Washing machine tops the wish list

Ruth Griffiths
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Washing machine tops the wish list

One of the first things we bought for our first house  was a portable washing machine. You rolled it up to the kitchen sink and attach a hose to the faucet to fill the tub on the left where you washed the clothes. The dirty water drain into the sink. Then you lifted the clothes into the tub on the right which spun water out of the clothes. They were fairly dry by that time and easy to hang on the line to dry completely.

Two decades later while we were vacationing in Cuba, we visited a store where the featured item was the same type of washing machine. Our Cuban friend told us that it was the most popular purchase when people could scrape together enough money.

Today much more elaborate washing machines are considered essential but a century ago most laundry was done by hand. Just ask Grandma about scrubbing on a washboard!

According to Wikipedia, a washing machine design was published in 1767 in Germany. In 1782, Henry Sidgier was issued a British patent for a rotating drum washing machine. In 1797, Nathaniel Briggs received the first US patent for his invention. His creation was his wife’s birthday present.

Romance artists painted scenes of groups of women washing their clothes in a stream. Laundry day might have been a rare opportunity to gossip with the neighbours, but it was cold, back-breaking work.

My mother’s first wringer-washer on the farm was powered by propane. Water was heated on the stove to fill the wash tub.  Square metal wash tubs were balanced on kitchen chairs for rinsing the clothes after they were passed through the wringer to expel the dirty, soapy wash water.

Even as a young child, while I watched my mother hanging heavy laundry on the line in freezing weather, I vowed never to do that job. By the time my first baby arrived, I had an electric washing machine and natural gas dryer for laundering the piles of wet and dirty diapers that tiny baby created.

It’s no surprise that families around the world purchase washing machines as soon as their economic situation improves. What will laundry day look like for my grandchildren when they become parents?

Melting snow reveals seasonal allergen

Ruth Griffiths
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Melting snow reveals seasonal allergen

The snow mould season came early this year. On a lovely, sunny afternoon in early February I enjoyed a walk in the park. The birds were singing, the wind blew my hair and the sun warmed my face. The next day I felt terrible! My eyes were itchy, my nose ran constantly and I  felt tired despite a good night’s sleep. It was an allergic reaction to snow mould.

A University of Saskatchewan website says, “Snow mould is caused by several types of fungi that tolerate cold temperatures and like wet conditions. It appears in lawns after the snow has melted. It can vary from mild to severe depending on the year. It’s not toxic but is an allergen or irritant to people with breathing issues.”

Fuzzy, hairy looking threads called mycelium appear on the lawn where snow was piled up or compacted by footpaths. Snow mould will disappear on its own with warmer and dryer weather. Snow mould season will be over when the snow has all melted.

Snow mould can create bare spots in the lawn but they are easily mended with raking and light reseeding. The effect on humans, however, can be greater. My daughter has asthma, so the allergic reaction kept her coughing and sleepless for almost a week. Even though I was taking an antihistamine, the skin around my nose was rough and red from constant blowing. I was reluctant to go outdoors for fear of triggering the allergic reaction to the mould spores in the air.

I now live in a community of older adults. I was worried that I might have a cold that could spread to the people who sit across the dinner table. I researched the difference between a cold and seasonal allergies.

Allergies are our immune system’s vigorous response to an allergen such as dust mites or snow mould spores. Some common symptoms of an allergy are:

  • Itchy eyes
  • Sneezing
  • Runny nose
  • Stuffy nose

The common cold is a viral infection of the upper respiratory system. Unlike allergies, which are caused by a reaction to allergens, colds are contagious and can spread from person to person. For example, if someone who has a cold sneezes near you, you can catch the virus and become infected.

Common cold symptoms are:

  • Runny nose
  • Sore throat
  • Cough
  • Headache
  • Body aches
  • Sneezing
  • Fatigue

You may also run a fever with a cold, which is something that you won’t have with allergies.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to hide indoors from the allergens for too long because the snowfall in early March cleared the air and covered the snow mould on the lawns.

My recent battle with allergies helped me to be more empathetic toward people who battle year-round with allergies to pollen, dust or pet dander.

And yes, increasingly severe allergic reactions seen be just another aggravation as we grow older.

Test your St. Patrick’s Day knowledge

Ruth Griffiths
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Test your St. Patrick’s Day knowledge

Wearing the green; kiss me I’m Irish; dancing a jig ….  all are ways to celebrate a bishop who lived 1,500 years ago in Great Britain. How much do you know about Saint Patrick?

