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Published on Leave a comment on Women Wearing the Pants

I felt I owed it to my Olson forbears to watch the Vikings: Valhalla series on Netflix. It's quite entertaining. There's something for everyone. Blood and guts. Sweaty hot bodies. Cool ships. And facial hair that would put ZZ Top to shame.

Freydis is a force to be reckoned with

The series takes place about a thousand years ago, and boy, does it show. My Viking ancestors live up to their barbaric reputation. Let's just say if you're at a shindig where pretty much everyone is carrying an axe, and a dude rolls in a big wooden chopping block, it's probably time to ghost.

But in other aspects, ancient Scandinavian culture was downright civilized. Take gender equality, for example. Some women were allowed to own property. Some held positions of political power. And we all know about shield maidens and Valkyries.

Here we are a thousand years on, and there's still plenty of cultures where women can't own property, or drive a car. But it's the aspect of military service that really captured my attention. In the Netflix series, both this one and its predecessor, women were often allowed to join the menfolk on the battlefield. In real life, not so much.

So when I unearthed a link to an article about the estimated 400 women who fought in the American Civil War - 900 YEARS LATER - only got away with it because they were disguised as men, that got me thinking. If there were 400 that we know of in that war alone, there had to be more, right?

Of course there were! Throughout the ages. Lots of different times and places.

They tended to fall into a couple of different categories. One I'll call 'Til Death Do Us Part. When their man got called up, they insisted on tagging right along with him. But instead of joining in a more traditional female role as a cook or laundress for their husband's fighting unit, they opted to masquerade as men.

Frances Clayton aka Jack Williams and her husband apparently had one of those marriages that they did everything together. When I say they fought a lot, I don't mean bickering about leaving the toilet seat up. They served during the American Civil War in the Union Army together for nearly two years, until hubby got shot during the Battle of Stones River and died right next to her.

The 'stache just sells it

Loreta Janeta Velaquez really gives off a spoiled brat, Scarlett O'Hara vibe. The whole time I was reading about her, I got the feeling she thought of the entire escapade as a lark - especially when I learned her hero was Joan of Arc. When her husband joined the Confederate cause, she insisted on accompanying him. He refused, of course. So she waited until after he left, then purchased a custom fit uniform and fake facial hair and traveled to Florida as 'Lieutenant Harry T. Buford' looking for him. Her husband was stunned when she showed up. But because she showed up with a regiment of over two hundred volunteers, that somewhat ameliorated his dismay. Cue the happy ending - except the husband died soon after.

Hannah Snell @ The Trustees of the British Museum

Hannah Snell aka James Gray had a little bit different motivation than being separated from her true love. Soon after their daughter was born, her no-good husband dumped her and joined the British military. I guess he figured that's one place she wouldn't come looking for him. He was wrong. Sadly, their daughter didn't survive very long. After she died, Hannah enlisted in the British Army, bent on tracking him down. I don't know about you, but I have zero trouble imagining her towering inferno of rage at this point. When she had a close call being discovered, she switched gears and joined the British Marines instead. She saw plenty of military action, as far away as India, where she got shot multiple times in the lower body. Legend has it that rather than risk having a doctor discover her true gender, she opted to dig the bullet out of her groin area herself. Hannah retired from the military in 1750 after she discovered her ex was literally an ex, having been executed after being convicted of murder. I'm starting to see a pattern here.

Not every impersonator was chasing her man. Revolutionary War hero Deborah Sampson fought against the British as 'Robert Shurtleff' for nearly two years before being discovered. Her sole motivation appears to be patriotism, pure and simple.

Some, like Sarah Edmonds and Oronata Rondiani, sorta fell into it. They dressed as men to aid in escaping an unfortunate situation (for Sarah, an arranged marriage; for Oronata, forced to go on the lam for murdering her attacker during a rape), and found their disguise offered many unanticipated benefits. For Margaret Ann Bulkley, dressing as a man may have been the only way she could achieve her dream of becoming a physician. Their new identities led them to stints in the military. Edmonds eventually married, one hopes with a more palatable match, and had a family. Rondiani died in combat; Bulkley spent the rest of her life as Dr. James Barry, a career military surgeon.

