Staunch & Flexible

Eats, Shoots & Leaves – do you know this book? Last fall I was looking for a new daily calendar for 2011 – I have at least one and usually more daily calendars – one by the phone that my husband and I both like (the last two years it has been The Book Lover’s Calendar). And I have two upstairs for me.

It’s probably not a coincidence that this year I picked Eats, Shoots & Leaves, a calendar based on a 2003 book about punctuation. It's perfect for the year I resolve to have an article published.

Here’s today's entry: "I want us to end up staunch because we understand the advantages of being staunch; flexible because we understand the rational and historical necessity to be flexible."

Staunch means "loyal and committed in attitude" in the Dictionary – and I am that about writing. I probably will never write c u l8r (that’s probably not even how it’s done) or anything else like that. Fine for others but not for me. Flexible means "ready and able to change so as to adapt to different circumstances." And I am that too (or at least try to be) when I choose to use, rather than utilize, proper English.

Although the author is referring to writing and punctuation, this thought certainly has a broader meaning.

Thumb Holes

Approximately half a million (yep 500,000) sandhill cranes stop over for approximately five weeks on the Platte River Basin on their way north from their wintering grounds to their summer breeding grounds. The National Audubon Society's Rowe Sanctuary in central Nebraska offers space in viewing blinds twice a day for five weeks - in 2011 that will be from March 5 through April 10.

And we're going this year. We want to see the cranes, the millions of ducks and geese plus the bald eagles that also winter or stop over in this river basin. My husband and I are meeting my sister and her husband in Kearney, Nebraska. (We're coming from New Jersey and they're coming from the Chicago area.) We've reserved four spots in the blinds for both the dawn and dusk viewings ($25 per person per viewing) in late March.

And now finally to the thumb holes: The website tells visitors what to wear: "the warmest boots you have, very warm mittens, stocking cap, the warmest jacket and clothing you have, including long underwear, and dark clothing to blend in with our surroundings when walking to and from the blinds."

I've been walking our dogs in my warmest coat and mittens and my wrists have been getting cold. The solution is thumb holes! These are holes in the seams of shirt sleeves about an inch above the hem. My thumbs slip into the holes perfectly so when I pull on my coat sleeves my shirt sleeves stay in place and not only that: when I pull on my mittens my sleeves stay inside the gloves. Voila! No cold air on my wrists.

During our shopping trip yesterday I bought three thumb hole shirts. While browsing the gloves, I found "wrist gaiters." These are wonderful too - they are skin-tight fingerless gloves that have a separate thumb hole (kind of like bicycling gloves). They fit under both the sleeves of a sweater or sweatshirt and the gloves and also block out the cold air. I bought a pair of these too.

And finally after more browsing I found handwarmers and footwarmers. These come in pairs; they are adhesive and applied to the top or bottom of one's socks to keep the feet warm up to six hours. I selected several pairs of footwarmers and one set of handwarmers (my hands don't usually get cold).

I think I'm ready to go to Nebraska - whoops - I forgot about the long underwear. I still need to get that - another shopping trip.

Daylight Hours

Sunset on the Farm

I live on a former horse farm in western New Jersey. Since December 9th I have been tracking when we experience sunrises and sunsets (thank you, Weather Channel). I always assumed that the sunrises and sunsets lost the same amount of minutes as the daylight hours became fewer. Not so: While sunrises were getting later and later, sunsets were also getting later and later! How great is that?

So on December 9th, sunrise was at 7:12 AM and sunset was at 4:32 PM - 9 hours and 20 minutes of daylight.

On December 21st, Winter Solstice, we had 9 hours and 16 minutes of daylight - our shortest day of 2010. Sunrise was 8 minutes later (at 7:20 AM) but sunset was 4 minutes later (at 4:36 PM). I felt like the days were already "getting longer" but they really weren't - just sunsets were later.

I admit, January (and February and March) can get me down - it's cold and often cloudy and gray, the holidays are over and I can't get out and walk easily you know: big fat coats, cold wind, snow underfoot. This year though, I'm excited about writing. I've started - in fits and starts - but started nevertheless - this blog which is helping me with some discipline. So I'm "up" this winter and that feels great.
Back to longer days: Today sunrise was at 7:18 and sunset will be at 5:05 - 9 hours and 47 minutes of daylight - and 45 of those extra minutes of daylight will be in this evening. I love this because I can still sleep as late as I want in the morning and it's so much nicer to walk the dogs in daylight before dinner.

First Interviews



The father plays a Marblehead Mariner boat rower

 My writing assignment this week is to select a feature article subject and then figure out what will be in my article: what facts, what kind of people I might interview, what scenes to describe and then do some research on the subject. I'm considering a feature article on the Reenactment of Washington Crossing the Delaware River. I identified a family of five who all participate. I also know of a historian at Princeton Battlefield State Park who I could interview. I called one family member and left a message. I called Princeton and got an answering machine but did not leave a message.

Disappointing. Why? Because I'm leaving my comfort zone when I request help from people for "spec" articles that may never see print. Plus I have to get myself up into interview mode to make the phone calls - so when there's no answer, I have to let myself back down gently until the next phone call.

When my phone rang 4 or 5 hours later, it was the father of the family who was very willing to talk to me about his reenactment experience as well as some of the history of the Revolutionary War at the time of General George Washington's crossing - December 25, 1776.

Then I tried the historian's phone number again and he answered! He also was willing and very knowledgeable about both the War and about reenactors. A successful day.