4 09, 2023

Celebrating Labor Day

By judythemorgan|2023-09-02T09:48:26-05:00September 4th, 2023|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Happy Labor Day!

Unlike most U.S. holidays, Labor Day is a strange celebration without rituals, well, except for shopping and barbecuing.

Peter J. McGuire, United Brotherhood of Carpenters founder, and Matthew Maguire, secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York, are considered founders of the U.S. Labor Day.

Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal in 1882 and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic. Workers agreed and staged a strike to get a day off work on the first Monday in September.

Twelve years later, in 1894, Labor Day became an official federal holiday though the bill did not give everyone a holiday. Only federal employees were authorized the day off by the law.

Over the years, emphasis changed from protests and demands and Labor Day shifted to honoring the labor movement and the social and economic achievements of all American workers.

Though the holiday has no rituals, addresses by union officials, industrialists, government officials, and others do receive coverage in social media, newspapers, and television.

Labor Day mostly signifies a three-day weekend filled with retail sales, an extra day away from work, and the unofficial end of summer.

Unless you work in retail then you’ll have some long working hours. Police, firefighters, nurses, and doctors will also experience heavy workloads because Labor Day is the second most dangerous holiday to drive on U.S. highways.

I’ll not be driving. I’ll be following Douglas Pagels’ advice.

“Sometimes it’s important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it’s essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow.”

Why not join me? Relax, grab one last hot dog, and slide down your rainbow beam.

31 07, 2023

Anthropomorphize

By judythemorgan|2023-07-30T12:22:06-05:00July 31st, 2023|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

Simply put a big word that means attaching human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities.

This Calvin and Hobbs cartoon is a great explanation.

“Historically, anthropomorphizing has been treated as a sign of childishness or stupidity, but it’s actually a natural byproduct of the tendency that makes humans uniquely smart on this planet. No other species has this tendency.” —Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago and anthropomorphism expert

Why and how humans have this ability can’t be fully explained because our brains are so very complicated. Finding human characteristics in inanimate objects signals the brain’s creativity at work.

We are social animals. We want to befriend everyone we meet, give them a name, and talk to them.

If you saw the movie Castaway Tom Hanks’ beloved best friend was Wilson, a volleyball with a face. If you haven’t seen it, you should. It’s a great film.

Aesop’s fables personified the wind and sun. Beauty and the Beast brought knives and forks to life. Personification is a literary technique like anthropomorphizing, but not the same.

When I talk to my dogs, my plants, my car, and lots of things that can’t talk back, I’m anthropomorphizing. Naming non-human things is another example.

Our downstairs iRobot vacuum is CP3O, upstairs iRobot is R2D2. The canning strainer that we use to make applesauce and tomato juice is Shirley. The metal art dragon guarding our backyard is Custard.

Houseplants have names too and sometimes they even perk up when I talk to them.

Violet needs a pep talk. The summer heat is taking a toll.

My Old English sheepdog Finnegan MacCool and I communicate well. Not that he’s thinking, it’s more hours and hours of training.

Because he has more understanding than Violet or Custard, I use facial expressions and key phrases when talking to him.

Fellow anthropomorphizing pet owners will relate. Others think I’ve gone cuckoo.

That’s okay.

I take comfort in Nicolas Epley’s words that anthropomorphizing demonstrates superior intellect and creativity.

Do you have any inanimate friends you have anthropomorphized?

17 07, 2023

Hot? Blame the stars!

By judythemorgan|2023-07-13T08:40:41-05:00July 17th, 2023|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Summer’s hottest days , better known as the “dog days of summer” are officially upon us.

According to the National Weather Service, Dog days can be traced back thousands of years to the days of the Roman Empire. The dates July 3 through August 11 are the twenty days prior and twenty days after the star Sirius rises and falls in conjunction with the sun.

Source: Almanac.com

Sirius is nicknamed the “Dog Star” and the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog). The name Sirius comes from the ancient Greek word for “scorching” or “glowing.”

Ancient Egyptians were star watchers and noted Sirius rising in the morning sky then traveling across the sky with the sun all day and blamed the double-whammy from Sirius and the sun for the heat in July and August.

