The Joy of Coddiwomple: A Writing Journey

327 Tuesday Newsday Articles and 2 published novels

January 9th

*The author’s collection of dictionaries. The Webster’s New World Dictionary, third from the left, was often used for playing ‘Dictionary.’*

A Tuesday Newsday Classic

Back in the early 1980’s I was introduced to a game my hubby and his family loved to play. There was no game board or markers to move around. Instead it required a dictionary, a piece of paper for each player, and a pen. They called the game Dictionary.

A search of the internet reveals, from the Infallible Wikipedia, that the genre is more commonly known by another name: Fictionary. In the years since being introduced to this delightful pastime there have been actual games developed and sold. As noted by the Infallible Wikipedia:

“The board games Balderdash, Dictionary Dabble, Flummoxed, and Weird Wordz are based on Fictionary. In one round of the board game Derivation, players describe or fabricate a word’s etymology; players who provide a correct etymology receive one point for doing so, but their entries are then removed from play, and they lose their chance to receive multiple points by drawing multiple votes from other players. Similarly, in the board game Wise and Otherwise, the Picker randomly chooses a quotation and reads the beginning, and other players try to create realistic endings to the quotation.”

*It’s amazing what interesting words one can find when perusing a dictionary.*

While these games have been successful, I rather like how we played it: Get a group of people together (the more the better) and then pick one person each round who looks through the dictionary until they find a sufficiently obscure word. They then announce the word to the group and each person has to come up with a definition for that word. The chooser writes down the REAL definition.

Once everyone has written his or her definition, the papers are passed to the person who picked the word and they read each entry aloud, being sure to hide the papers from others. Each participant then decides which might be the real meaning of the word. Those who guess correctly get one point. The chooser gets one point for every incorrect guess.

Now, I’m sure you are wondering what this has to do with the title of this week’s Tuesday Newsday, Coddiwomple. Up until the hubby and I were driving home from Yakima on New Year’s Day this year I had never heard of Coddiwomple. But it immediately made me think of playing Dictionary and probably the most favorite word I ever found and used which is ‘gardyloo.’

The hubby had read an article on the term Coddiwomple and shared it with me. What I learned, from author and philosopher David Marlowe – who coined the term – is this:

I was immediately struck by the rhythm of the word and how it seems to fit its definition. Of course the purpose of the word is to help people stop and contemplate what, exactly, they are each trying to accomplish in life.

It was on this date in 2017 when I wrote my first Tuesday Newsday article. At that time I had no idea where I was going with it; only that, via a very decidedly Coddiwomple experience, I had been nudged to take the path of starting a website for ‘someday.’

That ‘someday’ was aimed for that moment, in the murky future, when I would have a book published and be able to share it on my website.

And thus began a Coddiwomple journey toward a vague destination. My first Tuesday Newsday was all about one of my favorite musical artists, Jim Croce.

Of course I screwed it up a bit on that first go round – being unfamiliar with WordPress and how it all worked – and accidently posted it on Wednesday, January 10^th instead of that Tuesday, January 9^th. So I ended up with TWO articles about Jim Croce a year apart, with the other one on January 11^th the following year. (here’s the link to both which I combined into one for ONLY January 10^th): https://barbaradevore.com/2017/01/10/jim-croce/)

But that was okay because, well, Jim Croce. One of his best songs… and so bittersweet.

What I did know after that first post is that in addition to the fiction stories which invade my brain and compel me to write, I had a whole lot of personal stories which came pouring forth.

Some have been funny, some philosophical; they range from recounting early childhood memories to recent impactful events. They cover music, TV, movies, nature, history, geeky musings, and cultural references. War and politics are never included.

But what do any of these ramblings have to do with traveling purposefully toward a vague destination?

For me, no matter what think I chose to do, it is the desire to fully embrace each experience in life. New opportunities frequently present themselves and, as someone who probably has undiagnosed ADHD, I am often distracted by such shiny objects.

Yet, as I have matured, I’ve come to understand a universal truth: our most precious commodity is TIME. I’ve become quite protective of my time. And the one thing in life which is elemental to who I am and where I want to spend my time is writing. It’s been that way since I first put a piece of chalk to a chalkboard desk I received as a Christmas present at age three when my family still lived in Clarkston, Washington.

*The author, age 3, with her chalk board. Captured with a cell phone camera from the home movies my dad took.*

So now I begin year nine of my blog in basically the same way as I did in 2017, traveling in a purposeful manner toward a vague destination. Coddiwomple.

Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to go write Nicole out of the entanglement in which she finds herself. Who will she choose: Nathan, Sam, or ???. And how will her parents react? I’m not sure she has quite embraced Coddiwomple but then again she’s only 21 and has a lifetime ahead of her.

*Sneak preview of just a bit of the cover art for ‘Rivals’!*

Well, that was LAST year’s dilemma. Since then, Nicole and company made their appearance with the publication of “The Rebel of Delta Rho Chi” on September 16, 2025. Now I’m thick in the lives of Kara, Brooke, Jason, and Erik who, as early twenty college students, are challenged to figure out the eternal question, “Who am I and what am I doing here?” I think they’ll get there but currently things are a bit messy in “The Rivals of Delta Rho Chi.” Look for their story this summer.

Finally, for those who have read all the way to the bottom, here’s your reward. Gardyloo is, according to Dictionary.com, “a cry formerly used in Scotland to warn pedestrians when slops were about to be thrown from an upstairs window.” Oh those crazy Scots. You’re welcome. Of course if you looked closely at the photos, you already knew the definition.

