Does your map of the United States look like this? Mine too! That’s why when I found some really eye-opening ones, I had to share a few of them with you.

To see a few more, click this link:
​                                            19 Eye-Opening Maps Of America That May Surprise You (onlyinyourstate.com)
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Map #1 – The Fifty States of Television: I’m from Ohio. Can you find it on the map? It’s labeled Family Ties, the most popular TV show ever set in the Buckeye state. It ran on NBC from 1982-1989. I watched it at the height of its popularity but never knew it was about an Ohio family who lived in Columbus, the state capital.
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Can you find your state on the map? If not, look up at the regular one, then scan back down and find it on this one. Good luck!


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Map #2 – The Most Popular NFL Teams Across the USA: Can you find Ohio on this map? It has four colors and four favorite teams. That’s because popularity is broken down by county.

Can you name all four teams? A yellow one’s on the eastern edge of the state. They’re the Pittsburgh Steelers from Pennsylvania. There’s a brown one whose fans are found only in northern Ohio. Its name, its perfect! The Cleveland Browns!

The Cincinnati Bengals own the southern part of the state, but they also have fans in Indiana and Kentucky. You’ll have to look for  the fourth team on Ohio’s western border. It’s a teeny tiny bit of blue that’s surrounded by three other colors. It stands for the Indianapolis Colts from Indiana, of course!

What about your state? Does it have one favorite team, or does it have to share? Here’s to fall football, the NFL, and yours!
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Map #3 – The Most Popular Boy’s Names of 2013: Can you tell from a glance what name Americans picked for their baby boys in 2013? If you guessed Liam, you’re right! Ohio picked it too.

Did your state pick Liam, or did they pick one of the other favorites? There are eight other names that were popular in 2013. Can you find all of them too?

PS – Are you curious what the Top Ten names for 2024could be? Or do you wonder if any of the names are the same? I hope so. . .  because I’m always curious, and I looked them up!

 
                 1. Liam                   2. Noah                     3. Oliver                      4. James                      5. Elijah
 
                6. Mateo               7. Theodore            8. Henry                      9. Lucas                      10, William
 
                                                 Source: Top 1,000 Baby Boy Names in the U.S. 2024


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Map #4 – The Most Popular Girl’s Names of 2013: How about baby girl names? What was America’s favorite? If you guessed Emma, you’re right, and Ohio picked it too! Woohoo!
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Did your state pick Emma, or one of the other names? This time there were only five. Can you find all of them too?
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​PS – Are you curious about the Top Ten names for 2024, or  if some of the names stayed the same? I was too!
 
                   1. Olivia                  2. Emma                   3. Charlotte                   4. Amelia                   5. Sophia
    
                   6. Mia                       7. Isabella               8. Ava                                 9. Evelyn                   10, Luna
 
                                                         Source: Top 1,000 Baby Girl Names in the U.S. 2024


                                                              
Map #5 – Dogs vs Cats: Did the data bar throw you off? I love how it makes it easy to see where dog lovers and cat lovers live, but I wish I knew what the > 1.25x meant.

But, if I understand the key correctly, Ohio is a deep green state, so we have more cats per household than dogs. How many more, I have no idea.
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Did you catch that cat lovers live in the north and dog lovers in the south? Except for Florida. There’s always an exception to every rule! What about your state, who rules? Cats, or dogs?


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Map #6 – Your State’s Most Iconic Fast Food Chain: Look at all those great places! Each one represents something special about each state. I’m glad I can find so many of them in Ohio . . .  It is the heart of it all!

Speaking of Ohio, did you find our iconic food chain, Wendy’s? Dave Thomas founded the first one in 1969 in Columbus, and he named it after his daughter, Wendy. Almost sixty years later, it still has the freshest burgers in the country! That’s because they never use frozen meat. Ever!
Can you find your state’s iconic fast-food chain on the map? Here’s hoping I can check it out in Ohio too!

                                                                     Next up – one last eye-opening map!
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Map #7 – A Distorted Look at the USA: What? How? Why? This is what the US would look like, if the country was divided up according to each state’s population.

Look at New Jersey/NJ – It’s HUGE! It grew, and it grew, and it pushed New York off to the side. But don’t worry! New York/NY pushed Pennsylvania/PA, Ohio/OH, and Michigan/MI out of the way too. 

 Are fingers digits? They’re actually synonyms, even if we usually think of digits as numbers.
So take a look at yours and get ready for a few trivia questions.

1. What’s the name of your smallest digit?
Ring finger     Index finger     Thumb      Pinky finger

2. Where did it come from?
England     France     Netherlands     Germany

​And the answers are . . . ​

Sources:
What is the name of the smallest... | Trivia Answers | QuizzClub
 
​For more info: en.wikipedia.org

And now, another digit. Good luck!

3. Which digit looks different from the other four? It acts differently too.
Ring finger         Index finger         Thumb          Pinky finger

4. Do other animals have a digit like this?
Yes              No

And the answers are . . .

​3. The digit that’s different – your thumb.

4. And yes, other animals have opposable thumbs like we do. Most of them are primates.
​

A thumb is the first digit of your hand. 😊 In Latin it’s called a pollex. I didn’t think the thumb was a finger, but one definition says the hand has five digits, so the thumb counts. Another one says there are only four digits, so the thumb doesn’t. It’s up to you – you can call your thumb a finger, or a plain old thumb.   

Your thumb is like the other fingers because it has joints that bend, and it has hair, a nail, and a palm without hair. Personal note – my fingers don’t have hair, but my husband’s do.
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A thumb is different because it’s opposable to the other fingers, so it can touch each finger on your hand. It has two bending points, not three like the others. The thumb curls horizontally/across the hand, and the other fingers curl vertically/up and down. 
​​

Some primates have opposable thumbs like Old World monkeys and great apes. Some have opposable thumbs that are a little longer, like gibbons and lesser apes.

Lemurs, pottos, lorises, capuchin and squirrel monkeys have pseudo-opposable thumbs. That means they’re almost opposable, but not quite. Tarsiers and marmosets have thumbs, but they’re not opposable. As for the spider monkey and the colobus, they’re thumb-less. Poor things!

Other animals have thumbs too. Giant Pandas have a finger, that’s not a true finger, but it works like our thumb. Opossums have them on their hind feet, and most birds have at least one opposable toe on their foot. But those are toes, NOT thumbs. 

​And now, another digit. Here’s to good luck, or pure skill 😉
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5. Which digit points things out?
Ring finger     Index finger     Thumb      Pinky finger

6. How many names does it have?
6     7     8     9    

And the answers are . . .
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5. The pointing digit is known as your index finger.

6. My source gave me eight, including index finger. 

​​

Here are all eight names – index finger, forefinger, first finger (if you don’t count the thumb), second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secondus, digitus II.
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Don’t get confused. Your index finger is the one between your thumb and middle finger. Did you know it’s usually the most agile and sensitive finger?  As a pianist, it was one of my best fingers, but I didn’t know it was sensitive too. 

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Your index finger is SO useful! Hold it up, and you’re number 1, in most places. Some, use their thumbs instead. If you move it up and down in the #1 position, it’s called finger-wagging. I use mine to warn someone to stop, usually a kid, and they usually do.
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You can also point with your index finger, and babies around age 1 begin pointing too. Did you know some animals like dogs and elephants understand and respond to pointing? Or that in some places in Southeast Asia like Malaysia and Indonesia, they think it’s rude? They still point, but they use their thumb instead. 

​Sources:
Index finger - Wikipedia
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​​And now, another digit. May the force be with you 😉

7. Which digit wears jewelry first?
Ring finger     Index finger     Thumb      Pinky finger

8. Where should you wear it?
Right hand      Left hand
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And the answers are . . .

