YOU ARE ALWAYS LOOKING AT YOUR NOSE YOUR BRAIN JUST TRIES TO IGNORE IT TRUE

Are We Always Looking at Our Nose?

Your nose is in your field of vision, so you are always looking at your nose. Luckily, our brains filter out sensory information we don’t need. The ability to ignore expected input is called “unconscious selective attention.”[1][2]

You don’t walk around constantly noticing your nose or your glasses for that matter (if you wear glasses) because it’s not useful information. If nothing is changing with your nose, your brain will decide it doesn’t need to register it out of efficiency.

You are Always Looking at Your Nose - Fact or Myth? (factmyth.com)

Have you ever wondered why your nose never seems to get in the way of your vision, even though it’s right there in the middle of your face? Or why, once we’re dressed, we no longer feel the clothes against our skin?

It’s basically our brain’s way of being selective, hence the term “Unconscious Selective Attention”. If, after all, our brain had to constantly be giving us up to date information on whether our nose was still in place, or what clothes we’re wearing, there would simply be no time for it to get on with the other important things like keeping us alive, so it uses “unconscious selective attention” and fools us into ignoring our noses because, in the scheme of things, they are not that important!

You can always see your nose, but your brain has the ability to ignore it - Factual Facts

It’s all about sensory information. I wonder how it would feel if your unconscious selective attention didn’t work in your brain. What if you were always forced to look down at your nose. You couldn’t take your eyes off of it! You were forced to see every bumpy detail, every pore and then every drip! You were compelled to count the veins in that bulbous proboscis billions of times per day. I think I would pray for blindness, and I would sleep as much as possible.

Sensory information! That has been the center of my world for the past 44 years! Even in the early years of his life, JB slept in spurts. We had built a swing that was attached to the ceiling which was fashioned from a child’s Adirondack chair which had a seat belt so it would keep JB safely confined as he rocked his way to sleep. Many times, we let him stay there comfortably until he awoke less than thirty minutes later. Even now he loves rocking chairs. We even had a rocking chair for him at one of the churches we attended.

Sensory integration is a vital key in dealing with autism.

Sensory issues are common in people with autism and are even included in the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder. Each autistic person is unique, and this includes their personal sensory sensitivities.

People with autism might have sensitivities to:

•Sights

•Sounds

•Smells

•Tastes

•Touch

•Balance (vestibular)

•Awareness of body position and movement (proprioception)

•Awareness of internal body cues and sensations (interception)

Autistic people can experience both hypersensitivity (over-responsiveness) and hyposensitivity (under-responsiveness) to a wide range of stimuli. Most people have a combination of both.

Many autistic people experience hypersensitivity to bright lights or certain light wavelengths (e.g., fluorescent lights). Certain sounds, smells, textures and tastes can also be overwhelming. This can result in sensory avoidance – trying to get away from stimuli that most people can easily tune out. Sensory avoidance can look like pulling away from physical touch, covering the ears to avoid loud or unpredictable sounds, or avoiding certain kinds of clothing.

Hyposensitivity is also common. This can look like a constant need for movement; difficulty recognizing sensations like hunger, illness, or pain; or attraction to loud noises, bright lights and vibrant colors. People who are hyposensitive may engage in sensory seeking to get more sensory input from the environment. For example, people with autism may stimulate their senses by making loud noises, touching people or objects, or rocking back and forth.

What do sensory issues feel like?

Having unique sensitivities to certain types of sensory input can create challenges in everyday situations like school, work, or community settings. For someone who is hypersensitive, it can take a lot of effort to spend all day under fluorescent lights, navigate a crowded space or process conversations in rooms with background noise. This can be incredibly physically and emotionally draining and can leave the person feeling too exhausted to do other important tasks.

Many autistic people use stimming as a form of sensory seeking to keep their sensory systems in balance. Repetitive movements, sounds, or fidgeting can help people with autism stay calm, relieve stress or block out uncomfortable sensory input.

However, constant movement can sometimes seem inappropriate or disruptive in certain settings (like the workplace), so autistic people often feel like they need to suppress their stimming. When this happens, it becomes more and more difficult to self-regulate, leading to sensory overload, exhaustion, or burnout.

Sensory overload happens when an intense sensory stimulus overwhelms your ability to cope. This can be triggered by a single event, like an unexpected loud noise, or it can build up over time due to the effort it takes to cope with sensory sensitivities in daily life. Sensory overload can feel like intense anxiety, a need to escape the situation or difficulty communicating. When the brain has to put all of its resources into sensory processing, it can shut off other functions, like speech, decision making and information processing.

What do sensory issues look like? I have underlined the ones I see very frequently.

Many people with autism show certain behaviors when they are experiencing a sensory issue:

•Increased movement, such as jumping, spinning or crashing into things

•Increased stimming, such as hand flapping, making repetitive noises or rocking back and forth

•Talking faster and louder, or not talking at all

•Covering ears or eyes

•Difficulty recognizing internal sensations like hunger, pain or the need to use the bathroom

•Refusing or insisting on certain foods or clothing items

•Frequent chewing on non-food items

•Frequent touching of others or playing rough

•Difficulty communicating or responding as the brain shifts resources to deal with sensory input (shutdown)

•Escalating, overwhelming emotions or need to escape a situation (meltdown)

Sensory Issues | Autism Speaks

Even though I face all these issues every day it was still a blessing to read all this. Why? Well, for one reason I was reminded of my initial thought of how I would feel if I had to look down at my nose constantly. I am sure I would crawl into bed and sleep as much as possible. In my waking hours, which I hoped would be few, I would complain, and probably be furious and yell at God at the top of my lungs, “Why, God, why?” People would stare at me and wonder why I was so agitated.

And then I think of JB. His brain is wired so differently. He acts strange, kids at school stared at him until they got to know him. There were a few times when he cried because of something he had heard, but never, not once has he been angry at God. In fact, he has said many times that he is happy for his autism because he has to depend on God for EVERYTHING!

The truth is my brain needs rewiring. My pride gets in the way, and I just figure I can do most everything by myself. In a way, I can. Presently I am old, but I can still eat and sleep and clean the house all by myself. I wonder how much easier, and how much more joyful I would be if I actually depended on God to even get me through the things, I think I don’t need him to do. What if I depended on Him for every breath, every step, everything I do in life? The truth is, I really do need Him.

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

A housefly hums in the key of F. TRUE

The housefly hums in the key of F when they fly continuously. They can be easily identified with a buzzing sound that is similar to that scale.

The housefly always buzzes in an F key - NSSB (naturestudysociety.org)

A cloud of houseflies swarming through your home may not sound like music to your ears, but listen closer. The airborne pests are actually giving you an a capella show—always in the key of F.

Because they lack vocal cords, insects generally make sounds by rubbing their legs together (e.g. crickets), using a vibrating membrane (e.g. cicadas), or moving their wings. The common housefly flaps its wings about 190 times per second, and the human ear interprets that frequency as a pitch along the F major scale (which includes pitches F, G, A, B♭, C, D, and E). While not every housefly is the same size and flaps at the same speed, the measurements are always proportional, insuring the creatures consistently hit the same notes.

Domestic flies are not the only insect with those buzz skills. Despite the fact that Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's famous "Flight of the Bumble Bee" is written in a different key, both bumblebees and honey bees “hum” on the same scale as houseflies, according to The Journal of Social Science. It’s no wonder that Beethoven’s “Pastoral Symphony,” inspired by his love of the outdoors, is written in the key of F. The F major scale is thought to be one of the most prevailing keys of nature.

Do All Houseflies Hum in Key? | Mental Floss

What key is F major in music?

F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B♭, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat: B ♭. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor. F major is the home key of the English horn, the basset horn, the horn in F, the trumpet in F and the bass Wagner tuba.

What key is F major in music? - Bing

Some songs in the key of F

There are many others but these are a few I can actually remember.

Don’t stop me now Queen

867-5309/Jenny Tommy Tutone

O Come All Ye Faithful Trans-Siberian Orchestra

I Have a Dream Abba

Mr Tambourine Man Bob Dylan

I Can’t Stop Loving You Michael Jackson

Songs in the key of F Major - GetSongKEY

Lord help me! Some of these were almost unbearable! Has my choice in music changed so much in my old age? I am thinking it might be fun to mix all these together.

Classical music , some symphonies in the key of F Major

•Joseph Haydn

Symphony No. 89 (1787)

YouTube· 9/10/2021 Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven

Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral", Op. 68 (1808) Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major, op. 68 (“Pastorale”)

YouTube

Liang Zhang

Johannes Brahms

Symphony No. 3, Op. 90 (1883) Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90

YouTube Koncerty Českého rozhlasu

From:

List of symphonies by key - Wikipedia as played on You Tube

Obviously, I enjoyed listening to Brahms, Beethoven and Haydn , but I found the emotion of the various conductors even more interesting. Each one was so involved in directing that he seemed to be lifted off to another planet. They were all from different countries. They all had different political persuasions. Each one spoke a different language. Still, there was one obvious reason that showed that they were all alike. They loved what they were doing! The music somehow touched their soul. One was thrilled with happiness and smiled joyfully and one was lost in the sheer movement of the music, as he waved his arms dramatically almost as if he was involved in a rescue at sea operation. One violently nodded his head as if he had discovered a new cure for a world Ebola epidemic. As I scrolled to each symphony there was a seamless moment between each one. It was if they were all connected. They could have been written by one person.

I remembered my brief time as the choir director in our tiny Methodist church. One of my ideas was to link praise songs together in the same key. It made it easier for the choir, but it also made it easier for the pianist. It also made us more aware of worship. I wonder if I was totally immersed in the music. I hope I was.

If my life was lived constantly in the same key, I would probably know immediately if something I encountered was hitting the wrong note. I wonder if the housefly can be heard when it hums while the orchestra plays a symphony in the Key of F. If I didn’t hear the clashing of the wrong key I would need a director to wave his hands or nod his head at me to point me in the right direction.

So, I cruise along in the same key and all is well. My life is peaceful, no key changes. All of a sudden I get smacked with a note in a different key and I get lost because I didn’t see it coming until I heard it and it really messed up my timing. That happened recently when my husband lost the cleaning job he had had for several years at another church, The church has added an addition and Dennis is being replaced by a commercial cleaning crew.

What a blessed conductor I have!

God, as he always does, will pick me up, turn me around, and then He will keep my life in tune again. Sometimes, I bet He even smiles. In times like those, He really loves His job.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. Psalm 138:7

Rats and mice laugh when tickled, just like humans. TRUE!

Unfortunately, their laughter is in the ultrasonic frequency range – you can only hear it with special electronics. Studies have discovered that rats and mice have body parts that are more ticklish than others. Just as humans, rats feel better after a good tickle.

Do Rats Laugh?

•December 20, 2015

By Megan McGrath

Even before human babies can speak, they will giggle when tickled. Jaak Panksepp, a neuroscientist of emotion at Washington State University, noted “if one wants to become friends with a young child, there is no easier way to negotiate the social terrain than by gently escalating tickle games” [1]. Who could disagree with that?

Dr. Panksepp’s subjects, however, are not human babies: They’re rats. In 1998 he discovered that young rats, while playfully wrestling, emit a curious chirping sound above the range of human hearing [2]. For years, his team studied the sound, trying to divine its purpose—until one morning, struck by a crazy idea in the middle of the night, Dr. Panksepp walked into his laboratory, turned to a student, and said, “Let’s go tickle some rats.”

This is as charming a story as you get in science—like Archimedes shouting “Eureka!” as he stepped into the bath. Because when Dr. Panksepp reached his hand into a young rat’s cage and tickled it, it chirped uproariously—as if it were laughing.

Dr. Panksepp now had a real conundrum, as there is a potential scientific problem with this conclusion. When you’re tickling a young child, you know they are laughing. You know this because you know laughter: you have laughed yourself. You know that laughter is a human phenomenon, and that when you and others laugh, you feel something: happiness and joy.

But when a baby rat emits a cacophony of chirps as it wrestles with a littermate, or chuckles its head off when a human experimenter flips it on its back and tickles its belly…is that baby rat laughing? Does it feel joy?

The question of animals’ inner emotional lives has been a scientific challenge as long as science has existed. Scientific findings rely on direct observations as empirical proof—and you can’t observe an animal’s mental processes. So if a baby rat can’t tell us, “I’m having a great time right now!” as it chirps, how do we know the chirps are like laughter? Indeed, how can we know if they experience any emotions at all?

Panksepp’s team tested the rats’ propensity for chirping in various situations [3]. Here are the many ways that their play-chirps resemble human laughter. You can be the judge of whether the rats are laughing or not.

• Young rats chirp predominately when they are play-wrestling, or when they are tickled by human experimenters.

• Rats that chirp when tickled actively approach the experimenter’s hand. In fact, they will chase it around the cage, as if soliciting tickles. This suggests that tickling is a positive experience for them—like playing.

• Like a baby, who will erupt in laughter even if you just say “Coochie coo!” and threaten to tickle them, a baby rat that is used to being tickled will chirp in response to a wiggling hand alone.

• The baby rats chirp more when tickled on certain parts of their bodies—especially their bellies.

• When the tickling stops, the rats don’t just wander away: they actually behaved more socially, rather than less, increase their chirping playfully nip at the experimenter’s hand—as if to say “come back and play with me!”, a strong indication that the chirping is a social cue.

• Baby rats who were socially isolated, were far more likely to seek out, and chirp about, the experimenters’ tickling hands – more evidence that this is a social vocalization: Rats are highly social animals, and given no other social contact, they sought out the human touch for play.

What do you think? When the rats chirp, are they laughing?

Dr. Panksepp certainly believes that this is a rat equivalent of laughter—rats are mammals, their brains are similar to ours, and, like us, they are very social creatures. Laughter was historically thought to be limited to our species. We now believe that great apes demonstrate laughter. Is rat “laughter” really so far-fetched?

Though rats cannot tell us that they are enjoying themselves, from the results of these studies it sure does look like they are. So the next time you see rats wrestling each other on the subway tracks, don’t turn away in disgust. Realize that above your range of hearing, they’re emitting a burble of trilling chirps that sound a lot like giggles. Those rats—your playful evolutionary cousins—just might be laughing.

References

1. Panksepp, J. (2000). The riddle of laughter: neural and psychoevolutionary underpinnings of joy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9(6),183-186.

2. Knutson, B., Burgdorf, J., & Panksepp, J. (1998). Anticipation of play elicits high-frequency ultrasonic vocalizations in young rats. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 112(1), 65-73.

3. Panksepp, J., & Burgdorf, J. (2000). 50-kHz chirping (laughter?) in response to conditioned and unconditioned tickle-induced reward in rats: effects of social housing and genetic variables. Behavioural

Ratatouille is one of my favorite Disney movies! The rat is adorable!

What can we learn from Ratatouille quotes from Disney Pixar movie?

These Ratatouille quotes from the Disney Pixar movie will remind you that anyone can be great, no matter what their background is. After all, if a rat can become one of the greatest chefs in Paris, what is stopping you from following your dreams as well? Remy is a rat with a unique desire to only eat good food.

Inspirational Ratatouille movie quotes

1. “Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.” – Anton Ego

2. “The bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.” – Anton Ego

3. “If you focus on what you left behind you will never see what lies ahead!” — Gusteau

4. “You must be imaginative, strong-hearted. You must try things that may not work, and you must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul. ” — Gusteau

5. “Anyone can cook, but only the fearless can be great.” – Gusteau

6. “If you are what you eat, then I only want to eat the good stuff.” – Remy

50 Ratatouille Quotes That Prove Anyone Can Be Great | Everyday Power By

Sckylar Gibby-Brown

Writer, Entrepreneur and Inspirational quote curator

May 27, 2021 7:00 AM EST

I suppose I must be honest about rats. I actually like white rats. I am also not afraid of mice of any color. I don’t have a preference when it comes to the color of mice.. I remember that the kindergarten where I went to school had a large glass cage with a wired top. It rested on a low bench where we could watch the white mice play. It housed the pets that we all learned to love. There were several mice living in the mice family. I think they probably giggled because I was quite fascinated.. I grew up really liking little mice as long as they weren’t making a mess and destroying something inside the kitchen cabinets.

Rats are another story. I remembered visiting the projects in East Hartford. My “boss”, a kind older lady from the Salvation Army warned me strictly to be careful of the rats. They were ugly gray creatures as big as cats. Every time I visited a family there, I always went early in the morning and never when it started to get dark. In the case of rats, I did not believe that black lives matter.

I still loved white lab rats. I never heard them giggle but I am convinced they did. Many years later I dated a guy and watched him feed his boa constrictor a frozen white rat. I almost cried and the relationship ended quite quickly.

Christmas this year was rather sad for me. We are still in lockdown, and we weren’t even able to attend church on Christmas eve. We also don’t do presents. Dennis gave up trying, He claims that I can just go buy anything I need anyway. I used to think he was a Scrooge but I have gotten used to it.

After reading this article I wondered if I could get a job at the pet store tickling the mice. That would cheer me up!

But then two of my past Sunday School kids arrived and gave me a wonderful basket of goodies. Oh, how tall they have grown! The best thing was that I got to see them from a distance, and I could shout “I love you!”

I totally relate to the mice who don’t have many friends. I hope a friendly human can tickle them once in a while. The thought of that makes me smile.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22

You can’t hum while plugging your nose. True

I bet you just tried!

