If this To-Do Tuesday finds you looking for something to keep the kids busy when it’s too hot to send them outside, check out these ideas from Kidspriation on Facebook. There’s something here for everyone – and you don’t have to be a kid either!
I’ve got a fairly big stash of yarn so I’m going to try these:
This week marks the 49th anniversary of the first steps on the moon. I have a vested interest in the event having grown up in Wapakoneta, Ohio – home of Neil Armstrong. And I also count myself fortunate that the Armstrongs were family friends – so in spite of the fact that I was only 6 years old, I vividly remember being at Neil’s parents’ house for his homecoming party after the Apollo 11 mission.
Apollo 11 launched July 16, 1969 with mission commander Neil Armstrong, lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin and command module pilot Michael Collins on board. It was the second space flight for each of the astronauts with each having their inaugural flights in the Gemini program. The official call signs for the modules of Apollo 11 were Columbia for the command module and Eagle for the lunar lander.
The mission went fairly smoothly on the flight out to the moon – and then came the lunar landing on July 20th. The computers on the Eagle famously overloaded which lead to Armstrong taking the controls for a manual landing with only seconds of fuel to spare before the mission would have needed to be aborted. The mission schedule called for a 4 hour sleep period after the landing but thinking that the landing excitement would have kept them from sleeping, Armstrong and Aldrin immediately began preparations for their walk on the moon.
On his way down the 9 rung lunar module ladder, Armstrong deployed a remote TV camera allowing the world to see the grainy video of “one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” About 20 minutes later, Aldrin joined Armstrong on the moon’s surface and they began their mission to gather moon rock and soil samples, set up a seismographic device and set up a retroreflector device that would allow precise measurement of the distance between the earth and the moon. After an hour and a half on the moon’s surface – which incidentally also included a phone call from President Nixon – Aldrin returned to the lunar module followed by Armstrong about 40 minutes later.
In all, Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours and 36 minutes on the moon’s surface before the Eagle blasted off to rejoin Collins and Columbia for the trip back to Earth. Spashdown came on July 24th in the Pacific Ocean.
Want to know more about Apollo 11? Check out these sites:
And because it’s in my hometown – also check out the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum website.
Can’t wait to go home for the 50th Anniversary Moon Festival in Wapakoneta next year!
I dare you to watch this without laughing. And it’s recorded by The Seldom Herd! LOL!!!
I have no idea why I’ve been thinking about it, but remember when we were kids and made paper fortune tellers? Sort of a low-tech Magic 8-Ball? Let’s relive that today and make one. I know I could use the answers to life’s questions today and this is as good of a method to find them as any!
If you never made one, here’s a video showing you how to do it – Enjoy!
Last night was one of those nights when I just couldn’t sleep. I’m working on about 3 hours of sleep right now – yay! It’s OK for right now but that 8PM kickboxing class is going to be rough tonight! We all have occasional sleepless nights but when does a sleepless night become insomnia?
Most sleep experts define insomnia as difficulty falling or staying asleep with the type based on its frequency/duration. We’ve probably all experienced acute insomnia which is characterized as brief and generally caused by life circumstances/stress. Acute insomnia generally resolves on its own without medical intervention.  I’m diagnosing myself with this type of insomnia – and I’m guessing I’ll have no trouble sleeping tonight after I get home from the gym.
On the other hand, chronic insomnia is generally defined as interrupted sleep which happens at least 3 nights a week that lasts at least 3 months. This kind of insomnia can have various causes like changes in environment, unhealthy living habits, underlying medical conditions to name a few.  Treatment can involve behavioral, psychological, or medical elements (or some combination of them). If you have chronic insomnia, it’s best to work with a doctor to put together an effective treatment plan to get you back to a healthy sleep pattern.
Some fun facts about sleep:
If you know me, you know I generally avoid caffeine because it’s kinder to everyone around me but today I may need to make an exception! Coffee anyone?
Now that the 4th of July is in the rear view mirror, it’s time to take summer seriously. So I’m putting together a list of things that are summer staples – things you should definitely do before the summer slips by and is over. Here goes:
That’s my list – any other suggestions? Let me know in the comments!
While I was on my Founding Fathers theme weeks, I noticed the first sound of fall – cicada. We called them locusts when I was growing up but that was a misconception. One of my aunts used to say it was 6 weeks to fall when you started hearing the locust. So did they start singing later in the summer back then? If so, by my aunt’s reckoning fall would be coming in mid-August this year! But I’m getting off subject – locust and cicada are not the same insect. In fact, they’re barely related.
Cicada are from the superfamily Cicadoidea of the insect world – are part of the Hemiptera order or true bugs. They closely related to aphids and bed bugs (EW!). Cicadas have prominent eyes, short antennae and transparent wings. Typically, they live in trees and feed on watery sap. There are annual species of cicada that emerge every year and there are periodic species that spend most of their lives as larvae underground and only emerge every 13 or 17 years.
Locusts are a type of grasshopper from the insect order of Acrididae and they’re most memorable for their voracious appetites and swarming behavior. Remember the plague of locusts from the Bible story of Moses? Typical locusts. In adulthood, they move in swarms of millions or even billions of insects – but fortunately for us here in North America, there are no species of swarming locusts located here.
So why do we so often call cicadas locusts? The confusion goes back to colonial times when periodical cicadas (like the 17 year cicada) showed up in huge numbers that were mistaken for swarms.
Want to know more about cicada and locust? Check out these links:
As for me, I’m just going to wait for the cicada to start singing this evening – it’s a nice sound don’t you think?
One more patriotic post – back to normal next week. Happy weekend all!
In keeping with the patriotic theme, today I’m throwing back to a short visit I made to Boston in 2016. I was on a cruise to Nova Scotia that made a stop for the day in Boston so a return trip to explore more is definitely on my bucket list. Here are some of the sites we took in:
Happy 4th of July! Today we commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence – but that bit of history is just a little bit wrong. The text of the Declaration was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4th – but there was no actual signing ceremony held. In fact, before it was released to the printer for publication, it may have only had 1 signature attached – John Hancock’s as president of the Second Continental Congress.  The initial printing of the Declaration numbered about 200 copies by a man named John Dunlap. Those first copies were called Dunlap’s broadside and were distributed/copied throughout the colonies. Today, only 26 of the original Dunlap broadsides still exist.
The copy of the Declaration with the signatures we’re all familiar with is known as the engrossed copy. This copy was written on parchment – most likely by the Congressional clerk Thomas Matlack – and did note have its last signatures affixed until sometime in August 1776.
Want to know more about the Declaration of Independence? Check out the Wikipedia article and the links within it – it is WELL worth your time to read!
No matter what the actual signing date of the Declaration, today we celebrate the 242nd birthday of our nation – HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!
Learn Or Do 