4 Jan

 

4 January 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 1 Day 4 \ Ave. Sky Cover 30% \ Visibility 4 miles Flagstaff Today 42° \20°  Wind 8mph \ Gusts 13mph 
Air Quality: Fair \Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 366mi \ Nearest Lightning 847mi
Jan Averages for Flagstaff: 44° \ 16° \5 Days of moisture
Sunshine with occasional snow

Today’s Quote

Monthly Observations

Oatmeal Month Link
Self-help Group Awareness Month
Self-Love Month
Shape Up US Month
Teen Driving Awareness Month
Train Your Dog Month Link   Link
Thyroid Awareness Month Link
Unchain A Dog Month Link
Walk Your Pet Month Link  Link
World Introvert Month Link
Worldwide Rising Star Month

Weekly Observations

Dec 14-Jan 5 
Christmas Bird Count Week: Link 
1-7
Diet Resolution Week 
National Folic Acid Awareness Week   Link
Dating & Life Coaches Recognition Week
National Lose Weight/Feel Great Week
Silent Record Week
2-8
International Consumer Electronics Show
Someday We'll Laugh About This Week
3-6
No Tillage Week

Daily Observations

Congress Assembles
Dimpled Chad Day
Earth at Perihelion Day 11:17am EST
National Spaghetti Day
Pop Music Chart Day
Tom Thumb Day
Trivia Day
World Braille Day Link
World Hypnotism Day  Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

About another 2” of snow overnight. By 10am the sky was clear, but clouds started returning about noon. Not a lot of more snow expected. Grounds crew cleared the drive and sidewalks. I cleared off my vehicle and headed to the bank for some cash. Side roads are snow-packed and icy, main roads are wet.  Thank goodness it is not that cold.

Watching democracy in real time is interesting. The House is holding its second vote for house speaker. Even with a majority in the House, the Republicans can’t get the necessary votes for McCarthy. In the 2^nd vote, Rep. Jordan nominated McCarty. It didn’t work. The far-right Republicans are refusing to vote for McCarthy. Hmmm

I watched Monday Night Football last night…just like always. The NFL made the right decision in stopping the game. I sure hope that Damar Hamlin is able to recover. Listening to the doctors on TV, who are guessing as to what happened, this is a very unusual injury.

Waterfalls around the world

Facts…

Since the 12th century, the English monarchy has held the title of Seigneur (lord) of the Swans. For many years, mute swans — the elegant type you know from “Swan Lake” — were a popular food served by the rich. It was the king or queen who granted swan ownership rights, and the cost of going against those rights was severe. For example, anyone caught stealing swan eggs could face a year in prison, and it was treasonous to illegally eat a swan until 1998. In the 14th century, the crown granted swan ownership rights to Abbotsbury Swannery, one of only a few surviving companies with such privileges. The swannery marks their swans with a small ring around the bird’s leg. Any mute swan that isn’t marked in such a way remains property of the monarch. Strangely, this law also applies to dead swans, so any well-meaning taxidermist not wishing to run afoul of the law must contact the royal swan marker before stuffing any of the crown’s birds. 

Slang Origins

1954: Far-out

Meaning: cool; a departure from the traditional or conventional

Some slang comes and goes before you realize that what you’re saying isn’t cool anymore. “Far-out” was not one of those words. Another expression originating in the jazz vernacular, it would remain popular through the hippie culture of the ‘60s and ‘70s, before fading from popular use.

Historical Events

1865 – The New York Stock Exchange opened its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York City.
1903 – Thomas Edison’s team filmed the electrocution of a murdering elephant, Topsy, to show the dangers of Alternating Current electricity.
1959 – The USSR’s Luna 1 became the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.

Birthdays Today

@84 – Isaac Newton, English mathematician, and physicist (d.  1727)
I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.– Isaac Newton
@79 – A.E. Coppard, English poet, short story writer (d.  1957)
@78 – Jacob Grimm, German writer, Grimm’s Fairy Tales (with brother Wilhelm) (d.  1863)
@71 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (d.  2006; Alzheimer’s)
60 – Dave Foley, Canadian comedian, actor,
58 – Julia Ormond, English actress, producer
57 – Deana Carter, American singer-songwriter
@45 – General Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton), American circus performer (d.  1883; stroke)
@43 – Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (d.  1852; TB)