\ ˈhəm \

hummed; humming

Definition of hum

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1a: to utter a sound like that of the speech sound \m\ prolonged humming along with the music

b: to make the natural noise of an insect in motion or a similar sound : DRONE listening to the bees hum in the garden

c: to give forth a low continuous blend of sound the sound of children's voices with which the house was always humming— J. M. Brinnin

2a: to be busily active the museum hummed with visitors

b: to run smoothly the business started to hum

transitive verb

1: to sing with the lips closed and without uttering speech sounds distinctly hum a tune

2: to express by making a vocal sound with the lips pressed together : to affect by humming hummed his displeasure

Hum Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

Why Do People Hum? Why Do People Hum? - Why Do People

Why do people hum? If you’re like a lot of people, you also like to hum. Perhaps you hum while you do chores or while getting dressed. Instead of singing, some people hum in the shower. And what is more sentimental than a mother humming her baby to sleep? Humming is something that is natural to musically inclined people. Musicians or singers or even ordinary people who love music or like listening to it have a penchant for humming.

They’ve got a tune in their head and humming is their way of keeping the music with them. For some musicians, humming keeps them on track with a musical peace they are developing or practicing. Dancers hum when they practice without accompaniment. Choir singers hum the pitch so that they can get their parts right. A person who came from a concert hums to relive his enjoyment of what he has just watched.

Humming is a simple activity, and best of all it’s free. You just need your breath and your nose. You cannot hum comfortably if you’ve got a cold because the air needs to be exhaled through the nose to be technically considered humming. People hum when they cannot sing because they cannot carry a tune. Humming gives people pleasure and it is relaxing as well. But, if you hum in a public place, the people around you might not find it pleasing. In fact, it can be downright annoying for them. Why do people hum when they are not happy? People not only hum when they are happy but also when they feel uncomfortable or nervous. There are people who hum when they pass through a crowd of strangers. They suppose that this makes them look nonchalant or cool. Humming relieves the stress they feel and because they can’t do anything else, it’s their only recourse if they cannot chew gum or smoke to relieve their anxiety.

Have you ever watched a program where one of the actors asked a question and the other actors in the scene either hummed or whistled and avoided the eye of the asker? Humming is also used to evade direct questions. It can mean the hummer knows the answer but is not at liberty to tell. Humming villains feel cocky. Humming heroes know they are going to win. Humming Lotharios feel confident about a conquest. Humming waiters or maitre d’s probably got a good tip. A young man who hums may have gotten a good score in a game or got to date the girl he’s been after. The child who just watched a scary movie hums to give himself courage to walk through a dark alley. There are so many reasons why people hum.

Can't stop humming! Can't stop humming! | Page 5 | Neurological Disorders | Forums | Patient

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chris2

Put this under neurological as don't know where else to post it. I find myself constantly coming out with a repetitive (same few notes) hum. I think it first started when I would be finishing an arduous task but now it is frequent through the day - almost like a sort of crutch/mantra. Last week I nipped into the dentist's loo just before an appointment and realized I had been at it again. Which was embarrassing as there was someone waiting outside.

Any techniques for dealing with this? I want to stop!

9 likes, 73 replies

This website talks about people who have Tourette’s syndrome humming when they become agitated. JB will make loud humming sounds when he is upset. Just because he cannot speak doesn’t mean he doesn’t have something to say. He also makes happy humming sounds. I am listening to him at this very moment. He is awake and content knowing we will soon help him with his morning routine of showering, getting dressed and breakfast. (an egg and cheese sandwich on a hamburger bun cut in quarters.) I agree, it could be neurological.

There was even another website that claims that you can heal yourself by humming. :

Vibro-acoustics are sounds that go into our body and vibrate us on a cellular level. While all sounds that we hear, has some vibro-acoustic ability, there are specific sounds that are extremely excellent for vibrating the physical body and affecting our cells. In particular, sounds that are self-created often are the best sounds to create an internal massage, affecting our different glands, organs and bodily systems. Of all the self-created sounds, the most powerful for vibro acoustic resonance is humming.

It goes on to say humming is sacred:

In our research, we discovered an advanced form of humming that is practiced in the Hindu Yoga Tradition of Shabd Yoga, called Bhramari Pranayama. It is considered a very powerful and potent healing and transformational practice. The benefits of bhramari pranayama includes all of the above peer reviewed material we previously described as well as emotional, mental and spiritual benefits including assistance with Alzheimer’s. In the last chapter of THE HUMMING EFFECT, we hypothesis that with proper research we may find that humming is able to manifest neuro-genesis—the creation of new connections in the brain. We’ve had many anecdotal stories about this, including from people who have suffered from strokes and were able to successfully utilize humming to assist themselves. We’ve also been told of people with PTSD who have used humming to feel better and known of one well known neurologist who has his patients with PTSD hum as a healing modality.

Our first understanding about the sacred nature of the hum occurred when we were teaching together at Yogaville, an ashram founded by Swami Satchadinanda, the guru who started off the Woodstock Festival in 1968 by having half a million people chanting. We found a copy of Pantajali’s “Yoga Sutras” that had been translated by Sw. Satchadinanda. In it, he wrote about the first sound— “pranava” or the humming of prana (life energy). This humming needed a name, so they called it “OM”. Thus, according to the Hindu tradition, the first sound was a hum. This is also a phenomenon that has been validated by astrophysicists.

7 Reasons for Humming - healingsounds.com

This was a bit too much for me to handle but it was interesting.

Of course, I have already experimented to see if I can hum while holding my nose. Unless I open my mouth there is no noise. (And since a “hum” is a sound made without opening your mouth there is no hum!)

Recently I confess that I believe that Satan has been holding my nose so tight that I haven’t been able to even hum any praise . Some days are harder than others. When things are going well I can breath fresh air but when the days are long and JB has a rough day Satan grabs my nose and squeezes it so hard that there is no way I am going to praise God for anything,

Dear Lord, unplug my nose so I can breathe again. Help me to hum your praise so loudly that it becomes a joyous song! AMEN!

Psalm 96:1 Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.

A group of porcupines is called a prickle. TRUE

What do you call a group of… porcupines | Global Ideas | DW | 09.03.2015

The needle-sharp spikes on the "quill pig", as the porcupine is known in Latin, can be up to 30 centimeters long. Contrary to once common belief, they cannot actually shoot their quills in self-defense, but they do detach easily as a means of countering predators away.

Fortunately for the mother, the quills are soft when the animals are first born, but harden within just a few days. Their design, which includes overlapping barbs, makes them difficult and painful to remove.

Porcupines grow new quills if they have to lose some in order to avoid becoming dinner, but they don't go short in the meantime, as a single animal can have as many as 30,000 prickles.

Their own tastes are modest, and depending on the species, include a predilection for bark and stems, fruit, leaves and spring buds.

North and South American porcupines are particularly good climbers and spend a lot of their time up trees. They are not terribly sociable animals, and spend a lot of time foraging alone.

The porcupine, or quill pig in Latin

Forages with spikes quietly flattened

But once challenged, they rise

To skewer mouth, nose or eyes

Off predators seeking to fatten

Taxonomy[edit]

A porcupine is any of 58 species of rodents belonging to the families Erethizontidae (genera: Coendou, Erethizon, and Chaetomys) or Hystricidae (genera: Atherurus, Hystrix, and Trichys). Porcupines vary in size considerably: Rothschild's porcupine of South America weighs less than a kilogram (2.2 lb); the crested porcupine found in Italy, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa can grow to well over 27 kg (60 lb). The two families of porcupines are quite different, and although both belong to the Hystricognathi branch of the vast order Rodentia, they are not closely related.

Old World compared with New World species[edit]

The 11 Old World porcupines tend to be fairly large, and have spines grouped in clusters.

The two subfamilies of New World porcupines are mostly smaller (although the North American porcupine reaches about 85 cm or 33 in in length and 18 kg or 40 lb), have their quills attached singly rather than grouped in clusters, and are excellent climbers, spending much of their time in trees. The New World porcupines evolved their spines independently (through convergent evolution) and are more closely related to several other families of rodents than they are to the Old World porcupines.[citation needed]

Longevity[edit]

Porcupines have a relatively high longevity and have held the record for being the longest-living rodent, with one individual living to 27 years,[6] until the record was broken in 2002 by a naked mole-rat living to 28 years.[7]

Diet[edit]

The North American porcupine is a herbivore; it eats leaves, herbs, twigs, and green plants such as clover. In the winter, it may eat bark. It often climbs trees to find food.[8]

The African porcupine is not a climber and forages on the ground.[8] It is mostly nocturnal,[9] but will sometimes forage for food in the day, eating bark, roots, fruits and berries, as well as farm crops. Porcupines have become a pest in Kenya and are eaten as a delicacy.[10]

Defense[edit]

Defensive behaviour displays in a porcupine depend on sight, scent and sound. Often, these displays are shown when a porcupine becomes agitated or annoyed. There are four main displays seen in a porcupine which are quill erection, teeth clattering, emitting of odour, and attack.[11] These displays are ranked from least aggressive to most aggressive respectively. A porcupine's colouring aids in part of its defence as most of the predators are nocturnal and colour blind. A porcupine's markings are black and white. The dark body and coarse hair of the porcupine are a dark brown/black and when quills are raised, present a white strip down its back mimicking the look of a skunk. This, along with the raising of the sharp quills, deters predators. Along with the raising of the quills, porcupines clatter their teeth causing warning noise to let predators know not to come closer. The incisors vibrate against each other, the strike zone shifts back and the cheek teeth clatter. This behaviour is often paired with body shivering which is used to further display the dangerous quills.[11] The rattling of quills is aided by the hollow quills at the back end of the porcupine.[12] The use of odor is when the sight and sound have failed. An invasive scent is produced from the skin above the tail in times of stress, and is often seen with quill erection.[13] If the above processes fail, the porcupine will attack by running sideways or backwards into predators. A porcupine's tail is also able to swing in the direction of the predator. If contact is made, the quills could be impaled into the predator causing injury or death.[14]

Quills

Quills grow in varying lengths and colours, depending on the animal's age and species.

Porcupines' quills, or spines, take on various forms, depending on the species, but all are modified hairs coated with thick plates of keratin,[15] and embedded in the skin musculature. Old World porcupines have quills embedded in clusters, whereas in New World porcupines, single quills are interspersed with bristles, underfur, and hair.

Quills are released by contact or may drop out when the porcupine shakes its body. New quills grow to replace lost ones.[15][16] Porcupines were long believed to have the ability to project their quills to a considerable distance at an enemy, but this has since been proven to be untrue.[17][18]

There are some possible antibiotic properties within the quills, specifically associated with the free fatty acids coating the quills.[12] The antibiotic properties are believed to aid a porcupine that has suffered from self-injury.

Habitat

Porcupines occupy a small range of habitats in tropical and temperate parts of Asia, Southern Europe, Africa, and North and South America. They live in forests and deserts, rocky outcrops, and hillsides. Some New World porcupines live in trees, but Old World porcupines prefer a rocky environment. Porcupines can be found on rocky areas up to 3,700 m (12,100 ft) high. They are generally nocturnal, but are occasionally active during daylight.

Classification

Porcupines are distributed into two evolutionarily independent groups within the suborder Hystricomorpha of the Rodentia.[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]

Uses by humans[edit]

Porcupine guardhair headdress made by native peoples from Sonora displayed at the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City

Porcupines are seldom eaten in Western culture, but are very popular in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, where the prominent use of them as a food source has contributed to significant declines in their populations.[19][20][21]

More commonly, their quills and guardhairs are used for traditional decorative clothing. For example, their guardhairs are used in the creation of the Native American "porky roach" headdress. The main quills may be dyed, and then applied in combination with thread to embellish leather accessories such as knife sheaths and leather bags. Lakota women would harvest the quills for quillwork by throwing a blanket over a porcupine and retrieving the quills it left stuck in the blanket.[22]

The presence of barbs, acting like anchors, makes it more painful to remove a quill that has pierced the skin.[15] The shape of the barbs makes the quills more effective, both for penetrating the skin and remaining in place.[23] The quills have inspired research for such applications as the design of hypodermic needles and surgical staples.[23][24] As opposed to the current design for surgical staples, the porcupine quill and barb design would allow for easy and painless insertion as the staple would stay in the skin using the anchored barb design rather than being bent under the skin like traditional staples.[24]

The porcupine is often used as a symbol of American Libertarianism due to its natural embodiment of defensiveness and the non-aggression principle.[25]

Non-aggression principle - Wikipedia

The non-aggression principle (NAP), also called the non-aggression axiom, is a concept in which aggression, defined as initiating or threatening any forceful interference with either an individual or their property,[note 1] is inherently wrong.[1][2] It is considered by some to be a defining principle of libertarianism in the United States[3][better source needed] and is also a prominent idea in anarcho-capitalism and minarchism.[4][5][6][7] In contrast to pacifism, the NAP does not forbid forceful defense.[3][better source needed] There is no single or universal interpretation or definition of the NAP as it faces several definitional issues, including those revolving around intellectual property, force, abortion, and other topics.

I was on my to go to work on that one fine day. It was quite content because I was early. JB boarded the mini school bus almost as soon as he finished breakfast. He had a long trip in a rather round about route thorough several towns to eventually end up at school in Portsmouth. It was quite a trip for JB who was only 5 at the time! I loved my job as an educational aide in our elementary school so I usually left just minutes after JB’s bus was on its way. It was about a ten minute drive along a country road. There was a stream on one side and we would often have to stop to allow a snapping turtle to cross the street. On this day in late Spring it wasn’t a turtle . I was glad I wasn’t speeding because just as I made a turn in the road I looked at a strange creature making its way across the road. I couldn’t tell what it was at first but as I drove closer I could see that it was a porcupine. I stopped and watched as it slowly toddled off in front of me without any sign of concern or fear. I was thankful I wasn’t holding up any traffic. A few minutes later it was gone! It had completely disappeared. I had no idea what to do. Should I just assume it was safe to continue on my way? I briefly thought of quills sticking out of my front tires. Finally I decided to slowly open my door to see if I could determine where it was. Carefully I opened it a few inches and as I looked down there were two little eyes staring right at me! Yipes! I closed the door fast and prayed it would continue on it’s way. I had never seen a porcupine up close before. My first thought was even though it looked prickly it actually was quite interesting and not by any means scary. I decided that this quite adorable creature had been sadly given a bum rap. A few minutes later it ambled off into the bushes on the opposite side.

This makes me think that it’s OK if I am prickly from time to time. You can even call me a porcupine! But, I am never aggressive. It this day and age that’s a good thing!

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,

And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city. Proverbs 16:32

The Mongolians invented lemonade TRUE!

Encyclopedia of Trivia: Lemonade (encyclopaediaoftrivia.blogspot.com)

The Mongolians invented lemonade around 1299 A.D. It swiftly became the Mongol emperor's favorite drink.

Wu Lai who lived during the 1271-1368 Yuan dynasty wrote a ditty entitled "Lemon Hot Water Song' (i.e. a song in praise of hot lemonade).

Lemonade became popular in Paris in 1630 when the price of sugar fell. Soon mixtures of water and lemon juice sweetened with honey were being peddled to thirsty Parisians. These first soft drink sellers carried large containers on their backs from which they sold cups of lemonade.

The Compagnie de Limonadier was formed in 1676 and given a monopoly for the sale of lemonade.

Rather than drinking wine, King George III of the United Kingdom preferred a lemonade called "cup."

President Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) and his wife Lucretia did not drink alcoholic beverages. The First Lady instead served lemonade and other non-alcoholic drinks at the White House, earning herself the nickname "Lemonade Lucy."

An American, Hiram Cod, invented a gas-tight bottle that preserved the fizz in lemonade in 1875. Cod only manufactured non-alcoholic drinks, so because "wallop" was at the time a slang term for beer, the phrase “Cod’s wallop” started being used to describe drinks that do not contain alcohol.

A new type of alcoholic drink, known as Alcopops, was launched in Australia and the United Kingdom in 1996. The first two drinks to be sold were Two Dogs and Hoopers, both alcoholic lemonade drinks made in Australia and they achieved sales in Britain of over 100 million in less than a year after their launch.

The 'Lemonade' title of Beyonce's 2016 album was taken from a speech Jay Z's grandmother, Hattie White, at her 90th birthday party: "I've had my ups and downs, but I always find the inner strength to pull myself up. I was served lemons, but I made lemonade."

People consume lemonade in the summer because drinks with sour flavors make us salivate, helping to alleviate a dry mouth.

There is more real lemon juice in Lemon Pledge furniture polish than in Country Time Lemonade.

MORE ABOUT LEMONS

Encyclopedia of Trivia: Lemon (encyclopaediaoftrivia.blogspot.com)

Lemon

Lemons are thought to have first grown in Assam (a region in northeast India), northern Burma or China.

The very first uses for the lemon in the Mediterranean were as an ornamental plant in early Islamic gardens.

The habit of serving a slice of lemon with fish started in medieval western Europe. This was because it was believed that if a person accidentally swallowed a fish bone, the lemon juice would dissolve it.

The lemon was introduced to the Americas in 1493 when Christopher Columbus brought lemon seeds to Hispaniola on his voyages.

The surgeon who discovered lemons could prevent scurvy, James Lind, had a last name that derived from the Old Norse for "lime tree."

