Taking Saturday And Sunday Off...

After all...it is EASTER!!!

Falling Fish For Freaky Friday...!

If you look it up, you might be surprised at just how often there is a fish-rain around the world. It can happen in desert areas, or in the middle of highly populated cities. The cause is not always known, but is well documented over the years.

Lajamanu, Australia

Photo credit: The Telegraph

On the edge of the Tanami Desert, 550 kilometers (340 mi) away from the nearest “big” town of Katherine, sits the small town of Lajamanu, Northern Territory. It is not really a fishing destination.

Lajamanu has been the recipient of falling sky-fish at least three times in modern history—in 1974, 2004, and 2010. The fish that fell were small and alive—tough little creatures that must have been in the air for hundreds of hours. The closest significant bodies of water to Lajamanu are Lake Argyle and Lake Elliot, which are both a long distance away. Even the nearest river is over 480 kilometers (300 mi) away.

The locals were quite pleased with the falling spangled perch. They went “fishing” by picking up the perch from the local football oval.

As expected, I got this article from Listverse, where you can find more stories of falling fish. Interesting topic, don't you think?

Coffee inside this morning. Rain may be coming back.

Hot Or Not...?

Sometimes when eating peppers, one person's definition of hot might not be the same as yours, ya know? That's the topic of today's post.

Pimientos de Padrón

Eating these unpredictable tapas is a game of spicy-pepper roulette.

One of these peppers could set your mouth on fire.ANDREAS SALDAVS/SHUTTERSTOCK

There’s an expression in Spanish: Los pimientos de Padrón, unos pican y otros no, which translates to “Peppers from Padrón, some are hot and some are not.” These small green members of the Capsicum genus, measuring about two inches long, make for an exciting, unpredictable dining experience. Think Russian roulette, but with spicy peppers.

You’ll find them served in tapas bars around Spain. Chefs fry the green skin until it blisters, then top with a drizzle of lemon juice and flecks of coarse sea salt. Most of these have a piquant, peppery taste that’s pretty mild, with a slight grassy or nutty finish.

But if you’re lucky—or unlucky depending on your heat tolerance—you may get the one spicy pepper in 10 that can burn as much as biting into a jalapeño.

Legend has it that these unpredictable lime-green peppers made their way from South America to Galicia in northwestern Spain with a group of 16th-century Franciscan monks. They cultivated the seeds on the their monastery grounds in Herbón, near the town of Padrón. Thanks to the cooler environment, high levels of rainfall, and the monks’ selection of particular seeds, the peppers evolved into a strain that’s different from their Latin American ancestors.

So what makes some of these green firecrackers spicy? The heat level apparently increases the longer the peppers stay on the bush, or shows up in peppers that receive more light and water. But there is no way of telling whether a pepper will be hot or not short of actually tasting it.

Need to Know
Although pimientos de padrón are usually served as finger food, you can spice up your pizzas, salads, soups, and rice dishes with these unpredictable peppers. They go really well with cream-based sauces or with aged Spanish cheeses such as manchego. Sometimes they can even be pickled or preserved.

I used to eat a lot of peppers when I was younger, but as I grew older that changed. Still like hot foods, just not as much.

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. It's trying to rain again.

Pearl Hart For Western Wednesday...!

In keeping with stories about women in the Wild West, here is another story about one of them. I don't remember if I did a post about her before or not, but here is another look just the same.

Pearl Hart

Born in Lindsay, Canada in 1871, Hart attended an exclusive school. However, she enjoyed adventuring more than school work. At age seventeen, Pearl eloped to Chicago with gambler, Frederick Hart. But, Frederick was abusive and Hart left him at age Twenty-two. She made her way to Arizona where she met miner, Joe Boot. When Boot couldn’t make enough dough from mining, the lovers turned to robbery. They developed a routine where Hart would lure a man into her room, and, once through the door, Boot would whack the unsuspecting gentleman on the head and rob him. However, this play was risky and the couple were almost caught on several occasions. In 1899, Hart developed a plan to rob a stagecoach. More money, less risk.

