ASTRONOMICAL CALCULATORS

Women — before women’s  “lib” —

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Whether it’s the sun, the moon, the planets or the stars above:

Mankind has always studied the universe and what’s in it.

In order to describe what’s observed,   theories have come and gone, and  mathematics of ever-increasing complexities have been created.

There was a huge increase in such knowledge in the late 1800s and the early 1900s.   More than a century ago scientists were working with “advanced”  equations to calculate the speeds and distances and masses of the heavenly bodies.

Very advanced calculations.      We are still trying to understand and use these equations today.

And how was the demand for these many advanced calculations fulfilled – in the days before any computer was invented? 

By an army of “advanced astronomical calculators”:

I forget what university these women worked at,  but they were the vital astronomical “calculators”   who worked with the advanced equations  which furthered our understanding of the universe.     There were thousands of them around the world.

“Skirts”  are no barrier to acquiring scientific or mathematical skills – and they never were!     The minds of men and women are certainly different, in general, but they’re not that different.

This is a good thing to remember since we just honored St. Etheldreda a few days ago — one of my favorite saints.   She was eventually a princess, or queen, at a time when Europe was just reorganizing itself  and becoming that “Christendom” which brought so many material, mental,and spiritual benefits to the human race.

The Catholic Church was, of course, the primary organizing force of all aspects of society.  Etheldreda was a strong woman, capable, intelligent, and very devout.   She was born in Suffolk, England, and married to a prince  who was also very devout, very Catholic.  By mutual consent they agreed to live a chaste life, as brother and sister,so that they could devote their lives to the service of God.

Ely

The prince died young, and for political reasons Etheldreda was married to the very young king of Northumbria who also agreed to that same type of marriage – for a time.   Queen Etheldreda’s further life was full of complications and adventures which eventually led to her moving into a monastery where she became the chief administrator over thousands of men and women who lived in the double-abbey of Ely.

(One can wonder how mediocre her life would have been had she not been devout.)

The Church honors her as capable  administrator, ruler, queen — and saint.

And we can believe there is no shortage of strong women in the Church’s past.    The true history of “men” and “women”  is not at all like the marxist history propounded today.

(Unless you believe that “women aren’t good at math” and there were no female “astronomical calculators.”)

BOTTOM LINE, LOSERS, and WINNERS

 

I guess “we all”  — the news media — are still talking about the Democrat debates of last week.

These “little guys”  were given the microphones:

Bottom line:   Individually and collectively their message is:

“Vote for me and I’ll give you Free Stuff.”

Or, alternatively:   “I promise you Free Stuff if you vote for me.”

 

Big Loser in the Debate:

The American taxpayer; that is, anyone who has a job, works for a living,  and follows the rules and obeys the laws.

 

There were two Big Winners:

.1    Citizens of foreign countries

.2   President Trump

QUINCE QUICHE AND SCAPES

“The glories of small town living”

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“Quince Quiche and Scapes”?  Oh,  that was Sunday dinner . . .

Jesus,  when He lived His short time here on earth  (It’s all short:  33 years, 63 years, 93 years –  it all seems like a short lifetime) —  He was immersed in the things of the Natural world,  intensely and acutely aware of the beauty and orderliness,  the Providence of God to direct all things for the good of all things, and the power of the natural world to overwhelm us from without and yet to  penetrate our senses and direct us to a new perspective.

Jesus spoke of the fields of grain which feed us, good bread, good olives and grapes and figs;   the water in rain and storms, in rivers and seas;  the skies above, night and day.  He spoke in parables of the animals and the birds, the chicks which need protection against the mighty eagles overhead, the flowers, like the lilies, which are breathtakingly beautiful, should we only have time to  look at them closely and contemplate how it is that they are that way.

He told us of the “pearl” of great price, and we wonder, what did He know of the deep, mysterious beauty of a perfect pearl …

He was always aware of “nature” around Him, of its testimony to His Heavenly Father and to Providence and the lessons it can give us, leading us back to our Creator, the Good God.

