Happy Birthday to the D.N.!

On Nana's front steps....

Happy birthday, Susan!  For once I'm early (at least two days) for this great event.  I think this is the earliest photo I have of you.  Someone else took it, possibly your mother or dad.  The print size is too large to have come from my tiny first camera.  But it's clearly you and Cindy. 

Are you ready for first grade or kindergarten here?  If so, you could already read the newspaper!  Your mom marched you into the school office with a copy of the local news and had you read an article selected at random for the principal as proof of your readiness. 

You're still reading, and now we can share what you find!

Hope you have a splendid birthday!  Hats off to a very dear niece!!

An Easy, Scientifically-Proven Way to Make Yourself Smarter. Go for a Good Walk or Swim Every Day

An Easy, Scientifically-Proven Way to Make Yourself Smarter. Go for a Good Walk or Swim Every Day--from OPEN CULTURE

Making Book (Covers)

Some of the best fun I ever had as a late teen in the convent was working in the library.  We had to repair books, sometimes even recover them.  So I learned how to bind a book and make a book cover.  My late friend Martha and I made two books ourselves from scratch.  Martha did the calligraphy, I wrote the stories, and we both worked on binding and making the covers--cutting, sewing, pasting.  The first one, Agnes, was about an African violet.  I forget what the other one was, though I can still see it.  It was long, thin, and covered in black fabric with a red title. 

Watching this TED talk brought all of this back:

Melinda Gates on Birth Control

Too cool....

Thanks, Sherwood and Ronniecat!

Saturday, April 14....Lacrosse game with Catholic U...Goucher 14, Catholic 10....Yay!

Grandson Sam walked away with the game ball this afternoon after scoring 3 straight goals for Goucher College against Catholic U of DC.  Goucher is now 13-1 for the season.  Sam (#28) is just a freshman, but he was on the starting line today.  I LOVE his hair!

Game ball winner!! #28!!

Sam eating fabulous spareribs!  Cathy enjoying the event.

LOVE the hair...

Sort of Pre-Raphaelite, non?

Sally (l) and Cathy (r)

Sam

Sally, Sam's mom

Jay, Sam's dad

Sam

An egg, huh?

My friend Linda, who is a fine photographer, sent me this link yesterday.   All I have right now is a bunch of brown eggs, and it's dark outside now, but hmmm...you can try this yourself.  Just for fun (wot ees thees FUN of which u speak??)  As for how I like my eggs, it depends on the time of day--for supper, scrambled, but for breakfast, fried hard & crispy on rye toast!!

It's Friday...have a laugh!

Got this from my pal and former coworker Shirley this a.m.:

WHEN I SAY I'M BROKE, I'M BROKE!

A little old lady answered a knock on the door one day, to be confronted by a well-dressed young man carrying a vacuum cleaner.

"Good morning," said the young man. "If I could take a couple minutes of your time, I would like to demonstrate the very latest in high-powered vacuum cleaners...."

''Go away!'' said the old lady. ''I'm broke and haven't got any money!'' and she proceeded to close the door.

Quick as a flash, the young man wedged his foot in the door and pushed it wide open.  ''Don't be too hasty!'' 'he said. "Not until you have at least seen my demonstration.''

And with that, he emptied a bucket of horse manure onto her hallway carpet.  "Now if this vacuum cleaner does not remove all traces of this horse manure from your carpet, Madam, I will personally eat the remainder."

The old lady stepped back and said, "Well, let me get you a fork, 'cause they cut off my electricity this morning."

Cutting it close!

The official date for Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox. The moon is 100% full right now, according to the little gadget on the right hand side of XE. The Vernal Equinox was way back on March 21-22 (thereabouts).  I can never get it right. As soon as I say it's on March 21, I read that it's on March 22. Close enough.  The full moon before that was on March 8.

Each full moon has a name, according to the Farmers Almanac, and this one is called the Full Pink Moon. Whether that's because it actually looks pink (I don't think so, but I didn't look last night) or because there are so many pink flowers out--like these I snapped with my cell phone recently.

Of course, the Farmers Almanac spells it out for us:

This name came from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names for this month’s celestial body include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.

Cool!  I'll have to get over to Rock Creek today to see if the shad are running!  More on that later.  George Washington used to fish for shad, and he fed his troops plenty of them.

Cherry Tree in the Congressional Cemetery

Cherry tree in front of our building

More Monday Good News!

Thanks to Mariam Memarsadeghi for sharing this link: