Jan 1

 

2021…at last

Jan 1`, 2021  Week: 53   Day: 1	Local:  H 35°\ L 17°\Ave. Sky Cover: 90%
Wind:   2mph\Gusts: 3mph	Nearest lightning:  1036mi.; Active fire:  59mi
Low Risk of Fire	Visibility:  10mi
Record: 61°[1981] Record: -21°[1919]	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

The Navajos named the month of January [Yas Nilt’ees] melting or cooking the snow Adopt A Rescued Bird Month Link Bath Safety Month Be Kind to Food Servers Month Birth Defects Month Link Black Diamond Month Link Book Blitz Month California Dried Plum Digestive Month Link Carnival Season: Jan. 6- Feb. 16 Celebration of Life Month Cervical Health Awareness Month Link Children Impacted By Parent's Cancer Month Clap 4 Health Month

 

 

Observations This Week

Christmas Bird Count Week Link	Thru 1/5
Kwanzaa.	Thru 1/1
Diet Resolution Week	1-7
Silent Record Week	1-7
New Year's Resolutions Week	1-8  Link

 

 

Observations for Today

Apple Gifting Day Copyright Law Day Commitment Day Link Ellis Island Day Euro Day First Foot Day Link Global Family Day Link Mummer's Parade  Cancelled National Black Eyed Pea Day National Bloody Mary Day

National Hangover Day New Year's Day New Year's Dishonor List Day Polar Bear Plunge or Swim Day Link  Cancelled Public Domain Day  Link Rose Bowl Game (Virtual) St. Basil's Day Tournament of Roses Parade Cancelled: TV only. World Day of Peace Link Z 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

@91	John. David. Salinger, American soldier, author	(d. 2010)
@90	Xavier Cugat, Spanish-American singer-songwriter, actor	(d. 1990)
@84	Betsy Ross, American seamstress, credited with designing the US Flag	(d. 1836
@83	Paul Revere, American silversmith and engraver	(d. 1818)
@83	Dana Andrews, American actor	(d. 1992)
79	Country Joe McDonald, singer-songwriter, guitarist
78	Don Novello, comedian (Father Guido Sarducci)
@77	J. Edgar Hoover, first director of the FBI	(d. 1972; heart attack)
@71	Rocky Graziano, American boxer and actor	(d. 1990; heart failure)

 

 

Puzzle Answer

A temper. 

Continue to Enjoy the Holiday Season