17 Mar ♣♣

 

♣ 17 March 2023 ♣

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 11 Day 76 \ Ave. Sky Cover 60% \ Visibility 13 miles Flagstaff Today 53° \24°  Wind 6mph \ Gusts 7mph 
Air Quality: Fair \Very Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 249mi \ Nearest Lightning 735mi
Mar. Averages for Flagstaff: 51° \ 23° \6 Days of moisture
Sunshine

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

  22-4/8
  Lent
  11-17
  Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign
  12-18
  Campfire USA Birthday Week
  Girl Scout Week Link , Link
  Teen Tech Week
  13-17
  Native American Awareness Week Link
  13-19
  International Brain Awareness Week Link

Daily Observations

Campfire Day
Green Beer Day
St. Patrick's Day Link
Submarine Day 
Transit Driver Appreciation Day Link
World Sleep Day Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Rain with only a dusting of snow overnight.

I had a decent physical. I am cutting down on one thyroid medicine. Doing well otherwise.

Last night about 8pm I got a phone alert that there were flashfloods in many areas around Sedona that put a number of residents in ‘GO’ status, as it was still raining and the proverbial creek was rising. This morning, the main road from Flag to Sedona is still closed due to flooding.

I had lunch with Mary and Mike this afternoon. They brought me some great, huge, juicy oranges from their trees in Phoenix. Excellent! I also had a great Corned Beef Ruben Sandwich, to honor St. Patrick

St. Patrick’s Day facts

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated every year on March 17th. It is a national holiday in the Republic of Ireland as well as the Canadian Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

St. Patrick’s Day was a religious holiday, dedicated to Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, until 1903 when it became public by the Bank Holiday Act of 1903. The Irish Member of Parliament, James O’Mara, later introduced a law that all pubs be, wait for it, closed on March 17th. Surprisingly this law stuck around until the 1970s, when people finally realized that St. Patrick’s Day is all about drinking, drinking, drinking.

Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick was born around the end of the fourth century A.D. in Britain. Although his father was a Christian deacon, their family was not a very religious one. At 16, Saint Patrick was taken into slavery by a group of Irish thieves who took over his home village. During his time in captivity, he spent a lot of time alone and in this time turned to God, becoming more religious. After six years, Saint Patrick escaped and went to Gaul where he studied in a monastery for 12-15 years. After being ordinated as a priest, Saint Patrick was sent to Ireland to be a minister as well as convert the non-Christian Irish. His mission lasted for 30 years.

The Parade

The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade was actually held in New York City in 1962. It consisted of Irish soldiers serving in the English military Marching the streets of the city. “Each year, nearly three million people line the one-and-a-half mile parade route to watch the procession, which takes more than five hours. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Savannah also celebrate the day with parades including between 10,000 to 20,000 participants.” – The History Channel

Traditions

The traditional meal of Saint Patrick’s Day is corned beef, boiled potatoes, and mashed cabbage, as well as Guinness Beer.

The shamrock is a special part of the holiday; in ancient Ireland, it symbolized the rebirth of spring. Since then, the shamrock has become a symbol of Irish nationalism and pride. It is also said that Saint Patrick used the three-leaved shamrock to demonstrate the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The color green is associated with the holiday for a few, obvious reasons. The first is because of the shamrock, which the Irish hold close to their culture. Also, green is on the national Irish flag, where is represents all the green pastures of the country.

Facts…

We see, use, and drink the same water the dinosaurs did. 

More Slang origins…

Bust a gut

The LOL of its time. Because sometimes you laugh, and sometimes you laugh so hard, it feels like your stomach is going to explode

Beauty in our 50 states…

32. New Hampshire

If we’re being honest, New Hampshire lost its most glorious sight a few decades back when the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed. (No, we’re still not over it.) Yet its profile remains relatively strong: it’s home to the White Mountains' grand Presidential Range, dramatically carved flume gorges, notches, big lakes like Winnipesaukee, and sprawling valleys of farmland near the Canadian border. It's just a shame that the southern part of the state looks so much like suburban Connecticut, but with fewer liquor stores.

Historical Events

1910 – The Camp Fire Girls organization was founded.
1941 – The National Gallery of Art was officially opened in Washington, DC.
1958 – The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite, Vanguard I.

Birthdays Today

79 – John Sebastian, American singer-songwriter
74 – Patrick Duffy, American actor
68 – Gary Sinise, American actor
@60 – Shemp Howard (Samuel Horwitz), Stooge #4 (d. 1955; heart attack)
59 – Rob Lowe, American actor
“Can someone explain the vitriol whenever Ayn Rand comes up? ‘Atlas’ is the greatest motivator for the individual that I can imagine.”– Rob Lowe
56 – Billy Corgan, American singer-songwriter
“I think a spiritual journey is not so much a journey of discovery. It’s a journey of recovery. It’s a journey of uncovering your own inner nature. It’s already there.”– Billy Corgan
@54 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (d. 1993; AIDS)
“When I miss class for one day, I know it. When I miss class for two days, my teacher knows it. When I miss class for three days, the audience knows it.”– Rudolf Nureyev
51 – Mia Hamm, American soccer player
@45 – Nat King Cole, American singer, pianist, and television host (d. 1965; cancer)
“Critics don’t buy records. They get ’em free.”– Nat King Cole
33 – Hozier, Irish singer-songwriter
“Art and music are the vehicles for the zeitgeist.”– Hozier
31 – John Boyega, English actor