Here was my “pathway,”   the road I took on Sunday, into our wee little village.

After Mass on Sunday, Son texted me to remind me that “today” is the day of our local Farmers Market.  It’s something I wanted to go to for a long time, but . . .  you know . . .  I have to get up for church when I’m in the middle of a deep, deep sleep, then I go, then I come back, and the best thing ahead of me is a little nap to finish up my night’s sleep.

But — the text;  and so I went.   Left my quiet Sunday home and drove down through this green tunnel of summer trees.    And, yes, I thought of how lucky I am to have to drive through this.

(Anyone ever read the old classic:  “Green Mansions“?     Hauntingly beautiful,  like that.)

It’s a small town,  but big enough for a nice Farmers Market:

While walking towards it,  I stopped with several other people to enjoy this:

I think we were attracted by the innocent intensity of that dog’s fascination with the two donkeys.  All three animals stayed very still and silent for many, many minutes, just watching each other.

All those minutes,  it was somehow very moving.   Concentration.    A lesson for me to stay focused on where I was and the opportunities available to a watchful person who is Present where she’s at.  (Me, possibly.)

There were many, many interesting displays.   The man in the hat is selling duck eggs and chicken eggs to Son.   Think that’s not interesting?  You should have heard him tell us about the ins and outs of producing good, healthy eggs.    And the cheese table beyond him?    Who would have guessed all that goes into cheese making, unpasteurized healthy, enzyme-filled cheese of endless variety and flavor!

These vendors are enthusiastic about what they’re selling, generous with their time and information.  Son bought some smoked string cheese, among others, and I bought some Basil Jack, which proved, a few hours later,  to be a serendipitous choice.

If there’s one thing the natural world offers us, it’s Time.     It’s Time to think and to perceive and to grow more deeply inside ourselves.   

It wasn’t all food that was offered.    There were several homemade articles, including a table of fine and beautiful, soaps.  Soap is not something I usually think too much of, but after hearing the soapmakers,   I took a second look – or had second thoughts.

Some of the soaps looked like works of art.    Pretty flowers.   Some of the soaps were “felted.”  Actual fuzzy felt around the soap.   And most made with milk or cream.  Who would have guessed the many advantages of using milk in soap?

At this particular table,  they made their soap with goat’s milk, and they even had a photo of their goats:

 

I was feeling adventurous,  so I bought some scapes.

Once I smelled their wonderfully mild-garlicky fragrance,  I knew I could cook “something:”  with them.

They’re harvested somewhere in the garlic-growing process.

 

You cut them up and saute them until they’re soft.    Or softer.    I never got them very soft.

 

Then you can add cashews,  basil leaves, Parmesan cheese –  I forget what else.  You can mash them into a pesto,  but I just used them as a side dish.    I had Parmesan cheese on hand,  but for once in my life my kitchen was not growing basil,  so I used that fortunate purchase of Basil Jack –  which worked out very well.

Quite tasty.

The “quince quiche”  part in this post’s title?  It’s in the photo of the scapes in the pan,  that little round thing by the pan’s handle.   I bought three,  they’re not homemade,  they weren’t so tasty.    I was hopeful,  but — too much crust and way too little quince.  But, okay,  I tried them.

We had Sunday dinner afterwards and rounded out our food from the Farmers Market with Japanese yams,  all mashed and buttery;  some homemade coleslaw,  and some Chilean sea bass (a personal indulgence of mine).

Dessert was freshly purchased strawberries for a strawberry shortcake.

I’m not a gourmand!    I don’t always think so much about the food I’m eating,  but once in a while, it’s good to eat the kind of food that reminds you  of the natural world around us.

Our food doesn’t have to come in cellophane packages!

 

WHEN “ATLANTIC” IS PACIFIC

 

Observations:   Vast empty lifeless areas in the Pacific Ocean.    Vast.  Lifeless.     Starving larger fish species.  Starving  seals and  baby seals dead of starvation.    Ocean food species disappearing.   Coastal species dying and disappearing.  Starfish limbs dissolving.  Salmon industry collapse.    Etc.