7. The ring finger wears jewelry first, like engagement and wedding rings.

8. The hand it’s on depends on where you live, and your religion.
I thought it was always worn on the left hand until I went to Germany. Theirs goes on the right.

The wedding ring is usually worn on the left hand if you live in the British Commonwealth, parts of Europe, and in Catholic Mexico, Bolivia, and Chili. In Europe that includes France, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, and by Catholics in the Netherlands.  In Spain the regions that speak Catalan use their left hands. Can you find them on the map?
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The ring goes on the right hand in some Orthodox countries, a few Catholic European ones, some Central and South American Catholic countries, and in Protestant Western Europe. In Eastern Europe, that includes Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine. In Central/Western Europe that’s Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Norway, and by Protestants in the Netherlands. In Spain, the regions that speak Spanish use their right hands. In Central/South America it also includes Columbia, Cuba, Peru, and Venezuela. Can you find them on the map?
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​In countries like Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Romania, and Brazil, they wear their ring on the right hand until the wedding. Then they move it to the left.  They're on the map too.

In Islamic countries, wedding rings aren’t part of the ceremony. If you wear one, the hand you choose depends on where you live. In Iran, you use your left hand. In Jordan, the right. But now engagement rings are in style in the Muslim world. They’re worn on the ring finger of either hand by both men and women. Wow, men wearing engagement rings, so cool!

In Jewish weddings it depends on the custom. For traditional ones, the ring goes on the index finger of the bride’s right hand. Other traditions put it on the middle finger or the thumb. Today the wedding ring is moved to the ring finger of the left hand after the service. Some Jewish men wear wedding rings, but most Orthodox men don’t.
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In India, rings aren’t one of their traditions, but as customs change, more people are buying a ring for the engagement and for the marriage. Men wear rings on the right hand, and women on the left. 
​

​Sources:
Ring finger - Wikipedia

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​​ Finally the last digit 😊

9.  Which digit is missing?
Ring finger     Index finger     Thumb      Pinky finger
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10. What sound can it make with your thumb?
Clap     Snap      Click
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And the answers are . . .

9. The middle finger is the one that’s missing.
​
10. Slide your thumb and middle finger together and listen for that click. 

​​The middle finger has other names – long finger, toll finger, and tall man. It’s your second or third finger, depending on whether or not you count your thumb.
​
I never really thought about it, but your middle finger is the only one that makes a sound. None of the others do. I double checked 😊

​

​Your middle finger is also the only one that can insult or offend someone. You might give them the finger, flip the bird, or flip someone off, but it’s nothing new. Did you know using the middle finger can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome? Some things are timeless.

Do you recognize this landform? It’s the continent of Antarctica. It’s the only continent without a single country, although 22 have a ‘consultative’ status. That’s because they agreed to a 1959 treaty. They promised to keep Antarctica as a scientific preserve, like a national park. It was to be preserved as a place of scientific study and environmental protection.

One of my critique partners, Sandra Martin Denis just got back from Antarctica. She was there during the summer, the warmest time of year. It’s funny – Antarctica’s summer is during our winter.
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                    Part 1: It came straight from Sandra’s trip – her photos and her words. Enjoy!
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Penguins mate for life. They build nests of stones. Most penguins lay two eggs in a clutch. The male and the female take turns incubating the eggs, except for the emperor penguin. 
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Part 2: A trivia question about Antarctica’s climate.

What is the average temperature range for Antarctica per year?

10°C to -60°C     10°C to -10°C     30°C to 20°C     -5°C to -10°Celsius
50°F to -76°F      50°F to 14°F        86°F to 68°F      23°F to 14°Fahrenheit
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Take a guess, then check below the map. 
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I completely missed this one. Antarctica is warmer than I thought! The annual temperature for the whole continent ranges from about −10°C on the coast to −60°Celsius. In Fahrenheit that’s 50°F to -76°F. Wow, 50 is way warmer than I imagined. That’s like a warm March day in Ohio! But it all depends on – location, location, location.
​

​
That 50°F was near the coast, in the summer. That’s where Sandra was, but she said she wore a parka. Maybe at night when the sun goes down, the coastal temperature drops too. In the winter – that coastal temperature gets even colder, -40, and that’s the reading on both Celsius and Fahrenheit thermometers. That surprised me. I’ve never seen the two temperature scales match, with the same exact number. Incredible!

I’m glad Sandra didn’t go inland, especially to the mountaintops. Their warmest temperature – -22. That’s one of the worst winter days in Ohio, ever. I don’t want to think how cold it gets in their winter. Ready? That’s -112?! Holy frostbite, that’s cold!
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And the coldest temperature ever recorded on earth?  -128.56, at the Vostok station in Antarctica. That’s where scientists live. And the date – July 21, 1983. YIKES!


​                                                             Part 3: Wind Speed and Snowfall by the Numbers

As for snow – the average accumulation for the whole continent of Antarctica is 150 mm of water per year, or 5.9 inches. If you’re not sure what that looks like, find 6 on a ruler.

When you go inland to the elevated plateau, the annual value drops to 50 mm. That’s only 1.96 inches. But at the coast, it rises to 200 mm or 7.87 inches. 

​But for the heaviest rain or snow, find the peninsula in the northwestern corner of the map. It stretches to the north, and the Bellingshausen Sea is below it, to the south. It’s not labeled, but it gets over 1000 mm of water. In inches that’s 39.37. Think yardstick, then add your index finger for another 3 inches. That’s a lot of water!
​

​Sources:
For more information: www.antarctica.gov.au
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My source: What is the average annual... | Trivia Answers | QuizzClub
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Map: By Robert Simmon - en:Internet Archive - https://web.archive.org/web/20070823123915/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17838 (originally    http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17838 NASA Earth Observatory), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3126858

Make Way For Ducklings won the Caldecott Medal back in 1941. It’s the story of Mrs. Mallard’s search for a home for her eight little ducklings. Where does she find it? At the Boston Public Gardens.
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Be Strong is a brand-new book. I thought it came out in December 2023, but I was wrong. I forgot I got it early because I was part of the author's crowdfunding project. But don't worry! It's out now, since March 5. 

Be Strong is the story of Nancy Schön, of how she created statues of Mrs. Mallard and all her little ducklings. Then she did what the book did – she took them home to the Boston Public Gardens

                                      If you’d like to check out my book review for Be Strong, here’s the link:
http://www.rindabeach.com/my-reads/be-strong-the-rise-of-beloved-public-art-sculptor-nancy-scho

If you can’t make it to Boston, take a look at this photo. Mrs. Mallard is leading her ducklings across the garden. And the best part about public art, you can interact with it. Take a picture with a duckling, or give each one a hug. It doesn’t matter. This is public art, so you’re allowed 😊
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Part 2 – Have you ever seen public art in person, or taken a photo beside it?
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​
I have! Do you recognize the first statue? It’s public art from the Bremen Town Musicians, and you’ll find the statue in Bremen, Germany. When I was there in 2008, I had my picture taken beside it. So did everyone around me.

The second statue is at the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Do you recognize this piece of public art? It’s a young Neil Armstrong holding his favorite thing – an airplane. He’s a hero in Wapak and beyond. Why? He was the first man to set foot on the moon. I haven’t had my photo taken with him yet, but I’ve seen lots of people take advantage of this photo op.
​

​I found these three pieces of public art on Pixabay. My grandkids would love the first and last statue. They look like the ones they play with at their favorite zoo. Then it’s time for a photo. They LOVE public art!