The links:

David Marlowe’s substack: https://ikiquest.substack.com/p/coddiwomple

The Infallible Wikipedia never lets me down: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictionary

Biosphere I vs. Biosphere II

Sep26

Is Utopia possible?

September 26, 2023

A Tuesday Newsday Classic Updated

It was the stuff of science fiction when, on September 26, 1991, four women and four men entered the project known as Biosphere II.

*Biosphere II located in the Arizona desert north of Tucson*

Located in the Arizona desert forty-one miles northeast of Tucson, the facility was developed in hopes of learning how colonization on other planets might work. The idea was that these eight scientists would live within the biosphere complex for two years, would grow their own food, and manage all aspects of their world without help or interference from outside sources.

Inside Biosphere II were five distinct ecosystems. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“Its five biome areas were a 1,900 square meter rainforest, an 850 square meter ocean with a coral reef, a 450 square meter mangrove wetlands, a 1,300 square meter savannah grassland, a 1,400 square meter fog desert, a 2,500 square meter agricultural system, a human habitat, and a below-ground infrastructure. Heating and cooling water circulated through independent piping systems and passive solar input through the glass space frame panels covering most of the facility, and electrical power was supplied into Biosphere 2 from an onsite natural gas energy center.”

For those of us not trained in meters, I did the approximate calculations. Rainforest= 6,000 square feet. Ocean=2,800 square feet. Mangrove=1476 square feet. Savannah = 4300 square feet. Fog Dessert=4600 square feet. Agricultural =8200 square feet. That adds up to 27,376 square feet or over five square miles.

As one can imagine, the project was beset with problems including not enough oxygen, dietary issues and – when one of the biospherians became ill and was removed from the project for a time – if outside intervention was justified. When the first experiment ended two years later, on September 26, 1993, plans were already underway for another set of scientists to participate in a second project:

“Biosphere 2 was only used twice for its original intended purposes as a closed-system experiment: once from 1991 to 1993, and the second time from March to September 1994. Both attempts, though heavily publicized, ran into problems including low amounts of food and oxygen, die-offs of many animals and plants included in the experiment, squabbling among the resident scientists, and management issues.”

Personally, I find it difficult to envision what it would be like to exist for two years in only five square miles and with the same 7 people as your daily companions. Kind of like the reality TV show Survivor but longer and you can’t get rid of annoying people. From a writer’s perspective, however, I think this is a fascinating premise for a science fiction book (with romantic elements perhaps?). Has someone researched and written such a book? I wondered. Indeed they have. The Terranauts, by TC Boyle, was published in October 2016 (hardback) with the paperback version was released on October 3 2017. The critics on Goodreads have not been kind: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28925208-the-terranauts.

Update 2023:

I considered writing about a completely new topic this week but somehow my musings seem to dovetail with Biosphere II. For those who have been following my blog for awhile you likely know that I am not a fan of autumn. I suspect I suffer from at least a little Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD) and I struggle this time of year with the reduced hours of daylight and the drops in temperature.

Living where I do, just north of the 48^th parallel, I am acutely aware of the changing of the seasons. As I am writing this the wind is blowing and it has been threatening rain with another front moving in this afternoon. In other words, a prototypical fall day. While most of the leaves have not yet turned color or started to make their exit from the tree branches, I know the day is coming. I miss summer already.

But I wonder if I were to live in a controlled environment like Biosphere 2, would I like that? What if the seasons never changed? What if every day the weather was exactly like the day before and tomorrow would be the same as today?

*Ten degrees wasn’t even the coldest temperatures we experienced in Fairbanks. On our last day it was MINUS 28 degrees. I had the gloves off only for the photo.*

When visiting a high school friend in Fairbanks, Alaska, in March 2017, I considered what it would be like to live there. The world was white with snow and ice and had been since October. In fact, the earliest snowfall ever in Fairbanks was August 29, 1922, and the typical date of the first measurable snow is tomorrow, September 27^th. And did I mention that they get about 65 inches of the white stuff each year? While I was there I discovered that I could not go outside without wrapping a scarf around my face as it was physically painful to have my skin exposed to the cold. It was the coldest I had ever been in my life. I came away from that trip in awe of her ability to live and thrive in Fairbanks. I am not, I concluded, sturdy enough for that climate.

So, over the next several weeks I will come to terms with reality: summer in the Pacific Northwest is over and it is time once again for turtlenecks, sweaters, and jackets. And in spite of my whining about the shorter days with less sunlight and the inclement weather, I do think it’s better than living in a controlled environment day after day.

And that’s the great thing about Biosphere I – also known as ‘Earth’. It’s always changing and visually interesting and a grand place to live. Biosphere II or III or V or X will never be able to equal the original.

The tree progression photos were taken from my office window on the following dates: September 9, 16, 30, October 19, 29, and November 19, 2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2

The Refrigerator

Aug8

One of my favorite appliances

August 8, 2023

A Tuesday Newsday Classic Updated

This invention, which was patented on August 8, 1899, ranks right up there with my two most favorite inventions: electricity and flushing toilets.

Refrigeration revolutionized how our food is processed and stored. Without this invention – which includes the freezer – people would still be spending up to 8 hours a day in the preparation and storage of food. But refrigeration has freed up hours and hours of woman and man hours that can now be devoted to other pursuits.