If we read only scattered  headlines  like these, here and there, over the space of eight or nine years,  our minds are not doing the addition.     It doesn’t add up to anything.

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Here’s another recent story:

It was followed quickly by the reports of hundreds of whales beaching themselves in the Pacific Northwest, and hundreds of seals found dead on a Pacific coast beach.

The photo shows Bill Laughing Bear, who lives near this newly dead whale in Alaska.  He normally tests dead salmon and halibut for radioactivity and says he has not found one which did not test positive for radioactivity.   That made him curious about this recent dead whale.   He said he found the whale to be “radioactive,”  although there were no specifics.   He thought that it would have tested higher near the stomach area than down by the tail fin, but he didn’t want to get wet that day, walking up to the stomach area, but he also said he wouldn’t be eating whale blubber anymore.  Hmm.

As I used a search engine to find and re-read the article for accuracy,   I found subsequent reports of “another,” and then  4, then 5,  and the latest 24 dead whales found recently on the beaches up there.

The stories  of radioactive dead sea creatures began shortly after the Fukushima event which “downloaded”   gabillions  of tons of highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, and still ongoing today, and that is in addition to an uncounted amount of radiation spewing into the air  from the heavily damaged nuclear reactors..

The meltdown is still going on.     Sometimes we forget what a dangerous, hopeless, unsuccessful mess it was to try to ‘cool” the damaged reactors after the earthquake and tsunami.  

I saw (and posted occasionally)  the maps of the world showing how the radiation  dispersed, especially across the United States.  I know grasslands for cattle became radioactive in Colorado, for instance, and milk as far away as Vermont tested positive for radiation, so I was often curious about what the rain was delivering to us here  in the Far North.

I bought a “Geiger counter” –  The Inspector brand.

After I saw  that article about the dead gray whale and read that someone had gone out  with a Geiger counter and found it three to four times more radioactive  than expected, I decided to check out any possible radiation in our current days of “endless” rain this week.  After all,  my herbs and tomatoes are growing outside there on my back deck!

I thought maybe we have less radiation in our rain now than we did when I used to measure it a few years ago.

Nope.

Normal background radiation is 22 – 38.      This “114”  on Wednesday is “higher than normal background radiation,”  I’ll state that explicitly.

When the rain stopped,  the radiation count went way down, into the 50s,  but I was getting wet.  I’m sure it went down to where it should be eventually.    As usual, my eyes burned a little after I came in from the rain.

Nuclear power plants are NOT a safe alternative to the-called “fossil”  fuels.

Another Fukushima waiting to happen?    To us? 

So what about our fish that comes from the Pacific Ocean?     I made it a point  to buy  only “Atlantic” Salmon from my grocery store — only to find out that “Atlantic” means only a type of salmon, not its origin.     My butcher assured me that all the fish in his display counter came from the Pacific Ocean – nothing from the Atlantic!

Today I found out that most of our “wild-caught Atlantic” salmon comes from Chile, which is,   for some  reason of ocean currents,   safer from Japanese radiation.

But then you don’t want to eat “farm-raised” salmon either, even though American farm-raised standards have improved.  But doctors still give warnings to not each too much salmon per month.     One to three salmon meals, maximum.

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But salmon from our country,  our “Atlantic” salmon caught on the West Coast   —   tumors are common.

Poor things:

I won’t buy them anymore anyway.

 

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Sorry to have kept those old Fukushima links up so long in the right columns.   They are useless now.    They have petered out or moved to other locations.   I haven’t found any other central location for Fukushima news.    But the stories keep coming.

I’ll remove those links soon . . . .

YOU’RE BETTER THAN YOU THINK

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Now that I’m getting back into my omnivorous reading habits again,   I’ve discovered a few books around the house that I didn’t know I had,  nor do I know where they came from,   but I’m sure glad they’re here for me to read!

Here’s a very encouraging one:

It’s not about Moonwalking and it’s not about Einstein!     It’s about how our mind functions, specifically how our mind remembers things.   Or not.