I didn’t recognize the pair in the middle. I went back to Pixabay to find their names, Dogman and Rabbitgirl. Who knew? Google did! I looked them up, and they’re actually famous pieces of public art scupted by Gillie and Marc. Who knew? They’re stories for modern times, and you can find them in places like New York City or London. If you’d like to look for yourself, or buy a piece of art, here’s the link for Gillie and Marc: I Am (Rabbit) Woman – Gillie and Marc®
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                                 Part 3 –  Where in the world can you find Nancy Schön’s public art?
​                         

​The holiday season fills some people with hope, but it can send others into despair. That’s why I decided this was the right time to do a post about it. I have three inspiring quotes. My wish – that each one will help you feel a tiny bit more hopeful.
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                                         Who said it?                                                                              Charles Dickens
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​ Charles Dickens is a famous British author. Have you ever read or watched A Christmas Tale? It’s one of his most famous books. It’s the story of Scrooge, the ultimate miser, who’d rather save a penny than pay it to one of his employees. He’s visited by three ghosts – Christmas Past, Present, and Future. It changes his life, and it proves there’s still hope, even for an old miser!
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​Take a look at these two houses. The first is where Charles Dickens was born. It’s tiny! It begins with the first white door and ends after the two windows. Tiny!

The other house is Gads Hill Place. Would you believe his father told him, if he worked hard enough, someday he could buy that house, or another one just like it? The best part about this story, 35 years later, Dickens bought that house when he discovered it was for sale. Dreams do come true!
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​His life wasn’t filled with sunshine and rainbows. When Dickens was 12, his father spent his way into a debtors’ prison at Marshalsea. His mother and younger siblings had to live there too. Dickens and his sister didn’t. They were in school, so they had to visit the family on Sunday.

Later that year, Dickens had to quit school and work in a blacking factory. The second sketch is of him, slumped over a desk, exhausted. He worked ten hours a day, 6 days a week, pasting labels on pots of black boot polish. His pay – 6 shillings a week. That experience would shape the stories he’d write. You’ll find his story best told in David Copperfield.

Note – I used a currency converter to change Dickens’ 6 shillings into pounds. In 2017 he would have earned £17.23 (pounds) or $21.60 a week.

​I’ve been bent and broken” is a quote from Great Expectations. It reminds us that there’s hope, a silver lining, when we face challenges and work our way through them.

Most people think of books written and published as one completed novel. That wasn’t true for Dickens. He wrote many of them as monthly installments in literary journals. Later they were reprinted as books.

The best part – it made his stories cheaper and more accessible to a wider audience, beyond just the wealthy. For Dickens it gave him more time to explore and develop his characters and plots. He learned to leave cliffhangers at the end of each installment – to keep readers waiting for the next episode. And yet his plots held together across an entire book.

​I’ve known and watched A Christmas Carol since I was little, but I’ve never wondered what Dickens looked like. The first painting was done by Margaret Gillies in 1843. Dickens was only 31, and he was busy writing the story of Ebenezer Scrooge.

The second was painted by Jeremiah Gurney sometime in 1867/1868. Dickens was about 55. No wonder he looks so much older, and perhaps, more serious. 

Dickens was prolific in his writing, and you can see that in the painting, Dickens’ Dream by Robert William Buss. The tiny black and white illustrations are the characters Dickens brought to life in his books. Prolific fits!

The final photo is of his grave on the floor of Westminster Abbey. I was there, and shocked to find you could step on it. I couldn’t.

This photo is from 2012 when England was celebrating 200 years of his stories. People are still turning them into modern movies. They’re still reprinting his books and selling them on Amazon 😊    

Quote:  Daily Inspiration | Inspiring Quotes
 Information: Charles Dickens - Wikipedia
Gads Hill Place - Wikipedia
Currency converter: 1270–2017 (nationalarchives.gov.uk)
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Quote # 2 – Hope springs eternal in the human breast.
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Alexander was a famous writer born in London, England in 1688. That was about 60 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. He died in 1717. That was almost 60 years before the American Revolution began.

His parents were Catholic, and he was influenced by a series of laws that promoted the Church of England. They also banned Catholics from teaching, attending universities, voting, or holding government office. If you broke the law by doing any of those things, you went to jail.
​
His aunt taught him how to read, and he went to several Roman Catholic schools in London. They were illegal, but tolerated. 

​These are two of the houses Pope lived in. The first photo is recent. It’s of a building now known as the Mawson Arms. Way back when, it was the home of Pope’s parents. He lived in Mawson Row in Chiswick with them for 3 years, from 1716 to 1719. 

During those same years Pope was translating the Odyssey by Homer. By 1719 he’d earned enough money to buy the second house, in Twickenham. The house and the gardens were torn down to make room for something new, but his grotto is still there.
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The quote ‘Hope springs eternal’ came from his poem An Essay on Man. When he wrote that line, he was writing about his Catholic faith and the hope for life after death. I’m Lutheran, but I believe in the same things about hope, life, and the afterlife. 

Here’s a list of the poems and stories he wrote during his lifetime, and the translations he made so that English men and women could read them.

Quote: Daily Inspiration | Inspiring Quotes
 
Information: Alexander Pope - Wikipedia
 

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Quote # 2 – Hope springs eternal in the human breast.
​

​
​Robert Frost was a famous American poet. He was born 9 years after the Civil War ended. He died in 1963, one year before the Civil Rights Act was passed. It was supposed to end discrimination based on race, color, religion, or where you were born.

Imagine being born just after the end of slavery and living to see the fight to end discrimination. I was 4 when Robert died, and I’ve seen a lot of change in my lifetime. Robert lived to be 89. I’m only 64. I wonder what I’ll see if I live to be 89, like Robert.
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His three biggest achievements – Robert is the only poet to earn 4 Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. In 1960 he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his writing, and the next year Vermont named him their Poet Laureate. I always think of a laureate as someone’s favorite poet, but they’re actually supposed to write poetry for them. In this case, for Vermont.

This is one of Robert’s homes. It’s in Derry, New Hampshire. He wrote many poems when he lived here, from 1900 until1911.

It looks like a peaceful place to write, but his mother died from cancer, and he lost 2 of his children during that time. Life wasn’t perfect, but it fueled his work.
​
The quote, ‘The best way out is through’ came from a collection Robert published in 1914. The poem, “A Servant of Servants, is not a happy one. I read it, and I felt depressed. It’s about a housewife who spends her day cooking, cleaning, and taking care of others. The only way out was to work your way through the day. According to the folks at Inspiring Quotes.com, hope and stubborn determination can get you through your troubles.

This is one of my father’s favorite poems. The other one is also by Robert Frost. Sorry, the only thing I’d change about this image. . . the woods. It should be more yellow. That’s the way he wrote it.
The poem is “The Road Not Taken”’ as it was featured in Robert’s 1916 book, Mountain Interval. 
​
Here’s a list of Robert Frost’s work from Wikipedia. His first poems were published in 1913. His last, in 1969.  What a legacy of work he gave us during those fifty years of writing!

