Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Ralphie


One of my favorite Christmas traditions is to watch A Christmas Story, the best thing about this tradition is that all I need to do is to sit back, with a big mug of coffee and enjoy, be entertained and do a little time traveling back to the days, before my youth.

It reminds me of some of the good and bad and just plain kid things. How dull the long winters wereand how on those long winter nights, I would visit my neighbors, they had no children, but their cozy kitchen, the walls lined with a fabulous array of roster and chiken figurines, and illuminated by a wall lamp decorated with rosters, it cast it's soft golden glow across the room,. there were always wonderful sugar cookies and other home baked treats, and wonderful stories about far away places, or thier growing up in the early 1900's. And I can't help but think of how
the family or brothers and sisters, none of whom had ever traveled very far from home, had instilled in me, and every other kid in the neighborhood, a sense of wonder at the wide wide world.

Oh. and the snowsuit!!!!! the most cumbersome piece of clothing ever invented. Now it is rare to see children out playing in the snow, but then, we would zip and button and tie and hitch until we all felt like" a tick ready to pop". and out we went to build snowmen and igloos and play cowboys and Indians in the snow. sledding and building snowforts, pelting and getting pelted with snowballs.
And those who were a bit more daring knew that a good snowsuit was much faster than any sled on even the gentlest slope.

And didn't everyone have a teacher like Miss Shields, a sinisterly woman, who's life was her job.
And her only joys good penmanship and punctuation.
Fortunately I also had some teachers who weren't like her. But that is at least 2 or 3 other posts.

Every time I see Ralphie and his brother standing in line to see Santa, I remember how it felt to
this kid at Christmas, going down to the 5 and 10, yes we had a store called the "5 and 10 cent store" to see Santa, who was really this guy that worked with my Dad. The lights and the
decorations filled me with wonder, and I always had on special toy picked out. Sadly, unlike Ralphie, didn't get what I wanted.
Those were "tough times" much like now.

That anticipation, so strong when I was a kid, still overtakes me at times. So thank you Jean Shepard, for .....everything.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Belsnickle Day, December 6th



Belsnickle day, formidable and and gruff, and certainly not a Jolly old Elf, he would arrive to the ringing of sleigh bells, and if your homework was done, you were a good child, and knew all your prayers, you might get an orange and some chocolate. Otherwise it was coal and switches, and if you were really bad, you could be carried off in Belsnickles huge burlap sack.

Belsnickle can be more like St. Nicholas, the kindly bishop, who provided dowries for the 3 daughters of a poor man, by placing bags of coins in their stockings that had been hung by the fire to dry. This Belsnickle delivers shoes or socks filled with goodies, to all the goold children,
Naughty children were simply ignored.



Near Philadelphia Penn, Belsnickle might appear of Christmas Eve or any or all evenings between then and Twelfth Night. Belsnicle would be dressed in old sacks , rags or even Paperbags, faces blackened with coal or mud, they would start shortly after sunset and go from house to house, brandishing a bundle of switches. Wherever they were welcomed in they would toss candies and other goodies onto the floor, but woe to any child who grabbed for these goodies before the Belsnickle left, as they would feel the sting of those switches. many families would treat the Belsnickle to food and drink, even alcohol. this stort of Christmas time "trick or treating " went on until midnight. Often Belsnickles traveled in groups from farm to farm making merriment

-photo by Sunflowers and Dragonflies

There is also the uniquely American Belsnickle, covered in furs and looking like and old fur trapper. He often traveled with a side kick who told jokes and sang, When Belsnickle arrived at the home he would announce his presence by rapping on the window or ring a cow bell. Once inside the children would gather around and recite their prayers, ABCs or addition and subtraction tables. The children who recited would be given goodies and gifts from Belsnickles mysterious burlap sack.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

wondering as I often do



I always find something mysterious about the very early sunsets at this time of year. And equally I finding it mysterious that as the winter deepens it frigid grasp the days start getting longer,
Wondering about his as often do I feel sure that our ancient ancestors did as well, and perhaps they even began their celestial observations because of it, perhaps.

