Good Morning!
It’s Monday, so that means snow. Again. Tuesday night and Wednesday is the same forecast. Yay. 🙄
On this day in 1690 the first paper money in America was issued by the Massachusetts colony. The currency was used to pay soldiers that were fighting in the war against Quebec.
In 1783 Spain recognized the independence of the United States.
In 1913 the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It authorized the power to impose and collect income tax.
In 1916 Ottawa, Canada’s original parliament buildings burned down.
And in 1966 the first rocket-assisted controlled landing on the Moon was made by the Soviet space vehicle Luna IX.
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Quote of the Day
“Some people have been kind enough to call me a fine artist. I’ve always called myself an illustrator. I’m not sure what the difference is. All I know is that whatever type of work I do, I try to give it my very best. Art has been my life.”
Norman Rockwell
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On this day in 1956 Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash held a recording session at Sun Studios in Memphis.
It’s also Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s birthday. From Youth Orchestra Concerts by Jason Julian
And it’s John Schlitt’s birthday.
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Wandering Views 
Am I first again?
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I see where Ajisuun is coming home on furlough this summer.
Aj, it isn’t snow here, it’s rain. it’s 57 degrees.
Gottta go.
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Nice new look, Aj. Does anyone know how long Aijsuun will be home? I will be there in mid December and it would be nice to meet. Monday is over here. Good night
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I call it Duck, Duck, Goose.
As you can tell I was out playing with my new camera again. I’m gonna use it again today because the snow is pretty and I can get some nice shots. But I still don’t like it and want Spring to arrive.
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Good morning everyone. A new day and a new week. (Monday always feels like the beginning of the week to me.)
Blessings on your day (night in Jo’s case), all!
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The Kid was off for almost a week for the snow. Getting him up for school will not be easy this morning.
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Isn’t it amazing that you could have those 4 musicians together singing a song about Jesus and no one thought twice about them recording that song. Today it would be a total mockery. First you would have to include a rapper and then there would be argument of who else to add and they would be snickering and laughing…Oh my how the world has changed. Elvis was flawed in so many ways but his roots were in the church, same with the others. Johnny Cash loved God and tried so hard but he periodically would have his back slidden moments with drugs.
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I can’t get the quartet video. It gives me a black screen with the message that it is currently unavsilable.
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Tried again and was able to get it. It woke Bosley from her lap nap. Very nice to hear them all togrther.
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Fixed gravitar so Kim and I won’t both be greenies.
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It often happens when good musicians get together. If they know the song, someone sets the tempo and they make music. I’m not surprised at the production, but I wonder who did that Guitar work. Probably Carl Perkins.
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I have a QOD. Have you ever met a genius? Were they normal or as socially awkward as they are usually portrayed?
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QOD: yes, no, yes. and yes, yes, no.
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KBells, yes. I have some in my family. Depending on how you define “genius,” I have several in my family. But the ones who definitely fit the definition are more or less socially normal. (“More or less” meaning that no one in my family would be considered “normal” by societal definitions. But can they carry on a conversation or work with others? Definitely.)
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QOD: yes; no, yes.
One of them was described by his mother as being “a 40 year-old mind in the body of an 8 year-old with the emotions of a two year-old.”
I’ve known a lot of really smart people (fallout from marrying a nuclear engineer) and the geniuses are always really interesting, but are definitely different. Some are smart enough to be smooth and socially fine; but then you get them talking about their personal subject matter and all bets are off.
Most of them are men married to pretty sharp, sometimes beautiful women. It’s the women who keep things running so the geniuses can function.
I was reading through some letters of Ernest Hemingway last night, written during his first marriage. The letters went to a variety of people and his tone, of course, is different based on to whom he’s writing. He mentions his young wife and his baby often, but knowing what came in his life and how shamefully he treated them, I thought, “I’m so glad I didn’t marry someone like this.”
In his case, and in many, they’re so smart they get way ahead of everyone else, particularly the “caretakers” in their lives, and then they toss them overboard for something more sparkly. In so doing, they throw away their soul and often their chance at relative normality. It’s a real shame.
So, while it might have been fun to ride the literary celebrity genius of Ernest Hemingway, it would have broken your heart, too. He wrote later, that in looking back at his life, the happiest times really were that first marriage and the surprise baby.
Of course.
In the case of my own brilliant man? Jesus has been the difference.
Thanks be to God.
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QoD,
Yes, and normal. Mostly…. I married her. 🙂
Yes, and no. he was one of my Pastors for the first 14 years of my walk. PD is probably the smartest person I ever met. But he’s as normal as they get.