​Poetry collections

• 1913. A Boy's Will. London: David Nutt (New York: Holt, 1915)[71]
• 1914. North of Boston. London: David Nutt (New York: Holt, 1914)
  • "After Apple-Picking"
  • "The Death of the Hired Man"
  • "Mending Wall"
• 1916. Mountain Interval. New York: Holt
  • "Birches"
  • "Out, Out"
  • "The Oven Bird"
  • "The Road Not Taken"
• 1923. Selected Poems. New York: Holt.
  • "The Runaway"
  • Also includes poems from first three volumes
• 1923. New Hampshire. New York: Holt (London: Grant Richards, 1924)
  • "Fire and Ice"
  • "Nothing Gold Can Stay"
  • "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
• 1924. Several Short Poems. New York: Holt[72]
• 1928. Selected Poems. New York: Holt.
• 1928. West-Running Brook. New York: Holt
  • "Acquainted with the Night"
• 1929. The Lovely Shall Be Choosers, The Poetry Quartos, printed and illustrated by Paul Johnston. Random House.
• 1930. Collected Poems of Robert Frost. New York: Holt (UK: Longmans Green, 1930)
• 1933. The Lone Striker. US: Knopf
• 1934. Selected Poems: Third Edition. New York: Holt
• 1935. Three Poems. Hanover, NH: Baker Library, Dartmouth College.
• 1935. The Gold Hesperidee. Bibliophile Press.
• 1936. From Snow to Snow. New York: Holt.
• 1936. A Further Range. New York: Holt (Cape, 1937)
• 1939. Collected Poems of Robert Frost. New York: Holt (UK: Longmans, Green, 1939)
• 1942. A Witness Tree. New York: Holt (Cape, 1943)
  • "The Gift Outright"
  • "A Question"
  • "The Silken Tent"
• 1943. Come In, and Other Poems. New York: Holt.
• 1947. Steeple Bush. New York: Holt
• 1949. Complete Poems of Robert Frost. New York: Holt (Cape, 1951)
• 1951. Hard Not To Be King. House of Books.
• 1954. Aforesaid. New York: Holt.
• 1959. A Remembrance Collection of New Poems. New York: Holt.
• 1959. You Come Too. New York: Holt (UK: Bodley Head, 1964)
• 1962. In the Clearing. New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston
• 1969. The Poetry of Robert Frost. New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston.

Plays

• 1929. A Way Out: A One Act Play (Harbor Press).
• 1929. The Cow's in the Corn: A One Act Irish Play in Rhyme (Slide Mountain Press).
• 1945. A Masque of Reason (Holt).
• 1947. A Masque of Mercy (Holt).

Letters

• 1963. The Letters of Robert Frost to Louis Untermeyer (Holt, Rinehart & Winston; Cape, 1964).
• 1963. Robert Frost and John Bartlett: The Record of a Friendship, by Margaret Bartlett Anderson (Holt, Rinehart & Winston).
• 1964. Selected Letters of Robert Frost (Holt, Rinehart & Winston).
• 1972. Family Letters of Robert and Elinor Frost (State University of New York Press).
• 1981. Robert Frost and Sidney Cox: Forty Years of Friendship (University Press of New England).
• 2014. The Letters of Robert Frost, Volume 1, 1886–1920, edited by Donald Sheehy, Mark Richardson, and Robert Faggen. Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0674057609. (811 pages; first volume, of five, of the scholarly edition of the poet's correspondence, including many previously unpublished letters.)
• 2016. The Letters of Robert Frost, Volume 2, 1920–1928, edited by Donald Sheehy, Mark Richardson, Robert Bernard Hass, and Henry Atmore. Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0674726642. (848 pages; second volume of the series.)

Other

• 1957. Robert Frost Reads His Poetry. Caedmon Records, TC1060. (spoken word)
• 1966. Interviews with Robert Frost (Holt, Rinehart & Winston; Cape, 1967).
• 1995. Collected Poems, Prose and Plays, edited by Richard Poirier. Library of America. ISBN 978-1-883011-06-2. (omnibus volume.)
• 2007. The Notebooks of Robert Frost, edited by Robert Faggen. Harvard University Press. 

​Quote: Daily Inspiration | Inspiring Quotes
 
Link: A Servant To Servants, by Robert Frost
 
Information: Robert Frost - Wikipedia

​I bought this book last September, in 2022. I shop whenever I’m watching an OSU football game. It’s a superstition, but it makes me feel like I’m doing my part to help the Buckeyes win.

                                                               My Stats from Last Year: 
​​                              Trivia score              Name Recognition
Chapter 1              5 of 20                                  --
Chapter 2                 7                                    14 of 28
Chapter 3                 11                                 11 of 20
Chapter 4                  5                                      9 of 22
Chapter 5                  5                                      7 of 21
Chapter 6                  5                                    12 of 38
Chapter 7                  8                                    10 of 26

That means my best scores came in Chapter 5 for both trivia and name recognition. It was all about catching the ball, AKA the receivers. Here’s my link to last year’s trivia:
​
                              http://www.rindabeach.com/blog/trivial-pursuit-the-ohio-state-football-way


                               Game Day Saturday, September 16 - Chapter 8 - How I did, and what I learned. 

Chapter 8: Coaching Carousel: I thought I’d do better on this chapter than I did. I’ve been following Ohio State football since the 60s. I can name the coaches in order . . . Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce, John Cooper, Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer, and Ryan Day.

I double checked, and I missed one. Luke Fickel was coach for less than a year. He came between Tressel and Meyer. I have a soft spot for Luke’s wife, Amy. She comes from Spencerville, Ohio. That’s just up the road from my house in Wapak.

In spite of knowing all that, I was back to mediocre again, 7 right out of 20. YUCK! And on name recognition, I knew 11 out of 23. Yep, mediocre, but, these questions are hard!

These are my four favorite OSU coaches. I don’t know any of the ones before Woody.  I was born in 1959, and Woody became head coach in 1951. He was still there during the fall of 1978 when I was a freshman. I feel sorry now for the next two coaches . . .  There was no way they could compare to Woody, and the three that followed . . . I loved them like Woody 😊
​
   Now for my Pick 3 questions, they’re all about the best OSU coach ever – Wayne Woodrow Hayes!
​

I got it right . . . 7! You can double check the answer in the first paragraph. I named those 7 coaches in order, and I only forgot 1. Not bad!

​Shucks! I guessed 17. Too high! The answer . . . 13. I guess even Woody couldn’t win them all, but he sure tried. 
​

I missed it! I said true, that two coaches could produce more All-Americans than just one. Wrong! I forgot that Woody coached for 28 years, while Jim and Urban only did 15, altogether.  Wow! What a coach!

                             Fun Fact: Before Woody came, OSU was known as the coaches’ graveyard.
                 
                                                    
Game Day Saturday, September 23 – Chapter 9 - How I did. 
I started Chapter 9 during the Notre Dame game, and it was quite a game . . . I only managed to answer the questions. That’s it. Today the Buckeyes are playing Maryland so I’m going to try to do the writing.

Chapter 9: Championship Caliber: I had no idea how I’d do this time. Who remembers championships after they’re over? Not me!

I was surprised I actually did a little better . . . up from 7 to 8 on the multiple-choice questions. On name recognition I knew 10 out of 20. Woo-hoo! That’s 50%. Still mediocre, but a little bit better!

​- Ray noted that in 2018 ESPN ranked the national champions from the BCS years, and they put the 2002 Buckeyes last. The reason, the Buckeyes had a lot of close games as they finished out the season. ESPN said they just weren’t dominant enough. Gee, I thought winning was everything!
​
It didn’t matter that the Buckeyes were the first to win 14 games in a season, or that they were 1 of 9 teams on the list to go unbeaten and win the national championship. When you’re ranked high, you have a target on your back. Add in that 2002 team were the first #2 to beat a #1 during the BCS years, but that didn’t matter to the powers at ESPN that made the rankings. (Like always, Ohio against the world)
​

                                                   Game Day Saturday, October 14 – Chapter 10 - How I did 
I didn’t! I went to a baby shower, but I kept track of the score. When I got home, the game was still on, but we had company, so no chapter 10 ☹ But the Buckeyes beat Purdue 41 – 7 . . . Woohoo!

               Game Day Saturday, October 21 – Chapter 10, Finally! How I did & What Resonated with Me
​     
Chapter 10: Going Bowling: I had a bad feeling about this chapter . . . It’s either the kind with one ball and nine pins, or the kind that involves holiday football games in warm destinations. I figured I’d be terrible at both ☹

I’m glad I was prepared. I went down, 5 out of 20 on the multiple-choice questions. FIVE! That’s like a 25%. OUCH!  On name recognition I knew 7 out of 20. A 35% is a little better, but not much. Double OUCH!

