Hello again my lovelies!!

Today it’s raining. Again. And I’ve already spent TWO days trying to mow my lawn.

*sigh*

Soon there will be a deck out front with a ramp. My cement steps are collapsing. I’ll make sure to get during and after photos.

The view to the east this morning. About 15 minutes later? Torrential downpour. We do need the rain but sheesh? All in one hour? Jason’s house down by the river is getting close to boat access only. Ugh.

Stella and Louie are doing fine. Still have to be touching me whenever possible. They turned 4 on April 1st. Hard to believe.

My dad will be 92 on May 21st. He’s slowing down. More than I am ready to cope with. Mom will be 89 in September. Not ready for THAT either. She’s doing well. Dad, not as much. They still get out and about but watching Dad walks just makes me ACHE.

Well friends. I’m doing my best to be here more often. I miss y’all.

Wednesday Wow

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May 1 used to be moving day for everyone in New York City

If you think the crowds at Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center get crazy during the holidays, imagine the majority of the city’s population packing the streets with beds and other personal belongings on a single day of the year. That’s how it was for the better part of two centuries for New Yorkers, thanks to a Colonial-era tradition that may have stemmed from the English celebration of May Day, or at least traditions brought over by European settlers. Of course, the mood among residents was typically more frenzied than celebratory by the time leases expired May 1; an 1855 New York Times article described the scene as “Everybody in a hurry, smashing mirrors in his haste … and many a good piece of furniture badly bruised in consequence.” (The chaos stemmed in part from the fact that landlords had to notify tenants of rent increases on February 1, which were set to take effect three months later; everyone who didn’t agree with the new prices had to be out by 9 a.m. May 1.) It was a harrowing experience for all but the cartmen who jacked up their fees for the day, prompting the city to finally regulate rates for movers in 1890.

By the early 20th century, May 1 had given way to October 1 as New York’s moving day, with the tumultuous proceedings settling into more of “an exact science.” However, the annual moving day custom in NYC soon went the way of the horse and buggy, due to a few factors. World War II drew most of the able-bodied movers into service, and a postwar housing shortage, along with the subsequent establishment of rent-control laws and other housing regulations, reduced the number of the city’s moves in general. These days, while moving in New York is certainly still stressful, at least most of the city isn’t doing it at once.

Just gimme some time….

I’m still running around like a headless chicken (sorry River) trying to organize my life; it’s not easy after so many years of working. I’m loving retirement and I highly recommend it but start a list NOW…..lol.

This post was going to have a photo of Jason in it, I cannot find how to insert a photo like I used to.

So I’m going to go drink now.

Ciao per ora!!!

Oh wait!! I found it!!!

(his hair is white prematurely…..don’t judge)

Well, dammit….

NOW I may be back??

I was logging into a non-existent account? ugh.

So, all the typing I just did is lost. And it was a long one. I’ll try to recreate…. ‘tay??

ONTO ALL MY NEWS!!!

Oh I have missed y’all!!! It’s been such a whirlwind since August!

First, I went to NC in August, but I think I told y’all about that already…?

I retired September 30th. What a JOY that was. Retirement party and everything! It was awesome. Three of us with a combine almost 100 years of experience all retired on 9/30. It felt good. I had a part-time job lined up that I planned to start January 1st. Well, I started Oct 1st. LOL. But it’s a fun job. I’m a courtesy shuttle driver for a local dealership. I am enjoying it. We all have a good time.

I went to Texas in October. It was fun until the insecure wife decided she didn’t want me there. ‘Nuff said about that.

California in November was amazing. It always is when I spend time with Allison. We went to the Japanese garden in SF again. Has ice cream and watched a bit of ‘Moon Alice’ band near the DeYoung Gallery. We went to Pacifica Beach and sat at the ocean for hours. SO peaceful. I sent my friend Jason a map of where we were and out of all the stuff on the map? “OH LOOK!! A Taco Bell!!” I facepalmed him. A long weekend with her is never long enough.

Life is going well. My bills are paid. Stella, Louie, Sprint and Bynx are all healthy. I got a clean bill from the breast clinic. The funky things that were going on are gone now and no, I don’t have breast cancer. THAT was a load off.

The best part of this year so far?

My friend Jason and I went to my friend Jodene’s house in early March. We had a great time. Spent till 3am talking about us and there’s been a breakthrough.

Jason is an amazing, fun, sincere, kind, generous, compassionate, patient, funny, loving, caring man. He broke thru that wall of grief, frustration, and fear that had built up around me. It feels amazing to love and be loved again. I have missed being happy and Jason makes me happy. He is a great guy. WAY different than when we dated 3 years ago and I am way different than I was then too.

So, life is pretty good. I am happy. Healthy and loving the best guy….

Tuesday Tidbits…

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People have been celebrating cherry blossoms for over a thousand years

Few trees are more beautiful than cherry trees when in full bloom. Although millions flock to see cherry blossoms around the world, the trees have a special resonance in Japan, where they are known as sakura. During Japan’s Heian period (794 to 1185), when art and poetry flourished, sakura became associated with the ephemeral beauty of life, since the blossoms last only a few weeks before wilting. The Japanese aristocracy ate and drank tea under sakura during events known as hanami (cherry blossom viewing), a tradition that’s still observed in Japan today. Throughout the centuries, sakura continued to play a role in Japanese society, especially during the Edo period, when the pink blossoms became the subject of many woodblock prints known as ukiyo-e. 

