Four Things I've Learned

  

Hello, my friends! You know those bloggers who say they have very little to say? Not me, my purse is stuffed with slips of paper of things I want to share with you.  I will tell you seven  four things in this post...


1.   Col. Sanders-  Kentucky Fried Chicken 

Turns out, that being a colonel in Kentucky is a real thing, I had no idea!  "Kentucky Colonel is the highest honor bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Commissions for Kentucky Colonels are given by the governor and the secretary of state to those in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to a community, state or the nation."
Col. Harland Sanders (1890-1980) was a fascinating man. You may read more about him just here.  I wish someone would make a movie about him.  The British director, Michael Apted could do it, he made a great film about someone else from Kentucky.  "Coal Miner's Daughter" about Loretta Lynn was really, really good. 

2.  Andrew Carnegie.

      Everyone should know the name of the great philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie.  There is a famous music hall in New York City which bears his name because he funded the building. (It was first simply called Music Hall, Andrew Carnegie was later persuaded to allow the use of his name.) Now...here is what I have learned - his name is pronounced "Car- NAY-gee" not "Car-nuh-gee"!  I knew that he had been born in Scotland and that his family had moved to the USA when he was a child but it never occurred to me how to say his name! I actually heard this pronunciation of the name on an old British film and so I then looked it up and had a nice time also reading more about this fascinating gentleman, not just how to say his name.  One of my blogging friends in Scotland has written of him before. Thank you Alex  Bob! at   blue sky scotland.  If you want to see some great photos of Scotland, check out their blog. BOB does the writing and I do enjoy the posts very much. ) I urge you also to find out more about Andrew Carnegie. No matter how you say his name, we need more like him today. 

 (Famous joke: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?  Practice, practice, practice!) Sorry, had to have it here just in case no one has heard it!) 


3.Tootsie Rolls

Tootsie Rolls are part of my childhood. (Been around since 1907! Not me but the candy!) They are not chocolate but a very chewy sweet that somehow reminds you of chocolate. I read a fascinating book about the Korean war, "On Desperate Ground" by Hampton Sides. (I will try to do a proper book report on the book for you in the future, someone might need to remind me!)
One thing that I learned from this book..."tootsie rolls" was used as a code name for a type of bullet in the Korean War. When this was ordered, instead of getting bullets, the USA sent the candy instead!
Now, what do you think? I think it is an amazing story, The soldiers loved the Tootsie Rolls, not just to eat them, which they did, of course, but they used them to block up bullet holes in their planes and equipment. Turns out, they were the perfect size to do so. Don't know about you but I love it when a mistake is made, it can turn out to be a good thing.  When the Korean war veterans have their reunions now, they always have Tootsie Rolls on hand.

4.  Lindisfarne Gospels

     When Richard and I were in London in October, we were able to visit the British Library and to actually see the illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels.  Made by monks around 715 on the island of Lindisfarne in Northumberland.  Viking raids drove the monks from this island in 875, they took it to Durham for safekeeping. The manuscript was removed from Durham before the cathedral was built. Now it is safely stored at the British Library in London.  
I was thrilled to recognize something recently...it was a Sound and Light Festival at Durham Cathedral, and it showed the words of the Lindisfarne Gospels displayed in light upon the Cathedral! This was from several years ago, I think, but it was shown on the internet, and that was what I was thrilled to recognize. 

I had to go back and change that seven things to four things, because after all, it seemed wrong to have another item after the Lindesfarne Gospels. It was such a thing to actually  see them and then, to recognize them from the Light Festival photos and videos, well, that just meant a lot to me.
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Pansies, colorful Post Oak leaves and Hermit thrush...hope those last two are correct. (All 3 photos were taken on Nov. 29th from my own backyard.) Oaks can be hard to identify, almost as hard as birds. No matter what the trees or birds are named, I love them all!
And those pansies? The deer like them too...

They leave the foliage on the pansies, they just eat the flowers! Oh, deer!