Hart cut her hair and dressed as a man. Boot held up the driver, while Hart took over $400 from the passengers. After giving a little back to ensure the victims had enough money for food and a hotel, Hart and Boot rode gallantly away into the sunset, only to get lost in the desert. After several days of wandering, they desperately needed sleep, but when they woke the sheriff and his posse had found them. They were caught a mere three miles from the scene of the crime. It was while she was being tried for her crimes that Hart is famous for saying this feminist phrase, "I shall not consent to be tried under a law in which my sex had no voice in making." Unfortunately, the judge didn't care and Hart was tried and convicted anyway.

Being the second woman to rob a stage coach and the first one not to die while doing it, Hart instantly became the most famous woman in Arizona. Journalists came from all over to interview Hart and photograph her with her gun. Hart received a pardon after 18 months. The official reason was that the penitentiary did not have accommodations for women, although rumor had it that Hart was pregnant and the judge didn't want to have to explain how that happened. Hart later had a brief stint in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, but lived the rest of her life low key.

Here is one more woman I don't want to get on the bad side with. Sounds like a tough ol' gal to me.

Coffee outside on the patio, but it might start raining...so be prepared.

Cured ? Really...?

Why in the world would something like this happen. For the life of me, I can't figure it out!

Graham Young

Photo Credit: Alchetron

Fascinated with poison from his youth, Young would poison his father, step-mother, younger sister, several classmates, and at one point even himself. He eventually killed his stepmother, and, after the 15-year-old was sent to a psychiatrist, the police were brought in. Young landed himself in a psychiatric facility for people who have committed criminal offenses and was diagnosed with a personality disorder.

Dubbed the “Teacup Poisoner,” he would kill a fellow inmate and poison several staff members before being released nine years later, deemed “fully recovered.” He would eventually land back in prison in the early 1970s to live out the rest of his days, but he would go on to poison 70 more people, ultimately killing several, before that.

Call me crazy, but I think this guy was released just a tad too soon. I mean, he even killed a fellow inmate and poisoned some of the staff.

Coffee out on the patio this morning. Where else?

Mysterious Grave Of Nancy Barnett...!

A mystery can pop up in the strangest of places at times. This story is about the grave of one Nancy Barnett, but not so much about her unusual grave, but the fact that she wasn't alone in it!

The Grave in the Middle of the Road

photo Credit: Keith in Alaska

County Road 400 in Indiana has long taken an odd detour around the grave of Nancy Barnett, whose relatives didn't want her grave disturbed when the county decided to put the road through the area surrounding her burial plot.

After a tense standoff, the county ultimately split the road, with a lane running on either side of her grave. What became a tourist landmark recently took on a more mysterious quality, however, when archaeologists exhumed the grave and found the remains of at least six other people—a total of two women, one of whom was presumably Nancy Barnett, a man, and four children—whose origins and identities remain unknown.

Now, I don't know just what was going on with Nancy's grave, but it is strange that the family didn't want to have the grave moved. Do you think it was because of the extra visitors in her grave...and how did they get there? Many questions on this little mysterious gravesite, don't you think?

Coffee out on the patio again this morning. OK with you?

Sunday Funnies Again...!

Once again it's time for some Sunday 'toons. I know some folks don't like 'em, but some do. Can't please everybody all the time, I reckon.







And maybe just one more...



tHAT'S ALL, FOLKS...Coffee out on the patio again.

Frying Pan Tower Lighthouse...!

If you are looking for an ideal place to take a vacation, you might want to consider this little beauty. Let me warn you ahead of time though, this place is certainly not like any other you may have been to.

Frying Pan Tower

Photo credit: outsideonline.com

If the idea of staying overnight in a lighthouse appeals to you and you rue being born into a world of automated lighthouses, then perhaps staying at a B and B that is a decommissioned lighthouse is the weekend away for you.

The Frying Pan Tower is situated at the end of the Frying Pan Shoals, the southern tip of the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” off the coast of North Carolina.

As a lighthouse, the structure was manned from 1960 to 1979. For 110 years prior to that, the light that warned ships of the treacherous ground was provided by a stationary lightship that was anchored near the current lighthouse.

Once the lighthouse was automated, the living area (which is now the B and B part) was abandoned. In 2004, the coast guard deserted the whole structure, which was purchased in 2010 for a mere $85,000.

The entire structure somewhat resembles an electric frying pan, which was probably unintentional. It was originally built as an oil rig, and the name of the Frying Pan Shoals predates its construction.

I think I might enjoy a stay at this place. Might be interesting, for sure.Thanks to Listverse for the article on lighthouses.

