A Real Washington Cherry Tree?

Everyone has heard the story of our first President (George Washington) cutting down the cherry tree! Now, over two centuries later, we may be able to watch a new cherry tree grow thanks to Mr. (or Mrs.) Washington! How? Well, let’s “dig” into that right now…

Earlier this month, at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, archaeologists recently made a pretty fascinating discovery. They unearthed more than two dozen glass bottles from the 18th century in the mansion’s cellar.

Perfectly preserved cherries and berries were found in these bottles, some of which still contained whole pieces of fruit. The quality of preservation is remarkable, considering they date back over 250 years!

These cherries were likely bottled for consumption, rather than mixed with brandy as in Martha Washington’s famous “cherry bounce” cocktail recipe. The preservation process was overseen by enslaved individuals who worked on the plantation.

The researchers are even testing cherry pits to see if any can be planted to grow trees. How cool would it be if one of these pits actually led to a full grown cherry tree?!

Truly an amazing find!

“Just Write”

I have been at a loss for what to write the past few weeks. I’m not sure if that is because I am busy with other things or if I’ve run out of things to talk about. Everything I read about blogging always says “Just write!” So here I am – writing.

I went through countless “writing prompts” and the ones for this month are all pretty lame: “Five things you like about yourself,” “Describe the view from your window,” and “What do you want more of.” I really don’t think that these are the kinds of things my readers what to read about. Do you really want to know what’s out my window? I mean, I’ll write about it if you really want to know…..but our house has a lot of windows!

Random thoughts

Recently, this blog hit 200 followers! The fact that I have even 50 followers amazes me! Thank you for deciding that my thoughts are worth reading. Please feel free to drop a note in the comments and let me know what you’d like to see more of. I am grateful for my old and new followers!

Coming up soon, I am happy to announce that one of my blogger friends has decided (after much begging by me) to write a guest blog (or two) on a subject that I have wanted to write about for some time. He is currently working on it and I will let you know when to expect it (and give more details) as we approach publishing it.

We recently celebrated President’s Day. Maybe I’m just old, but I actually remember when we celebrated both George Washington and Abe Lincoln’s birthdays separately. I may be remembering it wrong, but I could swear we had both days off school. Do you remember that? I guess I could Google it, but was it really necessary to combine the two days?

A month and a half into 2021 and I have been following a plan to read the entire Bible in a year. I have missed a day or two along the way, but I always make it up the following day. I am right on track. It has been a nice way to either start or end the day (depending on the day of the week). It is a mixture of Old and New Testament right now, which I like. I am noticing just how everything fits together. I also have a plan to read through all of the Apostle Paul’s epistles in a month, but have yet to start that. I hope to do that in March.

I think I read somewhere that half of the population of the United States was affected by the winter storms that came through this week! I know many folks in Nashville and in Texas who were without power and struggling. We got hit with something like 8 or 9 inches the other night and more accumulation tonight. Tuesday morning, my wife called me from the street and said that the snow was up to the windows on the van and could not get in the driveway. The snowplow had blocked the end of the driveway, so I ran out and shoveled so she could get into the driveway.

The night before I had gone out and shoveled the driveway and my neighbor brought his snowblower down for me to use. One of the sheer pins was broke, but he had bought new ones and he gave them to me. He had surgery recently so he couldn’t use the snow blower. So I went in my garage and tried to put the sheer pin in, but it was too big. I had no idea if the thing could run with out the pin in one side, so I just went back out and shoveled the rest.

I texted him that night and said the pin was too big and told him I would go to the hardware store to get a smaller one the next day, not knowing that we were going to be slammed overnight with a ton of snow. After I got my wife’s van into the driveway, I went out and shoveled the whole thing. After I came back inside, I got a text from the neighbor saying, “You know, you can still use the snowblower. Only one side will work, though.” 800 mg of ibuprofen later – I sent him a text that read “thanks.”

I think if that stimulus ever gets here, I’m going to go buy me a new snow blower!!

Weekend Wrap-Up

wrap up

Because of my “real job” work schedule, I have Thursday-Saturdays off. I have my sons three weekends a month, and I love that time with them. One weekend a month, my wife get a “date” weekend. This past weekend was that weekend.

Thursday

Thursday is usually a short day, because I work the night before. I sleep late into the afternoon, and then begin the process of going from “midnight” mode to “daytime” mode. Thursday night, Sam and I didn’t feel like cooking, so we went to our favorite restaurant for dinner.

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I LOVE Lucky’s! Not surprising I am a “meat and potatoes” guy. I usually get a Filet Mignon and baked potato. Because I am currently on Weight Watchers, I opted for broccoli instead of the potato this time. I also drank water, instead of beer. The steak was cooked to perfection, as always. I love when a steak is cooked and seasoned so right, you don’t need to put anything in it. I always ask for steak sauce, but never use it.

Friday

Friday is “weigh in” day for me. After the BIG meal the night before, I stepped on the scale hoping I had lost weight. Happily, I was down 4 pounds and that took me to an overall milestone.

30 pounds weight - SMALL

What an amazing feeling to be down 31 pounds. Years ago, when I first did Weight Watchers, I hit a 30 pound loss on the week of my 30th birthday. I was a bit lighter then, but I am working toward being down to where I was the first time I did it. The journey continues!

***

I am not ashamed to admit that I’ve been seeing a therapist since before my divorce. I needed to have someone who was non-biased to talk to. It was a decision that I am glad to have made. She has helped me in so many ways. I have learned much about myself, and gained many skills through our visits. I had an appointment Friday morning. She, once again, hit on something that really helped me. I’ve been struggling with something outside of my home life and she helped put some things in perspective. Those moments are awesome. It should help a lot moving forward. It’s always a good thing to be able to talk to someone who sees things in a different way and can offer honest opinions and advice.

