24 February 2023
Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 8 Day 55 \ Ave. Sky Cover 90% \ Visibility 2 miles Flagstaff Today 39° \20° Wind 13mph \ Gusts -mph
Air Quality: Fair \Very Low Moderate High Extreme Risk of fire
\ Nearest active fire 249mi \ Nearest Lightning 2758mi
Feb. Averages for Flagstaff: 47° \ 19° \5
Days of moisture
Snowing
Today’s
Quote
Weekly
Observations
18-25
National FFA Week Link
19-26
National Sauna Week Link
19-25
Bird Health Awareness Week Link
Build A Better Trade Show Image Week
National Eating Disorders Awareness
Week
National Engineers Week
National Justice for Animals Week
Build A Better Trade Show Image Week
National Eating Disorders Awareness
Week
National Engineers Week
National Justice for Animals Week Link Link
Through With The Chew Link
22-25
American Birkenbreiner Race
22-4/8
Lent
Daily Observations
Forget Me Not
Day Link
Inconvenience Yourself Day
National Trading Card Day
Skip The Straw Day Link
Tartar Sauce Day Link
Twin Peaks Day
World Bartender Day Link
My
Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts
And
the winter storm continues. About 6” yesterday and today it is still snowing. I am getting very tired of my mantra ‘The
forest needs moisture’. I went out this morning and cleared off my vehicle,
drove around the parking area, drove back to my parking space and played ‘in
and out’ a few times to compress the snow where I park.
I
sent an email to our presenter yesterday about Saturday’s discussion group. I
suggested that we play ‘wait and see’ then notify our group in an email on
Saturday at noon regarding the storm and our meeting. The presenter emailed back and said that parking would be an
issue at her place due to the snow berms left after every snowfall. So today I
notified the group that the meeting was postponed until April. Hopefully we will be able to meet in March.
The
morning paper had a big article about road closures in our neck of the woods.
Over 300 miles of Northern AZ highways have been closed during this storm…some
from snowfall, some from wind, and many by blowing snow. This is not a time to
be traveling in our area. The main local roads are fine, when the snow stops.
Side streets remain slick.
Enjoy…
Facts…
The names of
four countries include the word “Guinea.”
It’s not
unusual for cities to share names, but it happens less frequently with
countries. Yet four nations — three of which are in Africa — use the word
“Guinea” in their titles: Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, and Papua
New Guinea. How is it possible to have so many countries using the same word?
It has to do with the colonization of Western Africa. The exact origin of the
word “Guinea” is unknown, though some linguists believe the term comes from the
Portuguese word “Guiné,” which appeared around the mid-1400s to describe a
region south of the Senegal River along Africa’s western coast. A competing
theory suggests that the name comes from Djenné, an ancient city in modern Mali
that was an important stop along the trans-Saharan gold trading route; it’s
possible “Djenné” transformed into “Genawah,” which was then used to describe
all people in Western Africa.
By the late
1880s, many European countries had laid claim to African land in a race
historians call the “Scramble for Africa.” Spain, France, and Portugal (among
other powers) all shared control of the Guinea region in Western Africa; the
area was divided, and land generally identified by its controlling country.
However, the names we know today wouldn’t emerge until well into the 20th
century, when each nation broke away from European control. French Guinea
retained the name Guinea after gaining independence in 1958, Spanish Guinea
became Equatorial Guinea in 1963, and Portuguese Guinea took on the name Guinea-Bissau
(referencing its capital city Bissau) in 1974.
As for Papua
New Guinea, located thousands of miles to the east across the Indian Ocean, two
explorers gave it its name. In 1526, Portuguese sailor Jorge de Meneses dubbed
part of the island “ilhas dos Papuas,” from the Malay word papuwah (referencing
the islanders’ curly hair), while Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez
declared another portion New Guinea, believing its citizens resembled the
people of Africa’s Guinea coast.
Slang
Origins
Beat feet
When you must get away fast, usually
because you've done something wrong, it's time to beat feet the heck out of
there. Just think of your feet like they're the hands of a jazz drummer.
Trivia…
A stretch of Route 66 in New Mexico will
play the song "America The Beautiful" if driven properly
Just east of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
there is a stretch of Route 66, one of the most famous highways in the world,
that will play you a song if you drive it just right. First of all, you need to
drive along the rumble strips on the side of the road. They are spaced out at
just the right distance to play the song “America the Beautiful” if you drive
along them at exactly 45 miles per hour.
Historical
Events
1582 – Gregorian Calendar: Pope Gregory
XIII issued a new, more accurate calendar that the Julian, which had been used
for 1500 years.
1868 – Andrew Johnson became the first
President of the United States to be impeached by the United States House of
Representatives. He was later acquitted in the Senate.
1942 – In what may or may not have been a
UFO attack, The Battle of Los Angeles lasted into the early hours of February
25. (probably not)
1980 – The United States Olympic Hockey
team completed its Miracle on Ice by defeating Finland 4 – 2 to win the gold
medal.
Birthdays
Today
@95 – Richard Thorpe, American director, screenwriter (d. 1991)
@94 – Abe Vigoda, American character actor (d. 2016)
“I
got the role because the producer thought I looked tired, but I looked tired
because I had been jogging earlier that day.”– Abe Vigoda
@81 – Honus Wagner, American baseball player, coach, manager (d.
1955)
“I
don’t want my picture in any cigarettes, but I also don’t want you to lose the
ten dollars, so I’m enclosing my check for that sum.”– Honus Wagner, his
baseball cards were later recalled, which makes his cards so rare.
@80 – Chester Nimitz, American admiral (d. 1966)
“God
grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think
it is hopeless.”– Chester W. Nimitz
78
– Barry Bostwick, American actor
76
– Rupert Holmes, English-American singer-songwriter
76
– George Thorogood [David Goldstein], American singer-songwriter
“I
said if you want to be Keith Richards, you’ve got to listen to Bo Diddley and
Chuck Berry. Then I thought, ‘What did Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry listen
to?’ I said, ‘They listened to Howlin’
Wolf and Muddy Waters.’ Well, who’d they listen to? They listened to Robert
Johnson. I said, ‘Ok, we’ll start with that.'”– George Thorogood
@73 – Wilhelm Grimm, German anthropologist, author and Brother (d.
1859)
@74 – Homer Winslow, American illustrator (d. 1910)
@73 – James Farentino, American actor (d. 2012; long illness)
72
– Debra Jo Rupp, American actress
67
– Paula Zahn, American journalist
65
– Sammy Kershaw, American singer-songwriter
62
– Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway
57
– Billy Zane, American actor
@56 – Steve Jobs, businessman, co-founded Apple Inc. &
Pixar (d. 2011; tumor)
“We
think basically you watch television to turn your brain off, and you work on
your computer when you want to turn your brain on.”– Steve Jobs
46
– Floyd Mayweather, Jr., American boxer
“You
hear certain things, negative things, all the time that aren’t true, but you
never hear about the positive.”– Floyd Mayweather, Jr
34
– Trace Cyrus, American singer-songwriter