Good Morning,
Here it is the end of January and a lot of us are peeking out from behind the calendar to see how much longer the winter will last. The Ground Hog will do that for us in a couple of days so we have the luxury of choosing which one is shorter; our perceptions or the Ground Hog's shadow.
The history of the Ground Hog and the shadow foretelling of less or more winter is interesting.
Here it is from the folks at:
Copyright © 1996-2011 STORMFAX, Inc.
In 1723, the Delaware Indians settled Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania as a campsite halfway between the Allegheny and the Susquehanna Rivers. The town is 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, at the intersection of Route 36 and Route 119. The Delawares considered groundhogs honorable ancestors. According to the original creation beliefs of the Delaware Indians, their forebears began life as animals in "Mother Earth" and emerged centuries later to hunt and live as men.
The name Punxsutawney comes from the Indian name for the location
"ponksad-uteney" which means "the town of the sandflies."
The name woodchuck comes from the Indian legend of "Wojak, the groundhog" considered by them to be their ancestral grandfather.
When German settlers arrived in the 1700s, they brought a tradition known as Candlemas Day, which has an early origin in the pagan celebration of Imbolc.
It came at the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Superstition held that if the weather was fair, the second half of Winter would be stormy and cold. For the early Christians in Europe, it was the custom on Candlemas Day for clergy to bless candles and distribute them to the people in the dark of Winter. A lighted candle was placed in each window of the home. The day's weather continued to be important.
If the sun came out February 2, halfway between Winter and Spring, it meant six more weeks of wintry weather.
The earliest American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the Pennsylvania Dutch Folklore Center at Franklin and Marshall College:
February 4, 1841 - from Morgantown, Berks County (Pennsylvania) storekeeper James Morris' diary..."Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate."
According to the old English saying:
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.
From Scotland:
If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,
There'll be two winters in the year.
From Germany:
For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day,
So far will the snow swirl until May.
For as the snow blows on Candlemas Day,
So far will the sun shine before May.
And from America:
If the sun shines on Groundhog Day;
Half the fuel and half the hay.
If the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, an animal would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of Winter. Germans watched a badger for the shadow. In Pennsylvania, the groundhog, upon waking from mid-Winter hibernation, was selected as the replacement.
Pennsylvania's official celebration of Groundhog Day began on February 2nd, 1886 with a proclamation in The Punxsutawney Spirit by the newspaper's editor, Clymer Freas: "Today is groundhog day and up to the time of going to press the beast has not seen its shadow." The groundhog was given the name "Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary'' and his hometown thus called the "Weather Capital of the World.''
His debut performance: no shadow - early Spring.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
11:11:11:11:11
Tis interesting:
This year we will experience 4 unusual dates.... 1/1/11, (already gone) 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 .........
Take the last 2 digits of the year you were born plus the age you will be this year and it WILL EQUAL ....
111 .
I believe this will be a very spiritual year for humankind.
This year we will experience 4 unusual dates.... 1/1/11, (already gone) 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 .........
Take the last 2 digits of the year you were born plus the age you will be this year and it WILL EQUAL ....
111 .
I believe this will be a very spiritual year for humankind.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Legal "Sewers"
We are such a litigious society that it makes one wonder how we have survived as a nation of laws.
These lawsuits come from a poll conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber is the world largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses.
These are abusive litigations that were filed legally.
It makes you wonder about our legal system as well as the intellect of our people.
The top five Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2010 are:
1. Woman sues Oprah and President Bush, declaring they "implanted a camera with wire sensors into her with the intent of reincarnation."
2. Girl sues estate of pregnant woman she killed during suicide attempt.
3. Convicted killer sues to receive electrolysis as part of state-funded sex change
4. Child-molesting teacher countersues boy's parents over negligent supervision
5. Restaurant sued for failing to offer artichoke-eating instructions
Is there any way we can sue the “sewers” for clogging up our courts?
These lawsuits come from a poll conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber is the world largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses.
These are abusive litigations that were filed legally.
It makes you wonder about our legal system as well as the intellect of our people.
The top five Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2010 are:
1. Woman sues Oprah and President Bush, declaring they "implanted a camera with wire sensors into her with the intent of reincarnation."
2. Girl sues estate of pregnant woman she killed during suicide attempt.
3. Convicted killer sues to receive electrolysis as part of state-funded sex change
4. Child-molesting teacher countersues boy's parents over negligent supervision
5. Restaurant sued for failing to offer artichoke-eating instructions
Is there any way we can sue the “sewers” for clogging up our courts?
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Annual Report to State of the Union
Annual Report or State of the Union.