  1. Why is St. Patrick’s Day on March 17?

  2. Of which country is St. Patrick the patron saint?

  3. Did Patrick banish the snakes from Ireland?

  4. Why is it customary to wear shamrocks or green clothing on St. Patrick’s Day?

  5. What are the odds of finding a four-leaf clover?

  6. Patrick was born in Roman-occupied Britain. At age 16 he was captured by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland where he worked for six years. What type of work did he do?

  7. How was Patrick changed by his years of slavery?

  8. Why did Patrick return to Ireland?

  9. How do leprechauns earn their gold?

  10. Green beer is not an Irish tradition. Green beer was created in New York in 1914. Why do we continue to drink green beer on St. Patrick’s Day?

ANSWERS:

1. Saint Patrick’s Day is a cultural and religious celebration held on March 17, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick ( c. AD 385–461).

2. Ireland

3. The absence of snakes in Ireland gave rise to the legend that they had been banished by Patrick chasing them into the sea after they attacked him during a 40-day fast.

4. St Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved green plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish.

5. One in 10,000

6. He cared for farm animals … some say swine, some say sheep.

7. Patrick’s family were Christian, however Patrick was not an active believer. According to The Confessions of St. Patrick, while he was a captive in Ireland he converted to Christianity. He returned to Britain and studied to become a priest.

8. Acting on a vision, Patrick returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. He is considered to be the first bishop of Ireland. He is said to have baptized thousands.

9. By making and mending shoes.

March 8 is Women’s Day

Ruth Griffiths
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March 8 is Women’s Day

Friday is International Women’s Day. Each year, International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world on March 8.

Prince Albert Council of Women will celebrate Women’s Day, but on Sunday, March 10 during a Tea at the Coronet Hotel. The celebration will include the induction of Jennifer Brown into the Prince Albert Women’s Hall of Fame. Tickets are $25. Call Patricia 306 764-5051.

Jennifer Brown, an art teacher at Carlton Comprehensive public high school, is  being recognized for her work as a teacher, her activism with the Métis National Youth Advocacy Council and time spent volunteering. The photograph of this year’s Hall of Fame inductee will be hung on the wall on the second floor at City Hall along with the photos of those who previously received this honour.

Around the world, thousands of events occur throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women.

In many countries it is a holiday with parades.  

The global UN theme for International Women’s Day 2024 is “Invest in women: Accelerate progress” The theme focusing on the fifth UN sustainable development goal of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls by 2030.

Prince Albert’s Women’s Hall of Fame is a great example of how women have provided leadership in our community. However, achieving an equal future for women and girls is an on-going challenge.

What makes today special?

Ruth Griffiths
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What makes today special?

Today is a special day because Feb. 29 appears on our calendar only once every four year. We call it a Leap Day and 2024 is a Leap Year.

The famous Julius Caesar is credited with standardizing the calendar in 45 BC. He created a calendar of 12 months with 365 days numbered sequentially within the month.

Most people today use the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.  Our year is the length of time it takes Earth to orbit the sun. Because our year is approximately 365 ¼ days, this revised calendar allowed for an extra day which we now know as Leap Day.

Leap Days occur in years that are multiples of four, except for years evenly divisible by 100 but not by 400. For example, 1896 was a Leap Year, but 1900 was not. Correcting the calendar with a Leap Day allows for the length of the Earth’s orbit at 365 days 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds.

The term “leap year” probably comes from the fact that a fixed date normally advances one day a week from one year to the next but inserting an extra day in February causes the date to advance two days thus “leaping” over one day in the week. For example Christmas fell on Friday in 2020, Saturday in 2021, Sunday in 2022 and Monday in 2023 but it will “leap” over Tuesday to fall on Wednesday in 2024.

A person born on February 29 may be called a “leapling”. In non-leap years they usually celebrate their birthday on February 28 or March 1.

Some famous leaplings include:

  • American singer Dinah Shore born Feb. 29, 1916;
  • Montreal Canadiens star Henri Richard was born on Leap Day 1936;
  • DC comics says Superman was born on Feb. 29..

An Irish legend allowed a woman to propose marriage on Feb. 29. If the man rejected the proposal he had  to pay her a fine … a kiss,  a pair of gloves or money for a silk dress.

In 1984, Pierre Elliott Trudeau took his famous walk in the snow and announced on Feb. 29 that he would be stepping down as Prime Minister. Should we await an announcement from his son, Justin, today?

