Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Post 1001: Accolades, Confessions and Black Locust

My humble blog has recently received a couple of honors.  Sherry, who plays a viola and blogs at Mama Diaries presented me with the Shine On Award.” I like the name of the award as it reminds me of Pink Floyd (“Shine On  You Crazy Diamond” from the “Wish You Were Here” album.)   I’m supposed to tell you seven things about me which is hard when I’d done a 1000 posts, most of which are about me.  So I’ll have to dig deep (and obscure) to come up with some new things about me.  I’m also supposed to nominate seven more folks, something that I don’t particularly like doing unless you’d want to be nominated.  If so, let me know and I’ll nominate your blog.  If not, that’s okay too. 

  And then, on the heels that accolade, Hilary at the Smitten Image honored my post “Redbuds Along the River" as one of her “Posts of the Week” I am always humbled to be a POTW selection.


Here are seven “obscure” things (or confessions) about me:

-I used to have a phobia of poison sumac.  It started when I was five and my father was clearing some brush out behind the garden.  My brother and I were playing with the cut brush, swinging at each other as if it was a sword, hitting each other upside the head. My mother jumped all over us, telling us it was poison sumac.  I never went near that patch of sumac and it wasn’t until much later that I learned poisonous sumac doesn’t grow on well-drain sandhills, but in very wet marshy areas. 

-I also use to be afraid of tornadoes.  I blame this on Judy Garland and the Wizard of Oz.  The monkeys and the witch never bothered me, but that twister was more than I could bear.  After the first time, I’d wait until after Dorothy was in Oz before I began watching.   

-As a child, I also had nightmares of nuclear war.  It probably had something to do with Goldwater’s presidential bid.

-Liver and onions look delicious and is an example of how looks can be deceiving. 

-In the early 80s, I brought a year’s supply of peanut butter based on reading the Wall Street Journal.  It probably saved me the cost of the newspaper because peanut butter skyrocketed due to a shortage in peanuts.

 -When I was a senior in high school, my dad called the school and asked them to release me so I could pick him up at the Wrightsville Beach Police Station.  I ashamed and worried about what my dad had done only to discover that the motor on his boat had knocked out and someone towed him to the city’s dock and the police station was the closest phones (this was long before cell phones).  He had me take him to the marine where he’d his vehicle and the trailer so he could get the boat out of the water.  At least I got lunch out of the deal and missed half a day of school. 

-When I was younger, I heard raw sea urchins were a delicacy in Japan so I tried one, fresh from the sea.  As far as I know, they’ve yet to become a delicacy in North Carolina and for good reason.

Okay, I know this is the eighth thing, but I just learned about this when I looked at my stats...  Last week I had 60 people from the Faroe Islands visit my blog!  I can't believe it, but my last post was picked up by a Faroe Island Facebook page and it created a lot of traffic.  The islands aren't that big; 60 people represents a pretty good sampling of the island's residents (~.1 %).

Black Locust flowers

A final note:  This has been a wonderful spring.  Walking around the fields on the edge of town, I've noticed the fragrance from the Black Locust which has had a bumper crop of flowers this year.  From a distance, the trees appear to be white, although the flowers are slowly falling and will be soon gone.

grove of black locust

25 comments:

  1. no...dont hate on the liver and onions...i dont get it often but mmm...i got started early on it...i dont know that i would really want to be that close to a tornado either...ha the govt teacher i teach with keeps a year supply of peanut butter...

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    1. Actually, I am sure we have at least a 1/2 year supply of peanut butter-it's great stuff!

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  2. Congrats on your awards! I hate liver and onions so much. I'm glad you do, too. :)

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    1. Maybe we should start the "Liver and Onion Hater's Club" and exclude Brain! I just can't believe someone would want to ruin an onion that way!

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  3. Even now, I love missing school. I am ON the other side. That is, I teach!

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    1. I am sure that teachers all over at like that and I bet you're a wonderful teacher, Gautami.

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  4. Seriously going to school to tutor is the best part of my week...and why on earth would anyone ever be afraid of a tornado? 2.5 miles wide 200 MPH winds...yes i think even if i were an Okie and had been through a million of them I'd be changing my drawers after those two.


    Oh yeah add beets in with the liver an onions.

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    1. I wouldn't want to do that to a beet! I like beets (and onions)!

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  5. I agree about the liver and onions. It looks good, but smells and tastes terrible. Faroe Islands?? Wonder what attracted them?

    You actually ate a raw sea urchin? I don't know whether to be impressed at your bravery or appalled at your daring.

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    1. I didn't eat much of the sea urchin, but I broke it open and tried a bit on a cracker.

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  6. I've discovered that a lot of foods depend on the cook for the taste. Case in point, when growing up I used to think all steak was tough and chewy and wondered why everyone liked it so much. These days I don't let my mom cook steaks when I'm eating over at her house. She also made horrible liver. My wife on the other hand knows how to prepare it so it is palatable. Notice that I didn't say outstanding. I'm sure there is someone somewhere who can make a liver to blow my socks off.

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    1. I can't believe there are so many liver eaters here!

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  7. Congrats on the awards. My wife is a big fan of that Pink Floyd song. I prefer Money myself.

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    1. If it's real money, then I do too! If it's the song...

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  8. It was nice to read more about you. Did you actually eat all that peanut butter?

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  9. What is a year's supply of peanut butter, like two jars? ISAT (I smiled at that.) I'm on an LOL-cleanse.

    I'm pretty sure I had nuclear nightmares, too. It's no wonder with the Cold War, The Day After, etc. But more often, I dreamt of a hostile invasion like in Red Dawn.

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  10. 1001 post- very cool, and glad I didn't miss any- as time slips by, it seems like you were just celebrating the cool 1000! How fun getting to learn a bit more about you- Ha! Ha! Congrats on the award too- you deserve it and more. I for one have always, and always will, enjoy blogging along with you too!

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  11. Ha! I loved reading those 8 things. The monkeys and the witch frighten me to this day and good thinking on the pb! But I thought the same question asked above, how much is a year's supply? :)

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    1. for me--I think I brought 6 large jars. But now, it would be many more than that!

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  12. Yeah, there are certain iron foods that are hard for some to put in their mouths. They would have issues with red wine too.
    I'd never known the Black Locust with that name but I well know it as the Robinia pseudoacacia or false Acacia. We never see them from that angle though as they are exclusively a garden tree and so are in that craned neck position to see the flowers. I've known them in London to shed entire limbs onto cars at night in a dry summer.

    I don't remember being worried about the Cold War for even though we were front line it never reached that steam whistle pitch, it was more a background hum. You'd have to wonder if GWB would have been elected in the 70s.

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  13. Sage: Congratulations on the POTW! This is a fine blog, indeed! A toast to you!

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  14. I love liver and onions! IF it is cooked correctly...
    Congrats on the awards!

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