IN LIVING MEMORY

Posted on by vlaw759

Sometimes we lose sight of just how much has changed, and how rapidly. This blog might put some of those changes in perspective.

Note: This blog deals with changes in our lives here in the United States. Technological and social trends vary greatly around the world, and drastic changes in lifestyle vary as well.

Homes and Farms

Central heating was first coal, then oil. Coal deliveries often came directly into a cellar bin near the furnace, convenient for chilly people to shovel straight into the furnace hopper. It was messy and time-consuming!

Air conditioning started in public places. Although it was not unusual to find air conditioning in movie theaters, supermarkets, hospitals, or office buildings in 1955, fewer than 2% of U.S. residences had air conditioning of any kind then. Air conditioning units that fit on a window ledge hit the market in 1932, but their high cost meant few people purchased them. As late as 1955, less than half a percent of family residences had a central air conditioning system.

Architects incorporated elements into homes to allow residents to regulate temperature. Porches offered some break from the indoor heat. High ceilings, large windows, and opposing entrances for cross-breezes helped to cool the insides of homes.

Indoor plumbing came in stages. In the early 1900s, running water became more accessible to the average home. By the 1930s both running water and indoor plumbing were widely available. Still, most could not afford indoor plumbing early on, instead relying on outhouses and wells, and pumps.

Outhouses were still common after World War II, especially in rural areas. Chamber pots, very handy for the sick and for nighttime needs, required daily dumping and washing.

Changes in the understanding of public health and the ability to manufacture interchangeable pipes on a large scale both helped to drive the large-scale adoption of indoor plumbing. Only in the mid-20th century was there consensus among public health officials that indoor plumbing was essential. At this point, authorities developed plumbing codes for residential homes.

Food

Fresh food was seasonal and local, even in markets (which were small, nothing like today’s supermarket chains). A produce clerk who worked in an early supermarket in New York explained what he saw in the 1950s and early 1960s.

All winter, we’d sell potatoes and onions. Maybe some cabbages. In early March, we’d start to see spinach and maybe some broccoli coming up from Florida. After that, I could track spring by looking at the boxes: from Georgia, then South Carolina, then North Carolina, on and on. And then a few strawberries from Maryland or Delaware, but the trucks weren’t refrigerated so they didn’t make it very far before going bad. We’d sell peaches and watermelons and cantaloupes all summer, trucked down from Connecticut or Vermont. Then everything would be apples and squash for a while. And then back to just potatoes and onions.

Bill Corcoran, A&P Produce Clerk in Brooklyn, NY from 1951-1965

People preserved food by canning and drying, usually at home.

Milk, delivered to the house in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers, was unpasteurized, allowing cream to rise to the top. Daily milk delivery people could leave the milk by the door in an insulated box. This was still common in the 1970s.

Farm families milked their own cows (by hand). Churning the milk in wood or glass churns produced butter and buttermilk.

Farm families typically had smoke houses. When meat—red, white, or fish, but typically pork (bacon, ham)—was cured and cold smoked, it was also preserved.

There have been cases where smoked meats were still safe for consumption despite staying in storage for years, but food safety experts do not recommend eating meat stored for more than six months.

Hunting for the table was common. Deer, of course, but also pheasant, quail, rabbit, and squirrel. Fishing for the table was common as well, early on using a bamboo pole.

A drip jar/can on the stove collected bacon grease or other meat fat for seasoning.

Household Conveniences (i.e., Appliances)

Ice boxes predated refrigerators, and an ice man delivered big blocks of ice to the house. The insulated cabinet could keep food cold for about 5-7 days. Some ice boxes remained in use even after World War II, although 85% of American households owned a refrigerator by 1944.

Early refrigerators’ cooling units also served as the freezing compartment, big enough for only one or two ice cube trays. People who needed to freeze food rented a meat locker. No one “wasted” the rented space on freezing vegetables.

There were no dishwashers or garbage disposals in private houses, though Josephine Cochrane had invented a hand-powered dishwashing machine in 1886 to keep fancy china safe during cleaning. Some large restaurants had machines to disinfect dishes in keeping with changes to public understanding of contamination after the influenza pandemic of 1918.

The process of using a wringer washing machine was laborious, to say the least. A person doing laundry had to fill the machine by hand, lift the clothes out of the tub, and feed the wet clothes through rollers to press the water out—being careful not to get a hand or arm caught in the rollers. The water fell back into the washer. Water wasn’t changed after every load, so the weekly laundry started with the least dirty clothes.

Even earlier, people washed clothes by hand and squeezed them through a laundry press.

In either case, people hung clothes on a line to dry outdoors, or in the basement when weather dictated. Clothes dryers began coming into their own around 1960. As changes in ecological consciousness have encouraged smaller carbon footprints, line drying clothes is growing in popularity again.

Everything was ironed (or worn wrinkled). Permanent press wasn’t invented till the 1950s, not widely available till the 1960s.

Treadle sewing machines were common, even though electrically powered sewing machines were in wide use as early as 1905. The tailor pumped the treadle machine by foot, and the quality and evenness of the stitches depended on the steadiness of both hand and foot.

Machines

Plowing small gardens required one-human-hand-pushed plows. For big gardens and farms, plows were powered by a mule or two, sometimes horses. The turning point – when the amount of tractor power overtook the amount of animal power on American farms – was 1945.

Lawnmowers were human-powered reel mowers, with whirling blades that make a “scissory” sound. Gas-powered lawn mowers—still pushed by a person—didn’t become popular till after World War II in the U.S.

“Old-fashioned” human-powered gardening machines have been making a comeback recently, reflecting changes in the way people think about air pollution, noise pollution, and the ecological impact of lawns.

Automobiles were all stick-shift, with crank-down windows. Early Ford cars had a rumble seat, an open seat for two in the back.

Although available earlier, seatbelts didn’t gain popularity till the mid-50s, and then they were optional. Legal changes required that all car seats had seatbelts by 1968, and all passengers had to wear them after 1984.

Interestingly, high-end cars could get air conditioning as early as 1933, and Chevy was offering radios in the 1920s—i.e., earlier than houses had air conditioning, and before transistor radios swept the country!

Gas stations were not self-serve. Gas did not cost more than $1 per gallon till 1980.

Families were lucky to have one car.

Changes in Typing Machines

Typewriters were manual. The darkness of the print depended on the pressure on the keys, and hitting two keys at a time resulted in a jam that the typist had to untangle by hand.

At the end of a line of type, the typist had to return the carriage manually, resulting in the sound of a bell. One could choose single, double, or triple spacing.

One explanation for the keyboard being less than optimal for convenience is so that the typist wouldn’t work too quickly and jam the keys repeatedly. The QWERTY keyboard layout, developed for typewriters in the 1870s, remains the de facto standard for English-language computer keyboard.

Using a manual typewriter requires a lot of paraphernalia, such as inked ribbon and a typewriter eraser for mistakes. If one needed copies, the lack of copy machines meant that one needed to use carbon paper, which made correcting all copies a major pain.

Apparently, manual typewriters are still available, but used primarily by poets.

Manufacturers of electric typewriters, introduced by 1973, switched to interchangeable ribbon cartridges, including fabric, film, erasing, and two-color versions. At about the same time, the advent of photocopying made carbon copies, correction fluid, and erasers less and less necessary.

Still a far cry from personal computers and in-home printers!

Entertainment

Quiet pleasures were the norm for children: reading, playing cards or board games (e.g., Monopoly), “dressing up,” putting on puppet shows, jacks or pick-up-sticks.

Outdoor games burned off energy: tag, hide and seek, statues, mother-may-I, Simon Says, races, jump-rope, pick-up games of basketball, baseball, or football. Pediatricians speculate that changes from outdoor to indoor diversions in early childhood may be responsible for the increase in children with near-sightedness.

Playing outdoors—biking, hopscotch, catching fireflies, whatever—was typically without adult supervision or worry.

Television sets were produced and released commercially in America in 1938 but didn’t become popular until after World War II. The sets had three “channels” and changing channels required physically turning a knob. No mute. No recording. And all programming was black and white.

Movies were mostly black-and-white, too, until 1967! That was the first year in which film studios produced more color films than black-and-white (just two more, but this was the tipping point).

Music on demand records played on a victrola. Listening to a record required cranking (winding up) the victrola and placing the needle arm on the record by hand. Early vinyl records came in 33 1/3 singles or 78 albums.

Radio was a big source of entertainment prior to tv, providing comedy, music, thrillers, dramas, something for everyone. Radios were actually furniture at first. Portable radios, hand-held, carry anywhere, transistor radios really got going in the mid-1950s.

Communication

News came from newspapers and news broadcasts on radio, later television. It was not available 24/7.

Mail meant letters, physical paper pages delivered via USPS. In 1955, it cost 3 cents per ounce, 6 cents per ounce for Air Mail. Early in the century, in some cities, mailmen (always men) delivered the post twice a day! In small towns, with no home delivery, people had mail boxes at the post office, with combination locks.

Phone Call Changes

Telephones appeared in upscale households starting in the late 19th century. But by the 1950s about one-third of American households still didn’t have a phone.

At that time, people did not own their telephone; they rented it from the telephone company. Telephones had rotary dials and were either freestanding or wall mounted, but all were landlines. Most households had only one, in a central location.

There was no answering machine/voice mail option.

Private lines were a luxury. Party lines (from 2 to more than a dozen (!) households) had a specific number of short and long rings to signal which phone was being called. Anyone on the line could pick up—meaning any other party on the line could listen in.

With no portable phones, those needing to call had to find a pay phone, mostly located in phone booths, and have a pocketful of change. Phone companies charged for calls by the minute. On average, pay phone calls cost $0.05 into the 1950s and $0.10 until the mid-1980s. The pay phone peaked in 1995 when millions were scattered all over the country.

Long distance calls cost more than local calls, the cost going up after 3 minutes. One could call collect, i.e., request that the person being called accept the charges. Sometimes families who wanted to know that someone had arrived safely would work the system by having the traveler call collect but the recipient would refuse the collect call, message received.

Shopping

“Wish Books” were the nation’s Amazon from the late 1800s through the first half of the 20th century. Sears, Roebuck, & Company and Montgomery Ward sent thick catalogues packed full of everything from clothing to toys to household appliances. By 1894, the Sears catalogue was 322 pages.

As one man told me, “In the fall we’d sit down with the Wish Book and I could mark what I’d like to have for Christmas—up to $5.”

Both companies offered a mind-boggling array of products, including medical and veterinary supplies, musical instruments, firearms, bicycles, sewing machines, baby buggies, and houses!

Modern Home No. 15, available for only $725!

Sears house kits came in 447 different designs. At the economy end, $659 covered all the lumber, lath, flooring, roof, pipes, cedar shingles, paint, and other materials needed to build a five-room bungalow, featuring two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a front porch. At the other end of the spectrum, the grand “Magnolia” cost $5,140 to $5,972.

