco and got curbside pickup from the Mexican restaurant” — it was awesome.

A lot of us are thinking, hey, when are we going to get back to normal? I think the answer to that is maybe never — maybe we should just not think about going back, but go forward and define a new normal.

In the early 70s I spent some time in China and it was a kind of depressing place. Chairman Mao was still in charge and everything was just kind of dull — about the only bight colors you saw were red signs spouting one of Chairman Mao’s sayings. Even the clothing everyone wore was grey or brown… occasionally you saw a small child dressed in a bright color, but not often. When I left mainland China and crossed the border into Hong Kong, everything was vibrant and colorful. It was like stepping out of a black and white movie into one in technicolor. It reminded me of the Wizard of Oz, when the tornado swept Dorothy out of black and white Kansas into the colorful world of Oz.

So even though this past year has been “black and white,” maybe after this gray year, we might see the times to come in technicolor. Goodbye 2020 — Happy 2021.
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