Geo-Quiz Results; The "Pin-It"; A Good Deal, and A Good Deal More; Replacement Flowers; Paperwork Fatigue

Okay, Geo-Quiz/Trivia/Dictionary fans, here are the results you have all been waiting for... 

But, first, here are the quiz questions with correct answers in red:

1. What might I be pouring from a machicolation in the year 1400? Burning oil, boiling water, etc. A machicolation is a floor opening on a castle battlement, through which you could pour boiling oil or water onto attackers below. (This may have also been the source of inspiration for the first outdoor hot shower... medieval soldiers were not particularly well-known for their personal hygiene).

2. What group in what African country uses the Aloe dichotoma, and for what purpose? The San tribe in Namibia hollows out the tubular branches of this tree to make quivers for their arrows. 

3. What fine powdery form of carbon is deposited when oils containing carbon are burned? Lampblack or carbon black. 

4. What is the name of a woman’s gown, fitted above the waist, worn with an open front and draped skirt to show the underskirt, worn in Europe in the late 17^th and 18^th centuries? The mantua. Most mantuas in existence today are in museums, and were worn as court dress in the 18th century. They were actually quite comfortable, at least when compared to the whalebone-bodice and separate skirts they were designed to replace. 






As an aside, this reminds me of a fortunate turn of fate in my youth... my mother was a seamstress, and taught sewing classes to high school and college girls. As my bedroom was just off the large basement room where the classes were held, I was often drafted by said young ladies to pin up their skirts using the old wooden Pin-It skirt hem marker... 

I initially thought this request demeaning for a 16-year old male, but I quickly appreciated the potential benefits of such duty. And as is often said of such work, "It's a tough job, but someone has to do it." 

5. You are in a hot-air balloon which has developed a serious leak, and you are descending rapidly. Your GPS indicates that you are about to land at position 48.452N, 71.255W. You call for help on the radio. A. What language does your rescue agency speak? French; you are in Quebec. B. You only have time to grab one item from the following list. Which do you grab and why? a. a rifle; b. a hiking stick; c. snowshoes; d. a life jacket; e. a bottle of wine. Life jacket. The position stated is in deep water. The screen shot shows the Google Map position, which is in the Saguenay River near Jonquiere, Quebec. 

Congratulations to the winners (4 correct answers each), Lynn Spence and Bob Blythe. Lynn and Bob will each receive a box of Magnum ice cream bars (your choice of Classic, Double Chocolate, or Almond) delivered by My Lovely Bride and Your Faithful Correspondent in Corvette Chick's red 'Vette. 

Thanks also to Cheryl Breault, Katherine Cote, and Chris Lavender for their entries. Of note, 4 of 5 contestants opted for wine rather than safety equipment when they were about to crash. That says something for their good taste, don't you think? Special credit goes to Cheryl, whose statement that "Life is too short to drink bad wine" is duplicated on a small pillow on our sofa only a few steps away from where I now write. (It gives me daily inspiration!)

One of the nice characteristics of The Villages is that the flowers at intersections and entrances are replaced about every 3 months, so they never look tired. (There's nothing worse than tired-looking flowers...) Anyway, here is one example of the floral rejuvenation being undertaken here in central Florida. 

Last night Suzanne's mom Ruthie came over for dinner, a gourmet lamb dish created by My Lovely Bride. After dinner, we stuffed S.O.A.R! folders for MLB's workshop in DC this weekend. It was exhausting, because my job was to separate the huge stack of copies and pass one part to Ruthie and the other to Suzanne. I was like a card dealer, first stack of 5 to the left, second stack of ten to the right... by the end of 50 sets, I was beat... 

GatorFest! Reflections; A Red Tail’s Bath; A Spirit Artist; Please Adopt Me!

No, the title does not suggest that we attended a University of Florida football game. Instead, we went kayaking at Lake Griffin State Park in Fruitland Park. The name is a bit deceptive, since the park is technically on the Dead River, which connects with Lake Griffin, but who would think of the Dead River as a neat destination?  

