Mary Home, Joe Arriving, Pockets Plus, Writers Reading & H2O

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I hope you are having a great ending to a great week.

Today is Saturday. It is bright and hot. In the road-side planters, the flowers look gorgeous and thirsty. Irrigation is amazing.

“Mary and the Mud Pie Wedding Reception” is back on the Home page. She felt lonely hidden away in a drop down and dropped a hint. So, she’s back up front.

Uncle Joe arrives with a new story on Friday, the 29th. Start preparing. You never know what to expect from Uncle Joe. My hope is that you will be surprised.

At the Dallas Trade Mart, relatives are in town promoting the Pocket Plus, their new and orginal portable pocket. Take at look at www.thepocketplus.com  In a couple hours, Mary and I will trek down to help out and experience the Mart, which is a huge and intriguing conglomeration of marketers and marketing.

This morning, I attended a local writer’s workshop, an interesting mix of published authors and aspiring writers. Each brought a short selection (no more than 8 pages) which was read aloud by the author and a second time by another attendee. With the author present but not talking, the group then discussed and critiqued the piece. Finally, the author commented on what had been said. It is a good format which worked well, especially when it was clear everyone was there to help the writer and improve the work. Next time, I will bring an Uncle Joe or Mary story for the group to experience — this was my first visit so I wanted to learn the ropes before jumping into the pool.

Water is wonderful. Splash, sip and soak. Beat the heat with H2O.

Grandpa Jim

You Scream, I Scream, For Ice Cream!!!

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Ice cream is our favorite dessert.

“You scream, I scream, for ice cream” was a summer cry of the neighborhood kids as we listened for the bell and looked down the street for the ice cream man.

We love the frozen confection. So much so that the average American consumes 23.2 quarts a year.

Let’s visit the origins of this popular summer past-time.

Ice cream was invented about 4,000 years ago in China. On the streets of Peking, iced treats sold from pushcarts. Marco Polo grabbed an icy and introduced the dessert to fourteenth-century Italy. From there, the chilly delight traveled to France for King Henry II’s wedding in 1533. Because ice was hard to store and expensive to keep, ice cream was at this time a costly delectable reserved for royalty. Then, in 1560, it was discovered that if you added a bit of salt to the bath of snow and ice, the ice cream became solidly frozen and more transportable. Ice cream for the masses was on the way.

By 1870, the Italian ice cream vendor or “hokey pokey” man was plying his trade on the streets of London. Hokey pokey was a child’s hearing of the vendor’s cry in Italian, “Ecco in poco” — “Here’s a little.” From there, the hokey pokey man and the street sales of ice cream traveled to the New World, which was hungrily awaiting a taste.

To this point, ice cream was sold in saucers and dishes. Until 1904, at the St. Louis World’s Fair, when an ice cream vendor ran out of dishes. His neighbor vendor reached over a rolled waffle. The purveyor of bowls of ice cream looked hard at that rolled waffle, hesitated a second, scooped a scoop and placed the frozen concoction atop the edible cone. The ice cream cone was born to the joy of the thirteen million fair goers.

Within a decade, one third of all ice cream was consumed in cones. And, it gets even better. In 1920, in Youngstown, Ohio, the “Good Humor Sucker” was invented, the first chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar on a stick. With that the hokey pokey man became the Good Humor man and ice cream took off to new realms of presentation and consumption.

A double WOW and a half to ice cream, our favorite sport on a warm summer evening. Think happy thoughts, smack your lips and head to your local good humor stand. It is a tradition with a rich history that we must continue.

Roll your eyes and enjoy that ice cream,

Grandpa Jim

PS: “Mary and the Mud Pie Wedding Reception” is under Mary Stories. Give it a read if you haven’t and another if you have, and don’t miss the song.

PPS: The next Uncle Joe Story is only 7 days away!!!!!!!

 

Uncle Joe Soon, Stay Tuned and Stay Cool!

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Hooray for Thursday!

We are now officially in Summer. The meteorologists are cautiously predicting our first 100 degree days, a spate of them, starting with a 102 on Sunday, going to 104 and not dropping below 100 (only to 99) until a week Saturday. Turn down the air, turn up the fan, slow down the stride and pick up a hat.

From the farm, Uncle Joe could use one more rain for the corn, but none is in the forecast. Keep positive rain cloud thoughts in mind.

Speaking of Uncle Joe, he signed off on the next Uncle Joe story. And, I received the final comments from the Content Editor last night, will make a few changes and then send the story to the Copy Editor for one more look. I have two friends with the  good eyes of Proofreaders and I will let them have the final reads. We are on track to post a week from tomorrow, June 29th, at 9:00 AM, if I can wait that long. I think you will learn more about Uncle Joe. So, get ready.

