A Text Funny

Illinois State Flag

The state is in the process of determining whether a new state flag should be adopted. More than 4,800 designs were submitted to the Illinois Flag Commission. These were reviewed, and 10 were selected. Also included in the voting are the existing flag and flags from the state's centennial and sesquicentennial for a total of 13 choices.

Ho-hum. Illinois is more than Lincoln.

The designer said the lone white star represents Chicago. Sorry. There's more to Illinois than Chicago.

Plain and boring.

The designer said the biggest blue stripe represents Lake Michigan. So what? Possibly important to the Chicago area. (I suppose the lake has economic impact for the rest of the state.)

Nothing exciting about this. It's colorless and dull.

Apparently it was adapted from the centennial flag in 1918, I guess. 

Looks like it was designed by grade school students.

Apparently it was high school students.

This has appeal for Univ of Illinois purposes.

What's with a six-pointed star? The designer said the star represents Chicago. Chicago has six-pointed stars on their city flag. Guess that explains that.

I kind of like this ..... but not for the state flag.

Looks kind of communistic. 

Or maybe the flag of a random developing country.

Unimaginative.

No big deal. The state outline is catty-wampus. 

Apparently the sesquicentennial flag designed in 1968.

That center flower looks like a quilt block. It apparently is supposed to look like corn kernels with a 21-pronged gear that forms the state flower, a violet. 21 prongs represent that Illinois is the 21st state. Needs a pop color.

It's pretty. But not for the state flag.

This was the most imaginative and most colorful. Everything represents something positive. I like this design.

Designed by someone (or a business) in Champaign who said it honors Illinois' history and beauty.

The original state flag that has been proposed to replace. The Great Seal was placed on a white background in 1915 and declared the state flag. The word Illinois was added in 1969.

Well, geeze. Guess copying is not an infraction.

I've been voting each day since online voting began in January: Vote Early -- Vote Often. Voting closes on February 14. I just keep voting for the same one. Guess which one? Incidentally, once you vote, you are blocked from voting again for 24 hours. 

I vote for the old standby -- the original flag. Maybe I'm just so accustomed to it that the other choices just do not measure up. Although I do like the colorful one, #11 in this list.

Cold Temperatures

I came across a family group photo taken at our grandmother's funeral in 1994. It reminded me that it was especially cold that day, and I wondered what the temperature was. According to this site, the low on the day of her funeral, January 15, was -14. I remember all of us mourners were huddled together at the cemetery then made a quick exit to our vehicles when the committal prayers were finished.

Furthermore, the coldest temperature in ALL of 1994 was -25 on January 19.

I also remember a string of minus temperatures during January 1977. 

There was one particular day in this January when Dad drove me to work at the public library (start time was 2 p.m.). We got to downtown, and there was a train stopped on the tracks, and the library was located on the other side. It was not unusual for trains to block intersections for many minutes (MANY minutes), and Dad needed to get back to work following his lunch break. So I got out and stood on the sidewalk waiting for the train to pass. I do not recall, but I guess it did not occur to me to walk into one of the stores in that downtown area where I could escape the extreme cold. Duh.

I could probably find other remembered extreme temperatures of my life on this internet site if I wanted to.

Old Person's Oops

Yesterday at my doctor's appointment, I was asked the usual old person's questions including "Have you fallen during the past year?"

I think my question should have been "Have you spilled your tea in the past week?"

To which I would reply "Why, yes. Twice. In one week."

The first time, I set my tea mug down on the end table without paying much attention to where it would land. It tipped, and a bunch of papers got wet. Most of the wet papers were just pitched -- they should have been tossed long ago. However, there was a packet that included a detailed billing from surgery in 2022. Any time I noticed this packet I would think, I should move that. I finally did ..... after the tipped-over tea flowed through the papers.

The second time I spilled my tea, I bumped the mug against the arm of my recliner and it sloshed onto the chair. Not too terribly much, but enough to dampen a corner of the chair.

Oy vey.

New Years 2025

When I was in college, I learned from friends who were twin sisters that one should eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. It is supposed to bring good fortune in the coming year.

I have made an easy Hoppin' John Soup for our New Year's meal:

This year I did not have all the ingredients so I made-do with what I had. The soup turned out very tasty.

Christmas 2024

We traveled to Evanston Tuesday afternoon and arrived there around 3:30 p.m. The traffic was manageable. We did have problems with the GPS lady. At first she was not speaking. Then when that was corrected, she was speaking very quietly. Unusual for her. It helped when we turned off the radio racket.

Supper was home-made tourtière, a french-Canadian meat pie often served on Christmas Eve, and salad. Pumpkin pie was a homey dessert. JF's version of tourtiere has chunks of beef and pork roast plus chopped potatoes and onions. Then it's flavored with a variety of spices, some sweet. I don't know how it makes its sauce -- maybe just the natural meat juices. All inside a pie crust and bakes on very low temperature for 4 to 5 hours.

Tourtière

We explored P and JF's newly remodeled basement. It's so nice. Then after C went to bed we watched a movie, "The Fall Guy," in the new family room. First we watched that day's Jeopardy episode. One clue had P and JF puzzled. JB and I both knew the answer, and we said "What's the matter? Everyone knows that!" Guess not. They'd never heard the expression.

We heard a happy little voice Christmas morning around 7:15. Breakfast was a delicious home-baked chocolate croissant (compliments of Trader Joe's) and hot orange tea. C had yogurt and blueberries. And she got to play with Mama's tea bag and tear it apart. Oh my.

We opened presents, and we were all pleased with our gifts. C was busy tearing paper off boxes and she didn't care what was inside: wooden train set, stickers, blocks, new backpack, book, and more. 

Lunch was leftover tourtiere. Then we sampled the cookies that JB had brought. 

It was time for C's afternoon nap. The rest of us dozed or read books. P asked What's your plan for the day. I told him We're staying another night. What a reaction on his face. We stayed until C woke from her nap and said good-bye and "Merry Christmas" to all. As we drove away, P, JF, and C were headed out for an afternoon walk through the neighborhood.

The GPS lady must have woke from a long winter's nap because she was too loud. JB needs to figure out how to control her volume. We arrived back home before 6 p.m. 

Guns Kill

There was another school shooting last week.

A 14-year-old boy, using an AR-style rifle which his father gave him for Christmas, killed two students and two teachers and wounded 9 others at Apalachee High School in Georgia.

Guns kill. Books liberate. Why are books being banned, while guns are not? The majority of Americans favor sensible gun regulation.