Out and About – Week of November 23rd

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. We have been through some very difficult times since the arrival of Covid-19, yet we still have much to be thankful for, because we are working together to get through this difficult time. If you haven’t experienced this virus, you have an awful lot to be thankful for, and if you have been plagued with it and are a survivor, you have even more reasons to be thankful. Having good friends and a close-knit family also helps. Take time tomorrow to give thanks to YOUR God for your many blessings. I know I will.

I’ve mentioned more than once about the way things were growing up fifty or sixty years ago. It seems to me that the subject of manners has been on the back burner far too long. Manners just aren’t that important anymore, and that’s too bad.

I’m not saying that we should all lead our lives the way we would if Martha Stewart were to be an unexpected guest in our home, but I feel we all could use some lessons in case your grandmother might all of a sudden rise up from the grave and stop by to check up on your welfare. I’m sure she might be a bit surprised to find out how many grandmothers are sporting tattoos. Here are several table manners that Grandma would surely agree with:

Don’t be late at the domestic table, as this is a wrong to your family, and is not calculated to promote harmony and good feeling.
Don’t seat yourself until the ladies are seated, or, at a dinner party, until your host or hostess gives the signal.
Don’t tuck your napkin under your chin, or spread it upon your breast. Bibs and tuckers are for the nursery.
Don’t serve gentlemen guests at your table before all the ladies are served, including those who are members of your own household.
Don’t eat soup from the end of the spoon, but from the side. Don’t gurgle, or draw in your breath, or make other noises when eating soup.
I could go on and on, but I’m pretty sure that it’s going to take a lot of time to get used to following the ones I’ve just listed.

If you’ve ever watched a cowboy movie and noticed that the wheels on a buckboard or other fast moving buggy seem to be spinning backwards, your eyes are not playing tricks on you, or maybe they are doing just that. Here’s an explanation on this optical phenomenon. This illusion is created by the movie film. When you watch a movie, you are probably aware that you are not watching a continuous flow of action, but rather a series of still shots run at twenty-four frames per second. The human eye cannot detect the gaps between each frame, because they occur so rapidly. We are seeing a smooth-running movie. It seems the gaps in the film do have an interesting effect on spinning objects, such as wagon wheels. If the spokes were spinning at the same rate as the frames of the movie, then the spokes would have returned to exactly the same position for every frame and the wheels would appear to be stationary. When the spokes are spinning at a little less than the speed of the film, they don’t make it all the way back to their original position, and are a little further behind on each frame. As consecutive frames are rolled, the spokes gradually appear to move backward. This same illusion is also evident on television, which flashes the picture at thirty times per second. Now you know.

See you Out and About!

Submitted by Norm Stutesman

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