For all you Northern Hemisphereans, stay cool — the heat is upon us, and keep those rain thoughts in mind.

Have a great day,

Grandpa Jim

Happy Summer Solstice!

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Today is the Summer Solstice!

At 6:08 PM today, June 20, 2012, in Dallas, Texas, Central Standard Time (CST), the sun will stop heading north, will appear to stop and will start heading south. This is our longest day, with the most sunlight, so enjoy your time in the sun.

I have placed a strip of masking tape as a marker on the dining room window sill where I will stand at sunset over the next days to observe the sunset’s reflection on the edge of the kitchen island to see if I can verify for myself that the sun is in fact moving south and the summer solstice is in fact a true and real event. I call this science in the kitchen.

If you do something similar, do not look directly at the sun. Never look directly at the sun without serious eye protection. You can damage your eyes. Use a point of reflection to make your indirect solar observations.

What is the difference in sunlight from the longest day to the shortest day? Good question. Today in Dallas, we will have 14 hours, 18 minutes and 48 seconds of sun. On December 21, 2012, the winter solstice, we will have 9 hours, 59 minutes and 28 seconds of sun. The difference in daylight is 4 hours, 17 minutes and 56 seconds.

Of course, if you travel north, today is longer as you go. This has to do with the tilt of the Earth and being closer to the sun in the summer when you are tilted closer to the sun.  It is all a bit mystifying to me, but back to our trip north to Anchorage, Alaska. Today, Anchorage will have 22 hours of daylight. On December 21st, Anchorage will only have 5 hours and 28 minutes of sunlight. That’s a difference of 16 hours and 32 minutes of sun time between the solstices. And, If you don’t stop and keep on to Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the U.S., the sun does not set for 84 days straddling the summer solstice. Now, a 84-day-long day may be a bit long for even the most avid fun-in-the-sun fans.

Have a sunny day and check out how long your day will be today,

Grandpa Jim

Amazing Maize: Is the Sweet Corn Ready?

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In 1931, Russian botanist Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov proposed that maize or corn originated from a short, bushy plant called teosinte domesticated by prehistoric farmers 7,500 to 12,000 years ago in the area of southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica. This geographic region is referred to as the South Mexican and Central American Vavilovian Center. See the Article on “Who is Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov?” By 4,500 years ago, corn was being raised and used by the natives throughout North and South America.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, explorers and traders to the New World sailed home with precious cargoes of corn, spreading it by wagon, caravan and vessel across Europe and to the rest of the world. Today, corn is the most widely cultivated crop in the world. The United States produces 40% of the world’s harvest, followed by China, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, India, France, Argentina, South Africa and the Ukraine. My home state of Iowa produces the most corn in the U.S. I grew up with the childhood sing-song “knee-high by the Fourth of July” to mean a good crop was on the way. I remember a recent trip on a sunny fall day with the dust of the harvesters signaling across the rolling hills and the corn glittering like gold in the distant grain wagons. It is an image I will never forget.

Where I grew up, most corn was referred to as “field corn,” to distinguish it from “sweet corn.” Field corn is allowed to stand in the fields until the stalks are brown and the kernels on the ears are dry and mature, the dent stage, because the dried kernels are dented inward from the shriveling of water loss. Field corn has many uses. The corn itself and bales and fodders made from the stalks, cobs and leaves are fed directly to animals. Corn kernels are processed by smashing, bashing, squeezing, heating and mixing into many varieties of foods for human consumption, oils for cooking, medicines for treating and organic chemicals for manufacturing plastics, fabrics, adhesives and other items you use and view every day. Approximately 40% of the world corn crop is converted to corn ethanol, a biofuel, to run our cars and power our engines.

My hat is off to all these practical and beneficial uses of field corn, but in my view and I suspect the view of many, the pièce de résistance of the corn world is sweet corn. Sweet corn is a spontaneous mutation of field corn. It is shorter than its field-hardy cousin, but it is oh so sweet and oh so good. Plucked from a pot of boiling water and skewered on each end with those little metal prongs shaped like tiny plastic ears of corn, the kernel-rich ear is slathered with butter, sprinkled vigorously with salt and pepper and munched down the rows of sweet delight like a human typewriter hitting the return and bouncing back for more. Sweet corn is my favorite mutant vegetable. It is said the Iroquois Indians of North America offered the first sweet corn, called Papoon, to European settlers in 1779. The world has not been the same since.

While field corn is viewed as a grain, sweet corn is prepared and eaten as a vegetable. Sweet corn is picked when immature in its milk stage. It stores poorly and must be eaten fresh, canned or frozen, before the kernels become tough and starchy. So, eat it fresh from the garden if you can.

