May 9

 
Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 20 Day: 129 \ Ave. sky cover: 5% \ Visibility: 10 miles Flagstaff Today 7° \40° 
Wind: 8mph \ Gusts: 20mph
Extreme risk of fire \ Nearest active fire: 12mi \ nearest Lightning: 551mi
May Averages for Flagstaff: 68° \ 34°  (3 days of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

3-11  (World) Dystonia Awareness Week Link

6-12  National Nurses Day and Week: Link  Link

6-15 National Public Gardens Week  Link

8-14   Food Allergy Awareness Week  Link National Nursing Home Week National Return To Work Week   National Women's Health Week  Tick Awareness Week

8-15 Reading is Fundamental Week  Link   Salvation Army Week   Salvation Army Week   Work At Home Moms Week

9-13   Economic Development Week  Link National Etiquette Week

9-15  National Hospital Week  Link National Stuttering Awareness Week

 

Daily Observations

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Another windy day. Warm and windy. The wind should die down about 4pm. Oops weather service just extended the wind advisory through 6pm tomorrow. Oh well. It sounds like the picture party for our French Polynesia adventure went very well. Sorry I missed it. Anne emailed me to keep me informed.

There were 8 illegal campfires in the forest close to Flagstaff on Saturday. Our fire department and the forest service took care of it, including big fines for those who did it. From the news report, it sounds like all the campfires were started by visitors to our fair city. Two different ones were started at Air B&B spots.

The May Day parade in Russia was originally to honor workers. The Victory Day parade today began after the Cuban Missile Crisis to promote their military’s defeat of the Nazis in 1945.

Sargassum seaweed is infecting Mexico’s Caribbean beaches. When the floating brown seaweed washes ashore, it smells like sulfur. That messes up tourist trade. Since February the Mexican government has taken 97tons of it from the ocean and 900 tons from their beaches. WOW!

Favorite Memes

 

Safest Cities in the World New

10. Abu Dhabi, UAE

Interestingly, over half of this middle eastern city’s population is made up of ex-pats! Foreigners flock to Abu Dhabi for business opportunities but end up staying because of its extremely safe and easy-going atmosphere. Ritzy, glitzy and at the same time traditional and charming, Abu Dhabi is one of the safest cities in the middle east as well as the world. Travelers have a very low risk of being mugged, pickpocketed, or scammed and women report feeling just as safe in Abu Dhabi as they do in other European and North American cities.

State Trivia

Kansas: it's home to the world's largest ball of twine

A rather unusual record to hold, Cawker City in Kansas is home to the world's largest ball of twine. Started in 1953 by a local man Frank Stoeber, the giant ball stood eight feet (2.4m) tall just four years after Frank started it. He donated the ball to the city in 1961 and work on it has continued ever since. Every August a twine-a-thon is held when local residents and visitors continue adding twine to the massive ball. Currently, it's estimated to contain eight million feet (2,438km) of twine.

Kentucky: you can't buy bourbon everywhere in the state

Kentucky is well known for its bourbon – today it's home to such famous distilleries like Jim Beam, Maker's Mark and Bulleit. It's also a well-known fact that barrels of bourbon outnumber people by about two million, however, you might be surprised to find that buying the famous libation isn't actually possible everywhere in the state. Out of Kentucky's 120 counties, about a third are completely dry with no liquor sales allowed and another 49 are moist, meaning alcohol is only legal in certain places. That leaves just 32 counties were alcohol is fully legal.

Louisiana: Lake Pontchartrain Causeway bridge is the world's longest over a body of water

Stretching an astonishing 24 miles (38.6km) across Lake Pontchartrain, the bridge provides a direct connection between Metairie in New Orleans in the south and Mandeville in the north. The first two-lane span of the causeway took just 14 months to build and was opened in 1956, with the second parallel bridge following in 1969. For a stretch of eight miles (12.8km) there's no sight of land at all so motorists have been known to freeze and police have had to then escort them off the bridge.