(I really should get up there to The Reading Shelf and write down the interesting things I’ve learned from this book.    Maybe when I finish the book . . .)

I suppose the two things I can happily conclude from this book is that you can have a  better  memory;  and your age doesn’t matter.      I like that.    We can all learn far more than we think we can!

I’m not done learning yet.  I’ve been involved with the courses offered by The Great Courses for quite some time now, and  my biggest achievement this past weekend was finally signing up for The Great Courses Plus,   with all the thousands and thousands of courses available on my television,  my laptop,  my PC, and my cell phone.

(Yeah,  and no excuses anymore.    Everything is just a click away.)

There is nothing you can’t study or learn more about with these Great Courses.

 

I’m not going to give them a glowing endorsement on everything, of course.    Many of the professors who give the lectures are hopelessly steeped in either modern marxist thinking or in  rigid stereotypes which have long been disproved.

For instance, from their catalog:

Sigh-h-h-h-h-h-h . . .

What can you do about a course description like that?       Read it carefully.  See the blatantly non-factual statement?

I’ve physically visited a museum of the ancient people along the east coast of America and in  Florida who settled here probably 20,000 years ago, or more.*    They are northern Europeans, and they probably traveled along  the edge of the ice sheet which covered the northern continents.    By the time they got to Florida they had quite a culture going, and among their artifacts are mastodons carved onto stone that is found only in Europe.

“DNA evidence points to Asia, and only  Asia as the origin of all human migration to North America.”     Ouch.

So as with all “education”  offered in the 21st century,  you  need to know a lot before you accept anything someone is teaching you.

 

 

And this is the best part:    Each of us can learn and learn and learn all the things that interest us,  and our minds can handle it!     We adults are better at learning than we think we are!

We live in a bigger, stranger world than we think:

Big okapis come from cute little okapis:

 

Son  and I were having a discussion about just what it is that feels so good when  you gain new learning or understanding.  Why does it feel so satisfying?    Why do you learn a little about something, and then you want to learn even more about it?

It’s not about scooping up random facts and information,  like from Google or Wikipedia;  it’s the kind of learning that  gives you a deep understanding of the world and that connects one thing to another and helps you perceive your place in the world.

Then you don’t have to worry about being manipulated by the agendas of other people  — that’s a component of freedom.

Learning makes you a better person.

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.*   These are the Windover Bog People of Florida.

They are known specifically for burying their dead in underwater “graves,”  about three to five feet under water, held down with sticks and skins.

The museum is near Melbourne, Florida.

 

 

“Oh Give Me A Home Where The….”

“…where the buffalo roam …”    No,  no buffalo, anymore.  At least not usually roaming free on your ranch.

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Can you dream?    Can  you take time to enjoy your recurring daydreams?

I like this picture.    She’s a lucky lady.    For some reason, in all my cross-country driving trips,  it was Wyoming that I fell in love with.  And Montana.     The scenery is spectacular.    And it’s large.  Expansive.     There’s room to breathe.       I like the people there too, so I think I’d fit in.

I can move there if I want to, but I won’t leave this state in the Far North, surrounded by the Great Lakes.      I like it here too.     But I can dream.

Up until a few months ago I had a long-standing subscription to this magazine and enjoyed every issue.  Some of the issues helped me plan my trips out West, but mostly I enjoyed reading about the people and the work they do.   There was a lot of pretty interesting photos too.

Then I changed to this magazine:

It’s not really about Hollywood style “cowboys and indians.”    It’s just more good articles about life in the West.     We can all recognize what life used to be like in these United States, no matter where we Americans lived.

The magazines are worth a little look if you ever see them on your newsstand.

It’s been a week – again – since I’ve posted here.   Health scary feelings again,  but also a new thing for me:  allergies!    I don’t get allergies, but I’m experiencing them this year for some reason.  I didn’t realize they came with a general feeling of lethargy.  And malaise.   Lots of wasted time.   Seems to be a general complaint by everyone around here too.