The British Royal Navy started providing a daily ration of lime or lemon juice to all its men to protect them from scurvy in the late 1700s. As a result some Americans started nicknaming British sailors "limeys", as this was a current term used for both lemons and limes.

The world's heaviest lemon was grown by farmer Aharon Shemoel on his farm in Kefar Zeitim, Israel in 2003. The mighty citrus fruit weighed 5.265 kg (11 lb 9.7 oz).

70 per cent of a lemon is sugar compared with 40 per cent of a strawberry. It’s citric acid that makes a lemon taste so sour.

Lemon juice is 5-6% citric acid—much more than most fruit or vegetable juice—which is what gives lemons their distinct and tart taste.

As lemon juice is used to make invisible ink, a man once tried to rob a bank thinking he was invisible by putting lemon juice on his face.

One lemon tree will produce about 1,500 lemons a year.

Martha Stewart brings her own fresh lemons when she travels, "just in case they don't have them on the plane."

Lemons will repel spiders.

Source Food For Thought by Ed Pearce

Posted by Ed Pearce at 08:00

OTHER STUFF

What is pink lemonade made of?

Pink lemonade is just regular lemonade with red or pink dye. The beverage consists of lemon juice, sugar, water, and either natural or artificial coloring.

Is lemonade a juice?

Lemonade is technically a juice cocktail, not a juice. This is because it contains lemon juice but is not primarily composed of it. Lemonade is just ... lemonade.

Is lemonade a healthy drink?

Generally, no. The lemon juice and water are totally fine, but commercial brands pack a lot of added white processed sugar into lemonade to cut the tartness of the lemon. It's certainly refreshing, but lemonade and juice should not be regularly consumed.

What is the healthiest lemonade brand?

Making it at home from scratch is your best chance at making a lemonade that even skirts being healthy. You need to significantly reduce the amount of sugar in the drink, so opt for a homemade concoction of water, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and a little bit of sugar or other sweetener.

The Fascinating History of Lemonade | HowStuffWorks

All of us can probably remember hosting or helping to host a lemonade stand at one time or another. I can remember one successful enterprise that the Willy Whiffle Club took part in. The Willy Whiffle Club was created by several kids, the oldest being in the 6th grade. All of us lived on Jones Avenue in Randolph, MA. The girls had started their own club called the Polly Pigtails. We decided we needed the boys to join in the fun, so they created their own club. Of course, as we were almost teens, we thought it was necessary for both clubs to work together to sponsor social activities. Most of these activities, mainly dances, were held in the basement at my house. My parents were always close by. The lemonade stand was created to raise funds for the refreshments. The street was close to a bus stop and the bus to and from Boston had an hourly route. The homemade lemonade was in pitchers filled with ice cubes. The McCrory family (they had 12 kids) had donated it. I don’t remember the exact cost for each paper cup full, but it was a warm day and we made enough to buy potato chips and coke for the dance.

I suppose this endeavor would seem too juvenile for the 6th graders today. Those were, indeed, the good old days when kids didn’t have to grow up so fast and even though we were strong Baptists, and the McCrory kids were Catholic we shared the same moral compass, and our parents were strict. The cow bell Mrs. McGrory rang every night could be heard in every house in the neighborhood. We all knew it was time to run home and it was time for supper!

Those were the days when we believed in the saying, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I’ve found several new ideas:

When life gives you lemons

Throw them back really really hard.

Make orange juice then leave the world wondering how you did it.

Construct a crude chemical battery.

Grab tequila and salt.

Learn to juggle.

Take it, it’s free. (My favorite.)

Most of all, Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

Michelangelo Hated Painting and Wrote a Poem About It Sort of -He hated painting the Sistine Chapel, but he didn’t always hate painting.

Camel milk does not curdle True

www.qries.com/Why-do-you-think-that-camel-milk-doesn-t-curdle

Due to its composition, camel milk does not curdle naturally and won't COAGULATE AS EASILY AS OTHER TYPES OF MILK. THIS IS A RESULT OF ITS UNIQUE CASEIN micelles, the multi-molecular structure formed by caseins and held together by calcium.

Exploring the Dromedary: Camels and Their Milk

•By Layla Eplett on January 23, 2013

This may be news to many as it is a general notion that milk curdles. The simple answer to this is that the camel milk does not curdle because of its composition. Camel milk is thrice the higher in vitamin C than cow's milk and 10 times higher in iron. Camel's milk is also high in unsaturated fatty acids and B vitamins but lower in vitamin A and B2 (than cow milk).

Talking about its composition, it depends on its feed and species: Bactrian milk has a higher fat content than dromedary milk. Due to its composition, camel milk does not curdle naturally and won't coagulate as easily as other types of milk. This is a result of its unique casein micelles, the multi-molecular structure formed by caseins and held together by calcium.

All of this becomes tricky when making camel cheese because the structure of the protein in camel milk differs from cows, goats, sheep, and other animals commonly used to produce cheese.

Many ruminants discontinue lactating in harsh climatic environments. However, camels continue to produce highly diluted milk containing over 90% water. Due to extreme drought conditions, dromedary does not sweat, they maintain a regular body temperature without the need to perspire and can also lose up to 30 percent of their weight from water loss.

Surprising facts about Camel's Milk:

Its proteins and limited ability to coagulate is beneficial for Type 1 diabetics.

Camel’s milk stays without getting sour longer than cow’s milk when refrigerated, and because of the heat of the desert, it doesn’t spoil very soon and doesn’t curdle at all on its own.

It sours and it can be made easily into ice cream to keep longer, with a little-added fat and not too much added sugar, due to its natural sweetness. It doesn’t just keep but it keeps for a year and a half.

Different products made from camel milk include assorted flavors of ice cream, different varieties of camel milk chocolates, camel milk cheese, camel milk cappuccinos, known as camelccinos, creme camelmel (a modified classic dessert) and much more.

Great facts about camel's milk:

•cheese making from the camel’s milk is more difficult than other domestic animals, even some researcher says it is not possible to make cheese from camel’s milk. Streptococcus lactis is the name of the bacteria responsible for making cheese form the milk. But camel’s milk did not get affected by this bacterium, this also explains why camel’s milk doesn’t curdle.

•it is watery so naturally low in fat and easy to digest.

•It also has five times more vitamin c and low in fat so it's good reason to have camel’s milk.

Although the camel has a well-established reputation as a beast of burden, it also plays a lesser known but vital role within pastoral societies: milk producer. Many ruminants discontinue lactating in harsh climatic environments. However, camels continue to produce highly diluted milk containing over 90% water. Extreme drought conditions are no sweat for the dromedary--they maintain a regular body temperature without the need to perspire and can also lose up to 30 percent of their weight from water loss.

Camels are also adaptable feeders; their ability to digest dry matter and fiber allows them to eat a broad range of plants including thorny bushes and cacti. These traits, along with the camel’s ability to continue to produce a reliable source of nutrition in challenging environments, has led to an increased emphasis on camel milk’s potential to improve food security in drought prone regions.

In addition to increasing food security, the camel could possibly become the dairy industry’s cash cow. Historically, camel milk has mainly been traded in informal markets but there has been interest in expanding camel its role in formal economies. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has recognized camel milk’s economic value. With proper implementation, the UN FAO estimates its potential within the global market to be 10 billion dollars.

In order to expand this market, companies have introduced a diverse range of products that offer modern interpretations of this traditional drink. Camel milk cappuccinos, known as camelccinos, are on one coffee shop’s menu in Dubai. Other camel milk based products include assorted flavors of ice cream and different varieties of camel milk chocolates.

Of all the products, camel milk cheese may have presented the biggest challenge in its creation. There are a few basic steps in cheesemaking, beginning with milk selection. If it is pasteurized, a form of bacteria is added; this is unnecessary with raw milk because bacteria are already present. Then the milk is combined with rennet, an enzyme found in the lining of the stomachs of mammals. Rennin, the proteolytic enzyme found within rennet, alters the soluble proteins in milk known as caseins. This results in coagulation and curdling; the substances separate and the majority of caseins, milk solids, and fat form curds and the remaining liquid becomes whey. Finally, the whey is drained off and the curds are formed into cheese.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/exploring-the-dromedairy-camels-and-their-milk/

The biblical evidence (That There were Camels before Christ was born.) found in camels - creation.com

The first mention of camels in Scripture is in Genesis 12, after Pharaoh took Sarai into his palace. “He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels” (12:16). Job, widely regarded as living around the same time as Abram, had 3,000 camels at the beginning of the book, and twice as many at the end. He lived in Uz, which was in Arabia.

So, the biblical evidence is that there were camels in Arabia around 2000 BC, and that Pharaoh had some too. This matches what we see from the archaeological record. A paper titled ‘The Camel in Ancient Egypt’ stated, “The proposed time of camel entry into Egypt after its domestication in Arabia was found between 2500 and 1400 BC”.2 So not only did domesticated camels exist, they were in Egypt when Abraham was there. So, this fits the biblical account perfectly.

Interpreting the evidence.

There is a long and glorious history of archaeologists claiming that what they see out at their dig sites contradicts the Bible, only to be proved wrong as later discoveries come to light.

So, we know that there were domesticated camels in Arabia and Egypt in Abraham’s day. And the Bible says that Abraham got his camels from Pharaoh. So why would there be no evidence of camels in Canaan for nearly 1,000 years?

For one thing, perhaps they weren’t yet common enough in Canaan to leave the sort of evidence that the study was looking for. If they were relegated to a few princes wealthy enough to import exotic pack animals, then we wouldn’t expect their bones to be all over the place.

For another, it is common to overestimate the amount of physical evidence available from that far back. The further back in time one tries to investigate, the more evidence has been destroyed. These archaeologists (and the breathless media even more) seem to have forgotten the principle that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

I must admit that I never really thought of camels being milk producers, especially in the Bible. I pictured the wisemen riding on camels following the star of Bethlehem.

Camels and the Bible - creation.com

creation.com/camels

Genesis 32:15 also mentions milking camels”. 15 thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.” I must have missed that!

I am thinking back and remembering that after JB had spent unbearable days and nights crying, the doctor had discovered that cow’s milk was the cause. We tried him on a soy-based baby formula and discovered he was allergic to soy. We eventually had to order a special formula from the drug store and later we had to give him goats milk. Praise God he is able to drink cow’s milk now, in fact he loves it so much we recently decided to only buy 1% fat.

Believe it or not, Amazon sells camel’s milk! A fresh, 1 pint bottle cost over $100.00! Surprisingly, It’s from a dairy in the US.

Camel Milk: Nutrition Facts, Risks & Benefits | Live Science

While camel milk won’t likely be battling for shelf space with cow’s milk in the dairy section of your local supermarket any time soon, it is becoming a hot commodity. Some experts cite properties that they say may help fight a number of diseases, including diabetes, cancer, shingles, and autism. It is also easier to digest than cow’s milk, making it popular among the lactose intolerant.

While the FDA has approved the consumption of camel milk in the United States, imports are restricted, and there are only about 3,000 camels in the United States, according to Dr. Millie Hinkle, founder of the American Camel Association and Camel Milk USA, which conducts research on camel milk industry. There are a few camel dairy farms in the United States, including Troyer Family Farm and Oasis Camel Dairy.

Wow! Could it heal autism? Research based evidence suggests that camel milk is rich in certain kind of anti-biotic which can essentially be beneficial to an autistic child. Parents who have fed their autistic children with camel milk have reported several benefits. These benefits include better sleeps, increased level of motor planning abilities, improved spatial awareness, more frequent eye contact, better language learning abilities and also at the same time it creates less gastrointestinal problems for the autistic children. Is Camel Milk a Cure for Autism in Children? (parentinghealthybabies.com)

Maybe I need to start a go fund me page! No, I will just trust God. He knows everything and even if JB needs camel’s milk He will make a way!

Luke 1:37

37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Snails can sleep for 3 years TRUE!

Poison ivy isn’t really ivy and poison oak isn’t oak. They are both members of the cashew family. TRUE!

More turkeys are raised in California than in any other state in the United States. Up for grabs!

Which US State Raises The Most Turkeys? - WorldAtlas

Turkey is one of the most popular types of poultry in the United States. The bird is synonymous with the season of Thanksgiving where turkey is a staple for many American families. The United States produces an estimated 240 million turkeys each year, with production peaking in the 1990s. Turkey farming is an activity embraced by many poultry farmers found all over the country. Arkansas, Minnesota, and California are among the major turkey-producing states in the country.

Which US State Raises The Most Turkeys?

Minnesota

Minnesota is the number-one state in rearing turkeys in the United States. There are an estimated 44 million turkeys reared around the state. Turkey farming in Minnesota is a family tradition which transcends several generations. There are about 450 families in the state which are involved in turkey rearing. Millions of pounds of turkey are ordered from these farmers each year, with orders peaking during Thanksgiving.

Arkansas

Another leading turkey rearing state is Arkansas. There are an estimated 26 million turkeys in the state. The annual turkey production in the state is about 560 million pounds and valued at $370 million. Turkey rearing in Arkansas is largely practiced in the northern and central regions of the state. The turkey industry in Arkansas is however not limited to turkey rearing but the entire value-addition chain. The industry employs more than 12,000 people in the state, with the vast majority being involved in the supply and ancillary sectors.

California

California is also another key player in turkey rearing in the United States. The state is home to an estimated 10.9 million turkeys. The state is also one of the leading producers of turkey products in the country. Turkey farmers in California are known for their organic ways of rearing the birds which make them attract great interest from consumers. The state is home to some well-known turkey farms such as Pitman Family Farms and Foster Farms (which supplied the Thanksgiving turkey to the White House). The California Poultry Federation reported a 5% increase in turkey consumption in the state in five years between 2006 and 2010.

Trends In Turkey Consumption

Turkey consumption in the United States is steadily increasing in recent years, after years of market shrinking. According to the National Turkey Federation, the average annual consumption of turkey per capita in the country is about 17 pounds. However, another recent trend in turkey consumption seen in the United States is the preference of frozen turkey found in supermarkets. As much as 69% of turkey consumers in the country prefer consuming frozen turkey than fresh turkey from the farm. The main reason behind the preference of frozen turkey is the price. Another trend seen in turkey consumption in the country is the preference of organically bred turkey with consumers going great lengths to establish the rearing processes involved in the production of turkey. While producers usually place labels on packed turkey claiming to be organic, such labels could be misleading as many farmers feed their birds on genetically modified feeds and inject them with hormones. Authentic organic turkey only comes from certified organic ranches which are known for their strict organic farming practices.

Which US State Raises The Most Turkeys?

RankStateNumber of Turkeys Raised (Millions, 2016)

1Minnesota44

2North Carolina33

3Arkansas26

4Indiana20

5Missouri19.7

6Iowa11.7

7California10.9

8Pennsylvania7

9Ohio5.6

10Michigan5.3

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OK, how many of you read the fact on this cap and had thought of politics? Come on, fess up! I won’t go there!

This reminds me that turkeys are supposedly stupid. (Which probably makes being called a “dumb turkey” a real insult.) I checked out this article from The Washington Post

Are turkeys really the dumbest animals?

The Washington Post

Are the turkeys on your Thanksgiving dinner plates really the dumbest animals in the world?

Given that sponges and jellyfish are animals, and they don’t have as much as a single brain cell, the answer would seem to be no, but let’s just look at the the universe of animals with brains, however tiny.

In this world, it is commonly said that the domesticated turkey is the dumbest animal on the planet. This unofficial designation has resulted not only from the turkey’s widely spaced eyes and clumsy walking style that suggest it is dim-witted, but from its supposed propensity for behavior that can be fatal (which, given some human behavior, shouldn’t be the only metric here). This refers to its propensity to stare at the sky for more than half a minute at a time, even when it is pouring, an act that could, potentially, lead to drowning. As it turns out, that is an inherited condition, not an act of stupidity, and no, turkeys don’t really drown from it.

In fact, the Discovery Channel defends the turkey in this passage:

Due to an inherited condition called tetanic torticollar spasms, turkeys often stare at the sky for 30 seconds or more — even if it’s raining — giving the impression that they are “dumb.” Also, turkeys often tilt their heads because they have monocular vision. Their eyes are placed far apart, so they cannot focus both eyes on one image like humans can. To compensate, they tilt their heads to the side to get a better view. Turkeys are not dumb — instead they’re very social with each other and with humans.

Animal Planet isn’t so kind, calling them “confused,” but Benjamin Franklin called them “birds of courage” and thought the wild turkey should be the official animal of the United States, not the bald eagle. There is a difference between the wild turkey and those that are domesticated, but turkey enthusiasts (and I don’t mean those people who like them best on a plate) say that all turkeys are curious animals with individual personalities.

Last year we looked out our bedroom window one afternoon and saw at least 10 wild turkeys sitting on top of our car in the driveway! I wonder if they have a higher IQ? Here’s what I read about the difference.....

a Domesticated turkey vs. wild turkey: what's the… | Grand View Outdoors

Domestication has resulted in turkeys that are larger, heavier and more docile. These domesticated turkeys produce more meat at a younger age. Currently there are a number of domestic turkey breeds including the Broad Breasted White, the favorite bird of commercial turkey farmers (and very likely the bird that lands upon your Thanksgiving plate between the sweet potatoes and cranberry jelly), the Broad Breasted Bronze, Bourbon White, Narragansett and Spanish Black. The latter derived from the first birds brought to Spain. These modern birds found in American supermarkets represent a mix of genetics from the original turkeys first brought to this country by European settlers and captured native birds. So, how closely are domesticated, store-bought turkeys related to their wild turkey cousins?

