3 Feb

 

3 February 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 5 Day 34 \ Ave. Sky Cover 5% \ Visibility 10 miles Flagstaff Today 45° \4°  Wind 6mph \ Gusts 14mph 
Air Quality: moderate \Very Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 179mi \ Nearest Lightning 3642mi
Feb. Averages for Flagstaff: 47° \ 19° \5 Days of moisture
Sunshine

Today’s Quote

Monthly Observations

International Boost Self-Esteem Month
International Expect Success Month  Link
International Hoof-care Month
International Month of Black Women in The Arts Link
International Prenatal Infection Prevention Month Link
Jobs in Golf Month Link
Library Lovers Month
Love The Bus Month Link
Marfan Syndrome Awareness Month
Marijuana Awareness Month Link

 

Weekly Observations

28—2/4
Cordova Ice Worm Days  Link
Catholic Schools Week
Meat Week
National Anesthesiologists Week Link
1-5
US Nationals Snow Sculpting Days
1-7
Women's Heart Week
World Interfaith Harmony Week
2-8
Publicity for Profit Week

 

Daily Observations

American Painters Day
Bubble Gum Day Link  
Feed The Birds Day Link
Four Chaplains Memorial Day
Give Kids A Smile Day Link  
Golden Retriever Day
Missing Persons Day
National Carrot Cake Day
National Cordova Ice Worm Day
National Missing Person's Day  
Golden Retriever Day
Missing Persons Day
National Carrot Cake Day
National Cordova Ice Worm Day
National Missing Person's Day  Link
National Women's Physicians Day  Link
The Day The Music Died
Veterinary Pharmacists Day
Wear Red Day
Working Naked Day
Women Physicians Day

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Another nice winter day. I headed out to get a haircut. So pleased I have a regular stylist who knows what I like in a haircut. It has warmed up enough that snow on the ground is starting to melt. The high piles around time will be here for quite a while.

Not surprised that the Republican congress is playing ‘what’s good for the goose, is good for the gander’ with committee assignments. It is too bad that many in Congress have not realized that ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves the world blind.

While I have hardly enjoyed all the snow we got in January, I am glad I’m not in the Northeast where they are having severe wind chill temps, or the South where they are having ice storms. Snow doesn’t look so bad.  

African Animals Abound…

Arizona is a great state…

v The amount of copper utilized to make the copper dome atop Arizona's Capitol building is equivalent to the amount used in 4.8 million pennies.

v Near Yuma, the Colorado River's elevation dips to 70 feet above sea level, making it the lowest point in the state.

v The geographic center of Arizona is 55 miles southeast of Prescott near the community of Mayer.

v You could pile four 1,300-foot skyscrapers on top of each other and they still would not reach the rim of the Grand Canyon.

Facts…about Groundhog day

Germans started asking the groundhog about spring as an excuse to drink, eat and be merry. The Pennsylvania Dutch are actually from Germany, aka Deutschland. The first celebrants of Groundhog Day were Pennsylvania Dutch who used the holiday as an excuse to get together and party. Feb. 2 is almost exactly halfway through winter, so what better time to gather together with your friends and neighbors to eat some good food, drink some good drink, and look ahead to the coming spring?

In the 1880s some friends in Punxsutawney, Penn., went into the woods on Candlemas Day to look for groundhogs. This outing became a tradition, and a local newspaper editor nicknamed the seekers "the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club." Starting in 1887 the search became an official event centered on a groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil. A ceremony still takes place every year.

Phil's official title is: Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary. Phil was given that name by Freas, the newspaper editor, in 1886 in a series of announcements in his newspaper, The Punxsutawney Spirit.   

Slang Origins

1982: Rad/radical

Meaning: cool

Another bit of surfer slang: they used “radical” to mean at the limits of control, such as when the time came to ride a “radical wave.” Other previous uses, such as in radical political parties, also implied moving to the edges of what was expected.

Mysterious sites…

Great Zimbabwe Ruins (Zimbabwe)

The Great Zimbabwe Ruins are the largest ruins in sub-Saharan Africa. This medieval city was once a trading hub and possibly the capital of the Queen of Sheba’s realm. The remains consist of the Great Enclosure (perhaps a royal residence), the Hill Complex (possibly the religious heart of the city), and the Valley Ruins (houses which suggest the city once had a population of 20,000 people). In total, the Great Zimbabwe Ruins extend across an area of 200 acres. The city is thought to have been abandoned in the 15th century, for reasons scientists aren’t sure of.

Historical Events

1959 – The Day The Music Died: Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and Pilot Roger Peterson crashed in a cornfield near Clear Lake, Iowa.

1943 – Four Chaplains Memorial Day (in honor of George Fox, Alexander Goode, Clark Poling, and John Washington). Each gave their life belts to other sailors when the SS Dorchester was torpedoed near Greenland.

Birthdays Today

@96 – Henry Heimlich, American physician and author (d. 2016)
@96 – George Nissen, American gymnast; inventor of the Trampoline (d. 2010)
@90 – James A. Michener, American author and (d. 1997)
@89 – Joey Bishop [Joseph Abraham Gottlieb ], American actor (d. 2007)
@84 – Norman Rockwell, American painter and illustrator (d. 1978)
“The secret to so many artists living so long is that every painting is a new adventure. So, you see, they’re always looking ahead to something new and exciting. The secret is not to look back.”– Norman Rockwell
80 – Blythe Danner, American actress
@79 – John Ford, American film director (d. 1973)
73 – Morgan Fairchild [Patsy Ann McClenny], American actress
@72 – Gertrude Stein, American novelist, poet, playwright, (d. 1946; stomach cancer)
“What is the answer? In that case, what is the question?”– Gertrude Stein
67 – Nathan Lane, American actor and comedian
“Sure I think it is healthy to speak the truth, and be who you are, and be proud of that.”– Nathan Lane
@61 – Horace Greeley, American journalist, abolitionist, politician (d. 1872)
47 – Isla Fisher, Omani-Australian actress
@46 – Beau Biden, American soldier and politician (d. 2015; cancer)
@43 – Victor Buono, American actor (d. 1982; heart attack)
“Being on Batman allowed me to do something we actors are taught never to do: overact.”– Victor Buono
@38 – Felix Mendelssohn, German pianist, composer, conductor (d. 1847; strokes)
33 – Sean Kingston, American-Jamaican singer-songwriter
@30 – Charles‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd, American gangster (d. 1934; shot by FBI)