Coffee out on the patio once again. Is this getting boring to ya?

Strange Tonic For Freaky Friday...!

So many types of snake oil medicines have been popular over the years, it would be hard to list them all.What's troubling,though, is the fact that many were considered good for you by the medical community.

Vin Mariani

Photo credit: Jules Cheret

Vin Mariani was a tonic wine, basically a French red Bordeaux with a twist: It was mixed with cocaine. It was prescribed for men who were overworked, so it was basically the original gangster of energy drinks. Invented and debuted in 1863, it continued into the 1900s as a form of nervous system stimulant, but it had a particularly high dose of cocaine.

The idea was to drink two or three glasses throughout the day to maintain a healthy nervous system. This actually sounds delicious, and it no doubt must have worked for its intended purpose. Though with the strong side effects of drug addiction and alcoholism, it can hardly be called medicine.

Thank goodness the V.A. has not issued a prescription for anything like this for me...yet!

Coffee out on the patio again.

Victor, The Feral Boy...!

For today let's talk about feral children. One in particular, Victor of Aveyron.

While many cases of feral children are actually cases involving child abuse or abandonment, there remains many reports from around the world of actual feral children found in the wild. Unpleasant, but factual.

Victor of Aveyron

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

In the early 1800s, a young French boy was spotted living in the woods. The wild child was clearly fearful of people. Eventually, however, he emerged on his own. Lacking language, preferring uncooked food, and covered in scars, it was obvious that he had been wild for most of his life.

A physician named Jean Marc Gaspard Itard took in the boy, naming him Victor. Itard studied Victor for five years. Although the only words Victor ever learned were lait (“milk”) and Dieu (“God”), he did make great progress in learning empathy–one of the traits that Itard believed separated humans from other animals.

Sadly there are more modern versions of feral children even in this day and age. Google it and you'll see what I mean.

Coffee out on the patio on this fine Spring day!

Jonathan Davis On Western Wednesday...!

Here is a story of a man that faced what would seem to be impossible odds and came out the winner. That didn't happen often in a gunfight, but this was not an ordinary man.

Davis–Sydney Ducks Shoot-Out

If there is one man you definitely don’t want to face in a gunfight, it’s Captain Jonathan R. Davis. On December 19, 1854, he single-handedly took on a dangerous gang of robbers and killed 11 of them.

Davis was a former army captain turned prospector. On the day in question, he was working with his two partners when they were ambushed by a band of outlaws. Almost half of the men were “Sydney Ducks,” criminal immigrants from Australia. The rest were Mexicans, Americans, Brits, and even a Frenchman, 13 in total. They were thought to be responsible for 10 murders just in the few days prior.

They charged the three prospectors, guns blazing. Davis’s partners were gunned down immediately. One died on the spot, and the other would succumb to his wounds days later. Davis had time to pull out his revolvers and start firing. By the time he ran out of bullets, seven outlaws were on the ground. Four of the survivors decided to approach Davis with blades—three with Bowie knives and one with a sword. Unfortunately for them, Davis had his own knife and was quite adept at using it. He took turns disarming and stabbing each one of his assailants, even cutting the nose off one of them.

The remaining robbers, finally realizing they had no chance, made a run for it. Seven of their comrades lay dead at Davis’s feet, and four more later died of their injuries.

I'd say that this man was one genuine bad-ass! I found this story over on Listverse with other stories of famous gunfights of the Old West.

Coffee out on the patio again this morning!

The Mysterious Guardian ...!

Sometimes help can come from mysterious places, such as in this story from the pages of Listverse.

True this story is a bit creepy, but in a good way. I think you'll agree after you read it, but I'll let you be the judge.

The Guardian

Photo credit: The Salt Lake Tribune

Responding to a tip from a local fisherman, two Utah police officers discovered an overturned car in the frigid waters of a river outside the town of Spanish Fork. Suddenly, they were shocked to hear a voice—faint but unmistakable—coming from the car. “Help me,” it called.

And indeed, they did find someone alive in the vehicle—an 18-month-old girl who most certainly had not called for help. Her young mother, whom police later determined had simply run off the road for no apparent reason, was dead in the front seat. Certainly, she had not called for help, either. So who did?