Fortunately, we have been to the park on several occasions, and thought that an early paddle on a Tuesday might result in more wildlife sightings than on previous trips. We were rewarded with close encounters of the prehistoric kind with eight members of the species Alligator missippiensis, the American alligator, not to be confused with its smaller Chinese alligator cousin or the salt water-based American crocodile. 

It was a still morning, and the reflections of the trees and foliage in the glassy waters of Dead River were a delight. 

Alligators were not the only wildlife we encountered. This snowy egret was foraging for lunch (probably small fish or frogs) as this ‘gator watched from a few feet away. 

Called an “apex predator” (it's comforting to be at the top of the local food chain!), alligators will eat just about anything that comes to hand... er, mouth... fish, turtles, crabs, small to medium sized mammals, and birds are all part of their diet. Muskrats and raccoons are the most favored mammals on their menu, and the rare attacks on humans are mostly in cloudy/muddy water and are attributed to mistaken identity. (Frankly, I doubt that such a defense would make the human recipient of an alligator attack feel an awful lot better.)

There were other birds out, such as this great blue heron (Ardea Herodias) with its six-foot wingspan. They prefer to stay more than 50 feet from paddlers, so as we moved along, this guy would launch, fly 50 yards or so, and land, then repeat the process as we moved along in his direction. 

Along with several anhingas and a dozen or so disgusting-looking turkey vultures soaring over a carcass (suspected, not confirmed), there was an immature red-tailed hawk taking his “bird bath” in the water right at the canoe and kayak take-out. 

It’s probably a pretty safe place to bathe, since there are usually people around (helps keep the gators away) and the water is very shallow with a sandy bottom, so visibility isn’t too bad (he might see a gator coming and be able to escape more easily). The somewhat amazing thing about our short paddle was that we were never more than a mile or two from Hwy 27/441 in a relatively heavily populated area. You don't have to go all the way to Idaho or Alaska to enjoy nature...

We joined our friends Janis and Jim Murphy at their lakeside house in Mt. Dora for dinner with Rita and David Berkowitz, who are visiting from Norwell, Mass. Janis is a medium, and she and Suzanne studied together in England at Arthur Findlay College in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex. Rita is a well-known and highly respected psychic medium and spirit artist, and is co-author of Communicating with Spirits. While the ladies discussed mediumship, the guys admired Jim’s recently acquired 1993 Acura NSX mid-engine sports car and talked sailing and politics. These 3 ladies are highly sensitive and Suzanne had to clear the air when she came into the room where the guys had been having a heated discussion.  Janis again impressed us with a splendid meal (left-to-right in the photo are David, Jim, Suzanne, Rita and Janis).

Janis and Jim also rescue animals. Here is a cute little girl named Woofie, an 8 year-old purebred Brussels Griffon (like the cute dog in the Jack Nicholson Movie "As Good As It Gets").  Woofie is in dire need of a new home where she will get lots of nurturing.  She is a real sweetie who is quiet, healthy, house broken and very well behaved, but needs to go out every few hours.  She is looking for a new owner to adopt. If you know someone that needs some puppy love, please contact us. (The big guy in the orange shirt, Jim, is also well behaved, might be considered cute by some, and is house broken, but is not up for adoption at this time.) 

Beer Burn? Geo-Quiz Update; Saving Mr. Gecko; A Stalker in a Lexus?

As we were sitting down on our lanai to a nice pizza dinner with a Corona (MLB) and Yuengling (YFC), Suzanne said, “Be careful; don’t burn your tongue.” I looked at her in astonishment, and said, “My Darling, I’ll have you know that I have NEVER burned my tongue or the roof of my mouth on a beer.” (What was she thinking?)