Things are resolving now;  troubles  don’t usually last.   I’m catching up on my reading, cowboys magazines and the news.

I think we should change the words of that song to:  “Oh give me . . .  my home back!”    If you did live on a ranch in the southwest,  you’d not be having a debate about whether or not America is having a migrant-invasion crisis.   You’d be seeing it and dealing with it every day on your own property:

“An evening in the southwest”

One rancher was surprised by 18 people from the Philippines knocking on his door, asking for “help.”

I can’t remember which group of foreign citizens were caught entering our country without our permission,  but there was a group who were all holding “fistfuls” of American $100 bills.

Ranchers cannot keep up with the garbage and debris and castoff items left behind by people from foreign countries walking through their property.

Among the debris that is frequently found are prayer rugs!   Have you heard that?      There have been several news articles in the past month that are reporting these small prayer rugs found on the ground,  on people’s ranch properties.

So,  who uses prayer rugs?

The authorities,  ICE, I think,  have been advertising for French-speaking people who’d be willing to act as interpreters.

What Central American country has French for their national language?    Whose national language is French?

Some African nations.     Young men who are  citizens   of some African nations are  walking across our southern border.      And then they’re collected and are flown, at our expense,  to . . .

. . .   to . . .   Surprise!   Might be to your city.       Our Rulers don’t ask our permission.     They just send them here.   I can’t remember which group of foreign citizens were caught entering our country without our permission,  but there was a group who were all holding “fistfuls” of American $100 bills.

Americans don’t get a vote on who moves in to their country.

And the “who”  could be some very, very sick people.   There are several thousand right now “quarantined”  with chicken pox.     And others with mumps.  And  others with drug-resistant tuberculosis.    And with the ever “mysterious”  EV-D68,  which was noticed to have popped up  in our country at the same time as  the overwhelming numbers of arrivals from Central America.     EV-D68 is also called “polio-like influenza”   which the authorities now declare has been here since the 1960s, so, no, the drastic increase could not have come from Central Americans where this virus is endemic.      Right?  It  just massively, mysteriously  increased.

And then there are the thousands from the Congo  (Belgian Congo, which once was civilized but is  now the socialist and struggling  People’s Republic of the Congo)  and that nation is struggling with the ebola virus,  the biggest outbreak since more than a decade.

No screening for that.      (It’s not just diseases. *)

Anyone remember studying Roman history, as in the “decline and fall” of the Roman Empire?     Many factors weakened the empire,  but what was it that finally finished them off?      So many foreigners pouring into the Empire that the Romans were no longer able to fight off the various types of invasions.

And, no,  most of these people who are citizens of foreign countries are not particularly interested in becoming Americans, learning our language and our customs and our history.     If we don’t give them what they’re demanding,  they don’t like us very much, as tweeted by one person:

 

If we don’t accommodate them,  they’ll call us “Nazis”  and burn our flag.

One commenter, at the end an article about these people said:     If you import the 3rd World,   you will soon become the 3rd World.

Remember that.

 

 

 

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. *  If you can still take any more bad border news:

Here are some people who are citizens of  a Middle Eastern country.     Here is part of the accompanying article from CBN (news):

A captured and now repentant Canadian ISIS fighter recently revealed a plot for operatives to travel from Syria and gain entrance into the US through the southern border with Mexico, using active routes taken by migrants.

The International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism reports that even though several lawmakers in Congress didn’t acknowledge President Donald Trump’s warnings about the southern border being vulnerable to terrorists, ISIS took note.

Abu Henricki al Canadi, a Canadian with dual citizenship with Trinidad, was apprehended in Syria by the Syrian Democratic Forces last month. In an interview with researchers, he revealed a plot in which he and other Trinidadians were invited to attempt to penetrate the U. borders to mount financial attacks on the US economy. . . .

“They were going to move me to the Mexican side of the US southern border via Puerto Rico,” he continued. “This was masterminded by a guy in America.”

The ISIS fighter told investigators the mastermind was from New Jersey, so New York’s financial institutions may have been the target of the attack.

