We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
The use of peanuts dates to the Aztecs and Incas. They supposedly made a paste out of them too. Wow. Another New World food that I missed on my list of European appropriations of native New World foods: Squash, corn (maize), all peppers, tomato, potato, sweet potato, beans, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, avocado, cashew, walnut, etc.
Of course we will attend a Bobby Burns Birthday Party here in NYC with pipers, kilties - and the Chieftain o' the pudding race - Haggis. And whiskey to make the haggis edible.
I emailed our host that my kilt got lost at the dry cleaners, but will attend anyway.
More or less without exception each one of the executive orders promulgated by the gentleman from Madame Tussauds on January 20 belies the principles of good government, though each one in its own distinctive way. Taking the rationale of any one of them to its logical conclusion, one can infer the others and the tyrannical dystopia they mean to hang around our necks. We’re on the road to find out...
7:29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,
7:30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions,
7:31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
Unless you want to spend the money on custom shoes (London and Italy seem to be the places to go for that), if your feet have different sizes, as mine do, it can be a problem for dressier shoes.
Being lazy with dressing, I tend to prefer loafers to tie shoes although tie shoes are a better look. With many people getting back to regular work now, it is an issue.
For ordinary casual or outdoor shoes and boots, no issue. You manage that with socks.
Do any of our readers have this issue? I'd actually imagine that it's more of a problem for women than for men, but I don't know.
As I predicted, as soon as Joe Biden became president, the narrative on COVID-19 would change. Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) proved me right.
What really was/is the point of COVID testing? Unless you are ill and your doctor needs to know?
I have posted several times about my Food Bank work. I'm not doing this to say "Hey look at me aren't I so giving?" After all, I'd barely done any work over the years with them, aside from donations and occasional assistance at the pantry.
I'm a firm believer in giving back in some form, and doing it quietly. In the Bible, Jesus made it clear you shouldn't promote your good works in order to promote yourself, and I believe that. My grandfather also felt this way, his donations always came from "A Friend" and no other ID was provided. I tend to do this, as well. Anonymity (or some degree of it) here helps reduce the impact of me promoting myself via 'good works'.
On the other hand, drawing attention to needs, and providing useful information about charitable works is not easily done without a reasonable voice. To a degree, I give some celebrities a pass when they promote their 'good works'. A lot depends on just how they are doing that work. If they make it about themselves and what they are doing (Ed Begley, Jr. and his incessant BS about how 'green' he is would be an example - he's wealthy, so it's easy to be 'green' and it's a means by which he can draw attention to his declining celebrity status), then I tend find their points less credible.
This northern chicken-like (gallinaceous) bird prefers first-growth areas, with access to water and open areas. I most often find them in aspen, birch or alder thickets, but they can be seen in piney woods, old orchards, ferny woods, and in streambeds. In regions where birch and aspen are the climax forest, they can be found everywhere or anywhere, but never in large numbers. They are most commonly encountered when they flush with a startling whirr of wings.
Once known as "fool hens" for their tameness, Ruffies have somehow learned to avoid human encounters once they have had contact with them.
These birds do not migrate, and winter very well, since they are very happy to thrive on tree buds all winter, especially protein-rich aspen and birch buds. Their numbers have been declining in the Northeast as the old farms have become either mature woods, or housing developments, but clear-cutting of mature woodlands is a great help to them, as it is to most species of wildlife (it imitates the natural effect of wildfire to regenerate forest succession, which is key to habitat diversity and thus species diversity).
The Ruffed Grouse is the noblest game bird in the US. Wary, they do not often hold to a dog's point and when they do flush, their flight assumes warp speed immediately and is unpredictable. (Gwynnie's theory is that they have a random-direction-generating gyroscope in their brains.) They have an uncanny talent for putting tree trunks between the hunter and themselves, or for flying at your face, or flying between you and you pal, whose life you may (or may not) value more highly than you value bagging a Ruffie. And even the most considerate hunters ( yes - you, Craig) will pop off a snap shot regardless of whose bird it is, and rightly so. You cannot wait with Ruffies.
Grouse hunters (a very special and scarce, and, to my mind, elite fraternity of intrepid woodsy folks who don't mind cuts, bruises, wet boots, and hours-long struggles through underbrush, raspberry patches, thorny thickets of hawthorn, and impenetrable streamside alder growths) require very quick reflexes and a high degree of "relaxed alertness", but they require, most of all, strong legs for all of the hours of difficult wilderness walking which is required to find these wonderful creatures. It is said that grouse "are killed with legs, not guns." Dogs help, a bit, but they are huntable without dogs. When a hunter finds one, they are generally very difficult to shoot such that every Ruffie is a trophy and is regarded as such. And they are also regarded as a rare gourmet treat, because, with their subtle woodsy flavor, there is no finer fowl for the table.
Why "ruffed"? The males have a dramatic black neck ruff which they display for courtship purposes, while they fan their tails and strut around like little Thanksgiving turkeys. Their courtship drumbeat from an old log is also one of their well-known features: many have heard their deep thumping from deep in the woods, and have no idea that it is just a horny male Ruffie looking for a date.
