Where is Winter?

 

Probably by the time I am about to post this blog, things will have changed, but for now I have to say I am still waiting for winter. All my boots are mud, if not dust, covered. If you live in NW PA, and it is snowing when you read this, please pretend that it hasn’t started yet and think back a couple of days. Normally my least favorite month as it seems to me like the longest month of the year, February is different this year.  Now almost the middle of February, it is 54º, “… And the green grass grows all around all around / And the green grass grows all around…”. I even saw some sun today.  Strange. A few days ago, I heard geese as they were flying North. Just yesterday I noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Goose have made their annual stop at the pond next door -- a full month early!

We have had snow in bursts this season, but nothing that lasts very long. The skiers and snowboarders are thankful that it has been cold enough to make snow at nearby ski resorts.  I am okay with dry roads and the lack of ice, but the lack of snow is unnerving somehow.  When you grow up in Northwest Pennsylvania and live here for decades, this mild weather is like waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it just seems to go on an on.  There is a certain unease about a non-winter.  People in these parts know that somehow we will pay for this in the long run.  We believe deep down that nothing will let us off the hook. We have become accustomed to dealing with at least 150" of snow and to have so little is unsettling. I remember that his has happened before off and on since that one February when I was in grade school, when I walked to school with no coat. I know. But... it is always odd.

Anyway … snow and bitter cold are a part of who we are. This year we have missed the snow but not all the bitter cold. Usually the two go together. The thing is – many of us would rather have a good ground cover of snow than the recurring mud of this year’s so-called winter. Snow cover, after all, makes everything look clean and makes the world quieter and more peaceful somehow.  Those aspects of winter are nice. We are ready for snow here. We have special gear for snow and every third pickup in these parts has a plow on the front. Almost all personal vehicles are all-wheel or 4-wheel drive. Thank goodness for all pickup plows and vehicles that will get you out of your driveway and along the roadways even if the big plows haven't rumbled through very often as of yet. We handle snow well. Plus.. we know how to shovel.

I realize that, if we get a blizzard now after writing all this, that it will serve me right. Sorry. It’s like the Weather in these parts has ears and likes to seek revenge. That’s why we whisper things like “This has been a really easy winter.” In fact - I am whispering in my head as I write this. We know we will pay for the good days. Case in point -- I have seen snow in the air in June. 

Sometimes I wonder why people live here.  In the summer, one can count the consecutive number of sunny days on one hand. Personally I live here because I like the cold and don’t mind cloudy summer days. I also like socks and sweatshirts. (It goes without saying that I like the people who live here.)  Guess every part of the country has it’s good and not so good weather points.  At least mold doesn’t survive well in these climes and no one has to worry about termites. They cannot survive temperatures below 25º. (I know this because I looked it up a long time ago. Don't know why, but I did.)  So ..there is that. One less thing to worry about.

Northwest Pennsylvanians are a Hearty bunch. We expect winter to be winter.  Maybe not as wintery as Buffalo NY, but still winter.    Let it snow... or not. We are ready.... 

WHO THINKS OF THESE?

             MY TOP FIVE T-SHIRT SAYINGS Of THIS SEASON:

5.   I JUST DID A WEEK'S WORTH OF CARDIO AFTER WALKING INTO A          SPIDER'S WEB.

4.  ANOTHER DAY HAS PASSED AND I DIDN'T USE ALGEBRA ONCE.

3.  I DON'T LIKE TO BRAG ABOUT EXPENSIVE TRIPS, BUT I DID JUST           RETURN FROM THE GROCERY STORE.

2.  JUST ONCE , I WANT A USERNAME AND PASSWORD PROMPT TO SAY,      CLOSE ENOUGH.     

and my most fave...

1.  I DON'T UNDERSTAND, BUT I ALSO DON'T CARE.

Am thinking that you may have a few favorites as well. Please feel free to add to the list.  We could all use a good laugh or ... if not that ... even a smile. Happy Thursday.  I hereby declare it funny T-shirt day.

 

Ruffians, Hooligans, and Unsavory Types

 

Not even half way through a fascinating book entitled Hidden History of Northwestern Pennsylvania, and I have to share with you that I wish I had had this writer as a Pennsylvania History teacher back in the day. Jessica Hilburn knows how to write a story that brings the past back to life.  She also happens to be the Historian and Head of Reference of the Benson Memorial Library in nearby Titusville, PA. Just so you know.

Those of you who are from this neck of Penn’s Woods will recognize  Warren, Titusville, Pit Hole, Corry, and other places mentioned that may be either a town where you are right this minute or nearby … or ... perhaps you know these places from childhood memories.  But – even if you are not from this corner of Northwest PA, the stories retold in this small book are most interesting. Not much has been written about this area and most of the time we are good with that. But, that said -- I figure we are fortunate to have these recountings and highly recommend this small book of 150 pages or so.  And to think that some people say that nothing ever goes on around these parts... or ever has. 

