Happy Saint Nicholas' Day!

December 6 is Saint Nicholas' Day. Do you celebrate it? Ever heard of it?

When we were kids, my parents had us put out our shoes the night before, and when we woke up in the morning they were filled with fruit and candy. Why? They were remembering Saint Nicholas.

Saint Nicholas is the original Santa Claus. He was a real person, but he didn't live at the North Pole, he lived along what is today the southern coast of Turkey in the third century AD. His wealthy parents died while he was a young child, and he used his inheritance to help the poor, the sick, and the suffering. He became a Bishop while he was young, but then under a Roman Emperor was imprisoned for his beliefs. He was eventually released and went on to continue to help people.

Even after his death in 343 AD, people continued to remember his good deeds. One story involved a poor man who had three daughters. In order for them to marry they needed dowries, but he had no money, so the daughters were destined to be sold into slavery. On three different occasions, bags of gold mysteriously appeared, providing the needed dowries. The bags were reportedly thrown though an open window and landed in stockings or shoes laid out before the fire to dry. And thus was born the custom of hanging Christmas stockings so that Santa Claus could fill them.

St. Nicholas is also known as a protector of children, the patron of sailors and voyagers, and friend or protector of all in trouble or need.

In parts of Europe, Saint Nicholas' Day is the main gift-giving day of the Christmas season, reserving Christmas day for more focus on the birth of Jesus Christ.

For more information about Saint Nicholas, and how he was transformed by writers, artists, and companies into the modern day Santa Claus, see this informative website.

Is Your County Prosperous?

When one thinks of prosperous areas in the U.S., usually the large, populated areas come to mind. After all, where do homes cost the most, so therefore where must the most prosperous people be living?

A new report measures prosperity in slightly different terms. Counties that had lower poverty rates and unemployment rates and fewer high school dropouts and housing problems than the country at large were considered to be prosperous. And the results showed many of those counties are in the Great Plains and Midwest states. The brighter red on the map below, the more prosperous the county.

Map by Andrew Isserman, Edward Feser, Drake Warren, University of Illinois.

Available from LiveScience website.

The data for this study were from 2000, and instead of focusing on income and growth, more traditional measures, the researchers looked at outcomes. What areas keep their kids in school the longest? Have lower unemployment rates? Better health?

The center of the country appears the brightest red. The counties in these areas have less income inequality, better education, and more off-farm jobs than less-prosperous counties. The prosperous counties had an average growth rate of two percent over the previous decade, compared to eleven percent for the less-prosperous counties. Obviously quick growth is not a recipe for prosperity.

I find it refreshing to find someone looking beyond money to determine what makes a prosperous area. There really is so much more to consider. How does your county fare?

To see more, visit LiveScience.

A Hike with the Cousins

One morning last week while the California cousins were visiting, Uncle Tom offered to take us for a hike along Silver Creek. It was a sunny, windless morning, thus perfect for the hike. We started right at the edge of the creek, crossing over it.

Henry came, too, and found a nice deep pool where he repeatedly swam to get sticks out. It didn't matter to him that both the air and water temperatures were well under 50 degrees F.

We hiked along the creek for awhile, dodging the huge sagebrush and greasewood brushes, and peering over the edge to get periodic glimpses of the creek. Big snow years and flash floods in 1952, 1982, and 2005 have cut down the channel considerably, leaving sheer banks of crumbling dirt over twenty feet high in many places.

Eventually a couple nieces and I couldn't resist the urge to go hiking right along the creek bottom.

We weren't wearing footwear appropriate to get wet, so it was a bit of a struggle in places to stay dry.

I was amazed at how many springs entered the creek, as shown by abundant watercress in areas. The watercress generally grows where the water temperature is steadier and there are more nutrients, which is what the groundwater provides. The faster-moving stream water generally has less nutrients and during the winter gets much colder and in the summer warmer than the groundwater.

Here's Ruby, showing her appreciation for our adventure hike.

Uncle Tom still had Desert Boy and was up on top of the channel at this point.

And the nieces wandered up to find a cow skeleton. They took some of the vertebrae and the jaws home with them.

Eventually everyone came down to the stream. We proved our balancing skills crossing the log across the water.

Grace and Lola, who regularly go to gymnastics classes, had no problem whatsoever. Notice the jaw bone in Grace's hand!

Uncle Eugene kept a stick with him to make sure he wasn't going to plunge over.

Part of the fun of the hike was the many times we had to cross the creek. It was just wide enough that it was hard to jump over, so we had to look for places with stepping stones or add some of our own.

Grace is carrying Desert Boy down next to the stream now.

I was awed by the roots of the big cottonwood trees. Much of the dirt that had previously contained the roots had washed away, leaving the tendrils hanging.

Grace, Desert Boy, and Lola continude to find a dry path next to the stream. Desert Boy was actually wearing irrigating boots, but he had flooded them fairly early on. Nevertheless, he seemed to get the concept that he was supposed to stay to drier ground. Most of the time.

And then we came to a small waterfall. It was cool looking, and the perfect end to the hike. Almost.

Lola, Grace, Desert Boy, and Uncle Tom pose in front of the waterfall.

And then it was time for the big find, a bit of aquatic life that resisted capture, but was eventually subdued...

...a crawdad! Ruby is ready to taste it. Now this was the perfect end to the hike.

Museum of the Future

We have a coming attraction to our area:

Museum of the Future--Coming Soon

Here is the future Board of Directors.

Happy Thanskgiving!

Wishing all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Thanks for taking the time to check out this blog.

I am truly thankful for all the wonderful things in my life, and am glad I can share some of them here.

We've been enjoying visiting with family, and Desert Boy loves playing with more cousins.