Greeks and Romans believed Dog Days to be a time of drought, bad luck, unrest, and sickness where the extreme heat would drive dogs and men mad.

They might have been on to something.

An Old Farmers’ article says: “A 2009 Finnish study tested the traditional claim that the rate of infections is higher during the Dog Days. The authors wrote, ‘This study was conducted to challenge the myth that the rate of infections is higher during the dog days. To our surprise, the myth was found to be true.'”

Truth is, Sirius doesn’t affect seasonal weather here on Earth. The tilt of the earth on its axis is what makes it so much warmer in the summer and the Dog Day dates change along with the sky shifts.

But, as long as Sirius the dog star continues to appear during the hottest part of summer, the Dog Days of summer will live on.

26 06, 2023

Summer, Full Moon Solstice, and Celebrations

By judythemorgan|2023-06-20T15:25:08-05:00June 26th, 2023|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

With apologies to those who have been melting in excessive heat since the beginning of May. Summer has officially arrived.

The Northern Hemisphere summer solstice began on June 21 when the sun reached its highest point and signaled the longest day of the year.

From now on, we go to bed later as daylight shifts to early dawns, long days, late sunsets, and short nights.

Psychologists say there’s a link between our level of happiness and the amount of sunlight in the day. The extra daylight is supposed to make us feel happier. The heat on the other hand, not so much

For millennia, many cultures celebrated the summer solstice, especially when it occurred with a full moon. One such celebration was California’s Summer of Love in 1967.

Scores of hippies converged of San Francisco to celebrate the solstice and Hippie Life about being happy. By the end of 1967, the Summer of Love and most of the Hippie Movement had moved on, leaving lingering misgivings about the hippie culture.

I missed the Summer of Love—something about hubby’s Army duty. If you missed out too, here’s a link to fabulous photos of the event.

There was another full moon summer solstice in 2016. I did celebrate that one because we won’t see another until June 21, 2062. I won’t be around. I even blogged about what I saw.

This year Earthsky.org reported a cosmic trio for summer solstice. If you watched the sky, you saw a waxing crescent moon next to a brilliant Venus with the much, much dimmer Mars nearby and Regulus in Leo the Lion above. And below the twin stars, Castor and Pollux, in the constellation Gemini. Did you see it? If you got a great photo of this solstice sky, send to EarthSky Community Photos.

Lastly, summer always calls for a celebration well before the solstice occurs. The last day of school signals the lazy, hazy days of summer with freedom from homework and lesson plans for three glorious months.

Enjoy your Summer!

19 06, 2023

What is Juneteenth?

By judythemorgan|2023-06-17T18:17:20-05:00June 19th, 2023|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Today marks the third time Juneteenth will be observed nationally as a federal holiday.

Also known as Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Black Independence Day the date marks the day enslaved people in the United States learned they were free.

In case you’re wondering where the name comes from, it’s a blending of June and nineteenth.

Growing up in Texas, there were always celebrations on Juneteenth. According to Para LaNell Agboga, museum site coordinator at the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center in Austin, Texas early celebrations revolved around the church with speeches and picnics.

As Black Texans moved away from Texas, the observances slowly spread.

But I must confess that as our family moved around the United States, I met many who had never heard of Juneteenth.

Or Laura Smalley, a freed slave from a plantation very near where I live now. Or, her story about how her former master went off to fight in the Civil War, and when he came home he never told his slaves what had happened.

“Old master didn’t tell, you know, they was free. I think now they say they worked them, six months after that. Six months. And turn them loose on the 19th of June. That’s why, you know, we celebrate that day.” Smalley’s 1941 interview can still be found on YouTube.

Juneteenth officially began June 19, 1865, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his Union troops delivered General Order No. 3, to the residents of Galveston, Texas. The order said:

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”

The next year, 1866, the now-freed slaves started celebrating, and the celebration has continued ever since.

One hundred and fifty-five years later in 2021, President Biden signed a bill designating Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Another 96-year-old Texan, Opal Lee is credited with successfully championing that legislation.