Historical Events

Ø    1662 – The precursor to Mr. Punch made his first recorded appearance in England.
Ø    1671 – Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempted to steal England’s Crown Jewels.
Ø    1865 – The patent (#47,631) was issued to Richard Jordan Gatling for the Gatling gun, which was the first to successfully combine reliability, high firing rate, and ease of loading into a single device.
Ø    1887 – Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show opened in London, England.
Ø    1893 – The first motion picture exhibition was presented by Thomas Edison in Brooklyn, New York to an audience of 400 people at the Dept of Physics, Brooklyn Institute, Brooklyn, NY using his Kinetograph.
Ø    1914 – Although referred to since the late 1800s, US President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first Mother’s Day holiday on this date.
Ø    1955 – West Germany joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
Ø    1958 – Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo has its world premiere in San Francisco.
Ø    1960 – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the world’s first commercially produced birth-control bill-Enovid-10.
Ø    1961 – Newton Minow, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, referred to television as the “vast wasteland”
Ø    1974 – The United States House Committee on the Judiciary opened impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.
Ø    2001 – In Ghana, 129 football fans died in the Accra Sports Stadium Stampede Disaster.   
Ø    2015 – Russia staged a large military parade in Moscow’s Red Square to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Victory Day.

Birthdays Today

@93 – Mike Wallace, American journalist and media personality (d. 2012)

@82 – Albert Finney, English actor (d. 2019)

@77 – J.M. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright (d. 1937; pneunomia)

76 – Candice Bergen, American actress

73 – Billy Joel, American singer-songwriter and pianist

@64 – Howard Carter, English archaeologist, historian (d. 1939; Hodgkin's disease)

60 – John Corbett, American actor [Northern Exposure]

@59 – John Brown, American activist (d. 1859; hanged)

43 – Rosario Dawson, American actress

  

May 8

 

 
Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 20 Day: 128 \ Ave. sky cover: 10% \ Visibility: 10 miles Flagstaff Today 77° \42° 
Wind: 8mph \ Gusts: 23mph
Extreme risk of fire \ Nearest active fire: 12mi \ nearest Lightning: 631mi
May Averages for Flagstaff: 68° \ 34°  (3 days of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Monthly Observations

Teen CEO Month
Tennis Month
Tay-Sachs and Canavan Diseases Month
Textile Month  Link
Tourettes Syndrome Awareness Month (5/15 - 6/15) Link
Toxic Encephalopathy and Chemical Injury Awareness Month Link
Ultra-violet Awareness Month
Women's Health Care Month
Worldwide Home Schooling Awareness Month
Young Achievers of Tomorrow Month
National Family Month (5/12 to 6/16) 

Weekly Observations

2-8    Children's Book Week Link  (Also Nov. 7-13) National Sun Safety Week Link Peripheral Neuropathy Awareness Week  Link National Wildflower Week  Screen-Free Week (Digital Detox Week) Link

3-11  (World) Dystonia Awareness Week Link

6-12  National Nurses Day and Week: Link  Link

6-15 National Public Gardens Week  Link

7-8  Toad Suck Daze

8-14   Food Allergy Awareness Week  Link National Nursing Home Week National Return To Work Week   National Women's Health Week  Tick Awareness Week

8-15 Reading is Fundamental Week  Link   Salvation Army Week   Work At Home Moms Week

 

Daily Observations

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

A very happy Mother’s Day. My mom had a great life for 89 years. She is gone, but not forgotten. Also, Happy Mother’s Day to all who are raising children with the mother present.

My new air fryer arrived late yesterday. I am very pleased as I could recycle my toaster oven and my small air fryer at Savers…[Big Brothers & Big Sisters]. The toaster oven was about 5 years old and the air fryer about a year old…both still worked.

Today is the Run for the Roses…Kentucky Derby. About 150,000 spectators will watch and millions will be bet. I’m sure those into such extravaganzas are excited since this is the first Derby with spectators since Covid started 2 years ago.

I never really understood why we were in Afghanistan for so long. I was very disappointed by our withdrawal’s lack of a good strategy. The Taliban rulers have now said that all women must be covered when in public. Any woman not obeying this law will be punished, and their husband may also be punished. So very sad.

Senator Sinema, of AZ, visited Flagstaff yesterday to see the devastation of the Tunnel fire that claimed 31 homes. She is pushing Congress to have Hot Shot crews moved from seasonal to year-long. Part of the issue to the Tunnel fire was that it was so early, many out-of-state hot shot crews had not started their seasonal work. The Hot Shots in AZ just happened to be in training sessions and could be deployed. I hope she gets the change made.