Sears advertised all kits with the promise that “We will furnish all the material to build this [house design].” All the parts arrived (usually by train) precut and ready to assemble. From 1908 to 1940, Sears sold between 70,000 and 75,000 homes.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Ward’s catalogue had more than 3 million subscribers to its mailing list.

In 1913 the USPS added Parcel Post Service. The maximum package weight the Post Office would deliver was 11 pounds, but grew to 70 pounds by 1931. Within the first six months of Parcel Post, Sears handled five times as many orders as it did the year before, and within five years doubled its revenue.

Catalogues aside, most shopping was local, in locally owned stores.

Within the Family

Male-female relationships generally followed a set pattern. Women lived at home until they married (when not on a college campus). Most couples had children after marriage.

Announcement of the Florence Crittenton Home in Seattle, 1899

Women pregnant out-of-wedlock faced social disgrace. Under the guise of visiting relatives, such women often went to homes for unwed mothers. Such establishments provided medical care, and some offered a semblance of schooling. Staff (and society) convinced the new mothers to relinquish their newborns for adoption, and then the young women returned to their prior lives.

There were few divorces, few single parents, and few grandparents rearing children. Changes in the legal landscape around families came about very recently. California was the first state to legalize no-fault divorce, in 1969, making it much easier for people to escape abusive relationships. Spousal rape was legal in the US until the 1970s, and laws designating a husband “head and master” of a family, with unilateral control of property owned jointly with his wife, remained in place until 1981.

Gay couples were all pretty much in the closet, certainly not married or parenting children. Staying in the closet was often the only way to stay out of prison until the 1970s.

Nostalgia of a Baby Boomer

Parents taught their children to respect authority without question. Police and teachers are there to protect you. They are always right, do as they say.

Respect for elders was expected from children. This was generally any adult. It included Mr., Mrs., or Miss when addressing them.

“Children were to be seen and not heard.” Enough said, except to emphasize sass or back-talk earned a scolding if not other punishment.

Fathers were the head of the household, provided for the family, and made most of the major decisions.

The evening meal was family time. It was usually at the same time every day, and children remained at the table till the meal was over. Parents forbade toys, books, and other distractions.

Personal Appearance and Finances

Church was a dress-up occasion, especially for women and girls, who wore dresses, hats, and gloves. New outfits for Easter were common.

Business men generally wore suits and ties.

Employed women—e.g., secretaries, teachers, bank tellers, any public facing job—often had to wear skirts, suits, or dresses, and stockings. As recently as 1965, college women were required to “dress” for dinner. Being able to wear jeans to class was a big deal.

Fiscal responsibility was important to many following the Great Depression; good paying jobs and saving for the future were major concerns. “A penny saved is a penny earned.” “Watch the nickels and the dollars will take care of themselves.” People aspired to pay-as-you-go.

Those in need turned to friends, family, or banks for loans. Credit cards started a craze that began to take shape in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Note: Until 1972, women could not get loans or credit cards without a male co-signer.

Bottom Line: Things change, and the rate of change is accelerating. Changes between 1925 and 1950 were substantial, but each subsequent twenty-five year has seen more change than the one before.

Chickens, Real Likable Birds

Posted on by vlaw759

Dorothy L. Sayers introduced me to Buff Orpington chickens. In Busman’s Honeymoon, a character named Miss Twitterton was forever obsessing about her flock.

Decades later, that breed name was still with me when I wrote “Real Likable Birds” a fiction piece. Here’s a quote:

“But I’ve thought it over, and the majority of my flock is going to be Buff Orpingtons. … They lay the prettiest brown eggs you’d ever hope to see. … The Buff Orpingtons are good, heavy chickens. They lay really well and they stay put behind a fence. They got more feathers than most, so I won’t have to worry about how they’d take a long cold snap. They’re gentle as anything. And the supplier says that come warm weather, it’s a good bet they’ll set. He said he’d put ’em up against most breeds for broodiness, mothering, and foster-mothering. My Buff Orpingtons are just going to be real likable birds.”

from “Real Likable Birds” by Vivian Lawry

My personal experience with chickens is pretty minimal. My paternal grandparents had a hard-scrabble farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Granny kept a flock of chickens, primarily for eggs for the table, but when old hens stopped laying well, there was chicken for dinner, too. One of my most vivid early childhood memories is from a time when Granny killed one of those old hens. She held it by the legs and put its head on her chopping block—a big old tree stump in the back yard—and cut its head off with an axe.

When it stopped flopping around on the grass, spraying blood everywhere, she again held it by the legs and dipped the carcass into a big cauldron of boiling water, also there in the back yard. The boiling water loosened the feathers for plucking. I helped with that, and the smell was awful—a combination of ammonia and poop. We put the feathers aside to wash later. They would be made into a feather tick for a warm bed in winter.

She singed the pinfeathers off the carcass over the wood burning stove in the kitchen and slit it open in the dry sink. Then she showed me a row of little yellow spheres like graduated pearls, the biggest about the size of my fingertip. She said those would have been eggs. Decades later, I learned that a hen is born with all the eggs she will ever lay.

Everyone Loves Chickens

It is estimated that there are more than 33 billion chickens worldwide! Outnumbering the human population, chickens are one of the most common farm animals.

ZZ, a Barred Rock hen

For no particular reason, I decided to learn more about this bird that is so common and yet so unfamiliar today beyond the clichés in common parlance:

  • Flopping around like a chicken with its head cut off
  • Fly the coop
  • Pecking order
  • Scarce as hen’s teeth
  • Stuck in my craw
  • Put all your eggs in one basket
  • Walk on eggshells
  • Mother hen
  • No spring chicken
  • Rule the roost

So What’s to Know, Anyway? Just Read On!

Dawn, a Grey Silkie hen

Chickens are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs! Science has documented the shared common ancestry between chickens and the Tyrannosaurus rex.

Chickens were domesticated about 8000 years ago, and evolved from the Red or Gray junglefowl, which are tropical birds. These wild birds fly to escape predators and to roost high up in trees. Today’s domestic chickens still have the ability to fly, although not as effectively. Chickens can fly for short distances – enough to clear obstacles or reach a perch, say about 15′ of the ground.

DT, a Buff Orpington hen

Chickens are faster than you might think. They can run up to 9 mph in short bursts, but their real power is they can turn on a dime. This speed and agility helps keep them safe from predators.

Some research suggests that chickens are just as clever as human toddlers. Hens have exhibited mathematical reasoning, object permanence, self-control, and even structural engineering. Chickens also demonstrate empathy and a number of emotional responses! Chickens can learn to do tricks twice as quickly as a dog.

Sleepy Chickens

Sleepy chicks

Research has shown that chickens experience REM (rapid eye movement) while sleeping, which indicates dreaming in humans.

They also have a sleep phase that humans don’t experience called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, where one half of the brain is asleep and the other is awake. This means that chickens can sleep with one eye open, which is especially useful for looking out for predators.

The “alpha” hen sleeps in the middle while roosting and the others that are lower in the hierarchy sleep on the outside with the outer eye open to watch for predators. These chickens on the outsides switch sides throughout the night so they can rest the other eye.

Chicken Anatomy

Peggy, a White Paint Silkie hen

Like humans, chickens have color vision, and are able to see red, green, and blue light. However, unlike humans, chickens are also able to see ultraviolet light, which are the colors we see when using a black light!

A chicken’s left eye is far-sighted, and their right eye is near-sighted. This has to do with the position of the embryo in the egg, and is very adaptive for finding food up close and spotting predators at a distance.

The position of a chicken’s eyes allow it to see in a 300 degree field. (Humans can only see 180 degrees.)

Sometimes, pervy geese like to spy on chickens in the bath!

While this may seem contradictory, chickens (like some other birds) bathe in dirt. They have an oil gland on their back that spreads oil over their feathers to make them waterproof. Over time, the oil goes stale, and chickens need to wash the old oil off through dust bathing.

Dust bathing is when chickens crouch on the ground and spread dirt or another dusty material over their body. The stale oil sticks onto the particles of dirt and falls off when the chicken shakes off the dirt. Chickens can then spread fresh oil onto their feathers.

Chickens don’t pee, they have a cloaca (just like dinosaurs) and their waste is a combination of poo and pee. That’s why their manure is considered “hot” and needs to break down before it is safe for plants: it’s full of concentrated chicken pee paste!

Chickens use their combs and wattles to help cool off in the summer. It’s kind of like mammals having big ears in desert environments. Blood cools off in the extremities and helps keep an animal from overheating.

Some claim that on a hot day, feeding chickens frozen veggies and fruits, which sit in their crop/craw, will cool chickens from the inside.

Chicken Feed

Natasha, a Green Queen hen

Some people think that chickens eat only plants and grains, but they actually eat (and enjoy) a much wider variety of foods, including bits of dairy or meat. Many owners use kitchen scraps to supplement their flock’s feed, which makes for an environmentally-friendly way to handle leftover food waste.

Chickens also like to peck around in the dirt and find bugs to eat, for example, beetles, larvae, slugs, grasshoppers, and even poisonous snakes.

In short, they’ll eat pretty much anything, but often have favorites—as reported by one chicken owner: “Mine LOVE papaya.” FYI, they can’t taste spice.

A chicken doesn’t have teeth but instead eats pebbles and store the grit in a pouch, known as its craw or crop, to crush food.

Chicken Behavior

Dorothy and Estelle, Buff Orpingtons

Chickens live in groups called flocks. The social structure of these flocks depends on a hierarchy called a pecking order, i.e., an order of dominance. Each chicken knows its place in this order, which helps to maintain a stable, cohesive group.

Chickens are predators to anything smaller than themselves. They’ll pick on or even kill other chickens they think won’t make it.

Chickens have over 30 unique vocalizations that they use to communicate a wide variety of messages to other chickens, including mating calls, stress signals, warnings of danger, how they are feeling, and food discovery.

The noise a chicken makes when it sees a particular person is its name for that person.

To keep roosters from fighting and keep hens from being stressed, flocks need hens to outnumber roosters. Depending on the breed, recommended ratios range from 1:5 to 1:12. Too many roosters can cause fighting over hens that aren’t “their own.”

With more than one rooster, each rooster should have its own territory—again, to minimize fights over territory, hens, and resources. Hens can lose neck and tail feathers from being mounted too often. A hen can mate with a rooster and then change her mind at the last minute and reject his sperm if she deems another rooster to be superior—also not conducive to peace.

Lazarus, a barnyard mix rooster

Roosters crow many hours of the day, not just at dawn. When a rooster in a flock dies, a dominant hen may develop male features such as spurs, long wattles, and combs, and attempt to crow and mate.

A chicken can be extremely aggressive at times, willing to beef up with things larger than herself. One mama hen named Lily chased an oblivious squirrel across the yard for existing. She also attacked a 100 lb Pitbull for getting close to her only chick.

Studies have shown that chickens are self-aware and can distinguish themselves from others. Chickens can also demonstrate complex problem-solving skills.

“Eggcellent!”

Latifah, an Ayam Cemani hen

Hens can lay eggs all on their own- no rooster needed!!! Indeed, some flocks are hens only.

One hen may lay as many as 300 eggs per year! As hens age, the number (and quality) of eggs laid tends to decrease.

What is the difference between brown and white eggs? The color of the shell depends on the breed of the hen, but it’s not feather color that tells you what color the egg shell will be. Chickens actually have earlobes, and generally, hens with red earlobes will lay brown eggs, and hens with white earlobes lay white eggs.

Although the color of the shell differs, the nutritional content and flavor do not. Nevertheless, brown eggs can cost 10-20% more than white eggs. The hen’s diet determines the color of the yolk.

A chicken will only lay one color egg in her lifetime.

Unwashed eggs will keep at room temperature for up to two weeks because they are laid with a protective coating. Washing away this coating (as is common in commercial US egg farms) means the eggs must be refrigerated. Refrigerated, they’ll last 5-6 weeks.

What Color?

Although most eggs are either brown or white, a surprising number of breeds lay other colored eggs:

  • Blue – The Cream Legbar is the best layer of blue eggs. She is a cross between the Leghorn, Cambar, Barred Rock, and Araucana.
  • Chocolate Brown – Many people like the dark (chocolate) eggs of the Black Copper Maran. Although those deep-colored eggs are beautiful to look at, they do come at a price. Buying good quality stock is expensive.
  • Brown – Depending on the shade of brown you want, you have a vast selection of breeds. The Rhode Island Red is perfect if you are looking for a mid-brown egg.
  • Green – The Isbar is your best chance to get green-colored eggs. The depth of green coloration will depend on the quality and genetics of the bird. While some lay a deep moss green, others can lay anywhere from a light green to a khaki-colored egg.
  • Plum-Croad Langshans are the only breed known to lay plum-colored eggs on a relatively consistent basis (the quality of the color will depend upon the parentage).
  • Pink – Pink eggs can be a matter of perception. To some folks, the egg may appear to be a light tint. To others, it will appear a pale pink. Orpingtons are your best bet for consistently pink-colored eggs.

Baby Chickens

In nature, a hen selects a nest site and lays a clutch of eggs (6-13), one egg per day. Once her clutch is complete, she sits on the eggs full time, leaving only to eat and drink.

Chickens tend to their eggs carefully. A hen turns her eggs approximately 50 times a day to keep the embryo from sticking to the side of the shell.

Buff Orpington and Speckled Sussex chicks

In a fertilized egg, the white (albumin) becomes the “chick” and the yolk is a food source for the growing baby. After hatching, a chick can go up to 72 hours without food because it’s still digesting that yolk.

When chickens lay eggs, the mother hens make noises that chicks still incubating inside of their eggs can hear and respond to. The chicks even make tiny “peeps” back from inside of their eggs!

Chicks as young as 2 days old recognize object permanence, a skill acquired by humans about 6 months of age. This means they know an object still exists even when taken away or hidden.

Chicks learn from their mothers and others in the flock, such as which foods are good to eat and where to find water.

A male chicken less than a year old is a cockerel; over a year old is a cock. A female chicken less than a year old is a pullet; over a year old is a hen.

Chicken Breeds

Pinny, a Red Cuckoo Silkie hen

People exhibit (show) chickens much like dog shows. There is a standard of perfection for each breed of chicken recognized by the American Poultry Association. There’s also an American Bantam Association, which regulates smaller bantam-sized poultry breeds.

The smallest breed of chicken, weighing only 8-15 ounces, is the Serama.

Silkie chickens have dark skin and bones as well as walnut-shaped combs for the males instead of your typical comb.

Ayam Cemani chickens, from Indonesia, have black feathers, faces, skin, and even organs. They lay pale pink eggs.

An American breed of chicken called the Buckeye was developed by Nettie Metcalf of Warren, Ohio, in the late 19th century. She bred a Buff Cochin male with Barred Plymouth Rock females, and named the new breed for Ohio, the Buckeye State. It is still the only American chicken breed developed by a woman. (The American Poultry Association recognizes 53 large chicken breeds, plus additional bantam chicken breeds.)

Bottom Line: Chickens are smart, complex, and all around interesting. They’re real likable birds!

MORTAL REMAINS

Posted on by vlaw759

A person dies. The body is still there. Someone, somewhere, somehow must deal with the human remains.

Burial

Interment is a fine old tradition, as testified to by all the graveyards and cemeteries. Essentially, a burial is putting a body somewhere where it is likely to remain, usually undisturbed, into the foreseeable future.

  • In the ground
  • In a building: mausoleum, crypt, wall
  • At sea

FYI: Although, historically, graveyards were attached to churches and did not allow cremated remains, there is no functional difference today between graveyards and cemeteries.

In Ground Burial

The Mushroom Burial Suit, invented by Jae Rhim Lee, is threaded with mushroom spores to help the body decompose after burial.

In-ground burial usually means a cemetery and involves a funeral home/director who makes sure all requirements are met. It’s the sort of thing most of us are familiar with.

Except in California, Indiana, and Washington State, it is legal to bury a corpse on private property, although rules and regulation apply.

  • Obtain a permit for burial/transportation
  • Follow local regulations regarding zoning laws embalming, refrigeration, and burial depth
  • Get written approval. The local board of health and governing body may need to be notified in writing
  • The property must be under the control of deceased’s family

So called “green burials” are growing in popularity. Natural burial grounds, cemeteries, and preserves all bury without embalming, liners, or vaults, and use biodegradable containers, whether caskets, shrouds or nothing at all. A variety of entities own and operate these cemeteries: municipal governments, religious groups, individuals, nonprofits, for-profits, and others. Many use GPS units or non-native stone markers to mark grave sites rather than carved headstones.

Both some Native American and Jewish communities traditionally use green burials.

Indoor Burials

Some mausoleums are grander than others.

In buildings, sometimes special requirements apply.

Most mausoleums require that a licensed funeral director has embalmed the body. Caskets must meet specific size requirements, and sometimes must have a self-sealing air valve.

Mausoleums are usually located in a cemetery or other place dedicated to the dead. They shouldn’t be noisy areas and should be well-maintained.

If you’re building a family mausoleum on private property, you must abide by local zoning rules.

Crypts are typically smaller than mausoleums and are often located in religious buildings or cemeteries. Owners often reserve crypt spaces for notable people.

Where space is scarce, people often turn to ossuaries for skeletal burial. After temporary burial in the ground (typically for a pre-determined period, such as ten years), a caretaker exhumes a corpse and transfers skeletal remains to a final—much smaller—resting place. Sometimes the bones go into an ornamental container; sometimes people display them in elaborate (if macabre) artwork.

Burial at Sea

People are still buried at sea, not just out of necessity but by choice—a choice growing in popularity.

The US Navy offers free burial at sea for eligible families of service members and veterans. The Navy performs such burials for an average of 1,500 cremated remains and 15 casketed remains per year.

Anyone can choose a burial at sea. The US Environmental Protection Agency has parameters for such burials and require a permit. The burial must take place at least three nautical miles from land. The ocean waters must be at least 600 or 1800 feet deep, depending on location. And the presiding entity must take measures to ensure that the remains sink rapidly and permanently.

Burning

The word cremation stems from the Latin word ‘crematio‘, meaning ‘to burn or destroy by heat’.

The form of body burning most common in the United Sates today is the modern cremation process, defined as the burning of a corpse using a column of flames at a temperature of around 1000 degrees Celsius in a furnace powered by natural gas or oil.

After the cremation procedure is complete, what remains are typically gray fragments including ashes from the cremation container and bone particles. Pulverizing these remains is typically the last step in the process.

Besides putting the cremains in an urn or box for burial or a place on the mantle, they can be

Funeral pyre in Ubud, Indonesia

There are legal rules in many places that require a waiting period before cremation. This wait is also important for things like completing all the necessary paperwork.

Of all world religions, Islam opposes cremation the most strongly. Islamic teaching considers cremation to be an unclean practice.

Conversely, funeral pyres are an essential part of a Hindu funeral, which is why people still used traditional pyres in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.

Water “Burning”

So called “water cremation”—aquamation—doesn’t actually involve burning. An alkaline hydrolysis machine contains a single air-tight and water-tight chamber. The chamber holds approximately one hundred gallons of liquid. A technician places the deceased into the chamber, then seals it. The contents may be subjected to heat (199 to 302 degrees Fahrenheit), pressure, and/or agitation (varying with equipment) to ensure proper cremation.

At the completion of the process, bone fragments and a sterile liquid remain. The bone fragments, now called cremated remains or hydrolyzed remains, appear pure white in color. Because the process uses water, the last step of the process is thoroughly drying the remains before pulverization.

Aquamation results in approximately 32% more cremated remains than flame-based cremation and may require a larger urn. On the other hand, it has less environmental impact (less air pollution and less energy needed).

On average, aquamation is slightly more expensive than traditional cremation because of the expense of the machines used. Typically, water cremation costs between $2,000-3,000, while flame cremation costs around $1,100-2,000. A traditional burial can cost between $7,000-12,000.

Exposure

The Lakota Sioux, Mandan, Cheyenne, Ute, and Navajo tribes often practiced tree burial, constructing platforms like a scaffold or tree to bring the deceased closer to the sky. Animals consume the body, bringing the life cycle full circle–similar to a Zoroastrian or Tibetan Sky burial.

Vultures at a Tibetan Sky Burial

In the Tibetan Sky burial, a celestial burial master chops the human remains into pieces and mixes them with barley flour. Then, a body carrier takes the mixture high into the mountains and leaves them for vultures. Everyone involved smiles and sings throughout the process to help guide the dead from darkness to the next stage. Tibetans see sky burial as a last gift to the universe — a way to show the insignificance and the impermanence of our earthly lives.

A Zoroastrian Tower of Silence holds human remains high above the ground, removing any chance of contamination. After carrion birds have stripped the bones clean of flesh, nusessalars (ritual pallbearers) transfer any remaining bones to an ossuary, mix them with lime, and allow them to disintegrate and return to the soil.

Preservation

Mummification, ancient as it is, is seldom practiced today. Natural mumification may occur, such as of people lost in the desert, but very few people choose mummification.

However, some villagers in Papua New Guinea still mummify their ancestors today. They believe that spirits will roam the earth after death unless their descendants maintain the body of the deceased. After death, family members place the bodies in a hut and smoke them until the skin and internal organs have desiccated. Then they cover the remains in red clay, which helps maintain their structural integrity, and placed the mummy in a jungle shrine. Villagers bring the bodies down from the shrine for celebrations, and loved ones visit the mummies to consult with their ancestors.

Sunflowers preserved in liquid silicone oil, by Marc Quinn

Cryogenics is, essentially, the opposite of mummification. The motivation is to preserve one’s body (or body part, typically the brain) in the hope that in the future, science will be able to correct or heal whatever the person died of, and the frozen person can live again. Today, liquid nitrogen tanks hold approximately 500 people globally for preservation, the vast majority in the United States. Around 4,000 people are on waiting lists of cryonics facilities around the world.

Useful as Well as Ornamental Remains

Some people plan before death to put their dead bodies to good use. Years ago, Mary Roach published Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Old, but still a great read!

