Remember…

Yes, this is late. I’ll make no excuses, just slept until the crack
of noon and needed several cups of coffee to be mobile again. Now
that I’m awake we’ll do this.

Tomorrow marks a solemn anniversary and most of us remember where we were when we heard the news on September 11, 2001. The day we were attacked on our own soil. 2,977 died and at least $10 billion in damages were done. It was the deadliest incident for fire fighters and law enforcement in our history.

But we also saw America come together and help others. Flags flew
all over our nation and help came from all over the land. It is not
something to celebrate but remember. We’ll have a moment of silence
tomorrow to do just that. We mention this today as tomorrow we will
busy and may not have time.

This is a short one but I’ve run out of words and so many have
already been said about this. We will say that as a nation we have
to remember as to forget would be letting the event slide into
obscurity. Thanks for reading and we will have more later.

Enjoy our Thursday as we’re one day closer to 2021. Now for more
coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Just pointing out

Been trying to do this post for some time and have had brain farts
that freeze my fingers on the keyboard. Today I will attempt to finish
it to share.

In 1918 the United States had a population of 103,208,000,
World War I would last until November of 1918, and the Spanish
Influenza Pandemic hit the world. It was called the Spanish flu as
Spain was neutral in the war meaning it could report on the world wide
severity of the outbreak.

The influenza infected 500 million people worldwide, or about one
third of the world population. Of those more than 50 million died,
675,000 in the U.S. Generally speaking, the fatality rate for the
Spanish flu was said to be 2%.

Citizens were ordered to wear masks while schools, theaters, and
businesses were shuttered and makeshift morgues were needed. This
strain of the flu was extremely virulent with little or no immunity
and spread quickly. Some may remember the 2009 H1N1 pandemic
which was considered swine flu.

There were no known cures and the Surgeon General and Journal of
the American Medical Association all recommended the use of aspirin.
Medical professionals advised patients to take up to 30 grams a day,
which we now know is toxic. Today a dose above 4 grams is
considered unsafe.

The economy took a hit with businesses shut down, mail delivery and
garbage pickup was crippled, farms didn’t have enough workers to
harvest crops, and health departments closed. In San Fransisco people
were fined $5 if caught in public not wearing a mask.

Long terms affects of the response to the epidemic were mental
health issues, alcoholism, and the economy. Somebody should be
thinking outside the box on how to keep that happening this time
around. You may remember Prohibition made alcoholic beverages illegal in 1920, and by the end of the 1920s the Great Depression hit.

Each year more than 200,000 Americans are hospitalized for flu
related complications and anywhere between 3,000 and 49,000 die. The young, elderly, pregnant women,and those with medical conditions are at higher risk.

So now we have the Covid-19 and who knows what the after affects
of that will be. Not really worried about the virus just wondering
what it’s going to cost our kids.

Early nickle tour

Well it’s a beautiful, albeit hot, day here on the east coast of
Iowa and it looks like it will stay that way through the weekend.
With the 4th of July coming up Saturday we hear the nightly song of
those who set off fireworks.

Some of these fireworks aren’t bad while others sound like something
fired from a cannon and even shake the ground. But soon these will
be a thing of the past and forgotten until New Year’s Eve. And even
though the city sponsored fireworks has been cancelled we should
have some pictures of some near our place.

Independence Day is an annual celebration commemorating the
Declaration of Independence even though the declaration was signed
on July 2, 1776, it was not declared until July 4, 1776.

Usually the holiday is celebrated with fireworks, parades, barbecues,
carnivals, fairs, concerts, baseball games, and family reunions; we
feel 2020 may look slightly different. Many events are cancelled yet
we’ll still celebrate.

In 1777, 13 gunshots were fired in salute, once in the morning and
once again as night fell.

In 1779, July 4 fell on a Sunday so was celebrated on Monday, July
5.

In 1870, Congress made Independence Day an unpaid federal holiday,
and in 1938 Congress changed it to a paid federal holiday.

And that ends the nickle tour of our Independence Day. Enjoy our
Thursday as that means the weekend is only a dream away. Now for
more coffee and leftover pizza.
Comments are always welcome.

Just to clarify…

Memorial Day is a day set aside to honor those who died in the
service to our country. It is not correct to tell a veteran “Happy
Memorial Day”. We veterans have our own day and we hope everyone
remembers those who gave their all on their day.

Memorial Day is also the unofficial start of summer here in our
country. We hope the National cemeteries are filled with flags on
the day we mourn the fallen.

Once called Decoration Day, the observance began being called
Memorial Day in the late 1800s. After World War I the name Memorial
Day was more common. And in May, 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved 4 holidays from their traditional dates to a specified Monday.

Memorial Day was moved from May 30th to the last Monday in May. It
became a federal holiday in 1971. And that is our nickel tour of
this remembrance day. We can never forget that freedom isn’t free.

Tomorrow we’ll have a snicker that might be considered funny by
some, or at least a few. We try.
Comments are always welcome.

Late update

173 years ago today Iowa became a state. Iowa sits between the
Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux
River to the west. The largest city, Des Moines, is also the State
Capital. And it is said the state got its name from the Ioway people
who were one of the many Native American tribes that lived here.

Iowa has a population of 3,156,145. Crops cover 60% of the state,
grasslands cover 30%, forests cover 7%, and urban areas and water
cover 1% each. Over a 30 year span the state averages 47 tornados a
year. And we call it home.

Today on the east coast of Iowa we are having a wet day. Didn’t see
any sun but the rain has been on and off. We’re told when all is
said and done we will get about an inch of rain by 8 am tomorrow.