 

Well, good thing someone was “repentant.”

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https:/    /www1    .cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2019/june/captured-isis-terrorist-reveals-plot-to-exploit-weak-us-mexico-border-to-unleash-jihad-on-america

(remove spaces if you want to go there)

 

 

 

RHUBARB PIE, etc.

Yep.  Going domestic on all of you, my readers.    Although I tend to be very interested in history, politics, patriotism, current  earthquakes and volcanoes,  cultural developments,   strange aerial phenomena,  sociological trends, pedagogy,  the power of the Fourth Estate =-  (i.e.  “the entertainment-news media), space science,  physics,  nature, botany, music  (no “modern music,”  nothing past 1825, please), my friends and family,  and  all resting on a bedrock of firm traditional Christian faith —

—  Oh, yes,  that’s why I say The Spruce Tunnel is a place for ‘random thoughts;”  sorry I don’t have any certain predictable  theme to employ here . . .

“Although” all that . . .  like any human creature who is free to live to his fullest, I do all that,  but I especially enjoy being a woman and feeling “all domestic.”   Hah!

Say  Anything

When Daughter and Grandson Cooper were here for a few days during the Memorial Day weekend,  we found time to play a board game called “Say Anything.”   You draw a card with four or five questions to choose from, read it out loud, and then the rest of the players write down what they think will be your most likely answer. . . .  wagering for points, etc., etc.

Hmmmm.    Can be very revealing.

Well, one time my question is “What do I think is the best thing about being a woman?”   An explosion like colorful confetti burst inside my brain:  “Everything!”    And my family knew me well, with their answers.   To play the game  I had to choose one, but all of them were correct:  wearing skirts (and other pretty clothes, I guess),   being a wife,  homemaker,  being a wife and mother and grandmother (that last set of three from Cooper).

It was a fun game to play, a good question to think about,  but it still reverberates in my memory, for some reason.    Made me think about all the possibilities.

I hope, if you’re a woman (in the Western world),  you have many happy answers.   The answers could actually make you happy.   (“Count your blessings.”)

And I know,  just know,  that the same could be said if you’re a man.    To be a man,  so strong and capable physically (or at least you could train yourself to be more and more “capable”),  to be protective of others around you,  to be a father (or brother or uncle or older cousin), to be a prime example of manliness and courage and constancy,  to lead the way in the exercise of your faith in God,  to provide for your household,  to know how to fix so many things,  to  . . .  I don’t ‘know, all the other advantages . .  .

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Okay,  so I like baking pies.

 

My Rhubarb Pie

  The recipe and the nutritional benefits:

 

This is called Peoria Rhubarb Cream Pie:

Preheat:  400 degree oven.
Ingredients for a single-crust pie (crust):

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
3 – 4 tablespoons cold water

Directions

(The usual way:  stir the first three ingredients all together in a bowl until it resembles “coarse crumbs,”   then sprinkle in the cold water.   Ice cold water is best, and I certainly use 4 or more tablespoons of water.)   Form into a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, roll it out into a circle that’s going to fit your pie plate.  Flute the edges.

 

Ingredients for filling:

4 cups sliced fresh rhubarb*   (or thawed and drained frozen sliced rhubarb)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg  (you’ll scarcely taste the nutmeg)
Then mix in 3 slightly beaten eggs.

Ingredients for streusel topping:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter   (cold is best, but room temperature butter is quicker.)

Mix all together until coarse crumbs are formed.   I use a fork, but a pastry cutter or your fingers work pretty well too.

I assume you know how to assemble these three components of the pie.

Cover the edges with aluminum foil.   I don’t usually, but I’m glad I did this time.

Bake for twenty minutes.

Remove the foil, and bake for another twenty or so minutes.

And that’s what you get!   A   delicious rhubarb pie!  Mild tasting,  no overwhelming tartness or bitterness.    Very thick.   (I probably used five cups of cut up rhubarb.)

 

Hope you enjoy!     (Of course,  just “full disclosure” for this modern world:   men bake too.)