And Tim, the conservative son of friends from church, who is stuck in liberal California where he protests plastic bags bans for the good of all shoppers. I think it’s for his own amusement mostly. I’d vote him most likely to go all eccentric and use his genius for world conquest. 🙂
And one of my wife’s professors from college, Dr. B., like Pastor D, smart as a whip. And normal.
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I am constantly in the company of people who are smarter than I am. I consider it must be that they are all geniuses. They have a few ways about themselves that give them away as being geniouses. They know their way is the best way. They don’t store routine information in their brains so others have to deal with the routines of living to assist them or enable them to carry on at a”higher” level.
I once knew a really smart guy at work who said his mother had told him at a young age that he would have troubles dealing with people because most were not on his intellectual level. I could not dizpute what his mother had told him. 🙂
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I have always bee a Geek Magnet. They are normal for them. One I have most recently dealt with is either a blooming idiot or so smart he can’t function. I have come away from several conversations not knowing what we were discussing. His mind moves faster than his words and he switches subjects like changing lanes on a highway, them looks at you so expectantly. I haven’t a clue.
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Yes, to knowing geniuses. They are the same as other people, which means–all different. It seems to give people some pleasure to assume they are all weird or strange, the same as it seems to give people pleasure to think all rich people cannot be ‘really’ happy for some reason or another.
It is difficult for the very young to be really smart. Our school system has a difficult time with them. Often they see things that cause them distressed, when others their age just do not notice the same things. They often have one track minds and cannot understand why others do not see things the same way they do. Therefore, they can be socially inept. Adults can assume they are ‘across the board’ smart, when they may not be, but rather excelling in specific things.
Alas, I know too many who are blinded by their intelligence and thus, missing out on real wisdom.
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Sheesh. Cause them distress, but you knew what I meant.
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A reporter I used to work with was brilliant, probably close to a genius. But he also was very socially comfortable and married to a beautiful gal, his college sweetheart who once had modeling aspirations.
They lived together for several years before marrying shortly after college. But then they divorced (no kids) — she found somebody new — and he told me some years later when we reconnected that even though she was the one who strayed, he’d always blamed himself for the breakup. Looking back, he said he’d put his career ahead of their marriage which it seemed he somewhat took for granted.
Aside from knowing more about science and math — and just about any other subject you could name — than anyone I ever knew, he was a gifted writer. Even his lengthy, day-to-day emails “sang.”
We kept in touch & got together several times through the late 1990s (he lived in another state but would visit) but his health was deteriorating rapidly (diabetes) and he died at only 49 years old. 😦
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Kim, I had a friend like that. He was a Catholic theologian who was in to Sci-fi. I didn’t always understand what he was talking about but choose to be flattered that he thought I did.
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We finally got some decent rain last night. We’ll probably never catch up for the season at this point, but maybe if we can get a series of good downpours between now and spring it will help ease the drought a little bit.
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The highest IQ I’ve ever met (that I know of) was 157. He was a special ops veteran who never went to college. He came off as an easy going old country boy until you started talking to him. He had enough investments and pensions that he was only working with us because he was bored. Still it took him just a matter of months to get put in charge of his department.
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We finally got some decent snow last night, We’ll probably never catch up for the season at this point, but maybe if we can get a series of good snowfalls between now and spring it will help ease the drought a little bit.
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mumsee’s copying me.
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This is free on Kindle this month:
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the most sincere form of flattery…
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We are getting more snow tonight and tomorrow….on top of the foot we got this weekend….nice wet heavy stuff…good for the forest.
I do know a couple genius level people….well adjusted, humble and entertaining 🙂
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Mumsee, sincere?
We have a pair of canines out in the field behind us. I took several photos. My husband is sure they’re red foxes; I thought grey fox or coyote, leaning toward coyote. My preference would be red fox. I’d love to have a den out here.
Well, Misten has now had her excitement for the day (not the wild canines). Wanna know how deep our drifts are? Half an hour ago Misten walked across our yard, on snow that is now crusty, and across the fence into the neighbor’s yard. My husband is now outside snowblowing the yard to shut off the exit route. This is a dog who doesn’t try to get out, but who will walk through an open gate if it’s right there inviting her.
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For Jo (and anyone else interested) Ajisuun will be home from August 2014 through June 2015. She and I met for lunch when she was home last time and I hope we can again this year.
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One of my siblings married a genius. He is a very regular guy and doesn’t talk much about his work. So far, two of the kids definitely display the clever genes. One functions pretty normally, the other has symptoms of Asperger’s – very high functioning but nonetheless difficult to handle at times.