I have received four entries to date on this week’s Hot Air Balloon Geo-Quiz, from Chris Lavender, Lynn Spence, Cheryl Breault, and Katherine Cote. If you have sent in your entries by carrier pigeon, they have not yet arrived... 

Okay, so now that I have your interest piqued, you want to know more about carrier pigeons. They are actually domesticated rock pigeons, Columba livia, and originally carried only tiny messages on paper attached to their leg(s). The earliest documented use of these feathered mail carriers was in 6^th Century B.C., when Cyrus, King of Persia, used them to communicate with far-flung parts of his empire. (Would you call this method of communication "ancient tweeting"?)

During the Franco-Prussian War in the 1870s, besieged Parisians used them to send messages (such as orders for wine and truffles) outside the city. The Prussian army responded by hiring dozens of hawks to hunt the pigeons. They were also used by the British, French, and Germans during World Wars I and II. This photo shows a French bus fitted with pigeon coops. (Of note, French vehicles have not improved dramatically since this 1915 photo).

In some areas, carrier pigeons were trained to carry as much as 2 ½ ounces. One group of carrier pigeons in Germany carried medicine to distant locations, and in 1977 two British hospitals set up a carrier pigeon service to transfer laboratory specimens between Plymouth and Devonport. (Ah, the glories of socialized medicine!)

It hasn’t been a good week for geckos (Hemidactylus frenatus) in the Giesemann household. (Well, on the lanai, anyway... we generally don’t have a large number of geckos running around the house itself.) The box score is now Rudy 9, Geckos 1; we managed to save one little guy who was about to become Gecko-toast. Suzanne grabbed Rudy’s harness while I scooped up the cousin of the star of auto insurance into a saucepan with a lid, and then tossed him unceremoniously into the yard, where he slunk (or "slinked") away. (Don’t lizards have to “slink”? I tried “saunter”, “prance”, and even “sashay”, but none of those verbs fit.)

Speaking of “sashaying”, the word “sashay” comes from a French word, “chaisse”, meaning chasing, or to chase. This actually leads into our last subject in this post, a potential stalker driving a Lexus that has been seen following (“or chasing?”) Suzanne’s red Corvette several times in the past few days. The driver looks suspiciously like a friend of ours, Gail Grossman, but as she is a highly respected lawyer (actually, that may be a contradiction in terms), it surely could not be she... her... she... Anyway, if anyone happens to observe a red Corvette followed by a suspicious-looking Lexus with a driver disguised as Gail, please text me so I can have the appropriate authorities notified. 

P.S. Translator's Note for New Readers: In the lead paragraph, MLB = My Lovely Bride; YFC = Your Faithful Correspondent.

An A.R.E. Event; ‘Vette Girls; Underway on Lake Miona; Upcoming Events; Red Flowers Identification Quiz

My wife, Suzanne, is a member of the Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.), and spoke last March at an A.R.E. Conference in Virginia Beach. She was asked by Frances Rolph to introduce the keynote speaker, John Van Auken, at an ARE-sponsored event on Saturday. She surprised the audience (and stunned John himself) by introducing him with several details that no one in the room other than John knew. 

The event was very well attended, and undoubtedly gave notice to A.R.E. headquarters that The Villages is a perfect place to hold their conferences. My Lovely Bride had a table to let people know of her upcoming events and her books on spiritual topics. 

On Sunday, we met our "Mississippi barbecue" Geo-Quiz winner, Phyllis Williams, for a Corvette ride and lunch. (The original prize was to be a BBQ lunch delivered by Corvette, but Phyllis said she would much prefer a Corvette ride!) I took this photo just as the girls blasted out on a fast road trip. There were some comments on police radios about a red blur on Hwy 27/441, but Corvette Chick and Phyllis made it to the restaurant without a single speeding citation. 

Phyllis says she really enjoyed the Corvette ride with Suzanne. It was probably the combination of acceleration, wind in her hair, and the loud music by Pink playing from the high wattage speakers. (I’m not sure, but I heard that someone with blonde hair may be calling the local Chevy dealer to ask about a new 2013 Corvette.... uh oh!!!!!)  

