Cathy Burnham Martin's Blog, page 54

Go for Greatness!

Image by Iván Tamás

 

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”

— Albert Einstein  (1879 – 1955)
German-born theoretical physicist; developed theory of relativity

(Image by Iván Tamás)

Goodness Gracious!

 

 

“Confidence in the goodness of another is good proof of one’s own goodness.”

— Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)
French Renaissance philosopher

The 33rd State

Joining the nation in 1859, Oregon became the 33rd state in the U.S. Since the discovery of a small, prehistoric stone knife in 2012, some archaeologists believe people have lived in the region for at least 15,000 years. Home to 10 Native American tribes, Europeans began arriving in the 1500s, when both Spain and Great Britain claimed it for themselves.

In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson sent American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to map out a huge swath of land bought the year before in the Louisiana Purchase… and the land beyond, which included the region that is now Oregon.

 

American settlers started arriving by wagon trains in the 1840s. All European claims were soon quashed by the large number of Americans settling there.

 

Bordered by Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California, and the Pacific Ocean, the 9th largest state in the U.S. is slightly larger than the United Kingdom. The origins of the name Oregon remain disputed. Some claim it comes from the French word “ouragan” meaning “hurricane,” a term used by French explorers to describe an especially windy part of the region… but others say it’s derived from the Chinook word “oolighan,” a type of fish eaten by the Native Americans.

A coin toss in 1854 determined the name of Portland. Had the coin landed on the other side, the city was to be called Boston. With no sales tax, Oregon’s population nears 4.3 million, but the Beaver State is particularly known for its grandeur.

 

 

At 1943 feet, the famed Crater Lake is the nation’s deepest lake. Oregon is home to more than 6,000 lakes, plus 112,000 miles of rivers and streams, 16 known hot springs, 230 state parks, and 13 national forests. Nearly half of the area, nearly 30 million acres, is forested,

 

At 7,913 feet deep, Hells Canyon is the deepest river gorge in North America and averages 5,500 feet deep.

 

 

 

The state’s highest point is Mount Hood at 11,245’.

 

 

 

Oregon has 14 National Historic Districts, 4 National Historic Trails (including the “Go West, Young Man” Oregan Trail), and more than 7,000 bridges.

 

 

 

Oregon’s Klamath Basin has the largest concentration of wintering bald eagles, and the Western Meadowlark is its official state bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The “Tater Tot” was invented here by brothers Nephi and Golden Grigg, founders of Ore-Ida.

 

 

 

 

 

Oregon is also home to the corn dog.

 

 

 

This Pacific Northwest state grows 99% of the entire U.S. commercial crop of hazelnuts. The state is also home to over 750 vineyards, growing 72 varietals of wine grapes.

Speechless

“Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.”

— Robert Frost (1874 – 1963)
American poet

To Be Continued…

 

“A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.”

— Carl Sandburg (1878 – 1967)
American poet, biographer, journalist, & Pulitzer prize winner

Ahhhh, Optimism

“An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out?”

— Michel de Saint Pierre (1916 – 1987)
French journalist

Pepperoni Pizza Dip!

For National Snack Day, let’s munch down on a little Pepperoni Pizza Dip. Super Simple and soooo satisfying. (The picture is how it looks heading into the oven. Sorry… no picture of how it looked when we took it out of the oven because it disappeared very fast.)

Pepperoni Pizza Dip
8 oz cream cheese, softened
¾ c mayonnaise
1-2 T thinly sliced green onion
½ c finely chopped sweet onion (microwaved 1-2 min)
1 T fresh (or lightly dried) mixed Italian herbs
½ c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
¾ c pizza sauce
2 T finely chopped sweet bell pepper (any color, but green for contrast)
½ heaping cup of finely chopped pepperoni (see note)
½ – ¾ shredded mozzarella cheese
Cream the mayonnaise into the cream cheese thoroughly. Then mix in all the onions, herbs, and cheddar cheese. Spread in 8” square (or other) baking dish. Spread sauce over the top. Sprinkle with bell pepper, most of the pepperoni (saving 2 T for garnish), and the mozzarella. Garnish with reserved pepperoni. Bake at 325°F for 25 – 30 min. Serve with crostini, tortilla chips, or toasty pita chips for dipping. Makes 8-10 servings.

KISS Note: Before cutting up the pepperoni, spread them in a single layer on a triple layer of paper towels; top with another layer or 2 of paper towels and microwave on high for 1 min. This takes the greasiness out and keeps all the flavor!

Problem Solving 101

“A positive attitude may not solve every problem, but it makes solving any problem a more pleasant experience.”

— Grant D. Fairley (1959 – )
Business consultant & author

Road to Success

“Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal — a commitment to excellence — that will enable you to attain the success you seek.”

— Mario Andretti (1940 – )
Italian-American professional racing driver (1 of only 3 to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, the World Sportscar Championship, and NASCAR)

National Pig Day

With 675 million pigs in the world, on every continent except Antarctica, pigs earned their own special day. National Pig Day is not just to celebrate bacon, ribs, ham, and all the other goodies pigs deliver to help sustain humans. This is a day to learn about an animal most of us simply take for granted. There are hundreds of breeds, most of which have descended from the Eurasian wild boar.

 

 

We’ve heard all the stereotypes… a messy room is a pigsty, or someone sweats like a pig. In truth, pigs are very clean animals. They wallow in the mud to stay cool, as they are not even able to sweat. They would much prefer a lovely swimming pool, and they are good swimmers.

 

 

Many people know that pigs are clever and very intelligent. They make great pets and can be trained and taught tricks. Pigs are born with the intelligence of a 3-year-old human toddler and rank as the 5th smartest animal, smarter and more trainable than any breed of dog. They have excellent memories and can even play video games better than some humans. (Who tried this to know?)

 

 

After a pregnancy of 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days, a female (or sow) can produce 10 piglets in a single litter, each weighing about 2.5 pounds at birth. That weight will double in the first week, but they are born able to walk and run. Pigs can run as fast as 11 miles per hour!

 

A mother pig sings to her babies while nursing. Pigs constantly communicate with each other via more than 20 distinct grunts and squeals. However, pigs have poor eyesight, but their sense of smell is 2,000 times more sensitive than ours.

 

Few animals are more social than pigs, and they are known to form close bonds with other pigs and humans too, which has helped make them easy to domesticate. They also enjoy belly rubs. Like humans, pigs spend 1/3 of their day sleeping. And they dream. They also like sleeping nose-to-nose with one another.

 

As adorable as they are, I am unlikely to stop eating pork products. That said, I am a believer in open-range, healthy living conditions for all the creatures that are raised to feed us. We all need to say, “No” to factory-farmed pork, along with beef, chicken, etc.

 

 

I will close with some information that I had previously been unaware existed. For decades, pig heart valves have been successfully being used to replace heart valves in humans. So, celebrate the process called xenotransplantation.

Here’s oinking at you!