One of the most famous collections of cherry trees in the U.S. is in Washington, D.C.; it was sent as a gift from Japan in 1912. Although some people considered digging up the cherry trees at the absolute nadir of U.S.-Japanese relations during World War II (and four trees were vandalized), the sakura survived and are now the central attraction of the capital region’s National Cherry Blossom Festival. Held every year in March and April, the festivities showcase the full bloom of these amazing trees, the likes of which have enchanted generations of onlookers for so many years.

Monday meanderings….

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Children grow faster in the spring

If you think the son/niece/grandchild in your life is sprouting before your eyes now that the winter clothing has been shed, you’re probably not imagining things. Researchers have long studied the connection between seasonal changes and youth growth patterns, with substantial evidence pointing to higher rates of growth among children in the Northern Hemisphere during the spring and summer months. While we might question results drawn from, say, a 1930 publication, newer research has validated these older findings: A 2015 study of 760 Danish students aged 8 to 11 revealed the most growth recorded around April and May, while a 2022 paper, which tracked the development of thousands of Texas kids from kindergarten to fifth grade, confirmed strong growth rates in spring and early summer.

But while we have the numbers to show that children shoot up like springtime onion stalks, the science is less definitive when it comes to determining why. One possible explanation is that exposure to longer hours of sunlight may stimulate bone growth and hormone regulation. Other potential factors, which can vary according to location and financial means, include increased access to fresh foods and healthy activities come springtime. Whatever the reasons, the onset of warmer weather should provide a signal to parents that Junior will likely grow out of those pants and shoes sooner rather than later.

Friday Farmyard Fun

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Pigs don’t sweat

Although not the most glamorous of methods, sweating is a biologically ingenious way to keep cool. Our sweat glands employ energy — in this case, heat — to evaporate water off our skin, which in turn cools us down. Humans, along with some monkeys and all of the great apes, use a similar cooling technique, but sweating isn’t as ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom as you might expect. For example, pigs don’t sweat — well, not really. 

Pigs dohave some sweat glands, but they’re insufficient to play a significant role in regulating the creatures’ body temperatures. Instead, some of a pig’s internal body temperature is regulated by a thyroid-produced hormone, but the most fast-acting method for keeping cool is simply wallowing in mud. When the mud evaporates, it takes some heat with it, just as when human sweat evaporates. Pigs will also seek shaded areas, lie flat on cool ground, or even pant similarly to dogs. The fact that pigs don’t sweat (a lot) has created an inaccurate idea that eating a pig is unhealthy because they can’t release toxins through sweat — but that’s just a myth. 

Friday Fun….

Friday Fun Fact

Many of the earliest flight attendants were nurses

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Flight attendants make our journeys through the sky safer and more comfortable. Yet they do more than just serve peanuts and soda; they’re trained to respond to safety and medical emergencies, necessary skills for cruising at 35,000 feet. However, modern flight attendants don’t have to have in-depth medical training the way the first American in-air staff did — the earliest commercial airlines equipped with flight attendants required their staff to be registered nurses.

The first flight attendants to board U.S. commercial flights were led by Ellen Church, a nurse who was also a licensed aviator. Unable to find work as a pilot due to gender discrimination, Church found another way into the sky by pitching airlines the concept of the “flight stewardess,” who could use her nursing skills to aid sick or injured passengers while also easing nerves at a time when flying was still somewhat dangerous and often uncomfortable for passengers. Boeing Air Transport tested Church’s idea in May 1930, hiring Church and seven other nurses for flights between San Francisco and Chicago (with 13 stops in between). In air, the attendants were tasked with serving meals, cleaning the plane’s interior, securing the seats to the floor, and even keeping passengers from accidentally opening the emergency exit door. After a successful three-month stint, other airlines picked up Church’s idea, putting out calls for nurses in their early 20s to join the first flight crews — standard requirements until World War II, when nurses overwhelmingly joined the war effort, leaving room for more women of all backgrounds to enter the aviation field.

Friday Fun Fact…..

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It can take two weeks to make one jelly bean

The next time you pop some jelly beans into your mouth, you may want to take a moment to appreciate just how much effort goes into producing these bite-sized delights. As explained by industry giant Jelly Belly, the process begins by heating a sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, and water mixture, known as a slurry, and adding fruit purée, juice concentrate, or other ingredients for flavoring. From there, the mixture is squirted into cornstarch-coated molding trays, and left to solidify into the chewy jelly bean centers.

The following day, the bean centers are sent through a steam bath and a sugar shower to keep them from sticking. They are then loaded into a spinning machine for a process known as “panning,” in which sugar and syrup are manually applied over the course of two hours to slowly build each bean’s candied shell. Following another settling period, the candies receive an additional syrup coating, before being polished with confectioner’s glaze and beeswax. Upon earning a final thumbs-up by way of visual inspection and spot taste-testing, the beans are stamped with the Jelly Belly logo and shipped out into the world.

It’s a lot of shower, rinse, rest, and repeat for a process that takes seven to 14 days to complete. And while that might seem like an outsized increment of time for such a tiny edible, the Americans who gobble down an average of 16 billion jelly beans every Easter seem to think it’s worth it.