Tea is timeless

Ruth Griffiths
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Tea is timeless

Captain Picard, in Star Trek the Next Generation, orders Earl Grey tea, hot, from the food synthesizer. Although that television series is set 300 years in the future, the history of tea goes back 5,000 years, suggest that the popularity of tea is timeless.

According to legend, in 2737 BC, the Chinese emperor Shen Nung was sitting beneath a tree while his servant boiled drinking water, when some leaves from the tree blew into the water. Shen Nung, a renowned herbalist, decided to try the infusion that his servant had accidentally created. He went on to research the health benefits of tea.

Indian history of tea attributes its discovery to Prince Bodhi-Dharma, who founded the Zen school of Buddhism. In the year 520, he left India to preach Buddhism in China. To prove some Zen principles, he vowed to meditate for nine years without sleep. It is said that near the end of his meditation, he fell asleep. Upon awaking, he was so distraught that he cut off his eyelids, and threw them to the ground. Legend has it that a tea plant sprung up on the spot to sanctify his sacrifice.

The tea plant originated in regions around southwest China, Tibet and northern India. Chinese traders may have travelled throughout these regions often and encountered people chewing tea leaves for medicinal purposes.

It was not until the Tang dynasty (618-907), that drinking tea become widespread. We know this because the government imposed a tea tax on China’s national beverage.

A Buddhist monk, Saichō, is credited with introducing tea to Japan in the early Ninth century. While studying in China, Saichō discovered tea and brought back seeds to grow at his monastery. Over time, other monks followed suit, and soon small tea plantations sprouted up at secluded monasteries. However, due to the isolation of these plantations, tea’s popularity in Japan did not blossom until the 13th century.

The most popular method of preparing tea involved grinding the delicate green tea leaves into a fine powder using a stone mill. This powder, called Matcha in Japan, was a precursor to the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Matcha is prepared with bamboo whisks and served in hand-crafted bowls.

It was not until the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) that tea was prepared by steeping the whole leaves in water, like it is today. Instead of compressing tea leaves into bricks, or grinding them in a stone mill, the tea leaves were dried, rolled, and then heated in iron woks to stop the oxidation process. The brewing process simply involved steeping the tea leaves in hot water, without the need for a whisk.

Explorers and missionaries brought tea to Europe. Around the Ninth century, references in Arab trade documents refer to the process of boiling bitter tea leaves. Later, Marco Polo (1254-1324) alludes to his discovery of tea in his travel writings about the East.

Dutch merchants entered the picture in 1610. That year, the first shipments of Japanese and Chinese tea arrived in Europe via ships charted by the Dutch East India Company. The popularity of tea rapidly spread to Amsterdam, Paris, and London, although its high price limited consumption. In Shakespeare’s time coffee was the beverage of choice for men who met in coffee houses, but wealthy women drank tea at home with friends.

And what about Captain Picard’s favourite hot beverage? It’s named after Charles Grey, a British earl of the 1800s. This quintessentially British tea is a black tea flavoured with oil from the rind of bergamot orange, a citrus fruit.

How to enjoy Family Day in Prince Albert

Ruth Griffiths
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How to enjoy Family Day in Prince Albert

In most provinces, the third Monday in February is Family Day, although some provinces use a differentt name for the holiday. Saskatchewan first celebrated Family Day in 2007; Ontario followed suit in 2008 and British Columbia in 2013.

Family Day got its start in Alberta when Helen Hunley,  then Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, proclaimed the Family Day Act in 1990 , on the advice of her premier, Don Getty.

Other provinces have similar events: Family Day  in New Brunswick,  Islander Day in Prince Edward Island; Louis Riel Day in Manitoba; Heritage Day in Yukon and Nova Scotia. In Newfoundland, Quebec and the there territories the third Monday in February is a regular working day.

In Prince Albert, Family Day signals the beginning of the spring school break and the last week of Prince Albert Winter Festival. There are lots of local events scheduled so it should be easy to find something to do with your family.

On Family Day, Feb 19,  there will be a sliding event on the toboggan hill at Liitle Red River Park,11 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Sliding Day you can take a ride on a horse-drawn sleigh and enjoy a hotdog and hot chocolate provided free by Lake Country Coop. Children must be accompanied.

Family Day wraps up with fireworks at 8 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Prince Albert Winter Festival Family Cultural Days, at Prince Albert Exhibition Centre, are free with a Winter Festival Button. All children must be accompanied.