The latter sounds more regal. It was called the “Annual Report” until 1934 when FDR called it a “State of the Union.”
It was President Lyndon Johnson who took the annual message to Congress into prime time. Before that the constitutional required message to Congress was delivered in the afternoon either by speech or by a written report.
The only way you can judge the length of the Annual Reports or the State of the Union reports is by word count.
Old George, you know who I mean, gave the shortest. In 1790 he spoke only 1,089 words. I guess there wasn’t much state to our new union at that time.
One of the longest in terms of words was Jimmy Carter in 1981. It counted in at 33,667 words. The years of silent peanut farming must have finally exploded into verbiage.
The longest speech in time was Bill Clinton in January of 2000. His address to Congress took an hour and 28 minutes and 49 seconds. And it only contained 7,452 words. I remember taking notes on his speech so I could hi-light it for a late news audience. My hand is still tired.
The “Annual Report” wasn’t always delivered by a speech. Most times it was written. A president has delivered only 76 of the 220 messages to Congress in person.
Washington and Adams spoke before Congress. Jefferson did not and the tradition stopped until Woodrow Wilson restarted it in 1913.
Obama's prepared speech last night was 6,851 words.
Have fun at the water cooler with these facts.
This blog by the way has a word count of 277.
The latter sounds more regal. It was called the “Annual Report” until 1934 when FDR called it a “State of the Union.”
It was President Lyndon Johnson who took the annual message to Congress into prime time. Before that the constitutional required message to Congress was delivered in the afternoon either by speech or by a written report.
The only way you can judge the length of the Annual Reports or the State of the Union reports is by word count.
Old George, you know who I mean, gave the shortest. In 1790 he spoke only 1,089 words. I guess there wasn’t much state to our new union at that time.
One of the longest in terms of words was Jimmy Carter in 1981. It counted in at 33,667 words. The years of silent peanut farming must have finally exploded into verbiage.
The longest speech in time was Bill Clinton in January of 2000. His address to Congress took an hour and 28 minutes and 49 seconds. And it only contained 7,452 words. I remember taking notes on his speech so I could hi-light it for a late news audience. My hand is still tired.
The “Annual Report” wasn’t always delivered by a speech. Most times it was written. A president has delivered only 76 of the 220 messages to Congress in person.
Washington and Adams spoke before Congress. Jefferson did not and the tradition stopped until Woodrow Wilson restarted it in 1913.
Obama's prepared speech last night was 6,851 words.
Have fun at the water cooler with these facts.
This blog by the way has a word count of 277.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Headlines
Yesterday I was busy in New York City with some other issues and I was not paying attention to the news and what’s happening in the world, in my country and in my region.
When I got home I looked at the headlines and the lead lines of the major stories.
WOW or whoa!
Moscow has a problem. Someone, probably a terrorists or a clandestine organization indiscriminately, deliberately, murdered 35 people and injured so many others in a bomb at the Moscow International Airport. The injuries were global. The bomb was placed at the International Arrivals building. When you kill or maim a foreign national you hurt dozens and dozens of others in families, and in the work environments all over the world.
I often ask myself, in the attempt to have a spiritual understanding of this world, where do these disgruntled souls come from and why? How could they believe in such a narrow ideology that dismisses the demise of so many as collateral damage in the pursuit of a religious or territorial cause?
The next headline I read was that the Appellate Court in Illinois rejected Rahm Emanuel’s right to be on the Chicago mayoral ballot. My first thought was Chicago politics. So was my second thought. As I understand it, the court rejected his right to run for mayor because he has spent the last two years in Washington and therefore is not a resident? I believe he is a long time resident of Windy City and should be eligible to run.
Come on…! That’s idiocy. That’s politics as legislated from the court and that is not what the courts are supposed to do. I hope Emanuel's appeal for a stay of the ruling wins.
The third headline I read was about Jared Loughner in court today in Phoenix. The court entered a plea of not guilty in the attempted murder from the Tucson shootings. The six murder charges have yet to be sent down by the grand jury. Why? I can’t imagine.
I know this is treading on sacred judicial territory, but how logically can the courts submit a plea of not guilty when everyone knows he is guilty?
Isn’t there some other plea that makes more sense?
I stopped reading the headlines after that. I’ll resume tomorrow.
When I got home I looked at the headlines and the lead lines of the major stories.
WOW or whoa!
Moscow has a problem. Someone, probably a terrorists or a clandestine organization indiscriminately, deliberately, murdered 35 people and injured so many others in a bomb at the Moscow International Airport. The injuries were global. The bomb was placed at the International Arrivals building. When you kill or maim a foreign national you hurt dozens and dozens of others in families, and in the work environments all over the world.