The Proclamation states clearly why we should celebrate the day:

“As we observe Juneteenth, we remind ourselves of the sacred proposition rooted in Scripture and enshrined in our Declaration of Independence: that we are all created equal in the image of God and each of us deserves to be treated equally throughout our lives. That is the promise of America that every generation is charged to keep alive. While the opposition may seem fierce and the fire of conflict may be intense, the story of Juneteenth reveals that freedom, justice, and equality will always prevail.”

Today’s celebrations will include parades, concerts, and reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. Like most holidays, Juneteenth is seeing its fair share of commercialism.

Supporters work hard to make sure Juneteenth celebrators don’t forget why. Check here for events offered through JuneteenthFTW.

29 05, 2023

Recognizing the Roots of Memorial Day

By judythemorgan|2023-05-26T12:00:13-05:00May 29th, 2023|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

For most, Memorial Day signals the start of summer where burgers and cakes iced with American flags are the order of the day.

But Memorial Day began as a way to honor scores of dead from the Civil War called “Decoration Day.”

In 1971, the name changed but the day remained a time to visit and spruce up final resting places of all who lost their lives in service to this country. Read how Decoration Day became Memorial Day here

Such tradition might seem macabre or morbid.

At the same time, the Memorial Day tradition serves as a gentle means of passing history from generation to generation.

Here are three ways to recognize the roots of Memorial Day along with all the burgers and fun.

Pause for A Moment of Silence

In 2000 the House and Senate passed the National Moment of Remembrance Act to “remember and renew the legacy of Memorial Day, which was established in 1868 to pay tribute to individuals who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the United States and their families.”

According to that law at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day, we should stop eating, chatting, and swimming, for one full minute to remember those who didn’t make it home to celebrate.

Display the American Flag Properly

Memorial Day has specific rules for where and when the American flag is raised and lowered. It’s the only day that observes both positions on the flagpole.

The Stars and Stripes should be raised briskly first thing in the morning and then lowered to half-staff.

At noon, the flag should be returned to full staff until it’s taken down at sunset.

Don’t have a flagpole? If you fly a flag from your porch and can’t lower it, simply attach a black mourning streamer to the top for when it’s supposed to be lowered.

Remember It’s Not Veterans Day

A lot of people will confuse the days of military recognition.

Most veterans don’t expect to be thanked for their service. This is especially true on Memorial Day.

While vets will accept the extra attention on Veterans Day, such thanks are not appropriate on Memorial Day. To them, it’s a somber day of remembering those who didn’t come home with them.

If we recognize the roots of Memorial Day, we can keep the day from being just another holiday with an extra day off.

8 05, 2023

How to Keep Your Brain Cells

By judythemorgan|2023-05-08T06:07:10-05:00May 8th, 2023|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

I received a thank-you email from Anita Gianakas, a library media specialist in Knox County, Maine recently.

She’d discovered my 2013 MENSA blog while working on their media center’s Brain Busters and Mind Puzzles guide for the library Educational Learning series.

The blog suggested things like jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, Sudoku, Scrabble, and trivia mind games to keep your brain active, and provided online links to sites like these:

One of her students, Lily, suggested some fresh additions to that original list.

http://brainpages.org/row-swap-puzzle/ CAVEAT: If you don’t like snappy music, you may want to turn off the sound on this one.
https://www.typing.com/student/game/keyboard-jump
https://www.puzzleprime.com/category/brain-teasers/
http://brainden.com/logic-riddles.htm

Rather than update the old blog, I decided to do this reminder blog because too often we forget to challenge and train our brains regularly.

It is so important that we keep our brains alert because brain cells do die off.

As a classroom teacher, I used a thinking warm-up—puzzles, logic problems, and review questions from lessons. Interestingly my students always preferred puzzles and thinking problems over reviews.

My source for those daily thinking warm-ups was Matching Wits with Mensa. I still use the book to refresh my brain periodically

It’s not necessary to be a MENSA member to keep your brain stimulated. Our family enjoys challenging each other all the time. Brain teasers, card games, puzzles, all these help us keep our brains sharp.

Check out the old MENSA blog for more suggestions or try some of Lily’s new suggestions above if you want to test or challenge your brain daily.

Want to practice first? Here’s a brain warm-up and put your answers in a comment.