An interesting fact about that ear of corn you are holding. The individual ear always has an even number of rows of kernels. So, if you can restrain yourself for a moment, count the rows and see if this is true.

I just called Uncle Joe and he said the sweet corn is about a week away from being ready. The anticipation is mounting. If possible, I plan to be there on the first day, as a scientific experiment, of course, to count the rows — if I can wait that long.

I wish you well on your sweet corn search,

Grandpa Jim

Check In, Check Back, The Sun is Moving!

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Good Monday Morning!

We approach the Summer Solstice this week. Wednesday is the day, June 20th, the longest day of the year for us in the Northern Hemisphere, and correspondingly the shortest in the Southern Hemisphere. The sun stops here and starts heading back down that way for a while. Click on the “Articles” drop-down and check out “When are the Solstices?” under the tab “When is it?”

I hope you all enjoyed a great Father’s Day yesterday. I spent time with two of my three grandchildren and called my Dad to wish him a Happy Father’s Day. Later, we had a nice walk on the trail. It is always a joy to be out and take the airs.

Well, I have to run errands and stuff and work on the next Uncle Joe story, which is scheduled for publication on June 29th.

Keep checking in and we’ll be checking back,

Grandpa Jim

gpajim@unclejoestories.com

 

Happy Father’s Day!

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Good Saturday Morning!

It has been a busy and exciting week. On Monday afternoon, the air conditioner iced over. On Wednesday afternoon, one of the largest hailstorms in memory hit at 6:36 pm. For June, we were, at this point, all iced down, worn out and ready for relief.

Then, on Friday at 8:17 am, relief exploded onto the scene in the mega-release of little Mary and the Seven Sisters! The cosmic consequences were delightful. We all danced, shouted and sang along to the Mud Pie Song as our chilled memories dissipated and were forgotten in the extravagance and warmth of a backyard wedding reception.

Whew, you wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Tomorrow is Father’s Day in the U.S. So, give a call, take to lunch or apply a hug to that Father, Grandfather, Great Grandfather, Son, Grandson, Great Grandson, Brother, Husband, Uncle, Great Uncle, Cousin and all the rest of those special men in your life. I’ll be calling my Dad, playing with the grandkids, going to lunch with their Father, my Son, and phoning my other son who will soon be a Father. It is a wonderful day.

Enjoy your weekend and Happy Father’s Day,

Grandpa Jim

gpajim@unclejoestories.com

Story & Song, Whistle & Hum, All the Day Long!

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At, 8:17 am this morning, June 15, 2012, the first Mary Story was officially published! I couldn’t wait until 9. The excitement and anticipation were just too much. I am only Grandpa Jim and I love stories.

A surprise resides in “Mary and the Mud Pie Wedding Reception.” You are the first to hear, outside the family of course, an original song by an emerging young artist who twirls and poses very well herself in those wedding clothes. I have seen her do just that and I can attest she is a joy to watch.

You may be prompted by your computer or smart phone to download some software to play the song. I have done it a couple times and it always works. Please let me know that you can hear the music. It is a treat.

Wow!

Start your Friday with a Story and a Song and you will be Whistling and Humming All the Day Long.

We care about you,

Grandpa Jim and All of Us Here at Uncle Joe Stories

gpajim@unclejoestories.com

We’re #1 and Giant Ice from Heaven

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We’re #1!  Uncle Joe Stories just ranked #1 on a Google Search under its name, “Uncle Joe Stories.” Thank you all for visiting and reading. The purpose and goal of this site is to provide you materials that you enjoy reading and stories that you can read and tell to others. The content is all new and original. For example, the very first wake-up-in-the-morning thought for the Mary Story to be published tomorrow is just a week old today. We appreciate you all so very much. Please keep stopping by.

Now, back to the blog. Thursday is marching on and I wish you each an excellent June 14th.

Hail was in Dallas yesterday! The text message from my daughter-in-law at 6:36 p.m. reads, “Whoa, had to pull over to avoid giant ice falling from heaven.”  The next text is the picture of a piece of hail the size of a tennis ball. They are fine. The car is a bit dented but no windows were broken. From the pictures on the Internet, a lot of windshields were busted and quite a few skylights in homes and offices shattered. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

Update: The paper reported this morning, June 15, 2012, that there were some minor injuries. “There were no deaths, serious injuries or sustained power outages.”

What is hail? Is it giant ice falling from heaven? Are angels sipping grapefruit slurpees and sloshing down icy chunks over the giant cup lips. Are the celestial cherubs playing chilly tennis and smashing one ice ball and then another over the cloudy fence?