The Infallible Wikipedia, of course, has much information on its history including this information which highlights some of the challenges of early home models:

“The first refrigerator to see widespread use was the General Electric ‘Monitor-Top’ refrigerator introduced in 1927, so-called, by the public, because of its resemblance to the gun turret on the ironclad warship USS Monitor of the 1860s. The compressor assembly, which emitted a great deal of heat, was placed above the cabinet, and enclosed by a decorative ring. Over a million units were produced. As the refrigerating medium, these refrigerators used either sulfur dioxide, which is corrosive to the eyes and may cause loss of vision, painful skin burns and lesions, or methyl formate, which is highly flammable, harmful to the eyes, and toxic if inhaled or ingested.”

Obviously that refrigerator was not ideal.

Personally, I love the refrigerator because it makes it harder for those two miscreants, Sam and Ella, to hang out at my house and wreak havoc. But also because I can put things in the fridge and they’ll stay there for months and months before my hubby cleans out the really old stuff to make room for wonderful fresh food! It’s magical really. Kind of like the magic table in this clip:

No matter how many times I view this it makes me laugh. That poor guy probably never knew what happened.

Growing up, my family had the very latest in a refrigerator. Yes, the always popular avocado green model. I’m not really sure why people loved that color, or harvest gold, but it was a thing in the 1970’s. We also had the avocado green range. I can’t recall on the dishwasher. I do know my Mom’s first dishwasher was a portable white one which was rolled over to the sink and attached via hoses to the faucet. Seems like when that one failed the one which replaced it was avocado green.

Capturing a moment in time… August 1980 in the kitchen of the home where the author grew up. You can see the side by side avocado green fridge on the far side of my Mom (in the yellow) and by best friend from 9th grade talking to her. Behind my sister in law you see the matching avocado green stove and tea kettle.

*Kenmore brand portable dishwasher ad from the 1980’s*

When the hubby and I bought our fixer upper house in 1981, there was not a dishwasher. So we did what any young couple with a house but zero money for anything else did: we went to the Sears Roebuck scratch and dent store. It was located in the basement of the building which is now Starbucks headquarters on First Avenue South in Seattle.

And just like my mom’s kitchen a portable dishwasher was needed. We had to buy a skinny minny sort of model so it could fit in the small space available. Just like Mom’s, it was avocado green with a butcher block top. Double duty! Not only did it wash dishes but it served as a cutting board. It looked something like the one pictured here, but much, much smaller.

Man, we were livin’ the dream! Had fridge AND a dishwasher too.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator.

Jake the Alligator Man: A Quirky Landmark of Long Beach

Aug1

A Washington State icon since 1967

August 1st

A Tuesday Newsday Classic

Happy Birthday to that northwest icon, symbol of blatant commercialism, and resident of Long Beach, Washington… Jake the Alligator Man!

*An Alligator Man postcard – one of many such items*

How fun it was, on August 1, 2014, to be at Long Beach and join in the parade for Jake’s 75^th birthday, be given free cupcakes, and really celebrate this once in a lifetime event.

Or not. As it turns out the town of Long Beach celebrates Jake’s 75^th birthday EVERY year and has been doing so for the past 11 years. So maybe it’s really Jake’s 86^th birthday? Call me cynical but I’m starting to think that this is all a ploy for tourists to spend more money on Jake gear and at local motels and restaurants.

I’ve also learned that his birthday is not always on August First but seems to coincide with whichever date the first Saturday in August might fall.

Jake’s murky beginnings are just that, murky. What we do know is that Jake was discovered in 1967 at an antique shop in San Francisco. He was adopted by the owners of Marsh’s Free Museum for a mere $750 dollars and has lived in Long Beach ever since.

I feel pretty certain that I probably saw Jake that first year as my family spent two weeks every summer on the Peninsula. Shopping at Marsh’s during a Long Beach visit was a must do. Although Jake was once relegated to a dusty corner of Marsh’s Free Museum – along with the two-headed calf and the shrunken head – his celebrity is such that he now has a whole display area with a variety of t-shirts, bumper stickers, posters, key chains and glassware dedicated to the Gatorman. And Creepy Dolls like him also.

The Infallible Wikipedia has done a poor job of telling the whole history of Jake. What’s up with that Infallible One?

*Jake communing with an assortment of creepy dolls*

So I will skip them this week and instead share the article which catapulted Jake into legend status back in 2008 when that paper of international renown and impeccable credentials – the World Weekly News – published an article titled “Manigator Found.”

*Sandy the Creepy doll dons her Jake t-shirt and visits her ‘friend’*

“MIAMI, Florida — The discovery of a bizarre half-human, half-alligator in the Florida Everglades has flabbergasted scientists who say the creature is alive, at least moderately intelligent and possibly even a distant ancestor of modern man!

That’s the word from paleontologist Dr. Paul Ledbrader, who studied the creature in his laboratory for almost three hours before state wildlife officials seized the 5-foot, 11-inch, 180-pound beast and airlifted it to a research facility just west of Miami.

Nobody at the state wildlife commission is talking. But Dr. Ledbrader says the U.S. Forest Service sent no fewer than five experts to the facility to study the reptile in the hope of determining exactly where it came from — and what it might be.

‘I know what it isn’t — and that’s an ordinary alligator,’ said Dr. Ledbrader.”

To read more of their amazing discovery and the highly credible, and certainly not made up Dr. Ledbrader, click here:

http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/1717/manigator-found/

Be sure to make plans to attend Jake’s 12th annual 75th birthday party in 2018: http://jakethealligatorman.com/

*2020 Update!

