Showing posts with label Quotes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quotes. Show all posts

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Red Mulberry

 

Red mulberry, "is a species of mulberry native to eastern and central North America. It is found from Ontario, Minnesota, and Vermont south to southern Florida, and west as far as southeastern South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and central Texas. There have been reports of isolated populations (very likely naturalized) in New Mexico, Idaho, and British Columbia.

Common in the United States, it is listed as an endangered species in Canada, and is susceptible to hybridization with the invasive white mulberry (M. alba), introduced from Asia." -- Wikipedia

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

 


Turns out that my "chicken hoagie" at Mellow Mushroom has a history.

"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:

"Franciscan missionaries arrived in Mexico in the 16th century and eventually began setting up elaborate manger scenes at Christmastime. Holly, Europe’s holiday flora of choice, was nowhere to be found for the dioramas, but when the missionaries saw the red and green colors of this local plant—that happened to burst into color every December—they knew they had the perfect stand-in."

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. 

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
   The flying cloud, the frosty light:
   The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
   Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
   The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
   For those that here we see no more;
   Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
   And ancient forms of party strife;
   Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
   The faithless coldness of the times;
   Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
   The civic slander and the spite;
   Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
   Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
   Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
   The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
   Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

-- Alfred Tennyson

Saturday, December 23, 2023

Oranges


Odd, isn't it, how certain images provoke thought. This wreath had me thinking of those suffering from hunger all around the world this season.

As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.

-- Susan Cooper 

Friday, December 22, 2023

The Shortest Day

 


So the shortest day [yesterday] came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive,
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us—Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight,
This shortest day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.

Welcome Yule!

The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper

Friday, December 15, 2023

Artichoke

 


"Renaissance artists depicted artichokes in their works, showcasing the vegetable’s unique form and texture. During this period, artichokes were not only admired for their visual appeal but also held symbolic significance. The artichoke, with its intricate layers and thorny exterior, became a symbol of fertility and abundance. It was often included in still-life paintings as a representation of the bountiful harvest and the natural world." -- Wikipedia

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!

 


Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Although I'm quite aware how this is a peculiarly American holiday. I say "peculiarly" because of its odd evolution over the years. Settlers in Plymouth often as not get the credit for the celebration, even though those of us here on the Middle Peninsula lay claim to an even earlier tradition:

"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

 


Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night’s decay
Ushers in a drearier day.

-- Emily Brontë

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Gold


Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

— Robert Frost

 

Monday, November 13, 2023

The Wind and the Leaves

 


"Come, little leaves," said the wind one day.
"Come o'er the meadows with me, and play'
Put on your dress of red and gold,—
Summer is gone, and the days grow cold."

Soon as the leaves heard the wind's loud call,
Down they came fluttering, one and all;
Over the brown fields they danced and flew,
Singing the soft little songs they knew.

"Cricket, good-by, we've been friends so long;
Little brook, sing us your farewell song,—
Say you are sorry to see us go;
Ah! you will miss us, right well we know."

"Dear little lambs, in your fleecy fold,
Mother will keep you from harm and cold;
Fondly we've watched you in vale and glade;
Say, will you dream of our loving shade?"

Dancing and whirling, the little leaves went;
Winter had called them, and they were content.
Soon fast asleep in their earthy beds,
The snow laid a coverlet over their heads.

Sunday, November 12, 2023

Ginkgo


"Ginkgos adapt well to the urban environment, tolerating pollution and confined soil spaces. 


They rarely have disease problems, even in urban conditions, and are attacked by few insects." -- Wikipedia

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Limberlost

 


The real Limberlost Trail is in Indiana. But while researching the term, I came across this story in Wikipedia:

According to the History of Jay County by M.W. Montgomery, published in 1864, the name Limberlost came from the following event:

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

 


There are a dizzying variety of mushrooms; so much so, in fact, that I'm hard pressed even with a field guide to identify most. This one is no exception. Looks to me like Lepiota procure. Can anyone confirm that?

Lepiota is a genus of gilled mushrooms in the family Agaricaceae. All Lepiota species are ground-dwelling saprotrophs with a preference for rich, calcareous soils. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are agaricoid with whitish spores, typically with scaly caps and a ring on the stipe. Around 400 species of Lepiota are currently recognized worldwide. Many species are poisonous, some lethally so." -- Wikipedia


Sunday, September 3, 2023

Swallowtails


"The male is yellow with four black 'tiger stripes' on each forewing. Females may be either yellow or black, making them dimorphic. 


The yellow morph is similar to the male, but with a conspicuous band of blue spots along the hindwing, while the dark morph is almost completely black." -- Wikipedia


"The black swallowtail [above] has a wingspan of 6.9–8.4 cm, and females are typically larger than males. The upper wing surface is black with two rows of yellow spots – these spots are large and bright in males and smaller and lighter in females." -- Wikipedia

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