Domestication quickly alters the genetics of any species since natural selection is no longer the primary driving force and selective breeding for desirable traits becomes the primary objective. Rather than the strong-flying, wary, lean birds which formed the basis of wild populations, domestic birds were bred to be docile and heavy. While both wild and domestic turkeys share similar DNA, they are two very different birds indeed. Laws prevent farmers from releasing their birds into the wild, primarily out of fear that domestic birds could spread disease to wild populations.

For generations, wild turkeys have adapted to survive in the wild. They can find food, sort out the best roosting locations, build nests, and—perhaps most importantly—they are evolved to avoiding predation. Domestic turkeys stand little chance against wild predators like coyotes and bobcats and, as such, these liberated pen-raised birds usually meet a quick end in the wild.

Though the domestic turkey is related to its wild cousin, they are many, many times removed. You can’t compare the rather dim-witted modern farm bird to their wilder relatives. The silver lining? Thanks to thousands of years of domestication, you won’t have to go hungry on Thanksgiving if a big gobbler fools you in the woods.

So, what did I learn? First of all, turkeys live in many different states. I don’t think they have a different dialect. If they live in California or Boston they still say “gobble gobble.”

I also think that they have had a bad rap. They are not stupid, but they may be lazy. Their wild cousins have been forced to work for their food so they are much more creative in finding ways to stay alive and well.

So if someone calls me a turkey, that’s really not so bad but I hope I am a wild one. Even if Satan is a predator I am safe. because God still has work for me to do.

Psalm 128:2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

•

Cats can hear ultrasound TRUE

Check out Animal Hearing Abilities | hear.com

Can you hear the sound of clouds? Elephants can

When you look at elephants, one of the first things you notice are their enormous ears (well, everything’s enormous, but their ears are particularly impressive). Predictably enough, these ears allow their owners to achieve some incredible auditory feats.

Because of the architecture of their ears and ear canals, elephants are able to pick up what are called “infrasound” waves. That is, sound waves which are much longer than the frequencies humans can hear. If humans could hear them, they would sound like low rumbles, or a kind of meaningless hiss. For elephants, this ability enables them to be sensitive to the movement of clouds. They can physically hear when rain clouds are gathering, so they know when to head for water sources.

For bats, echolocation makes darkness irrelevant

When humans go blind, their hearing becomes doubly important, allowing them to get around more easily and detect obstacles. But, no matter how sensitive human hearing becomes, it never approaches the amazing abilities of bats.

Bats famously use something called “echolocation” to locate their prey and get around the nocturnal world. They do so by creating high frequency noises, which bounce off anything they hit, then return to the bat’s ears. Even though their brains are tiny, these amazing creatures use the echoes to create a map of their environment, enabling them to fly flawlessly through the dark.

Recently, scientists have found another amazing thing about bats. Their hearing systems seem to extend to the hairs on their wings. These wings are covered with what are known as “Merkel hairs”, which are ultra-sensitive to air movements. As the bat flies, they can pick up approaching objects and relay this information to the brain.

Dolphins use water to their auditory advantage

You might think that the ocean would pose impossible challenges for hearing, and the mass of water certainly has forced nature to improvise. But dolphins in particular have met the challenge in style, developing a similar echolocation system which rivals bats in its complexity and sensitivity.

In the case of dolphins, they create powerful sonic pulses from their foreheads. These sounds are directed at their target, whether that’s a rock, a ship, or a shoal of tasty fish. When they reflect back, they are “received” by the jaw of the dolphin, and then relayed back to the brain, via auditory nerves that are much broader than those of human beings.

Household pets are auditory champions as well

For cats, the priority is hearing sounds at high frequencies (like mice trying to hide in bushes). That’s why their ears are designed to funnel high frequency sounds from 40-50 meters away. And this is also why experts think that exposing them to amplified music can be damaging.

Dogs are slightly different. They have more sensitive ears than humans, but aren’t quite as sensitive to high frequencies as cats. Instead, they are brilliant at locating and focusing on sounds, due to highly developed muscles around their ears. That’s why you’ll see their ears pick up and rotate when danger is near – something us humans cannot do.

Super acute hearing is obviously not one of my inherited traits. My mom had difficulty hearing in one ear when she got older. She never had a hearing aide. I expect that would have been too expensive, or perhaps her pride got in the way. My dad had perfect hearing but it was selective. I tend to have inherited both. I suffered last year for months with a clogged ear from sinus trouble. One day in November it unplugged itself and it was marvelous to hear again. I have learned that being selective in what I hear keeps me calmer. JB may not speak, but he is loud. I have learned to be selective. I can usually tell if the noise is just his shouting to stretch his vocal cords or if there is a legitimate reason for the noise. I also have perfect pitch, which was a real help when I was singing or playing the clarinet. Now it isn’t much help. Sometimes it’s a disadvantage.

JB, on the other hand, has such acute hearing that rain showers sometimes make him cover his ears. He once told us the water running in the pipes in the wall of his bedroom was keeping him awake at night. Recently he told us that he can hear the birds outside a long time before he can see them out the window. And then, there’s the train that whizzes by on its tracks only a few feet from his bedroom window. I discovered if I play music on a mini google speaker tucked just outside his door it helps him through the night. The selection varies. His favorites are Anthony Burger performing hymns on the piano, Praise hymns, especially Terry Maccalmon , and sometimes a Country hymns channel. I may choose to lower the volume depending on the selection(mainly country) , so I am not able to hear it down the hall.

During the past year our ears have been tuned in to so many ideas and comments on just what we need to do to survive this terrible pandemic. I admit that I tend to have selective hearing and I often turn off much of the comments and suggestions that are blaring from our TV news broadcasts. It is really difficult to decide the real truth.

I pray that this will be our pray:

Let me listen to what God, the LORD, says; for the LORD will promise peace to his people, to his holy ones; may they not return to foolishness. Psalm 85:8 International Standard Version

Zero is the only number that can’t be represented as a roman numeral True

How Do You Write Zero in Roman Numerals? The Romans had no symbol for zero. Their number system was NOT based on place value. If they wished to express the concept ‘nothing’ they would use the word “nullus”. The first evidence we have of the use of zero is in India.

How to Write Zero in Roman Numerals - Teaching Roman Numerals (all-about-roman-numerals.com)

So, if 0 means nothing, is it a really a number?

0 is the integer immediately preceding 1. Zero is an even number because it is divisible by 2 with no remainder. 0 is neither positive nor negative, or both positive and negative. Many definitions include 0 as a natural number, in which case it is the only natural number that is not positive. Zero is a number which quantifies a count or an amount of null size. In most cultures, 0 was identified before the idea of negative things (i.e., quantities less than zero) was accepted.

Wikipedia · Text under CC-BY-SA license

Talk about confusing! Well, it is for my brain that does not comprehend mathematics! It gets even more confusing!

A real number is a rational or irrational number, and is a number which can be expressed using decimal expansion. Usually when people say "number", they usually mean "real number". The official symbol for real numbers is a bold R, or a blackboard bold .[1][2][3]

Some real numbers are called positive. A positive number is "bigger than zero". Real numbers can be thought of as an infinitely long ruler. There is a mark for zero and every other number, in order of size. Unlike a physical ruler, there are numbers below zero. These are called negative real numbers. Negative numbers are "smaller than zero". They are like a mirror image of the positive numbers, except that they are given minus signs (–) so that they are labeled differently from the positive numbers. Real number - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, there really is a number smaller than 0! That’s encouraging!

Have you ever felt like a real zero? I found this lively tune while searching Google. I guess you can feel like a zero at any age.

“Zero” is a song by Imagine Dragons for the film, Ralph Breaks the Internet. The song acts as the lead track from the film’s soundtrack alongside songs by Daft Punk and will.i.am, among others. The song also acts as the second track released in preparation for their fourth studio album, Origins.

Under a joyful and upbeat facade, the song speaks of the hardships and struggles one has faced since his or her early days. It reminisces over the thought that they are never enough for anyone and won’t amount to anything. Subtle references of suicide and depression are found throughout the entirety of the song.”

I find it hard to say the things I want to say the most

Find a little bit of steady as I get close

Find a balance in the middle of the chaos

Send me low, send me high, send me never demigod

I remember walking in the cold of November

Hoping that I make it to the end of December

27 years and the end on my mind

But holding to the thought of another time

[Pre-Chorus]

But looking to the ways of the ones before me

Looking for the path of the young and lonely

I don't wanna hear about what to do

I don’t wanna do it just to do it for you

Hello, hello

Let me tell you what it's like to be a zero, zero

Let me show you what it's like to always feel, feel

Like I’m empty and there's nothing really real, real

I'm looking for a way out

Hello, hello

Let me tell you what it's like to be a zero, zero

Let me show you what it's like to never feel, feel

Like I'm good enough for anything that's real, real

I'm looking for a way out

Imagine Dragons – Zero Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

I must confess that at my old age I have gone through times when I really did feel useless, especially during the pandemic. My voice has gotten gravelly from my BP medication. I am no longer a soprano. There are no more Sandi Patty songs in my repertoire. I haven’t been able to teach Sunday School in person. I have resorted to sending monthly crafts and Bible story sheets to the class in the mail. The number has increased because the kids are growing fast. I no longer cook. Microwaves were made for old ladies who have tiny kitchens and no place to store pots and pans. There are some days when I wonder why the Lord is keeping me here. But there are some things I can do! Of course, I am still a mom for JB, and a wife (even though I am sure there are times when Dennis prays without ceasing that I will stop being a grouch.) I can still write, and I can still pray. I can still be an encourager. I can still be a light in the darkness. And so, I constantly pray for God’s power and grace. You can never be a zero if God is walking beside you.

I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose--I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.] Philippines 4:13 Amplified Bible

The planet 55 Cancri e is made of diamonds and is worth $26 trillion. True, but it may be worth even more! But….

Sailors once thought that wearing gold earrings improved their eyesight True

From Blackbeard to Jack Sparrow, pirates, and sailors of old are often depicted wearing earrings. But the gold hoops weren't just swashbuckling fashion statements they served several useful purposes.

Seamen proudly sported earrings as a mark of their travels and voyages. Earrings were given to young sailors to commemorate their first crossing of the equator, or when they rounded the treacherous waters of Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America.

Earrings were also worn for superstitious reasons. Some pirates were convinced that wearing an earring would improve or even cure bad eyesight, as they believed that the precious metals in an earring possessed magical healing powers. Another tale was that pierced ears would prevent seasickness. Others believed that a gold earring served as a protective talisman and that a man wearing an earring wouldn't drown.

This, of course, often proved to be false. But earrings made of silver or gold were worth enough to pay for a sailor's funeral if his body washed ashore. Some seamen even engraved the name of their home port on the inside of the earring so that their bodies could be sent to their families for a proper burial. If a man died on a ship, the earrings helped to cover the cost of transporting his body home so that he wouldn't be buried at sea or on foreign soil.

Why Did Pirates Wear Earrings? | Live Science

I guess I should wear my gold hoop earrings more often!

I checked out a few other old wives tales some of us still believe.

25 Crazy Old Wives' Tales People Still Believe | Best Life (bestlifeonline.com)

-if you pull out a grey hair two more will appear in its place.

Somehow the world has been duped into believing that pulling out a single grey hair will result in the creation of several more—but luckily, this isn't the case. As cosmetic scientist Randy Schueller explained to TODAY: "There's no harm in plucking a gray hair… What you do to one follicle doesn't affect its neighbors."

-sitting too close to the television screen will make you go blind.

Though today this old wives' tale is entirely erroneous, there actually was once a time when sitting too close to your television set could harm your health. Evidently, General Electric produced color TVs back in the 1960s that emitted up to 100,000 times more radiation than federal health officials considered to be safe—and while the television sets were recalled almost immediately, the superstition remains.

-eating chocolate causes acne.

Though some studies have proven there to be a link between increased chocolate consumption and breakouts, most experts believe that this relationship only exists because of the ingredients in the chocolate—like sugar and dairy—and not the chocolate itself.

-eating carrots will improve your eyesight.

While carrots do contain nutrients, like Vitamin A, that are beneficial for maintaining eye health, they're not the corneal salve many believe them to be. It was actually during World War II that the link between carrots and eyesight became so widespread—and the inspiration for the rumor was never related to health.

Originally, this rumor took hold when Royal Air Force fighter ace John Cunningham became the first person to shoot down an enemy plane (using automatic targeting) in the dead of night. British officials facetiously credited the pilot's success to eating carrots in order to fool the Germans. Later, the carrot-eyesight link further gained validity in the public eye when sugar supplies became scarce and, as such, the British Ministry of Food made a push for more vegetables and fewer sweets, with cartoons like "Dr. Carrot" gracing advertisements and billboards everywhere.

-spilling salt brings bad luck.

The notion that spilling salt will bring bad luck actually dates back to the 15th century. If you look closely at Leonardo da Vinci's painting "The Last Supper," you'll see that there is a pile of spilled salt near the crook of Judas Iscariot's arm, presumed to have been knocked over by the traitor's elbow. Thusly, spilling salt is associated with bad fortune and corruption, and the action is even said to invite the Devil in (even though the lot of that is entirely superstition and not based in fact whatsoever).

And as for the "throwing the salt over your left shoulder" aspect of this old wives' tale? Well, it is believed that the Devil himself stands over your left shoulder, and that throwing salt that way will blind him and prevent him from taking over your body after you accidentally invited him in with the spillage.

-you can pick up a penny on the sidewalk for good luck.

We've all heard the superstitious saying: "Find a penny, pick it up. All day long, you'll have good luck." But where did it come from? A long time ago, it was thought that metals were gifts from the gods, sent down as a form of protection. And seeing as pennies are made of copper—a metal—the currency became associated with good luck. Now, it's a simple old wives' tale.

I wish I could say that I never was superstitious or that I never believed something that sounded stupid and ridiculous, but I tried it anyway. I still don’t like Friday the 13th for no real reason other that it has a bad reputation. I am even more embarrassed when I admit that when I was in my late 20’s a few months after going through a heartbreaking divorce, I planted a whole onion in a pot and chanted incantations over it every night hoping a handsome suitor would fall madly in love with me and whisk me away. Weeks later the guy became engaged to someone else. I had briefly (very briefly, praise God!)become interested in the occult and the spell over the onion was supposed to work if you whispered the spell diligently every night.

Does that shock you? I was alone, caring for a 5-year-old daughter. My church had sided with my ex. For a few months I dabbled in the occult until on one Saturday night God woke me up and spoke to me quite loudly. I can still hear Him as he asked, “Sharon Lee! What are you doing with your life?” I took a taxi and attended church the following day. I had learned true faith is who or what you turn to and that the truth that Jesus is the resurrection, and the life never changes, no matter what I was believing at the time.

Colossians 2:8 ESV

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Colossians 2:8-10

The Message

8-10 Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.

A lemon has more sugar than a strawberry Yes and No

We can say that the strawberries and lemons are the world’s healthiest foods. Both these fruits contain low amount of sugar that is helpful, as our body needs a certain amount of sugar. A lemon contains 70% sugar and strawberry contain only 40% of sugar.

The reason that the lemon tastes sour even having more sugar than the strawberry is that the lemon contains a high amount of citric acid, usually 3% to 6%, that dominated the sweet taste of the lemon and results in the sour taste. The strawberry has less sugar than lemon but there is no acid content present in the strawberry, and therefore it tastes sweet.

People may think that high amount of sugar in a lemon may cause obesity, but a lemon has many medicinal properties. Also, strawberries contain a high amount of carbohydrates in the form of starch, but it also has many health benefits.

If we keep aside low amount of sugar that is present in both the fruits and just evaluate their nutritive values, we will find that the health benefits that they provide are much more than the amount of sugar present in them.

Did you know- Lemons contain more sugar than strawberries

| PHARMA SYNTH FORMULATIONS LTD.

Now. that makes sense and I probably would have accepted that without any reason of doubt yes, this is true, but then I found more information. So, like many solutions in my life I discovered that there were other circumstances that needed consideration. Just when I was feeling great relief and pride in figuring out the answer, I discovered another tidbit of information that could possibly change the result.

Lemons Contain more Sugar than Strawberries? | culinarylore.com

All carbohydrates are not sugars, and some of that extra carbohydrate in lemons is fiber. Strawberries contain 2 grams of dietary fiber per 100 grams while lemons contain 2.8 grams. Taking the math, a bit further, we find 3.7 grams of complex carbohydrates (not sugars) in lemons and 1.1 in strawberries. So, while it is true that lemons contain more carbohydrates than strawberries, they do not contain more simple sugars.

So, now I suppose it gets complicated.

I think back to an exciting time in my life when I was a substitute teacher in the elementary school in our town. I loved the job and I also loved the extra volunteer hours working in the school office. Although we had a Commodore 64 computer at home, the office had recently installed a new mac. The principal allowed me to learn a bit of Java language and I loved it. I was so thrilled when I was able to understand if-then statements.

The Java Tutorials have been written for JDK 8. Examples and practices described in this page don't take advantage of improvements introduced in later releases and might use technology no longer available.

See Java Language Changes for a summary of updated language features in Java SE 9 and subsequent releases.