Sadly, Jake’s birthday celebration – once again scheduled for Saturday, August 1st – was cancelled. But that did not stop Mr. Gator from donning a birthday hat, a couple feather boas, and celebrating with friends and fans that just might happen to stop by his house. Of course, HE was NOT socially distancing but this friend was. Perhaps next year. Be sure to mark your calendars for August 7, 2021. It’ll be a party.

*2021 Update – Jake’s birthday celebration has been cancelled for this year. Man, poor Jake is not feeling the love these days.

*2023 Update – Well, Jake’s celebration SHOULD be on Saturday, August 5. This internet sleuth searched and searched and there was nothing posted regarding Jake’s birthday. So I traveled to Long Beach and to the source, Marsh’s Free Museum, on July 31st and asked the guy behind the counter. This is what I learned! Covid pretty much ended the party as the person who had organized the event each summer left. Alas, no one has taken up the banner and Jake is now living a much quieter life.

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/jake-the-alligator-man-long-beach-washington

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_the_Alligator_Man

World Turtle Day

May23

Protecting them since 2000

May 23, 2023

Occasionally a topic comes up which triggers a long forgotten memory. Such is the case for May 23. Today is World Turtle Day; a day which, since the year 2000, has been designated to bring awareness of the need to preserve and rescue turtles and tortoises.

*It’s a thrill to swim with the Hawaiian Green turtles when snorkeling. This photo is from Hawaiianpaddlesports.com*

First, a bit about Turtles from the Infallible Wikipedia:

“Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked turtles), which differ in the way the head retracts. There are 360 living and recently extinct species of turtles, including land-dwelling tortoises and freshwater terrapins.”

Granted the scientific information does not really do the animal justice. Turtles are truly fascinating creatures due, in my opinion, to their exoskeleton bone cover which gives them a look unique to other creatures.

Turtles can be gigantic, like the huge leatherback turtle, which can be almost 9 feet in length and weigh more than 1,100 pounds, or as small as the Speckled Cape Tortoise. Native to South Africa it measures no more than 3.9 inches and weighs less than 6.1 ounces.

But back to the long ago memory. It is September 1966 and the long anticipated Central Washington State Fair. In those years, there was one weekday afternoon when every elementary aged school boy and girl was released at noon for “Fair Day.” Oh what a glorious event that was. The horde would descend upon the midway and rides filled with screaming children; cows, goats, and other livestock were terrorized by thousands of small hands all seeking to pet the animals; and the carnival barkers collected every last cent the kids had to spend.

This particular year – and to this day I’m not quite sure HOW it came to be – my sister and I happened upon a booth which was selling turtles. Incredibly cute and tiny turtles. Each one probably cost the ~~victim~~ buyer 50 cents but those turtles instantly became a ‘must have’ item. So we each got a turtle which, if I remember correctly, was put into a plastic bag partially filled with water and then ‘inflated’ to give the creature air, for us to carry home.

I also cannot recall my mother’s reaction but I imagine she was less than thrilled as a space had to be found for our two new residents. A large round avocado green tub was acquired and an ‘island’ was built inside for the turtles.

*The author and her sister in the summer of 1967, saying goodbye to Gilligan and the Professor*

My sister and I named our two turtles Gilligan (mine) and the Professor (hers) after two characters from one of the most popular and favorite TV shows of the time “Gilligan’s Island.”

My childhood memory is that we dutifully fed our turtles and took good care of them. No doubt the chore fell mostly to my mother who didn’t want the turtles in the first place.

On it went and then, in the summer of 1967, it was decided that Gilligan and the Professor had outgrown their avocado green paradise and needed to find a new home. That new home, it turned out, was Sportsman Park just east of the Yakima River.

It was a hot summer day when my Dad, sister, and me took the turtles to the designated release spot. My grandmother – Dad’s mom – was along with us and took two pictures that day. On the back of one she wrote “Goodby turtles! Swim Happy! 1967” So my sister and me said our goodbyes, placed them on the ground and watched as they eagerly ran to the water and slipped into the pond, swimming away.

*At Sportsman Park about to set the turtles free*

I imagine I was a bit sad watching Gilligan leave but being that I was barely 10 years old, I got over it.

Fast forward to 2013, maybe 2014, and the hubby and I are Geocaching at Sportsman Park in Yakima. As we are walking along a path, I notice there are signs which tell about the various wildlife which lives there. We stop at this one pond and depicted there are pictures of turtles… which look just like Gilligan and the Professor.

I imagine there were other children whose parents also sought new ‘homes’ for turtles which had been brought home as a prize from the fair; I doubt ours were the only such creatures who found a new home in that pond.

On the other hand, while it was common practice to sell animals at fairs in the 1960’s, as a society we’ve come to appreciate that the introduction of non-native species can have a negative effect on the native species and the new habitat. Unfortunately, we didn’t know any better back then. The practice of selling turtles at fairs ended in the mid-1970’s.

So celebrate World Turtle Day through admiration of these amazing creatures and by leaving them alone to be, well, turtles.

For more information, a few links:

https://www.worldturtleday.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle

9 Types of Turtles in Washington State

Wordscapes

Feb21

One of the most popular games for phones

February 21, 2023

About a year and a half ago I decided that I would start playing word games on my phone as a way of keeping my brain sharp. I hit upon one game which looked interesting. The game: Wordscapes.

The official Wordscapes logo.