Cathay Williams

Former slave Cathay Williams doesn't really fit into either of my two categories. She may have been just an extraordinarily practical sort. She was initially impressed into service in the Union Army as cook/washerwoman. Something about military life must have appealed to her. After the Civil War ended, she enlisted as a man, William Cathay, and served a few more years. She is more famously known as the only female member of the Buffalo Soldiers.

Click-O-Rama

Anne Bonny

Not all of the hardy masquerade crew I discovered down this rabbit hole served in the military.

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6

Published on 6 Comments on Eat Like A President

If you were one of the most powerful leaders in the world, what would you eat? The answer is: whatever you want! Serving as President is a tough job, but it does have a few perks. At least you don't have to cook for yourself if you don't want to. Today’s White House staff includes chefs and cooks available pretty much around the clock. They can prepare a meal for just one person, or for hundreds.

Some have identified this pic as George Washington's slave and personal chef, Hercules. But recent research indicates this may not be the case.
Photo from UShistory.org

George Washington often served his guests peanut soup as a first course. He also loved vegetable soup and his wife Martha’s recipe for cream of crab soup.  The creator of some of these favorites may have been Washington's personal chef, an enslaved man called Hercules. Hercules served as chef for the duration of Washington's term. P.S. I've been watching a show on Netflix called High On The Hog about the origins of soul food. Episode 3 focuses on Hercules, if you would like to know more.

Thomas Jefferson also appeared to be obsessed with soup. When he lived in Paris as minister to France, he apprenticed one of his slaves to a French chef to help ensure some of that fabulous continental cooking made its way back to the USA.

Yes, some of our revered founding fathers owned slaves. There's nothing to be gained by ignoring the unsavory parts of our history.

But I digress.

On the other end of whipping-up-a-bowl-of-soup-for-a-guy spectrum, we have Feeding The Masses, aka The Inaugural Ball. In earlier times, the general public was often allowed to attend. At James Buchanan’s inauguration in 1857, more than 400 gallons of oysters were served, along with mutton, venison, tongue, ham, and 500 quarts of chicken salad. More than 12,000 people attended Benjamin Harrison’s inaugural ball. The menu included oysters served three different ways, terrapin (turtle), sweetbreads (beef or lamb thymus glands, usually fried), and breast of quail.

Impressive as these parties may be, most of a president’s meals are served to him alone or with just a few people. When a president first takes office, the kitchen staff wants to know right away what sorts of foods he would like to have on a daily basis. Many presidents enjoy foods from wherever they grew up. Theodore Roosevelt was from New York and loved fresh wild mint and other greens that grew there. He had some planted at the White House especially for his use. I don't know about you, but Teddy sure didn't seem like a veg guy to me.

Photo from Recipe Reminiscing

Now this is interesting from a human psychology point of view: during FDR's term, which was during the Great Depression, he and his wife Eleanor decided the White House staff should cook and eat the same types of meals the rest of the country was eating. Rationed foods, simple things, easy to prepare. Let's just set aside the irony that the Roosevelts were very upper crust and probably had never prepared a meal for themselves in their entire pampered lives. The new food strategy may have been great Depression-era optics, but according to many news accounts of the time, made for lousy eating. Roosevelt also caused a fuss when he served hot dogs to the King and Queen of England when they visited America in 1939. The public was shocked that he would serve such a common food to such distinguished guests, but he insisted they were a family favorite.  

Photo from the White House Historical Association

Dwight Eisenhower was one president who enjoyed cooking for himself. Eisenhower enjoyed hunting. He often made soups and stews from the birds he shot. He was known to barbecue on a patio above the South Portico of the White House. Seeing the smoke emanating from the roof of the White House definitely freaked out nearby residents who didn't realize Ike was grillin' like a villain.

The Kennedys had a reputation for enjoying the finer things in life. Their White House chef was French. I envision lots of dinners with three tiny, unidentifiable yet artistically displayed tidbits per plate. They say JFK also loved the thick seafood soup known as chowder. He probably pronounced it 'CHOW duh'.

