I just finished watching President Trump's State of the Union speech. Regardless of your political persuasion, I think we can all agree that it was long,
But seriously, it was also full of honors and stories of brave men and women who have served our country in one way or another. I did appreciate those accolades.
Even though the winter Olympics are over I'm still thinking about them and I have realized that there is one event in which I could compete. I'm talking about the Luge. Not the Skeleton. There is no way that I would go zipping down a slippery curving ice coated slide at 60 miles an hour, or more, on my back, head first,
But I watched the Luge teams, for the two person sleds, and I'm pretty sure I could do that. On my back feet first so I could see where I'm going.
Of course there would need to be some modifications made to the event. I can't see myself running beside the sled pushing it to get it up to speed and then leaping in. I would rather get in the sled and recline carefully while it is securely held in place, then hold on tight while someone else gets the sled going. It does look like a fun ride.
If they ever build a luge slope here in Fort Wayne and offer an Octogenarian division (maybe limit us to 30mph) I'll sign up. Our colors could be gray and silver. Does anyone want to be on my team?
My spouse and I had dinner this evening with my grandson and his wife. It was a very joyous get together. They are expecting their first child in two weeks. I'm guessing it might be sooner. She looks ready to pop.
Although it's been many years for me, I can remember the excitement of waiting for that first baby to be born. Every birth is exciting but that first baby catapults its parents into a whole new life style. Sleeping through the night will probably become a thing of the past, at least for the first several months. Your whole life revolves around this new being come to live with you.
Some things never change but I am intrigued by the things that have changed since I became a mother.
1. They know the sex of the baby, it's a boy. They decided on his name months ago.
2. They know how much it will weigh at birth, six pounds.
3. They know it is healthy and normal with the correct number of fingers and toes.
4. They know it's in the head down position.
5. My grandson knows that there will be a chair for him in the delivery room in case he feels faint. It could happen.
And the one thing that hasn't changed - they know that the baby's grandparents and great grandparents are ready, willing and able to pitch in and help as needed, especially with rocking the baby.
As it happens, I'm a champion baby rocker. If it was an Olympic sport I'd have a gold medal for sure. Can't wait to get back in the game.
My west coast brother informed me, earlier this afternoon, that today is "National Grain Free Day." Unfortunately, or maybe luckily, depending on how I look at it, I didn't read his text until after my spouse and I returned from a trip to our favorite Amish bakery where we had stocked up on our favorite breads and cookies. (I'll admit it, the molasses cookies are my downfall, not my spouses, but I do limit myself to one a day.)
Thinking about a grain free day, even though I'm not observing it, led me to wonder where grain falls on the newly designed food pyramid. here's what I found out. "The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans released in January 2026 feature a new 'inverted' food pyramid, prioritizing high-quality proteins, healthy fats and produce at the top, while placing whole grains at the (pointy little) base."
Luckily my spouse and I do have access to high quality proteins thanks to generous family gifts from the Omaha Steak Company. Also, if you were to look in our refrigerator right now you would find an ample supply of apples, oranges and grapes so that covers produce. Also celery, but nobody counts celery. I'm pretty sure that the real butter that I slather on my Cinnamon Swirl toast counts as a healthy fat, at least today. Butter like coffee is one of those foods that gets flipped from the 'good for you' list to the 'bad for you' list with some regularity.
I don't really have any argument with the new food pyramid except for where it places grain. Let's face it people need bread. What are you going to spread your peanut butter and jelly on? What will hold your ham salad sandwich? What will accompany your bacon and eggs if not some form of bread? I'm ok with grain at the bottom but I think the pyramid needs to be replaced with a semi-circle or U shape.
"The Good Food U for You" sounds catchy to me. Maybe I should write a letter to someone.
I have been watching the winter Olympics every night since they started over a week ago. Like everyone else watching, I marvel at the amazing performances whether it's on skates, snow boards, skis, luges or skeletons. I groan when someone falls and cheer when they pull off an excellent performance, even if the judges don't think it's perfect.
