2021…at last
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Jan 1`, 2021
Week: 53 Day: 1 |
Local: H 35°\ L 17°\Ave. Sky Cover: 90% |
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Wind: 2mph\Gusts: 3mph |
Nearest lightning: 1036mi.; Active fire: 59mi |
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Low Risk of Fire |
Visibility:
10mi |
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Record: 61°[1981] Record: -21°[1919]
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Jan Averages: 44°/\16° (4 days with moisture) |
Today’s Quote
Over every mountain there is a path,
although it may not be seen from the valley.
Theodore Roethke
Random Tidbits
Did you know that celebrating the New Year is
a tradition that dates back nearly 4000 years? If you had lived in Mesopotamia
and Babylon 4,000 years ago (2000 B.C.), you probably would have celebrated the
new year in mid-March, at the time of the Vernal (Spring) Equinox. If, however,
you were an Egyptian, your new year began with the Autumnal Equinox and the
flooding of the Nile. If you were Greek, the Winter Solstice began your new
year celebrations.
According to old English and German folklore,
the first person you come across in the new year could set the tone for the
next 12 months. The superstition doesn't just apply to singles - if a couple
ringing in the new year together doesn't lock lips, then the future of their
relationship might not be all that bright.
The top 10 New Year resolutions are usually to lose weight, eat more healthily,
exercise more, stop smoking, stick to a budget, save money, get more organized,
be more patient, find a better job and to just be a better person overall.
It's good luck to eat foods like black eyed peas, ham and cabbage because it is thought they bring prosperity. But if you want to have a happy new year, don't eat lobster or chicken. Lobsters can move backward, and chickens can scratch in reverse, so it is thought these foods could bring a reversal of fortune.
A little humor
Q:
Why Did The Teddy Bear Refuse Dessert? He Was Stuffed.
I Once Entered A Pun Contest
That Allowed Ten Submissions. I Was Sure That At Least One Of Them Would Win
The Prize. Unfortunately- No Pun In Ten Did
True Things
A pair of Russian bears purported
to have become alcoholics from living outside a Sochi restaurant for 20 years
are being offered rehab in Romania. The Big Hearts Foundation said the two male
bears, which a court ruling ordered to be seized from the owner of the Georgian
restaurant in Sochi, have been offered a new home at a bear sanctuary outside
Brasov, Romania, where officials said the animals would be treated for alcohol
addiction. "The people there have worked with dancing bears who had
similar problems," Anna Kogan, head of the Big Hearts Foundation, said.
"It can be done." Kogan said the charities are seeking help with the
logistics of the bears' move. "It's a very expensive process to move them
abroad," Kogan said. The Big Hearts Foundation said the bears
"drowned in beer" at the restaurant for 20 years, as patrons would
frequently pass drinks to the animals. The owner of the restaurant said
"beer is good for the bears because of the Sochi climate."
"There are drunken people who come to the restaurant, park their cars in
front of the bears and throw things to the animals so that they get drunk and
behave funnily," Kogan reported.
Observations This Month
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The Navajos named the month of January [Yas
Nilt’ees] melting
or cooking the snow Adopt A Rescued Bird Month Link |
Observations This Week
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Christmas Bird Count Week Link |
Thru 1/5 |
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Kwanzaa. |
Thru 1/1 |
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Diet Resolution Week |
1-7 |
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Silent Record Week |
1-7 |
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New Year's Resolutions Week |
1-8 Link |
Observations for Today
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Apple Gifting Day Copyright Law Day National
Bloody Mary Day |
New Year's Dishonor List Day |
My Sometimes-Long-winded Thoughts
Happy New Year to all. I put away the decorations, moved some
furniture, cleared out the mail pile. I talked to several friends this morning.
Another former student from my teaching days sent me a friend request. Nice to
catch up through messages.
Flagstaff has had the annual Pinecone drop in downtown Flagstaff for
about 20 years. It is a 7’ lighted cone that slowly drops from the roof of a
three-story building. When it was not too cold, and I was younger, I would head
downtown to see it. Then they started a 9pm and midnight drop. This year it will
be a virtual drop on the internet machine.
There is an organization that connects nurses with hospitals in need
for short-term contracts…usually 3 months at a time. Some large hospital chains
are paying $8K-10K per WEEK for nurses during the pandemic. It’s great for the chains
but leaves smaller and rural hospitals unable to hire needed nurses. Why isn’t
there a National Plan to help hospitals?
I’m really tired of politicians who believe ‘Rules made for thee are
not for me’. They break the very rules they inflicted on their constituents.
It is undemocratic and stupid.
In AZ, a man had a business to holding cadavers for researchers. He had
to close his Seattle business a few months ago. He moved to AZ and is now
charged with dumping 5 heads and 24 limbs at various sights in the Prescott
forest. When he was arrested, he told officers he was sorry.
Also, in AZ: A County Health Services Director is indicted on 16 counts
of stealing $82K for personal use. He had worked for both Coconino [where I live]
and our neighboring Navajo County that includes some of the Navajo Reservation
and Winslow and Holbrook.
Daily Puzzle
Answer at the bottom of the page
I can be short and sometimes hot. When displayed, I rarely impress.
What am I?
Historical Events
- 1808 – The United States banned the importation
of slaves.
- 1818 – Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, or The
Modern Prometheus was published (anonymously) in London. (500 copies were
made)
- 1863 – The ‘Emancipation Proclamation’ issued by
Abraham Lincoln
- 1892 – Ellis Island began processing immigrants
into the United States.
- January 1, 1980 – The Far Side, Comic Strip
debuted
- 1847 – The world’s first “Mercy” Hospital was
founded in Pittsburgh, United States, by a group of Sisters of Mercy from
Ireland.
- 1925 – 1st Sugar Bowl and 1st Orange Bowl
- 1958 – The European Economic Community (EEC) was
established.
- 1979 – Normal diplomatic relations are
established between the People’s Republic of China and the United States.
- 1995 – The World Trade Organization began.
- 2015 – The Eurasian Economic Union came into
effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus,
Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
Birthdays Today
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@91 |
John. David. Salinger, American soldier, author |
(d. 2010) |
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@90 |
Xavier Cugat, Spanish-American
singer-songwriter, actor |
(d. 1990) |
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@84 |
Betsy Ross, American seamstress, credited
with designing the US Flag |
(d. 1836 |
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@83 |
Paul Revere, American silversmith and
engraver |
(d. 1818) |
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@83 |
Dana Andrews, American actor |
(d. 1992) |
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|
79 |
Country Joe McDonald, singer-songwriter, guitarist |
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|
78 |
Don Novello, comedian (Father Guido Sarducci) |
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@77 |
J. Edgar Hoover, first director of the FBI |
(d. 1972; heart attack) |
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@71 |
Rocky Graziano, American boxer and actor |
(d. 1990; heart failure) |
Puzzle Answer
A temper.
Continue to Enjoy the Holiday Season
