May 25

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May 25, 2020 Week: 22 Day: 146

86004: H 73° \ L 36° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%

Wind: 6mph\Gusts: 7mph Visibility: 10 mi

Nearest lightning: 390mi.; Nearest active fire: 220mi.

Extreme Risk of Fire

Record High: 95°[1951] Record Low: 18°[1980]

May Averages: 68°\34° (3 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

"It is during our darkest moments

that we must focus to see the light."

-Aristotle

Random Tidbits

The use of forks was considered sacrilegious

The widely used eating utensil was once seen as offensive to God when it was first introduced in Italy in the 11th century. Oddly enough, people used to eat with their fingers. The number of fingers used for eating distinguished the upper class from the lower class. Three fingers were considered to be good manners. The oldest forks were discovered in Turkey, dating back to the fourth millennium B.C., but it was likely that they were only used as tools. The Church in Italy argued that God had created humans with fingers so that they could eat God’s food, but this didn’t stop the production of expensive forks made of gold for wealthy families.

Have a smile

A friend sent these to me

“My friend's professor didn't realize he was screen sharing during a presentation that was worth half of her course grade. He was sending people emails about adopting a cat named Koala, then he watched a YouTube video about bees.”

Observations This Week

Fleet Week (NY): 20-26
Mudbug Madness Days: 23-25 Cancelled due to COVID-19
Old-Time Player Piano Weekend: 23-25  Cancelled due to COVID-19
National African Violet Week: 24-30
Healthy and Safe Swimming Week: 25-30 Link
National Backyard Games Week: 25-6/1Scripps National Spelling Bee: 25-28 Cancelled due to COVID-19.
Week of Solidarity With The People of Non-Self-Governing Territories: 25-31

Observations for Today

Cookie Monster's Birthday Link
Hamburger Day
Julia Pierpont DayMemorial Day

National Missing Children's Day

National Brown Bag It Day

National and Internat'l Missing Children's Day Link
National Tap Dance Day
National Wine Day Link
Nerd Pride Day or Geek Pride Day Link
Prayer for Peace Memorial DayTap Dance Day

Sing Out Day

World Thyroid Day Link
Towel Day Link

My Rambling Thoughts

It's Memorial Day...to remember those who gave their lives so we could live free. Thanks for your sacrifice.

Nice spring day. Decided it was time to do some spring cleaning of my vehicle interior. Vacuumed, sprayed, trash bin emptied...all nice and clean for the summer.

Small world story. A Focus Traveler has a place in Red Feather, CO. My mom's best friend and a neighbor for years moved up there decades ago. Her son is the Postmaster in Red Feather and is a great photographer. I mentioned that on Donna's FB post. Turns out she has one of his photos in her living room and knows him. A small world indeed.

Tara Reade, the lady accusing Biden has led to some questioning of her allegations, her background, and her motives. ABC is reporting that there will be more.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

I am the beginning of sorrow, and the end of sickness. You cannot express happiness without me, yet I am in the midst of crosses. I am always in risk, yet never in danger. You may find me in the sun, but I am never out of darkness. What am I?

Historical Events

1521 Edict of Worms outlaws Martin Luther and his followers

1816 Collection of poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge published by John Murray in London, including "Kubla Khan" and "Christabel"

1842 Christian Doppler presents his idea, now known as the Doppler Effect, to the Royal Bohemian Society, Prague

1878 - Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opened at the Opera Comique in London.

1935 - At Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Babe Ruth hit his 714th (and final) home run.

1961 - President John F. Kennedy declared "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space program in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."

1968 - The St. Louis Gateway Arch was dedicated.

1977 - Star Wars opened Memorial Day weekend, marking the biggest entertainment juggernaut in modern popular culture.

1977 - Chinese government removed the ban on the works of William Shakespeare, the biggest entertainment juggernaut in the Elizabethan era.

1986 - Hands Across America took place.

1992 - Jay Leno made his debut as the new host of The Tonight Show.

1994 - George Swanson was buried in Brush Creek Cemetery, in the driver's seat of his 1984 white Corvette in Hempfield County, Pennsylvania.

2005 - Carrie Underwood won season four of America Idol on FOX.

2011- Oprah Winfrey hosted the final episode of her syndicated daytime show.

2012 A SpaceX Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft to dock at the International Space Station

2017 Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg receives an honorary degree from Harvard University, after dropping out in 2004

2019 First ever albino panda footage in the wild released (taken in April) from China's Wolong National Nature Reserve

Birthdays Today

@91-Lyricist Hal David (d. 2012)

81-Actor Ian McKellen

@78-Writer Ralph Waldo Emerson (d. 1882)

@78-Operatic Soprano Beverly Sills (d. 2007; lung cancer)

77-Country singer Jessi Colter [Mirriam Johnson]

57-Actor Mike Myers
50-Producer, Comedian Jamie Kennedy

45-Singer Lauryn Hill

Puzzle Answer:

The letter S