As a mother myself, I do find myself wondering what their parents feel as their children compete. All of my children marched in high school bands and I have felt a little bit of what they might be experiencing. I've watched our bands compete and come in third or fourth when I thought their performance was perfect.
But there is one big difference. I could relax while watching my offspring compete, knowing that they will not be flying down a mountainside, up an incline, doing triple and quadruple flips then landing gracefully on their feet (usually). Or, better yet, twirling up into the air on skates, doing four or five spins. then landing perfectly. It's all so exciting to watch and I assume that the athletes' parents have been supporting them through years and years of practice and competitions.
So here's to our wonderful Olympic contenders and here's to all those who have supported their dreams all along the way.
First, here's a picture of our latest accomplishment puzzle wise. It has been a very rainy day with nowhere to go so we puzzled more than we usually do.
Since my wonder spouse and I are retired we do have an ample amount of discretionary time. Some of that time we spend doing volunteer work and other worthwhile things.
However, when all of the important and semi-important things are done, we sometimes indulge in our greatest weakness (no, not drinking). We enjoy putting together jigsaw puzzles. We have a large table and excellent lighting in our basement rec room, and can take many days if necessary to finish a puzzle.
When you think about it logically, putting together a jigsaw puzzle is a huge waste of time. First we sort through all the pieces to find the edge pieces, then assemble them into the frame of the picture, then piece by piece fit all of the other pieces together.
Finally, finally it's finished. We can look at it with a great sense of accomplishment. We have completed 500, 750, 1000 and 2000 piece puzzles over the years. Then we break it all apart, put the puzzle back in its box, being very careful not to lose any pieces, and set it aside to donate somewhere, sometime.
Recently we discovered a way to keep our hard work. If a puzzle was particularly challenging or we just like the picture, we can save it by putting specially made backing material on the puzzle, then framing it in a poster frame and hanging it on the wall for all to see and admire. But only if they come down to our basement rec room. We have not yet resorted to hanging preserved puzzles in our living room. Give us credit for a little couth.
Writing about my ironing chore yesterday reminded me of another, much less pleasant chore that my oldest brother (two years younger than me) and I were expected to do during the summer months.
I should explain here that my mom was a loving, kind, wonderful mother, but she was also a teacher, and used to working with a schedule, so during our summer breaks she liked to keep us on something of a schedule. The schedule did include delightful things like a 10am break to eat sugar glazed donuts on Wednesdays after the bakery truck came by, TV time while we all watched Captain Kangaroo with my baby brother, and, my favorite, a half hour, or longer, break after lunch to relax in our bedrooms and read or nap. This was supposedly so my baby brother could nap. I didn't appreciate, until I was a mom myself, that it was also my mother's chance to rest.
The schedule also included her expectation that we would get up in "the cool of the morning" to weed the strawberry patch. Usually this chore was only for 30 minutes after which we went in and had breakfast. One particular morning my brother kept running inside and looking at the clock. Finally he announced that it was 8:00am and time for breakfast.
Everything was fine until my father came home from work that evening and didn't understand why his TV news show didn't come on until fifteen minutes past the hour. Very mysterious. He finally checked the clock on the wall in the kitchen against his pocket watch and realized that the kitchen clock was fifteen minutes fast.
I honestly don't remember what my brother's punishment was but I think it involved more weeding for him and less for me and mom. My parents were not spankers but they did believe in letting the punishment fit the crime. They also, happily, were blessed with good senses of humor.
As was true of many children of my generation, there were chores I was expected to do. While the oldest of my two brothers mowed grass and did other outside chores, I washed and dried dishes and set the table for meals. My mother, meanwhile, was being kept pretty busy with my baby brother.
The other chore I did regularly was to iron. These days, thanks to synthetic fabrics, I seldom iron at all but I was reminded of the ironing of my childhood when my wonder spouse informed me today that he was going to iron the top edge of our top bed sheet. The sheets had just come out of the dryer and I thought they were just fine but he wanted to do it, so who am I to argue? I like things smooth.