After the Corvette Girls got their blood pressure down, we enjoyed a nice al fresco  lunch. It was a perfect day, and we enjoyed Phyllis’ company as much as she enjoyed the ‘Vette ride! 

We got to use our kayaks again Sunday afternoon, on Lake Miona for the first time ever. It was a very nice paddle, with several snowy egrets and great blue herons to admire, and lily pads and grass to paddle around, over, and through. It's hard to make out, but there is a snowy egret at the 11:00 position from my bow. (My boat is green.)

It was a windy but sunny day, and relaxing until we turned crosswind, when we were hit broadside by one foot waves, and then up wind, when we had little whitecaps splashing water over our bows. You may note one similarity here between Suzanne's kayak and her Corvette. (Hmmmm... I wonder if this reflects a latent personality trait....)

Upcoming Washington, DC, Events:

- On Friday Nov 16 Suzanne will be showing the Messages of Hope documentary at the Center for Spiritual Enlightment (in Falls Church, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC) with Pastor Anne Gehman from Suzanne's book The Priest and the Medium.  

- On Saturday Nov 17 Suzanne will be presenting her S.O.A.R! Workshop, also at the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM. 

Finally, here is a quiz for those who may not have a computer to research the multi-part Geo-Quiz. 

Name these two flowers. 

One winner will be selected at random from all of the correct answers received by 7:00 PM Saturday Nov 17. Panera coffee and pastries await the winner after My Lovely Bride returns from our nation's capital. 

Note: she will not be going to the Capitol, where our Congress meets, although that fine group of gentlemen and gentle ladies could use all the help they can get. Sorry, but I couldn't resist, especially after Mark Twain's comments on Thursday evening. 

Yet another note and piece of useful trivia: the word "capitol" is derived from the Latin word Capitolium, the temple of Jupiter in Rome on the Capitoline Hill (seen here in a model based on contemporary descriptions). 

Word for the Day; Mark Twain? Lanai Lotto; A Serious Geo-Trivia Quiz

Our Word for the Day is “fathom”, n. measure of water depth, a unit of depth equal to 6 feet/1.83 meters, used mainly in nautical contexts for measuring the depth of water. 

Speaking of fathoms, on Thursday evening we met Mark Twain. Well, at least we met Marvin Cole, a former university dean who has portrayed the author and humorist Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) for the past 30 years. It was a delightful evening at Lake Miona Rec Center, during which Mr. Cole recited long passages from Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer (all from memory), and discussed Mark Twain’s life and times.  

Clemens was one of my childhood heroes, especially since my mother was born in Missouri and I grew up in New Orleans, spending lots of time on the Mississippi River. Clemens was a river boat pilot, and knew the river very well. Two of Mark Twain’s greatest quotes: “Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a congressman can.”  "Always do what is right. That will gratify some of the people and astonish the rest." 

You are undoubtedly wondering, "So, what the heck is 'Lanai Lotto'?" Well, if you recall from a  previous blog, our lanai screens endured a painful summer, suffering 7 or 8 golf ball penetrations which left gaping holes in the five year old screen panels. Being a cheapskate, I called up a local company for an estimate to replace just those screens with holes, about 20% of the total. A nice young lady came out and gave me an estimate of $250, which I thought pretty reasonable, especially since several of the panels were in the top of the lanai roof, and I don't care for climbing roofs and risking a serious fall. Several weeks passed, and I was wondering when the schedulers would call to arrange the work. 

Well, yesterday morning a team of four workers showed up to do the job. I said, "Well, this should only take you an hour or two." The foreman looked at me in wonder and said, "Oh, no sir, it will take most of the day." I asked why it would take so long for repairing only seven panels. He laughed and said, "Oh, we were told to replace the entire cover." (Thoughts of thousands of dollars in unneeded work passed through my mind, and I asked him to call the boss.) The boss said that he had had difficulty reading the estimate, and sent a big crew out for the whole cover. Since the whole team was already there, he said "I'll just leave them there and eat the extra cost." I would only be charged for the work I had asked for. Hoo-Ray!!!! I won the Lanai Lotto! (Looking at the before and after photos, it's like the difference between night and day! Oh, it IS night and day... Duh!) 

Okay, this week’s Geo/Trivia-Quiz is not easy. Take your time, but all answers should be emailed to me at ftgiesemann@aol.com (so you don’t help the other contestants) not later than Wednesday 14 Nov at noon Eastern Standard Time. Here is the five part quiz:

1. What might I be pouring from a machicolation in the year 1400?

2. What group in what African country uses the Aloe dichotoma, and for what purpose?

3. What fine powdery form of carbon is deposited when oils containing carbon are burned?

4. What is the name of a woman’s gown, fitted above the waist, worn with an open front and draped skirt to show the underskirt, worn in Europe in the late 17^th and 18^th centuries?

5. You are in a hot-air balloon which has developed a serious leak, and you are descending rapidly. Your GPS indicates that you are about to crash at position 48.452N, 71.255W. You call for help on the radio. A. What language does your rescue agency speak? B. You only have time to grab one item from the following list. Which do you grab and why? a. a rifle; b. a hiking stick; c. snowshoes; d. a life jacket; e. a bottle of wine.

A winner will be selected by my now-typical subjective and irrevocably arbitrary decision-making process and announced by Thursday morning 15 Nov (unless I decide to sleep in because of staying up all night judging the entries). The winner will receive a neat prize, which shall not be revealed until the winner is announced. (At least I think it will be neat, but then, who am I to judge? “HA! times 3...”)   

Geo-Quiz Winner; "Meaning and Messages" Presentation; Candlelighting Ceremony; Gift from a "Buddy"

Congratulations to Phyllis Williams, the winner of the latest Geo-Quiz. The question was: 1. Start at Latitude 30N, Longitude 90W. What is this place's nickname? Why is it called that?  2. Go northeast 90 miles. What town are you in? What was it famous for in its boom years?  3. Pick a barbecue restaurant in that town and in 25 words or less, tell me why you would have given it that name.
 Phyllis' answer: "The city is New Orleans, 

nicknamed 'the big easy.' Some stories 

associated with the nickname include a dance hall by that name in the early 1900's or maybe a dance by that name. Another reference is that during prohibition N.O. was known for its' "speakeasies", or it may refer to a way of life with somewhat loose morals and easy music. The name was re enforced when a movie called The Big Easy" was filmed in the city in 1985."   (I'm not sure what Phyllis means by "loose morals" in New Orleans.... Mardi Gras was always a pretty subdued religious celebration when I was a kid).

"The second city in question is Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It's boom period was in the late 1890's and early 1900's when railroads were built and it greatly enhanced the lumber industry. A rail line was built to Gulfport, Miss., giving the lumber industry access to a deep water port. In 1912, Hattiesburg was dubbed "the hub city" due to the confluence of several rail lines. The city also figured significantly in the civil rights movement but you didn't ask for that. I was stumped by the barbeque restaurant question. Of those I found listed, I couldn't identify any relevant title, so I chose The Three Little Pigs, solely because it leaves no doubt as to the cuisine. Thanks for the geography lesson." (This photo is a courthouse in Hattiesburg; I think that this is where they also judge the barbecue restaurants, and as everyone from down South knows, that's why justices wear long robes, to protect their shirts from errant BBQ sauce...)

Phyllis had the closest answer; when I measured 90 miles from 30N/90W, the point landed between Hattiesburg and Wiggins, Mississippi. Either one would have been a correct choice. The BBQ place name I hoped someone would explain was "Slap Ya Momma's". (Jan Blythe suggested that it was formerly known as Slap From Yo Momma -    because if yo momma got any sass from y'all - y'all would get slapped with a big ole slab of ribs in the face." Great explanation, Jan!