I must say I enjoyed reading about the food kerfuffle in the Lyndon Baines Johnson era. A Native Texan, LBJ enjoyed simple foods such as burgers and barbecue. Food preference was just one of many areas in which Johnson and his predecessor JFK were diametrically opposed. Let's just say LBJ did not find amuse bouche all that amusing. So LBJ replaced the fancy-schmancy White House French chef with his family cook, Zephyr Wright. A great quote from the linked article: apparently Ms. Wright was such a great cook, her food "made you wish you had two stomachs".

Photo from the Reagan Library website

While researching this post I ran across a rumor that Richard Nixon ate cottage cheese with ketchup. Sweet Mother of Pearl this is too disgusting to even contemplate. Then again, it was Nixon . . .

Ronald Reagan loved macaroni and cheese and any dessert containing coconut. His wife, Nancy, wanted him to eat healthy meals. She told the kitchen staff what to cook for him. But when she was out of town, Reagan would ask the chefs for a nice juicy steak and a double helping of chocolate mousse. Reagan was also fond of jelly beans. He kept a jar of them on his desk in the Oval Office. It is estimated 40 million jelly beans were served during Reagan’s two inaugural parties in the 1980s.

Photo from New York Botanical Garden website

The Obama administration made healthy eating a big part of their message. Specifically, First Lady Michelle Obama spearheaded the Let's Move! program, aimed at combating the obesity epidemic. But I was gratified, and to be honest, not surprised, to learn that the Obamas are only human, and sometimes splurged with a burger and fries. Apparently they were also big fans of the White House chef's pies and red velvet cake.

Photo from . . . everywhere. Dude went viral with those guns.

There's not a tremendous amount of info out there yet about the food preferences of the current Biden administration. The vegetable garden is still going strong. Chef Andre Rush has buff biceps bigger around than my thigh. The President likes vanilla ice cream. The Diet Coke phone panic button, like Biden's predecessor, has been removed from the Oval Office. So far, I'm not hearing anything I don't like.

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8

Published on 8 Comments on Chief Dog

If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. - Harry S. Truman

Inspired by the return of presidential pets to the White House with the Biden administration, I found this 1920 photo of Anna Roosevelt and her German Shepherd, Chief of the Mohawk. That's her famous father, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, standing beside them. Mr. Mohawk was first in shepherd class at that year's 7th Annual Washington Kennel Club dog show. Mr. Roosevelt was not yet president, but was Assistant Secretary of the Navy serving under Josephus Daniels during Woodrow Wilson's two terms as Commander-in-Chief.

Source: Library of Congress

As you can see, Mr. Roosevelt looks hale and hearty in this shot. Just one year later he would contract polio while on vacation in Canada.

As an adult, Anna Roosevelt was active during her parents' White House years, helping out as a secretary and hostess when needed. She also worked as a writer and journalist. Anna married three times and had three children. She passed away in 1975 at age 69.

Click-O-Rama

The Wiki article about presidential pets is a most delightful way to spend an afternoon. That's my original source for all of this week's Click-O-Rama topics.

The Bidens with their German Shepherds Major (left) and Champ
  • President Biden isn't the first to have German Shepherds as pets. JFK and FDR also had them. Roosevelt's even shares the name Major. Herbert Hoover had a German Shepherd as well as a Malinois, which is a very similar breed.
  • Some of the oddest pets originated as gifts to the presidents from other world leaders. George Washington received an Andalusian donkey from the King of Spain (hence the Andalusian heritage). Zebulon Pike gave Thomas Jefferson a pair of grizzly bear cubs. Gesture of friendship, or assassination attempt? Ditto Marquis de Lafayette's alligator which (allegedly) somehow wound up in the possession of John Quincy Adams.
  • John Adams had some dogs, one of which was named 'Satan'. I found this hilarious because after watching the HBO series about Adams, I had the impression he was very religious.
  • Some sicko thought it wasn't quite enough that President Lincoln was assassinated; he thought it would be cool to assassinate the late President Lincoln's dog Fido as well. That poor pup is also why we consider 'Fido' as a sort of generic name for a dog. I hope that dude got what was coming to him. Side note: one of my favorite southern expressions is from my dearly departed cousin Nan, may she rest in peace. Whenever she wanted to describe something as particularly messy or unattractive, she compared it to 'Fido's tail': "I can't do a thing with my hair today. It looks like Fido's tail."
  • Several presidents, or those in their immediate family, had birds as pets. My favorite bird anecdote is this one about Andrew Jackson's parrot: it had to be escorted away from Jackson's funeral service because of its incessant cursing. Wonder where it learned that?
  • Pet-loving presidents are by far the majority. Of the 40-some-odd presidents we've had, only three have not had pets of any kind. In contrast, some presidents have had so many pets, I was starting to worry about them a little bit while reading the Wiki. Even so, I'd rather have too many pets in the White House than none.