The reason this situation reminded me of my youth was because ironing was one of my chores and the first things I learned to iron were pillow cases. I don't think my mother ever ironed sheets, unless we had out of town company coming, but she did like smooth pillow cases.
I don't mean to brag but I must have been quite precocious, because I quickly 'graduated' to ironing my father's and brother's dress shirts. As chores went, ironing was the best because I could watch TV as I ironed. The better the show, the slower I ironed.
First the answers to yesterday's Valentines quiz:
1. most popular flower - rose
2. Cupid's father - Mars
3. Cupid's mother -Venus
4. amount spent on Valentine's day in 2023. None of the choices given were actually correct so I decided to give an up to date answer. 27.5 billion dollars were spent on Valentines Day gifts, etc. in 2025.
5. most popular Valentines Day activity - going out to dinner
6. classic Valentine's Day gift - chocolate
7. the USA produces the most chocolate for Valentine's Day
8. the meaning of XOXO - hugs and kisses
9. Valentine's Day originated in Italy.
10. Teachers receive the most Valentine gifts
And that is quite enough about Valentine's Day, except to share one of my most embarrassing moments. When I was in 8th grade, already 5'9" tall and less than graceful, my teacher, at our little parochial school, brought a sheet cake pan of bright red anise candy to school as a special treat for all of us students in the class. He had the candy sitting on the corner of his desk and had promised to share it with us after lunch. During a study time, I walked up to his desk to ask a question and bumped that pan of candy which fell to the floor and shattered into at least a million little pieces. I really don't know how it happened. At that point my face was as red as the candy. I was mortified (and obviously not very popular with my classmates). My dear long-suffering teacher, who I did like very much, just sadly shook his head and said "Get a broom and sweep it up."
He did not act at all surprised. He had, after all, been teaching 8th graders for a long, long time.
Happy Valentines Day everyone. Just for fun, here's a trivia game to keep you occupied when you're trying to resist eating more candy. Your children may score better than you on this.
Valentine's Day Trivia Game
1. What is the most popular flower to give on Valentine's Day?
a. lily b. daisy c. rose d. tulip
2. Who is Cupid's father?
a. Jupiter b. Mars c. Neptune d. Apollo
3. Who is Cupid's mother?
a. Minerva b. Ceres c. Venus d. Diana
4. How much did Americans spend on Valentine's Day in 2023?
a. 30.2 million b. 27.5 billion c. 29.1 billion d. 75.5 million
5. What is the most popular Valentine's Day activity?
a. watching a movie b. taking a walk c. going out to dinner d. taking a trip
6. What item is the classic Valentine's Day gift?
a. cards b. wine c. jewelry d. chocolate
7. Which country produces the most chocolate for Valentine's Day?
a. USA b. Germany c. Switzerland d. Belgium
8. What is the meaning of XOXO?
a. joy and happiness b. love and peace c. hugs and kisses d. hope and faith
9. In which country did Valentine's Day originate?
a. France b. UK c. Italy d. Spain
10. Who receives the most Valentines gifts?
a. children b. mothers c. teachers d. girlfriends
Answers tomorrow.
Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed yesterday's quiz. Here are the answers:
!. Turkey, dressing, potatoes and peas
2. William A. Mitchell also invented Pop Rocks and Cool Whip.
3. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins
4. Tom and Jerry
5. Gilligan, the Skipper, Ginger, the Professor, Mary Ann, Thurston Howell III and Eunice "Lovey" Howell
6. "Let It Be" though "Abbey Road" was the last they recorded together.
7. The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964
8. The Hula Hoop
9. Bobby Riggs
10. Theodore Geisel
If that wasn't enough for you, here are three questions to pose to a family member or friend:
Would you rather be Abraham and told to sacrifice your son OR be Isaac knowing that your father was willing to do it?
Would you rather face Goliath with only a slingshot and stone OR wander in the wilderness for 40 years?
Would you rather see Lot's wife turned to salt OR hear Balaam's donkey talk?
