Global What the…?

I recently returned from Florida, against my most instinctive judgment.  I awoke my first morning back, looked out the window, and saw…….snow falling.  In Spring.  In good old Syracuse.  Betting this a fluke, an aberration to my senses, I put on my happy Florida face and a mere 6 days later, traveled to Buffalo to see my daughter.  I swear I could smell flowers blooming and hear jubilant birds finding their voice once again.

 

Syracusans gone mad - March 2014

Thus I woke, on my last day there and saw….snow falling. Sideways. Lots of heavy, wet snow.  In Spring. In good old Buffalo. A mini blizzard.

Ah, Spring.  What I would want to write at this exact moment I can not. I know not the limits of the blog host, but I am afraid I would severely test them.  I might even be thrown off and asked never to return again.  Such is the fire in my pen and the rancor in my heart. I am way beyond “had it.”

So, here’s some stolen material to hopefully bring some sense of life back to the world, at least that part of the world hiding in the northeast United States. Stuff you probably don’t know, or even care about. Whimsical stuff, odd stuff, who cares stuff …. stuff to get our minds back to normal.

 

First mowing of Spring in Syracuse, NY

Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.

Coca-Cola was originally green.  (Uck!)

State with highest % of people who walk to work:  Alaska (well, when you don’t have roads)

Percentage of Africa that is wilderness:  28%

Percentage of North America that is wilderness:  38% (seriously..check that)

Cost of raising a medium size dog to the age of 11:  $16,400 (worth every penny)

Average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour:  61,000

San Francisco cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4^th.  John Hancock and Charles Thomson.  The last signature was added 5 years later.  (The mail was awfully slow then)

Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of their birthplace.  (I’d check that one again)

 

The calendar says Spring - I'm going in!  Or maybe not!

In ancient times – for a month after the wedding, the bride’s father would supply his new son-in-law with all the mead he could drink.  Mead is a honey beer and because the calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the Honeymoon. (There are so many directions this could go in – ain’t love grand?)

England gave us many things, these two highly ranked among them.  In olde England, ale was ordered by pints and quarts.  When things got unruly, the barkeep yelled at people to “Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.”  Hence the saying:  “mind your P’s and Q’s”

Back to the olde pub (why not, after this winter).  Pub patrons had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cup.  When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service.  “Wet your whistle” is the phrase you’re thinking of for modern day use.

 

Spring fishing on Oneida Lake - 2014

If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter A ?  One thousand!

And last, but not least, an old favorite:  It is impossible to lick your elbow.  (and you all know this because you have all tried to do just that – but if you’re Gene Simmons, maybe, just maybe)

Mark Twain Quote:  “April Fool – this is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four.”