Days of History

I remember...........................I remember.

I remember watching an 8mm movie being projected on a screen in a darkened class room with no sound. I remember thinking what was the big deal and that I didn't really understand what they were trying to show us. Just a flash of memory, I know now it was a news reel of Nixon's inauguration, but I didn't know that then when I was watching it. It was just another day in 1st grade of trying to understand what I was supposed to know and do and what I wasn't supposed to do.

I remember................I remember.

I remember reading the Youngstown Vindicator (the local newspaper) and thinking Water Gate was about the Milton Reservoir Dam, which was near my home, and how the dam was deteriorating and I didn't understand why a dam breaking caused us to have another president, but it must be serious. I remember asking if the new president, Gerald Ford, would be able to fix the water gates on the dam and stop the flooding. Obviously I was confused! I was 11. Are kids smarter today or are they just as confused as I was about national and local events?

I remember.......................I remember.

I remember watching the inauguration of Jimmy Carter on TV in civics class my freshman year of High School. He had such a southern accent to my Midwestern ears is all I can remember and that I was still wondering what I was suppose to know and do, but I had figured out well what I wasn't supposed to do, but in my teenage arrogance I was positive I wasn't confused any more and that I knew EVERYTHING!

I remember.....................I remember.

I remember hearing on the radio in the car that Reagan was sworn in as the 40th president that day, but I was busy trying to figure out how to drive in that Atlanta traffic and what I supposed to do and not to do on surface streets where the direction of traffic changes with the time of day and being busy trying to listen to professors with not only southern accents, but Indian accents and French accents.

I remember...................I remember.

I remember the passing of time.................The first Bush, Clinton, and the second Bush. I was trying to figure out what I was suppose know and do and not to do with two small children. I remember being confused about how the direction of American Democracy seemed to be changing, as fast as the traffic in Atlanta, but I was busy, too busy trying to listen to the babble and cry of little baby voices to hear the babble and cries of the American public.

I Will Remember...........................I Will Remember.

I Will Remember this Day. This day is just another day of so many Days in American History. We, the American Public, will inaugurate a new president. I have been watching the events of the day on CNN.com. I am taking the day to remember: 8mm films, newspapers, TV, radio and the Internet, reflecting on trying to figure out what I am suppose to do and not to do, hearing voices and trying to know what they are saying to me and trying to know which way to go and how to keep up in a changing world.

I will remember that I have done my best daily with the time, knowledge and resources that I have had at my disposal. I will remember that it is best to listen more than I speak, for I am better all these years later at hearing and understanding the babbles and cries and accents of my small world here in Connecticut and the international world brought to me thanks to technology. Like the changing directions on Atlanta's surface street, I will remember that this day in history, this single day, we have the hope that we will be able to change. This single day, I have the hope that I will be able to change.

How to Build a Community

Yesterday, as we walked up street from Church, we noticed that the neighbors were out and shoveling snow. David was running the snow blower up the sidewalk on our side of the street and Steve was using his snow blower up the opposite side. These guys were not just working in front of their homes, but were clearing the snow from corner to corner. When I looked out the back window of the house, I noticed that Michele was out brushing the snow off of our cars and the back garden stairs had been swept as well. How thoughtful! But that is what this neighborhood is about. This past summer, we fertilized and composted their flower beds for them on a regular basis. June, across the street always is making kitchen goodies and passing them around, as is Michele. We have Tag Sales together and picnics and pot luck dinners together. During our first summer here in this neighborhood, while enjoying Father Richard's gardens at the church, we asked if we could cull seeds and deadhead his garden for him, in hopes of starting the flowers in our own yard, and his response was, "Are you my neighbor? Then of course!" Anyway, it got me thinking about a poster I once saw and would like to repeat here. How To Build a Community Turn off your TV, Leave your house, Know your neighbors, Look up when you are walking, Greet people, Sit on your stoop, Plant flowers, Use your library, Play together, Buy from local merchants, Share what you have, Help a lost dog, Take children to the park, Garden together, Support neighborhood schools, Fix it even if you didn't break it, Have pot lucks, Honor elders, Pick up litter, Read stories aloud, Dance in the street, Talk to the mail carrier, Feed the birds, Put up a swing, Help carry something heavy, Barter for your goods, Start a tradition, Ask a question, Hire young people for odd jobs, Organize a block party, Bake extra and share, Ask for help when you need it, Open your shades, Sing together, Share your skills, Take back the night, Turn up the music, Turn down the music, Listen before you react to anger, Seek to understand, Learn from new and uncomfortable angles, Know that no one is silent though many are not heard. Work to change this.

Living in a Snow Globe

When we announced we were moving to Connecticut from Georgia, so many people told us we were crazy because of the snow, and I admit the roads can be a bit of a challenge, but then there are mornings like this, when we have no where to go and we woke to a winter wonderland. The snow is coming steadily down; the quiet is only interrupted by the sound of St. Edwards bells calling us to Mass. Dig out the poems of Robert Frost, put a pot roast in the oven, turn on the jazz music, warm up the hot chocolate and enjoy the good company, the scene out the window is just what it must be for the tiny people who live in the houses of the snow globes that sit on our shelves (the shaking up process must be a bit traumatic)

Bless Us Lord this Winter,

With Quietness of Mind.

Blue Moons and Easters

Continuing with the theme of moons and Earth Science (why is this fascinating to me now and not in high school?.......ohh hormones, I forgot!), I thought I would tell you that if you use the quote, "once in a blue moon" we will be having one of those this year on December 31st.

The Current Definition of Blue Moon (there have been many, but this is the one that we adhere to now is this): the second of two full moons to occur in the same calendar month. Like I already stated, this will be happening in December of this year.