See JDK Release Notes for information about new features, enhancements, and removed or deprecated options for all JDK releases.

The if-then and if-then-else Statements

The if-then Statement

The if-then statement is the most basic of all the control flow statements. It tells your program to execute a certain section of code only if a particular test evaluates to true. For example, the Bicycle class could allow the brakes to decrease the bicycle's speed only if the bicycle is already in motion. One possible implementation of the applyBrakes method could be as follows:

void applyBrakes() {

// the "if" clause: bicycle must be moving

if (isMoving){

// the "then" clause: decrease current speed

currentSpeed--;

}

If this test evaluates to false (meaning that the bicycle is not in motion), control jumps to the end of the if-then statement.

In addition, the opening and closing braces are optional, provided that the "then" clause contains only one statement:

void applyBrakes() {

// same as above, but without braces

if (isMoving)

currentSpeed--;

}

Deciding when to omit the braces is a matter of personal taste. Omitting them can make the code more brittle. If a second statement is later added to the "then" clause, a common mistake would be forgetting to add the newly required braces. The compiler cannot catch this sort of error; you'll just get the wrong results.

The if-then and if-then-else Statements (The Java™ Tutorials > Learning the Java Language > Language Basics) (oracle.com)

With just a few taps on the keyboard I could control what I wanted the computer to do once I learned the right language! Amazing! If only making decisions in life could be that easy.

It usually takes me quite a while to make a decision. If there is time I often will make a list of pros and cons. But, even when I do that there isn’t always an easy solution to the problem.

In the past few months many of us have been faced with important decisions regarding our health. There are many opposing views. Should we pull up our sleeves and get the vaccine or do we wait and hope there will be better ways to treat the disease so it won’t be as deadly? Will they discover a new vaccine that doesn’t have as many side effects? Is this all a scheme to make us all so afraid that we will follow the sheep even though we aren’t quite sure about their shepherd. Should we continue to stay safe at home and allow Amazon, Walmart and Instacart to deliver all our needs to our doorstep?

I wish I had the answers. I wish I could ask my computer to compute the solutions. But I do know that God is still in control even through the chaos and He gives us hope. In Deuteronomy 30: 8-9 He promises, And you will make a new start, listening obediently to GOD, keeping all his commandments that I’m commanding you today. GOD, your God, will outdo himself in making things go well for you: you’ll have babies, get calves, grow crops, and enjoy an all-around good life. Yes, GOD will start enjoying you again, making things go well for you just as he enjoyed doing it for your ancestors.

10 But only if you listen obediently to GOD, your God, and keep the commandments and regulations written in this Book of Revelation. Nothing halfhearted here; you must return to GOD, your God, totally, heart and soul, holding nothing back.

THE MESSAGE

A bee has 5 eyelids TRUE Yes but not on just one eye.

Bee Anatomy | HowStuffWorks

A bee's body has a lot in common with the bodies of other insects. Much of it is covered in an exoskeleton made from small, movable plates of chitin. A bee's body is also covered in lots of fuzzy, branched hair, which collects pollen and helps regulate body temperature. The body also has three sections -- the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.

The head houses the brain, a collection of about 950,000 neurons. These neurons are specialized, and they communicate with specific neighboring neurons. This division of tasks is part of why a bee's brain, which is a fraction of the size of the bee's head, can perform complex tasks that might ordinarily require a bigger brain. A system of nerves allows the brain to communicate with the rest of the body.

On its head, a bee has two sensory antennae. It also has five eyes -- three simple eyes, or ocelli, and two compound eyes. The compound eyes are made of lots of small, repeating eye parts called ommatidia. In each compound eye, about 150 ommatidia specialize in seeing patterns. This allows bees to detect polarized light -- something human beings cannot do.

Like most insects, a bee has complex mouth parts that it uses to eat and drink. The sizes and shapes of these parts can vary from species to species, but in general, most have:

•Paired mandibles, or jaws

•A glossa, or tongue

•A labrum and two maxillae

The labrum and maxillae are like lips. They support a proboscis, or tube for collecting nectar.

A bee's two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs connect to its thorax. The wings are extremely thin pieces of the bee's skeleton. In many species, the front wings are larger than the back wings. A row of hooks called hamuli connect the front and rear wings so they beat together when the bee is flying.

We'll look at bee legs and the one part everyone remembers -- the stinger -- in the next section.

To be perfectly honest, I must admit that I don’t have a warm fuzzy feeling for bees. However, I do prefer them over hornets. I am also aware that they are important and that many people are fighting to protect them and keep them from extinction.

Bee Extinction Facts: Why The Extinction of Bees Would End Humanity? (scienceabc.com)

Bee population has been on a decline in recent years. Some species were added to the endangered list in 2017 (seven species of Hawaiian yellow-faced bees) and 2018 (The rusty-patched bumblebee, Bombus affinis) so as to protect and revive their numbers. There have been a number of reasons for this decline. Let’s take a look at few of them.

PESTICIDES This intense use of pesticides, known as neonicotinoids (a relatively new class of insecticides that affect the central nervous system of insects, resulting in paralysis and death), has had a major role in the bees’ decline (source). When bees are exposed to neonicotinoids, they go into a shock and forget their way home (sort of like the insect version of Alzheimer’s).

PARASITES Along with pesticides, parasites known as Varrao mites (also called Varrao destructors) are also responsible for their death (source). The Varrao can only reproduce in a bee colony. They are blood-sucking parasites that affect adult and young bees equally. The disease inflicted by these mites can result in bees losing legs or wings, essentially killing them.

COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER Beekeepers started reporting a sudden reduction in the number of bees. The adult bees disappeared suddenly and mostly together. The hives were left with just the queen and immature bees. Even the food was present in high quantities. In some cases, few adult bees were found attending to the queen. Reasons mentioned above are two of the many factors that play a role in this disorder.

Are you feeling sad? I am! I am suddenly feeling sorry for the bees! I am reminded that the honeybee that once injured me when he jabbed his stinger into my arm is probably in more danger of dying from pesticides and parasites, then I am of dying from Covid 19. When I read about how important bees are to mankind, they almost seem more important to the human race than I am!

Kaylin Kaupish writes in The Spiritual Importance of Honeybees | Guideposts:

The very work that bees do – pollinating the land and helping the plants and crops grow – has been compared to holy work. A Byzantine farming book from the 10-century called Geoponika shows us the importance of bees: “The bee is the wisest and cleverest of all animals and the closest to man in intelligence; its works is truly divine and of the greatest use to mankind.”

This is what the Bible says:

Genesis 1:24-25 The Message

God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind:

cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.”

And there it was:

wild animals of every kind,

Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.

God saw that it was good.

And indeed, God saw that it was good. Bee’s are amazing! I for one haven’t contemplated much about how remarkable they really are. To think that God created such intricate little creatures and assigned them the job to help pollinate the agriculture of the entire world! God made everything. Everything he created became a piece of the grand puzzle. Every living thing had a job to do. He made humans, too. Our job was to love God and glorify Him and to help care for every living thing he had created.

But now, I am singing ever so softly, a preschool song:

“I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee; won’t my mother be so proud of me! I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee, whoops! It stung me!”

Now, that wasn’t good was it?

Once again, we can see how everything changed when sin took over the world. I am pretty sure that bees didn’t sting in the garden of Eden.

The first Spam message was transmitted by telegraph in 1864 TRUE!

Do You Know the History of Spam? - SocketLabs Email Delivery Solutions

There are many definitions of spam but for the sake of simplicity lets define spam as the mass transmission of unwanted messages.

Though it wasn’t called spam until the early 1990s – The term itself comes from a now legendary 1970 Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch. Set in a small cafe, where a crowd of (rather annoying) Vikings drowns out the rest of conversation by singing, louder and louder, choruses of “SPAM, SPAM, SPAM…” a somewhat less than popular canned processed meat that was being served with every item on the menu.

In retrospect, it comes as no surprise that the word spam would eventually be adopted to refer to the widespread barrage of unsolicited and unwanted commercial messages that are often seen as drowning out normal communications.

1864

The history of spam can be tracked back to 1864 when the very first unsolicited electronic messages are believed to have been transmitted as early as 1864, via telegraph. These messages were rather dubious investment offers sent to wealthy Americans.

1978

The history of spam continues when the first email spam was sent by a man named Gary Thuerk on May 3rd, 1978. Thuerk, who worked for Digital Computer Corp. at the time, sent an email solicitation for an open house to showcase the company’s new VAX computer. It went out to about 400 of the 2,600 people who had email accounts on ARPANET (The DARPA-funded military computer network that preceded the Internet).

Thuerk claimed that his email generated about $12 million in new sales. However, many people who received his email got highly irritated and complained to US Defense Department which ran ARPANET.

They in turn, told him never to do it again and he never did. He was later credited as saying that the method proved to be so unpopular that it would be well over a decade before anyone would try it again.

1993

It would not be until 1993 that the term “spam” would actually come into use. It was applied to a USENET posting. USENET was a newsgroup precursor to the Internet that was (and still is) a worldwide distributed discussion system that can basically be regarded as a hybrid between email and web forums.

In an attempt to implement a moderation system that allowed posts to be deleted after they had been posted, Richard Depew accidentally slipped up. His software had a bug in it which caused it to post some 200+ messages to the news.admin.policy discussion group.

Later, when members of the group were making jokes about the incident, someone referred to the incident as “spamming.” And thus, history was written.

And then there was the Nigerian prince

Here's the Best Nigerian Prince Email Scam in the Galaxy (gizmodo.com)

The Nigerian prince scam will never die. It’s lasted in various forms for decades now, but the latest iteration is downright amazing. Can’t you give $3 million to help a Nigerian astronaut get home from his secret space mission?

You know how these scams work by now: an email says that someone is in prison unjustly/kidnapped/exiled. They’re rich, but they can’t get to their money right now. If you help them out, they’ll reward you once they’re free. Of course, what actually happens is they run off with the money and you’re left feeling like a sucker.

REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE-STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

I am Dr. Bakare Tunde, the cousin of Nigerian Astronaut, Air Force Major Abacha Tunde. He was the first African in space when he made a secret flight to the Salyut 6 space station in 1979. He was on a later Soviet spaceflight, Soyuz T-16Z to the secret Soviet military space station Salyut 8T in 1989. He was stranded there in 1990 when the Soviet Union was dissolved. His other Soviet crew members returned to earth on the Soyuz T-16Z, but his place was taken up by return cargo. There have been occasional Progrez supply flights to keep him going since that time. He is in good humor, but wants to come home.

In the 14-years since he has been on the station, he has accumulated flight pay and interest amounting to almost $ 15,000,000 American Dollars. This is held in a trust at the Lagos National Savings and Trust Association. If we can obtain access to this money, we can place a down payment with the Russian Space Authorities for a Soyuz return flight to bring him back to Earth. I am told this will cost $ 3,000,000 American Dollars. In order to access his trust fund we need your assistance.

Consequently, my colleagues and I are willing to transfer the total amount to your account or subsequent disbursement, since we as civil servants are prohibited by the Code of Conduct Bureau (Civil Service Laws) from opening and/ or operating foreign accounts in our names.

Needless to say, the trust reposed on you at this juncture is enormous. In return, we have agreed to offer you 20 percent of the transferred sum, while 10 percent shall be set aside for incidental expenses (internal and external) between the parties in the course of the transaction. You will be mandated to remit the balance 70 percent to other accounts in due course.

I am thinking that every one of us who were first introduced to the internet with only a dial up account has either experienced a Nigerian Prince note, or an email very much like one. Mine was questionable. First, it was from Nigeria, and secondly, they did not ask for money, but they did ask for Bibles. They had heard of Damascus Road because we had a dear friend who had traveled back and forth from the country to visit relatives there.

It became more questionable when we were sent two that were exactly alike in their request, but they were from 2 different Christian schools. We were not sure what to do. We had heard that in Nigeria a Bible could be traded for a weapon. After much prayer, we decided to send the Bibles. They were inexpensive, soft-covered from the Dollar store. They did have a page that explained the plan of salvation. We figured that it was totally out of our hands and that God would be in charge once they reached the country. We did get thank you notes from both schools so possibly it was legit. It makes me wonder how do we know that anything we read is really true?

The year 2020 was a prime example of hearing and reading contradictions about even the importance of caring for ourselves in a pandemic. Do we wear a mask? Do they really work? Are the vaccines safe? Should we send our kids back to school? Politics became the standard. If you were on one side of politics, you disagreed strongly with the other side. Who do you trust?

And through all this pandemonium some of us still might begin to wonder, is there really a God?

Romans 1:19-23 THE MESSAGE

19 For the truth about God is known to them instinctively;[a] God has put this knowledge in their hearts. 20 Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made and have known of his existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God at Judgment Day.[b]

21 Yes, they knew about him all right, but they wouldn’t admit it or worship him or even thank him for all his daily care. And after a while they began to think up silly ideas of what God was like and what he wanted them to do. The result was that their foolish minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming themselves to be wise without God, they became utter fools instead. 23 And then, instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they took wood and stone and made idols for themselves, carving them to look like mere birds and animals and snakes and puny[c] men.

God’s word is NOT SPAM.

40% of twins create their own language TRUE

About 40% of twins, generally monozygotic or identical twins, will develop some form of autonomous language, using nicknames, gestures, abbreviations, or terminology that they only use with each other.

While parents and siblings can often discern the meaning, the twins generally don't use the terms with others.

Language development in twins or multiples is often delayed or different from singleton peers. Some research shows that twins, particularly boys, may lag months behind in their ability to express themselves verbally. There are many factors that contribute to speech delays. Babies learn language from their caregivers, especially parents. Parents of multiples, who are often more exhausted and stressed by the challenges of caring for two or more babies, may be less verbally involved with their children.

Young twins are together nearly all the time, and like any two people who spend most of their time together, they learn to rely on nonverbal or shorthand forms of communication. They're able to act intuitively, understanding each other's gestures, grunts, or vocalizations. They also mimic each other's attempts at expressive language, often reinforcing incorrect pronunciation. Twins tend to talk faster and may abbreviate their words or leave out consonants as they pronounce words, perhaps in a competitive attempt to talk over their co-twin and grab their parent's attention first. Finally, some delays may result from cognitive or physical consequences of premature birth.

Idioglossia and Secret Language of Twins (verywellfamily.com)

This was quite interesting to me. It made me wonder if JB would have learned to speak if he had a twin!Actually, he did speak, three times in two years, just one word. Two of the times he was at school. His OT heard him say “Teddy.” She was showing him a stuffed bear. Another teacher claims he said “No”, but I don’t recall why. His school bus driver had to pull over in amazement driving him home when he yelled “Hi!” to one of his friends in the seat behind him. That was it.

As is quite common, JB began babbled speech and we did hear his voice when his tiny mouth made his first attempt at communication. I was “Mum mum mum.” Sadly, this all stopped before he was 3. Just before he was 3, he also developed seizures which the doctor did not identify but an Easter Seals case worker visited our home and saw one firsthand and sent us off to Boston to visit a neurologist.

Looking back, I can remember that he was trying to communicate by leading me to what he wanted. Taking me by the hand he led me to the refrigerator. Sometimes he would jump up and down at the same time if he were starving. At school they were trying to teach him to pick up a picture to show which would indicate his needs. He wasn’t especially interested. What he was interested in was a keyboard. He would touch the letter J quite often.

The journey of FC began when we began to pray fervently that God would provide a way for us to communicate with our son. We went to an informational workshop that introduced us to a new method. We wondered if there was any possibility that this was the answer. During the break, a young student from UNH asked if we knew of any child in the Portsmouth area that might benefit from this because she was anxious to try! We still really believe that God planned it all. She worked with JB every week. She would ask him questions and then report back to me exactly what letters he pointed to. Some of the answers made sense but they didn’t always. She called me one Friday afternoon a bit disappointed. She had asked him what his favorite TV program was, and he had pointed to weird letters. They were Q, U, A N. It made no sense to her. I was so excited! She was as well when I told her that JB watched reruns of Quantum Leap almost every night.

JB began using his letterboard at school. It was not easy, and it wasn’t a miracle. He didn’t write poetry. The first time I worked with him it took him 45 minutes to point to the letters that spelled the word “PRISON. “

His favorite word for something he didn’t agree with, or for something he didn’t like was “BAD.” He sometimes would joke if Dennis did something that he thought was silly and he would spell “BAD DAD.”

He was constantly complaining, or so I thought about BAD BOYS BAD BOYS IN SCHOOL. I was frantic! Was someone being mean to him? My husband discovered the answer when he was on the road driving his Coke truck. He heard the song, “Bad boys”. I asked JB if that was what he meant and he said yes, and that he was singing. He had heard it on the school bus!

He had so much support during those years. His first year at the High School in our town was his first time in a real classroom! He used FC with his aide and by the end of the year he was an A student!

Then came the collapse of everything.

It began with a new special ed director who did not support FC. A new aide really wasn’t supportive either. Several of the students came to me reporting that JB was being mistreated. Shortly after that I pulled him out of school and homeschooled him. He was eventually place in another school in another school district for socialization, but he was never given any academic schooling.

Here is a short explanation why all this happened. It is posted on the same website that I previously quoted from:

Facilitated Communication is a nearly-debunked approach to communication with non-verbal people on the autism spectrum. It involves the use of a keyboard and a "facilitator" whose job is to support the autistic person as they type their responses to questions, thoughts, and concerns. In some cases, the support involves the physical touching of the autistic person's arms.