I have met several different types of geniuses (scientific, mathematical, musical, etc.). Most of them are normal and down-to-earth, a few are eccentric, but very few are show-offs. Most of the people who enjoy displaying their mental superiority aren’t as smart as they think they are.
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Maybe Cowboy can just wait for a big, 6-foot-tall snow drift to appear in our backyard.
My latest barricade efforts, though still considered a temporary fix, seem to be keeping him confined for now.
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I think there is quite a bit of snow in your backyard, today, Donna. The town often gets more than we do.
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“Most of the people who enjoy displaying their mental superiority aren’t as smart as they think they are.” Isn’t that the truth?!
Cheryl, we’ve had to shovel snow away from the fence in the past. Seems like such a waste of energy and time, but when the dog can get out… I’m glad we can just let Keva run free here.
You can usually tell foxes by their tails. The tail is pretty much the same size as the rest of them. So beautiful, I hope they have kits – you should be able to get some amazing pictures of them if you’re patient – they’re so curious.
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Kare, the first book I looked at in hopes of identifying it showed photos of gray fox and coyote that were so similar I wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart, and I know coyotes can vary quite a bit. They had no white tips on the tails, or I sure couldn’t see them if they did, which to me would rule out red fox, though I might be wrong. I also didn’t think they were red enough, but my husband (who saw them through binoculars) believes they were. Coyotes are probably more common and more likely to be out in the daytime, so coyote gets my vote. But the weather we have might well push animals to be a little more desperate in seeking food, and I’m definitely not positive. And my husband sent me a video of someone answering the question, “How do you tell a red fox and a coyote apart?” and pretty much answering it that if the animal looks big enough to be a German shepherd, it’s a coyote. Well, I’d guess these were fairly large, but they were so far away (at the back of the field behind us) that I simply can’t do any detailed determinations of anything. (The photos show shape nicely, but not details.)
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Yay. I have snow.
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Danger! Danger! Trying to put a collar on a kitten named Bosley can be life-threatening. I think the vets office will be the one to do it. Trying to keep her from biting me while tightening the collar is not one of those multitasking feats I can manage.
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I can see how a grey phase fox could be mistaken for a coyote or vice versa. You’d almost have to see them closer together to know for sure. Coyotes up here are closer to border collie size. The wolves, however, are huge 🙂
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Good Afternoon, Y’all!
I have known several geniuses (genii?)…as many answers as possible to the QOD…one common factor however is some level of indecision about locking into one career or activity…too good at too many things to focus on one.
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Our coyotes are not as big as German Shepherds. Our wolves are, but I have never seen one. Though I probably saw a wolf hybrid once. It was big. The coyotes I have seen are about the same size as the foxes I have seen. About Jake’s size. Apparently we run the same sizes as those in Kare’s neighborhood.
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Our wolves are much bigger than German shepherds! I have been lucky to see several up here.
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I notice in the history trivia, that Canada’s parliament buildings burnt down in 1916. Actually, it was just the Centre Block that burnt down, all except the Library. Everyone who goes on a tour of Parliament is told the story of how a quick thinking caretaker closed all the doors of the Library, which were made of iron, preventing the fire from spreading and destroying the valuable book collection. The Library still stands today, being incorporated into the design of the new Centre Block.
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I am told our wolves are much bigger as well, because they were imported from Canada. But I suspect at some point in their growth, they are the size of German Shepherds. We have a wolf education site down the road, I have never been there but have wanted to go when we get some spare time. The Nezperce run it.
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I have seen red foxes, coyotes and coy wolves. The foxes are about the size of a Jack Russell terrier and definitely red. Their bushy tails are very full, nearly the length of their bodies.
The coyotes are much larger – the size of a Doberman would be about right – and their fur is a pale tan colour. They aren’t much to look at, being lean with a furry tail that resembles a wire brush. The first time I saw one, I thought it was some mangy mutt wandering around.
The coy wolves vary in colouring and size. The first one I saw, I thought it was an Alaskan malamute which has wolf in it, but then I realized that it was moving too fast and too freely for any domesticated dog. It was definitely bigger than a German shepherd. Their howls are unearthly as they hunt in packs at night. Between them, the cougar sightings and the increase in black bears, its getting so it isn’t safe to go into the woods alone.
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Hubby has a co-worker who is a self-proclaimed genius. Hubby loves to take every opportunity possible when the guy messes up (and there are plenty instances of that) to remind him that he’s not so much.
Hubby is the one who’s the real genius. He has a clever comeback for everything. 😉
He also can fix just about everything with anything he has on hand. He is creative and makes things work, even when done in an atypical way and/or with atypical tools or materials.