Several of us who attend the same Sunday School class most Sundays decided to meet for lunch today just to socialize. We gathered at Hall's Gas House, always a great place to eat. The friend who first suggested this get together really out-did herself in making it a fun pre-Valentines Day event. The tables were decorated with red tinsel and heart shaped cups full of candy and she provided some paperwork to entertain us as we waited for our food, giving us plenty to talk about, around the tables. I have decided to share one of the games with you. Enjoy:
A BOOMER'S QUESTIONAIRE (If this doesn't bring back some memories, I don't know what will.)
!. What was the first Swanson TV dinner?
2. What two other "junk food" favorites were created by the inventor of Tang?
3. Name all three astronauts who were part of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.
4. What did Simon and Garfunkel call themselves before adopting this name?
5. How many castaways can you name from the TV show "Gilligan's Island?"
6. What was the last Beatle's album to be released?
7. Who hosted the Beatle's first appearance on American TV?
8. What toy became a worldwide sensation when it was popularized by Wham-O in 1957?
9. Who was tennis player Billie Jean King's opponent in the "Battle of the Sexes?"
10. What was the real name of "Dr. Seuss?"
Answers tomorrow.
I started wearing glasses when I was seven years old. The first pair I had had brown squarish frames. I never minded wearing glasses, and yes, in case you're wondering, boys do make passes at girls who wear glasses.
Over the years I've worn wire rimmed, cat's eye and various other styles. I also wore contact lenses for about 20 years. But there came a time when I needed reading glasses with my contacts. That's when I decided it would be easier to just go back to wearing glasses.
I'm bringing all this up because today I had my eyes examined and my new glasses will be ready in a week. My wonder spouse wondered if I could just have new lenses put in my current frames, but I explained to him that there is really no fun in getting new glasses if you don't get new frames. Interestingly, the new frames I picked out are squarish and brown (really more copper). My wonder spouse went with me to the appointment because we were going to lunch with friends right after. He told me up front that he would not assist me in selecting frames but when the time came and I had narrowed my choices down to three he picked the one I liked best. So we're both happy.
What I find interesting is how much new technology is involved in eye exams these days. This morning the tech, who looked like such a sweet young thing, put a 'football helmet' on my head, then clamped a pair of goggles that rivaled anything I've seen on Olympic skiers to the helmet. It was heavy but I did manage to hold my head up and follow directions. A voice in my ear told me to watch the bouncing ball, keep my eyes wide open, blink when instructed and watch the orange target. That AI voice kept telling me that I was doing very well which was nice to hear. I have done visual field screening exercises in my ophthalmologist's office but he doesn't make me wear a football helmet. Interestingly though, today my optometrist still took me through the very familiar slide show with the same old questions that eye doctors have been asking me since I was a child - which looks clearer, this one or 'click' this one? Which line of print can you read? And on and on it went. It felt like a long time but the actual exam only took 25 minutes. Then I got to pick out my new frames, the final reward. I will enjoy having new glasses, (and I will be able to read small print more easily) even though I realize that most of my friends will never notice the difference.
Do you remember, when you were very young, long lazy days during summer vacation? Those days when school was out and it seemed like summer would go on forever? You could lie on the grass and watch the clouds form and re-form pictures of fantastical beasts and pirate ships or rocket ships or whatever.
When you get to be an adult those lazy days are much harder to come by. Even when, like me and my wonder spouse, you're retired, stuff like doctors' appointments, necessary shopping trips (groceries are important), and volunteer work tend to fill up at least part of every day.
But today, thanks to a series of pleasant coincidences, was one of those lazy days for me.
After weeks of below freezing temperatures, the sun is blazing down from a clear blue sky, the temperature has soared to over 40 degrees, snow has disappeared from the streets and sidewalks (although it does still cover the grass) and I have had nothing to do that must be done today. I did walk out to get the mail and was able to breathe deeply without feeling my lungs freeze up.
I have read a book and worked on a stitchery, but only because I wanted to. A lazy day for sure and I am loving every minute of it. Is it possible that I have early onset spring fever???
