Saturday, March 16, 2024
Red Mulberry
Monday, January 22, 2024
Isthmus
From an article entitle The Great Road by Charles E Hatch, Jr.:
On May 13, 1607, the first permanent English settlers in the New World brought their three ships close to the shore at Jamestown Island, lying prominently in the James River, and began their settlement in Virginia. They established themselves in the western part of the island since here was much of the higher ground, particularly that bordering on the James, and consequently the most suitable part for settlement. It, also, was closer to the isthmus that then connected the island to the mainland, forming, as one contemporary author phrased it, a 'semi-island.'"
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Hoagie
"The Italian sandwich originated in several different Italian-American communities in the Northeastern United States from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. The popularity of this Italian-American sandwich has grown from its origins in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island to most parts of the United States and Canada, and with the advent of chain restaurants, is now available in many parts of the world. Sociologists Edwin Eames and Howard Robboy identified thirteen different terms for the submarine sandwich in the United States." -- Wikipedia
My friends shared a vegetarian pizza. All good, as people say. :-)
Tuesday, January 2, 2024
Eggplant Parmigiana
So I got curious about the origin of this fabulous dish that I enjoyed at Francesco's:
"The eggplant arrived in Italy during the 15th century – when the Arabs brought it from India. This part of the story already takes us to Sicily: According to this thesis, the city of Parma has nothing to do with it – not even the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. This version states that the term actually derives from the Sicilian word ‘parmiciana,’ the little wooden strips that form a shutter – recalling the partially overlapping arrangment of fried eggplant used in the dish." -- La Cucina Italiana
Saturday, December 30, 2023
Poinsettias
So when did poinsettias become a "thing" at Christmas? I looked it up on National Geographic's website. Here's what I found:
Monday, December 25, 2023
Ring Out, Wild Bells
Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Eve and are not too tired out this morning. :-) I finally got in a half hour after midnight this morning after singing one service yesterday morning and three last night. Whew! Lots of fun.
Saturday, December 23, 2023
Oranges
Friday, December 22, 2023
The Shortest Day
Friday, December 15, 2023
Artichoke
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Leaf Colors
Harvard has produced an interesting abstract on the variations in leaf colors in the fall, the upshot being "In other plants, leaves vary between individuals (as sugar maples) or even dramatically within an individual (as red maples), or even within a single leaf (red maples)."
Thursday, November 23, 2023
Happy Thanksgiving!
"Thanksgiving services were routine in what became the Commonwealth of Virginia as early as 1607; the first permanent settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, held a thanksgiving in 1610. On December 4, 1619, 38 English settlers celebrated a thanksgiving immediately upon landing at Berkeley Hundred in Charles City County, Virginia. The group's London Company charter specifically required "that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantation in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God". This celebration has, since the mid 20th century, been commemorated there annually at present-day Berkeley Plantation, the ancestral home of the Harrison family of Virginia." -- Wikipedia
Still, I find it rather amusing that it wasn't even until the late nineteenth century that the holiday was made official by an act of Congress, a body which has never been known to get much of anything done in a hurry. :-)
So why the photo above? Well, whenever I think about Thanksgiving, I frequently think of how formidable these shores must have appeared to those folks who landed here for the first time from a more settled existence abroad--deep, seemingly impenetrable forests filled with all manner of as yet unimaginable dangers. No wonder, then, why some of them might have felt a deep sense of relief, not to mention thanksgiving, to have survived even a year upon leaving their homeland.
Monday, November 20, 2023
Bliss
Thursday, November 16, 2023
Gold
Monday, November 13, 2023
The Wind and the Leaves
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Ginkgo
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Limberlost
A man named James Miller, while hunting along the banks of the swamp, became lost. After various fruitless efforts to find his way home, in which he would always come around to the place of starting, he determined to go in a straight course, and so, every few rods he would blaze a tree. While doing this, he was found by friends. Being an agile man, he was known as 'limber Jim,' and, after this, the stream was called 'Limberlost.'
The Indiana State Museum contends, "The swamp received its name from the fate of 'Limber Jim' Corbus, who went hunting in the swamp and never returned. When the locals asked where Jim Corbus was, the familiar cry was 'Limber's lost!'"
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
Eastern Cauliflower
"Sparassis (also known as cauliflower mushroom) is a genus of parasitic and saprobic mushroom characterised by its unique shape and appearance and is found around the globe. Its appearance can be described as similar to a sea sponge, a brain or a head of cauliflower, hence its popular name." -- Wikipedia
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Lepiota
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Swallowtails
Saturday, September 2, 2023
Gourds
I'm thinking of making a birdhouse out of a gourd for this upcoming cold season.
"Gourds continued to be used throughout history in almost every culture throughout the world. European contact in North America found extensive gourd use, including the use of bottle gourds as birdhouses to attract purple martins, which provided bug control for agriculture. Almost every culture had musical instruments made of gourds, including drums, stringed instruments common to Africa and wind instruments, including the nose flutes [GROSS!!!] of the Pacific." -- Wikipedia