Also, Easter. Why in the world was Easter last year on March 23rd and this year on April 12th (this being said if you are not an Orthodox)? Easter is calculated thus, the first Sunday after a Full Moon which happens upon, or after the 21st day of March(or the Vernal Equinox); and if the Full Moon happens on a Sunday, then Easter will occur the following Sunday.

So these and other musings are where my brain is at.....should we broach the subject of our biorhythms and what causes our brains to wonder? (I know, it could still be hormones!)

Waning Gibbous

We are gearing up around here in preparation of the coming gardening season. Ron has the day off tomorrow, and we will be pouring over the seeds from last year and deciding what is going where and what flourished last year and what fell flat.

I decided that I would like to pay attention to the phases of the moon this year and see if that has any bearing whatsoever on the health of the garden.

So this will be a little lesson in the phases of the moon. Somehow I never learned this in high school, not because they didn't teach it, but I may have been thinking about more important things that day, like did Joey Sefchick like me, or what I was doing Friday night after the football game, or if I remembered to put my tennis shoes back in my gym locker or not! So here it is for all of you that may have had better things on your mind during Earth Science (is that where I would have learned this?)

The lunar month is about 29 days (ok dah! we all know that). The lunar month begins with a New Moon (hardly visable to the naked eye) and proceeds into it 1st quarter waxing. At the end of the 1st quarter,the moon will be shaped like a capital D and be about 50% visible. It will continue waxing and be called the Waxing Gibbous during the 2nd quarter. The Full Moon occurs at the end of the 2nd quarter. During the 3rd quarter the moon is called the Waning Gibbous (as of this writing, this is the stage of the moon we are currently in). By the end of the 3rd quarter we arrive at the 50% mark again, only this time it will be a backwards capital D and starts the 4th quarter, waning to the New Moon again.

2 Quick definitions:

New Moon = when the moon is between the earth and sun, thereby being unable to reflect much sunlight and is also considered a "dark moon." (next New Moon = Jan 26th)

Full Moon = when the earth is between the sun and moon, thereby the moon is able to reflect much of the sunlight and these are the ones we can see so clearly, (didn't I get my first kiss under a full moon from Joey Sefchick after a football game?.............digression, sorry, next Full Moon = Feb 9th)

Ok, that was probably boring and stuff you already knew. For the 50% of you reading this who paid attention in Earth Science, you are saying,"Get on to how this applies to gardening!"

What I have read in a nutshell is this:

During the 1st Quarter, plant any leafy crops, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, ferns, etc...

During the 2nd Quarter, plant things that have seeds inside, tomatoes, beans, eggplant, etc...

During the 3rd Quarter, plant things that grow under ground or are periennal, potatoes, garlic, Black eyed Susans etc...

During the 4th Quarter, plant nothing, instead do your weeding, pruning, and kill pests. (Think before you mow your lawn in this quarter about what you want to accomplish with it)

Some people say this is silly, but the way I am looking at it is this, if the moon has the ability to affect the tides, that is pretty powerful and I have nothing to lose by simply trying this. I have looked and there is nothing "proven" about plant yields and health, but much research claims they have gotten better results following these guidelines.

If anyone plants by the moon phases already, I would be interested in your results please post a comment.

P.S. There is a Moon Phase Gadget added to the bottom right hand column of this blog and here is web site that you can track the moon for the coming year: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.php

Paw Prints II

Hi again,

This is Cleveland just dropping in to say that it is very cold outside. Too cold for even the squirrels to be out playing and leaving me bored, looking for something to do. So I am blogging! It has been nice for me that Jan is home now. She seems a little upset though, there is all this talk of a downsize layoff. I have no clue what that means and I really wish she didn't worry about it either, but I like having someone home all day with me!

Packages came in the mail today. I barked like a madman at the FedEx guy! He petted my head, the UPS guy, however, barked back. He is not the friendly guy like FedEx. 'Course there are the newspaper ladies, whom I love because they always have dog cookies for me, much better way to win dogs and influence pups than the post man who has pepper spray! Mind you he has never used it on me, but I can smell it. Maybe it is for the raccoon that lives under the garage that is bigger than me (27LBS is a big boy raccoon). But I digress...........PACKAGES, yes packages.

Ron and Jan got in a wine kit today. Wine kits always smell so good. They are just a big box of grape juice and yeast. Both are good smells for me. Bella and Maxwell (next door pack) think I am crazy for liking grapes, but hey, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in this pack. Is that mixing metaphors..............grapes, apples. My point is Ron and Jan love grapes and wine and so do I. I got sick on a Honey Brown Ale a long time ago and I don't like it after it has been fermented, but it is good before that.

The other package was a new drafting board for Ron to get busy and draft the wine cellars racking system and Jan to design the new logo that she has been promising Ron and hasn't been getting done. Maybe she will be inspired tomorrow, after she digs out the cellars from the chaos of Aunt and Uncle Kayan's moving to N.C and all of their leave behinds!

Did I hear we are expecting snow tomorrow again?...............................Gotta run, I hear the popcorn popper!

Cleveland

What to do, what to do!

I have the day off and actually have no commitments. This is the first day since before Thanksgiving that has happened and so I am sitting here thinking, what should I do that "I" want to do. (Hmmmm I remember a few days ago I wrote a post about doing nothing on a few of my days off...........................nah, I have too many things that I want to do!)

Besides the few normal chores, e.g., laundry and straightening the house, I think I am going to work on the Church Street Cellars logo, work on the vanity that is in the middle of the mudroom, and make a Mom T's Old Fashioned Meatloaf and Grandma Hillebrecht's bread for dinner to surprise Ron. Maybe I will be able to get a hold of David C to come to dinner, since Fea's in North Carolina.

Hopefully I will be able to post the new logo late this evening or first thing in the morning.

Let's start with the laundry and hope that it does not steal the day!