So here is some information from http://earthsky.org/with photos by Peter Bowers.

The 2010 solstice comes on December 21, but the earliest sunsets for the northern hemisphere are around now.

It seems paradoxical. At middle latitudes in the U.S. – and throughout the northern hemisphere – the earliest sunsets of the year come about two weeks before the solstice and the shortest day of the year.

Why isn’t the earliest sunset on the year’s shortest day? It’s because of the discrepancy between the clock and the sun. A clock ticks off exactly 24 hours from one noon to the next. But the actual days – as measured by the spin of the Earth, from what is called one “solar noon” to the next – rarely equals 24 hours exactly.

Solar noon is also called simply “midday.” It refers to that instant when the sun reaches its highest point for the day. At this time of year, the time period from one solar noon to the next is actually half a minute longer than 24 hours. Today, the sun reaches its noontime position at 11:52 a.m. local standard time. Two weeks from now – on the winter solstice – the sun will reach its noontime position at 11:59 a.m. That’s 7 minutes later than today.

The later clock time for solar noon also means a later clock time for sunrise and sunset. The table below helps to explain.

For Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


Date Sunrise Solar Noon (Midday) Sunset Daylight Hours
December 7 7:09 a.m. 11:52 a.m. 4:35 p.m. 9 hours 26 minutes
December 21 7:19 a.m. 11:59 a.m. 4:39 p.m. 9 hours 20 minutes

.

The exact date for the earliest sunset or earliest sunrise varies by latitude. At present, mid-temperate latitudes in the northern hemisphere have their earliest sunsets, while the southern hemisphere’s mid-temperate latitudes are waking up to their earliest sunrises. At latitudes closer to the equator, the earliest sunset or earliest sunrise has already come and gone. Closer to the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, the earliest sunset and earliest sunrise have yet to come.

As you might have guessed, the latest sunrises and sunsets aren’t on the day of the solstice either.

So there’s variation in the exact dates, but the sequence is always the same for both hemispheres. First: earliest sunset before the winter solstice, the winter solstice itself, latest sunrise after the winter solstice. Half a year later: earliest sunrise before the summer solstice, the summer solstice itself, latest sunset.

The earliest and latest sunsets and sunrises are lovely phenomena that happen around every solstice. People around the world notice them and often ask about them




The winter solstice is the shortest day, but the earliest sunsets come a couple of weeks before the solstice, in early to mid-December, depending on your latitude. What’s more, the latest sunrises come after the winter solstice, in January.

Why isn’t the earliest sunset on the year’s shortest day? It’s because a clock ticks off exactly 24 hours from one noon to the next, while the actual days – as measured by the spin of the Earth – are rarely exactly 24 hours long.

One Earth spin can be measured from what is called one “solar noon” or “midday” to the next. Solar noon refers to that instant when the sun reaches its highest point for the day. At this time of year, the time period from one solar noon to the next is actually half a minute longer than 24 hours. So – two weeks before the solstice, for example – the sun reaches its noontime position at 11:52 a.m. local standard time. Two weeks later – on the winter solstice – the sun reaches its noontime position at 11:59 a.m. That’s 7 minutes later.

The later clock time for solar noon also means a later clock time for sunrise and sunset. The result: earlier sunsets before the solstice and increasingly later sunrises for a few weeks after the solstice.

By the way, the exact date of earliest sunset varies with latitude. But the sequence is always the same: earliest sunset in early December, winter solstice, latest sunrise in early January

Thursday, December 2, 2010

meanwhile on the hilltop



It seemed as though Winter would never get started, but yesterday I woke up to the first real snow of the season. The day before brought a wild all day rain and windstorm. However here on the hilltop only the the hints of what was happening down in the valleys was to be found.




Water was flowing in a ditch that is dry, unless it is the spring thaw.
And low hanging braches skimmed the surface of large lawn puddles!!



YUM!, guest blogger on making Naan....something I am new to and still working on

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