New Year's Eve

 

Week: 1 Day: 365
Ave. Sky Cover:  40% Visibility: 10 miles
Local Temp:   31°\ 26° Wind: 7mph\ Gusts: 14mph
Very Low risk of fire Active fire: 254mi. \ Lightning: 1306mi.
Dec Averages: 43°\17° (5 days w/moisture)

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

25-31	It's About Time Week
26-1/1	Kwanzaa

 Daily Observations

Favorite Memes

Have a laugh

What keys don't unlock any doors?

Keyboard keys, piano keys, donkey, hockey, jockey, monkey, and turkey.

 

Arizona Trivia

Roadrunners are not just in cartoons! In Arizona, you'll see them running up to 17-mph away from their enemies.

The Saguaro cactus is the largest cactus found in the U.S. It can grow as high as a five-story building and is native to the Sonoran Desert, which stretches across southern Arizona.

Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, grew up on a large family ranch near Duncan, Arizona.

The best-preserved meteor crater in the world is located near Winslow, Arizona.

The average state elevation is 4,000 feet.

The Navajo Nation spans 27,000 square miles across the states of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, but its capital is seated in Window Rock, Arizona.

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Sun is shining as I await the ‘big’ storm due tomorrow. I cleared off my vehicle and headed to Sam’s for gas before the storm. Picked up some fresh salad materials to begin the new year on a healthy note.

Every New Year’s Eve since 1999 an historic downtown hotel has dropped a huge lighted artificial pinecone at noon, 8pm, and of course midnight. Most times it is either cold, bitter cold, or snowing. Still the crowds come. They announced yesterday that it is cancelled for this year. They have a shortage of staff and of course concerns about Covid. I attend those on cold nights, but as I get older, the bitter cold ones happened without me. It will be available on the internet machine for Flagstaff residents to enjoy at home.

I’m looking for a better year in 2022. Of course, that is what I said last year and 2021 was not a great year. No travel, Covid, loss of friends and relatives from Covid. I got a new passport after the Trans-Siberian trip in 2019. So far, I have traveled with it to Mexico for two Christmases.

Putin requested a conference call with Biden for today. The news machine is wondering why a am I.

What a way to end this crazy year: Marjorie Taylor Greene has suggested ‘a national divorce’. In her great mind she believes that anyone moving from a blue state to a red state should not be allowed to vote for an extended time.  Her example was a liberal from CA moving to FL they should not be allowed to vote as they might vote for a liberal in a red state. Craziness.

 

Historical Events

·        1600 – The British East India Company was chartered. At one point it had a hand in 50% of the whole world’s trade and business.

·        1907 – The first New Year’s Eve celebration was held in Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) in Manhattan.

          1983 – AT&T ‘Ma Bell’ telephone system monopoly was broken up by the United States Government.

·        On December 31, 1999, Albert Einstein was chosen as person of the century by Time.

 

Birthdays Today

·        84 – Anthony Hopkins, actor

• @84 – Henri Matisse, French artist (d. 1954)

·        78 – Ben Kingsley, English actor

• @77 – Odetta (Holmes), American singer-songwriter, actress (d. 2008; heart disease)

·        74 – Tim Matheson, American actor

• @63 – Donna Summer, American singer (d, 2012; lung cancer)

·        63 – Bebe Neuwirth, American actress, and dancer

·        62 – Val Kilmer, American actor

• @53 – John Denver, singer (d. 1997; plane crash)

·        44 – Donald Trump, Jr., American businessman

·        26 – Gabby Douglas, American gymnast