Mar 2 2024 - Blue Zone Living

 

t isn't that there is more Blue Zone Living.  It is that there is more press and interest in Blue Zone Living.  The Town of Grimsby has finally joined with the region on "age-friendly"  initiatives and is having a conference next week.  One of the topics is Blue Zone Living.   This is the phrase for places where people are living longer and happier.  The headlines are things like:  "Want to live to 100?  Here are the 'Blue Zone' principles.... And the five original blue zones - the places with the healthiest, longest-living populations are Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California. Does Canada have a blue zone.  I doubt if it will be one for long.  It is in Alberta, land of raucous politics and pugnacious premiers.  Airdrie, Alberta has been recognized as a "promising Blue Zone community".   There are 4 pillars of longevity for the "fountain of youth" of the Blue Zone: Pillar #1: Physical Activity. People who live long lives move their bodies regularly.  Pillar #2: Social Interconnectedness.  Pillar #3: Inner Sense of Purpose and Joy. Pillar #4: A Whole Food Plant-Based Diet.  These are not even surprising - they seem more considered common sense.  I shouldn't be so cynical about all this.  Do you know that a 2022 poll of 11,000 American adults revealed that almost 70% want to live to 100?  Can we trust Americans anymore?  Again, I am somewhat cynical on this desire to live past 100.  The odds in Canada of living to 100 are .023% - so that's a pretty big gap between what people want and what happens. Canada scores high in comparison to other countries.  If we lower that to age 90, then 5 out of 10 Canadians live that long. The expectation today is that 1 in 10 will live to 100 years of age. So maybe we just wait it out.  We don't need to move to a Blue Zone, or try to create a Blue Zone which would be very difficult in Grimsby where even the hospital name is a big political battle.   So my bet goes with just wait a while and the Blue Zone will get re-zoned to include you.

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Nov 6 2021 - Gone Dormant

 

Where do mosquitos go in the winter? Do they hibernate like a bear or go dormant?  There's some magic that keeps them surviving and thriving.  I went to mosquitoauthority.ca to find out everything Canadian about mosquitos .  "Once temperatures start staying consistently below 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit), mosquitoes start to go dormant in preparation for winter. They will often find holes to hide away in until warmer weather returns. Mosquitoes can also lay eggs in frozen water. That way, the eggs are perfectly preserved and can hatch when the water thaws and warms to the right temperature. New mosquitoes will be growing and getting ready to feed as soon as winter ends. It might seem impossible that such a small insect could survive a Canadian winter, but after all, mosquitoes are as old as (or possibly older than) dinosaurs. Evidence shows that mosquitoes date back to at least the Triassic Period, so they’ve survived a lot more than few icy months." Mosquitoes have a particular appetite for delicious type O blood. What about the biting black fly - I thought they were only out in spring in cool temperatures.  That's not the case as I have a big blister scar on my foot from a bite a month ago.  They can go through multiple generations in a year, - so that means one can be bitten early, mid and late in the season. And how about the fly swatter experience:  Flies experience time in slower motion compared to humans. So that lightening fast fly swatter of yours is often little match to them. We now have sufficient information to compare mosquito vs fly jokes: A young mosquito returned to its mother.   How was your flight dear? asked mom. It was great mom, everyone was clapping for me! A woman walked into the kitchen to find her husband stalking around with a fly swatter. "What are you doing?" She asked.  "Hunting Flies" He responded.  "Oh. Killing any?" She asked.  "Yep, 3 males, 2 females," he replied.  Intrigued, she asked. "How can you tell?"  He responded, "3 were on a beer can, 2 were on the phone." Our last train show was in Sacramento - here are a few images from it.

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Oct 22 2021 - Sudden Last Meals

 

As we head towards Halloween, we are able to contemplate all things creepy.  It might be considered creepy to consider last meals.  Yesterday's story of Julie Green's journey was creepy.  I think finding out about the last meals of famous people who have died suddenly is interesting.  It seemed to me it told me something about them. Someone over at the Dailymeal has listed the last meals eaten by 23 famous people throughout history.  It is HERE. This is the dailymeal.com website where they cover such things as the flavours in Dr. Pepper -  “a unique blend of 23 flavors.Superfans speculate that amaretto, almond, blackberry, black licorice, caramel, carrot and clove are among the flavors."   There's another 16 to go... Here's a selection of last meals: On April 14, 1865, before heading out to watch the play “Our American Cousin” at Ford's Theater, President Lincoln dined on mock turtle soup, roast Virginia fowl with chestnut stuffing, baked yams, and cauliflower with cheese sauce. On the evening of January 30, 1948, Gandhi enjoyed one of his standard healthy dinners — goat's milk, cooked vegetables, oranges, and a concoction of ginger, sour lemons, and strained butter mixed with aloe juice. On September 30, 1955, a few hours before he fatally crashed his Porsche Spider near Cholame, California, the actor and heartthrob allegedly stopped by a roadside diner and ate a slice of apple pie with a glass of milk. On August 16, 1977, Elvis, the King downed four scoops of ice cream and six chocolate chip cookies at his Graceland mansion in Memphis. On August 31st, 1997, before her tragic accident, Diana enjoyed a meal of Dover sole, vegetable tempura, and a mushroom and asparagus omelette at the restaurant L’Espadon inside the Ritz Paris. On August 13, 2004, Julia Child — appropriately — ate a bowl of French onion soup before her death at age 92. Our pictures today were randomly selected from the archives.