According to the Infallible Wikipedia:

“The game overall is a mix of Boggle and crossword puzzles. To solve the puzzle, the player must find every word using the letters that are located in the circle at the bottom of the screen. There are anywhere from 3 to 7 letters in the circle, depending on the level being played. There are also bonus words, which the player can solve for extra coins. The game currently contains 6,000 levels and an infinite number of extra master levels that players can access after completing the first 6,000. The game publishes a daily puzzle for each day.”

So far, so good. I start playing the game and – between it and Wordle – it does what I want: help keep my brain sharp.

But then the Wordscapes people introduced a feature into the game called ‘Wildlife.’ Okay. This was a fun addition. A player earns points in the form of red gems -or ‘rubies’ as the players call them – with which they can hatch eggs and out will pop a cute animal. Did I mention that these animals dance, prance, eat, drink, and play? And that they are incredibly appealing with their big eyes and happy expressions? And that they give you extra boosters in the game?

I’m not a psychologist, but I’m pretty sure that in the testing done over the years they discovered that people – women particularly – are drawn to cute animals with big imploring eyes.

So more than solving the word puzzles, I became interested in collecting all the digital animals. Kind of like Pokemon Go but without having to go outside and the critters were actually cute. Some were easier to collect than others, of course, and by the time the hubby and I flew to Puerto Vallarta to meet up with our son in November 2022, I had all but about five or six of the animals. As hard as I tried I could not seem to get two of the animals which gave the most rubies and best boosters: the Lion or the Anteater.

On the first day in Puerto Vallarta, I’m playing my daily dose of Wordscapes when my son sees it and I tell him about the game. Well! He thought it looked interesting and loaded it on his phone too.

*Some of my collection BEFORE I lost them all…*

It was only then we learned that the cute Wildlife game was, apparently, a Beta test feature only available to some. It was a bitter pill for my son to swallow: only Mom was getting animals.

Undeterred, my son took on playing Wordscapes the same way he takes on pretty much everything he’s interested in: obsessively. And he was determined to get to the same point level as me. (I was somewhere in the 5000’s then)

We had been back from Mexico for a few weeks when I get the message from my son that, suddenly, the Wildlife feature was now available to him too. Of course he started collecting right away but was frustrated by not getting any of the ‘good’ animals.

For me, however, disaster struck in December when I had to get a new phone… and all my collection disappeared. Despite requesting the restoration of my animals, the Wordscapes people wouldn’t do it but did give me 15,000 coins so I could accelerate rebuilding. Gone were my Elephant and Quetzal, my two Epic animals. It was back to square one.

But there was a silver lining. Now my son and I were on the same footing and began sharing back and forth which animal we had gotten on a particular day. I decided not spend the 15,000 coins but earned my way back by playing the game and building up the points.

My son and I built spreadsheets and took screen shots; we evaluated each animal to determine which were best for particular tasks. We saved up our rubies so as to only purchase the eggs which produce the four Epic animals we most desired: Anteater, Quetzal, Elephant, and Lion

I got back my Elephant and Quetzal. I finally got an Anteater on January 7. My son got a Lion and an Elephant and, just two days ago, the Quetzal hatched for him. But he is still in search of the elusive Anteater.

As of today, still no Lion for me. I have vowed to only open the red eggs which have the possibility of a Lion. Until I get it, no other eggs (blue, green, purple) are allowed to be hatched even though I am far from having a complete set of critters.

But that’s okay. The fun is in the pursuit and in playing the game with my son. I even got the hubby in on it as we were driving home from a weekend trip Sunday afternoon. I’d tell him the letters of the main word and he helped me solve the puzzles as he drove, calling out words to try. Not only did it accelerate solving each puzzle, it was a fun way to pass the miles.

The red egg – the one which MIGHT produce the elusive Lion – will be available in 4 hours and 15 minutes. By my calculations I have enough ‘rubies’ to be able to open 16 eggs. Yes, I’m that insane. Wish me luck!

UPDATE: As you can imagine, I usually write these the day before they publish. I couldn’t wait until today to see about my eggs. Sadly, no Lion. But here’s what DID hatch. I’ll get a couple more tries before the red egg goes away for another week or so… who knows, maybe I might just get my lucky Lion.

The links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordscapes

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2849657081808319 – where the crazies are… I’m tame compared to some of these folks.

Weblog

Jan24

In Year Seven things start to repeat

January 24, 2023

When the calendar turned to 2023 it marked the beginning of year seven for this blog.

Artwork from Clker.com

There are times when I review my all the posts I’ve written and shake my head. How in the world did I come up with nearly 300 topics in the past six years?

Here are the statistics:

298 unique Tuesday Newsday posts
Longest Post: 1,598 words
Shortest Post: 164 words
Approximate average length per post: 1, 017 words
Approximate number of words written: 303,066

Statistics are, for normal people, kind of boring. But I decided I wanted to find, in particular, my longest and shortest posts and to get a feel for just how much I have written.

First, the longest post. This surprised me a bit. It was an article about the band Bachman, Turner, Overdrive (BTO). Now, one of the things I write about in that blog post is the fact that I was never a Mega BTO fan… which factored into an encounter with one of their band members in 1995. Of course, you SHOULD probably click on this link and go read all about it. It’s still a great story. In my humble opinion. https://barbaradevore.com/2021/11/09/bachman-turner-overdrive/

*Screen capture of my BTO post with Blair Thornton’s smiling face in the middle of the group.*

The shortest blog post is, ironically, from January 24, 2017. It was only the second post I ever wrote. The reason it’s so short is that I was still finding my blog ‘voice’ at that point. I recall looking for a topic to write about and couldn’t find anything which inspired a personal connection. So I wrote about Sutter’s Mill. I’ve never been to Sutter’s Mill. I discovered that I didn’t even reference the Infallible Wikipedia for that article. Likely the only time I haven’t. It’s a very lame article but for full transparency, here’s the link: https://barbaradevore.com/2017/01/24/thars-gold-in-them-there-hills/

Back in the early days I was wildly inconsistent. Which is why I have posts for ‘some’ Tuesdays in January and February of that year and not for others. By March 2017, however, I hit my stride and the posts poured forth.