The voice “wasn’t just in our heads . . . it was plain as day. I remember hearing a voice that didn’t sound like a child, just saying ‘help me,’ ” explained one of the officers. Despite hanging upside down for 14 hours in the bitter cold with no food or water, the child survived—thanks largely to her mysterious guardian.

No matter who or what the police officers heard, it worked out for the young child. Sad that the mother lost her life, but the saving of the child had to be of some comfort to the family, I would think.

Coffee out on the patio, where it looks a lot like SPRING!

Missing Diver For Monday Mystery...!

This story is strange on many levels. A diver goes missing sometimes, but generally when the search for him starts, a body is found or at least some clue as to what happened. Not in this case, however.

The Missing Scuba Diver

The warning sign near the entrance to the cave. Photo: Wikipedia

When diver Ben McDaniel descended into the water of Vortex Spring, a large dive park and underwater cave near Ponce de Leon, Florida, he knew it wasn’t going to be an easy plunge. One narrowing tunnel below the surface is even sealed by a locked gate, with a key available only to divers experienced enough to handle its challenges. With the tightest spots in the cave measuring just 10 inches from floor to ceiling, the only way out is the way you came in. McDaniel went down, but he never came back up.

Recovery divers searched every inch of the cave. They explored hundreds of feet beyond the end of the cave map, squeezing through 10-inch spaces. They found just two decompression tanks belonging to McDaniel—but not McDaniel himself, and no other signs that he had been there. No scrapes on the limestone, no feeding fish, and no disturbed silt. His disappearance remains a mystery.

What can I say? If the sign can't stop folks from going into the cave, seems as though it's on them. I hate to say it, but I reckon some folks don't have any common sense.

Coffee out on the patio one more time.

Cartoon Sunday...!

Back for another round of Sunday comics. Does anyone ever get tired of them?







And maybe one more...



OK...that's enough for today. Have a great Sunday!

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

The Smell Of Books...?

As I may have told you before, I am an avid reader. I love to read!

I suppose that's why this advertisement caught my eye. Can you believe someone makes a candle that actually smells like books? I'm almost tempted to buy one and see if the claim is true...almost!

Could a Book-Scented Candle Make Your Place Smell… Smarter?

Options include “Sherlock’s Study” and “Reading at the Cafe.”

BY ERIC GRUNDHAUSER MARCH 14, 2018

FROSTBEARD STUDIO

‘Old Book’ Scented Candle
$18, Amazon

LET’S ADDRESS A TOUCHY, BUT undeniable fact: interesting people (and their homes or offices) don’t always smell good. Geniuses and eccentrics can easily lose sight of little things, like cleaning or hygiene, in their intellectual fervor. Luckily, our idea of how they should smell has been lovingly distilled into a collection of literary-themed scented candles.

Frostbeard Studio offers a range of “Book Lover’s” scents inspired by specific titles, including “The Shire” (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy), “Sherlock’s Study” (the Sherlock Holmes canon), and “Winterfell” (A Song of Ice and Fire). But their most intriguing scents are the more broadly described ones, such as “Old Books” or “Reading at the Cafe.” The whole concept evokes what you want interesting people (and places) to smell like, even if that’s not always the reality.

While some reviewers argue that the candles don’t smell exactly like used books, we’re still intrigued by any scent that makes us feel like we should be reading.

I got this ad from the folks over at AtlasObscura. Plenty of good reading over there, with some interesting stories!

Coffee out on the patio this morning, where the temps are going to be in the mid 80s today!

Deer Island For Freaky Friday...!

Some places have a tendency to attract ghost stories, or legends, or otherwise dark and mysterious folk tales. Such is a place in this post.

Strange Activities Of Deer Island

Deer Island sits in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Biloxi, Mississippi. It is home to a plethora of tales that date back to the early 19th century and continue today. Many of the sightings are reported by fishermen who would use the island as a base camp of sorts during fishing trips.

They have long told, for example, of the Firewater Ghost (sometimes called the Ghost of Blue Fire), a ball of blue fire that is often seen moving speedily under or on the surface of the water. Despite its name, many researchers in the modern age have likened details of the sightings to similar sightings of UFOs.

A headless skeleton is also said to roam the island. Legends state that the skeleton belongs to an unfortunate pirate who was decapitated by his fellow crew so that he would remain on the island to watch over their loot.