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The Scourge of Flies

I was at Beamer Falls Manor yesterday - a heritage home bed and breakfast in Grimsby on the escarpment.  Its target market is weddings.  We were looking at the garden together for planting ideas.  It is situated at Beamer Park, where the hawk migration is celebrated each year - the park has a commanding view of Grimsby and the Lake.   My question was:  Are these black flies? There were so many flies all around us that we swatted continuously.   There is nothing like this below the escarpment. What causes them to be in one place and not another in close proximity?  I didn't find any stories on this, but did enjoy the questions from foreign visitors on whether they should come to Ontario at all because of the 'horror stories about black flies'.   We do consider black flies to be a 'scourge'. Black flies can be a serious health problem - they can cause sickness and death.  There are stories of cattle being severely affected - an outbreak in Alberta in 1971 resulted in almost 1,000 animals dying, and others to lose significant amounts of weight. The term commonly used is: 'black flies cause human suffering and are a scourge to livestock.'  Returning down the escarpment, I considered myself lucky to return to my black flie-less garden.  Today we look at Strasburg Rail Road which we visited last Friday while in Pennsylvania.

Black Fly Blood Feeding

What will we do after the Olympics?  They've taken a fair amount of our attention and time. We can turn to the Listings in Now Online.  Along the top and bottom of NOW's display are advertisements for marijuana creams.  This is the first time I've seen ads for marijuana rather than news articles.  The listing is very long - there are many things to do in Toronto this weekend.  Which ones could take our attention away from the Olympics? The Sinners Choir at The Rex Naked Yoga for Men at Awaken Studio Dancing with Parkinson's Jitterbug Social Black Fly Blood Feeding Evolution at U of T I am curious about the Sinners Choir.  I find that they will be at the Toronto Jazz Festival this year June 22nd - July 1st.  "The Sinners Choir is a trio comprised of three generations of seasoned Toronto sidemen with a deep understanding of a broad spectrum of Roots/Americana, The Sinners Choir have a fresh sound that still pays homage to the music that shaped it". Perhaps more arresting is the headline of the Toronto Entomologists' Association talk by Mateus Pepinelli on Black Fly Blood Feeding Evolution: "Black flies are a generally despised and greatly misunderstood group of insects. Known mostly for their biting abilities, black flies are the remarkable end-product of a long period of evolution. While adult females are generally feared for their bloodsucking activity on birds and mammals, the larvae are important parts of the streams and rivers in which they live". Today's pictures are scenes from Colorado.

Steam in Maine

One of the enjoyments of models is that they can be whimsical and creative.  So we look at some of the artistry on the model layouts in Maine this year.  The ocean theme was represented well with boats of all sizes.  In the second picture, the experimental steam works seemed a charming storyline with great detail.

Are the trains on schedule?

The Sundance and Dolly Vardon Layouts are now in Florida in a permanent site, so we won't see this at the convention in Augusta, Maine September 7 - 10. This is a great part of the U.S. to visit for cuisine. Maine is very proud of its lobster rolls and crab cakes.  There will be many lobster roll signs at casual restaurants as the peak season is in late summer. The Maine Sea Grant site says they are caught and put in enclosed pounds in Maine bays, so they can be shipped in winter.  The crab season is year-round with two types of crab - rock crabs and Jonah crabs.  So we can expect unlimited crab cakes on the menus too. If this weren't enough of a specialty, this is where clam chowder comes from.  It was introduced as a common dish by the 1700s. Herman Melville described it in Moby Dick, his great novel. The chefs of the east coast seem to consider clam chowder a dish where their creativity is expressed, so there are great culinary experiences waiting for us.

