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
"It's not raining any more," Sweetie came in and said around 6pm yesterday.
Good, i responded, to which he said, "It's sleeting." Then he handed me the mail.
Oh, joy. Sleet.
And a Christmas card, but i guess, since it was Little Christmas, i'll count it. After all, the pastor who sent it is a rather busy guy.
Yesterday started with a terrible accident on the highway. A big rig jackknifed and one person died, five others were seriously injured, and the highway was shut down for the whole day.
The wet weather, ending with sleet, did not help the situation.
Ms. S, my Monday client, came to Bible study and behaved really oddly. First she talked about waking at 4am and it being daylight. She couldn't remember that she called Ms. G twice that morning, and she thought Ms. G had left without her so she drove to Bible study herself.
Once there, the weirdness continued. She was a magazine editor, very precise in her words and able to hold a conversation and read and do three other things at the same time. Yesterday she couldn't follow a conversation and lost her place twice when she was praying. You could tell she didn't remember what she had been saying a few minutes before. Ms. G sent her son a text, and i'm still waiting for a follow up, but i suspect a TIA.
For only the second time since it opened, the cat shelter closed early due to weather. They called me in the middle of the day and told me not to come for my evening shift, the paid staff were feeding all the cats, shutting the doors and calling it a day.
Today should be clear and very, very cold. As long as the rain (and sleet) stops, i'll take it!
There was a housecleaning on the docket, but it has been moved to Tuesday, as the house will not be empty today as the owner originally planned. The cold put the kibosh on that, the heat went out in her granddaughter's home and so the granddaughter and great-grandchildren are there until the landlord can get it fixed. No way can those little ones stay in an apartment with no heat this weekend.
We had visitors in the field across the street from us yesterday. Five Canadian geese were out there, in the cold and wet, and we gave them whole wheat pita bread, which they seemed to appreciate. In my imagination i can hear them fussing, "We flew south to get warm!" They will have to go a bit further south, as in, Mexico. If they stay here, they will get below freezing temperatures for the next few nights.
The pet geranium is inside, as it has somehow managed to survive. None of the other pets want to go out, either. Even SissyCat isn't fighting to get to the door, and Pepe keeps his ventures brief, doing his business and getting back as fast as his little crooked legs can carry him (which is actually pretty fast).
That's about all the news for now.
Today is:
Celebration of the First Week of Moonhopper -- Fairy Calendar
Eagle Days -- Little Platte Park, Smithville Lake, MO, US (learning about bald eagles in the environmental learning center, as well as eagle viewing over the lake and children's activities; through tomorrow)
Fasching Carnival -- Munich, Germany (through Shrove Tuesday)
Festa del Tricolore -- Italy (Tricolour or Flag Day)
Harlem Globetrotters' Day -- anniversary of their first game in 192
I'm Not Going To Take It Anymore Day -- declared by Bob O'Brien, Consumer Advocate, who encourages us to fight back
Nanakusa no Sekku -- Japan (Festival of Seven Herbs, dates back to the 7th century and recalls the medicinal herbs that were traditionally served to the emper)
National Tempura Day
National Western Stock Show and Rodeo -- Denver, CO, US (107th edition of the Super Bowl of livestock shows; through the 22nd)
Nativity of Christ / Orthodox Christmas / Coptic Christmas -- Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christians still using the Julian Calendar.
Old Rock Day -- a/k/a "St. Distaff's Day" or simply Distaff Day(the distaff, for spinning yarn, was also called a "rock"; today was the day women went back to spinning after the Christmas holidays)
Pennsylvania Farm Show -- Harrisburg, PA, US (the largest indoor agricultural show in the US, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture; through the 14th)
St. Raymond of Penyafort's Day (Patron of attornies, barristers, canonists, lawyers, and medical record librarians)
Ume Matsuri -- Atami, Japan (celebrating the ume -- plum -- at one of the most famous plum viewing spots in the country; through early to mid-March)
Usokae -- Kameido Tenmangu Shrine, Fukuoka, Japan (Bullfinch Exchange Day, Uso also means "lie" so when exchanging carved birds, it is considered a way of exchanging lies for the truth)
Victory Day over the Genocidal Regime -- Cambodia
Anniversary Today:
Princess Juliana of Netherlands weds Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, 1937
Birthdays Today:
Dustin Diamond, 1977
Jeremy Renner, 1971
Nick Cleg, 1967
Nicholas Cage, 1964
Katie Couric, 1957
David Caruso, 1956
Erin Gray, 1950
Kenny Loggins, 1948
Jann Wenner, 1947
Paul Revere, 1938
William Peter Blatty, 1928
Jean-Pierre Rampal, 1922
Vincent Gardenia, 1922
Charles Addams, 1912
Butterfly McQueen, 1911
Aristotle Onassis, 1906
Zora Neale Hurston, 1891
St Bernadette, 1844
Millard Fillmore, 1800
Jacques Etienne Montgolfier, 1745
Debuting/Premiering Today:
Video-Telephone, 1992 (US$1,499)
"Fame"(TV), 1982
"Flash Gordon"(comic strip), 1934
"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century A.D."(comic strip), 1929
"Tarzan of the Apes"(comic strip), 1929
Transatlantic telephone service, 1927 (US$75 for 5 minutes)
Today in History:
Calais, the last English possession in France, is taken back by the French, 1558
Boris Godunov seizes the Russian throne upon the death of Feodore I, 1598
Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia, 1608
Galileo discovers the first 3 moons of Jupiter (Io, Europa, and Ganymede), 1610
Francis Bacon becomes the English Lord Chancellor, 1618
A prototype typewriter is patented by Englishman Henry Mill, 1714
Battle at Panipat India: the Afghan army beats Mahratten, 1761
The Bank of North America opens in Philadelphia, the first US commercial bank, 1782
The first gas balloon flight across the English channel, by Blanchard and Jeffries, 1785
The modern Italian flag is first used, 1797
Liberia is colonized by Americans, 1822
The first railroad station in the US, in Baltimore, opens, 1830
Fanny Farmer publishes her first cookbook, 1896
The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by "SOS", 1904
The first steamboat passage through the Panama Canal, 1914
The Harlem Globetrotters play their first game, 1927
The first transatlantic telephone service is established – from New York City to London, 1927
"Buck Rogers", the first sci-fi comic strip, and "Tarzan," one of the first adventure comic strips, premier, 1929
Guy Menzies flies the first solo non-stop trans-Tasman flight (from Australia to New Zealand) in 11 hours and 45 minutes, crash-landing on New Zealand's west coast, 1931
The "Flash Gordon" comic strip (by Alex Raymond) debuts, 1934
President Harry Truman announces that the United States has developed the hydrogen bomb, 1952
The first public demonstration of a machine translation system, is held in New York at the head office of IBM, 1954
Marian Anderson becomes the first black singer to perform at the Met (NYC), 1955
The Polaris missile is test launched, 1960
Surveyor 7, the last spacecraft in the Surveyor series, lifts off, 1968
Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), 1984
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launches Sakigake, Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the United States or the Soviet Union, 1985
The interior of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public because of safety concerns, 1990
U.S. President Clinton goes on trial before the U.S. Senate for perjury and obstruction of justice in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, 1999
The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics estimates at least 17 billion planets exist that are comparable to the size of the Earth, 2013
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