I would suggest here that any stories along these lines about any place be taken with a pinch of salt! Could be some of the stories might originate after the story-teller has had a fair amount of liquid courage, if you know what I mean.

Coffee out on the patio again this morning. Predicted highs...low 80s.

Taking The Day Off...!

Even though it hasn't been all that long since my last day off, I feel the urge to take another. So, being one quick to give in to temptation...I will!

See ya on the flip side!

Mad Anne On Western Wednesday...!

There were many memorable women in the old west. Some were housewives, some were robbers and thieves, and the some were like "Mad Anne" Bailey.

Anne made quite a name for herself by her actions, working as a scout and messenger. Here is part of her story!

‘MAD’ ANNE BAILEY: Frontier Scout and Messenger

A statue of 'Mad Anne' Bailey along the Ohio River. (Credit: Nicole Beckett/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)

Anne Hennis Trotter Bailey, known as “Mad Anne,” worked as a frontier scout and messenger during the Revolutionary War. Originally from Liverpool, England, Anne sailed to America at the age of 19, after both her parents died. She eventually married a veteran frontiersman and soldier named Richard Trotter and settled in Staunton, Virginia.

Richard, who joined the Virginia militia as tensions between frontiersmen and Native Americans grew, was killed in the Battle of Point Pleasant, West Virginia in late 1774. After learning of her husband’s death, Mad Anne showed her mettle: She dressed in buckskin pants and a petticoat, left her son with neighbors—and sought revenge.

With rifle, hunting knife and tomahawk in hand, Anne became a scout and messenger recruiting volunteers to join the militia and sometimes delivering gunpowder to the soldiers. She couriered messages between Point Pleasant and Lewisburg, West Virginia—a 160-mile journey on horseback.

Her most famous ride took place in 1791. After soldiers at Fort Lee got word that the Native Americans were planning to attack, and discovered that their gunpowder supply was desperately low, Anne galloped to the rescue. She rode the 100 miles to Lewisburg, where she switched horses, loaded up with gunpowder and rode back to Fort Lee. Her journey was memorialized in an epic poem by militiaman Charles Robb, “Anne Bailey’s Ride.”

Anne remarried to John Bailey, a member of the Rangers, a legendary group of frontier scouts, in 1785. As the group worked to defend new settlements from Native American attacks, Mad Anne once again used her skills as a scout and courier. After her second husband’s death, she spent the rest of her days living a solitary life in the woods.

This was probably one of those women you didn't want to mess with.

Coffee outside again. Looks and feels like Spring.

Excuse Me, But Something's Missing...!

I have to be honest here. I don't like funerals in general, but probably not for any of the reasons listed in this article I found over at Listverse.

I will admit that I don't really care for weddings either, but that's another story for a different day! I don't think I'm alone in this feeling, but who knows?

Anthony Parisi

In July 1986, Anthony Parisi passed away at the age of 83. Parisi, who was a co-founder of a grocery store in Mount Vernon, New York, died of natural causes and his body was being held at the Yannantuono Funeral Home, also in Mount Vernon.

On the morning of July 26, the employees of the funeral home went to prepare Parisi for his burial and when they looked into his casket, they discovered that his head was missing. The police were called and they speculated that sometime in the middle of the night, someone broke into the funeral home and they used a razor or a scalpel to remove the head. Once the head was cut off, the intruder took it with him or her. Nothing else in the funeral home was stolen or perturbed. There weren’t even signs of a break in.

The police are baffled by the case. They have no idea who stole the head, why it was stolen, and they don’t know what happened to it because it was never found.

Of course the obvious question is WHY? What use could anyone have for taking this poor man's head? Quite the mystery, don't you think?

Coffee out on the patio again this morning, if that's OK.

Hopi Keeper Of Death For Monday Mystery...

Many of our legends and ghost stories have their origins in the tales of the native people of our land. Just stories...or should we pay them more heed?

Hopi Keeper Of Death

Grand Canyon National Park is perhaps one of the most famous parks in the world. With just under 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 mi2), the canyon is riddled with mysteries and folklore.

One of the tribes that inhabited the canyon was the Hopi, comprised of elders, workers, and hunters. They thrived there, with some writers speculating that the tribe had built an underground citadel within the canyon.