Let's Take the Easter Train

Wake Up on the Bright Side There are a number of Easter Train rides available in the United States and other countries. For example, there is an Easter Train in Vancouver's Stanley Park and the Durango & Silverton has Snoopy the Easter Beagle.  Today, though, we are in search of unusual Easter traditions.  We know about pickles and spider webs as decorations on Christmas Trees. What unusual traditions are there for Easter? "The French town of Haux serves a giant omelet made with over 4,500 eggs in the main square. This custom dates back to the early 19th century when Napoleon, who loved omelets, stopped in Haux to eat one. He allegedly liked his so much that he ordered the locals to gather their eggs and make a giant omelet for his entire army the following day." "On Good Friday in Bermuda, locals fly homemade kites. The tradition is believed to have started when a teacher from the British Army tried to explain Christ’s ascension to heaven to his Sunday school class. When the children had difficulty understanding the concept, he made a kite, traditionally shaped like a cross, to illustrate the story." "In the U.S., the President hosts an annual Easter Egg Roll on Easter Monday. The tradition dates back to 1878 when children first rolled dyed hard-boiled eggs down the White House lawn."

Romantic Flowers and Romance of the Railroad

Niagara seems to be spared the massive storm that has engulfed the Eastern U.S. At Grimsby Beach yesterday, the shore ice crowded into the beach, with the ducks and geese standing around instead of floating.  In some places there are ice banks forming between the water and the shore. In a typical year, there's 15 to 16 per cent ice coverage on the lakes.  There's almost no ice formation in the Lake so far this year. I found out that there are 16 types of ice.  They are labeled I through XVI.  Ice IV is the kind we have in our freezers.  Ice III is denser than water, and would sink if put in a glass.  I don't remember learning about this in school.  I wonder if any of you covered this. We all know, though, that ice is everywhere in space, and that it is a signal of possible life on a planet. Our pictures today show warmer times. I've included the cover and images of the Romance of the Railroad Calendar available on Redbubble. The site is listed in the bottom section of the email. There's also a Romance of the Railroad portfolio on my site there.

Strasburg Railway 2015

Marilyn's Photo of the Day The Strasburg Railway had a new engineer this year - she's in the middle picture.  Here's her story from the Lancaster Online newspaper:   Posted: Monday, May 4, 2015 6:00 am PETER TARABORELLI | Correspondent The repair shop at Strasburg Rail Road is fully stocked. There are locomotives from the 1800s, antique tools and plenty of spare parts. But a woman has never graced the shop. That changed recently when 26-year-old Andrea Biesecker, a computer numeric controlled machinist, became the repair and restoration project coordinator. Her official title is assistant contract administrator, but she wears a lot of hats at the railroad. Biesecker, who graduated in 2009 from Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, said she has loved steam power since she was a child. She grew up in Parkesburg and said she has fond memories of weekends spent with her father at Gap’s Rough and Tumble Museum, which is all about the power of steam. When it came time for her to pick a college major, however, she first thought she might pursue accounting. But that quickly changed when she decided to attend Stevens and pursue a career that had everything to do with steam power. She majored in machine tool and computer aided manufacturing. Biesecker, who also is a locomotive engineer, sets her sights on a job at the Strasburg Rail Road. “ .000… I graduated first in a class of only 12, and I was the only girl,” Biesecker said. “I never set out to be a trailblazer; I just knew where I wanted to work.” A self-described tomboy and “daddy’s little girl,” Biesecker was determined to turn her passion into a career. “Being a girl in this field is intimidating, and the first few times I applied, people would laugh, and tell me it’s not ‘historically accurate’” Biesecker said. “But I was going to prove them all wrong.” That’s exactly what she did when the Strasburg Rail Road hired her in 2010 as a fireman, which required her to feed coal to the train’s engine during a run. She then became a student engineer and was named assistant contract administrator last year. She oversees repair and restoration projects. “She’s an extremely reliable and talented young lady,” said Kelly Anderson, Strasburg Rail Road’s vice president of motive power equipment and shops. “She’s a pleasure to work with and has a very positive attitude about work. It’s pretty obvious she loves what she’s doing.” Biesecker has proved her skill and said her biggest achievements include restoring all of the precision-made safety valves on the railroad’s locomotives. Parts that haven’t been made in generations are her specialty. Some of the parts she has manufactured herself have been sent to other railroads here in the United States and around the globe. Knowing that she might be the only person around who can do what she does helps motivate her daily, she said. “I feel very privileged to know I’ve had a hand in keeping something running that will bring so much joy to generations of kids,” she said. When asked what advice she might have for other girls who want to follow her example and defy career expectations, Biesecker said it takes determination. “I’m determined to a fault,” she said. “I don’t like being told ‘no’ or ‘you can’t.’ That’s when I get into the mode of .000… ‘I’m going to show you.’ “People are going to put you down, so you can use that negativity to either shrink into a corner or use it as a force to work harder.”