A Change Of Pace
Life throws a lot of changes at people
By James K. White | August 27, 2008
The last man to set foot on the moon was Eugene Cernan in December of 1972.
Napoleon Bonaparte had several descendants, but the last of them (Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte) died in 1945 after tripping and falling over a dog leash.
The galaxy that we live in is called the Milky Way and is shaped somewhat like a flattened spiral.
Other than the ones they swallow, sharks have no bones.
That likely does not explain why Sirius (the Dog Star) is generally the brightest star in the night sky.
You almost never heard of President Theodore Roosevelt because he was nearly killed in an accident. In 1886, well before he was president, he fell off of a sixty foot cliff in Montana.
Below the cliff the landscape was mostly sharp granite rocks. According to a professional guide named Willis, Teddy hit the top of a tall pine tree and bounced lower to a second shorter pine and bounced again into a third shorter pine and then crashed through branches into a spongy moss bed. Willis rushed to help the poor victim and found him on his knees basically unhurt and looking for his eyeglasses. Theodore’s prominent toothy grin earned him the nickname Teethadore Roosevelt among some Montana natives.
In oil boomtowns in Texas during the early part of the 20th century, there were some rowdy drunks and no jails. It was common practice for local lawmen to chain inebriated souls to trees or buildings, etc. until sobriety was regained. There exist several photographs verifying that the method was widespread.
One acre is exactly 4840 square yards. The English still refer to “stones” as a unit of weight measurement. A stone is exactly 14 pounds.
Coney Island (New York) used to be such a popular tourist location that on one day in 1906 (September) more than 200,000 post cards were purchased and mailed from that site.
You could have played with your Crayons way back in 1903. That was when Edward Binney and Harold Smith first created them. I was pretty good with Crayons except for the part where one is supposed stay inside the lines. I think that I got too excited.
Life throws a lot of changes at people. In 1876 Chief Sitting Bull was one of the Sioux leaders that led combatants in the defeat of George Armstrong Custer at the famous Battle of Little Bighorn. Nine years later Sitting Bull left a reservation to join up with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. The renowned chief accompanied the show to the Eastern States. He even shook hands with President Grover Cleveland. One can only imagine the magnitude of adjustment the proud Native American experienced.
Well, I trust that you will not experiment with the TR method of cliff descent and – I’ll see you next time.
Summer in Arizona
You know you are in Arizona in August when …
The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
The trees are whistling for the dogs.
The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
Hot water now comes out of both taps.
You can make sun tea instantly.
You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
You discover it only takes two fingers to steer your car.
You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, 'What if I get knocked out and end up
lying on the pavement and cook to death?'
You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out
and add butter, salt and pepper.
Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying
hard boiled eggs.
The cows are giving evaporated milk.
Ah, what a place to call home!