By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | Nothing thrills us more this time of year than to see the new crop of blooms on the flowering trees of our area. It’s a sure sign that the weather at least has temporarily shifted a bit, though we also know that another cold snap can kill those blooms quickly.
So sit back and enjoy the flowering these days. It means that pretty soon, our toes won’t be so cold much longer. Hurrah!
We welcome back into the political arena, the former Massachusettes Gov. Mitt Romney, who says he will seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Oren Hatch of Utah.
We remember Mr. Romney as a well-prepared and intelligent candidate for the presidency, and feel the people of Utah will send him to the Senate in 2018. There he will be well qualified to help our country. He’s a Republican, but a smart one who will work hard with both his party, and I suspect, the opposing senators, too.
Mr. Romney is what we need in candidates for any office: well organized, well read, and a thinker. Our country will benefit from his win for the Senate.
Larry Zani reports from Kaiserslauten, Germany, that this year Daylight Saving Time begins in the United States on Sunday, 11 March. However, if you are interested in Europe, or doing business there, you should remember that the European summer time doesn’t start until Sunday, 25 March. During the two weeks, the time zone differences between most of the US and Europe will be one hour less than usual.
One reader, Liz Fehrs, is irked by something she sees all too often: many cars, especially those that are black, grey and white, are the worst offenders, she feels, of driving without headlights at twilight/early evening. “I counted 15 in a three mile stretch,” she says. “It is most dangerous as those three colors in particular are hard to see at this time of day.”
What’s she’s talking about are older cars, since most newer cars have headlights which stay on all the time. So if you are driving an older model black, grey or white car, make sure you switch on your headlines at low light times.
We’ve just marked the President’s Day, a holiday once celebrated as George Washington’s birthday, February 22.
The first president of the United States was born in Westmoreland County, Va. (1732). His favorite foods were mashed sweet potatoes with coconut, string beans with mushrooms, cream of peanut soup, salt cod, and pineapples, we have learned. He lost all of his teeth except for one by – according to second president John Adams – cracking Brazilian nuts between his jaws.
He got dentures made out of a hippopotamus tusk, designed especially to fit over his one remaining real tooth. But the hippo dentures were constantly rubbing against that real tooth so that he was oft\ten in pain. He is said to have used opium to alleviate the pain.
He snored very loudly, and instead of wearing a powdered wig like other fashionable people, he put powder on his own hair, which was naturally a reddish brown. We hate to tell you this, but he was not good at spelling and he had a speech impediment.
George Washington’s inaugural address was the shortest inaugural address in U.S. history: It was only 133 words long and took him just 90 seconds to deliver.
So, he didn’t tarry, either.
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