BRRRRRRRRRRRR
It got cold today. When I got up it was snowing and around 25 outside. By 3PM it was -3F and very windy with the windchill around -15F. Tonight they said the windchill will be -30F or below. Sunday night the actual temp should be -12 to -15F. I had over an inch of ice on the driveway that I finally finished getting up today. Salt and ice melt did nothing to it.
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Around The World
Norway
Norway is the birthplace of the Yule log. The ancient Norse used the Yule log in their celebration of the return of the sun at winter solstice. “Yule” came from the Norse word hweol, meaning wheel. The Norse believed that the sun was a great wheel of fire that rolled towards and then away from the earth. This tradition dates back to the Norse Yule log. It is probably also responsible for the popularity of log-shaped cheese, cakes, and desserts during the holidays.
Mexico
In 1828, the American minister to Mexico, Joel R. Poinsett, brought a red-and-green plant from Mexico to America. As its coloring seemed perfect for the new holiday, the plants, which were called poinsettias after Poinsett, began appearing in greenhouses as early as 1830. In 1870, New York stores began to sell them at Christmas. By 1900, they were a universal symbol of the holiday.
In Mexico, paper mache sculptures called pinatas are filled with candy and coins and hung from the ceiling. Children then take turns hitting the pinata until it breaks, sending a shower of treats to the floor. Children race to gather as much of of the loot as they can.
England
An Englishman named John Calcott Horsley helped to popularize the tradition of sending Christmas greeting cards when he began producing small cards featuring festive scenes and a pre-written holiday greeting in the late 1830s. Newly efficient post offices in England and the United States made the cards nearly overnight sensations. At about the same time, similar cards were being made by R.H. Pease, the first American card maker, in Albany, New York, and Louis Prang, a German who immigrated to America in 1850.
France
In France, Christmas is called Noel. This comes from the French phrase les bonnes nouvelles, which means “the good news” and refers to the gospel.
In southern France, some people burn a log in their homes from Christmas Eve until New Year’s Day. This stems from an ancient tradition in which farmers would use part of the log to ensure good luck for the next year’s harvest.
Ukraine
Ukrainians prepare a traditional twelve-course meal. A family’s youngest child watches through the window for the evening star to appear, a signal that the feast can begin.
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ON THE HOME FRONT
I have been cooking a nice dinner today since Dawnell had to work, I made home made bread and stuff. Dawnell had a container of cookies from work but we are not allowed to eat them because she wants to use them on Christmas day. It is hard to have a container of cookies sitting there with me, who loves cookies and anything baked and Shane who loves anything and everything that can be eaten. So today I went and got some cut and bake cookie things and I will make them after dinner so we have our own cookies while the other ones go stale in the container.
Tomorrow is my first swing shift. I am not fond of that shift since I never see the family. Hopefully the time will go by fast. I can’t believe how fast the day shift went by.
Here is our pond with ice on it.
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“The fundamentals of America’s economy are strong.”
— McCain, in an interview with Bloomberg TV, April 17.
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31 Days Of Bush Left
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Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring
Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central
Command: 4819