Family Cultural Days includes:

  • Feb. 20, 1-4 p.m , Jigging demonstration and learn to jig; story reading with Leah Dorion, beading crafts, games.
  • Feb 21, 10 a.m. to noon, sensory friendly activities for children. Register in advance at 306 960-6928
  • Feb. 21, 1-4 p.m., powwow dancing  with Jessica Rabbitskin and her children, story walk, horse-drawn sigh rides, dot-painting craft, ga,es
  • Feb. 22, 1-4 p.m., hoop dancing with Lawrence Roy Jr., storytelling, crafts and games. 
  • Prince Albert Winter Festival has almost daily activities for all ages, many of them free.

    See details at www.pawf.ca

Is Valentine’s Day for everyone?

Ruth Griffiths
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Is Valentine’s Day for everyone?

Sometime during the next week you may find yourself helping a young student to address a multitude of tiny greeting cards. It’s the desperate preparation for Valentine’s Day, an annual celebration of love and friendship that many believe is just another merchandising gimmick. 

On Feb. 14 people celebrate Valentine’s Day by sending messages of love and affection to partners, family and friends.. The holiday may have originated as a Christian feast day honouring a Roman martyr but by the Middle Ages, St. Valentine shows up in Chaucer’s poem “Parliament of Fowls” (referring to the mating pattern of birds in early spring), and later in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which alludes to lucky lovers meeting on St. Valentine’s Day.

History professor Elizabeth White Nelson says those origin stories were popularized in 19th century North America to give the holiday a historical grounding, particularly as a counterpoint to society’s fears about its commercialization. “Saints’ days are often merged with pagan holidays…, so it’s very possible that Lupercalia turns into another fertility holiday that somehow gets associated with St. Valentine, and over a period of time, all those associations stay connected. ”

Valentine’s Day exploded in popularity in the 1840s, although it was confined to a very specific idea of romantic love. According to Nelson, exchanging gifts, particularly spoons and gloves, became a way for couples to convey a sense of permanence with their beloved, and, traditionally, they remained each other’s Valentine for the entire year.

In 1850, Esther Howland began one of the first mass-produced Valentine’s Day card businesses in the U.S. These initial Valentines were rectangular in shape, assembled with fancy lace, and often featured poems, cherubs, heart motifs, birds, flowers, and other imagery commonly associated with the holiday today. Her cards became a commercial success but there was pushback in popular literature against buying these pricey cards. It was thought that a husband wasting his hard-earned cash on something as trivial as a fancy paper card was not a good sign for the marital road ahead.

“Whether it is frivolous is embedded in the commercial celebration of it from the very beginning,” Nelson says. So the need to justify the holiday and anchor its roots in something historically meaningful becomes a way to address this criticism. But skepticism didn’t stop its growing popularity.

The holiday continued to evolve from the 19th century on, becoming more of a technological and marketing story. The inexpensive mass-production of Valentine’s cards coupled with the advertising boom of the early 20th century, eventually paved the way for large companies like Hallmark to dominate the market.

Companies like Hallmark have actually helped broaden our notions of love and allowed for more inclusivity in celebrations, particularly in recent years. Greeting cards have expand the notion of love and the way that Valentine’s Day is depicted.

Some people don’t feel included in the holiday, as if it were a party and they didn’t get an invitation. For some, Valentine’s Day can feel lonely and isolating. However, inclusivity for Valentine’s Day celebrations has drastically expanded in recent years. Greeting card companies came to understand that love is broad — it’s not just romantic love. Inclusion is important for humans but also from a business and marketing point of view. It’s called market expansion. Only depicting romantic love and card exchange would be totally excluding all these other types of love, such as children exchanging little cards or giving teachers cards, or bringing colleagues or coworkers cards.

While the Victorian celebrations revolved around  traditional ideas, today we have a much wider scope of how we celebrate our affections for one another. People celebrate with their children, pets, friends and more. 

Most agree that we shouldn’t only celebrate love once a year, nor feel pressure to buy anything to show our affections. But creating awareness that true love is for everyone — and that it shows up in a myriad of forms — is definitely something to celebrate.

Why we celebrate Groundhog Day

Ruth Griffiths
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Why we celebrate Groundhog Day

Each year on Feb. 2, a large rodent emerges from its den in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. If this groundhog, named Phil, sees its shadow, it will retreat to its den and winter will go on for six more weeks; if it doesn’t see its shadow, spring will be early.