Organ and tissue donation is well known. Just check the box on your driver’s license.

If you record your consent in the donation register, you can specify which organs or tissue you would like to donate. Several factors determine whether organs or tissue are actually useable for transplant, like their quality and whether or not a donor died in a hospital.

The donor must die in a hospital to be able donate organs. Organs need a supply of oxygen-rich blood to remain suitable for transplantation. After death, doctors hook up the donor’s body to artificial respiration to keep the heart beating, so that oxygen-rich blood continues to circulate.

By contrast, tissue donation is often possible if the donor dies in a non-hospital setting.

Not all organs and tissue types are suitable for transplant. Organs eligible for transplant are the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, and intestines. The skin, bone tissue (including tendons and cartilage), eye tissue, heart valves and blood vessels are transplantable forms of tissue.

Even if you are a registered donor, transplant teams may reject your organs or tissue after your death for medical reasons, for instance if you:

  • Had blood poisoning (sepsis)
  • Had an active viral infection
  • Acquired a tattoo or piercing in the 6 months before your death

There is no general age limit on donation. Although the heart of an 80-year-old person would be too old for transplantation, their skin or corneas might still be suitable.

Medical Education

“Muscles of the back: partial dissection of a seated woman, showing the bones and muscles of the back and shoulder”
Color mezzotint by J.F. Gautier d’Agoty, 1745/1746

Medical students use whole bodies for education. None of the tissue goes for transplant into a living person (which distinguishes whole body donation from organ donation). Physicians, EMS personnel, even dental healthcare professionals practice their skills through studying donated bodies.

Some specialized educational purposes require “fresh” bodies or parts. For example, plastic surgeons cannot use embalmed heads in the course of their education.

But typically, when a donated body reaches the end of its usefulness, it goes for cremation. Upon request, the family might then receive the cremated remains.

Science

Some medical conditions or circumstances of death can make a body unacceptable for scientific study. Depending on the nature of the research, these include:

  • Obesity/emaciation
  • Amputations
  • Unhealed open wounds
  • Contagious diseases

For example, real human bodies were/are necessary to calibrate crash test dummies accurately for impact tolerance. Similarly, the military studies effects of bullets and bombs.

Whole body donation is not possible after an autopsy has been performed.

The Body Farm

The Body Farm is a special case of donating one’s body for science. The University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center is commonly known as the Body Farm.

At the Body Farm, students intentionally leave corpses out in the elements to study what happens as the body decomposes. The placement might expose the body to air, submerge it in water, bury it in a shallow or deep grave, allow access to scavenging animals, or any other circumstance. The goal is always the same: to simulate crime scenes so that students can document decay and learn to identify future victims (or the time and circumstances of their death).

Just as you can become an organ donor when you die, you can also choose to donate your body to the Body Farm. Medical examiners who cannot identify a corpse or locate next of kin are also primary providers of bodies to the facility. Since the inception of the Knoxville, TN lab, body farms have sprung up in Illinois, Texas , Colorado, Illinois, Florida, and North Carolina—and even exist outside the U.S. Facilities have opened in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom!

Bottom Line: Something will be done with your mortal remains. If you care, make provisions before you die, and tell your next of kin of your wishes!

WHO KNEW?

Posted on by vlaw759

People are funny, strange, and wondrous creatures! Just read on.

Hobbies

Estimates are that 400,000-500,000 people in the U.S,—more than 95% of them women—play Mah Jong with the National Mah Jong League card. Another 350,000,000 play thirteen versions of Mah Jong in Asia. Game experts have long recognized mah jong as the world’s most played game, with an estimated player base in Asia, Europe, and North American ten times bigger than poker. 

Who are the most optimistic pet owners in the U.S.? Tortoise owners, because tortoises can live 80-150 years! (I couldn’t find a number specifically for tortoise owners, but approximately 18% of American households keep tortoises or turtles as pets.)

Only 1-2% of the U.S. population has gone skydiving at least once.

Rock climbing? It depends on what type of climbing you are looking at. Women are 59% of sports climbers, but only 39% of those in mountaineering, ice, and traditional climbing combined. Then there is indoor vs. outdoor climbers, and boulderers, each of which have different gender makeups.

Among U.S. households, 52% have at least one person, age 5 or older, who is currently playing a musical instrument.  Two-thirds of Americans (66%) learned to play a musical instrument at some point in their lives.  The most popular musical instrument is the guitar.  The double bass is probably the least played instrument.

The average American spends only 19 minutes a day reading. The average number of books read by adults over the age of 65 is higher than any other age group, at around 20 books per year. Men tend to read non-fiction books more often than women.

Gender

Tiffany Hadish performing stand-up in 2013

Men tell more jokes professionally than women do. In the United States, 11.3% of stand up comedians are women and 88.7% of stand up comedians are men. Over an 11 year period, these percentages have shifted approximately 2% in favor of women. Systemic sexism in the industry (venue directors reluctant to book female comedians, backstage abuse, pay disparities, hostile crowds, etc.) are a bigger driver in this divide than any difference in innate funniness.

Being in love is biochemically the same as having a severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to researcher Dr. Donatella Marazziti.

Research on liking and loving between engaged couples found that the men loved their partners more than they liked them. The women both liked and loved their partners.

Equal numbers of males and females are conceived. Approximately 105 males are born for every 100 females.

Women survive famine and epidemics better than men. On the other hand, research has shown that women disproportionately suffer the impacts of disasters, severe weather events, and climate change.

One study found that men with longer ring fingers than index fingers had slightly longer penises. However, the common misconception that hand size predicts penis size has been widely discredited.

Research shows that women with larger breasts tend to have higher estrogen levels; breast size may therefore serve as an indicator of potential fertility.

Health

Approximately 60% of people are side sleepers. Only about 7% are stomach sleepers—which is fortunate, because stomach sleeping is the least healthful position.

Depth of sleep is related to brain waves. Convincing yourself you slept well can trick your brain into thinking it did.

A feel-good life is not necessarily a healthy one. Stress can be good for us. Stress is a powerful motivator. It can enhance your resilience and problem-solving skills, strengthen relationships, promote personal growth and self-improvement, and improve cognitive function.

Female pattern baldness affects about one-third of all women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB). The chances of getting female pattern baldness increase with age.

Caucasians experience the most hair loss; people of Afro-Caribbean heritage tend to experience the next highest levels of hair loss, with Asian men having the lowest hair loss rates.

On average, male pattern baldness begins in the late twenties to early thirties. By the age of 50, approximately 50% of men will experience some degree of hair loss.

For both men and women, pattern baldness tends to cluster in families. Having a close relative with patterned hair loss appears to be a risk factor for developing the condition.

Outlook

Nationally forty-seven percent of Americans are either very or somewhat optimistic, while the other 53 percent are more inclined to be somewhat or very pessimistic about the future.

Speaking in a foreign language might change your decisions or the reasons for those decisions.

In addition, speaking multiple languages gives a person a sense of reality and identity that is separate from monolinguals and monoculturals.

US research published in the Journal of Consumer Research indicates bilinguals may unconsciously switch personalities depending on the language they are using.

The type of music you listen to affects the way you perceive the world. According to results from a 2014 study done by Laura Getz and colleagues, those with a higher perceived idea of stress and those with higher optimism preferred more upbeat and popular music. Both also used this kind of music for emotional regulation.

Wisco and Nolen-Hoeksema (2009) found that those who were already unhappy had more negative memory associations [to songs] than those who were not unhappy.

90% of people text things they can’t say in person.

The food you make may not taste the same as the food someone else makes, despite following the same recipe. Minor differences in things like water hardness and oven temperature affect flavor, but the diner’s experience (happy or sad occasion, food presentation, level of hunger, speed of eating, etc.) also changes the taste of food.

Research indicates that those eating with others eat up to 48% more food than solo diners. This phenomenon is known as ‘social facilitation’.

People After Death

Barbara Kemmis, head of the Cremation Association of North America, says the cremation rate is almost 60 %, compared to 40% who opt for traditional casket burials.

Beyond urns, there are many options for ashes: made into jewelry, or different types of objects, such as  glass art, sculptures, diamonds, keychains, or hunting bullets. You can even turn your loved one’s ashes into a  vinyl album  or get them tattooed into your own skin.  Of course, many people choose to scatter cremains in special places. 

Bottom Line: Whatever you want to know about human behavior or characteristics, someone has studied it and shared those answers online.

SNAIL MAIL

Posted on by vlaw759

Can you mail an emu to your sister in Ohio? Yep.

You want to send your brother-in-law’s ashes to his son in Taiwan. Not a problem.

Sending a durian fruit to someone who loves it? That would be a big NO.

It turns out that modern U.S. Postal Services go way beyond letters, postcards, bills, junk mail, and the occasional birthday bracelet.

A Brief History of the Post Office

On July 26, 1775, at the beginning of the American Revolution, the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia founded the United States Post Office. They appointed Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general (he had plenty of experience as the postmaster of Philadelphia since 1737). The passage of the Postal Service Act in 1792 officially created the Post Office Department.

The appointment of local postmasters was a major venue for delivering patronage jobs to the party that controlled the White House. For this reason, newspaper editors often got the job.

The Post Office became a cabinet-level department in 1872.

It wasn’t until 1970 that the U.S. Postal Service became an independent agency. The signing of the Postal Reorganization Act by President Richard Nixon on August 12, 1970, replaced the cabinet-level Post Office Department with a new federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service, effective as of July 1, 1971.

The Cost of Mail

Much as we bemoan every increase in the cost of stamps, the U.S.P.S. has the most affordable domestic letter price of 31 countries studied. In June 2023, foreign currencies, converted to U.S. dollars, revealed that a U.S. stamp was approximately one-third of the average price of domestic stamps. The next most affordable postal systems, Australia and Japan, are nearly 25% less affordable than U.S.P.S.

Why is a first class letter so inexpensive? Federal law allows the price of first class stamps to increase only at the rate of inflation. The use of first class stamps has declined during the current era of email, Instagram, text messages, and social media. And, as of April 12, 2007, savvy buyers can load up on Forever Stamps at the old rate before new rates go into effect.

Package rates do not follow the same constraints as letters. Shipping rates are determined by a package’s weight, dimensions, rate tier, and the distance between the ship-from and ship-to location (referred to as a zone). Although the package rates of U.S.P.S. are competitive, they aren’t particularly low.

For most packages, the shipper has alternatives: UPS, FedEx, etc. However, be aware: the United States Postal Service offers the only legal method of shipping cremated remains domestically or internationally.

I did not explore what other shippers will handle, but the Post Office can probably accommodate almost all of one’s shipping needs. In fact, commercial shipping companies often have “last-mile” agreements with the Post Office, under which the shipping company will take a package to the Post Office closest to the final destination, and U.S.P.S. letter carriers then take the package that last bit to final delivery.

Mailable Live Animals

Many live animals are mailable under proper conditions.

