27-28 February 25

Prelude to a Boycott . . . On Friday, 28 February 2025, millions of people have agreed to a stage a major economic boycott, focused on NOT shopping at big retailers. The targeted companies include Walmart, Amazon, Lowe's, Target, McDonald's, and Meta (Facebook), who have abandoned or retreated from support for diversity, equity and inclusion. More broadly, the boycott aims to push for economic justice for all (including protesting the actions of Trump's "DOGE"). I'll be wearing my solid black tie to show my solidarity with the boycott, but I'm posting this on Thursday evening as a preview because I will not be using Facebook again until Saturday. We are restructuring all of our shopping to support small businesses and DEI-friendly companies like Kroger, Meijer, Ace Hardware, Home Depot and Grove Collaborative.

28 March 22

 Happy Birthday, Amanda Wheeler! Our daughter (-in-law) asked me to wear my solid gray wool tie, which had not been seen on me since 2019. I searched diligently for it but could not find it! (Last year I had put several aside to be "retired" but I don't know where they are!) So I'm substituting this solid black tie, suitable for concerts, formal occasions and birthdays. Amanda wanted a tie to represent simplicity, as expressed in this quotation from Henry David Thoreau: "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail." I added a simple black tie tack and cuff link.

19 May 21

Today I get to wear a new tie -- solid black! On this date in 1780, New England experienced its DARK DAY. After a normal Friday sunrise, the skies went black from Maine to New Jersey. "The Dark Day inspired terror, panic and puzzlement. Men prayed and women wept. Thousands left off work and took to taverns and churches for solace. Children were sent home from school. Bewildered chickens went to their roosts, frightened cattle returned to their stalls, the night birds whistled and frogs peeped as they did at midnight. . . . In Connecticut, members of the Legislature, called the State Council, feared the Dark Day signified the Day of Judgment. Some member clamored to adjourn the session. [Representative] Abraham Davenport earned lasting fame for his response: 'I am against adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought.'" 

The darkness dissipated the next morning. It had been caused by a combination of clouds, fog and smoke. In 2007, research results proved that the Dark Day in 1780 resulted from a massive forest fire in Canada. Today our meteorologists would be very excited to explain all the details of such an event -- helping to relieve any fear and anxiety, at the expense of denigrating the awesomeness and flabbergastedness that people enjoyed in 1780.