Only 60 pages in and I have read of murderous quacks, axe murderers, railroad disasters, and the increasing popularity of spiritualism – including a reference to a memoir dictated posthumously by spirits using a Yost typewriter invented in Corry in the 1870’s.  Then there is a pleasantly detailed history of The Warren State Hospital – still in operation today, where treatment of the mentally ill took giant steps forward way back then in methods and philosophy thus changing the perception of mental illness and putting forth new and more appropriate and humane ways to help those suffering with a myriad of issues.

The part I liked best so far though is the recounting of how Titusville, afflicted at one point in time with “characters” of concerning reputation and worse, had come to the breaking point. Enraged citizens of his small town were brought to the point of considering swift and serious revenge on the evil doers – even erecting a gallows outside the courthouse in full view of those being “tried” for their misdeeds.  The townsfolk were especially concerned with those accused of arson who practically burned down the whole place.  Anyway, as the story goes -- the leaders of Titusville established a Vigilance Committee to mete out justice.   One hundred men were selected to round up “thieves, incendiaries, pimps, and harlots.”  In the end, cooler heads prevailed and the gallows were not needed, but all the ruffians, hooligans and unsavory types were rounded up and tried in one morning session.  One single morning. Imagine that!  Justice can be swift .  Anyway --  they were all sentenced to permanent expulsion from the town and were escorted by a large contingent of residents to the Oil Creek Railroad station where they were put on a train that was headed to nearby Corry. Upon arrival in the train station in Corry, the villains met up with a group of ruffians from Buffalo, NY who were headed to Titusville to “exact revenge” -- although -- since no one had been hanged, that revenge was not necessary. 

The Titusville newspaper speculated that a large party ensued.  

Speaking of news reports ... It is important to mention that The Titusville Herald reported throughout.  I have to say that the reporter had an amazing vocabulary and a good sense of sarcasm. I love both of those characteristics.  One headline on January 24, 1866 read, “Disreputables Smoked Out – Wholesale Expulsion of Pimps, Harlots, and Blacklegs -- A Thorough Moral Purgation”.  Impressive, right?  

Hmm... I wonder if history teaches us a lesson or two in all of this...?

   

There... There.... No need to worry....

 

The other day I watched President Biden get all huffy about the current trend of discovering Top Secret documents appearing in dribs and drabs all over the place, and he said that there was no “there there”.  Now I usually consider myself to be sort of "up on" current phrases, but I was clueless.  Then, to my growing annoyance,  almost immediately newscasters on every channel were “there thereing” all over the place and my head was swimming.

"There... There...". Here I thought  "There... There..." was something people said when patting the head of a crying child – you know – trying to comfort them.  Sometimes the phrase was extended a bit as in – “There..., There..., now”.   No – I googled it .  "There There" is  idiomatic.  It means there is nothing there.  Duh.  Who knew?  As far as I am concerned though…  President Biden’s use of this phrase ranks right up there with his “No Joke!”, whisper…whisper… and his cringe worthy “C'mon man” – all of which I think are sort of pitiful really. I wish he would stop trying to be so cool. It doesn't wear well on a man of his age and position. A President is not a "regular guy"... a Joe cool.

I guess the translation is that we should not be concerned that he and a whole bunch of people illegally have and have had Top Secret documents. All of a sudden lawyers and these docs are rising from the muck all over the place. There There now – no need to worry.  There is no there there. President Biden has spoken.  Hmmm.. That does not inspire confidence.

Personally, I have had enough of all of it. Truth will out...

Wait! What?

 

For some time now I have felt, off and on, like the world is upside down or – perhaps spinning so fast that I feel like I have to hang on, but I can’t find any handles - sort of like slipping in the shower and flailing about until you find something solid to lean against ... or ... fall on. In an attempt to find some balance, I make every effort to be positive in spite of what I sometimes feel are looming crazies. 

Anyway ... I was all set to write a short piece entitled “Who Knew?” and began to look for "fun" new ideas.  This week's blog was going to be something light...  and then… drum roll… I ran across an article that changed the direction to something more like  “Oh, how is wish I had not seen this!” – not so light and fun and maybe a bit looming crazy.  It depends on how you feel about it, I guess. This post will be brief – because, for one thing, I can’t stand to write about it for very long.  I decided to write about it in an attempt to sort it all out in my head. It didn't work. I have postponed posting this blog more than once.