His dad is the same way, particularly with fixing cars, as he did before retirement. And this that Kim said at 10:35 — “I have come away from several conversations not knowing what we were discussing. His mind moves faster than his words and he switches subjects like changing lanes on a highway…” — she must have spoken to my FIL on the phone before. 😉 A friend of my husband’s told him that he had spoken with hubby’s dad (who he didn’t know) on the phone once, and reported, “We had four different conversations in five minutes, and I didn’t get to talk!” LOL 🙂
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Cats and collars. It’s a battle at first, but they do get used to them. I remember doing a couple posts on the pets block about my efforts 5 years ago to “collar” Annie for the first time:
http://blogs.dailybreeze.com/pets/2009/11/03/the-cat-vs-the-collar/
http://blogs.dailybreeze.com/pets/2009/11/06/collared/
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I have told this before. The husband of a niece in Virginia had a “dog” that was ¾ wolf. The half wolf was mated with a wolf. That critter was larger than any dog I have ever seen. I’m not sure of the reason, but they wanted him to see us with Rob before any “social” encounter with him. He was gentle around people, but had to sniff everyone before he was satisfied. When they had a baby, he showed some jealousy and they had to get rid of him. I think Rob gave him away to a friend. They knew they could never leave him alone with the child.
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QoD: I have met one or two geniuses. One was a member of MENSA. She was “normal”. You just didn’t want to play her in Scrabble unless you could get her sidetracked talking about her family and friends.
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Here are my canines. As I said, the photos can’t show details (too far away), but do a good job of showing “action.” They’ve gone through the field behind us several times today, three times that I have seen, including at sunset a few minutes ago.
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Our leadership meeting started with prayer this morning.
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They look fluffy for coyotes. But maybe ours out here are just especially scrappy.
There are people here with wolf/dog hybrids, a mix that’s not generally recommended by veterinarians as “pet” material. They can be unpredictable. But they are beautiful to see when on a leash being walked.
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Donna, husband got a couple pics of your new house today so you could see how it looks in the snow. It seems to have a nice chain link fence all around. I don’t see the problem.
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Cheryl – It is really hard to tell what size they are. The tails look more like coyote tails, but if they are closer to the field with the stubble in the foreground, then they don’t seem the right size.
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I am still trying to figure out how to send them to you. I am not terribly good at that sort of thing. But I can eat bonbons and watch soap.
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They look like our coyotes.
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Watch soap. Hmm. What does it do? Is it sort of like watching paint dry?
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And grass grow. And snow fly.
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I would say they’re coyotes – I’ll show them to my wildlife officer – he should be able to tell 🙂 The second one’s tail is definitely not foxlike.
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By the way, Donna, they look fluffier than your coyotes because, in most states, the coyotes stay outside and develop a winter coat and a summer coat. This would be more or a winter coat.
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He says: coyotes. Their ears and tails are not big enough in relation to their bodies for foxes.
Our coyotes up here have beautiful thick coats in winter (as long as they don’t have mange)
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This is my number 🙂
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Fifth Arrow’s birthday is coming up on Friday, but we’re celebrating tomorrow, as 2nd Arrow can be home for a good part of the day tomorrow.
We were going to have cake, of course, and had bought the ingredients last week to make the cake. However, our oven, you may recall, has gone kaput, and we can’t really make the cake in a crockpot. 😉
Well…1st Arrow had a work meeting after finishing classes today, and at that meeting, they had…cake! A huge sheet cake. A little more than half of which got consumed at the meeting.
When son was leaving, his boss called to him, “Hey, [First Arrow] 😉 , you wanna take home the rest of that cake?”
So we’ve got cake for tomorrow’s celebration. In big ways and small, God always provides. 🙂
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Our foxes are very small, almost large cat sized. But our coyotes, while thin, are tall. Someone posted a photo last week, though, of a really big coyote eating something on someone’s front lawn.
I can’t wait to see my new house in snow. 🙂
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Crock pot cake. Hmmm. Happy early birthday to Fifth Arrow! 🙂
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Some of the coyote/fox photos I took looked foxlike to me, some coyote-like, but I was leaning toward coyote. Thanks!
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Thanks, Donna. He’s got a few days of being a single-digit age, then Friday he’s into the big time — double digits!! 🙂
And a nice surprise: 2nd Arrow will be here tonight for an overnight before the party. Yay! 🙂
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a good week for birthdays. I am giving myself a party on Saturday as it is one of the special ones, but next year seems even more so as I will begin social security, if it is still around.
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It didn’t take me long at all to get caught up on last night’s goings on.
🙂
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