Of Fog and Guest Speakers and Planning Trips

We've been having a lot of fog in this area lately.  Last Saturday it was so bad that the interstate was closed, so i had to take a detour to get to Grandma's house. 

Carmin the Garmin came in very handy as she steered me back onto the interstate at a point where others were simply following the old highway.  Had i not had a GPS i wouldn't have known to take that ramp.  Everyone taking the longer way back to the interstate ended up having to wait at a red light in a long line until their turn came, i could see them as i sped by!

It was weird, though.  Getting back onto a foggy interstate with no other cars around, it felt like driving into an episode of Twilight Zone.  The swamps on either side were invisible, there was no turning back, and i could only see a short distance in front of me.  It had me meditative about how sometimes life is like that.  You can't see what's ahead or to the side sometimes, and there are places where there's just no turning back and no guarantee that if you go forward you won't meet up with things you can't see now.

Then, on the way back home in the afternoon, long after the fog had burned off everywhere else, the route over the spillway was still foggy.  They've been shutting that part of the interstate down at night if there's fog, it's just too dangerous.  Again i thought about life, how you expect the fog to clear, and it doesn't.  Some things just stay murky.

The fog is normal for this time of year, as is the rain, but the warm weather is not.   This week should be cooler, and i hope it is.  It's way too early in the year for us to start melting from swamp heat.

This weekend is our church retreat, with a special guest speaker and meals and an ice cream social and plenty of time to just sit and talk to people you might not see every weekend because they attend a different service time.  All of that while being still able to go home and sleep in your own bed.  It's the best of both worlds, retreat wise.

Last night i got to see one member who hasn't attended since before she had her pancreas and kidney transplant (she's been a type 1 diabetic since she was a young child, and worked hard to control it, but her body needed the extra help).  She looks really, really great.

In other news, there are plans afoot for a sanity festival with my friends in March.  It's going to be smaller than our usual get together in the fall, but no less enjoyable for all of that.  Grace will be a grandmother by then, so i'm going to get to see pictures.  Script can't make it, but she and her DH will be nearby a couple of weeks later, so i hope to see her, too.

Have a happy Saturday, everyone!


Today is:

Anniversary of the Elf Wars -- Fairy Calendar

Bald Eagle Appreciation Days -- Keokuk, IA, US (through tomorrow)

Celtic Tree Month Luis (Rowan) begins

Errol Barrow Day -- Barbados

Gasparilla Extravaganza -- Tampa, FL, US (the rum free version of the Pirate Festival celebration, with a kid's parade and lots of fun; the adult version is next Saturday)

Ice Fest -- Ligonier, PA, US (ice sculpture contest and lots of family fun; through tomorrow)

International Bon Jovi Day -- they released their first album this date in 1983

KidFilm Festival -- Dallas, TX (international children's film festival; through tomorrow)

Lady of Altagracia Day -- Dominican Republic

Learn to Ski Day -- always the 3rd Saturday of January, and you go right ahead

National Hugging Day™ -- includes the announcements of the Most Huggable People of the Year

New England Clam Chowder Day

Quebec Flag Day -- Quebec, Canada

Sight-Saving Sabbath Weekend -- to alert synagoge and church members to the importance of regular eye exams

SOS Radio Week -- UK (The Royal National Lifeboat Institution keeps the seas safer, and Radio Amateurs help them raise funds; through the 29th)

Squirrel Appreciation Day -- sponsored by Christy Hargrove of the Western North Carolina Nature Center

St. Agnes' Day (Patron of betrothed couples, bodily purity/chastity, crops, gardeners, Girl Scouts, girls, rape victims, virgins; the Colegio Capranica of Rome; Manresa, Spain; Rockville Centre, NY)

St. Meinrad of Einsiedeln's Day (Patron of hospitality; Einsiedeln, Switzerland; Swabia, Germany)

Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities -- Eatonville, FL, US (celebrating Hurston's work, hometown, and cultural contributions, and the contributions of all Africa-descended people; through Friday)


Anniversary Today:

Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit, 1915


Birthdays Today:

Robby Benson, 1956
Geena Davis, 1956
Billy Ocean, 1960
Jill Eikenberry, 1947
Mac Davis, 1942
Placido Domingo, 1941
Jack Nicklaus, 1940
Wolfman Jack, 1939
Benny Hill, 1925
Telly Savalas, 1924
Benny Hill, 1924
Paul Scofield, 1922
Barney Clark, 1921
Karl Wallenda, 1905
Christian Dior, 1905
Roger Nash Baldwin, 1884
John M. Browning, 1855
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, 1824
Ethan Allen, 1738


Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Kid(Film), 1921
The Daily News(first issue, edited by Charles Dickens), 1848
Power of Sympathy(publication date of WH Brown's novel, considered the first American novel), 1789  

Today in History:

Philip II, Henry II, and Richard the Lionheart initiate the 3rd Crusade, 1189
The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded, 1525
The first American novel, WH Brown's "Power of Sympathy," is published, 1789
After being found guilty of treason by the French Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine, 1793
Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccination is introduced, 1799
The envelope-folding machine is patented by Russell Hawes, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1853
The first US sewage disposal system that is separate from storm drains opens in Memphis, Tennessee, 1880
The first slalom ski race is run in Murren, Switzerland, 1922
The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec, 1948
A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete, 1968
The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts, 1971
Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes, 1976
Production of the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, 1981
NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Eart, 2004
Black Monday in worldwide stock markets. FTSE 100 had its biggest ever one-day points fall, European stocks closed with their worst result since 11 September 2001, and Asian stocks drop as much as 14%, 2008