Patriotic Porridge Pondering...

July 6, 2012

Hopefully you have enjoyed a break in your week to celebrate the Fourth of July, Canada Day, or at least called in sick. Or maybe even all three!

Here in the husky midsection of North America, we pride ourselves on ingenuity. Benjamin Franklin is one industrious person that played an essential role in setting an industrious standard for our US of A.

Ol' Ben was an avid bicyclist, although he did not invent them. He did invent the idea of kite-cycling, which was somewhat ahead of his time, as was his wont. Closer to home, yesterday I noticed that a turkey(!) was hanging out at Woodchuck Holler.

Closer inspection revealed that this turkey was also a mother turkey, female turkeys are also known as hens tomettes. Chicks are called poults tomelitas, or tomales for short.

BF was a big fan of turkeys, and (although himself Deist) actually promulgated the idea that turkeys should be the national prey. He also wanted owls to be the national bird. Not sure which kind, but I don't think he was either, since they mostly come out at night. He also wanted bats to be the national flying mammal. I had occasion to notice some of our Bendorsed candidate for national bird last night near this tree,

which I now proclaim to be an American basswood. This tree was named by Benjamin Franklin, and its dense wood makes for (as its name implies) great sounding acoustic basses. As I previously described, it also yields crunchy nuts, which can be turned into Captain Crunchberry Corsairs. Back in Ben's day they just mixed 'em with jute and "chewed" them like tobacco until they were soft enough to finish consuming, with or without wooden teeth. They were used to make a breakfasty treat called "Poor Richard's Breakfast Balls" back then. This was not considered to be an inappropriate or unappetizing name at that time.

As you may have noticed, the weekend has almost arrived. I recently became aware that Lincoln, Nebraska is hosting what is sure to be an enjoyable bicycle-oriented event this Saturday. Food, bikes and a movie. Sounds like a good time. This event is in conjunction with another event which occurs today (Friday) 7-11 pm called Biklops Poster Show at Screen Ink, in Lincoln.

I have recently discovered that I can enjoy some streaming audio/video of the TdF at this location, probably loads of other places too. I will be sure to tune in for some bicycle-oriented excitement later today.

Still feeling patriotic after the big national holiday? Well keep an eye out for Ben and/or other patriot-oriented things and eat your Breakfast Balls/Crunchberry Corsairs.