Author Archives: Grandpa Jim

Here, There and Where YOU Are

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Good Tuesday to You,

The Island of Hawaii, referred to as The Big Island, is six time zones from Dallas, which is a big adjustment. It is about 4,000 square miles in size. All of the other Hawaiian islands together could fit into half of The Big Island. A drive around the island on the Queen’s Highway is about 300 miles (483 kilometers), which makes it big but not that big.

The island is composed mostly of lava rock from the volcanoes that formed it. Someone told me that the only other rock on the island is a green stone called olivine, which makes up the only green sand beach in the world, which is on the far southern tip of the island. By the way, that southern tip is the southernmost point in the United States — it is farther south than Key West in Florida.

Climate diversity is truly amazing on this place in the middle of the ocean not close to any continent. The eastern or windward side of the island can receive 200 inches (508 centimeters) of rain in a year, while the west or leeward side receives only a couple of inches. This is because the center spine of the island is comprised of three volcanoes, which are very high and form a wonderful windbreak where the moisture carried in the wind shoots up the side of the volcano to a height where the cooler temperatures precipitate out the water vapors in the form of clouds and rains on the eastern side. The poor western side doesn’t get the water because the eastern side squeezed it out.  So the western side is as dry as and looks like west Texas in places. The eastern side is lush, tropical and green.

It is all wonderfully visual and confusing and thought provoking.

Have a thoughtful and full and entertaining day wherever you are experiencing it,

Grandpa Jim

It’s Time For Time Zones – Here, There and Everywhere

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Super Saturday to the Start of a Wonderful Weekend,

How many time zones are there?

Ideally, there would be 24 for the 24 hours in a day, but folks like to tinker with these things, so there are about 40 to account for an adjustment in a line here and there.

When did this all start?

Between 1858 and 1876. Folks differ on who to credit with the idea, but it is a recent development.

Why?

Because, until recent times, you did not need to communicate quickly with other people a long way away. In fact, you couldn’t. You didn’t have the technology. Trains and telegraphs appeared and people were getting around faster and their words were being transmitted more quickly. So, we needed greater uniformity in understanding what time it was here, there and everywhere.

For example in the year 1857, Joe in New York telegraphs Jim in Los Angeles. Joe says, “I will wire again at sunset, be waiting?” Jim arrives at the station in LA at sunset for the message, which has been sitting there for three hours and says to the attendant, “Why didn’t Joe saying he was sending this at 3 in the afternoon?” The attendant answers, “Because sunset in New York is about 3 here. You didn’t adjust for the time zones.” To which Jim answers, “They haven’t been invented yet.”

Good answers.

We need time zones to coordinate activities over greater distances. It’s not like hollering over the fence at the neighbor next door. Long spaces need better ideas to keep track of things.

That’s why we have time zones to keep track of time, here, there and everywhere.

Have some great times today and let others know when,

Grandpa

Sights and Sounds: Lost Pines, Crush Crash, Pteradactyl Noises and Mauna Kea!!!!

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A Fabulous and Fantastic Friday,

So, I walked to the mail box yesterday, opened the door, pulled out the latest copy of Texas Highways magazine and saw the trunk of a burnt loblolly pine from the Lost Pines. It was right out of “Uncle Joe and the Lost Pines.” Then, I turned to the article on kolaches, and right there on page 20 was a picture of the interior of the Village Bakery in West, Texas, which is about 15 minutes from Uncle Joe’s farm, and on the wall behind two young boys, I could see the picture of the great train wreck spectacle that occurred in Crush, Texas on September 15, 1896, right there on the wall in the picture was the picture, exactly where I first saw that picture and first learned of the Crush Crash that is in “Mary and the Red Shoes, A Haunted Closet Story.” Wow, Wow, which is a Double Wow and a Yipp Yipp Yipp of happy excitement. In my hands, hot off the magazine presses of Texas Highways, were the settings for the most recent Uncle Joe and Mary stories. Don’t you just love stuff like this? Some might say “coincident” and I agree, and I would also say “just plain fun, too!!” Two much!!

Grandson Baby Felix is doing very well. He is home with Mom and Dad. The young man had his first visit to the pediatrician yesterday and passed with flying colors. It is reported that the babe sleeps a couple of hours at a time, stretches a lot and make sounds like a pterodactyl, which is a prehistoric soaring dinosaur. I can’t wait to hear that noise and give the little guy a hold and a hug.

Hawaii is the 50th State of the United States, having joined the Union on August 21, 1959, getting close to 53 years ago. It is the only state that is all islands, and it is located some 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from the California Coast in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Out there by themselves are hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles (2,400) of salt water. The eight main islands are grouped more closely — it is about 173 miles (278 kilometers) for the main airport of Kona on the Big Island of Hawai’i to the Honolulu airport on O’ahu. On the Big Island of Hawai’i sits the tallest mountain on the planet. Mount Mauna Kea is 13,796 feet (4,205 meter) above sea level, but if you measure its height from the sea floor, that mountain stands 33,500 feet (10,200 meters), which would make it taller than Mount Everest. We will be staying on the Big Island of Hawai’i not that far from Mauna Kea, so I hope to see that mountain and maybe make a report back. I’ve never been over that way so it will be an adventure. There may even be a story out there somewhere.