The Syracuse University Department of Education's Institute of Communication and Inclusion continues to teach FC as a legitimate form of communication. Here is how they describe what they now call "supported typing":

Facilitated Communication (FC) or Supported Typing is a form of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) in which people with disabilities and communication impairments express themselves by pointing (e.g. at pictures, letters, or objects) and, more commonly, by typing (e.g. in a keyboard).1 The method involves a communication partner who may provide emotional encouragement, communication supports (e.g., monitoring to make sure the person looks at the keyboard and checks for typographical errors) and a variety of physical supports, for example, to slow and stabilize the person’s movement, to inhibit impulsive pointing, or to spur the person to initiate pointing; the facilitator should never move or lead the person.

It often is referred to alternatively as Facilitated Communication Training because the goal is independent typing, nearly independent typing (e.g., a hand on the shoulder or intermittent touch) or a combination of speaking with typing - some individuals have developed the ability to read text aloud and/or to speak before and as they are typing. Typing to communicate promotes access to social interaction, academics, and participation in inclusive schools and communities.2

The Case for FC

Those people who support FC as a real tool for communication with nonverbal individuals on the autism spectrum have done their own research.6 Most of the time, supporting studies have focused on individual case studies. To prove that the typer is, indeed, typing his own thoughts, they asked questions that the supporter could not possibly answer. In some cases, the typer actually typed out answers that made perfect sense.

The Institute for Communication and Inclusion lists many peer-reviewed case studies like those described above, most dating from the early and mid-1990s when FC was most popular. In addition, a new but similar technique called "Rapid Pointing" has helped raise new interest in the approach.7 Rapid Pointing is described in detail in Portia Iversen's book Strange Son, and FC can be seen in action in the video Autism: The Musical.

It is extremely tempting for the parent of a child with nonverbal autism to try FC (or Rapid Pointing). The idea that there is a mind trapped inside your child, just waiting for the tools to emerge, is extraordinarily compelling.

Is It Really a Good Idea to Try FC?

While there are certainly organizations and institutions that will provide FC training (including Syracuse University), FC is not the first choice for communication. Before getting involved with FC, it makes sense to try teaching a child with autism to use better-known, better-understood techniques. Some options include picture cards, American Sign Language, electronic tools such as augmentative speech devices, digital pads, and, of course, ordinary (unsupported) typing. Not only are these techniques less controversial, but they're all more widely usable and understood.

If, however, more typical tools have failed, FC may be a possible direction to try. If you do try FC, be sure to investigate the provider and the therapist thoroughly to ensure you're not the victim of a scam.

Facilitated Communication and Autism (verywellhealth.com)

As a parent I continue to fight for JB’s ability to communicate. FC has gone underground and JB has lost some of his ability because he is afraid that because he still needs help pointing his ability his questioned. During his High school years, he was involved in a videotaped validation study and passed! He was taken out to eat and when he returned, he was asked to tell me about something I wouldn’t know. He said he stepped in a puddle! Somewhere there is a video of his excitement when he realized he had validated his ability to spell his own thoughts and not the thoughts of the facilitator.

Do I understand the reasoning why FC failed? Yes, in some ways, but in others I grieve for all the others who like JB were suddenly stripped of their ability to communicate.

So where are we now? I still have times when JB will sit down and with help he uses an alpha smart keyboard and will spell out sentences. He is nervous. He won’t do it when he has someone watching. I am trying to teach him to at least point to YES or NO independently.

John 14:27 says, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. We cling to that promise.

Mosquitoes bite people with type O blood more often. True!

This is a fascinating link from the Smithsonian Magazine.

Why Do Mosquitoes Bite Some People More Than Others? | Science | Smithsonian Magazine

Blood type, metabolism, exercise, shirt color and even drinking beer can make individuals especially delicious to mosquitoes

You’re not alone. An estimated 20 percent of people, it turns out, are especially delicious for mosquitoes, and get bit more often on a consistent basis. And while scientists don’t yet have a cure for the ailment, other than preventing bites with insect repellent (which, we’ve recently discovered, some mosquitoes can become immune to over time), they do have a number of ideas regarding why some of us are more prone to bites than others. Here are some of the factors that could play a role:

BLOOD TYPE

Not surprisingly—since, after all, mosquitoes bite us to harvest proteins from our blood—research shows that they may find certain blood types more appetizing than others. One study found that in a controlled setting, mosquitoes landed on people with Type O blood nearly twice as often as those with Type A. People with Type B blood fell somewhere in the middle of this itchy spectrum. Additionally, based on other genes, about 85 percent of people secrete a chemical signal through their skin that indicates which blood type they have, while 15 percent do not, and mosquitoes are also more attracted to secretors than nonsecretors regardless of which type they are.

Carbon Dioxide

One of the key ways mosquitoes locate their targets is by smelling the carbon dioxide emitted in their breath—they use an organ called a maxillary palp to do this, and can detect carbon dioxide from as far as 164 feet away.

Exercise and Metabolism

In addition to carbon dioxide, mosquitoes find victims at closer range by smelling the lactic acid, uric acid, ammonia, and other substances expelled via their sweat, and are also attracted to people with higher body temperatures.

Pregnant women are more likely to get stung. In several different studies, pregnant women have been found to attract roughly twice as many mosquito bites as others, likely a result of the unfortunate confluence of two factors: They exhale about 21 percent more carbon dioxide and are on average about 1.26 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than others.

Clothing Color

This one might seem absurd, but mosquitoes use vision (along with scent) to locate humans, so wearing colors that stand out (black, dark blue or red) may make you easier to find.

Natural Repellants

Some researchers have started looking at the reasons why a minority of people seem to rarely attract mosquitoes in the hopes of creating the next generation of insect repellants. Using chromatography to isolate the particular chemicals these people emit, scientists at the UK’s Rothamsted Research lab have found that these natural repellers tend to excrete a handful of substances that mosquitoes don’t seem to find appealing.

Spring is almost here and then, sadly enough, the May flies will arrive. Just as the weather gets warm enough to sit outside in your lawn chairs. The tiny little things surround you and you remember the plagues the Bible tells us about. Soon after the plague of flies the plague of mosquitoes arrives. It makes me wonder why God even created mosquitoes. Why in the world would God create a miserable insect that can cause harm? He said all that He created was “Good.” Brian Thomas, PH. D at the Institute for Creation Research has some interesting information. If God created mosquitoes then they were good when He created them. Because of the sin that came into the world they changed.

“-many mosquito species use their unique mouthparts to take nectar from flowers or fruit. Of the 3,500 or so named mosquito species, only a few hundred harangue humans. Perhaps all of them took nectar meals in the beginning.”

Also, there are many animals who depend on mosquitoes for food. Frogs, fish, birds, bats, and spiders are just a few.

Why Did God Make Mosquitos? | The Institute for Creation Research (icr.org) Cite this article: Brian Thomas, Ph.D. 2019. Why Did God Make Mosquitos?. Acts & Facts. 48 (10).

But here’s the good news! There will be a new Heaven and a new earth, and we wait in hope!

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

2 Peter 3:10

A brow wrinkle is the result of 200,000 Frowns Maybe

The funtrivia website has 3 great answers:

Just one, (frown) if you do it long enough.

There is a wonderful scene in William Goldman’s book The Princess Bride, where a young lady begins to worry so much about holding her title of “most beautiful woman in the world” that she starts to worry. She is depicted as frowning constantly, and within a few months, has frowned herself into a variety of wrinkles that steal her title. Goldman must be given credit for imagination, but it is seldom the case that frowning for a few months would have an immediate effect on wrinkling of the skin. In fact frowning is only one cause of wrinkles, and many other things come into play.

Honestly, any numerical answer you get will be wrong, and nobody could pretend to come up with one.

How many frowns does it take to make a wrinkle? (funtrivia.com)

What causes wrinkles?

Wrinkles, or rhytids, are lines, creases, and furrows in the skin. They develop as a normal part of the aging process as skin becomes thinner, dryer, slower to renew and repair itself, and is drawn downward by the pull of gravity. In women, hormonal changes associated with menopause further contribute to the development of wrinkles. The number and severity of wrinkles can be affected by lifestyle factors including sun exposure, smoking, and even repeated facial movements, which is why they're especially prominent on the face, especially around the eyes and mouth.

Wrinkles: Causes and Risk Factors (verywellhealth.com)

Wrinkles and crow’s feet are my friends. The crows tend to walk all over my face. I look in the mirror slowly because the change is so drastic that it is scary. I ask, “How in the world did that happen?” I wonder if I could have become an astronaut and spent more time in space just floating around day after day would that have helped. I suppose at some point I would have to come down to earth and deal with the force of gravity, so would all my wrinkles immediately appear the minute my feet touched the ground?

I always wondered if wrinkle cream really works. Where do the wrinkles go and what happens if they come back in the wrong places?

I remember feeling quite depressed when I realized in Vogue that by 50 Botox was probably not going to completely remove my wrinkles. I was already too old for it to work!

Dennis only laughs at me and reminds me I need to age gracefully. I recently read a quote from the author Amy Neftger. She said,

“I’m pretty sure that eating chocolate keeps wrinkles away because I have never seen a 10-year-old with a Hershey bar and crow’s feet.”

So, I will try being graceful and fully enjoy a few Hersey’s kisses, and maybe even the hugs!

Now that I’m old I should be wise

But even after many tries

That lovely plant with flowers of red

Will soon be brown and totally dead.

Now that I’m old I should be thin

but Atkin’s diet was quite grim

And now the choices that I see

Are even less and gluten free.

Now that I’m old I should have time

To visit places so sublime

But time flies quickly day to day

so, in my rocker here I’ll stay.

Now that I’m old I won’t complain

And I won’t sing some sad refrain

About the things I truly dread

I’m thankful I’m not dead instead.

Isaiah 46:4 even to your old age I am he,

and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear;

I will carry and will save.

Squirrels lose more than half of the nuts they hide. True-Sort of

“Yes, is the short answer, but not as much as people seem to think they do. It's quite a common mistruth that squirrels forget about 50 per cent of their nuts which is not quite how it works. Squirrels are actually very good at remembering where they've left their nuts.

They used a combination of both relative and non-relative directions and cues and landmarks, and that kind of thing. But we also believe that squirrels use their sense of smell to assist them. They may be able to smell because they don't bury their nuts very deep as they may still be able to smell the acorns. But they inevitably don't retrieve some of them. But the important point is that if they don't retrieve the nut, that's not necessarily because they've forgotten where it is. “

Do squirrels ever lose their nuts? | Questions | Naked Scientists (thenakedscientists.com)

Being old, losing things is just about the most stressful thing that I deal with in my day-to-day life. Recently I searched for hours for my blood pressure pills. They were in a small oval plastic case with the day of the week marked on the cover. I finally found them exactly where I had thought they would be except they were under a book I had been reading and I had walked right past them several times without realizing they were there. Usually, the things I misplace are lost because I didn’t return them to their proper spot. I am quite thankful that I haven’t put anything away in a totally inappropriate spot. If I put my car keys in the oven for instance, or the milk into the microwave, that might be an early indication of dementia. Of course, there are some things I think I had lost aren’t really lost at all because Dennis has just moved them up to another high shelf where I can’t see them. I recently googled Mr. Google and asked what are the most common things that people lose.

Here is the list of 20 in the order of the most likely ones:

1 Phone

2 Keys

3 Papers

4 Friends

5 Their mind

6 Wallet

7 Kids

8 Pens

9 Shoes

10 The will to live

11 Bobby pins

12 Dignity

13 Lipstick

14 Ring

15 Purse

16 The remote

17 Hairbrush

18 Watch

19 Dog

20 Briefcase

Top Things People Lose Often - best, most, greatest of everything ranked User Contributed Rankings - ShareRanks.com

Well, apparently, I am not living in the same universe as these people are! I have never lost my land line phone, and my cell phone is usually in my purse where it sits for hours until I put it on the table by my bed. Of course, this is why I get in trouble for not answering text messages.

Keys are not a problem because we are in lockdown and I hardly ever go outside of the house.

I don’t know what they mean by papers. Newspapers? We get only 1 a week and Dennis read it on Sunday then throws it away. Important papers? They are in my filing pile in the office. I usually know exactly where they are. Dennis on the other hand stores all his papers in plastic grocery pages in the large bathroom which is why I never go in there only to take a shower. I am so thankful for the half bath adjacent to our bedroom! I guess that means he is living in the normal universe.

Friends! Why in darnation would a person lose friends so often? I am thankful I live in an alternate universe. Even my Facebook friends stick around.

I have thought I was losing my mind, but I have been able to find it. That’s when prayer really helps.

My wallet is in my purse with my cell phone and I shop online. Thank you, Amazon.

Kids? Well about 30 years ago we lost JB. He sneaked out the door while I was at choir rehearsal. The rehearsal ended immediately. We called the police, and he was found only a short distance up the street. It was terrible. I think I lost ten years off my life. Prayer was what really helped then too. He hasn’t ever been lost since. I don’t keep him near any door that can open!

The will to live, bobby pins, and my dignity are pretty much nonexistence. Who even knows these days what a bobby pin his anyway?

I would put pens at the top of my list. I always have them, but the one special one I like the most seems to have a mind of its own and runs off to another room and lands in the weirdest places. (Behind the chair in the bedroom, on the little chest of drawers in the bathroom for instance.)

Shoes? Not in lockdown. I have one pair, old clunky ones that are comfortable. I hate shoes on my feet, so I am most likely barefoot for zoom meetings.

Lipstick is now on my desk just in case I need it for zooming. Usually, it doesn’t help much. My wrinkles still show, and lipstick doesn’t help droopy eyelids.

This list is getting boring. My ring is on my finger, silly. The only time it was off was when I was in the hospital with a stroke. If they were talking about a doorbell, I don’t have one.

My purse is always on the hook in the back of the bathroom door and you already know what is in there. There might be a hairbrush and a watch in there as well.

And finally, the dog! Sadly, we did lose Lucy suddenly. She is at the rainbow bridge. Now we have little Mommadog. She is truly a gift because she came all the way from Texas, and she helps to keep us sane.

Briefcase? I never had one, probably never will.

Now, if you want to know what things I really lose the most, earrings, just 1, and socks, again just 1. Once in a while I lose a file in the computer but that is just because I forgot where I put it and I find it eventually.

I do know for sure that IF I lose something important and I am tearing my hair out, the one thing that always works is prayer. It doesn’t have to be a long one either. Usually “Help me, God.” Is enough. After all, He knows where everything is. It works every time.

Philippians 4:6

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

A human can swim through the blood vessel of a blue whale -YES, Well sort of!

“To get blood through the blue whale’s large body, it has massive arteries, which pump blood through the heart and into its major vital organs. The arteries are so large, in fact, that a full-size human could swim through them. The aorta alone measures in at over 9 inches! The blue whale’s heart can weigh more than 1,300 lbs.

In terms of size the blue whale’s heart is about the size of a small car. At a rate of 8 – 10 beats per minute, the blue whale’s heartbeat can be heard from over 2 miles away. In comparison to a blue whale, a dolphin’s heart has a heart rate of 35 – 45 beats per minute, and a humans heart has an average heart rate of around 60 – 80 beats per minute.”

The Blue Whales Heart | Size, Weight, Blood Vessels and Other Facts (whalefacts.org)

BUT another website offers a different solution:

“If a human was swimming in the bloodstream of a blue whale, they would die very quickly from the heat, pressure and lack of oxygen. The immune system of the whale would be a negligible factor.”

(4) If a human was swimming in the bloodstream of a blue whale, would the whale's white blood cells tear him or her apart? - Quora

Jacqueline Miller of Toronto works as a mammalogy technician for the Royal Ontario Museum and says that a whale’s heart is not quite as big as you would expect. An autopsy of a whale was done is 2014 and showed a heart that was 5 feet long from the top of the aorta to the lower chamber. It weighed 400 pounds. The aorta was not large enough for a human to swim through. However, there is no mention of it being a blue whale.

Just how big is a blue whale's heart? See for yourself (cnet.com)

Just think of that! A whale’s heart is about as tall as I am, BUT of course it is MUCH heavier!

This all certainly gives me more perspective. It’s easier to see how Jonah could have gotten swallowed. The blue whale is the largest animal ever on earth. A baby blue whale can be 25 feet long, can weigh 400 pounds and can gain over 200 pounds a day during it’s first year of life. I wonder why nobody ever wrote a song about whales. Maybe they have but I haven’t heard “What does a whale say?” or “Baby Whale do do do do do do”

It’s all about perspective after all. It seemed like it took forever for us to find a new home after our old trailer sold so quickly. God brought us here in the nick of time. To Him it was just a snap of a finger. We knew He would do it, but the waiting was arduous.

As I am writing this I am watching Mommadog, the tiny little chihuahua that God helped us to rescue. She came all the way from Texas in a cargo van loaded with all her doggy friends. She was totally petrified. Now she stands up tall and dances for any treats she can find. She is small but she is boisterous. She has been a huge blessing during a time when the world was pretty bleak.

In God’s perspective nothing is too big, too small, or too hard!

“Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” (Jer 32:17). “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). “This is an easy thing in the eyes of the LORD; he will also deliver Moab into your hands”(2 Kings 3:18)

Amen!