This lighthearted ritual was immortalized in the 1993 film Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray. Its roots, however go back two centuries in North America and beyond that in Europe.

According to the U.S. Weather Service, Groundhog Day has its origins in ancient European weather lore, wherein a badger or sacred bear predicts the weather, as opposed to a groundhog.

Groundhog Day is also similar to Candlemas. For early Christians in Europe, Candlemas on Feb. 2 was a day to bless and distribute candles. It was at the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.  Early Christians decided that clear skies on Candlemas Day meant a longer winter was ahead, while a cloudy day foreshadowed the end of winter.  According to the English version:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.

In the 1700s Germans who settled in Pennsylvania celebratedf Candlemas and introduced the tradition of an animal seeing its shadow into the prediction of the weather on that day.  In Germany, a badger had been used, but a suitable replacement in America was the groundhog.

In 1886, Clymer H. Freas, city editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit Newspaper proclaimed Punxsutawney Phil, the local groundhog, to be the one and only official weather forecasting groundhog.  Phil’s fame spread, and newspapers from around the globe began to report Groundhog Day predictions.

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, Wiarton Willie, of Wiarton, Ont., has been predicting the weather since 1956. Like Punxsutawney Phil, Wiarton Willie is not a wild groundhog. He lives in a house in Bluewater Park, safe from predators, and the town of Wiarton cares for him year-round.

Today we celebrate a powerful poet

Ruth Griffiths
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Today we celebrate a powerful poet

Today is Robbie Burns Day, a time to celebrate all things Scottish, but especially the birthday of Scotland’s most famous poet and lyricist, Robert Burns.

I first learned about Burns in a high school literature class, but it wasn’t until I attended a Burns Night supper that I understood the power of poetry in Scottish culture. Burns simple songs and poems have united the Celtic clans more than any warrior chiefs have ever been able to achieve. Scots and wannabes around the world gather annually to eat, drink and sing in honour of Burns, leaving their differences at the door.

Burns’ poetry was first published in 1786; his volume “Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect” brought him wide acclaim.

Burns spent the last ten years of his life collecting, revising and writing traditional Scottish songs.

It was Burns who wrote To a Mouse “Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie” that he had disturbed while plowing. It was Burns who wrote down and tinkered with “Auld Lang Syne”, now traditionally sung on New Year’s Eve.

Burns was born in 1759 at Alloway, Scotland. He died July 21, 1796, possibly from a rheumatic heart condition following a dental extraction.

Throughout his 37-year life Burns also made his name for his stand against orthodox religion and for his numerous love affairs … he fathered in total 12 children.

As colourful and enjoyable as Burns Night is, it is not an official Scottish national day. St. Andrew’s Day, Nov. 30, celebrates Scotland’s patron saint and is its national holiday. We all know and love the St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, the day to celebrate all things Irish. But less well known is the celebration for England ’s patron saint, St. George, which is April 23. While people in Northern Ireland get a bank holiday for St. Patrick’s Day and people in Scotland also have a day off for St. Andrew’s Day, unfortunately for people living and working in England, St George’s Day is not a bank holiday In fact. England does not have a national day, although the King’s birthday celebration comes close.

The Welsh celebrate St. David’s Day on March 1.. St David’s Day is not a bank holiday despite 87 per cent of Welsh people voting to make it one in 2007. Nevertheless, the day is marked with tasty treats and celebrations. I think the reason the celebrations of St. George and St. David never caught on in North America is because there is less drinking involved. More people get excited about drinking green beer for St. Patrick and whiskey to honour Burns than they do to drink tea and eat pastries. Despite their popularity, none of the celebrations of culture from the United Kingdom is a holiday in Canada.

Canada’s national day, of course, is Canada Day on July 1, the anniversary of confederation in 1867. Canada does not have a patron saint because there has never been a state church in this country. In Canada, Quebec alone celebrates Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day on June 24.

We now have a national day to recognize indigrnour people on June 21. On National Indigenous Peoples Day we recognize and celebrate the history, heritage, resilience and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis across Canada.

Canada has become increasingly multicultural since Confederation. In recent years there have been in Prince Albert celebrates of Diwali, the festival of lights, which is the biggest annual celebration in India. Muslims in Prince Albert have celebrated Eid at the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting and prayer. I expect other cultures will soon enhance the Prince Albert social scene.

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