My west coast brother informed me earlier today that this is "Chocolate Day." I am happy to be able to report that I did enjoy some really excellent chocolate this evening. I do like to celebrate these special days.
But first the rest of the story. Yesterday was my brother-in-law's birthday. When we said that we would take him to dinner to celebrate and that he could choose the place, he accepted with alacrity and selected Cork and Cleaver, an excellent local restaurant with an amazing salad bar. I tried to make a reservation for yesterday, his actual birthday, but they said they would be closed, so we went this evening instead.
It is one of those restaurants where you really do need to make a reservation. As we were leaving after our dinner I heard the receptionist speaking on the phone saying "I'm sorry but we're completely booked for the rest of this evening."
But about that chocolate - after the three of us were full to bursting with huge mounds of salad bar salad, steaks, sweet potato, baked potato, mushrooms, broccoli with cheese sauce and molasses bread with cinnamon butter (none of us had all of that but you get the idea) they brought out a humungous slab of mud pie for the birthday boy. Of course they also brought three chilled desert plates so we could share. Their mud pie is a frozen mound of coffee ice cream coated with a delicious chocolate shell and topped with a mound of whipped cream. So now you know how I got my chocolate for today and why I am now waddling off to bed to sleep it off. Sweet dreams everyone.
My eye doctor suggested that I should use a larger monitor and key board for my writing which, of course, includes this blog. The new computer arrived yesterday and I am using it right now for the first time to write this blog.
So far it is being very nice to use but I had really hoped that I would suddenly, magically become a more competent typist. So far that is not happening. Thank goodness for spell checker. The closest I ever came to failing a class was when I took typing in high school, back in the bad old days when carbon paper was my nemesis.
This new monitor does have a lovely large screen, a 24 inch instead of my laptop's 13 inch. Thinking about this makes me laugh. I was in sixth grade when my father brought home our first television set. It was awesome, a Zenith brand 'portable' that sat on a table top and probably weighed at least fifty pounds. It had a 13 inch screen, black and white of course, and received three channels through an antenna on the roof. Flash Gordon, Captain Kangaroo, Gunsmoke, Saturday morning cartoons and more kept us enthralled.
Now I can watch a TV show on my computer, through the magic of split screen, while also blogging or answering emails or attending a Zoom meeting. I can do that all at once, but "new and improved?" I'm not so sure.
The Fort Wayne Philharmonic almost never disappoints. Almost never. This evening was an exception, at least for me.
First I must say the piece performed before the intermission was absolutely wonderful. Peter Boyer's "Ellis Island: The Dream of America" was amazing. Beautiful music interspersed with the narration of oral histories of people who had come to America through Ellis Island over many years kept me spell bound.
Unfortunately the second piece, performed after the intermission left me cold. Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, "The Age of Anxiety" made me anxious to have it finished. The guest pianist was very good and his encore was the best part of the second half in my opinion.
As I listened to the Bernstein piece I assumed that it was my lack of understanding of more contemporary music that was keeping me from enjoying the music. Surprise, surprise, when I confessed my disappointment with the second piece to my wonder spouse when we got back to our car, he agreed with me. He was also wondering about that piece. He knows much more about music than I do so it was very reassuring to know that he agreed with me.
The Winter Olympics opening ceremony is tonight. Thank you NBC for televising this. Thank you MIlano Cortina for hosting it. It's hard for me to imagine how much preparation goes into hosting the Olympics but it must be an incredibly long and complicated process.
There are so many things I love about the Winter Olympics. Figure skating and and speed skating are among my favorites. Then there are all of the down hill speed competitions on skis, snowboards and, never forget, the luge sleds.
I haven't been on ice skates for years but when I was a young teen I had my own ice skates, white of course, and we skated quite a bit during the winter. We would skate at the Coliseum, on the hockey rink when there weren't games scheduled. It was a wonderfully large space.
One winter a heavy rain flooded a field across the road from our house and then it froze hard. For a few wonderful winter weeks we had our own private rink. The field ice was much rougher than hockey rink ice and I can remember lying in bed at night after a long time on the ice and feeling my feet vibrating, like they did on the rough ice.