Bees

Honeybees and queen honeybees must be free of disease, as required under federal and state regulations. The following additional conditions apply:

  • Honeybees
    • Honeybees are acceptable to mail only via surface transportation.
    • Mailpieces must be plainly marked on the address side with “Live Bees” and “Surface Only” or “Surface Mail Only.”
  • Queen Honeybees
    • Queen honeybees may be shipped via air or surface transportation.
    • Each mailpiece shipped via air transportation is limited to one queen and eight or less attendant honeybees.

Baby Birds

The following live, day–old fowl are acceptable for mailing when properly packaged:

  • Chickens
  • Ducks
  • Emus
  • Geese
  • Guinea birds
  • Partridges
  • Pheasants (only during April through August)
  • Quail
  • Turkeys

However, day–old poultry vaccinated with Newcastle disease (live virus) is not legal to mail.

Adult Birds

With proper packaging, you can ship disease-free adult birds domestically IF you are in compliance with all applicable governmental laws and regulations, including the Lacey Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Animal Welfare Act, regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and any state, municipal, or local ordinances.

Mailings must also be compliant with the requirements provided in USPS Publication 14, Prohibitions and Restrictions on Mailing Animals, Plants, and Related Matter. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also requires that you mark each package according to the rules in 50 CFR 14.

Besides having proper packaging, adult birds must be able to sustain shipment without food or water because liquids, moisture, and loose foodstuffs can cause damage to the shipping container, other mail, and Postal Service equipment during transport.

Scorpions

Restrictions in 18 U.S.C 1716 limit the mailing of scorpions. Under this limitation, scorpions are mailable only when sent for the purposes of medical research or the manufacture of antivenin. Please do not try to mail scorpions under any other circumstances!

Cold-Blooded Animals

“Snail mail” will actually mail snails!

If you properly package your small (no more than 20 inches!) cold–blooded animals, you can mail them through the U.S. Postal service. However, snakes, turtles, and turtle eggs are exceptions – wildlife rules prohibit shipping those through the mail.

USPS actually delivered several children through the mail before it was specifically outlawed in 1913.
  • Baby alligators and caimans
  • Chameleons
  • Frogs
  • Lizards
  • Newts
  • Reptiles and amphibians
  • Salamanders
  • Tadpoles and toads
  • Goldfish and tropical fish
  • Worms
  • Bloodworms
  • Mealworms
  • Hellgrammites
  • Leeches
  • Snails
  • Nonpoisonous insects

Dead Animals in the Mail

Mailing dead animals or animal parts is a bit tricker. You can only mail dead bodies, or parts, of wild animals, wild birds, or eggs if they meet specific conditions:

  • They are lawfully killed or taken.
  • The law of the United States or of the state, territory, district, or foreign country or subdivision in which killed or taken or offered for shipment does not prohibit their shipment.
  • You’ve packaged them in such a way that they will not pose a health or contamination risk.

Prohibited or Restricted Mail

The Post Office outright prohibits mailing many things that are potentially hazardous.

  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Handguns (although unloaded rifles and shotguns are allowed)
  • Cigarettes (since 2010, unless you’re in Alaska or Hawaii and shipping within the state)
  • Drugs in any form*
  • Switchblades (unless the person you’re sending them to works for law enforcement)
  • Animal-fighting materials, accessories, and paraphernalia

*But what about prescription drugs? Under Federal law, it is illegal for most people to mail prescription drugs or pills. Only eligible entities approved by the DEA are allowed to send prescription medications through the mail.

You can only mail liquids and powders if they are are nonhazardous (i.e., not regulated as hazardous materials) and you have properly labeled them and packed everything in sealed containers. To send more than 4 oz, you need to triple-pack the container with insulating materials in leakproof, sealed containers. Surprisingly (to me), you can mail small amounts of poison, including cyanide, arsenic, and tear gas.

Any matter that emits an obnoxious odor (think durian) is nonmailable.

Miscellaneous Other Items Prohibited or Restricted

Bomb Disposal Unit at the US Postal Museum
  • Air Bags
  • Ammunition
  • Automobiles
  • Biological Materials
  • Ceramic Tableware
  • Cultural Artifacts and Cultural Property
  • Defense Articles or Items with Military or Proliferation Applications
  • Dog and Cat Fur
  • Drug Paraphernalia
  • Explosives
  • Prior Notice for Food Importation
  • Fruits and Vegetables
  • Game and Hunting Trophies
  • Gasoline
  • Gold
  • Haitian Animal Hide Drums
  • Liquid mercury
  • Marijuana (although hemp/CBD is allowed)
  • Medication
  • Merchandise from Embargoed Countries
  • Pets
  • Photographic Film
  • Plants and Seeds
  • Soil

Note: the lists above are illustrative, not comprehensive.

Other People’s Mail

Section 1708, Title 18, of the United States Code addresses the question of opening someone else’s mail. According to this code, opening, destroying, or hiding mail addressed to another person is a federal crime. The only exception would be where another party has a Power of Attorney or similar legal power (for example, if you are declared incompetent, etc.). Under the law, even opening mail addressed to your spouse or ex-spouse is a Federal crime.

Similarly, even intentionally taking a letter addressed to someone else, from someplace other than your mailbox, is a federal crime that could potentially land you in prison for up to five years.

But don’t panic! Provided there is no malicious intent, the legal system typically does not treat the accidental opening of another person’s mail as a criminal act. However, intentionally misusing mail belonging to someone else may fall under obstruction of correspondence, mail tampering, or mail fraud.

If you have a problem with someone taking or opening your mail, it is a postal crime. You should file a complaint with the Postal Service, and they will handle the matter.

If you get mail with your address but a different name, mark it “Return to Sender” and send it back with your outgoing mail.

How do you stop junk mail from being delivered to your house? To opt out permanently: Go to optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) to start the process. But to complete your request, you’ll need to sign and return the Permanent Opt-Out Election form you’ll get after you’ve started the process.

Bottom Line: USPS regulations are extensive and complicated. You can browse regulations at usps.com, or you can get relevant information quickly and easily with an online search. For example, search online for “Can I mail XXX by USPS?” and you will get the correct info quickly and easily.

MONEY IN AMERICA

Posted on by vlaw759

There’s a lot of it! Cautioning that federal spending had a way of getting out of control, Erik Dirksen reportedly observed, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.” In 2022, the value of currency in circulation in the United States amounted to roughly $2.26 trillion, a slight increase compared to the previous year.

These $10,000 bills were only in circulation from 1928 to 1934. Think the grocery store could make change?

Not surprising, money in the U.S. isn’t evenly distributed. Now the caveats:

(1) numbers vary, depending on year reported and source, but the patterns are stable.

(2) “Average” is usually the arithmetic average, or ”mean.” Averages tend to be skewed, pulled high or low by the extreme numbers. Often median is the more useful number: the median is the mid-point where half are higher and half are lower. For example, in 2024, the mean family income in Virginia was $123,883 while the median family income was $93,284.

Caveats aside, I hope you find what follows interesting.

American Wealth

America is, indeed, a rich country. According to an annual assessment of wealth and assets compiled and published by the Swiss bank Credit Suisse, in the middle of 2021, there were 56 million people worldwide whose assets exceeded one million US dollars. Over 40% lived in the United States .

So, worldwide, the United States is home to the largest number of millionaires: 22 million in 2023, representing 6.6 percent of the country’s population.

At the other end of the spectrum, in 2022, 41.89 million people in the U.S. were living in poverty. The most recent data from the US Census Bureau showed the national poverty rate at 11.5%. To put that into perspective, that’s 37.9 million people living in poverty in America.

About 50 million Americans are “poor”: i.e., they have household incomes below 125% of poverty, including more than 15 million children. In 2022, household incomes below 125% of poverty correspond to annual incomes below $34,500 for a family of four or $17,500 for an individual.

Just as being poor isn’t identical with living in poverty, having a million dollars isn’t the same as being “rich.”

For example, you may be considered rich if you’re in the nation’s top 1% of earners. In 2022, that group saw an average annual income from wages of $785,968—nearly 19 times higher than the bottom 90%, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The top 5% of income earners make $335,891 per year.

American Net Worth

Another measure of wealth is net worth. Net worth is the difference between the values of your assets and liabilities. The average American net worth is $1,063,700, as of 2022. Net worth averages increase with age from $183,500 for those 35 and under to $1,794,600 for those 65 to 74.

A high-net-worth individual, or HNWI, might be defined differently among certain financial institutions. But in all cases, a high-net-worth individual is someone with a large amount of wealth. Typically, a high-net-worth individual has assets of between $1 million and $5 million. To be considered very high net worth, one might need assets ranging from $5 million to $10 million, while an ultra-high net worth would require $30 million or more.

According to Schwab’s Modern Wealth Survey, in 2023, Americans said that it takes an average net worth of $2.2 million to qualify a person as being wealthy—i.e., high-net-worth according to the above labels.

Rich or Wealthy?

There’s a difference between being rich and being wealthy. Wealth is all about the money you hold onto. Being rich is having things: the nice house, car, clothes. And free time. We’re all familiar with “Time is money.” For the rich, money is time, time available to do whatever one pleases.

Two studies consistently found that rich people are more conscientious, open to experience, and extraverted than the average population. They are also less agreeable (that is, less likely to shy away from conflict) and less neurotic (as in, more psychologically stable).

Traits of rich people (from sources across the web)

  • Emotional stability
  • Conscientious
  • Less neurotic
  • Sociopathy
  • Passion
  • Healthy habits
  • Lack of empathy
  • Optimistic and opportunistic
  • Less likely to assign blame
  • Strategic use of credit and investments
  • Confidence (often over-confidence)
  • Education (important, but not required)
  • Narcissism
  • Self-centered
  • Resilience
  • Risk taking
  • Extroverted
  • Decisive

The rich are often quieter than the poor because they have less to worry about. Money can buy you food, shelter, and a financially secure future. It can also buy you freedom from want and fear. When you have enough money, you don’t have to worry about where your next meal is coming from or whether you’ll be able to pay your rent. Wealthy people don’t have to live with the constant fear that a single illness, car malfunction, or unexpected bill will send them spiraling into homelessness.

Poor or Impoverished?

Though America is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, huge swaths of the population are only one or two paychecks away from financial disaster. Living near or below the poverty line has drastic effects on peoples’ mental and physical health, some of which show up as behavioral patterns. People who cannot afford to lose their jobs are more likely to put up with bad conditions at work. Taking the bus to work and doing your own home cleaning and repairs leaves very little time or energy to visit with friends. Not being able to afford seeing a doctor often means minor ailments develop into serious health complaints. If your mind is consumed with how to pay the electric bill and afford medication, you’re liable to pay less attention to international politics.

Matthew Desmond makes the argument that American poverty is the result of deeply-rooted societal practices and the byproduct of government policies.