I often ask myself, in the attempt to have a spiritual understanding of this world, where do these disgruntled souls come from and why? How could they believe in such a narrow ideology that dismisses the demise of so many as collateral damage in the pursuit of a religious or territorial cause?
The next headline I read was that the Appellate Court in Illinois rejected Rahm Emanuel’s right to be on the Chicago mayoral ballot. My first thought was Chicago politics. So was my second thought. As I understand it, the court rejected his right to run for mayor because he has spent the last two years in Washington and therefore is not a resident? I believe he is a long time resident of Windy City and should be eligible to run.
Come on…! That’s idiocy. That’s politics as legislated from the court and that is not what the courts are supposed to do. I hope Emanuel's appeal for a stay of the ruling wins.
The third headline I read was about Jared Loughner in court today in Phoenix. The court entered a plea of not guilty in the attempted murder from the Tucson shootings. The six murder charges have yet to be sent down by the grand jury. Why? I can’t imagine.
I know this is treading on sacred judicial territory, but how logically can the courts submit a plea of not guilty when everyone knows he is guilty?
Isn’t there some other plea that makes more sense?
I stopped reading the headlines after that. I’ll resume tomorrow.
Monday, January 24, 2011
COLD!!
It’s morning. Temperature is eleven degrees below zero.
It is a stinging cold with only a window glass to hold it back. It’s double glass, a bulwark of silica that another temperature and time turned into a transparent glazing of clarity and protection.
I grew up in old houses with single panes of flawed glass. Frost would decorate the panes into a translucent crystal of art, but not now. Modern houses are too tight for nature’s cryogenic beauty to seep in and paint the panes with a cameo of cold. Too bad! How many kids today will miss the vision of feathered frost on the inside of a windowpane where they can scratch their own design into the thin sheet of ice crystals?
Just beyond my outer pane is an astringent cold that if you stepped outside without protection it would burn with negative degrees, blister the skin with prolonged exporsure, blink the eyes to tears and tighten the inner nose when breathing.
But I’m inside and warm and safe. Proximity to potential danger seems to do that. Other dangers will evoke a similar feeling. High winds, flooding, blizzards, and even summer heat can harm, but if we feel safe, protected while near the danger, then the rest of the feeling and fear basks in the comfort of illusion for safety is only as good as the protection that holds back the danger.
The glass in the window keeps me feeling safe and sustains my sense of comfort. The cold on the other side sets a tension for possible attack, but cannot penetrate the timid barrier of wood and glass. It is the knowing fierceness of potential danger that keeps me in the fort of comfort.
Damn it’s cold outside!
It is a stinging cold with only a window glass to hold it back. It’s double glass, a bulwark of silica that another temperature and time turned into a transparent glazing of clarity and protection.
I grew up in old houses with single panes of flawed glass. Frost would decorate the panes into a translucent crystal of art, but not now. Modern houses are too tight for nature’s cryogenic beauty to seep in and paint the panes with a cameo of cold. Too bad! How many kids today will miss the vision of feathered frost on the inside of a windowpane where they can scratch their own design into the thin sheet of ice crystals?
Just beyond my outer pane is an astringent cold that if you stepped outside without protection it would burn with negative degrees, blister the skin with prolonged exporsure, blink the eyes to tears and tighten the inner nose when breathing.
But I’m inside and warm and safe. Proximity to potential danger seems to do that. Other dangers will evoke a similar feeling. High winds, flooding, blizzards, and even summer heat can harm, but if we feel safe, protected while near the danger, then the rest of the feeling and fear basks in the comfort of illusion for safety is only as good as the protection that holds back the danger.
The glass in the window keeps me feeling safe and sustains my sense of comfort. The cold on the other side sets a tension for possible attack, but cannot penetrate the timid barrier of wood and glass. It is the knowing fierceness of potential danger that keeps me in the fort of comfort.
Damn it’s cold outside!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Snow Again
Snow Again
© 2011 Rolland G. Smith
Another storm is coming through
It’s not like this is something new.
A day of clear then one of Sun
Anticipates a day of fun.
But then another winter storm
To change what we all think is norm.
Some inches here and inches there
And traveler’s cry, “this is not fair.”
But I am snug within my lair
And cannot change what’s in the air.
It’s snow or sleet or rain and fog
It matters not to do this blog.
So let me say to you my friends
Since weather will not make amends.
Just tough it out and shovel fast.
The kids will always have a blast.
When spring arrives and memory’s gone
You’ll sing the flower’s growing song.
And then you’ll be hard pressed to know
When in the past it all was snow.
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