On Earth (as opposed, I suppose, to what it might be on Saturn where there is no or little water), hail is the precipitation (or rain) of frozen water from the sky in the form of balls or lumps of ice, called hail stones. The individual ice ball or lump forms in a thunder or cumulonimbi cloud. A tiny droplet of water is caught in a cold updraft, freezes solid forming a little ice pebble, grows like an onion as it rises and water droplets and vapors freeze in layers on its surface, becomes bigger and bigger, until it weighs so much that it stops and starts to drop, growing ever larger as it falls, leaving the cloud and crashing to the ground. That is the life of an individual hail stone. A bunch of hail stones make a hailstorm and that is what happened yesterday in Dallas, Texas.

Update: In today’s paper, there is the following delightful further explication of hail formation, which adds to the life of the individual hailstone described above: “A hailstorm needs lots of warm, moist air near the ground, subfreezing air high above and a strong push to get the warm air moving up. . . . Ice pellets came together high in the clouds and fell, only to be pushed back up by powerful updrafts, where the pellets got another coating of ice. Over and over and over and over. If the udraft is strong enough, the hail gets held aloft, where it collides with other hail and raindrops, allowing it to grow larger. Eventually, hailstones get too heavy for updrafts to hold them aloft, and they fall. Wednesday’s storm had particularly powerful updrafts. The National Weater Service figures it takes updrafts with speeds of 81 mph to create a baseball-size hailstone and winds of 103 mph to produce a softball-size hailstone.” The paper reports we had “hail the size of softballs.” Wow! Thank you to The Dallas Morning News for their very helpful and wonderfully detailed science reporting.

Regions that see the most hail are the interiors of continents in the middle latitudes and the edges of mountain ranges. Hail is less common in the tropics because the air is warmer. The mountains of northern India have some of the largest hail in the world. China, central and south-eastern Europe and southern Australia have high numbers of hailstorms.

In the United States, where the states of Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming meet is called “hail alley” and that area has more hail than any other place in North America. Cheyenne, Wyoming, is the “hail capital” with 9-10 hailstorms in a hail season. On July 23, 2010 (the day before my birthday), the largest U.S. hailstone fell in Vivian, South Dakota. It measured 8 inches (20 centimeters) in diameter and weighed 1.93 pounds (0.88 kilograms). You could have put a candle on that one and used it for a birthday cake.

Although hailstorms normally last only a few to 15 minutes, they can blanket the ground with up to 2 inches (5.1 cm.) of hail. On July 29, 2010, a foot (0.3 meters) of hail is reported to have accumulated, and depths to a meter (39.37 inches) have been reported.

In the Middle Ages, church bells rang and cannons fired to prevent hailstorms.  After World War II, seeds scattered from planes. In Russia, rockets and artillery shells launched into the clouds. With all the noise, people grabbed the dog and ran for cover, which was good, because nothing seemed to work to prevent the hail.

Keep an eye to the sky, listen for the sirens, check the weather reports and move to cover. Giant ice falling from heaven is to be avoided. Let the angels play and wait until the slurpee chunks melt and the ice balls evaporate.

Thanks again for visiting,

Grandpa Jim

gpajim@unclejoestories.com

Dog Runs, Gals Visiting and Coils Found

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Middle of the week greetings, I hope the day finds you doing quite nicely indeed,

Cloud cover and cool this morning, it is quite pleasant. I’m waiting on the call that the new coils have been found for the inside air conditioning unit.

Yesterday afternoon with the air out, I felt why the early settlers to Texas built “dog-run” log cabins. The dog-run cabin is really two log cabins separated by a covered breezeway. The breezeway provides a shaded area for the cooling breezes to circulate between the cabins. The name derives from the fact that the dogs loved to sleep there. In the summer, I bet a few family members found it more comfortable out there than in the bedroom, which had a door to the dog run, as all the rooms did, but tended not to have windows, so no cross breeze in bed. For one and all, the coolest and most comfortable location was the dog run. Move over, Fido.

In the mid-1800’s, dog-run cabins could be found throughout Texas. In fact, the dog-run design was used on the frontier through the US and into Canada. I still see a few around, most hauled in from the country, prettied up, and stocked with bows, bangles and trinkets to attract customers to the weekend fairs and festivals that are prevalent in Texas for much of the year. Salado is my favorite Texas cowboy town to walk the shops, talk to the folks, and have a cold soda in a tastefully decorated dog-run. If only those settlers could see us now. I bet they’d sit right down, marvel at our pops and have a nice long talk.

Things change, but in some ways not much at all.

Come visit.  We’ll save a place for you.

Grandpa Jim

PS: Don’t forget Mary and the Young Gals are visiting Friday. I wonder what they will be doing?

PPS: The coils are in! I can feel the dog-run breezes already.

gpajim@unclejoestories.com