Traits of impoverished people

  • Likely to develop chronic stress health conditions (heart disease, diabetes, etc.)
  • Adaptability
  • Focus on short-term goals
  • Innovation
  • Community involvement
  • Tendency to unhealthy coping mechanisms (alcohol, drugs, etc.)
  • Missing work or obligations due to unreliable transportation
  • Shorter lifespans
  • Empathy
  • Lack of access to routine healthcare
  • Patience
  • Malnutrition or poor diet
  • Lack of trust in institutions
  • Wide-ranging skill sets
  • Have less time for hobbies or social engagement
  • Lower sense of control

Children Without Money

Children who grow up without financial stability are more likely to develop a myriad of health issues, including depression, asthma, diabetes, PTSD, obesity, lack of impulse control, and delayed cognitive and social development. Poverty can drastically impact a child’s performance in school. A person who grows up in poverty will likely continue to feel the echoes of these ills into adulthood.

Signs of Poverty & Neglect in Children: 

  • Poor hygiene and general lack of cleanliness 
  • Inappropriate uniform, shoes, or clothing 
  • Lack of food provided or money for food 
  • Malnutrition 
  • Missing school equipment or other required items 
  • Poor or inappropriate living conditions 
  • Negative impact on mental health and self-worth 
  • Tiredness or inability to concentrate at school 
  • Stealing or taking things to use, eat, or sell 
  • Being left home alone 
Signs of PovertySigns of Neglect
Parents requesting support from school No or limited access to health care
Children working jobs outside schoolRepeated absence from school
Children concerned about parents and situationLack of parental involvement

Many of the signs are the same for both neglect and poverty.

Does Money Buy Happiness?

The folk wisdom is that money can’t buy happiness, but the lack of it can “buy” a lot of misery.

And, actually, self-reports of life satisfaction indicate that as income/money goes up, so does satisfaction, although at the high end, there are diminishing returns. More money is associated with more happiness for most, but not all, people. For 80% of people, happiness continues to rise with income past $75,000.

And much depends on where you start. “If you’re rich and miserable, more money won’t help,” said Matthew Killingsworth in a UPenn release. Further, the extent to which money affects happiness differs for people with different levels of emotional well- being. According to the UPenn release, the collaborative 2021 paper found that “for the least happy group, happiness rises with income until $100,000, then shows no further increase as income grows. For those in the middle range of emotional well-being, happiness increases linearly with income, and for the happiest group, the association actually accelerates above $100,000.”

John Jennings gave a great summary in Forbes: “While the link between income and happiness is real, it’s modest and conditional. We must be careful not to overemphasize money’s role in happiness. Happiness is a complex topic involving various factors —money being just one of them. Genetics, health, relationships, leisure time, and purpose likely matter more for well-being than dollars alone.

“As the Beatles sang, ‘Money can’t buy me love.’ Yet, used wisely, money can enhance our sense of well-being and improve our lives.”

How Do You View Money?

In my opinion, people in the United States have a skewed view of money. Between depictions of wealth and “the good life” in the media, not to mention the incomes publicized for professional athletes and others, there’s a tendency to think more is always better.

For people living in poverty or just above, life is hand-to-mouth, and there is virtually no wiggle-room. For the rest of us, we should look at our relationship with money and its place in our lives. Many years ago, I read Your Money or Your Life (Dominguez & Robin, 1992). I highly recommend it for getting one’s head on straight about money.

Bottom Line: Consider the place of money in your life and make the most of both money and your life.

Lies, They’re Everywhere

Posted on by vlaw759

For purposes of this blog, I’ve used one of the many dictionary definitions of a lie: an assertion of something known or believed by the speaker or writer to be untrue, intended to deceive. In spite of the generally held belief that lying is a bad thing, and all the admonishments of “thou shalt not lie,” people do—surprisingly often! How often? On average, a person lies 11 time per week.

Lying Statistics

Check out these statistics from Cross River Therapy, Bright Futures, and other sources across the web.

At four years of age, 90% of kids understand the meaning of lying. Typically, a child tells his or her first lie between ages 2 and 3.

  • Parents are the primary victims of lying, with 86% of lies being told to them.
  • Second to parents are friends, lied to 75% of the time.
  • Siblings are the third most lied to, accounting for 73% of victims.
  • The fourth most lied to are our spouses, lied to 69% of the time.
  • 12% of people 18 and older lie sometimes or quite often.
  • Online, people lie most often on dating sites, where 90% of participants engage in untruthfulness.
  • On CVs and resumes, 31% of people admit to lying.
  • On average, people tell six lies every day, whether to supervisors, partners, spouses, or workmates.
  • 80% of women tell half-truths on occasion.
  • Lying on a phone call during voice chat is 70% more likely than a face-to-face chat.
  • 10% of all lies can be defined as exaggerations, though 60% of all those lies are considered to be deceptive.
  • Of all liars, 70% of them say they are willing to do it again.

Don’t Lie at the Doctor’s Office!

Lying to a medical provider can cause serious problems with your health!

  • Doctors hear many lies; 13% of patients admit to lying when talking to their physicians. This could be regarding the number of times one has smoked tobacco, taken medication, or engaged in intimacy without protection.
  • Medical providers consider stretching the truth to be a form of lying, an occurrence committed by 32% of all patients at hospitals and healthcare centers.
  • 30% of patients have lied about their exercise routine and food-eating habits.
Doctors and nurses can tell when you’re lying.

Lying Research

In a study of 11,366 lies told by 632 people over 91 days, 75% of them lied between 0 or 2 times per day. 6% of the participants had low lying levels, though they lied more often on some days at random. In total, most of the lies were trivial, such as lying about how well one’s day was going.

Interestingly, one study found a link between truthfulness and health. Participants who refrained from telling any lies for ten weeks experienced improvements in their physical and mental health. Those in the control group experienced no such improvements.

During most communication, only 10% of the lies people tell are major lies. 90% of the time, the lies are trivial.

When the Lies Come Out

Everyone lies at times. When meeting someone for the first time, a person will lie to them twice or 3 times within a ten-minute time frame.

  1. 60% of people lie at least once in a 10-minute conversation.
  2. Men lie 6 times a day on average, while women lie 3 times a day on average.
  3. 80% of women admit to lying to their partner about their spending habits.
  4. 50% of teenagers admit to lying to their parents about their whereabouts.
  5. 81% of people lie about their height, weight, or age online.
Some politicians might be skewing these averages…

6. Politicians lie on average once every five minutes during a debate.

One study found that people are more likely to lie in the afternoon than in the morning, suggesting that willpower and self-control may play a role in our honesty levels throughout the day.

In another study, researchers studied lies over a brief period. The variety of people’s lies tended to fluctuate. People who lie more often show greater variation than those who lie less often. The top 1% of all liars (who lied 17 times each day) had the most variance. The participants with little variance were the 1%, with nearly no instances of lying.

Why Do People Lie?

Lying allows a person to establish perceived control over a situation by manipulating it. It’s a defense mechanism that (seemingly) prevents them from being vulnerable, that is, to not open up and reveal their true self to another person.

Everyone knows that not all lies are the same. For example, the statistic above that only 10% of lies were serious. But how else can they be classified?

“I’d love to come to your party, but I have to walk my fish.”
  • 21% of people lie to avoid being around other people
  • 20% of people lie to be humorous, such as when telling a joke or making a prank
  • Self-protection is the reason for 14% of people who lie
  • 13% of liars do so to make a good impression on others, or to appear more favorable to them
  • 11% of liars do it to protect someone else
  • Personal gain or benefits are the reason that 9% of people tell lies
  • 2% of liars do it with the sole intent to hurt someone else
  • 5% of liars are unspecified, doing it for no stated reason

Fear of punishment is the most common reason for lying, with 27% of people admitting to it.

  • 23% of people lie to protect themselves or others from harm
  • 20% of people lie to avoid embarrassment or shame
  • 14% of people lie to gain power or advantage over others
  • 9% of people lie out of habit or compulsion

Who Do People Lie To?

  • 56% of people admit to lying to their boss or supervisor.
  • 42% of people have lied to their significant other about something significant.
  • 39% of people have lied to their friends at least once.
  • 28% of people have lied to a healthcare provider.
  • 23% of people have lied to their children.
  • 18% of people have lied on a job application.

White Lies

These are the most common type of lie, with 72% of people admitting to telling them. People often tell harmless white lies to be polite or to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.

“What a great gift. I love it. Really.”
  • Lies about personal accomplishments:
    • 64% of people admit to lying in this way. These can include exaggerating one’s own achievements or skills, or taking credit for something they didn’t do.
  • Lies about emotions:
    • 63% of people admit to telling these kinds of lies. These can include pretending to be happy when you’re really upset, or saying something doesn’t bother you when it really does.
  • Lies about whereabouts:
    • 60% of people admit to lying about where they are at any given time. This could be because they don’t want others to know where they are, or because they want to appear more interesting than they actually are.

Target of Our Lies

According to a survey conducted by Statista in 2020, many people report that they have been lied to by someone they know:

  • Friends: 80%
  • Romantic partners: 70%
  • Family members: 69%
  • Coworkers: 64%
  • Acquaintances: 40%

Interestingly, the survey also found that people were more likely to be lied to by someone they knew than by a stranger. (Or maybe those are just the lies they know about!)

The Most Common Lies People Tell

“I’m fine.” This is perhaps the most common lie people tell, with 60% of people admitting to telling this lie. Often used as a response to the question “How are you?” when they’re really not feeling okay.

“I’m right around the corner, honest!”

“I’ll be there in five minutes.” This lie is told by 40% of people, and it’s often used when running late or stuck in traffic.

“I’m on my way.” 35% of people admit to using this lie when they’re not even close to leaving their current location.

“I didn’t see your message/call.” This is a common excuse for not responding to messages or calls, and 30% of people admit to using it.

“I have read and agree to the terms and conditions.” This lie is often used when signing up for online services, with 25% of people admitting to not actually reading the terms and conditions before agreeing to them. (I’m surprised this number isn’t higher; experts estimate we’d have to spend an average of 250 hours every year if we actually read all the terms and conditions we agree to!)

The Consequences of Lies: Damaged Trust, Legal Consequences, and More

Lying can damage trust and relationships. In a study conducted by the University of California, Santa Barbara, participants who were told that their partner had lied to them in a game were less likely to cooperate with their partner in future interactions.

“So tell me more about your experience curing cancer and solving world hunger.”

Lying can have negative effects on mental health. Research has found that individuals who frequently lie experience more anxiety, depression, and stress than those who are more honest.

Lying can lead to legal consequences. In a survey conducted by the American Management Association, 21% of respondents reported that they had been involved in a lawsuit where lying was a contributing factor.

Lying can damage one’s reputation and credibility. A CareerBuilder study found that 58% of employers have caught an employee lying on their resume, which could lead to termination or difficulty finding future employment opportunities.

Lying can become a habit, and frequent liars may find themselves telling lies even when there is no real benefit to doing so. This can lead to feelings of guilt and anxiety, as well as damage to personal relationships. Additionally, some people may have a pathological tendency to lie, which can be indicative of deeper psychological issues.

Psychology of Lies

To truly understand the psychology of lying, it is important to examine the underlying emotional and psychological factors that contribute to the behavior. By doing so, we can gain a greater understanding of how lying impacts our lives and the lives of those around us.