What Resonated with Me:  1. I recognized two names – William White and Bobby Hoying. They were both local boys, from the county right next door. William grew up in Lima and played football for the Spartans. Northwest Ohio was thrilled when he became a Buckeye, and so was I.
​
2. Bobby grew up in St. Henry, and he played for the Redskins. He was chosen as Mr. Football back in 1990, out of all the high school players from across the state. Bobby went from playing quarterback in a small town in Mercer County to playing at The Ohio State University. It’s incredible when a local boy succeeds, and both Bobby and William made it all the way to the NFL.  WOW!

3. I found a not-so-good memory in this chapter about bowl games, with Clemson. They were the team that got Woody Hayes fired. He was and still is my favorite coach ever. It began when Clemson intercepted a pass near the end of the game.

Woody was known for his temper, and he grabbed the player’s jersey and hit him. The Buckeye team captain pulled Woody off the kid, and he was fired the next day.

It was a sad end for Woody and his coaching career, but he was forgiven, and I’m glad his contributions have not been forgotten.

PS – OSU lost that game in 1978. They’d lose again to Clemson in 2016 and 2019, but they finally beat them in 2021 . . .  49 – 28. There’s nothing like the thrill of victory after those 3 defeats.
​

                                  Game Day Saturday, October 28 - Chapter 11 - How I did, and what I learned.

Chapter 11: Draft Day: I had no idea how I’d do in this chapter. I’ve never paid attention to the draft, ever! My results – I went up one, to 6 out of 20 on the multiple-choice questions. That’s 30%. Guessing stinks as a strategy, but it’s all I had ☹

On name recognition I knew more names than last time, 22, but there were 30 I didn’t know. My score – 22 out of 50, for a 42%. YIKES! ☹

I discovered after reading this chapter that draft day doesn’t always lead to a contract. It means nothing, until that contract is signed. Here are 3 stories about 3 superstar Buckeyes. 
​​

#1. Have you heard of Paul Warfield? The Cleveland Browns drafted him in 1964. I was only 5 years old, but somehow, I remember he was fast.

As a Buckeye he was a halfback. That meant he lined up with the offense, and he ran the ball down the field.  Funny, I thought that would make him a running back!
​
Cleveland picked him as a defensive back, but they also knew he could catch the ball. So, they decided to try him as a receiver. The result – Paul learned how to catch the ball that first year in the NFL. I guess your team gets a HUGE say on what position you play.
​

  #2. Tom Skladany is another name I remember. He left OSU before I came in as a freshman. He was a gifted kicker, the first specialty player to ever get a scholarship to a Big 10 school. The Browns picked him in the second round of the 1977 draft, but he never signed with them. He wound up sitting out the whole 1977 NFL season. Why?

Evidently Art Modell called his agent ‘the biggest thorn in the side of professional football.” Art put Tom on the trading block, first with the Rams in return for two second round picks. Later he shipped Tom off to the Lions for a second and seventh round pick for 1978. OUCH!
​

​#3. Terry Glenn’s story from 1996 caught my eye. I was a mom with three kids by then, and I had time for football again. Terry had great hands . . . he was a receiver, and he was the seventh pick, in THE first round. Talented, right?!

Well not enough for Bill Parcells, the coach for the New England Patriots. He said, “If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.” Evidently Parcells didn’t want Terry, but two higher ups did . . . owner Bob Kraft and general manager, Bobby Grier. I have a feeling Parcells was happier with Terry by the end of the season . . . He set a rookie record of 90 catches, and they helped the Patriots into the Super Bowl that year.
​
​
         
                             Game Day Saturday, November 4 - Chapter 12 - How I did, and what I learned. 

Chapter 12: Writing the Record Book: I had no idea once again how I’d do on this chapter. I would hear someone set a record, then promptly forget about it. My results on multiple choice questions – I went up one again, to 7 out of 20. That’s another 35%. Guessing isn’t the best strategy, but it’s all I had, again ☹

On name recognition this was one of my best scores, I knew 20, and I didn’t recognize 12. My score – 20 out of 32, for a sky-high 63%. That’s still a D or an F. YIKES! ☹

​Game Day Saturday, November 11 - Chapter 12 – Three Record-Setting Stories

​#1. What would you do if you were the quarterback, and your passing game was off? Duh! You’d hand the ball to a running back. In 2020, that’s exactly what Justin Fields did in the Big Ten championship game. He handed the ball to Trey Sermon who had just transferred in from Oklahoma.

I’m glad he did! Trey carried the ball 29 times, right into the OSU record book. He ran 331 yards that day against the Northwestern Wildcats. His best two plays, in the third quarter. Trey ran 65 yards, then 33, right into the end zone for a touchdown. That gave the Buckeyes their first lead in the game.
​
Imagine, the Buckeyes behind in the third quarter?! OUCH! In the fourth quarter Trey’s running game gave OSU another touchdown and a spot in the College Football Playoff. He was the MVP, duh! Thanks, Trey, for saving the game!                                                                 
​                                                                             Bonus Source: Trey Sermon - Wikipedia
​

But I did end up with the fun and Buckeye pride Ray wanted readers to have. I found it when I picked 3 stories from each chapter to write about. Now I’m even more amazed by what my Buckeyes have accomplished throughout my lifetime, and beyond.
​
For my pick-3’s, I always go hunting for pictures, and it’s a trip down memory lane whether I find a picture from their OSU days, or from later on. Then I take Ray’s stories and give them a Rinda-spin . . .   by adding in my memories.
​

Meet the Quarterbacks: (Chapter 3 – Calling the Signals) I know each and every one of these names, except for Les Horvath. He was before my time. Rex Kerns is the first one I remember, but I can only recall hearing his name on TV in the ’60s.

Art Schlichter is the quarterback from my college years, the ’70s. He had his ups and downs over the years, but the important thing about him – he was a Buckeye.

Craig Krenzel was playing when my baby sister was in college, the ’90s. Would you believe he went to the same church she did after they both graduated? She was impressed by his behavior. He acted like everyone else. He was just one of the church faithful, not a star quarterback.
​

Today was THE GAME – the one with Michigan. They won the last 2 years, but I was hoping today would break the pattern. It didn’t ☹ Michigan won again, but only by 6 points. It could have swung the other way, but it didn’t ☹
​
                  My question from last week’s post – the one I still remembered after 2 years of trivia –
                                                  What charm do OSU players get if they beat Michigan? 

Gold Pants! It makes me sad this is another year without that charm for my favorite team.
The Story: In 1934 OSU hired Francis Schmidt as head coach. When the local media got a chance to ask about that team up north, Schmidt said, “They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us.”

That’s when two Columbus businessmen formed the ‘Gold Pants Club.’ They created gold lapel pins, shaped like football pants. Each player and coach on that winning team gets a gold pin, engraved with their initials, game date, and the score.
​
                                                                 What kind of trenches do football games have? 

​The one between the offensive and defensive lines. They’re manned by lineman. The offensive ones fight to keep the quarterback safe, and he fights to gain yards/first downs/touchdowns for the team. He can either hand off the ball to a running back or throw it to one of the receivers.

The defensive lineman fight to stop the quarterback. If they sack him, he loses yardage. If they stop the running backs, the offense might not get that all important first down.
​
As for those receivers, there are also defensive backs who do whatever they can, within the rules (and sometimes outside them too) to stop the play. If they intercept the ball, that’s even better. It’s the only way a defensive player can EVER score a touchdown.
​

​Last year the linemen failed in THE GAME, but they tightened their lines, and the Buckeyes almost beat the #1 team/national champion – Georgia. I was so proud of those linemen.

