Olympics' Symbols and Facts

Photo couresty 123rf.com

The five Olympics rings stand for the five continents that participate in the Olympics:  Africa, America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.  The colors of the rings in the Olympic flag--blue, yellow, black, green, red--were chosen because at least one of those colors is found on the flag of every nation.  205 countries will participate in this year's Olympics.  The motto of the Olympics is "Swifter, Higher, Stronger".  For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

Lemon-Aide...

Photo of Meyer lemon courtesy 123rf.com

My favorite lemon is the Meyer lemon, almost edible right off the tree, more lemon flavor than pucker.  I was first introduced to the Meyer lemon when I lived in San Jose, California, where more houses have citrus trees in their back yards than don't.  Indeed, I had a Meyer lemon tree in my yard, frozen lemon juice in my freezer, and more lemon pies, cakes, bars, butters, sauces, and lemonade than I and my friends could keep in our iceboxes, so most of those spent a lot of time in our freezers, too.

Very often I enjoy what the French call lemon presse or citron presse (click here for the recipe; I make mine with delicious Kal Pure Stevia Extract, not that bad junk sold in grocery stores).  I drink it especially when I've had a heavy meal or my stomach just isn't feeling quite right.  Being in a small city in East Texas right now, I don't have regular access to Meyer lemons except when I travel, so I often substitute limes in this hot drink.

Some doctors have been touting the health benefits of lemons, and I remember reading somewhere a couple of years ago that some doctor said if everyone drank a lemon presse without the sugar every day we could virtually wipe out inflammation and illness.  Click here for more ideas about the curative powers of lemons.

So, what didn't I know about lemons:  the native home of lemons is unknown, but many suspect that it is India.  By 200 A.D. lemon trees were introduced in Italy, and by 1300 they were cultivated widely throughout the Mediterranean region and Asian countries.  The oldest city in the U.S., St. Augustine, Florida, had lemon trees producing fruit by its founding in 1565.

Click here for more information about lemons.  By the way, click here for the best recipes using Kal Pure Stevia Extract.  What did you learn today?

Fable Facts

Photo of Greek stamp depicting the Aesop's fable of the The Ass in The Lion's Skin and The Fox courtesy 123rf.com

Today's topic was requested by Isobel Keogh of Perth Scotland, @scots_perth on Twitter.

Fables are short stories that teach a lesson using animals or mythical creatures as the characters in the stories.  Aesop's Fables are arguably the best known fables in the western world, and have been translated into nearly every language.  Fables are found in nearly every culture inside and outside the western world, including Africa, Asia, Sumaria, India, and other countries.

What I didn't know about Aesop, the Ancient Greek writer of the eponymous fables, is that he was born into slavery and later granted freedom, most likely was of African decent, was said to have a speech impediment that was miraculously healed by a deity, was written about by Plato and Aristotle, and many people deny that he was an actual person.

There are many wonderful websites about fables.  Click here for an Aesop's Fables website that includes over 650 fables that are indexed and cross-referenced.  Click here for a website geared toward children that also includes fairy tales and nursery rhymes.

Thanks to Isobel Keogh of Perth Scotland, @scots_perth on Twitter, for today's topic!  What did you learn today?

Domestic Cats Are About 9,000 Years Old

Photo courtesy 123rf.com

The modern domestic cat descended from Sardinian, Central Asian, European, and Sub-Saharan African wild cats, and the Chinese desert cat.  Archaeologists and historians estimate that cats became domesticated about 8,000 or 9,000 years ago.  For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

Elephant Tusks and Tushes

African female elephant (cow and calf)

Asian female elephant (cow)

Photos courtesy 123rf.com

African male and female elephants have tusks, but only the male Asian elephant has tusks.  The Asian female elephant has tushes, which is an incisor-tooth that sticks out from the lips.  For more information click here.

I've ridden an Asian elephant, but I've only seen African elephants in zoos.  Have you seen or ridden an elephant?

Christmas in Asia

Photo of fried chicken on Japanese dish courtesy 123rf.com

In the Philippines Christmas is a full-on religious holiday and an official holiday, with much celebration, feasting, and gift-giving.  In other East Asian countries there are public holidays during the Christmas season, but there are few who celebrate Christmas either secularly or religiously.  In Muslim countries, Christmas is neither an official nor unofficial holiday, but Christians who live there do celebrate Christmas with their churches. 

In Japan there is intense secular celebration with much gift-giving, and although many Christmas religious symbols are used in their secular celebrations, actual religious celebration is not wide-spread outside Christian communities. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is one of their favorite pieces of music during this season, and fried chicken one of their favorite foods. A friend who is Japanese has told me that the Japanese are very name-brand conscious, and that this is reflected in their Christmas gift-giving.  For more information click here and click here.

If you celebrate during the month of December, what do you celebrate and how?