 

. *    (Thank you, my recorder partner,  for fresh rhubarb from your garden!)

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For those of you interested in health,  I discovered that rhubarb has far more healthy benefits than I could have imagined:

From    (removing the spaces, of course):

https://   http://www.   organicfacts.net/health-benefits/fruit/rhubarb.html

Nutritional Value:

One of the main reasons why people cultivate and eat rhubarb is for its astounding nutritional value. It is packed with minerals, vitamins, organic compounds, and other nutrients that make it ideal for keeping our bodies healthy. According to the USDA National Nutrient Database, these precious components are dietary fiber, protein, vitamin C, vitamin K, B complex vitamins, calcium, potassium, manganese, and magnesium. In terms of organic compounds, the plant is a rich source of polyphenolic flavonoids like beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin.

Prevents Alzheimer’s:

A 2006 study published in the Brain Research Bulletin said that a rhubarb glucoside compound, rhaponticin, can protect the body against Alzheimer’s. In vitro results show the rhaponticin is positively linked to preventing the harmful effects of amyloid beta, which are peptides of 36-43 amino acids that are crucially involved in the formation of amyloid plaques found in the brains of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
This compound also aids with blood sugar levels

Improves Bone Health:

Along with its role in protecting the brain from neural degeneration, vitamin K also promotes osteotropic activity, meaning that it stimulates bone growth and repair. Combined with the rich amount of calcium and other minerals found in rhubarb, the vegetable as a whole is a major player in bone protection.

Obviously high in fiber and allt he health enefits that produces…

Anti-cancer Properties:

According to the researchers from the National University of Singapore, anthraquinones from rhubarb possesses anti-cancer properties and could have therapeutic potential. It is a good source of beta-carotene and other polyphenolic compounds like lutein and zeaxanthin which act in a similar way to vitamin A, protecting the skin and eyes from the effects of free radicals. A decent amount of antioxidants in your diet can help avoid premature aging, cataracts, macular degeneration, and wrinkles.
. . .  Copper and iron, stimulate new red blood cells, increasing the oxygenation in the body

 

A LITTLE D-DAY AFTERTHOUGHT

(Thoughts for this posting were written down, about 4:00 a.m., and then my sleepy finger bumped something on my phone and it all disappeared.   Maybe I can remember some of what I wanted to say.)

Sometime between midnight and 6:00 a.m. on June 6th my radio stations were playing excerpts from President Trump’s D-Day speech.     Even half asleep I was becoming very   impressed with the parts of his speech I was hearing.

During the day I heard more portions of his speech, and finally I downloaded it and heard most of it all in one sitting.    I’ll try again.   (There’s just so much to listen to on the Internet and on the radio!!)

 

 

What got my attention was the story of Captain Joe Dawson who was one of the many men who “ran through the fires of hell moved by a force no weapon could destroy.”  Powerful words from the speech.

Captain Dawson ran  across the beach at Normandy under heavy fire,  knowing the men under his command in G Company were following him through almost impossible odds.      Captain Dawson  found a way to get to the top of the steep hill at the end of the beach.

This “way” is called Dawson’s Draw or Dawson’s Ridge.

Under heavy fire, he managed to toss a grenade into the German bunker that was raining down so much “death” onto the Allied troops.

It was a turning point.    Captain Dawson proved it could be done.  The German soldiers could be stopped.

The story is compelling, of course, and inspirational,  but it’s a story that also includes all of us, as individuals.   The story wants not just our applause and admiration,  but also what is so very evident today, the story needs our participation.

So,  how?    Some simple questions . . . some answers.

What made CAptain Dawson do what he did?  Who were all  these young Americans  (other countries, of course)  who attempted to storm   the beaches at Normandy that day?

“More powerful than the strength of American arms was the strength of American hearts.”  (Trump)      Do we have hearts strong for America today?   

How were the men of 1944 , young and old,  raised?      What were they like?   What built their character?    What did they know and what did they believe in?  And what did they think was worth dying for?