While lying is a common human behavior, some people lie more frequently than others. Here are some reasons why this might be the case:

  1. Certain personality traits, such as narcissism or low self-esteem, may lead individuals to lie more frequently.
  2. Growing up in an environment where lying is normalized or even encouraged can make it more likely for individuals to adopt the same behavior.
  3. People who have experienced trauma or abuse may use lying as a coping mechanism to protect themselves or avoid further harm.

Although lying can serve a purpose in the short term, it can also have negative consequences on one’s personal and professional life. Frequent lying can damage trust and relationships with others, lead to legal issues, and cause mental health problems like anxiety and guilt.

How to Catch Lies

People tend to give verbal or physical “tells” when they aren’t being truthful.

“And then, uh, the, um, the banana peel I slipped on, er, a dog ate it. Yeah, and then, uh, all the lights went out and so, um, nobody could see it. And that’s how I lost my pants!”
  • Being vague and offering few details
  • Repeating questions before answering them
  • Repeating the same story over and over
  • Speaking in sentence fragments
  • Explaining things in strict chronological order
  • Sounding like they are repeating a rehearsed script
  • Failing to provide specific details when a story is challenged
  • Failing to give a straightforward response to a simple yes or no question
  • Grooming behaviors such as playing with hair or pressing fingers to lips
  • Physical changes that indicate a fight-or-flight response, like increased sweating, muscle tension, restlessness, and fidgeting

The consequences of lying are not as simple as they might seem. People often think that lies breed contempt and guilt, but they do much more.

The Upside of Lying?

They foster relationships, build trust, destroy social networks, create social networks, make people more creative, and influence how often other people lie.

Lie is a harsh word. Often people soften the act for their own self-concept or to minimize negative fallout.

For example, here are a few of the many synonyms for telling lies:

FoolTrick
TeaseKid
MisleadSpoof
BluffCon
MisinformTake someone in
String someone alongBlur the truth
Pull someone’s legFake someone out

Bottom Line: Virtually everyone lies. Some motives are more benign than others. Some consequences are more serious than others. Not all lies can be painted with the same brush!

THE COMMON COLD

Posted on by vlaw759

How common is the common cold? People in the U.S. suffer a billion colds per year!

Protein coating of common cold
Protein coat of human rhinovirus HRV14

Adults average 2-3 colds per year; children 6-10. Not generally dangerous, but you can feel like you’ve been hit by a truck—i.e., wiped out, tired, with sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, cough, discomfort, sneezing, headaches, and body aches. Fever is more common in children, likely to be low-grade in adults.

Cold symptoms will go away on their own over time. Sleep helps boost the immune system and can help you recover from a cold more quickly—assuming you’re able to sleep when you have a cold. For three days, I slept in a recliner, about 20 hours a day. I gather elevating the head generally helps sleep.

And how long will this misery last? Generally 3-10 days. (However, my current cold has hung on for two weeks, albeit with diminished symptoms. Oh, sigh.)

Common Cold symptom progression
from the US Center for Disease Control

Contrary to popular belief, cold weather or getting chilled does not cause a cold, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Yes, colds are more common in fall and winter, but you can get a cold any time of year. Seasonal frequency may be related more to seasonal activities, such as returning to school or spending more time indoors.

Cold Research

Ebers Papyrus, describing cold symptoms
page from the Ebers Papyrus

So why do we call it a cold anyway? The name “cold” came into use in England in the 1500s, due to the similarity between its symptoms and those of exposure to cold weather. But it’s much older than that! Cold symptoms and treatment are described in the Egyptian Ebers papyrus, the oldest existing medical text, written before the 16th century BCE.

In 1956, Harvard Hospital of Salisbury and the Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom set up the Common Cold Unit (CCU). Researchers there discovered the rhinovirus in 1956. The only successful treatment the unit discovered, in 1987, for the prevention and treatment of rhinovirus colds was zinc gluconate lozenges. Two years after making this discovery, the CCU closed, in 1989.

Rhinoviruses cause an estimated 30-35% of all adult colds. Scientists had previously identified 99 distinct rhinovirus types. Recently, however, researchers have detected a number of unknown types in patients with severe flu-like illnesses. Research indicates that there may be up to 4 different species of rhinovirus.

So, 65-70% of colds (upper respiratory infections) are not caused by a rhinovirus, meaning zinc isn’t a cure-all. Other respiratory viruses that can cause colds in the United States include common human coronaviruses, parainfluenza viruses, adenoviruses, enteroviruses (including EV-D68), and human metapneumovirus. Scientists know of more than 200 different viruses that cause the symptoms of the common cold.

Cold Complications

All colds risk complications beyond the symptoms listed above.

Mild to moderate complications:

Sever complication of a cold may include pneumonia
Public health warning from 1936
  • Middle ear infections (infection behind the ear drum)
  • Sinus infections

Potentially severe complications:

  • Asthma attacks (wheezing, difficulty breathing)
  • Bronchiolitis (infection of the small airways)
  • Bronchitis (infection of the large airways)
  • Pneumonia (infection of the lungs)
  • Worsening of chronic medical conditions (for example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure)

SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), influenza virus (the virus that causes flu), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can also cause cold-like symptoms but do not cause colds. These respiratory viruses are more likely to cause severe illness, hospitalization or death, especially among groups at increased risk: infants, older adults, or those with underlying medical conditions or weakened immune systems.

If you have cold-like symptoms and suspect you have COVID- 19 or flu, take a COVID-19 test. This is especially important if you’re at higher risk for severe illness. Antiviral treatments are available for COVID-19 and flu and work best when started very soon after symptoms begin.

Cold, Hard Facts

I found the following “interesting facts” about colds at Ago Virax.

  • There are around 100 known serotypes of HRV, meaning that a vaccine cannot be made … and that we have the potential to be infected around 100 times by this virus alone. Plus, mutations cause a thus-far eternal number of new strains of the virus.
  • Rhinoviruses can survive for three hours outside of the body, and can sometimes live for up to 48 hours on touchable surfaces, infesting everything from door knobs and subway poles to shopping carts and light switches.
  • A single cold virus can have 16 million offspring within the course of a day.
  • Research suggests people are most contagious when symptoms are at their worst. However, sick people can also infect others even before symptoms develop.
  • The lower the humidity, the more moisture evaporates from sneeze and cough droplets, and the further the germs can travel. Dry air also dries out the mucous lining in our nasal passages, weakening an important protective barrier. Both of these contribute to the increase in colds during cold, dry weather.
  • Vitamin C won’t cure a cold. But, according to the latest scientific research, taking at least 0.2 grams of vitamin C every day may decrease the duration of a cold by a day or two.
  • The single best way to avoid getting a cold, aside from becoming a hermit, is to wash your hands. A lot. Use soap and wash them in water for 20 seconds. It’s cheap and easy and more effective than alcohol-based hand sanitizers. However, if you don’t have soap and water, sanitizers will still do the job.
from Baltimore and Ohio employees’ magazine, c. 1912
  • Infected people spread colds by touching their eyes, nose, and (to a lesser extent) mouth and then touching communal surfaces like doorknobs or counters.
  • Virus-harboring droplets can hang in the air for a few seconds after an infected person sneezes or coughs, waiting to infect the unwary.
  • While a person’s breath can travel one meter per second, droplets from a sneeze can travel at about 160 kilometers per hour.
  • A single sneeze can spray 100,000 germs into the air … which is why you should keep 6 feet of distance from a sneezing sick person.

Cold Comfort

And finally, a bit of good news: most cold viruses are not spread by saliva. Thus, kissing itself is not likely to transmit the common cold. (Unfortunately, if you’re close enough to be kissing, you are probably close enough to succumb.)

“Man with a Cold” from Yamai no Soshi (Diseases and Deformities) c.1615, Japan

Bottom Line: There’s no vaccine for the common cold, and no known cure. If it truly is a common cold, prepare to just suffer through it!

KNOW WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS

Posted on by vlaw759

I just found out that the US now has a derecho season every year. Reading about it lead me to all the fascinating and bizarre ways wind impacts the rest of the weather, many of which I discussed in this post from 2021.

wind sock

According to the wind sock above, the wind when the photo was taken was blowing at about 6 knots (7mph). The sky is clear, the sun is bright, and there are no flying sharks. Unless you live in England or Seattle, this is nothing to write home about.

Even though you can’t actually see it, wind can create some pretty incredible things to write home about. Our ancestors definitely thought the wind was worth writing about, especially when it picked up everything around and sent it flying through the air.

Like snow, there are seemingly endless names for specific types of winds. If you really want to know about the difference between piteraq and bora winds, check out the World Meteorological Organization or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration websites. I’ve included some of the most spectacular and most mythological wind events here.

Dust Devils

wind causing dust devil
Arizona

Suppose you experienced a Dust Devil? A small dust devil, say 18 inches wide and a few yards tall is a sight to behold. A BIG dust devil—say 33 feet wide and 1000 feet tall—can be terrifying!

An extreme dust devil can reach 60 mph and last up to 20 minutes. In the process, it could lift more than 12 tons of dirt, and the friction between wind and surface can create sparks often mistaken for lightning. In fact, dust devils are not associated with storms.

Krakow

Dust devils have been known to lift roofs and collapse buildings, sometimes killing people. There are reports of them flinging animals and 10-year-old children about. Inflatable bounce houses are especially vulnerable.

Where do they come from? When hot air at ground level rises quickly and hits a pocket of cool/cold air, it can start to spin, forming a column of air. The spinning, along with friction from the surface, allows the column to move, picking up dust along the way. Dust devils are especially likely in deserts. Usually they cause little damage.

Other Names for Dust Devils

Coal devil in Mongolia
  • Dancing devil
  • Dirt devil
  • Dust whirl
  • Sand auger
  • Sand pillar
  • Redemoinho in Brazil
  • Remoinho in Portugal 
  • Willy willy or whirly whirly in Australia 

Beliefs About Dust Devils

Saci-Perere living in the wind of a dust devil
Saci-Pererê by J. Marconi
  • Chindi is the Navajo term for spirit or ghost
    • Good spirits whirl clockwise; bad spirits spin counterclockwise
  • Ngoma cia aka is the word for women’s spirit/ demon or women’s evil among the Kikuyu in Kenya
  • Fasset el ‘afreet from Egypt, meaning ghost wind
  • According to Brazilian legend, Saci-Pererê lives inside the dust devil and grant wishes to anyone who can steal his magic cap

More Devilish Wind

Everything is more awesome on Mars, even dust devils.

Martian dust devils form the same way as on Earth, but bigger: up to 10 times as high and 50 times as wide, with mini-lightning flashes. Dust devil trails on earth’s deserts usually disappear in a couple of days; on Mars, they remain visible (so I’m told) for weeks.

Snow devil

Snow devils develop when a strong wind hits a solid object (like a mountain), spins downward and lifts up snow, creating a vortex. They usually last only a few minutes, and they are small (seldom more than 30 feet across). Still not something one would want to be out in.