This year they were just as tough. OSU and Michigan were well matched, even with a brand-new quarterback. Kyle threw 2 interceptions, 1 near the beginning of the game. A defender caught it, and it gave Michigan a touchdown. The 2nd was the last play. Another defender caught it, and the clock ran out.

The Buckeyes lost by 6 points – the cost of that 1st interception. Many of us think the Michigan pass/touchdown, was actually intercepted. This time by the Buckeyes, but the referees refused to change the call.
​
Oh well, there’s always next year . . . See you at one of the New Year’s bowls! My team is sure to accept an invitation to one of them 😊

​

Game Day Friday, December 29 -  Final Memories from 2 Years of OSU Triva
​

Last night was the Cotton Bowl, the last game of the 2023 season. So many changes have happened since the Michigan game. Our starting quarterback left through the transfer portal. Other players did too, or they declared for the NFL like Marvin Harrison Jr did. I miss the old days when the players finished the WHOLE season.

The Cotton Bowl didn’t end the way I hoped, but there were some bright spots . . . the defensive line was excellent. Our second-string quarterback gave his all and tried to play past an injury, but he wound up back on the sidelines.

A third-stringer who’d only thrown 5 passes wound up leading the team, in a Bowl game. Incredible! The last time that happened was with Cardale Jones. He led the Buckeyes to a national championship. Here’s to the future, whatever it brings. Life is never dull when you’re a Buckeye!

    The last trivia question is from Chapter 4 – Between the Tackles, where the running backs rule.
​

​The answer . . . 5 games. Both Eddie and Ezekiel had 5 games with over 200 yards.
​

So where are they now? Eddie retired in 2006. He played for the Houston Oilers, who became the Tennessee Titans. Then he went to the Dallas Cowboys. Over his 9 years in the NFL, he rushed for 10,441 yards and scored 68 touchdowns. That’s 408 points he put on the scoreboard. Eddie was NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1995 and a four-time Pro Bowler. The Titans retired Eddie’s #27, which is a huge honor, and he’s a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
​
After Eddie retired, he went back to OSU to get his bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture. He earned his master’s degree in Management at Northwestern. Eddie hasn’t left football completely behind . . . he was named head coach at Tennessee State in April of 2021, and this is him in 2022. 

Bonus Source: Ohio State's Eddie George Named Pro Football Hall Of Fame Semifinalist - Sports Illustrated Ohio State Buckeyes News, Analysis and More

As for Ezekiel, he’s still playing. He started with the Dallas Cowboys in 2016. He was an instant star. He was the NFL’s top rusher as a rookie, and players ranked him at #7 in the NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2017. Not bad for a beginner!

Ezekiel remained a Top 100 Player for the next 3 years, through 2020. He played for the Cowboys for 6 years, through the end of the 2022 season. In 2021 Ezekiel began dealing with knee and ankle injuries, including a torn ligament in his knee during Week 4, but he refused to sit on the sidelines. He’d play one last season as a Cowboy before they released him in March of 2023.
​
Ezekiel signed a one-year contract with a new team in August, the New England Patriots. He ran third down and red zone plays behind one of the starters. I don’t know where he’ll land in 2024, but I wish him well as a running back, and in life after football. I hope the best is yet to come for him.

                                                                  Bonus Source: Ezekiel Elliott - Wikipedia

There’s nothing better than a new baby, unless it’s a grandbaby. I’m blessed, I have three. The newest one arrived on July 30. I’ve been waiting to use this on my blog since I played it at a baby shower last year. It was tricky! I got one or two right. YIKES!

Try it yourself and see how you do. First find each country on the map. Then find the baby word that matches it. Good luck! 
                                               
                                                                                      Part 1 – European Babies:
                 Here are five countries. Guess their baby word, then check your answers below the map. 

Ireland       Sweden        Finland        Italy        Spain


bebé        vauva        leanbh        bambino         bebis

​

​                                                                                                             And the answers are: 

In Ireland a baby is called a leanbh. In Irish Gaelic you’d say ‘Lan-iv.’

           
              In Sweden you’ll hold a bebis. In Swedish you’d say ‘BEE-bis.’

In Finland your baby is your vauva. In Finnish you’d say ‘Va-va.

​                  In Italy you’ll have a bambina, a girl, or a bambino, a boy.
          That’s ‘Bam-be-na’ for an Italian girl, and ‘Bam-be-no’ for a boy.

Part 2 – Babies from Africa and Eastern Europe:
Here are five more countries. Two are from Africa, and three are from Eastern Europe.
Guess their baby word, then check your answers below the map. One country has two words for baby.
Can you guess which one it is, and which baby word is used twice?
​​

​                     
                      Africa (2)                        Eastern Europe (3)
                 Chad     Egypt            Turkey     Croatia      Russia


               mladenets         bébé         dijete        طفل         bebek

                                                                                                                        And the answers are: ​

In Chad a baby has two names. In Arabic a baby is called a طفل [tifl].  It sounds like 'tif-lun' to me. In French it’s called a bébé. It sounds like Be-Be.
​

                        In Egypt you’ll hold a طفل [tifl], like you did in Chad,
                                              and it still sounds like ‘tif-lun.

​In Turkey your baby is your bebek. In Turkish you’d say ‘ba-Bek.’

​
        In Croatia you’ll have a dijete. That’s ‘De-A-day’ in Croatian. 

​In Russia you’ll hold a mladenets, In Russian you’d say ‘mu-la-D- nyetz.’ In Cyrillic it would look like this младенец.

​                     India           Vietnam           China           Korea           Japan


                     赤ちゃん           बच्चा            đứa bé              아기              嬰兒

                                                                                                                               ​And the answers are: 

In India a baby is called a बच्चा. I have no idea what that says in Hindi, but it sounds like 'veh-Cha.'

 In Vietnam, you’ll hold a đứa bé. 
In Vietnamese you’d say ‘Lu-Bay.’   

​​ In China your baby is your 嬰兒. In traditional Chinese you’d say ‘Ping-ye.’

                In Korea you’ll have a 아기. In Korea that’s ‘ah-Gee.’ 

In Japan you’ll hold a 赤ちゃん.
In Japanese you’d say ‘ah-kuh-Chan.’ 

Have you ever read a Jane Austen book, or seen one in a movie? I’ve loved her novels forever, but I never wondered about Jane. Not until I started reading a series of books by Beth Pattillo. That’s when I looked her up on the internet.
​
Part 1 – Four Portraits: The first Jane is the only portrait of her in existence. Her sister Cassandra started it sometime around 1810, but she never finished it. She used pencil and watercolor. It’s small in size, only 4-1/2 inches x 3-1/8 inches, but you’ll find it in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The second Jane is a watercolor done by James Andrews. Can you tell it’s based on Cassandra’s original sketch? It found its way into A Memoir of Jane Austen that was written by their nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh in 1871. Every other portrait of Jane is based on this one, including the one on the Bank of England’s £10 note.

​Look below. There's another set of portraits. The first one is a silhouette of Cassandra, Jane’s sister and her best friend. The artist is unknown.

The second is a painting Cassandra did in 1804. This time she painted a back view of her sister using watercolors. Interesting – Jane allowed her sister to capture her image from the back, but not from the front. Remember the one Cassandra didn’t finish?
​
                                              

Part 2 – Jane’s Childhood Home: This set of pictures came from A Memoir of Jane Austen published by her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh, in 1871.
​

​Jane’s father was a minister, and this is the parsonage at Steventon where Jane grew up. It’s long gone, but it once sat in a valley surrounded by meadows.