All of this is to say I love ice skating. It is my favorite part of the Winter Olympics.
This year though there is an added bonus for me as I watch the Olympics. On my first trip to Europe, about 15 years ago, I spent some time in Milan, and seeing the Duomo and other famous landmarks on TV this evening brought back some wonderful memories.
Enjoy the Olympics, I know I will.
Yesterday I had an appointment with my optometrist. Because of glaucoma some years ago (now under control) and other vision concerns my appointments are every four months. Yesterday's appointment included a visual field exam which, to me, is like a computer game. With one eye at a time I watch as little lights flash on the screen I'm staring at. When I see a light I press the button on a little hand held clicker. I have very little peripheral vision in my left eye, due to the above mentioned glaucoma, so it's no surprise that my right eye does much better on this test. It's also why I tend to bump into people walking up on my left side. So embarrassing.
Essentially, I see with my right eye and my left eye is just kind of along for the ride, seeing blurry images and helping with depth perception. Happily there is no macular degeneration, for which I am very thankful.
When I renewed my driver's license two years ago, I was told that, because of the limited vision in my left eye I would have a restriction on my license. When I asked what that would be, I was told that I must have an outside rear view mirror on the left side of my car. I was amazed that that was the restriction. Who doesn't have out side mirrors on their cars these days? Even my ten year old Fiat has them.
My spouse was with me for the appointment and in our discussion with the doctor I mentioned that my eyes get very blurry after I have been working on my laptop for a half hour or even less sometimes. It also happens when I'm reading print materials. She said that it was because, when we are staring at a computer screen, or a page, but more often while staring at a screen, we forget to blink. Ordinarily people blink every few seconds, but when we stare at a screen we only blink one or two times a minute, not nearly enough to keep our eyes hydrated.
So here I am, writing this blog and blinking frequently. It's a habit I must practice. I also now have some lovely eyedrops to use two or three times a day. My wonder spouse is a big help in getting the drops in my eyes instead of rolling down my cheeks.
All of this led up to some decisions for a few changes here at home. For some years now, I have preferred to read large print books. Happily our local library has a huge selection of these which may say something about the age of the general population in our neighborhood. My wonder spouse decided that, in addition to those books, I could also use a new computer with a larger monitor and a full size keyboard. The laptop I use now has a 13 inch screen and a smaller than standard keyboard. I already enlarge the print on computer documents whenever I can but this will improve the situation.
When my wonder spouse decides that we (I) need something he doesn't fool around. The new computer will be delivered on Monday. Meanwhile I'll keep blinking and using eye drops and blogging of course. I'll always keep blogging.
This evening my son, who is fifty-four years old, texted me from Houston where he is spending four days with his company at a conference being held at NASA. Today was their first day there. The conference presentations, which he will participate in, begin tomorrow. But today was fun. They got to scuba dive in one of the astronaut training pools and take a tour of the original Mission Control room. I know the tour was a thrill for my son because he has been dreaming of being an astronaut since he was five years old and we took him to see the first Star Wars movie.
When he was 11 years old we sent him to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. It was a week long program designed to teach students, beginning with fifth grade, all about what astronauts did and the space program. At the end of the week his father and I and his younger sister drove to Huntsville to pick him up. I expected him to be happy to see us.
While the students were finishing up their project we parents and other guests were taken on a tour of the facility which ended on the balcony level of a large room where we could look down and watch our kids working on computers getting ready to "launch a rocket."
When our son looked up, with all the other kids, he spotted us looking down at him, smiling and waving, because we were so happy to see him (this was the first time he had ever been away from home for a week) but his face did not reflect our joy. His face fell like a deflating balloon and you could tell by his expression that he realized his wonderful week was over.
But don't feel too sorry for him. He, and his sister when she was old enough, went back to Space Camp year after year, as children and teens and eventually as paid camp counselors during their summers while they were in high school and college.