Texas is the only state that allows residents to allow absentee ballots from space. TRUE

Texas is the only state that allows its residents to vote from space. Thanks to a 1997 Texas law, astronauts are allowed to cast a vote while in orbit. The first American to cast his ballot from space was David Wolf, who voted from aboard the Russian Space Station Mir, which preceded the International Space Station. In order to vote from space, astronauts request a special absentee ballot about six months in advance, according to NASA. On the big day, they file their ballot electronically through a protected system.

[Ans] What is the only U.S. state to allow its residents to vote from outer space? (try3steps.com)

The presidential election of 2020 may have made many of us wish that we were safely sequestered in the space station in orbit around the earth. Even then we may have been concerned about our ballot arriving at the right place at the right time.

Our small town had been well organized. They had posted information on you tube ahead of time, so we had been prepared. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic there were several guidelines in place. One change had been that the entrance and the exit doors needed to be separate. Unfortunately, I discovered the problem in the primary. The change in the exit had made it difficult for me to walk the long distance back to our car. I had taken my time, stopping to sit on the steps of another building on the way. That was bearable, but I knew the cold wind and possibly snow in November would make the extra hike rather undesirable. Fortunately, there was a solution to this dilemma.

There was a new ruling that allowed absentee ballots for any voter who filled out the application and then brought it to the town clerk. They would then give you a ballot that could be placed in the ballot box under lock and key in the clerk’s office. And so, one by one we took turns waiting in line 6 feet apart to apply for a ballot. Dennis went first. We had decided not to go together because we didn’t want to leave JB in the car alone for any length of time. He came back in less than ten minutes. He said it was easy.

It was cold and rainy. I put on my face mask and opened my umbrella. I had my driver’s license in the other hand and drudged up the sidewalk. I reached the old granite steps and faced the first obstacle. Wearing a mask over your nose and mouth may protect you from COVID-19, but it definitely causes a new problem, visibility! The decorative steps were quite lovely, but they were not quite even and there was a railing for elderly folks, especially elderly folks who can’t see where they are going! I was thankful for the railing and I was able to grab it with one hand even though it also was clutching my driver’s license. Having made it up the steps I needed to open the heavy oak door and put down my umbrella. I managed to get into the entryway but the line into the clerk’s office was now stretching all the way from the entryway. Closing my umbrella was a challenge and staying 6 feet away from the lady in front of me was difficult. She was quite pleasant, probably close to my age so I was thankful. She was fashionably dressed wearing a red wool coat with a matching red hat. I was glad I had not worn my gray locked down in the ghetto sweatshirt and fleece slacks. It seemed like forever, although I know it probably wasn’t all that long, but as I waited, I prayed that nobody would sneeze and potentially spread any germs. I carefully pushed my mask up further over my nose and peered over it to see where I was in line. Eventually, there were 3 people in front of me and a young man in a suit walked by and told us that if we were waiting for a ballot to move on ahead to another line. I was forever grateful. Minutes later I had my ballot in hand and was on my way back down the long steps, praying that I wouldn’t land in a loud thump on the sidewalk below. Both of us took our ballots home because they were quite lengthy. Of course, that meant we had to return to the clerk’s office. That was easier. It wasn’t raining. I could use both hands. I still wore a mask, but I could easily grab the railing. The line was longer, but it only took a short time before someone announced that if we were placing ballots then we could just walk straight to the office and place them in the ballot box.

2020 was a year that will go down in history. 2021 has arrived, and the election has brought us a new president. Many of us might wonder if it was even worth it to vote because some of our hopefuls weren’t elected. We face new problems and new fears. I was greatly encouraged recently when a pastor Zooming from Texas related a story to us about his young son who opened a new flashlight that was given to him at Christmas. He had turned it on, then off, then on again. It wasn’t very powerful in the daylight. The pastor told him it works better in the dark. A few minutes past and his son got up, grabbed hold of his dad’s hand, and said, “Can we find the darkness?”

Dark times. It is easy to find the darkness. I pray that we can spread the light.

Matthew 5:13-16

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

BARBIES FULL NAME IS BARBARA MILLICENT ROBERTS true

Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. In a series of novels published by Random House in the 1960s, her parents' names are given as George and Margaret Roberts from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin.

Created by: Ruth Handler

First appearance: March 9, 1959; 61 years ago

Full name: Barbara Millicent Roberts

Nickname: Barbie

Barbie - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie

Can you believe it! Barbie is almost 62! She could be even older if she arrived as a teenager which would mean she would be close to 75 by now! I don’t know if we ever knew that much about her 3 sisters, but I can imagine Chelsea, Stacie, and Skipper are still living. Apparently, there are novels written that highlight their growing up as school age girls. This is an insert of what could be my first chapter in a new one. “The Antique Barbie”

PART 1

Barbara rocked back and forth in the old wooden rocker. She smiled as she thought about the time when Ken had brought it home and placed it in the living room next to the window. They had recently sold their quaint New England cottage in Rhode Island and moved to a gated condo in the mountains of NH. It was one of the few antiques they had saved. He had laughed as they remembered how she had sat in it for so many years that the bottom of the wooden rockers were worn. She had rocked both of her children to sleep sitting in that chair. Ben had recently been given a new promotion in his high-tech company and had moved far away to California. Millicent still hated her name, but she had stayed close to her parents and was now living in a cozy two storied yellow New England farmhouse. It was only a 30-minute drive to her parent’s condo. She and her husband were well known because they owned a famous sporting goods store that sold renowned, but pricey ski equipment. She checked in with them in person at least 3 times a week and sent text messages every day. Millicent’s son had just recently been elected as the mayor of Nashua. He lived alone in a rented home in the historical district of the town. He was very busy, but he still had time to visit his grandparents for holidays. He often visited Waterville Valley where he had learned to ski as a child.

Barbara looked longingly out the paned glass window where she no longer could see the bright blue ocean. She tried to count how many buildings she saw but she lost count. They all looked alike, red brick, 1 story structures, surrounded by carefully landscaped grounds with occasional lilac bushes that would bloom and spread their delightful smell in the spring. She hoped she would still be alive to smell them.

Ken had passed only 2 years ago. Even now she could almost smell the cigar smoke that permeated the living room. She closed her eyes, and she could see him sitting in the well-worn brown leather chair with his feet propped up on the square ottoman.

She was sure he was in Heaven, after all he had been a good man. He never swore or carried on. He gave a huge donation to the Salvation Army every Christmas. They had both made the pilgrimage to church to the Christmas eve service. His funeral had been at the same church, a historic white building with a tall, majestic steeple on a hill. Over the solid walnut door there was a cheerful rainbow banner proclaiming everyone would be welcome. Ken was buried in the town cemetery in the newer section that had recently been made. Trees had been unrooted from the forest near by and they were trucked to a paper factory that continues to function in the northern part of the state. The official state newspaper, The Concord News, had an entire spread about how the factory had been there for over a hundred years and the Republicans had banded together to keep it alive when some of the community leaders wanted to tear it down to build a state-of-the-art factory to make solar energy panels.

Barbara lifted herself up and gracefully walked to pick up the small pile of mail she had placed on the oak table by the door. She had looked at it briefly, but she had only seen the never-ending bills that seem to arrive every month. She was thankful that her clothing line had been a success and that she was still able to pay her bills with enough left over to purchase food, especially the gourmet chocolates she loved so much. She allowed herself only one small ball of its creamy deep brown sugary treat a day. She may be elderly, but she was proud of her slender waist.

She noticed a light peach envelope for the first time. She knew immediately who had sent it. It was written in lovely handwriting and it always had a special stamp. It was from Skipper, her youngest sister. She always picked newly printed stamps for her envelopes. She would purchase at least 50. This one was of Mickey Mouse. It made Barbara smile even though she wasn’t sure what or why Skipper would be writing. She often got phone calls from Stacie. She lived in Paris and would call once a month to check to see if Barbara were still alive. She was still a snob. Chelsie on the other hand had moved to Washington DC after she had married a boring man from Texas who later had become a senator. She would send newspaper clippings upon occasion of some of the younger wives who would still be wearing clothing that was based on Barbara’s fashion designs to assure her they were still in vogue.

Skipper had always been the wild child of the family. She also was the most loving. Her letters to Barbara had always made her proud of being her sibling, even though she was never sure what her latest news would bring. Her other sisters had pretty much disowned Skipper, considering she was a religious kook. Barbara was always amused and wondered what latest news Skipper would bring and she always questioned how Skipper could still be so full of hope when her life had been a disaster.

Part 2!

Skipper

Skipper had loved acting. Even at the age of 4 she had copied the entire routine of Alice in Wonderland. She had pleaded to her older siblings to play the record over and over and she would lip sync the songs in all their entirety. At 5 she was the main character in her kindergarten rendition of “ The Tale of Peter Rabbit.”. She wore a fuzzy white costume with floppy pink ears. Her famous line was , “oh dear oh dear I’ve lost my tail, old Rover bit it off!” She also loved dancing and by 7 she had been paired with a young red headed boy name Billy. Their recital included a marvelous tap dance routine with Skipper being cast as a hula dancer and Billy as a wolf whistling suiter. She would have been destined for Hollywood except as she grew older she had a weight problem. Unlike her delicate siblings she was almost obese, although she was never given that title. She was the curvy one.

Skipper loved people. She often gravitated to the loser, the less popular members in her class. She went to college, a small Baptist one in Rhode Island because her parents had determined that she would never be as successful in life as her sisters. She was just plain, not beautiful and most of all she had dreams of being a music teacher. She had eventually married an accountant who after 7 years of marriage had come out of the closet and revealed that he was gay. Surprisingly, Skipper was able to move on claiming that it was her newly found faith in God that had gotten her through. She had eventually studied sign language and now she had become an interpreter and was often seen on TV next to the Governor of New York. She lived in a small apartment close to her church where she also interpreted the sermons on Sunday morning. She had no children of her own but she loved her Sunday school class, a rambunctious crew of 6 boys and 7 girls, all the age of 7 or 8. Skipper was a spry 62, but no one would ever guess. She always seemed to have a certain radiance about her, a glow that spread happiness to everyone who knew her. She exhibited a certain joie de vivre that Barbara coveted.

Barbara grabbed the heavy glasses attached to the gold chain she wore around her neck. They were lovely with ebony black, round, designer frames . She carefully opened Skipper’s letter wondering what news it would bring and hoping it would bring her some good news. Good news had been hard to find lately.

My dear sweet wonderful Barbie,

How I wish I could be with you sitting in your kitchen drinking the raspberry tea we used to love so much. Where oh where does the time go? It has been chilly here but we have not had the nor easter snow storms that you have had. Of that I am thankful. I have been praying for you and hoping that Millicent continues to keep her watchful eye on you and that you have been well.

I am so thankful that you have not disowned me! The rest of our family seems to have given up on me, thinking that I am a religious idiot. I just want you to know that I am praying for you, praying without ceasing, that by some miracle you will come to know that God is real, and that you can have a real relationship with Him! This is a Psalm that has been close to me all through my life. Please read it! Please know that God loves you and so do I.

With all my love and prayers,

Skipper

My Help Comes from the LORD

A Song of Ascents.

121 I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

2 My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;

he who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper;

the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

8 The LORD will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.

Barbara carefully folded the letter. Oh God, she prayed, if You really are real, can you help an old lady like me come to her senses. I am an antique. Can you make me new again?

And of course God did just that.

Snapple ice tea fact (an oldie but appropriate!)

Fish cough (1999)

How appropriate! This has been an extremely bad flu season. Usually one of the worst symptoms of the lousy flu bug is a cough that seems to last forever. It is a miserable cough that causes us to have sore ribs from the constant hacking.

Why do we cough?

We cough because there is excess mucus or other irritant matter from external sources – dirt, smoke, household cleaners – lying on the surface of the respiratory tract, and your body is trying to expel them by propelling it violently upwards.

The body uses the mucous membranes as an exit route for toxins. When a bug infects you and your immune system attacks it, dead bacteria and dead immune cells can be pushed out via mucous secretions. Also, if other eliminatory organs such as the bowel aren’t working well, then some toxins may be diverted to the respiratory tract to be offloaded through these membranes.

What about fish? Do they really cough?

Yes. Here are a few comments that I found in my search:

•As far as I know just the"smoked fish" (haha)

•Yes Koi Cough. They do sudden jerk movements with their mouths open and gills open to clear the gill plates or to clear out something they had in their mouth like a bee. See all the time.

•Yes-They will expel air when they are caught deep and brought up faster than their floatation can adjust naturally.

Fish cough as a reaction from their body... most of the time they cough to clear out a piece of food from their throat .

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-29774.html

•Tetradonts are superb "coughers," says Wainwright, but where some of them really shine is in their abilities to blow water, a specialty which he believes may be unique to the group whose members all have rather small, flute-like mouths eminently suited to the task. Triggerfish, for example, can fire jets of water powerful enough to overturn large sand dollars and even small rocks, he said

http://www.rinr.fsu.edu/winter95/features/fish.html

Obviously you most likely will not hear a fish wheezing and calling out for a Ricola. It is however amazing to me that God actually created the coughing mechanism that works in somewhat similar ways for both a fish and mankind. He created all life in amazing ways to help each living thing adapt to their surroundings. He made each adaptation suitable and appropriate for what each one needed. He didn’t need evolution!

Genesis 1:20-22

Amplified Bible (AMP)

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly and swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.

21 God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (suitable, admirable) and He approved it.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the fowl multiply in the earth.

In the 1960's the US government tried to turn a cat into a spy. TRUE

Acoustic Kitty

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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For the album, see Acoustic Kitty (album).

Acoustic Kitty was a CIA project launched by the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology, which in the 1960s intended to use cats to spy on the Kremlin and Soviet embassies. In an hour-long procedure a veterinary surgeon implanted a microphone in the cat's ear canal, a small radio transmitter at the base of its skull and a thin wire into its fur.[1]

This would allow the cat to innocuously record and transmit sound from its surroundings. Due to problems with distraction, the cat's sense of hunger had to be addressed in another operation.[2] Victor Marchetti, a former CIA officer, said Project Acoustic Kitty cost about $20 million.[3]

The first Acoustic Kitty mission was to eavesdrop on two men in a park outside the Soviet compound on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C. The cat was released nearby, but was hit and allegedly killed by a taxi almost immediately.[4] However, this was disputed in 2013 by Robert Wallace, a former Director of the CIA's Office of Technical Service, who said that the project was abandoned due to the difficulty of training the cat to behave as required, and "the equipment was taken out of the cat; the cat was re-sewn for a second time, and lived a long and happy life afterwards".[5] Subsequent tests also failed.[2] Shortly thereafter the project was considered a failure and declared to be a total loss.[6] However, other accounts report more success for the project.[7]

The project was cancelled in 1967.[2] A closing memorandum said that the CIA researchers believed that they could train cats to move short distances, but that "the environmental and security factors in using this technique in a real foreign situation force us to conclude that for our (intelligence) purposes, it would not be practical."[8] The project was disclosed in 2001, when some CIA documents were declassified.[9]

References[edit]

1.^ Anthes, Emily (2013). Frankenstein's cat : cuddling up to biotech's brave new beasts(First ed.). New York: Scientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-15859-0.

2.^ Jump up to:a b c Donald, Graeme (2011). Loose Cannons: 101 Myths, Mishaps and Misadventurers of Military History. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-651-6.

3.^ "Cat was walking bug". Herald Sun. November 5, 2001.

4.^ Curtis, Adam, "You Have Used Me as a Fish Long Enough", The Living Dead, BBC television documentary, 1995, interview with Victor Marchetti at 28:10

5.^ TV series "The World's Weirdest Weapons", season 1, episode 6: "Weapons Of The Superspies", Yesterday TV

6.^ Jeffrey T. Richelson, The Wizards of Langley: Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2002), 147-48. ISBN 0-8133-4059-4.

7.^ Vnederbilt, Tom (October 2013). "The CIA's Most Highly-Trained Spies Weren't Even Human". Smithsonian Magazine. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 31 October 2018.

8.^ U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (March 1967). "Views on Trained Cats Use" (PDF). George Washington University. Retrieved March 21, 2014., redacted (pdf)

9.^ Julian Borger (September 11, 2001). "Project: Acoustic Kitty". The Guardian Newspaper.

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Oh my! Our cats have been people! They have been part of the family. I don’t think there has ever been a time that I can’t recall when a cat was either a member of our household, or at least a cat that had made a good impression for some reason in my life.

The first sweet feline I remember was Kriskit, a fluffy (I think angora?) feisty mouser who lived with my grandparents but was owned by my aunt, Joyce. He(she?) had radar and knew to attack only people who did not like cats. My dad happened to be a victim. Then there was Pyewacket, named after the Siamese cat in the movie Bell, Book, and Candle. He wasn’t Siamese, but he was black, so I guess the name was appropriate. Vashti and Vishnu were Siamese, but they both died at an early age from blood infections. It was during the time when I had been recently divorced and I was running away from God or trying to. Thankfully, it didn’t work. Obviously having Hindu names didn’t help. Snickers was a brown and tan tabby who arrived at our condo and eventually moved in. I can’t remember how he died but he wasn’t with us long. Raunchy lived with me all through my teenage years. I remember he didn’t get along with the large poodle that my dad loved so much. He was named after the instrumental by Duane Eddy. (I can still hear it while doing the Shag!) Most recently Vladimir and Yuri Moon, who have Russian names because they are Siberians have allowed us to live with them. Vladimir went on to the rainbow bridge only a few months ago. He was 14. He was JB’s BFF. He would lovingly lick JB’s hair whenever he was laying down beside him. Yuri Moon is still with us. He has his own room because he is a bully and he is bigger than our chihuahua, Mommadog. Yuri Moon had emergency surgery 9 years ago to remove the infection in his chest that antibiotics wouldn’t touch. He went through months of therapy and we had to order special meds that tasted like chicken. The story of our cats is rather interesting, and they have been quite diverse in their abilities, but never ever have we had a cat spy!