***

Sam had a practice exam she had to do for her final clinical class. It was a three hour test that is helping her prepare for the actual test she needs to take for her new credentials. While she worked on that, I finished the book I was reading.

first conspiracy

Can you imagine America without George Washington? Me either! Hell, he’s one of the first famous people you learn about in elementary school. I went to elementary long before there was President’s Day. When I was in school, we celebrated Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday in February. Washington, the “Father of our Country”, was almost NOT.

This book is a work of non-fiction by one of my favorite authors, Brad Meltzer. As a history buff, I was excited to read this. This all takes place prior to the Revolutionary War, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and his presidency. As a matter of fact, I was surprised at just how close to the start of the war and July 4, 1776 all this took place.

You get a really good picture as to what kind of man Washington was. Through excerpts of his letters, you see the various struggles he faced and the stress he bore on his shoulders. You really get a sense of the weight and pressure that was on him during this turbulent time in our nation’s history. You also see the “birth” of counter-intelligence. It’s a very good read.

Turn

The book takes place prior to the Revolutionary War primarily, but it does touch on the first few battles of it. It mentions the “Culper Ring,” which was a group of spies that Washington used to gain information throughout the war. AMC did a very cool series surrounding the Culper Ring in the series Turn, which I believe is still on Netflix. Ian Kahn played Washington in the series.

Washington

I watched the entire series, but now that I have read this book, I think I am going to revisit it.

***

We spent part of the day grocery shopping and we made turkey burgers for dinner. We then retired to the couch to relax. The original plan was to watch a movie, but when we turned the TV on, the Tigers were on, so we watched the game. It was their “Pink Out the Park” game.

PinkOutthePark2019

As you know, my mother and grandmother both died of breast cancer. I wish I had known that it was “Pink Out” day. If I had, I may have gotten tickets to the game. I LOVE when professional sports supports a cause like this.

The Tigers lost (miserably, I might add). Tiger fans are living through more of the “we are building” stage. Basically, that means we’re going to suck for a few years. Maybe, because of this, I haven’t really been watching or listening to a lot of games this year. At any rate, the game was one of the first ones I really got to sit and listen to the broadcasters.

Matt and Kirk

Matt Shepard and Kirk Gibson were calling the game. I was quite disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I love Gibby as a ball player, but as an announcer, he is boring and monotone. If there wasn’t a game to watch, and it was just audio, I would have fallen asleep. I guess I was lucky to have watched George Kell and Al Kaline call games on TV, and Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey call games on radio when I was growing up.

***

After the game was over, Sam and I tuned in for one of our favorite shows – Live PD.

Live PD

I have dissed “reality” shows before. This, however, is not Survivor, the Bachelor, American Idol, America’s Got Talent, or those other shows about winning money or a bride. This is real cops doing their job. I LOVE this show! There are some other variations of this show – Live Rescue and PD Cam – which are good too. In my many years on the radio, I have interviewed police, fire, and rescue people before and I ALWAYS made sure to say “thank you.” They are out there putting their lives on the line, saving lives, and keeping us safe. Live PD is a guilty pleasure.

Host Dan Abrams has actually wrote a couple books I want to read: Lincoln’s Last Trial and Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense. Definitely, two to add to my stack of books to read.

Saturday

Saturday started early, as usual, for me. I have to be up early so I can get to the radio station to be on air at 9.

Moose small

I worked for the Moose years ago full time. I left to take a morning show position. I was so grateful to be asked to return part-time. The staff hasn’t changed much since I left and it’s like returning home to family. I truly enjoy being back there.

***

I woke up Saturday feeling like I might have a sinus infection. This is never a good thing for me. Upon feeling those symptoms, I need to act fast. If I don’t, I wind up with vertigo. Every time I have ever gotten vertigo, it has happened because of a sinus infection. Unlike, Mel Brooks poking fun at it in High Anxiety…..

vertigo

…it’s not fun. It is crippling! The last time I had it, I couldn’t even sleep in a bed. I had to sleep sitting up. The dizziness is SO bad. I swear, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. You have no control over anything. You can barely turn your head. EVERY little movement can cause you dizziness. It’s awful.

Because of this, Sam and I went to the Urgent Care and I got checked out. Definitely the start of a sinus infection. So they gave me some steroids to bring down the swelling, told me to up the Flonase and sent me on my way. So far – so good. Fingers crossed!

***

While we were filing the fridge Friday night after grocery shopping, Sam pulled out the package of bacon that was in there. She looked at me and said, “You know….BLT’s sound really good. We should do that for dinner tomorrow.” Behold the power of bacon!!

Tomatoes - Summer 2016

So, we had BLT’s for dinner! “You’re on a diet, though, Keith” you say? Yes, indeed. And Turkey bacon works just as well! Sam had hers on bread and I had mine in a low carb wrap – BLT wraps are just as good!!

The Week Ahead …

I may have a Guest Blogger lined up in response to my earlier blog. If you have a story about us you’d like to share, a favorite memory, or a story that one of my blogs reminded you of – I’d love to hear it. Let me know.

It’s back to work for me, tonight, but I have a very important appointment to keep this week. It can mean some big changes on the horizon. It’s exciting. If all goes well, I will be sharing the “breaking news” in the days ahead ….

BREAKING-NEWS

Until then … Have a great week. See you Tuesday for Tune Tuesday.