So the feral cats aren’t out running around and the birds have
been quiet. Read earlier in the Farmer’s Almanac that his winter
will be a polar coaster. Didn’t know what that meant then but have
since be given an idea.

The daily highs have been up and down like a yo-yo and both rain
and snow are in the extended forecast. Guess it’s time to get some
gas for the snow blower. After all, January is just around the corner
and will bring a new year with it.

Enjoy the rest of our Saturday. Now for some coffee and pizza.
Comments are always welcome.

Something different

Since I couldn’t decide between two posts today I picked one and
looked at the other. The winner is a little winter and Christmas
folklore. Some you may know but we hope some you don’t.

We’ll start with winter lore:

If snow begins at mid of day, expect a foot of it to lay.

When snow melts off the roof, the next storm will be rain. When
snow blows off, reckon on snow.

Heavy frosts are generally followed by fine, clear weather.

When snow falls in the mud, it remains all winter.

Now the Christmas lore:

Green Christmas, white Easter.

If ice will bear a man before Christmas, it will not bear a mouse
afterward.

A windy christmas is a sign of a good year to come.

If at Christmas ice hangs on the willow, clover may cut at Easter.

When Christmas Eve is clear, our Lord will give us an abundance of
wine and corn.

And on a different note, something found out about a certain
Christmas tree ornament. I hadn’t heard of the Christmas pickle or
known anything about it until today. I know, I’ve lived a sheltered
live.

The tradition of putting a gerkin shaped ornament on the tree with
the others is said to date back to the 19th century here in the
U.S. of A. Folklore has it that the first person to find said
Christmas pickle got to open the first present or good fortune in
the following year.

Some say the idea originated in a Civil War prison camp when a
prisoner asked a guard for pickle as he was starving. The guard
gave the prisoner the pickle and saved his life. When he returned
to his family after the war he began a tradition of hiding a pickle
on their Christmas tree every year.

That’s so crazy it may just be true. Enjoy our Friday. Now for some
more coffee and for some reason I’m hungry for a pickle.
Comments are always welcome.

Take a moment

78 years ago today we were attacked at Pearl Harbor and over 2,000
lost their lives. We must never forget.

The day

Eighteen years ago today we were attacked on our own soil and as a result 2,996 were killed and over 6,000 were injured. It was a day when America reacted as one and we banded together as a nation to offer comfort and aid to those who needed it.

The terrorist group al-Queda was behind the attacks and if they thought these attacks would leave us running scared, they were wrong. Most of us old enough to remember the event also remember where we were when we heard.

I was at a shop hanging a quarter panel on a ’54 Chevy when the news came through. Needless to say the shop didn’t get much done after the= news. We watched the tragedy unfold, the towers fall, and heard the stories of the heroism of first responders and those about to die.

The attack started at 8:46 am (EDT) and the second tower fell at 10:28 am (EDT) but the news coverage continued. Now we know that first responders who weren’t killed during the attack succome to terrible illnesses and are having issues still.

So we are going to have a moment of silence to show we haven’t forgot and will never forget. Enjoy our Wednesday even though it falls on the day of these terrible attacks now 18 years in the past. Now for some coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

You ever wonder about…

A lot of us grew up watching cartoons on Saturday morning and I’ve learned some interesting things about one of my personal favorites, Popeye. The character was created by Elzie Crisler Segar in 1928 in Chester, Illinois. He started out in the comic strip “Dice Island” in 1929 as a sailor for hire.

I did not know Popeye was based on a real person. Frank “Rocky” Fiegal was born in 1868 and was a local legend in his hometown of Chester, Illinois. He was a lot stronger than he looked, smoked a pipe, didn’t back down from a fight, had a squinty (or missing) right eye, and at times butchered the English language when he spoke.

If you watched Popeye you remember Olive Oyl. Her character was also based on a real person. Dora Paskel owned a general store in Chester, was tall and thin, dressed like the cartoon character, and her gravestone is engraved with the face of Olive Oyl.

Remember “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”? That’s right, J. Wellington Wimpy was based on J. William Schuchert who ran the local theater and at one time was Segars boss. He was not a cheap person but did have a love of hamburgers and round shape.

And I also didn’t know that the first “Popeye the Sailor” cartoon was part of the Betty Boop shorts. So now we know the real Popeye didn’t live on the island of Sweethaven, but in Illinois.

Enjoy our Saturday and try not to think about old cartoons. Now for some coffee and a cookie.
Comments are always welcome.

We must remember

Today is the 75th anniversary of D-Day, an operation that involved 150,000 soldiers and 195,700 naval personnel, that began the liberation of German occupied France. Allied casualties were over 10,000 with 4,414 confirmed dead.

And while I was watching the morning news one of the talking heads stated that our kids today believe we fought with the Germans against the Russians! I certainly hope that isn’t true.

Later in the program they profiled a Native American who became a combat nurse and served during that time and treated casualties of the invasion. Yet when she returned home there were no parades or fanfare, only signs in businesses in her home town that said ‘Indians and Dogs Not Allowed!’

We must remember and pass our knowledge on to our children and grand children so they remember after we’re gone. Today we are 75 years separated from D-Day and we don’t have many left who can say they were there. Sadly, in my lifetime there will be none.

And if you’re having a bad day think about the 18 year old boys who jumped off the LSTs and stormed the beach 75 years ago today. We owe them our freedom and respect so the least we can do is remember them.

Comments are always welcome.