The Hopi believed in the god Maasaw, the supposed keeper of death. Maasaw is said to reside in a specific region of the canyon. If you see strange lights coming toward you from within the canyon at night or you hear a faint tapping of rocks, Maasaw is after you.

While this sounds like superstitious nonsense, many have experienced nausea and anxiety in the region shortly after hearing the rocks clanging. Although the area is level and not considered to be dangerous, a large number of accidents have occurred there.

I've never been to the Grand Canyon, but I'll have to take the word of the article. I found this info over at Listverse, if you are interested.

Coffee outside again this morning. I'm liking this warmer weather!

Thoughts For A Sunday...!

Today I want to bring up something I feel we ought to know more about. Our negative feelings and how to put them to good use.

Sad, angry, jealous, and guilty feelings can make you a healthier person. Figuring out the reason for your negative emotions and learning from unpleasant experiences makes you stronger, and that success can bring happiness- but when you suppress and ignore negative emotions, you eliminate the balance of good and bad. Because the contrast of feeling sad is what makes feeling happy so wonderful, happiness wouldn’t really exist if you’d never truly embraced your sadness. Source Source 2 Source 3

As usual, if you want to understand more about this, follow the links in red.

Coffee out on the patio again this morning.

Cochin Lighthouse For Saturday...!

This is one of those stories that make you wonder just what were they thinking. I'm sure that at the time it must have made sense to everyone concerned, but I really just can't see it, ya know?

Cochin Lighthouse

The unusual lighthouse looms over waves of prairies with no sea in sight.

Spotting this lighthouse looming atop a hill is quite a strange sight. Located within the prairies, it looks out over rolling hills of grass rather than thrashing waves.

The Cochin Lighthouse is a fully functional lighthouse, though it has absolutely no need to actually function. It’s the only lighthouse in all of Saskatchewan—which makes sense, since this particular province has no sea in sight.

The lighthouse was built in a traditional style, making it look like it would fit in among the lighthouses dotting the shores along Canada’s east coast. It even has a working light, although its beams shine for landlocked tourists rather than seafaring ships.

One of Cochin’s former mayors had the grand idea of constructing this out-of-place tower after visiting Canada’s coast. His seemingly silly plan to plunk a lighthouse in the middle of the prairies paid off. Locals and tourists alike are enamoured by the beloved landmark. Saskatchewan lovebirds have gotten engaged with the structure standing proudly in the background, then returned to have their wedding pictures taken within the lighthouse’s shadow.

You have to climb 153 steps to the base of the lighthouse, but you get an amazing view of the area. The climb will give you quite the workout, too.

This article came from the folks over at Atlas Obscura.

Coffee out on the patio again this morning...OK?

The Harvard Computers...!

This is a story that you ladies may enjoy. Makes a lot of sense to me actually!

Pickering's Harem

In 1886, the Harvard Observatory hired a team of women known as the ‘Harvard Computers.’ According to legend, the director was fed up with his male workers and said his maid could do a better job, so he hired her, along with other women, so he could pay them at a lower wage. They outperformed the men, had more precise calculations, invented new systems for classifying stars, and changed the face of astronomy. Source Source 2

You can read more about these fine ladies by following the source links in red.

Coffee out on the patio this morning, where the temps are expected to rise into the high 70s.

The Lost Generation...!

The Lost Generation is a poem that is either sad or happy, depending on how it's read. I guess you can say that the meaning is really up to us. Do me a favor and read it forward first, then read it in reverse starting with "There is hope." You'll see what I mean.

I am part of a lost generation.

And I refuse to believe that

I can change the world.

I realize this may be a shock, but

“Happiness comes from within”

Is a lie, and

“Money will make me happy”

So in thirty years, I will tell my children

They are not the most important thing in my life.

My employer will know that

I have my priorities straight because

Work

Is more important than

Family

I tell you this:

Once upon a time

Families stayed together

But this will not be true in my era.

This is a quick fix society

Experts tell me

Thirty years from now, I will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of my divorce.

I do not concede that

I will live in a country of my own making.
In the future,
Environmental destruction will be the norm.

No longer can it be said that

My peers and I care about this Earth.

It will be evident that

My generation is apathetic and lethargic.

It is foolish to presume that

There is hope.

And all of this will come true unless we choose reverse it.

The poem is written by Johnathan Reed, in case you were wondering.