Read more about the wonderful Ruffed Grouse here. The very worthy Ruffed Grouse Society, which Maggie's Farm supports, pays for research on grouse and woodcock ecology, which benefits all woodlands and woodland creatures.
My weekly time at the Food Bank has been very enlightening. Yesterday was different, I did something I wasn't used to doing. "Separating and stocking" it was called. Normally I pack food into boxes for shut-ins, SNAP supplement, or other family assistance. Some of that food is donated by large supermarkets or food producers, unsold stuff that hasn't quite hit expiration. Most is purchased by the bank itself, from donations. A commenter had asked where the food came from, and I have learned that a good portion is purchased, another good chunk donated.
Yesterday I learned about another big portion of it. Individual donations. When you clean out your pantry and drop it off at your local Food Bank, it goes into a bin and when there's enough volunteers like me spend hours unpacking and sorting. It's astounding, to be honest. For several reasons.
First, and I say this because we don't tend to think about it, and we mean well, but a good portion of the food donated is useless. Not the majority, but a noticeable minority of it.
To explain why, and maybe help save other volunteers time and effort, it's worth noting how the food is broken out. There are about 20 separate boxes, among them: Coffee & Tea, Cereal, Rice & Pasta, Canned Protein, Condiments, Baking Goods, Snacks, Drinks, Water, Peanut Butter, Vegetables, Fruit, Soups and Broth, and Peanut Related products. There are more, but these are the main ones.
There are at least 3 reasons I noticed for why food is tossed. First - boxed foods often are donated partially opened. Even if there is a wrapped package inside, many banks will reject the food immediately. Particularly if it includes individually wrapped packages without expiration dates on them. And that's a second reason - Expiration Dates. While a canned good dated Oct. 2, 2020 is acceptable until 2022, a boxed good with the same date is not always. It may have a 3-6 month acceptable shelf life, and if it is baby food it must not be past expiration.
These may seem somewhat questionable guidelines for food freely donated, but trust me, the artichoke hearts I picked up 3 years expired were not in the least appetizing. I may have eaten them if I'd stored them in my refirigerator at home, but realizing the nature of the situation (as my supervisor said) is such that maybe a year ago we MAY have been willing to push some limits, but right now we can't afford to.
In addition, I picked up 2 twenty pound bags of rice. Some of the rice spilled out, and I knew that bag had to go (who wants to attract rats and insects? That's the third reason...resealed boxes/bags. The first bag I threw out. The second wound up getting tossed when a supervisor noticed a hole which someone had taped over.
One other thing I learned had to do with peanuts. As you probably realize, anything that had peanuts in it, or was prepared in a facility with peanuts, was put in the "Peanut" box. What you may not realize is how much food is prepared in facilities that handle peanuts. I handled 3 different kinds of Ramen packages. The most well-known brand, Top Ramen, was a "Peanut" product. The others were Soup and Broth, but I was shocked at all the items that wound up in "Peanuts". Sometimes you just don't think much about it.
While I am always proud that we manage to prepare weekly food boxes for people, often up to 750 in a 3 hour shift, yesterday was another kind of learning experience. When I donate food in the future, I'll be sure to box it, separate it and make sure the expiration dates are acceptable. I'm sure I meant well donating a jar of olives that was 3 years past expiration, but I had no idea I was probably making someone do the work I should have done and just tossed them. Or that half open box of mac and cheese, which I taped closed, and which someone could have used. That someone being me...not someone else.
It was good knowing we sorted 524 boxes of these various foods. They are sent to local food pantries for distribution, or used in local food kitchens.
One last thing I noticed while I was there was the number of meals served each year. This past year, 2020, the number more than doubled.
Part of that was due to the ill-considered and misguided lockdowns which cost us jobs and productivity. But every year from the year it was founded, the Food Bank has seen the numbers of meals served increase. This past year may wind up being an anomaly. I hope it is. But it's worth knowing that volunteers are needed, and if you have it in you to spend a few hours a week, it's worth it. Hopefully I can convince my next employer that this is an important thing I do and get 3 hours a week to continue doing the volunteer work. I recommend it. As much as I I'd like to say I'm doing it because I ike to help people, the reality is I'm doing it for me. It makes me feel good. That's pretty much why we do most of whatever we do in life, and I'd never recommend doing it if you find it annoying or a pain in the ass. I have learned a lot, I can say that.
Many of our readers are. I am no pirate, but maybe could have been one once upon a time. All kids like pirates, in fantasy.
We're getting down for a week on southern oceans in a while. My soul needs salt water and boats. My nav skills are rusty - not that they were ever good except for coastal.
Lost interest in fishing except as a social thing, but big water and wavy gravy appeals to me. Always has.
Handy: 
How many early human species 
This northern chicken-like (gallinaceous) bird prefers first-growth areas, with access to water and open areas. I most often find them in aspen, birch or alder thickets, but they can be seen in piney woods, old orchards, ferny woods, and in streambeds. In regions where birch and aspen are the climax forest, they can be found everywhere or anywhere, but never in large numbers. They are most commonly encountered when they flush with a startling whirr of wings. 