Fire devil

Fire whirls, aka fire devils or fire tornadoes, develop a vortex inside a wildfire. They are whirling columns of fire rising up into the air. They carry ash, debris, and smoke and feed the fire and spread it. There have also been reports of fire whirls at volcanos and during earthquakes.

Haboob (هَبوب‎) is a kind of huge dirt devil that can appear in deserts around the world, including the U.S., associated with thunderstorms. When the rain is released, it causes sand to blow up, making a wall of sand that precedes the storm. Haboobs can be several miles high and 60 miles wide.

Haboob in Texas

Tornadoes

There are many varieties of tornado beyond those that transport Kansas farm houses to Munchkinland.

Composite photo showing the development of a tornado

The actual definition of a tornado is a bit fuzzy, even among the experts. They can’t seem to agree on when one tornado stops and another starts. The swirling wind tunnel has to touch the ground and the clouds at the same time before it counts (that’s why gustnadoes aren’t really tornadoes, though I’ll include them here for ease of reference). Tornado experts judge tornado strength by size, wind speed, and distance over the rainbow it can throw a farmhouse.

Gustnadoes

Gustnado in Colorado

Gustnadoes are closely related to dust devils, short-lived and ground based, but they have stronger winds (maybe as strong as weak tornadoes) and develop over open plains areas of the U.S. They don’t form funnels and may go unnoticed. Though a gustnado can cause serious damage, it’s not tall enough to register as a tornado.

Other Weird Winds

Firestorm

California Rim Fire, 2013

A firestorm develops when a fire becomes so big and intense that it creates its own storm-force wind systems. Firestorms are most often associated with wildfires and brush fires, but they can also be created when large sections of densely built cities catch fire.

Sandstorm

Sandstorms (aka dust storms) don’t whirl or spin. It’s essentially a wall of wind that pushes sand in a more-or-less straight line. Wind strength can be strong enough to pick and move entire sand dunes great distances. Sandstorms occur worldwide, wherever deserts are found.

Sandstorm in Al-Assad, Iraq

Khamsin

Khamsin over Libya, seen from space

Each spring, areas along the eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Arabian peninsula are hit by a khamsin (خمسين from Arabic word for 50).  The khamsin is a 50-day wind that coats everything in sand and dirt.

In 2009, archaeologists may have found remains that appear to be those of a Persian army of more than 50,000 that vanished in 525 BCE. A strong wind that blew up from the south is suspected of covering them in suffocating mounds of sand.

Downburst

Illustration of a downburst
Micro Downburst Wind
Downburst (micro) caught on film

A downburst occurs when the downdraft of a thunderstorm hits the ground and forces the air to gust outward and curl backward. As it moves horizontally, the wind can cause extensive damage to everything it passes over. The wind curling backward can cause further damage, creating tornadoes, waterspouts, snow devils, sharknadoes, and fire whirls.

  • A macroburst happens when an extremely strong downdraft hits the ground. Horizontal gusts cover an area more than 4 km in diameter. These gusts can be as destructive as a tornado.
  • Microbursts are smaller in size and shorter in duration. A microburst is less than 4 km across and short-lived, lasting only five to 10 minutes, with maximum windspeeds sometimes exceeding 100 mph.

Derecho

Derecho Wind

A derecho is a widespread, long-lived wind storm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms. A typical derecho consists of numerous microbursts, downbursts, and downburst clusters. By definition, if the wind damage swath extends more than 240 miles (about 400 kilometers) and includes wind gusts of at least 58 mph (93 km/h) or greater along most of its length, then the event may be classified as a derecho.

Ground Blizzard

Ground blizzard with blue skies

Unlike regular blizzards, ground blizzards don’t involve any snow falling from the sky, but they are still deadly. Instead, snow that is already on the ground is whipped into whiteout conditions by an extreme cold front. Temperatures plummet, and snow on the ground is picked up by wind gusts up to 60mph. The Arctic cold fronts that cause ground blizzards also cause extreme low temperatures.

Sand Wind
A Sand Wind on the Desert by George Francis Lyon

Every one of these wind events have been known to kill people! In addition, extremely hot or cold winds can do the same. Though we usually can’t see the air itself, the effects are pretty amazing!

Godly Winds

Wind Spirits
Riders of the Sidhe, by John Duncan 1911
In Irish folklore, the Sidhe or Aos Si are the supernatural pantheon. Sidhe is used to mean fairies, but the Old Irish translation is “wind” or “gust.”

Deities connected to the wind are often closely related to those of the air. In many traditions, the same deity governs the air and the wind. Cultures heavily reliant on changes in the wind, such as seafaring communities or nomadic groups on open plains, tend to have more detailed and powerful wind and air gods.

One of the most famous wind gods in mythology is Aeolus, the Greek god governing all winds, who was closely involved in Odysseus’s voyage home. He is certainly not the only supernatural being in charge of the wind and air.

Wind Deity
Njörðr, Viking god of wind and sailors
Wind Deity
Enlil and Ninlil, Mesopotamian god and goddess of wind
Wind Deity
Ehecatl, Aztec god of wind
Wind Deity
U Kʼux Kaj, Mayan god of wind, fire, and storms
Wind Deity
Stribog, Slavic god of winds, sky, and air
(by Andrey Shishkin)
Wind Deity
Taiyuin Fujin, Japanese god of wind

Superhero Winds

If that’s not enough to convince you that wind and air hold a prominent position in our collective subconscious, just look at how many modern superheroes (and villains) have the names and powers of wind phenomena.

Wind Superhero
Cyclone in the DC Universe
Wind Superhero
Cyclone in the Marvel Universe
Wind Superheroes
Silver Banshee, villain who fights Batman and Supergirl
Wind Superhero
Wind Dancer of the New Mutants
Wind Superhero
Dust Devil of the Masters of Disaster
Wind Superhero
Wind Warrior of Earth Force
Wind Superhero
Red Tornado of the Justice League
Wind Superhero
Macroburst from The Incredibles
Wind Superhero
Firestorm of the Legends of Tomorrow

Bottom Line: We tend to think in terms of breezes or stiff winds, but there’s so much more to wind than that!

Surprising Salvia

Posted on by vlaw759

For the first time, I have three salvia (SAL-vee-uh) plants in my yard, chosen by another, planted for their blooms. I wanted to know more. And what I learned at KidsHealth and Australia’s Alcohol and Drug Foundation surprised me!

Salvia spathacea

You may also know salvia as diviner’s sage, magic mint, maria pastora, sally-d, seer’s sage, and shepherdess’s herb.

Please note: what follows is readily available information. I’m absolutely not recommending any particular use of salvia.

Psychedelic Salvia

Salvinorin A chemical structure

It’s an herb in the mint family that can cause brief, intense psychedelic experiences. Salvinorin A is the active ingredient in salvia divinorum. Native to the mountains of southern Mexico, salvia has a long history of use by Indigenous shamans there.

Salvinorin A affects opioid receptors in the brain. This differs from other hallucinogenic drugs like LSD and psychedelic mushrooms, which affect the brain’s levels of serotonin.  As a psychedelic drug, it can affect all the senses, altering a person’s thinking, sense of time, and emotions. Psychedelics can cause a person to hallucinate, seeing or hearing things that do not exist or appear distorted.

Salvia funerea

As a drug, salvia comes as fresh green plant leaves, dried shredded leaves, or a liquid extract. Traditionally, users chewed the fresh salvia leaves or drank the extract, but now people take the drug in a variety of ways. A user can also smoke the dried leaves in a bong or mixed with tobacco as a cigarette. For sublingual absorption, a user holds the fresh leaves under the tongue.

Salvia’s effects come on quickly, sometimes in less than a minute. According to anecdotal user reports, when smoked the effects of salvia begin in 15 to 60 seconds and last for about 15 to 90 minutes. When placed under the tongue, the effects begin in around 10 to 20 minutes and last for about 30 to 120 minutes.

Savlia’s Side Effects

Salvia officinalis

Psychoactive drugs affect a person’s mental state and can have varied effects depending on a person’s mood or mindset (often called the ‘set’) and/or the environment they are in (the ‘setting’). Salvia’s effects on the mind can range from mild to intense. They may be frightening, depending on how strong a dose of the drug someone takes.

(Factors affecting the effects of psychedelic drugs is too big a topic to include here, but info is readily available online.)

Common short-term effects include

Salvia officinalis
  • Hallucinations and changes in visual perception
  • Uncontrolled laughter
  • Mood and emotional swings
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Sense of detachment from self and reality (not being able to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s imaginary)
  • Dizziness and lightheadedness
  • Lack of coordination
  • Slurred speech
  • Amnesia
  • Loss of energy (higher doses can cause sedation)
  • Pain relief
  • Confusion
  • Delusion
  • Feelings of impending doom
  • Increased appreciation of music
  • Uncontrolled body movements
  • Anxiety
  • Restlessness
  • Increased body temperature
  • Time distortion

Some studies suggest that, over time, salvia use may contribute to dysphoria, which is characterized by feelings of depression, discontent, and restlessness.

Smoking salvia over a long period of time can lead to breathing trouble and other health problems.

Because the drug has such dramatic psychological effects, it can seriously impair coordination and perceptions of reality; people under its influence expose themselves to a substantial risk of injury or accidental death.

Salvia and the Law

Salvia coerulea

In many areas, salvia is perfectly legal and widely available. Stores sell it as a tincture or tea in some countries, or even as commercially extracted products.

However, salvia is illegal in a number of foreign countries and in many American states. Salvia is a schedule 9 drug. Federal and state laws provide penalties for possessing, using, making, selling, importing or exporting, or driving under the influence of salvia. Possession or use of salvia in states where it is illegal is punishable by fines and jail time.

This last bit gave me an adrenaline rush. But common sense soon surfaced: a garden center wasn’t likely to be selling salvia divinorum. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to find out just what kind of salvia I have. As best I can determine, it is salvia coerulea.

Salvia’s Other Uses

Most salvias are considered non-toxic to people of any age. Many ornamental varieties have a noxious taste, but there are no known toxic qualities when consumed by humans. (In large quantities, salvia can be toxic to dogs, causing symptoms like vomiting, depression, and breathing difficulties.) So, although ornamental salvias are not poisonous, they’re nothing you’d want to put in soup.

The edible salvias are usually referred to as sage, like the Salvia officinalis used to flavor roasted chicken and turkey. In fact, there are several edible varieties that are used in everyday seasonings.

Salvia elegans, pineapple sage

Sage’s leaves are very pungent when raw, which is why most chefs recommend cooking them before eating. However, the flowers are reputed to have a delicate taste that makes a nice garnish in salads or sauces. They are great for the pollinators too!

According to WebMD, sage might help with chemical imbalances in the brain that cause problems with memory and thinking skills. It might also change how the body uses insulin and sugar.

People commonly use sage for memory and thinking skills, high cholesterol, and symptoms of menopause. Some people also use it for pain after surgery or to treat lung cancer, sore throat, sunburn, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.

Bottom Line: Know your salvia and use accordingly!