You never know what you may find when you look around.

Enjoy the sights and sounds,

Grandpa Jim

What Is Milo And Why Does Uncle Joe Like It?

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A Terrific Thursday,

Last weekend, Uncle Joe and Brother Charles started harvesting the milo. What is milo and why do the brothers grow and harvest milo?

In the United States, milo, which is also known as grain sorghum, is primarily a food grain for livestock. Its feed value ranges from 90% to nearly equal to corn, and it is quite a tasty meal for those hungry critters.

Grain sorghum is a grass derivative similar to corn. The Vavilovian Center of Origin for grain sorghum is Ethiopia. See the article entitled, “Who is Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov?” at https://www.unclejoestories.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=310&action=edit

Before 1940 milo was 5-7 feet tall, which made it hard to harvest, but the scientists figured out how to dwarf it to 2-4 feet with even more grain on the head. The head is called a panicle, with spikelets in pairs. Here are two pictures from last Saturday showing that spikey old sorghum head:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, here’s looking at a field of milo near Uncle Joe’s house:

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the reasons Uncle Joe likes and grows milo is that grain sorghum likes hot weather, which he has in Central Texas. Milo enjoys a day-time temperature of at least 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), and those temperatures are very normal here in June and July. So, milo has a potential advantage over corn in a hot weather region such as Central Texas.

Sorghum is harvested as a standing crop using a combine. Here is a picture of Uncle Joe’s combine leaving the field loaded with milo — see the red grain piled on top (be careful, don’t get too close, it is very itchy stuff, so don’t get it on you):

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the standing milo on the right that still needs to be harvested.

You have to be careful harvesting because the sorghum seed is easily damaged. That is why the combine platform is operated as high as possible. After the combine does its work, most of the plant remains standing in the field, with only the heads threshed. In the picture below, the combine has just off-loaded the milo seeds into the grain truck and is turning around. Notice the height of the trimed plants in the back:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, here is the combine heading back for another load. You can see the complicated head arrangement with all the spinning wires. I bet these help to protect the seeds from bruising during the harvesting operation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

There you have it: a day in the milo fields with Uncle Joe and Charles.

Enjoy your day and may it be productive,

Grandpa Jim

“Uncle Joe and the Strange Creatures of the Lost Pines”

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The Wonder of Wednesday to you and yours,

Today is the day. “Uncle Joe and the Strange Creatures of the Lost  Pines” has arrived. I just posted this brand new original Uncle Joe story on the Home page.

I am excited and I hope you are too, and I hope you enjoy this story very much.

The Lost Pines is a unique and fascinating place. When I drive into those tall loblolly pines, I feel I am moving into another land. The atmosphere is different, time changes. You can believe that anything can happen and strange creatures can appear.

It is a place of wonder for you to visit,

Grandpa Jim

Hot Weather, An Old Song and A New Tale Tomorrow

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Terrific Tuesday,

Texas is hot, as are many of the Midwestern and Southwestern U.S. states. Wichita, Kansas, Tulsa, Oklahoma and Little Rock, Arkansas were 111 degrees Fahrenheit (44 C) yesterday. Folks, that is very hot for these places, even moving into August, which is our hottest month.

Remember the mud pie song from “Mary and the Mud Pie Wedding Reception,” https://www.unclejoestories.com/mary-here-friday/773-2/, the little singer of that song is from Little Rock, Arkansas. I hope her voice is alright and she has enough water to mix up another batch of those special mud pies.  Here’s a link to the song, if you don’t remember it, Mud Pie Song.  It’s one of our favorites. I just played it for Ms. Christine Saturday afternoon in her kitchen down at the farm. It’s a sing-alonger, for sure.

I just checked and the next Uncle Joe story is queued up and anxious to get going, doing and seeing the things you’re going to see, but not until tomorrow morning.

See you tomorrow and stop back any time,

Grandpa Jim

A New Grandson At Harvest Time & A New Story In Wednesday’s Time!!

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Marvelous Monday,

We have a new Grandson!!!!!!!

Baby Felix was born at 7:47 pm CST yesterday evening, July 29, 2012. Felix weighs 8 pounds and is 21 inches long. From the pictures, he is wide eyed, curious and very alert. We learned the wonderful news by phone at 9:54 pm last night and we are very excited. Mom, Dad and Baby are doing very well.

Wow!

We spent Saturday and Sunday at the farm with Ms. Christine and Uncle Joe. He and Charles are harvesting the milo or sorghum. They will begin harvesting the field corn soon. The corn is in its “dent” stage and is ready to be combined. See the article on “What Is Sweet Corn?” Grain trucks are moving everywhere on the roads and equipment is working in the fields. It is a busy time in the country.

With a new baby, it is a busy time at home too.

And, it is a busy time on the web site. Don’t forget the new Uncle Joe story is publishing Wednesday morning, August 1st, at 9 am CST.