Here it is. Today I am going to share with you few tidbits about a process developed in Washington state in 2017 and launched as a environmentally friendly funeral option in 2020… an option that is now legal in six states.  This option is human composting.  Can you guess the states in which it is now legal?  Washington (2019), Colorado and Oregon (2021), California and Vermont (2022) and most recently… New York state (at the very end of December in 2022).

The details of the process are readily available online if you really want to know how this works. Basically, a human body undergoes a microbial transformation into "soil" in a month or two.  In an unfortunate photo posted on one site, the compost looks much like clumps of damp deer droppings. Once you see it, you can’t "unsee" it. Further -- and I am having a hard time with this next aspect of this process ... apparently one can also buy human compost online through various websites. Think about it -- that means that someone is selling it like bags of mulch. In fairness I should mention that it can also be donated to conservation landfills.

Now – I totally understand the concept of ashes to ashes, dust to dust.  I also understand that people are rightfully concerned about the environment.  I do not understand the use of human remains as compost. Am thinking that probably I never will. Maybe if it were called something else …. ??? ....  Nope ... that would not do it for me either.  

I promise I will never write about this again, and the writing process this time wasn't really much help in sorting it all out either. Guess this new process is simply not for me. It just doesn't feel right to me somehow.

Thoughts on Winter...

 

Inhabitants of Northwest Pennsylvania tend to think of winter as a normal part of it all.  We rarely shut down anything for snow- although ice is at times a bit of an issue. Only on rare occasions would we allow either to interfere with our plans. We move about our lives thankful that we do not have to deal with hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes or pineapple cyclones, but, I confess, we do snort laugh when TV weather people report 6 inches of the white stuff as paralyzing. We sympathize but ... that is a just past a mere dusting here. Actually we have a lot of different words to describe snow - probably because there is usually so much so often. We know it well. We make jokes about it and plod on.

When talking about snow, it is, in fairness, important to consider point of view. The headquarters for the National Weather Service is in Silver Springs, Maryland. The average snowfall there is about a foot spread out over an entire winter season. The headquarters for The Weather Channel is in Atlanta, Georgia. They had snow there on January 23, 1940. Both the NWS and the WC tend to foam and twitch at the mere thought of a couple of inches of snow and try to get people all wound up about it. Seriously what do they know about snow? They probably close schools in either of those places if there is one single snow flake in the air that melts before it hits the ground.  We laugh at them too … as they know basically nothing about "real" snow.  Talk to people in places like Buffalo, NY if you want to lean about real snow. Must mention at this point that my small town at times has the highest annual snowfall in the Commonwealth of PA – one year it was 115” above the national average.  Many years there is much more snow than that. Erie, Pa (about 35 miles away) had five feet in 36 hours a couple of years ago, and we still out snowed them that year. That was the year when Erie ran out of places to put the snow and people found themselves still digging out in April.  Seriously… (Well – that might be a slight exaggeration….)

Anyway -- we in Northwest Pennsylvania understand that not everyone is as used to dealing with snow as we are and – they don’t do it as well – lack of practice and proper equipment. We forget that there are people who do not know that studded snow tires or chains, long underwear, or boots with cleats even exist. I suppose we take a bit of pride in our knowledge of the ways of snow country and in the digging out of the "big coats" and trudging on. We always feel sorry for people who get dumped on who are not set up for it. Then again -- sometimes we make fun of people -- especially of snow birds… even though we know they do better in milder climes and are basically happy for them. (It’s okay to be wimpy. I get sick of mittens and boots too. By the way -- snow birds are people who escape the snow belt and head south for the warmth of sunshine ... aka wimps. I love them anyway.) My simple truth is that I hate hot weather.  I can always get warmer, but cannot always find a way to get cooler. Plus – I detest light weight clothes.  I am at my best when I layer and… I love thick socks. I have a lot of them. I pad around in them on a daily basis. I sometimes sleep in them on cold nights.  I buy boots in a bigger size so that my feet will slip in no matter how thick my socks are.  It’s that simple really. I am a cold weather person. That is one reason why I live here on purpose.  That and I like the people here -- also winter people for the most part, and the rest have most admirable gumption.

Even though it has been feebly snowing for a few days now as I write this, winter doesn’t really seem to have settled in yet. It is past due. We have had a couple of good storms with a few feet of snow each, but nothing is lasting very long.  It is like a broken promise really.  Winter is taking its time – sort of galumphing in and tripping along the way. We haven’t even had more than a few hours of  the blinding, yet beautiful winter whiteness of light reflecting off the snow. My Grandson has only been snowboarding maybe a dozen times, and it’s already the 2^nd week of January.  We feel cheated somehow in a rather twisted way and ... we keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. We live off the Great lakes -- in the Snow Belt.  We are ready and waiting.