Now here we are, in 2023, and the term BLOG is ubiquitous; everyone knows what it means, more or less. But that hasn’t always been the case. In fact blogging wasn’t invented until 1997. Yes, there is an Infallible Wikipedia article about it:

“The term ‘weblog’ was coined by Jorn Barger on December 17, 1997. The short form, ‘blog’, was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May 1999. Shortly thereafter, Evan Williams at Pyra Labs used ‘blog’ as both a noun and verb (‘to blog’, meaning ‘to edit one’s weblog or to post to one’s weblog’) and devised the term ‘blogger’ in connection with Pyra Labs’ Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms.”

Finally, for all my faithful followers, you may have just noticed that I turned my formula upside down by sharing my personal story first and the Infallible Wikipedia second.

It’s good to shake things up every once in a while and keep everyone guessing! And for those keeping track, this blog post is 547 words. You’re welcome.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

New Year’s Resolutions – Part II

Dec27

What’s YOUR most Valuable Real Estate?

December 27, 2022

Once Christmas is over, it is nearly impossible to escape the end of the year evaluations and lists of everything which went right – and wrong – during the previous year. It is that moment to step back, look in the proverbial mirror, and decide which ‘resolutions’ to embrace for the next year.

Five years ago I wrote about the tradition of New Year’s Resolutions and how they came into existence. That Tuesday Newsday link is here. https://barbaradevore.com/2018/01/02/new-years-resolutions/

Although the Infallible Wikipedia does not have a page on the most popular resolutions, I did find a list at GoSkills.com. From the article:

“Every year, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions, hoping to spark positive change. The recurring themes each year include a more active approach to health and fitness, improved finances, and learning new things for personal and professional development. Chances are, more than a couple of the top 10 most common resolutions will look familiar to you:

*We purchased this extra ‘real estate’ as the kitchen didn’t have quite enough. This is used every single day and is the favorite spot for food prep.*

1. Exercise more

2. Lose weight

3. Get organized

4. Learn a new skill or hobby

5. Live life to the fullest

6. Save more money / spend less money

7. Quit smoking

8. Spend more time with family and friends

9. Travel more

10. Read more”

For me, it’s almost always #3 which makes it to my list each year. People who know me often say to me “Get organized? But you’re already organized.”

The truth, however, is that it takes effort and constant monitoring to get and stay organized. I was an incredibly messy and disorganized child. But over the years, I have developed some strategies which I follow that help me stay on track.

The biggest thing I do is jealousy guard the Valuable Real Estate (VRE) in my home.

No doubt this phrase is causing more than a few of my readers to scratch their heads and ask “what the heck is she talking about with ‘valuable real estate’?”

I coined the term a few years ago to describe any surface or space which was needed on a daily basis to be used, particularly, by all the members of the household.

In our house, there are several spots which spring to mind.

First, and foremost, are the kitchen counters. I jealously guard the counter space. Now, while there are some decorative items and countertop appliances on them, for the most part, the things which are out include the knife block, the dish drainer, the coffee maker, two ceramic holders with either spatulas or whisks, salt and pepper grinders, a butter dish, a food scale, and an electric tea kettle. While it may sound like a lot, for the most part these things sit at the back of the counter, leaving plenty of space for food preparation.

But, back to figuring out what is, or is not, VRE.

The first thing I ask is:

Is the item used daily?

*The corner of the kitchen where small appliances and a few decorative items ‘live.’ This is not the most VRE in the kitchen but I still don’t allow it to become overly cluttered.*

The things which meet that criterion remain. Everything else is subject to the next question:

Can the item be easily moved and stored and is there a place other than where it currently is where it can go?

There are some kitchen appliances – like the mixer and the blender – which are too tall/large to be stored in a cupboard, so they live at the back of the counter. Fortunately, we have enough counter space that we can afford to have them where they are.

Of course there are things we have in our homes which we just like. That’s the third question: Does it have sentimental value or bring pleasure?

I do not underestimate the need for a vibrant plant to brighten a winter’s day; or a couple sets of favorite salt and pepper shakers given to me by a friend. We all need things which bring a smile to our face.

And the final question: Do I even NEED the item?

There are things which ultimately don’t even belong in the kitchen or the house as they’ve outlived their usefulness. Unless it has a sentimental value based on question #3, it’s probably time to get rid of it.

These four questions can be applied to any spot in your house. Is your dining room or kitchen table covered with mail and other junk? What about the bathroom counters? Can you park a car in the garage? Do you have a decent work area on your desk?

Let’s apply the VRE model to the dining room table. If yours is covered with stuff which prevents you from using it for eating a meal or other activities, then perhaps it is time to designate it as VRE and send in the excavation crew. The hubby and I both embraced this particular space as VRE early on in our marriage. We simply did not allow things to stay on the table.