Other answers received were in Mississippi (Biloxi, Gulfport, and Picayune) and Tibet. Don't laugh too hard; Tibet is at 30N/90E, and if you plugged just 30/90 into an Internet search engine, it assumes North latitude and East longitude as a default. (Well, I've enjoyed Mongolian, but really, Tibetan Barbecue?)

 

Thanks to Lynn Spence, Peter Lee, Bob and Jan Blythe, and Karen and Tom Leonard for their entries. Better luck on the next quiz.  Phyllis gets homemade barbecue sandwiches and drinks delivered by Your Correspondent and Corvette Chick (AKA My Lovely Bride, AKA Suzanne) in her red 'Vette. 

Suzanne gave a new presentation, entitled Meaning and Messages, at Mulberry Rec Center on Wednesday. Over 200 people attended and were very enthusiastic about her talk, in which she discussed evidence received in several of her recent  readings and what that means for all of us. 

The talk was sponsored by the Edgar Cayce Discussion Group, and Frances Rolph had introduced Suzanne at the beginning, and also closed out the event. Suzanne got a huge laugh at the end because Frances had made a big deal of telling the audience that there would be a $10 fine for anyone whose cell phone went off during the talk... and whose cell phone rang? Yes, it was Frances' cell phone, of course...  :-)  

Suzanne was invited to speak about her latest book, The Real Alzheimer's, at last night's Alzheimer's Caregivers Candlelighting Service in Wildwood. The event was touching because there were many caregivers and their spouses/relatives at the event, including several whom Suzanne had interviewed for the book.  

Our friends Bob and Jan dropped in last night with a surprise. Bob has been giving me grief about not catching fish this past summer, and recalled that I had mentioned to Suzanne that I needed a new fishing rod. So, my "good buddy" Bob presented me with a brand new rod and reel, complete with an "appropriately sized fish" on the end; he is sooooo thoughtful. (It doubles as a charcoal grill lighter, so it may actually see some use!) Thanks, Bob.... you know what they say about "Paybacks"? 

Cleaning Donuts; A Truck Garden; Almost Final Geo-Quiz Update

Having spent most of my adult life aboard US Navy ships in all of the world's oceans, I am not a yard person. I did cut grass for spending money as a kid, but I don't know flowers, and since we're gone for half the year, lawn care isn't my passion. But when our irrigation sprinkler heads get clogged, I bite the bullet and get to work. Here is the before picture. 

For those readers in the Frozen North (like Minnesnowta and New Yawk), who may not have irrigation sprinklers, this is what I call a "donut cutter" tool. It has a round cutting blade, a shaft, and a handle. The round blade goes around the cement donut that protects the sprinkler head. You turn it, and it cuts the grass and digs a little trench, then you turn it and lift out a plug of grass and mud/dirt, allowing the sprinkler head to do its job more effectively. Down here in sub-tropical Florida, you have to use this tool about every 3 months or your sprinkler heads clog up. 


After putting my handy dandy donut cutter tool to work, our dozen or so sprinkler heads looked like this. Much cleaner, don't you think? 











Speaking of green things, how many people have had truck gardens in the past? Probably quite a few. Here is a photo of The Villages' latest truck garden, over in Brownwood. Suzanne says it must be a southern thing.  Your Correspondent would like to hear from Yankees who have had truck gardens.  Is it really a southern thang?








I had hoped to have the results of the Geo-Quiz ready Wednesday evening, but we had two big events yesterday, followed by some necessary socializing with chocolate and a glass of wine after the final event of the day. Since  there were two more entries that made it in under the deadline and I'm too tired to judge tonight, you will have to await the final judging until tomorrow's blog. Mea culpa... the spirit is willing but the body is weak....