Posted in Uncategorized, tagged litha, solstice on June 21, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Today is the Summer Solstice or Midsummer, the longest day of the year. Now begins the waning year, the days will be getting shorter.
The Anglo-Saxons called it Litha and celebrated by building bonfires and staying up until dawn. Jack O’the Green (Green Man) makes an appearance on this day.
Hi Jack. Nice to make your acquaintance.
Enjoy today, sleep later!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged black hole on June 18, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Warning, these photos are very violent. Keep the kids away.
NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) took photos of a star being devoured by a giant Black Hole that is between two colliding galaxies. This is 150 million light years away, so we may be safe, but don’t count on it.
Talk about a bellyache! Do Black Holes go, Burp?
I have to do a Black Hole story!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged old glory on June 16, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Flag Day was June 14th & I had a brain-spasm.
Who sewed the first flag? Rebecca Young, a Pennsylvania flag maker, is one claimant. Betsy Ross is another candidate, but she was also a Pennsylvania upholsterer. Francis Hopkinson, a New Jersey signer of the Declaration of Independence, claims to have designed the first Stars & Stripes. Who knows?
You’re a grand old flag
George M. Cohan
You’re a high-flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave
You’re the emblem of
The land I love
The home of the free and the brave
Ev’ry heart beats true
Under red, white and blue
Where there’s never a boast or brag
But should old acquaintance be forgot
American flag flying in the wind
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bourbon on June 14, 2018| Leave a Comment »
I remember the Old McKenna Distillery closing in 1974. (I was pretty much a baby) It was located in Fairfield, Nelson County, Kentucky. It was sad to see the town die: within weeks, the poolhall, bar, & other businesses closed.
The older people told me Fairfield once was a stagecoach stop with a hotel, opera house, bank, and so on. Now it is a sleepy village, not sure it still has a post office or businesses.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged dinosaurs, writing on June 11, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will be released in June. I am excited. (I will grow up later) I would be even more excited if the 2-legged dinosaurs had feathers. (not sure about the 4-legged versions)
This winter I subbed in a kindergarten class. For indoor recess, the girls dressed in princess gowns—boring. The boys played with dinosaur toys—yes!
I just have to write about dinosaurs! Novels, picture books, poems, and so on.
Adulthood will just have to wait a little longer.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged mars on June 8, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Organic molecules were found on Mars! Methane gas was discovered by Curiosity Rover. It also drilled ancient rocks & found thiophenes, benzene, toluene, and small carbon chains, such as propane or butane. This is not proof of life, but it suggests the possibility of life now & or long ago.
(okay, my warning was premature, but better safe than sorry)
I have written about Mars, and I just mat do it again!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged moonshine on June 5, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Around 1916, my great-uncle Walter Short (according to my dad) was in Burkesville Kentucky standing on a street corner holding a brown paper grocery bag. A sheriff’s deputy came by and asked Walter to procure some moonshine—he wanted to trap/arrest Walter for selling moonshine. He gave Walter some money.
Walter said, “Hold this bag. I’ll be right back.”
The deputy took the bag as Walter vanished with the cash. The sheriff came by and the deputy told him what was going on.
“Fool, look in the bag,” said the sheriff. Walter’s bag held a bottle of moonshine, but Walter was long gone. Walter was never arrested.
National Moonshine Day, Part Two
Around 1916, my great-uncle Walter Short was crossing the Cumberland River in a rowboat loaded with moonshine. He was going to sell his moonshine in Burkesville, Kentucky. Some sheriff’s deputies were hiding on a wharfed steamboat so they could arrest him.
My grandma, Ova Short (she later married my grandpa, Lawrence Suddeth), ran onto the wharf and waved her arms. “Go back, Walter!” she screamed.
Walter turned around and took his moonshine elsewhere. They never caught him.