Coffee out on the patio again this nice day.

Texas Cattle Quarantined...!

The days of long trail drives to Kansas came to an end with the quarantine of Texas cattle.

There had been a call, by farmers mainly, to stop the cattle drives for some time. This is how it all came about.

1885

Kansas quarantines Texas cattle

The Kansas legislature passes a law barring Texas cattle from the state between March 1 and December 1, the latest action reflecting the love-hate relationship between Kansas and the cattle industry.

Texans had adopted the practice of driving cattle northward to railheads in Kansas shortly after the Civil War. From 1867 to 1871, the most popular route was the legendary Chisholm Trail that ran from San Antonio to Abilene, Kansas. Attracted by the profits to be made providing supplies to ranchers and a good time to trail-weary cowboys, other struggling Kansas frontier towns maneuvered to attract the Texas cattle herds. Dodge City, Caldwell, Ellsworth, Hays, and Newton competed with Abilene to be the top “Cow Town” of Kansas.

As Kansas lost some of its Wild West frontier edge, though, the cowboys and their cattle became less attractive. Upstanding town residents anxious to attract investment capital and nurture local businesses became increasingly impatient with rowdy young cowboys and their messy cattle. The new Kansas farmers who were systematically dividing the open range into neat rectangles of crops were even less fond of the cattle herds. Although the cowboys attempted to respect farm boundaries, stray cattle often wreaked havoc with farmers’ crops. “There was scarcely a day when we didn’t have a row with some settler,” reported one cowboy.

Recognizing that the future of the state was in agriculture, the Kansas legislature attempted to restrict the movement of Texas cattle. In 1869, the legislature excluded cattle entirely from the east-central part of the state, where farmers were settling most quickly. Complaints from farmers that the Texas cattle were giving their valuable dairy cows tick fever and hoof-and-mouth disease eventually led to even tighter controls. On this day in 1885, the Kansas legislature enacted a strict quarantine. The quarantine closed all of Kansas to Texan cattle for all but the winter months of December, January, and February-the time of the year when the diseases were not as prevalent.

These laws signaled the end of the Kansas role in the Texas cattle industry. The open range was rapidly closing, hemmed in by miles and miles of barbed wire fence. With the extension of rail lines into Texas itself, the reason for making the long drives north to Kansas began to disappear by the late 1880s anyway. The Kansas quarantine laws became irrelevant as most Texans could more easily ship cattle via railheads in their own states.

The rail heads coming to Texas sure made a difference for the cattle business in Texas, but it also marked the beginning of the end for the cowboy. Gotta take the bad with the good, I reckon.

Coffee out on the patio again this morning!

Careful How You Say It...!

Ever use a word that you thought meant one thing, when it actually meant something completely different? Sure you have, as have we all!

This word is commonly used both in the written and spoken version of our own language.

The Ancient Egyptian sky god of infinity, eternity, and endlessness is called “Huh.”

Huh has no gender, and can represent as either male or female. Other common names are Heh, Hah, Hauh, Hehu, and Hauhet – which is the name of the feminine Huh.

You can find a more complete explanation here.

Coffee out on the patio once again!

Strange Wooden Structures On Monday Mystery...!

While there isn't really an explanation for these structures to be built, they were. Who did the building and more importantly, why? Just another mystery it seems.

Strange Structures

Photo credit: mysteriousuniverse.org

Santa Fe National Forest has recently become plagued by unexplained wooden structures randomly appearing in the woods. Each structure is said to be made up of over 1,000 pieces of wood, with some over 6 meters (20 ft) tall and 4 meters (12 ft) in diameter.

Made of fallen trees and tree limbs, the structures have left forest officials at a loss. They complain that the wood could cause a forest fire and threaten that anyone caught building these cone-shaped designs could be fined $5,000 or spend six months in jail.

No one knows who is building these structures or why. But many have suggested that they are the work of a cult that uses the wooden frameworks for ritualistic purposes.

I can't figure out why anyone would build such large collections of dead wood, unless they were planning to have one heck of a bonfire at some point. Seems to me that the world around us gets a little stranger each and every day!

Coffee out on the patio this morning, if it doesn't rain.

The Road Runner Rules...!

Nearly anyone that has ever watched a Road Runner cartoon found it to be one of the best. Nearly everyone likes it, right?

