134 Greatest show

Farewell to the "Greatest Show on Earth"

I love the circus! From a young girl to a senior citizen that attraction has never diminished. The colorful tents, exotic costumes, and daredevil feats beckoned me with a magnetic force of undeniable proportions.

Throughout my childhood years, the summer circus visits were highly anticipated and longingly awaited. The posters invited every age from near and far to come enjoy the myriad attractions. And we did! 

The performance location of the yearly trips was very near my father’s place of business so we got to see all the preparations unfold from the huge tents to the food trucks, and other vehicles, transporting and unloading the magical show. Once the circus gates were opened the scents of popcorn, cotton candy, hot dogs, and candy apples filled the air, making it impossible to resist.

Watching the high wire acts was a special draw for me --- holding my breath until the performers were safe after swinging from post to post and walking across the tent on a teeny, tiny wire.

My undying love continued to this day, but when I heard in January the “Greatest Show on Earth” was permanently closing this spring, I was shocked and could not believe it was truly happening. I knew the circus had gone through problems and difficulties, but I thought it would survive

So when a trip to my son’s home was planned this winter, I started checking the circus schedule near where he lived--Charlotte, N.C. happened to be on the schedule and that was about an hour away.

A double purpose evolved as I realized my grandkids had never been to the circus, making it a special time for all of us--the first and last time to go to the circus.

The “Greatest Show on Earth” did not disappoint--the storyline for the afternoon performance was an adventure in outer space, and it truly was out of this world. Our grandkids were mesmerized by the show and all that was going on. My husband tagged along, not really sold on the whole idea, but guess who was enthralled through most of the show, especially when the lions and tigers gave a breathtaking performance. 

While it was held indoors and not in the classic tent, the magic was still there – the high-wire precision, goofy clowns in silly cars, and animal acts, including dogs of all sizes, llamas, pigs (yes, pigs), and motorcycle riders. It was hard to watch it all as was always the case of the three-ring circus, but this was more like two rings and an outer space venue way above the floor.

Of course the indoor venue was amazing, but I couldn’t help but think of the classic tent that has been put away for good. I will never forget years of watching it being set up for a spring festival when my children were young. At that time in the 1980s, I taught middle school. The location of the circus at the local park was within walking distance of the school. Needless to say, many of us turned it into a learning experience and took the children to watch the elephants raise the tent – something most had never seen before and now no one will ever see again. The animals and trainers worked in sync to raise the huge tent to lofty heights. The bystanders cheered as the tent towered above us all.

I realize it is a way of life that could not continue in our modern world, but for many years, millions were entertained and have lasting memories that will endure.

Our grandkids summed it up in the best possible way--they could not pick a favorite part of the circus because they loved it all!!

 

Frances                  

133 DNA Testing

        DNA Testing

More than a year ago, I ordered a DNA test from Ancestry.com. They sent a kit; you spit into a tube and return the spit to them.

Then around a month later, the results are returned by email.

I remember when we were kids, my sister complained to me that our family was so normal that we could never be great artists or writers. (She is, by the way, a pretty good artist now.)

I felt that way when I saw my DNA results. I guess I was hoping for some American Indian, African or Asian gene history for our family, but we are white bread:

My maternal grandfather came from Germany to the U.S. when he was in his teens so I expected to see more Eastern and Western Europe in my DNA regions. Was he smothered out by white bread or more Scandinavian than German? And there is also the possibility that my particular genetic blend does not include his.

I once thought having Viking blood would be interesting. I assume some of my English ancestors had Viking blood. After seeing the Viking program on the History Channel (only partially once--too violent), I wan't so sure. But probably all of us are descended from some sort of berserk invaders! 

A book I am trying to penetrate is The Origins of the British by Stephen Oppenheimer, who examines historic, linguistic, archaeological, and genetic evidence to determine the origins of the people of England, Scotland, Wales, and to some extent, Ireland. He believes that the Celts came very early to Britain from Iberian and Italy to a much greater extent that from Western and Central Europe. That may explain the 4% from both Italy and the Iberian Peninsula in my genetic makeup.

With the report come links to cousins who have also participated in Ancestry's DNA profile and are willing to communicate with other cousins.  Ancestry provided me with links to 389 cousins: one first/second cousin; 2 third/fourth cousins, and the 386 others at the fourth to sixth level cousin. I have shown the top three with the links to them hidden. The links are through Ancestry and are not direct.

I did contact the 2nd/3rd cousin and she knew less about our family background than I did! I will get around to contacting the third/fourth cousins but first I want to get more of the family tree on Ancestry. One more thing to do!

Ancestry has the biggest database for matching, but some articles that compare DNA testing services caution that there are privacy concerns. The government could use your DNA profile to try to match with a relative. Read the privacy policies of whichever service you use, and if you don't like it, don't get tested.

Ancestry cost $99, but I contacted them and began to receive emails. When I received an email announcing the $65 sale price, I purchased it then.

As you can tell, I have much more work to do, and perhaps I will have more to report!

Still searching  -  Trish

Left, my father holding me and, below, my sister on the bull:

132 A Valentine Blog

Hello, dear readers! You guessed a Valentine blog was coming--what else would I be thinking about this week? Ha! First, I do want to acknowledge that I realize that this is a merchandising holiday. Dinner out, flowers, cards, candy, sexy lingerie are some of the “traditional” gifts.

