Aug 19

 

Aug 19, 2021 Week: 34 Day: 231
Ave. Sky Cover:  80%\Visibility: 10 miles
Local Temp:   69°\ 52° Wind: 9mph\ Gusts: 12mph
Low risk of fire Active fire: 361mi. \ Lightning: 12mi.
Aug Averages: 79°\50° (9 days w/moisture) 

Today’s Quote

  

 

Weekly Observations

 

National Environmental Services Week: Link	2-20
National Aviation Week National Chef's Appreciation Week Link	15-21
Minority Enterprise Development Week	18-24
National Little League Week Link	19-29

 

Daily Oberservations

 

Aviation Day Bow Day Potato Day Soft Ice Cream Day World Humanitarian Day World Photo Day

  

Favorite Memes

 

  

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Yesterday’s storm was bigger than I realized. Parts of our mountain got 3” of rain in less than an hour…a ‘100-500-year event’. Unfortunately, the heaviest hit area was a burn scare from our last big fire. This led to a torrent of flash flooding hitting several areas of Flagstaff. This summer flash floods are not uncommon. What was unusual was a loud, beeping text alert soon after I posted yesterday’s blog on my phone. It said to ‘stay in place, do not travel’.  Right after that, Facebook was showing lots of rushing water videos throughout East Flagstaff.  On the East side of town, the main drag, Rt. 66, was also blocked at many points by rushing water. One elementary school has been closed due to flooding in the hallways and classrooms of their building. No problems in our compound. More rain is expected today.

Today is cool, windows and door closed.

TGIR…the Gov. of AZ has issued a proclamation that any school district that requires the wearing of masks inside any school will mean that their share of $163 million in Covid Federal relief aid will be held and not distributed to them. His reasoning <?> is that mask wearing by children is a parental decision, not a government decision. Before the proclamation, numerous school districts, through elected school boards, required mask wearing. Time and the courts will decide who is right. It appears the boards will keep the mask wearing until the courts decide. Crazy.

Texas schools are having similar problems and they think they got around the order by simply changing their dress code to include mask wearing. Hmmm.

Sticking with schools, there is a small school, Cove Day School, on the Navajo Reservation, that educates K-3 and has 13 Bureau employees. It has been indefinitely closed and children in the community will get their education online. It was recently discovered high levels of radiation in the classrooms and buildings. It is believed this is from uranium mining from decades ago. No word on where staff will be living or how the online learning will be available since the school is off limits. Sack lunches will come from a nearby public school. Scary for sure.  

Historical Events

1692 Five more people hanged for witchcraft (19 in all) in Salem, Massachusetts

1791 Benjamin Banneker sends a copy of his Almanac and writes a letter to Thomas Jefferson criticizing his pro-slavery stance and requesting justice for African Americans using language from the Declaration of Independence

1812 – American frigate USS Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, earning the nickname “Old Ironsides”.

1887 Dmitri Mendeleev makes a solo ascent by balloon to an altitude of 11,500 feet (3.5 km) above Klin, Russia to observe an eclipse

1893 – Frank Wisner invented the Root Beer Float.

1934 – The first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton, Ohio.

1993 Mattel & Fisher Price toy companies merge

2020 Apple becomes the 1st US company to be valued at $2 trillion, just 2 years after it reached $1 trillion valuation 

Birthdays Today

@87 – Coco Chanel, founded the Chanel Company (d. 1971)

87 – Renée Richards, American tennis player, and ophthalmologist

@80 – [Peter Edward] Ginger Baker, drummer, and songwriter (d. 2019)

@76 – Orville Wright, American engineer, pilot, co-founded the Wright Company (d. 1948)

75 – Bill Clinton, 42nd President

74 – Gerald McRaney, American actor

@68 – Ogden Nash, American poet (d. 1971; Chron’s disease)

@70 – Malcolm Forbes, publisher, politician (d. 1990; heart attack)

@70 – Gene Roddenberry, screenwriter, producer (Star Trek) (d.1991; stroke)

58 – John Stamos, actor

52 – Matthew Perry, actor