*I change the table clothes and salt and pepper shakers frequently. Nothing is ever allowed to build up on the table.*

For me personally, I enjoy sitting at the table and having a meal with family and friends. Currently there is a small Christmas tree, four sets of salt and pepper shakers, and a holiday table cloth. For the sake of efficiency we will evaluate all items together:

Is the item used daily? The salt and pepper shakers, maybe. The cloth protects the table, so yes. The tree? Just arrived there yesterday as a decoration for Christmas dinner. So, no, it’s not used daily.

Can the item be easily moved and stored and is there a place other than where it currently is where it can go?

Yes. All the items have places in the house where they are stored when not in use.

Does it have sentimental value or bring pleasure?

Yes. Everything on the table brings me pleasure to look at.

Do I even NEED the item(s)?

Nope. But #3 is the deciding answer.

I do not diminish the challenges of daily life. Keeping up with dishes, mail, paperwork, laundry, etc. etc. etc., is not always easy and certainly, not fun.

The other piece of this equation is commitment. I usually clean the kitchen each night before I go to bed. Some days, like on Christmas when we had people over, the cleaning and putting away was not finished that night. But it was all completed in less than 24 hours.

That’s the commitment. Years ago I promised myself – for my own sanity – to make sure that those spots of VRE remained clutter free.

My resolutions for 2023 are pretty much the same as they are every year: spend a bit of time and evaluate how I want to use life’s most valuable commodity: time. And one of the best ways to do that is to make sure that the VRE in my life never gets out of control.

Magnificent Frigatebird

Nov15

A Magical Mexico Moment

November 15, 2022

One of the best things about traveling is the opportunity to experience what is to us, as travelers, exotic plants and animals. As I have, ahem, matured, I spend more time truly looking at the plants and am particularly more aware of unusual birds.

On my recent trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I was able to channel my inner Crazy Bird Lady. It was glorious.

The first day there I didn’t really focus so much on the birds. After all, birds are just part of the landscape. But then, because our son had rented an AirBnB perched on a steep hill above PV, I started to notice that these birds were not exactly like the robins, sparrows, and crows which populate our corner of the world.

It was a particularly large bird which caught my attention due, in great part, to their sheer size, their unusual tail feathers, and the quantity of them. Of course, having never seen such a bird, I went scurrying to the internet to try to identify it. I was not disappointed. Soon I found a helpful chart with pictures and names of the various birds found in Puerto Vallarta as seen here:

I pored over my chart, eventually settling on the Magnificent Frigate bird as the ones we were seeing soaring above us. According to the Infallible Wikipedia:

“Frigatebirds are a family of seabirds called Fregatidae which are found across all tropical and subtropical oceans. The five extant species are classified in a single genus, Fregata. All have predominantly black plumage, long, deeply forked tails and long hooked bills. Females have white underbellies and males have a distinctive red gular pouch, which they inflate during the breeding season to attract females. Their wings are long and pointed and can span up to 2.3 metres (7.5 ft), the largest wing area to body weight ratio of any bird.

Able to soar for weeks on wind currents, frigatebirds spend most of the day in flight hunting for food, and roost on trees or cliffs at night. Their main prey are fish and squid, caught when chased to the water surface by large predators such as tuna. Frigatebirds are referred to as kleptoparasites as they occasionally rob other seabirds for food, and are known to snatch seabird chicks from the nest. Seasonally monogamous, frigatebirds nest colonially. A rough nest is constructed in low trees or on the ground on remote islands. A single egg is laid each breeding season. The duration of parental care is among the longest of any bird species; frigatebirds are only able to breed every other year.”

I enjoyed looking for the Frigate Birds each morning as they soared high above where we were staying and watched them as they flew out and over the Bay of Banderas. It was on our third day in PV that we secured a boat trip out to the Marietas Islands for an all day tour. As it turned out, the islands are the breeding grounds for the Frigate Birds and we saw dozens of them as we approached.

*The author with the Marietas Islands in the distance*

The afternoon included snorkeling, an ‘eco-tour’, and my son and I both wanted to swim through a rock arch cave to an area known as the hidden beach (for an extra fee, of course!).

They took us by a smaller boat to the spot where we – only allowed to wear a life jacket over our bathing suits and a helmet – were to swim through the arch to the beach where we would be able to spend 24 minutes.

By now I imagine some of you are asking “Twenty four minutes? That specific?” Yes, that specific. The feature is controlled by the Mexican version of the National Park Service and only a limited number of people are allowed in on any given day.

To get there takes a whole lot of effort. I do not know how far we had to struggle through the rough ocean, but it was difficult. My swimming method was, mostly, backwards and on my back. At one point my son and I linked our right arms with him swimming forward and me backwards, each using our free arm and our legs for propulsion.

When we got to the beach we were tired and it was several minutes before I noticed a large bird just sitting in the sand about 20 feet away. Was it injured?

*The archway we had to swim to and through to get to the hidden beach.*

None of those who had swum to the beach knew for sure, so we gave the impressive animal its space.

We wandered around the beach and, eventually, the photographer they sent with our group snapped photos of my son and me so we had evidence that we had been there. After our photo shoot was finished I had a thought. Could we get a picture with the bird which I had identified as the Magnificent Frigate Bird?

After we were back on the boat with the larger group, the photographer came by to sell us our photos from the day. It was then that he told us that when he was back out with the next group, the bird – apparently not injured and only resting – had flown away on its own.

For this Crazy Bird Lady it seems as if that incredible creature had been there just for us. It was the most magical moment of the trip thanks to the Magnificent Frigate bird.

My son and me with the Magnificent Frigatebird who welcomed us to the beach. We know it’s a male bird as you can see his bright red gular pouch. The photographer took several photos of us with the bird but I chose this one because I swear the bird is smiling!