EXAMPLE: 7 D in a W = 7 days in a week

#1 – 7 W of the AW

#2 – 8 S on a S S

#3 – 64 S on a C

The first commenter with correct answers will receive a free copy of their choice from my book options. Good Luck!

24 04, 2023

Is Poetry a Waste?

By judythemorgan|2023-04-18T08:19:55-05:00April 24th, 2023|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

It’s National Poetry Month again. The Academy of American Poets set up April’s month-long focus in 1996 to celebrate poets’ role in our culture and promote how poetry matters.

“Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, families, and—of course—poets, marking poetry’s important place in our lives.”

And poetry is not a waste. Research confirms that reading or writing poetry can support our mental acuity and potentially reduce our risk for dementia over our lifetimes.

Who doesn’t want that?

These are some of my favorite poems if you want to celebrate National Poetry Month with me.

The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash – A favorite of my children and grandchildren. I read it over and over to all of them. https://allpoetry.com/The-Tale-of-Custard-the-Dragon

Go Down Death by James Weldon Johnson – a funeral sermon in rhyme. I memorized this poem for a speech class in high school – a long, long time ago. https://allpoetry.com/Go-Down-Death

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein – I used this story poem often in my classroom. https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-giving-tree/ It’s also available as a storybook, a wonderful gift for any age.

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost – I’ve loved this poem since I memorized it for English class in high school. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42891/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening

My list could go on and on.

I hope you have a favorite poem too and pause sometime this month to read a poem or two.

13 03, 2023

Country Living

By judythemorgan|2023-03-11T11:12:23-06:00March 13th, 2023|A Writer's Life, Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

Living in the country means living with wildlife. Raccoons, possums, deer, gophers, and armadillos are always roaming around, tunneling through the property.

We see them cross the yard late at night and/or early in the morning. Usually, it’s no big deal.

Unless there’s a major rainstorm and four inches of rain falls in an afternoon for two days in a row.

When that happens, this happens.

Fence posts washed out.

Deep ruts through the yard.

Gigantic dirt washes where the tunnels were.

It’s a mess and dangerous to humans and pets.

We had the holes filled and contacted a wildlife relocation company to trap the armadillo we’d seen in the yard multiple times.

Traps were set around his most recent dig sites.

The wildlife relocator assured us the armadillo would be guided into his traps by the interesting construction.

A configuration that looks like giant wooden Xs leading to the no-kill traps.

Right…

It’s been three weeks since the traps were set.

No armadillo inside either trap.

The question now is: Do we leave the traps? Or assume Mr. Armadillo has moved on to more fertile ground because we spread stuff to wipe out all the ants and grubs he’d been munching on?

If we remove the traps, I’m sure the creatures will, no doubt, return to dig tunnels again. They have that inbred sense to know when danger is gone and dinner is available.

So the battle of living in the country goes on. I’m thinking the traps have been up so long the yard will look funny without them. We’re gonna keep trying.

6 03, 2023

March’s Lion-Lamb Saying

By judythemorgan|2023-03-05T12:15:02-06:00March 6th, 2023|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Briton Rivière – Una and the Lion

March Comes in like a Lion, goes out like a Lamb.

Our calendars now say March. Have you heard this proverb quoted yet?

It’s been around since 1732 and its first mention in Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British. Ever since, the proverb is often quoted.

While the adage most likely refers to the weather, other sources trace its origins to the stars. If you look to the western horizon this time of year, you can see the constellations of Leo the Lion and Aries the Ram (or lamb).

Leo the Lion rises from the east in early March, meaning the month is coming in “like a lion.” By the end of the month, Leo is almost overhead, while Aries the Ram (lamb) is setting on the western horizon. Hence, the month is going out like a lamb.

Another theory claims the saying is biblical and the animal references are symbolic. The problem with that is Jesus first appeared as the sacrificial lamb. His return will be as the Lion of Judah, not exactly in the same order as the saying.

The proverb isn’t a reliable forecasting guide either. March is a pivotal meteorological month with an inconsistent seasonal pattern. Sometimes the month slips in like a lamb and then turns lion-like at the end. Current weather patterns determine what actually happens.

Whatever way the month begins, it’s always a clear promise spring is on its way.

How did March begin where you live–like a lion or a lamb?