‘My body, my choice’ was a battle cry of many mask haters during the pandemic. However, during the abortion debate, many of those same people are silent. Curious for sure.

Almost 5000 students had graduation ceremonies at our local University yesterday and today, in 4 different ceremonies.  Congrats to the grads. Traffic on that side of town is very slow. Glad I don’t have to head that way.

The Havasupai tribe lives in the Grand Canyon. Mail is still delivered by mule. The only way in or out is to hike, by mule, or by expensive helicopter rides. The tribal council voted yesterday to keep the tribal land closed through 2022, to prevent the spread of Covid.

Favorite Memes

Thanks to Ed, my Focus roommate for these:

 

State Trivia

Idaho: there's a unique New Year's tradition

The iconic Times Square New Year's ball drop is one of the most famous traditions when it comes to ringing in the New Year. However, Boise residents have found a more unique (and more state-appropriate) way to welcome 1 January. Since 2013, thousands of spec-taters have gathered at the Idaho State Capitol every year to watch the Idaho Potato Drop – a giant, illuminated GlowTato is lowered from above as the clock strikes midnight. We'd expect nothing less from Idaho.

Illinois: Chicago isn't The Windy City because of the weather

It's thought that the source of the nickname is political rather than the chilly gusts that sweep across the city from Lake Michigan. In an 1893 editorial in the New York Sun, Charles A. Dana calls Chicago a "windy city" in reference to the city's politicians who were said to be "full of hot air". At the time Chicago was competing with New York to host the 1983 World's Fair. In a twist to this tale, the original editorial has never been located, however, there is an existing copy of an 1876 Cincinnati Enquirer that calls Chicago "That Windy City" after a tornado swept through the city so we might never know the truth...

Indiana: Wabash was the first electrically-lit city in the world

The small city of Wabash made significant history on the evening of 31 March 1880, when the world's first electric streetlights were turned on. After Edison's invention of the light bulb in 1879, Charles F. Brush came up with the idea of streetlights, but he needed a place to try out his idea. After a demonstration in Cleveland, four 3,000 candlepower lamps were placed atop the Wabash County Courthouse (pictured) and around 10,000 people came to watch the spectacle. The original Brush lights are still on display at the courthouse.

Iowa: Fenelon Place Elevator is both the shortest and the steepest in the world

Elevating passengers 189 feet (57.6m), from Fourth Street to Fenelon Place in Dubuque, the Fenelon Place Elevator is dubbed the world's shortest and steepest, although the title has been contested by other funicular railways. Just 296 feet (90.2m) in length, the elevator was first used by local banker J.K. Graves in 1882. The funicular was opened to public in 1884 and cost five cents per ride. After several devastating fires, the current funicular opened in 1893 and is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Historical Events

    
Ø    1886 – Pharmacist John Pemberton first sold his carbonated beverage named “Coca-Cola” as a patent medicine.
Ø    1933 – Mohandas Gandhi began a 21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the Harijan movement.
Ø    1945 – Germany’s ‘second surrender’ with Stalin
Ø    1912 – Paramount Pictures was founded.
Ø    1933 – Mohandas Gandhi began a 21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the Harijan movement.
Ø    1945 – V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) was celebrated in America and Great Britain.
Ø    1961 – The first practical seawater conversion plant in the US was opened in Freeport, Texas.
Ø    1976 – The New Revolution, the first steel roller coaster with a vertical loop, opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Ø    1980 – The World Health Organization confirmed the eradication of smallpox.
Ø    1984 – The Soviet Union announced that they were boycotting the 1984 Olympics.
Ø    2010 – Betty White hosted Saturday Night Live, thanks to a push by fans on Facebook. She won an Emmy for her appearance.

Birthdays Today

96 – David Attenborough, TV Host

@90 – Don Rickles, American comedian and actor (d. 2017)

@88 – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President (d. 1972)

@84 – Fulton J. Sheen, American archbishop (d. 1979)

78 – Gary Glitter, Glam rocker

@65 – Peter Benchley, American author and screenwriter (d. 2006; Pulmonary fibrosisz)

@64 – William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman, philanthropist (d. 1885)

58 – Melissa Gilbert, American actress

47 – Enrique Iglesias, Spanish-American singer-songwriter

@45 – Ricky Nelson, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 1985; plane crash)

@+/-40 – Sonny Liston, American boxer (d. 1970; OD)