In case you wonder if this camp experience did them any good, our daughter, who was more interested in planes than rockets, went on to serve in the Air National Guard for many years and our son has taught STEM related subjects and worked in Science and Space museums around the country. He now works designing summer camps and week long programs (which include developing research experiments launched by balloons into the stratosphere) for fifth graders around the US and, coming soon, as far away as Kenya.
Was it worth the cost to send them to Space Camp? Oh yes, absolutely.
Today my west coast brother suggested to me that I should blog about Cordova Ice Worms because today is "National Cordova Ice Worm Day." Since my first search revealed that Cordova is a city in Alaska, and I have a fondness for Alaska, I decided to dig a little deeper. First of all, it's not just a day, the Cordova Ice Worm Festival is a week long event including a parade, fireworks and an amazing array of other activities.
Here's some of what I found:
"The Iceworm Festival is one of Alaska’s best known winter festivals, and Cordova’s oldest community festival. Each year, we come together to put on a jam packed week of fun for all ages. We’d love to have you join us!"
This year the festival runs from January 31 to February 7, so you still have time to get there. It's always held at the end of January and into February to celebrate the increasing light each day and the anticipation of spring. I think this sounds like a lot more fun than Groundhog's Day.
Another note I found said that the ice worm in the parade is very long and looks something like a Japanese parade dragon. The tail of the dragon is removed and hidden at the beginning of the week. The person who finds the tail wins $100.
"Believe it or not, Iceworms are real ice-dwelling creatures! They existed long before our beloved festival. In fact, they were first discovered in the 1800's by Dr. G. F. Wright on Muir Glacier in Glacier Bay. They live as far south as Washington, and can be found in Southeast and South Central Alaska."
I find the above paragraph particularly interesting because my west coast brother actually lives in Washington State. Since he brought this whole ice worm event to my attention, I think he should find one (there's probably one lurking somewhere on his farm) and take a picture to send to me. Since he reads my blogs I'm telling him right now do NOT send me a worm, just the picture.
As soon as I receive a picture, I will share it.
My spouse and I tutor children on Monday afternoons after school. We go to their school and meet in the media center (aka library). Because of holiday and weather interruptions, today was our first tutoring session in three weeks.
My third grader was happy to see me and we had a good time reviewing some materials and reading together. Among the things we reviewed was a list of his favorite things that I had typed out for him to read. On the list was his favorite food - chili dogs.
Having worked up an appetite with all that hard tutoring, and having chili dogs on my mind, I mentioned this child's favorite to my spouse at the end of the lesson. We both agreed that, since we would be driving through down town Fort Wayne on the way home, and since it was almost supper time, having chili dogs for supper seemed like a really excellent idea.
And so we stopped at the original Fort Wayne's Famous Coney Island, in business at the same location on Main Street for over 100 years, where their 'buns are steamed' to have our supper. We each had two of their original chili dogs. My wonder spouse added catsup and I added cheese and they were soooooo good. It's surprising how filling and satisfying two hot dogs can be. This may not sound like gourmet fare to you, but trust me it's an experience not to be missed, and having dined their once, you will go back.
My west coast brother has informed me that today is "Spunky Old Broads Day" and also "National Dark Chocolate Day." Well, it goes without saying that I'm always happy to celebrate anything involving dark chocolate, but I needed to think about spunky.
At 81 I'm pretty sure that I qualify as an 'old broad' but I'm not so sure about being considered spunky, so I looked up the definition. It turns out that spunky means courageous and determined. It can also mean feisty, energetic and daring. There's a whole other meaning in the UK but I won't go in to that.
I have been daring, courageous and determined in my life. Moving to a town in upstate New York for a teaching job and tending bar when I ran out of money comes to mind.
Much more recently I think it took some courage to decide to remarry at the age of 79. Of course that may have taken more courage on my wonder spouse's part. I think we both were pretty spunky during our trip to Egypt last November, although I didn't ride a camel so maybe he was more spunky than I was.
All in all though, after giving it careful thought, I think that yes indeed I am a spunky old broad. I think I'll go eat some dark chocolate to celebrate.