The second picture is her father’s church, St. Nicholas in Steventon. Jane attended services from the time she was born in 1775 until her father retired in 1800. You can still visit St. Nicholas, but its name is now Steventon Church.
​

The Move to Bath: When her father retired, he moved the family to Bath. Their new address: 4 Sydney Place. It was 50 miles away from Steventon, but it must have felt a world away for Jane.

She grew up in a quiet country village, but Bath was a busy city. It drew people from all over England. They came for the mineral water, and for the high society.

When her father died unexpectantly in January of 1805, Jane ended her time in Bath. She, Cassandra, and their mother were left without a home or financial resources of their own. They were dependent on the charity of Jane’s brothers.
​
                       
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Part 3 – Her Final Two Homes: These two pictures are from Kent. The first is Godmersham Park, the home of Jane’s brother Edward. He was adopted by a wealthy family as their son and heir. Jane started visiting there in 1798. The last time was in 1813. Godmersham Park was her model for great houses like Pemberley and Rosings Park.

The second photo is her last real home, perhaps her favorite. Chawton was a cottage on her brother’s land at Godmersham Park. Edward gifted the cottage to his mother and sisters early in 1809. Jane spent the last eight years of her life there. She did her best writing in the country, first at Steventon and later at Chawton. She was a country girl at heart.

Jane wrote of her trips to London in books and letters. If you’d like to visit her in Town, click on this link: Jane Austen Goes To London | Guide London   

Her Final Home and Resting Place:  The next set of pictures are from Winchester. The first is a cottage on 8 College Street. Jane had been sick since early 1816, but she refused to give into it, or to stop writing.
​
Her sister Cassandra and brother Henry brought her here for a cure in May of 1817, but it was already too late. Jane died on July 18, 1817. She was only 41 years old. Today her symptoms would have been diagnosed as Addison’s disease or Hodgkins’s lymphoma. 

​The second photo is of Winchester Cathedral. That’s where Jane Austen is buried, not because she’s a famous author. She’s there as the daughter of a clergyman, and the sister of another. That’s what Jane wanted, a private life. When she died, her name wasn’t on her book covers. She was listed as an anonymous lady, the way she’d requested.

If you’d like to learn more about Jane Austen, click on this link: Jane Austen - Wikipedia
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Winchester Cathedral reminds me of a song from 1966. It’s a little quirky, but fun. Here’s the search link. Click, then look for the video, and give it a listen: winchester cathedral song - Search (bing.com)

Do you recognize this song? If you don’t, that’s OK. You’re probably too young 😊 It debuted in 1966 when I was 7. I’m much older now ☹
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But you might have heard it over the last couple of weeks in a commercial for Amazon Prime. I didn’t notice the ad part. Sorry! I was busy singing along with one of my favorite songs, and now I can’t find the ad information. It was up yesterday, and gone today.  

Part 1 – Where the Words Started:  I Say a Little Prayer started off as an idea in Hal David’s head. He wrote the lyrics to show what a woman was thinking, knowing her guy was far away fighting the Vietnam War. I had no idea when I heard it in the 60’s. I got the woman part, but I never found the soldier in the song. Not until I started researching this post. It puts a whole new spin on Hal’s words.
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If you’d like to read his lyrics, click on the google search link below. It’s the only way I can share them with you, and follow copyright rules. Scan down the page. Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin both covered the song, but the way they used the chorus was a little different. Either way, put yourself in that woman’s shoes, and think about someone you love who’s in harm’s way. Hal did, and he used those words in this song.

Search link:
https://www.bing.com/search?pglt=673&q=say+a+little+prayer+lyrics&cvid=08df26e952c040c7be4b82faff1ed4d7&aqs=edge.0.0l9.9652j0j1&FORM=ANAB01&PC=LCTS
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A Side Note About Vietnam:  This is a map from 1954. The war started in 1955, but the US didn’t get involved until 1960. Fifteen years later we got out. It was 1975. I was a baby when it all started and a sophmore in high school when it ended. My husband was a junior.

At age 18 boys had to sign up for the Vietnam draft, and at its high point 40,000 young men were picked for military service each month. I hope a prayer was said for each and every one of them.

The draft stopped in 1973 because of the huge anti-war movement, but it returned in a new form in July of 1980. Boys had to sign up for Military Selective Services, but they didn’t go to war. My husband never signed up for either draft, but my two sons did, the 1980 way.

Map Source:  By User: SnowFire - Own work. Based on File: French Indochina Phan Xich Long.svg., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63532416

Part 2 – Burt Bacharach and His Mixed-Up Signatures:  I didn’t know Burt liked to mix-up the time signatures within his music. I never noticed it, but maybe that’s what gives it that distinctive Bacharach sound.
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The verses in I Say a Little Prayer start with eight beats in 4/4 time, then a ten-beat section (4/4 + 4/4 + 2/4). Then he finishes the verse with that same eight beat pattern again. When you hit the chorus, Burt sets it up in eleven beats (4/4 + 3/4 + 4/4). If you’re a musician, this makes sense. If you’re not, just keep reading, and enjoy the music link down below.
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A Recording Session: Dionne Warwick was one of Burt and Hal’s favorite singers, and they wrote this song just for her. She was a quick study when it came to recording. Usually, she recorded a song in three takes, but she often did it in one. Not this time. Dionne tried ten times, but Burt was never really happy with it. He thought it sounded rushed, like the tempo was too fast. Maybe it never quite fit the version in his head.

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​They made that recording on April 9, 1966, and it sat on a shelf for over a year, until September 1967. Florence Greenburg from Scepter Records wanted it on his album, The Windows of the World. Disc Jockeys at radio stations around the country heard it, then played it on the air one short month later. It was so popular Scepter released it as a single on the A side, the hit side of a record. They put The Theme from Valley of the Dolls on the B side. Dionne sang that one too, and both songs were super successful for Scepter. And for Dionne, Burt, and Hal too.

It's odd that the fast pace Burt disliked, became a million-selling hit for Dionne. That was a gold record back in the 60’s. It reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. And me, I can still sing the chorus.
If you’d like to listen to Dionne’s version, click on my search link. If you scan down the page, you’ll find Aretha Franklin has one too. She recorded it in 1968, and it went to #2. Either way, pick a video, and enjoy!

       Search Link for the music video: say a little prayer for you dionne warwick - Search (bing.com)

         Tomorrow – How this song from 1967 became part of my favorite movie scene of all time!
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​                                        If you’re curious about the Bacharach/David song list, it includes:
                                            I Say a Little Prayer for You                                  Wishin’ and Hopin’
                                         What the World Needs Now                             I’ll Never Fall in Love Again
                                                                I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself        
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                                                If you want to watch that scene, use this search link:
                                      say a little prayer my best friend's wedding - Search (bing.com)
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This is a computer model of what the Titan submersible once looked like. The real one disappeared an hour and 45 minutes into its voyage to the bottom of the North Atlantic. It was supposed to  carry its five passengers down to visit the Titanic.

Titanic, the Ship of Dreams. The one that hit an iceberg in 1912 and sank to the bottom of the sea. Of the 2200 people aboard, only 700 would live to tell its story, and this is what the passengers of the Titan came to see.

Part 1 – The Voyage of the Titan:  This is the map of Titanic’s maiden voyage. It would be its final one too. The yellow star on the bottom of the map is Titanic’s final resting place, and Titan’s destination.

Take your finger north of that star, then a little west. You’ll find Newfoundland. It’s the island where the Titan Submersible began its journey on Friday, June 16th.
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​The huge orange boat is an icebreaker named the Polar Prince. OceanGate hired the ship and its crew to get the submersible to the launch site. They arrived on the 17th.