That obviously was a dumb idea. I am so relieved that it is possibly true that this poor animal did not die, and I do hope there is a happy ending to this story. The moral of course is that cats in general have a mind of their own and they own you. I recently heard a comment that “If a cat could send text messages, it wouldn’t.”

I guess my past affection with my cats also kind of shows that there have been times when I, liked them, have had a mind of my own and consequently I have made some ridiculous mistakes. But one thing I know is that God was always there to pick me up and point in the right direction. Thank You, Jesus!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6

Chocolate is made from vanilla. partly true

According to Alegio Chocolates, which is a brand of chocolate that is basically a vertical integration (the company owns the whole supply chain, from the trees that produce the beans to all of the equipment used to process them and the inclusions added to the finished chocolate) vanilla started to get added to chocolate about 40–50 years ago, when demand for chocolate outstripped supply. Suppliers started sending over “faulty” beans that would not have made the cut previously in order to help meet demand. These beans were bitter (thus giving rise to the common belief that cacao is bitter, and that dark chocolate is bitter) and vanilla was used to cut that bitterness. According to the guy who took me through the tasting, more than 90% of the world’s chocolate includes vanilla and/or soy lecithin as an ingredient.

(4) Why does chocolate contain vanilla? - Quora

Today is my second day of 21 day prayer and fasting. I am joining with a group of Christians in Texas. Their pastor joins us in prayer every night on Zoom. We are individually fasting for anything that we feel we will miss, or anything that has been taking time away from us that we could give back to God. Some of us are doing the Daniel fast, some of us are giving up TV programs. I immediately chose to fast from chocolate! I am addicted! I prepared ahead of time by not having any Reeses peanut butter cups in sight. The few that are in my possession are safely locked away in a place that is difficult to reach. The delightfully wrapped collection of Lindt chocolates that I received on Christmas are stored up high and out of reach. When I have any thought of the C word I quickly breath a prayer, “ Lord, be my addiction.”

Obviously I have taken to drinking more tea than usual, and obviously Satan knows how to push my buttons. I removed the bottle cap and ran over to the sunlit window hoping to find an interesting bit of trivia for the day . “Vanilla is used to make chocolate.”

Seriously?

So I searched Google again. ( Is Google always right? Theological question.) Well, apparently, Snapple, that is misleading! Vanilla does not “make” chocolate. Vanilla may keep the chocolate from being bitter, but it is still chocolate. The more vanilla, the less chocolate flavor. In fact white chocolate isn’t really chocolate at all. It is made with vanilla, milk and cocoa butter.

But you know what happened? I read all this and I began thinking of something more amazing than chocolate, even Reeses!

I began to think about vanilla. You can keep adding drops one at a time to make the chocolate less bitter. You cover up the taste, and pretty soon it is perfect, or at least you think so. If you make white chocolate all you need is more vanilla and then it isn’t even really chocolate but it tastes delicious. Vanilla reminds me of the little white lies we make.

In Charles Spurgeon’s sermon titled, “Little Sins” he states:

“Another argument may be used to respond to this temptation of the devil. He says, “Is it not a little one?” “Yes,” we reply, “But little sins multiply very fast.” Like all other little things, there is a marvelous power of multiplication in little sins.”

The good news is that we don’t have to keep trying to add more vanilla.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins

and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Psalm 51:7-12

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Earthworms have 5 sets of hearts.

I have a love/hate relationship with worms. My worst memories are when we first had our driveway paved. I was a freshman in High school but up until that time we had always had a dirt driveway or one that was covered with crushed stones. When it rained the earthworms decided to go on a field trip and there they were, all stretched out on the tar daring me not to step on them. They were gross! I think that’s why I was so excited to dissect one in Biology class. That was amazing, but I must admit I don't remember anything about them having 5 pairs of hearts. I would think that I would have been so amazed at that discovery that it would have changed my total outlook. If worms really have a heart, well even more than one, wouldn't they feel badly if they knew how upsetting it was for me to see them laying naked in my driveway? So, of course I asked Google!

“How many hearts does a worm have? Well, the answer to that question can be a bit tricky, as it depends on how you define “heart.” Depending on the definition, worms can be said to have 0, 5, or 10 hearts. While they lack a traditional heart as understood in humans, worms do have 5 pairs of aortic arches that play a similar functional role to that of the human heart."

I was so relieved! Of course, worms don't have hearts like we do! They have aortic arches! Therefore, worms can't have heart attacks. They might have pains in their aortic arch, but CPR would be useless.

Google went on to say that “worm" is an obsolete biological classification. The correct name of an earthworm is Lumbricus Terrestris. Winston Churchill ones said, "We are all worms, but I do believe that I am a glow-worm!"

That might lead you to believe that some worms are better than others. To me a worm is a worm, period!

The Bible even speaks badly of worms! Isaiah 41 tells us that God calls Jacob, Little Israel, a worm because Israel was being trampled by their enemies . Have you ever felt so depressed that you felt like a worm? It was worse for you because unlike worms you have a real heart. Have you ever been ready to give up because you felt defeated, worn out, ready to lay down on the pavement just like the poor earthworms? I have, well almost! But read on and see what God did for Jacob! He cries out and says, "I will help you; I am your redeemer!" Be blessed, dear friend. God hears your cry!

A Prayer of St. Francis for Autism
by Tim Tucker
Lord, let thy peace fill me up until I overflow;
that where people cannot speak, I may be their advocate;
that where anyone is rejected, I may extend my arms in welcome;
that where parents are heavy burdened, I may offer a word of comfort;
that where our children struggle, I may lift them up and cheer;
that where some see disability, I may reveal to them extraordinary gifts;
that where others judge, I may share with them my deep gladness;
and that where any are overlooked, I may help the lights of all to shine.
O Giver of These Gifts,
grant that I may not so much seek to be reassured as to reassure;
to be praised, as to praise;
to be accepted, as to accept;
for it is in all our uncertainty that we are inspired to hope;
it is in great challenges that we discover our greatest joys,
and it is in our community of wanderers that we find the way home.
Amen.

Other Blogs and poetry from JB, etc

Our First Blog Entry

July 8, 2019

A Day in the Ghetto

A Song for the lost

Rejoice, the joyous song was heard

Throughout the narrow streets we tread

The song was silent, never stirred

All hope was gone, and faith was dead.

There was no joy there was no peace

There was no trust in any man

All aspirations soon would cease

There was no dream, there was no plan.

And while we wrestled with our fears

While safe inside our hiding place

We trembled quivering with our tears

And stumbled in our own disgrace.

Where is the wise one? Where’s the scribe,

The one who claims to set us free?

Would he pursue without a bribe?

Would we bow down on bended knee?

The one we followed was a fool

He stalked and groomed us offering gold

But in the kingdom he would rule

There was but death. Our lives were sold.

But yet a pilgrim standing strong

Refused to fall, refused to bend

And listened to the distant song

And wondered how this life would end.

And as the tune grew louder still

He heard the story of a king

And of a cross upon a hill

And how He died new life to bring.

And so, he wandered through the town

To tell the story he had heard

And others soon would gather round

And hope and gladness suddenly stirred.

And as the truth was finally learned

Their sorrowing hearts were filled with glee

Then Satan’s plans were overturned

For the lost rejected ones where free.

Sharon F. Easter, 2019

A Day in the Ghetto In memory of Whiskers
When Whiskers wasn’t Whiskers
Richard W. Cornwall
Exeter – Richard W. Cornwall, 77, of Exeter died Friday, June 28, 2019 at the Exeter Hospital.
He was born September 13, 1941 in Lowell, MA the son of the late William W. and Grace (Dane) Cornwall.
He was the maintenance supervisor for the former Exeter Villa for many years.
He was predeceased by his wife, Diane (Winslow) Cornwall.
He is survived by his sister, Susan Cornwall.
Services will be held Friday, July 5, 2019 at 10AM at the United Methodist Church, 307 Epping Road, Exeter. Burial will follow in the Exeter Cemetery.

I knew he had been ill. I think it had been almost a year since I had last seen him in person. He had been at the annual coop meeting. He sat in his usual front seat, in the section on the right, the third seat on the first row. t It was as if it had been reserved for him. I noticed that there was a slight change, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Maybe it was because he had stayed seated and even during the intermission time when I expected that he would slowly stand up and stretch and walk boldly over to the food table he stayed in his chair.. I knew of course he was a year older but so was I. He didn’t look any older. He still wore the same dark clothing and he still had the flowing beard. I couldn’t get used to that. Here he was called “Whiskers.” I remembered him as just plain “Dickie”. Our conversation was about the same every year. He would remind me that his birthday just past and he knew mine was only a few days later. He always encouraged me because he was a year older than me. He would ask me if I had seen any of our old High School classmates. I would always tell him the same answer, “No, but I keep in touch with a few on Face Book.” He remembered everyone. He cherished their memory. He had kept our class yearbook and had treasured it as if it was an old family Bible. I almost felt guilty knowing mine had been left in a cellar somewhere in Nashua when I had moved to the one of many apartments.
I think the first time I had met Dickie was in my homeroom in the 9th grade. We had just moved to Westford Massachusetts and it was my first day at a new school I didn’t know many people other than the families who lived on either side of me on Depot Street. Mr. McClean was a jovial fellow, bald headed with a soft smile. He ended up being one of my favorite teachers and I was thrilled when I learned that he was a Methodist.
Dickie sat at the table at the front of the room. There were tables set for two where there could be partners who would work together. I loved biology especially the dissection of critters like earthworms. Nobody sat beside him in home room. I sat in the table on the opposite side and I was closer to the back of the room. I don’t really remember who sat beside me and I don’t think we had assigned seats for home room. I just remember Dickie always sat in the same spot. I also remember that he was tall and quite good looking. I wondered why it seemed like everything he said caused a giggle or even a groan. I don’t even think he realized that their laughing wasn’t always kind.
I got to know Dickie even better when he began to come to the Methodist church youth group. My parents had recently become the youth directors there. I am thankful that Dickie appeared to be happy there and that he made real friends God bless my parents! I remember a trip that the group took to Cape Cod. The parents of one of the teens invited us all to spend the night at their cottage and my parents came along as chaperones. Of course, the boys and the girls had separate sleeping quarters. Dickie was a perfect gentleman. He entertained us all because he brought the longest loaf of Italian bread we had ever seen and carefully slung it over his shoulders the entire time.
I remember a conversation I had with him in the car. We were good friends and he was bringing me home from a square dance at the Y where some of our other friends had been. He asked me how I could always be so happy and so calm when things seem so out of control. I told him it was because God was always there with me.
I lost contact with Dickie for many years, but he somehow discovered my address and phone number about 30 years ago. He called me several times, leaving messages but I never was able to talk to him.
Six years ago, we were looking for a trailer park that would allow JB to live with us. Senior citizen parks wouldn’t because JB was in his late 30’s. We ended up in the coop. The first thing I noticed was there was a Cornwall Street. I wondered if it had been named for Dickie’s relative. When I saw his name on an old park correspondence, I googled him and discovered he still lived here.
At first, I was nervous about it. I wasn’t sure if he had changed and if he even remembered me. I knew that I had to see him though because I needed to remind him that what I had said all those years ago is still true.
I sent Dickie a birthday card and told him where we lived and to come visit. A few weeks later he arrived at our door, his yearbook in his hand. He told us about his wife and that they both were going to the Methodist church but they both had been baptized at another Baptist church. He was still grieving his precious wife. Oh, how I wish I had known her.
A saw Whiskers often at first. He was usually riding a lawn mower on his way to mow somewhere. I would wave but sometimes he wouldn’t look up and didn’t see me. I saw him once a year at the yearly coop meeting. He wasn’t allowed to vote because he couldn’t pay his rent on time. It was always a few days late because his social security check came after the date the rent was due. He still came to the meetings because he cared. He payed his rent every month but it was always late. I know that bothered him.
He was a hard worker even when he was young. He always had money because he worked hard. He also kept track of where his money was spent. He wouldn’t let anyone borrow it, but he did give it away if he saw someone in need. He had a kind heart.
A few months ago, I learned that Whiskers was in a nursing home somewhere. I tried to find out where, but nobody seemed to know for sure.
I heard the sad news of his passing in the same way most of us did. It was on Face Book. I wanted to go to his funeral, but I had no one to stay with JB.

Bit by bit many people wrote about him saying how thoughtful he was and how much he had worked in the park. Sadly a few spoke badly about him and that hurt. We all make mistakes and if Dickie did it means he was human.
When you are old, and you see classmates leave before you do you have a lot of emotions. I hoped he wasn’t in pain and that he didn’t die alone. I was sad to see another person who had been a part of my life go before I did. I was also given the stark reminder that I could be next.

But, most of all there is the glorious hope that we know:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

RIP Dickie. Thank you for being our friend.

YOU ARE ALWAYS LOOKING AT YOUR NOSE YOUR BRAIN JUST TRIES TO IGNORE IT TRUE

A housefly hums in the key of F. TRUE

Rats and mice laugh when tickled, just like humans. TRUE!

You can’t hum while plugging your nose. True

The Mongolians invented lemonade TRUE!

Michelangelo Hated Painting and Wrote a Poem About It Sort of -He hated painting the Sistine Chapel, but he didn’t always hate painting.

Camel milk does not curdle True

Snails can sleep for 3 years TRUE!

Poison ivy isn’t really ivy and poison oak isn’t oak. They are both members of the cashew family. TRUE!

More turkeys are raised in California than in any other state in the United States. Up for grabs!

Cats can hear ultrasound TRUE

Zero is the only number that can’t be represented as a roman numeral True

The planet 55 Cancri e is made of diamonds and is worth $26 trillion. True, but it may be worth even more! But….

Sailors once thought that wearing gold earrings improved their eyesight True

A lemon has more sugar than a strawberry Yes and No

A bee has 5 eyelids TRUE Yes but not on just one eye.

The first Spam message was transmitted by telegraph in 1864 TRUE!

40% of twins create their own language TRUE

Mosquitoes bite people with type O blood more often. True!

A brow wrinkle is the result of 200,000 Frowns Maybe

Squirrels lose more than half of the nuts they hide. True-Sort of

Texas is the only state that allows residents to allow absentee ballots from space. TRUE

BARBIES FULL NAME IS BARBARA MILLICENT ROBERTS true

Snapple ice tea fact (an oldie but appropriate!)

In the 1960's the US government tried to turn a cat into a spy. TRUE

Chocolate is made from vanilla. partly true

Our First Blog Entry

Contact Us

We love hearing from you, let us know what's on your mind

our email address is

s.fernie123@gmail.com

YOU ARE ALWAYS LOOKING AT YOUR NOSE YOUR BRAIN JUST TRIES TO IGNORE IT TRUE​

A housefly hums in the key of F. ​TRUE

Rats and mice laugh when tickled, just like humans. TRUE!

You can’t hum while plugging your nose. True

The Mongolians invented lemonade TRUE!

Michelangelo Hated Painting and Wrote a Poem About It Sort of -He hated painting the Sistine Chapel, but he didn’t always hate painting.

Camel milk does not curdle True

Snails can sleep for 3 years TRUE!

Poison ivy isn’t really ivy and poison oak isn’t oak. They are both members of the cashew family. TRUE!

More turkeys are raised in California than in any other state in the United States. Up for grabs!

Cats can hear ultrasound TRUE

Zero is the only number that can’t be represented as a roman numeral True

The planet 55 Cancri e is made of diamonds and is worth $26 trillion. True, but it may be worth even more! But….

Sailors once thought that wearing gold earrings improved their eyesight True

A lemon has more sugar than a strawberry Yes and No

A bee has 5 eyelids TRUE Yes but not on just one eye.

The first Spam message was transmitted by telegraph in 1864 TRUE!

40% of twins create their own language TRUE

Mosquitoes bite people with type O blood more often. True!

A brow wrinkle is the result of 200,000 Frowns Maybe

Squirrels lose more than half of the nuts they hide. True-Sort of

Texas is the only state that allows residents to allow absentee ballots from space. TRUE

BARBIES FULL NAME IS BARBARA MILLICENT ROBERTS true

Snapple ice tea fact (an oldie but appropriate!)

In the 1960's the US government tried to turn a cat into a spy. TRUE

Chocolate is made from vanilla. partly true

Our First Blog Entry

Contact Us

We love hearing from you, let us know what's on your mind our email address iss.fernie123@gmail.com

YOU ARE ALWAYS LOOKING AT YOUR NOSE YOUR BRAIN JUST TRIES TO IGNORE IT TRUE

A housefly hums in the key of F. TRUE

We love hearing from you, let us know what's on your mind

our email address is

s.fernie123@gmail.com