A couple of links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigatebird

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islas_Marietas_National_Park

Click to access birds-of-puerto-vallarta-id-guide.pdf

The Eyes Have It

Oct18

Contact Lenses

October 18, 2022

It was on October 18, 1964 when President Lyndon Johnson did something on live TV which benefitted the optically challenged: he wore contact lenses.

Now, for those of you who do not need corrective lenses and have never had to struggle with fogged up or rained on glasses or have never found yourself patting around your nightstand looked for spectacles, the then President of the United States wearing contact lenses might seem like a nothing burger.

But I, like hundreds of millions of people, do rely on devices to provide vision correction and contact lenses are a wonderful invention which has changed, literally, the way we see life.

The idea of being able to correct vision by placing an artificial lens on the eye can be traced back to 1508 when Leonardo da Vinci illustrated his concept in Codex of the eye, Manual D. It was unworkable. Other inventors also tried over the next few centuries.

Workable contact lenses made their way into use gradually. Thanks to the Infallible Wikipedia we learn the following:

“Although Louis J. Girard invented a scleral contact lens in 1887, it was German ophthalmologist Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick who in 1888 fabricated the first successful afocal scleral contact lens. Approximately 18–21 mm (0.71–0.83 in) in diameter, the heavy blown-glass shells rested on the less sensitive rim of tissue surrounding the cornea and floated on a dextrose solution. He experimented with fitting the lenses initially on rabbits, then on himself, and lastly on a small group of volunteers, publishing his work, ‘Contactbrille’, in the March 1888 edition of Archiv für Augenheilkunde. Large and unwieldy, Fick’s lens could be worn only for a couple of hours at a time. August Müller of Kiel, Germany, corrected his own severe myopia with a more convenient blown-glass scleral contact lens of his own manufacture in 1888.

The development of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) in the 1930s paved the way for the manufacture of plastic scleral lenses. In 1936, optometrist William Feinbloom introduced a hybrid lens composed of glass and plastic, and in 1937 it was reported that some 3,000 Americans were already wearing contact lenses. In 1939, Hungarian ophthalmologist Dr.István Györffy produced the first fully plastic contact lens. The following year, German optometrist Heinrich Wöhlk produced his own version of plastic lenses based on experiments performed during the 1930s.”

*Types of Contact lenses available today*

Contact lenses were, however, expensive and only the wealthy could afford them.

That started to change in the 1960’s but even then one needed to purchase contact lens insurance in order to replace lost or broken lenses (which happened all the time!)

The next breakthrough in technology – which was twofold – was the development of rigid gas permeable lenses and of soft contact lenses. Both allowed oxygen to pass through the lenses making it possible to keep the lenses on their eyes for longer periods of time. Some soft contact lenses can be worn up to 30 consecutive days.

As we’ve come to expect from the Infallible Wikipedia, there is exhaustive and detailed information regarding this topic. A link is provided below.

*You can even get contacts with a creepy look.*

When I entered fifth grade it was discovered, due to the fact that my teacher, Miss Crosslin, kept the lights turned off in her classroom a great deal of the time. I couldn’t read the blackboard. Soon visits to the eye doctor commenced and a prescription was written for glasses.

For a gangly pre-pubescent girl, having to get ugly glasses was a disaster. I HATED wearing glasses. I had to endure it for two full years until, thanks to my older sister, I became aware of the miracle known as contact lenses.

Then the lobbying began. My sister had been relentless in convincing our mother that she needed contacts, finally getting them while in eighth grade.

The summer between my seventh and eighth grade year, I too was allowed to join the contact lens wearing community.

*I showed my niece these two photos and she said I ‘glowed up’ with the addition of contact lenses.*

Which sounds much simpler than it was. In those days you had to ‘train’ your eyes to wear them, only being allowed certain amounts of time each day.

The very first day it was a whopping… fifteen minutes.

But I was determined to be done with glasses. All that summer I dutifully followed everything the eye doc told me to do. Fifteen minutes for week one, then twenty minutes for week two, then 30 minutes, then an hour. On and on it went until I was finally able to wear them for most of the day.

It truly was a miracle. But not without problems. The lenses didn’t fit particularly well and had an annoying propensity to pop out of my eye. I refer you back to the contact lens insurance thing. Yes, I had that. But even so, those little pieces of plastic were treated like gold.

A lost contact prompted getting down on hands and knees and scouring all surfaces in search of the errant lens.

The year I was 19 was particularly bad for lost lenses. I was traveling with the Rainbow Girls that year and I can’t recall how many times I seemed to lose a contact in my car while driving. I even had to have another girl drive me home one day when I couldn’t find the lost lens. I did unearth it later but a misplaced contact meant having to buy a new one. It was a pain.

But I didn’t care. Being able to wear contacts was always preferable to the alternative.

With the advent of Lasik, contact lens wearers had a new choice which allowed them to get out of their contacts altogether. For me, I have stayed old school, and still wear contacts. I figure I will wear them until the day arrives when I need to have cataract lens replacement.

The advancements in technology have made it so that the gas permeable lenses – for those of us who still wear them –stay in the eye and don’t pop out. Looking for a lost lens is a rare event these days.

But I kind of miss the thrill of hunting for something clear, thin, and ½ inch in diameter all while being blind in one eye. How else can I get in my calisthenics work out each day?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_lens

From weekly blogger to published author, I share my musings on life, love, and the stories which inspire me.

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