The Polar Prince launched the submersible at 9:30 AM on the 18th. Everything went well for the first hour and a half. The Titan and Polar Prince talked to each other every 15 minutes, but at the 11:30 mark . . . nothing.

That’s when the search began, and the news went out to the world. I heard it around 1PM. It hurt to know that the people inside had 96 hours of air left, and the rescue teams had 4 days to find them. All over the world people like me began praying.


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When those reports made the news, I hoped . . . the five were still alive. But I was a little skeptical about the pounding, until I heard whales could be heard hundreds of miles away, or that submarine crews really pounded on their ships. There was still time to save those five people, so I said a few more prayers.

 
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Part 3 – Three Theories About What Happened:
​​ As soon as Titan disappeared, the news reports speculated on what could have happened to it.
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Theory #1 – The submersible was bobbing on the water’s surface.

If it had, it might have looked like this boat and the buoy it’s tied to. That’s what Titan was supposed to do. It had seven backup systems that were designed to return it to the surface, if something went wrong.

I never heard this theory on the TV news. It must have been quickly discarded that first day when nothing was seen by ship, by plane, or by sonar and radar.
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​                                          Theory #2 – The submersible got tangled in the wreckage. 

Titanic broke into 2 main pieces, the bow and the stern. They’re seperated by 2000 feet of ocean floor, and it’s littered with the ship’s debris. This is what’s left of the bow. It sits 12,500 feet underwater. Not only would Titan be hard to find, but it might also be impossible to free, in time.

I heard this theory on the news. They interviewed an expert who’d been in a submersible that got tangled in Titanic’s wreckage. His pilot freed them, got them to the surface in time. That TV expert was worried that Titan’s pilot didn’t have the kind of controls to break the submersible free himself.


                                                   Theory #3 – A Catastrophic Implosion happened.

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Something went wrong inside Titan, and it collapsed inward upon itself. That something could have been a leak, a power failure, an electrical short circuit, or the hull could have been breached. The water would have pushed down on the submersible with so much force that the implosion would have happened within  2 nanoseconds. That’s two billionths of a second, so Titan would have been destroyed, immediately.

I heard this theory from the start, but when underwater noises were reported, I was like everyone else, hoping the crew was still alive. It wasn’t meant to be. Late on the 21st, the story came out that a US Navy ship picked up the sound of  an implosion sometime after Titan disappeared underwater. They told the Coast Guard, but they didn’t share the news. Maybe they didn’t want to give up hope, just in case the crew was still alive. 


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                                 Shahzada Dawood

​A father and son traveled down to Titanic together. Their names, Shahzada and Sulemon Dawood. They’re from Surbiton, in south-west London. Shahzada is survived by his wife and daughter.

Shahzada, at age 48, was the UK vice-chairman of the Engro Corporation. They’re a Pakastani company that specializes in  fertilizer, petrochemicals, and engineering projects. He was also a board member for the Prince’s Trust International, one of King Charles III’s charities. Shahzada was an adviser to its international arm, and he focused in on Pakistan.

Suleman, at age 19, just finished his first year of business school at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. He’s survived by his mother and sister.

Shahzada’s wife, Christine, talked about this trip to a reporter. She had originally planned to go, but then Covid hit. When it was rescheduled, her son took her seat. What stayed with me – was how excited she said her husband and son were about this voyage. They were living their dream . . . traveling down to see Titanic together. I hope when I leave this world, I can do it like the Dawoods, following a dream.
 
Photo: By Engro - Original publication: TodayImmediate source: https://www.today.com/news/titanic-missing-sub-shahzada-dawood-passengers-rcna90565,
​Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74106816
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​                                  Hamish Harding

 ​Hamish Harding was a fellow passenger and adventurer.  He lived in Dubai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. He’s survived by his wife, Linda, two sons, Rory and Giles, a stepdaughter, Lauren, and a stepson, Brian Szasz.

Hamish, aged 58, was the chairman of Action Aviation, a private plane company, and he loved flying. He held an airline transport pilot’s license and had businesss jet ratings for  the Gulfstream G650. He was an adventurer, a skydiver, and a trustee of the Explorers Club. He was chosen in 2022 as a Living Legend of Aviation. Last year he went into space with Blue Origins, and this is his picture to prove it.

Hamish was also involved in a luxury tourism company, White Desert. They were the first to offer regular business jets to Antarctica. The South Pole was one of his favorite destinations, and he helped Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, reach a new goal. In 2016 Buzz became  the oldest person to make it to the South Pole. His age, 86.

Hamish was the ultimate adventurer, and he died making one last trip . . .  to the bottom of the North Atlantic, a place very few humans have reached.
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Photo By Blue Origin - Original publication: The GuardianImmediate source: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/19/hamish-harding-the-british-explorer-missing-at-sea-near-the-titanic, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74106831

​                                 Paul-Henri Nargeolet

Paul-Henri Nargeolet was known as Mr. Titanic. He was born in France, and he’s lived in Pawling, New York since 2022. He’s survived by his wife Anne Sarraz-Bournet, two daughters, Chloe and Sidonie, a son Julien, a stepson, John Nathaniel Paschall, and by four grandsons. His 1st wife, Michele Marsh died in 2017.   

At age 77 Paul-Henri was the senior passenger, and he once served as a French navy commander. He studied Titanic for 35 years, spent hundreds of hours observing it, and has taken several submarines down to the wreck.

He joined a team in 1987 that brought up some artifacts from the ocean floor. Titanic lies in darkness, and it’s covered in coral. Paul-Henri spoke about seeing it from a submarine lit by projectors. Everyone onboard the ship was speechless for 10 minutes, not a sound could be heard. He said the ship is an oasis in an immense desert. Imagine the deep dark bottom of the ocean. Nothing survives there . . . except on, and around the Titanic. Life flourishes there, thanks to an accident.

Paul-Henri has loved Titanic and its history for over 35 years. It seems fitting for his body to rest beside it. For Mr. Titanic, it is the ship of dreams.

Photo By Harpers Collins - Original publication: ICIImmediate source: https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/faits-divers-justice/titanic-le-chamoniard-paul-henri-nargeolet-serait-a-bord-du-sous-marin-disparu-7075224, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74106893

​                                          Stockton Rush

​Stockton Rush was Titan’s pilot on its final voyage. He was also the co-founder and CEO (chief executive officer) of OceanGate. That’s the company that owned and operated Titan. He’s survived by his wife, Wendy and their two children.

Both Stockton and Wendy have important ancestors. Wendy’s great-great-grandparents died onboard the Titanic in 1912. Their names, Isidor and Ida Blun Straus. Stockton is descended from Richard Stockton and Dr. Benjamin Rush – they were both founding fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence.

Stockton went onto develop several businesses over the last 20 years. At BlueView Technolgies they manufactured high-frequency sonar systems. He also worked at Entomo where he was involved in software development, and at Remote Control Technology Inc. It sounds like each step in his career brought him a little closer to developing Titan.

Stockton was in charge of OceanGate’s financial and engineering divisions too. His vision brought the 4000 and 6000-metre submersibles to life for crews and passengers. I imagine taking this special group of adventurers down to Titanic must have been a big moment. It seems fitting as Stockton’s final mission, and for his final resting place.

Photo By OceanGate - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHSPhKUUXIM, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133459795

Sources

Photo by Madelgarius - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133558088

Part 1- 4 – Titan submersible implosion - Wikipedia

Part 2 – https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/06/20/titanic-tourist-submarine-missing-live-updates/70336
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Part 3 –  Wreck of the Titanic - Wikipedia
What Happened to the Titanic Sub? Experts Explained Likely Scenarios. (insider.com)
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Part 4 – Titanic sub: what we know about the victims of deep-sea tragedy | Titanic sub incident | The Guardian