Have a great start to a great new week and stop back tomorrow and Wednesday for more excitement and a new story — I can’t wait,

Grandpa Jim

I’m For Four — Uncle Joe In Four More Days!!!!

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Friday has found us flying toward the weekend.

RETRACTION, CORRECTION, SORROWFULL EXPLANATION!!!!  Grandpa Jim, me, is apologizing profusely for errors in the blog post of this past Monday, July 23rd, entitled Bear, Bear, Bare And A Babe On The Way!!!

I got “homophones” and “homonyms” backwards, and I missed “heterographs.”

If you recall, the catalyst for the discussion was: “What do you call words that sound exactly the same, but have different meanings are a spelled the same or differently?”

The way it should have been presented is described below.

Words that sound the same are “homophones,” from “homo” meaning “same” and “phone” for “sound” — they are the same-sound words. In our examples, fair (country fair) and fair (reasonable) are homophones, as our pear (a fruit) and pair (a couple). But, fair and fair are spelled the same, and pear and pair are spelled differently. There are different terms for these two subsets of homophones.

Homophones that are spelled the same are called “homonyms,” from “homo” for same and “nyms” for “names,” because they have exactly the same names, the same spellings. Fair and fair are homonym homophones.

Homophones that are spelled differently are called “heterographs,” from “hetero” for different and “graphs” for “drawings,” because they are written or drawn or spelled (spelling is word drawings to represent sounds) differently. Pear and pair are heterograph homophones.

I must warn you. There are even more terms to describe words that have the same meaning but different spellings and/or different sounds. This is a linguistic quagmire. And, different sites on the Internet have different explanations of the terms – they are not consistent. Be wary. Double check and common sense the definitions you find.

What I have tried to do today is clarify the distinction between homonyms (words that sound the same, have different meanings and are spelled the same) and heterographs (words that sound the same, have different meanings and are spelled differently).

Whew! I hope I said that right.

Uncle Joe has some more to say. So, stay tuned for four more days. “I’m for four” – a telling phrase with a heterograph homophone that is fast approaching.

Take a deep breadth, relax and think Friday thoughts,

Grandpa Jim

PS: I promised someone I would mention missal (a prayer book) and missile (a guided missile) this week. Yes, they are heterographs, homophone heterographs — and that’s a mouthful to project.

PPS: I am correcting the July 23, 2012 blog post to be consistent with the above discussion, which I hope is correct. If you have a comment, please email me at gpajim@unclejoestories.com

PPS: I really did rely on my Latin to help sort out these language terms, which suggests that Latin may be one of the best adjunct languages to study for English speaking peoples. My reason is stated as follows: The leaving legions left a lasting language legacy. Literation aside (and I love alliteration), Latin is really not a dead language.

 

Happy Hibiscus Thursday

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Thursday trots, twists and twirls through today and toward tomorrow.

Outside the front door, we have a hibiscus plant in a pot that has survived a number of winters. I forgot one year and left it out on a cold night. Languish though it did in the garage losing most of its leaves, it popped back with the spring rains and the summer heat. As you can see below, it is looking quite nicely this hibiscus Thursday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one knows for sure the origins of the hibiscus. It’s Latin name, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, is a combination of the Greek word hibiscus, meaning “mallow,” and the phrase rosa-sinensis, meaning rose of China. Most folks think it originated in South China, but that pesky Greek term represents one of the earliest plants cited in recorded literature. The Roman poet Horace, who was born in 65 BC and who may have been one of the earliest health nuts, ate olives, endives and mallows for sustenance. Perhaps he even had a bit of hibiscus tea. People still do that, and the teas are quite tasty.

Hibiscus grow wild in Singapore and are used as road dividers — it must be pretty to drive there. Two white hibiscus are believed to be native to Hawaii — maybe I’ll see them later this summer. A scarlet hibiscus is native to the water-logged swamps of southern Florida — from the pictures, it’s a beauty. The flowers and other parts of the hibiscus plant can be used for food, medicine, eye liner, hair dye and shoe polish, among an extensive litany of other applied uses.

To conclude this short introduction to hopefully a new friend, the hibiscus is a versatile and attractive plant of ancient and mixed origins, comfortable behind the ear (to indicate availability for marriage) or parked in a pot on the front step (just to say “Hello” and brighten the day).

A Happy Hibiscus Thursday to You,

Grandpa Jim

PS: As you may have noticed, the singular and plural forms of hibiscus are the same, hibiscus.

A Brand New Uncle Joe Story A Week From Today!!!!!!!

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Wednesday is with us all day.

Where does the time go? Ask Uncle Joe. I betcha he knows.

Uncle Joe is fast approaching with a brand new original story. Although a shorter version of this story has been told to the granddaughters, this is the first full-length written edition, and it has a great deal of added detail. For you, the setting will be a new one — although not that far from the farm, and there are also some new characters whom you have not yet met.

Everything looks good to publish a week from today on August 1st. I always try for 9 AM CST, but if I get anxious, the new story may pop onto the Home page earlier than predicted. Keep watching and checking back.

Have a wonderful rest of your Wednesday,

Grandpa Jim