The days are already getting longer.  It stays daylight now until around 5 PM and is inching toward later. Kids are now waiting for early morning school buses only about 15 - 30 minutes before the sun is actually up. My Granddaughter is just now beginning to walk to school in daylight. Soon we will be anticipating those aching yellow-greens of spring. Now those are greens -- so vivid that they hurt your eyes.  They shimmer.  Not sure if you have to live here to know what I mean, or perhaps we just appreciate it more after months of white, gray, black and the muddy brown of in betweens.  Perhaps it takes a while for our eyes to adjust to color. We sometimes go days without it. We take photographs and they look like they were taken in black and white mode ... but were not. Dreary always begins with a capital D here.

Ah, snow country in Northwest Pennsylvania.  Did I tell you that it is also cold and windy here?  We are on a first name basis with the wild chill factor if that tells you anything, and we sometimes have the kind of winds that make windows rattle in a most impressive way. I wish I owned stock in ChapStick. NWPA Winter...  It's not for the faint of heart. Bring it on. Let the fun begin.

Let's call a spade a spade....

 

Words are powerful and knowing how to use them is a good thing. Obviously....  Personally, I love working with words and carefully select the ones I use because I want them to carry a certain feeling along with meaning.  Sometimes I make up words .. but when I do, I try to couch them within a certain context so that you will know what I mean. What I do not do is take it upon myself to assign new meanings to words that already exist and then expect you to know what I mean. I am not a word thug. I figure that my interest in the power of language is why I found the list of "offensive and harmful words to avoid" published by the Stanford University IT Department so “interesting”….  

Apparently this list generated so much controversy and offense that, in a seemingly desperate attempt to curb some of the backlash, Stanford University almost immediately did a major “walk back” of their IT Department's  list of naughty words --   I take it that the University does not like to look stupid. Reports indicate that there was particularly critical reaction to the inclusion of the word "American" as harmful or offensive. Personally, I also had my concerns about their listing of the word "grandfather", among many others, as well as of the phrase "no can do" - a phrase which I have found to be handy in some situations. Anyway  -- it was impressive backtracking of the highest order. 

Needless to say, I wanted to take a closer look at what was causing all the kerfuffle, so I went online. One thing I found was that after the initial wave of mocking criticism,  Stanford University  “locked”  said list behind a password. But... apparently that was like “shutting the barn door after the cows got out”.  I easily located the list, printed all thirteen pages on my best white paper, and set about reading with yellow magic marker in hand.  I was on a mission.  I immediately discovered that the Stanford University IT Department takes itself very seriously. I suspect also that it doesn't have much of a sense of humor. Sad, really. Case in point -- the list even has the following printed on the first page (in impressive bold type screaming out to potential readers):  Content Warning: “This website contains language that is offensive or harmful. Please engage with this website at your own risk.”   hmmm...  I decided to risk it. Sparing you many of the details, this is what I determined:

Apparently the Stanford University IT Department is “into” replacing common words and simple phrases with several awkward and complicated ones. And quite frankly, it appears to be partial to taking offense easily.  Further, it definitely has an issue with words that are related to balls and to colors.  Important to note that I do understand that some words carry baggage, but there is a point of taking things to a ridiculous level.  I have used several of its “naughty” words in these paragraphs. I even used a few that I figure it would have included if the people working on this had thought of them. Can you find them? No offense intended. 

If I may offer a polite and gentle suggestion to those members of the Stanford University IT Department....  Not to totally demean your "multi-phase", "multi-year" effort, just concerned .... Take a walk, breathe in some fresh air, relax a bit, smile once in a while, tell jokes, laugh, eat some chocolate, and perhaps most of all – see if you can find some common sense.  It might even be helpful to consider the fine olde adage that “… silence is golden”  or  “Look before you leap”.  Words are important, but sometimes it is better to say nothing. (I wonder who paid for this "multi-phase", "multi-year" project?) BTW -- the origin of the phrase used as a title for this post is ancient Greece. The word spade refers to a garden tool. So, like I said... relax.

I am seeing signs that the world is getting sick of “woke” in their tendency to humorlessly beat a dead horse with their constant drivel... always looking for a righteous cause. (Not surprising to me  -- I did not see the word "woke" on the naughty list. To me that is a word that has earned its way into the offensive or harmful rank...very naughty.  I would put it in the categories of condescending, controlling, elitist, racist, narrow minded, intolerant, and anti free speech.)  I think it is time for common folk, who like to think of themselves as normal people, to circle the wagons, refuse to submit, and to take a stand against stupidity. Just sayin’. Anyone with me on this?

(Note:  The words listed in Labels below this post all appear on the naughty word list of the Stanford University IT Department -- just in case you were curious about that.)