Do you know how it all got started? Yes, Saint Valentine. But why him? Seems there are several versions of the legend. The Catholic Church recognizes three different saints named Valentin, Valentine, or Valentinus. All three were martyred. 

The most popular story is that Emperor Claudius II decided men with wives didn’t want to join his army and so he just outlawed marriage. A priest, Valentine, continued to marry couples in secret. He got caught and was put to death. Before he died, however, he made friends with the jailer’s daughter (some authors say she was blind) and knowing the end was near he sent her a letter about faith and God’s love which he signed “Your Valentine.”

And why the middle of February? Valentine was buried in A.D. 270--likely in February. The Church also wanted to Christianize the pagan festival of Lupercalia--a fertility festival (think both agriculture and sex)--celebrated in mid-February. 

At Lupercalia, the Roman priests would sacrifice a goat, strip its hide, dip pieces into the goat blood, then run around the streets of Rome slapping women with the bloody strips to make them fertile. All these young women blooded by the goat skins put their names in an urn from which the bachelors chose a name and were paired for a year. If said union lasted the year, then they married. (A strange method of arranged marriage to be sure!)

This festival evolved into Valentine’s Day in the 1400s. It was still mid-February as this
was bird-mating season. In the 1415, Charles, Duke of Orleans, was imprisoned in the Tower of London after being captured at the battle of Agincourt. 

King Henry V let the Duke write a farewell love poem to his wife. (Photo courtesy of the BBC Museum) This poem with the line “my very gentle Valentine…” is said to be the first Valentine love poem. (Don’t you just love historical tidbits?) The Duchess, however, never received her “Valentine” as she died before it was delivered. AND the Duke spent 25 years in the Tower.

For the next several hundred years, Christian festivals and religious ceremonies kept Valentine’s Day alive. Then in 1840, a women named Esther Howland began a cottage industry of making Valentine cards to give her friends and then to sell. Intricate, yes, but made from paper, lace, and picture scraps, she made (in today’s money) nearly $100,000. Examine this amazing sample:

Although I love reading greeting cards, I rarely buy them anymore. Not at $3.99 and up for a single card! Nor do I send anyone a dozen long stemmed red roses at $50-60 (twice the non-Valentine price). 

 I do pick up some candy (CVS has a great sale of buy one, get the second ½ off!) 

Before wishing you a very happy Valentine’s Day, here is a sampling of Valentines from Esther Howland through today.

1920s

Victorian 1920s

1940s

Late 1980s

Modern

Hallmark still sells an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards each year, with 2.5 billion Christmas cards sold. Women purchase 85% of all cards! (I am not surprised.) And, finally, Valentine’s Day is not the #1 day for marriage proposals. Christmas Eve is the winner.

So have a happy day! 

                            Glenne

131 Special orders

Special orders!

A fast food chain circulated a catchy jingle many years ago that proclaimed that “special orders don’t upset us.”

But and this is a big but--most food preparers may not get upset, but they rarely get it right or deliver it as asked.

A bit exaggerated, but I do wonder
what goes on in the kitchen

These requests may not upset that particular chain but many restaurants do have problems with any changes to the dishes on the menus.

The movie When Harry Met Sally showed the intricacies of ordering with particular requests as one of the main characters was a champion at it. Sometimes it can go on for several sentences.

Believe me I am one who knows! I have been accused of being the high maintenance customer by my family and friends. My children cringe when we go out to dinner and I began to order – no tomatoes, no mayonnaise, always dressing on the side, etc.

Can it really be that hard --- eating out should be a treat with no hassles. Just because someone wants a meal prepared in a particular way shouldn’t cause such drama or trauma.

For some reason, tomatoes and mayonnaise seem to be two items you cannot prohibit from gracing your place. No matter how many times you may order asking to hold both these items, they somehow make it to the table, and of course the plate is then sent back to the kitchen. 

I love tomatoes but only after they are cooked (my mother tried to get me to eat raw ones but I never gave in--not sure why), and I like mayonnaise but in limited amounts.

It would save all of us a great deal of time and frustration if the powers that be would just read the orders and follow the requests if the servers have documented it. Sometimes those waiting on you act like it will take an act of Congress to change any menu item (we all know how difficult that can be) while others appear to write it all down. It is a true crap shoot to see what comes to the table. 

And what about those extra spicy dishes – dare to ask for a little less spice and you never know what will come to greet your taste buds when you take the very first bite! Be sure to have a large drink close at hand. One of my sisters recently told me how she had to send a dish back three times before she could eat it. It was too spicy! Three times--really. Finally, a manager jumped in and fixed it properly.

It always seems the eateries that have the menus with pages and pages of choices are the least likely to honor any special orders and actually serve them as asked. With so many choices, it seems changing one or two items would be a minor accommodation.

I hate to give in but sometimes I will order a dish that is really simple so that I don’t have to ask for something on the side or holding an item so it doesn’t come anyway. Caesar salads have become one of my favorites--few items and dressing on the side. That is hard to mess up.

I am a little encouraged as some eateries have instituted a self-ordering area. You can put what you really want from the menu. The only problem is if those preparing the food don’t heed the orders. It could work with a little practice.

Those of us who are picky or particular eaters (as we are sometimes branded)--don’t despair. Generally, we eat less than those who plow through any meal no matter what it contains, and thus this just might help with gaining less weight. But not always!

Come on people, your business is to serve food–-why can’t you listen and get it right!

Savvy, picky Frances