Captain Dawson was not remarkable in his upbringing.   He was the son of a Texas preacher,  Baptist.  It might be “unusual”  to be a preacher’s son,  the old “PK” –  Preacher’s Kid –   but it was not unusual to be brought up with (Judeo-) Christian beliefs, lifestyles, and set of values.    That was the majority of America’s “Greatest Generation.”

America’s values had been based in those two great words:  piety and patriotism.  

The sources of those two values were family, church, and schools.     They made men strong and true.   Such men raised this way were, by and large, reliable, trustworthy,  hard-working,  self-reliant, and decent.

Lest you think I’m glorifying this generation, I must tell you, then, that I lived during the same time as this  population of America  and I have witnessed that these qualities I’ve written down here really existed and applied to all Americans – in general.

Of all the things D-Day should remind us of,   the character of Americans (and others)  during this time is one of the most important lessons we can learn.   This is where our participation comes in, because, again,  our admiration for our men on D-Day  is not enough.

Nations disappear and die.  Republics have a notoriously short life span.   In order for America to endure,  we must, just must,  be the kind of people that these young men thought they were dying for.

Be,  and teach our children to be.

 

 

WHAT TO DO WHEN IT’S OVER

That’s   anything.      What To Do When Anything Is Over.

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Hey!  Got enough to do in your life?

 

We’ve all experienced the end of something,  a certain period of time ends.

Good or bad.   It’s over.    Your attention has been taken up with certain activities or issues, good or bad or “indifferent,”  but then it comes to an end.   And we find that Life still goes on.

 

 

We can choose whether we go on, too.  Or not.

 

But eventually  we have some biological urge to get on with things.  To “move on,” we say.

How do we get started . . .  again?

What’s needed for a restart?

Well, if it’s “company,”  overnight, out-of-state company,   there is much preparation,  then you oversee the “company,”  and then they leave.

Cooper was here!!!   My grandson from the High Sierras.    Here he is wearing the sweater I made him.

(Modeling the sweater.  Being goofy.)   It’s the one with the red cardinal tweeting out the word  “Joie!”     Glad it fits him.

It was a wonderful rather surprise visit from Daughter and Cooper.   Lots of fun –  I might blog our activities soon.  Constant activity, fun, laughter, noise.      Sure kept me busy for this past week.

And then it was over.

But more serious things, bad things can happen too.     And then they will over too.  Things will work out one way or the other, and then you clean up the loose ends:  Clean the house;  clean up the leftovers;  clean the carpeting (sometimes necessary!) ;  clean up the toys and all the other objects that have left out or moved around;  clean the car . . .

Oh, yes,  the car —

These photos today are from inside my car, inside a car wash.

They wave you on in,   and somehow,  if you follow their wiggling fingers, right or left,  then your tires  connect to something — and you’re committed.

It’s going to be messy,  loud, wobbly, bewildering,  but you know it’s all for the scrubbing and the rubbing and the cleaning.

Why all this?  because after having company,  you clean.  After some issue in your life is over, there is “cleaning” to do.    After some period of time is ended,  before you can go on effectively,  you must clean up the debris:    organize your thoughts, remember,  reflect,  learn,  discard certain moments and  erroneous interpretations, learn anything you can from the experience. . .

. . . .   That’s the physical and the mental, and then if you’re human,  clean up the spiritual aspect:  give thanks, give thanks for the people you know,  the ones you’ve  just dealt with;  forgive yourself;  forgive any others, go to confession, if you must;    and commend everything you can think of to God’s care.

Then relax!   It’s over.

It’s your turn to leave that period of self-reflection and restoration.   This is how you grow!    Life is a series of moments that are  Teaching Stations.    You experience, hopefully fearlessly facing the challenge, and then it’s over.

It’s behind you.    Time to resume your life, living in each present moment as it comes.

 

I drove away and put that red-roofed Car Wash behind me . . .    Always remembering that newly beautiful blue car in the review mirror, ready to go !

Ugh!   I’m still cleaning up.

There’s  always  so much to do!

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