Picture of the Day for April 22, 2013

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Earth Day is an annual holiday, celebrated on April 22, on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection.

In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, the date proposed for Earth Day was March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. A month later a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970.

Nelson chose the date in order to maximize participation on college campuses for what he conceived as an “environmental teach-in”. He determined the week of April 19–25 was the best bet as it did not fall during exams or spring breaks and was late enough in spring to have decent weather.

You would think a senator from Wisconsin would know that April is not late enough to have ‘decent’ weather, especially since it is snowing very heavily on this Earth Day in Wisconsin.

Earth Day

Earth Day

Picture of the Day for April 21, 2013

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Yesterday the sun was out and some of the snow was melting. Seeing the water running, it reminded me of all the times as a kid when we would play with the water. A stick would create new streams (course they were only few inches wide) or open up a dam where the snow or ice was backing up the water. Hours were spent creating ‘rivers’ in the barnyard and if the snow was melting quickly, a discarded hunk of wood became a boat on the newly created rivers.

But today, those ‘rivers’ are covered over with snow again so I guess I have to wait for another sunny today to ‘play as a kid’ again.

Melting Snow

Melting Snow

Picture of the Day for April 19, 2013

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It is getting very old looking at snow falling like it is again today! I rather look at old machinery like this old potato planter. But this potato planter would have trouble planting through the snow and I bet your butt would get rather chilly on the metal seat since it is below freezing outside.

There is an old wives’ tale that planting potatoes should always be done on Good Friday which would have encountered a frozen ground this year. The tradition of Good Friday planting seems to originate in Ireland. The potato came from an area around Peru and came to Europe about 1570 but took a while for the potato to catch on. In the 19th century, many Irish Protestants refused to eat potatoes on the grounds that they weren’t mentioned in the Bible. Irish Catholics skirted the issue by planting them on Good Friday, thereby baptizing the little spuds and making them holy.

But now every Irish man, woman and child eats more than 250 pounds of them each year. I must have some unknown Irish ancestor since I love potatoes too. The planting of potatoes have changed over the years. The International Harvester General Catalog published in 1927 had this McCormick-Deering One-Row Potato Planter listed on page 193. The horse-drawn planter could hold 3 bushels in the hopper and the planter weighed 580 pounds and could have an additional fertilizer attachment.

Old Potato Planter

Old Potato Planter

Picture of the Day for April 16, 2013

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The robins have had their tails snowed on more than three times already so it is time for spring to come. On the news last night, there was a question wondering if all the robins were finding food since there are no worms for them to find. A local bird expert said the robins were on a Ramen noodle diet right now and not a Filet Mignon meal plan as they were eating spider eggs and any remaining berries.

The birds that eat flying insects, like the tree swallows and purple martins, are in trouble since it is too cold for flying bugs. So the wrens better stay south as they won’t be finding caterpillars to eat right now like this wren.

Hungry Wren

Hungry Wren

Picture of the Day for April 15, 2013

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The RMS Titanic, a British passenger liner, sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning on April 15, 1912 after colliding with an iceberg the previous evening just before midnight during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York City.

Yesterday it wasn’t an ice berg, but ice did cause a ‘sinking’ when the power lines and trees became encased in ice. When the heavy limbs broke from the freezing rain, it took power lines down causing a power outage.

The remaining passengers and crew aboard the Titanic when she sank were plunged into lethally cold water with a temperature of only 28°F. Almost all of those in the water died of hypothermia, cardiac arrest, or drowning within minutes. Even though the temperature was below freezing yesterday, at least my house didn’t get that cold before the power was restored.

Icy Day

DSC06306msw

Picture of the Day for April 14, 2013

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On this day in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth while watching a play called Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. After Lincoln was shot, they carried him across the street to the William Petersen’s boarding house. They had to lay him diagonally on the bed because his tall frame would not fit normally on the smaller bed in the first floor bedroom.

When I visited the Peterson House thirty plus years ago, I remembered seeing the blood stained pillow and the quilt on the bed. The pillow and pillow case are the ones used by Lincoln but the bed and other furniture are replicas. I don’t know if the quilt is the same but the one displayed in the museum has some color in it, but not as much as this quilt. And after seeing the snow coming down outside this morning, I need as much color as possible!

Colorful Quilt

Colorful Quilt

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