Turns out that one of the reasons is that the popular cartoon has always followed a strict set of rules with it's script. Here is how that all came to be.

The Road Runner Rules

If there’s any cartoon that you’d think wouldn’t take itself too seriously, it would be one where a roadrunner is chased by a coyote—and that’s all. From the silly Latin names describing the creatures to the blatant disregard for all the hard work of Sir Isaac Newton, the Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons seem to be sillier than focused. But there’s a reason the show worked; it followed a very strict guideline.

Chuck Jones was the genius who created Wile E. Coyote and his archnemesis, the Road Runner. Jones took his craft quite seriously and wanted to make sure that it wasn’t simply havoc that dictated the capers. Animators and scripts followed very specific rules that created an environment that made the show so successful. Some are simple; the action is contained in the American Southwest, where the animals do reside in real life.

Others are simply brilliant when you think of how the show unfolds. For one, the Road Runner never directly harms the Coyote. This is different from most cartoons of the era when either protagonist could inflict harm. The Coyote is only harmed by his own ineptitude or the failure of his elaborate traps. Another rule is that all devices must be ordered from Acme Products. Most importantly, gravity is the greatest foe of the Coyote whenever possible. When you think of the rules and how they play into the show, the restrictions cause the brilliance that has made the show endure the test of time.

What ever the reason for it's success, the ol' Road Runner and the Coyote always has been a favorite of mine. I can remember my father actually laughing out loud at those cartoons! That alone is reason enough for me to think fondly of them.

Coffee out on the patio again this morning!

Olympic National Park Mystery...!

Mother Nature, as we all know, can be very mysterious when She wants to be.

Case in point, Olympic Park had some very strange weather conditions (or something) just here recently. From the folks over at Listverse, here's the story as we know it.

Mysterious Force In The Washington Woods

Photo credit: mysteriousuniverse.org

On January 27, 2018, in Olympic National Park, an immensely powerful force knocked down over 100 trees. Experts immediately assumed that strong winds or another meteorological phenomenon was responsible. However, no weather data suggested that anything out of the ordinary had occurred.

The evening before, park visitors had reported hearing a huge rumbling sound. This led officials to believe that some kind of landslide or minor earthquake had taken place, but there was no evidence pointing to that, either.

In some areas, trees were knocked all the way down. In others, the trees were just broken and leaning severely. It is still unknown what caused so many trees to fall, but many people turn to more “out-there” explanations. Although we can safely say that it wasn’t Bigfoot out on an evening rampage, we cannot draw a final conclusion as to what happened in the Washington woods.

At times it seems that nature is only messing with us, ya know? Probably figures we need another mystery to try and figure out.

Coffee out on the patio again. We may have to move inside, but let's hope not.

Which One Describes You Best...!

According to an article I found at Did You Know...there are two different kinds of nostalgia. Here is the short version.

There are two different types of nostalgia. Restorative nostalgia is when you feel like things used to be better and you long to relive the past, and reflective nostalgia is when you feel wistful about how different things used to be, but you maintain a sense of amused acceptance. Source 2

So...which kind describes you and your thought process best?

Coffee out on the patio again today.

Another Missing Plane Mystery...!

There are so many reports of missing airplanes and crashes, it boggles the mind. In some cases, wreckage or remnebts of the planes are fond, sometimes they aren't.

This is one that remains a mystery to this day.

Flying Tiger Line Flight 739

Photo credit: US Air Force

In 1962, Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, a chartered Lockheed Constellation (example pictured above), disappeared along with more than 90 passengers on its way to the Philippines. The Flying Tiger Line was the United States’ first scheduled cargo airline. On the plane’s journey to the Philippines, there was never a distress call sent out from the pilot. This could have been caused by the plane running into trouble too fast and the crew not having enough time to send out a distress call.

The crew of a ship under the flight path of the Flying Tiger plane reported seeing a light in the sky above them, which they believed was the plane exploding.[7] It was also theorized that the plane may have been hijacked or sabotaged in some way, but once again, there was no evidence found to prove this theory. No matter what happened to this plane, all of those passengers disappeared without a trace, making this another tragic mystery.

It seems to me that not knowing what happened to a loved one would be worse than accepting the loss, and moving on. I think it would be anyway, but that's just my opinion. This article came from the folks over at Listverse.

Coffee out on the patio once again.