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Published on Leave a comment on Quivering, Jiggling, Tasteless Protein – Yum!

Gizmodo has a great article on the history of a hugely popular, tasteless, odorless protein product that is rather nasty until it magically absorbs the other flavors in the recipe. No, we are not talking about tofu. It's the all-American dessert icon, Jell-O.

And of course I spent half the day down the gelatin rabbit hole. That's just my info addict self at work.

I'm not a huge fan of gelatin products. I'll eat it, if we've had an apocalyptic event and the atmosphere has turned toxic and I'm in a bunker and that's all there is left to eat. Otherwise, I consign it to the pile of foods I ate as a kid (Vienna sausages and baloney come to mind; and yes, I know it's 'bologna', but at our house, it was plain old baloney) before I knew any better.

Just reading about gelatin products are made was enough to make me a little queasy. It's hooves, people. Bones and hooves. Or any cartilaginous animal product, I suppose, that can be boiled down to its protein basics. I can appreciate the aspect of not letting anything go to waste. But now I kinda wish I didn't know what gelatin was made of.

Making gelatin was a real pain in the early days. Someone had to boil the bones/hooves all day long to extract the gelatinous goodies. Then they strained the liquid, let it set, skimmed the goo off the top, and the stuff underneath was the end product.

Initially, this stuff underneath was used an adhesive. You have to wonder about the thought process that ended up in, "Hey, let's eat some of this glue!" Probably the same process kindergarteners still repeat when they open their new school supplies.

Most sources point to the French as early adopters of gelatin as an edible. Initially the gel was a source of protein during times of scarcity. But somebody figured out since the stuff was odorless and tasteless, it could do with a little flavoring. And once some more palatable flavoring was in the mix, the popularity of the dish soared.

From the Saturday Evening Post site

Initially the upgraded, tastier version of gelatin was considered a fancy-schmancy dish because it took so long to make and you had to be able to devote one or more of the kitchen staff to see to it. It wasn't until food industry wonks figured out how to shrink the days-long process to hours or even minutes that gelatin became popular with the masses. Not sure whether I consider that a blessing or a curse.

Couple more of my favorite takeaways from my time down the gelatin rabbit hole:

  • Adding an 'O' to product names was a fad in the mid-1800s. Sort of like everything named iSomething now.
  • Artist Norman Rockwell once drew an advertisement for Jell-O, showing a young girl serving the dessert to her doll. 
  • Jell-O turned to iconic comedians for their hugely successful ad campaigns.
  • Early evidence of a gelatin product has been found in an Egyptian tomb, but it is thought to have been used as glue rather than dessert.
  • Asian cultures developed a similar food product, but it was derived from sea weed.
  • **Kitchen Gadget Hoarder Warning** If you really want to up your game, you'll acquire some Jell-O molds to give your gelatin dessert a fancy shape.

I sorta feel compelled to include a Jell-O recipe from my childhood. Don't hate.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/14465/orange-gelatin-salad/

And now of course I have that old Jell-O jingle stuck in my head for the rest of the day. You're welcome.

Click-O-Rama

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Published on Leave a comment on Eating Is Such Sweet Sorrow

This post contains affiliate links.

In a previous post I mentioned several of the books that inspired me to write my current YA trilogy. One of them was Michael Moss' Salt Sugar Fat. It was in SSF that I learned about the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

This sculpture by artist Arlene Love greets visitors to the Monell Center. The piece's official name is 'Face Fragment', but everyone calls it 'Eddy'.

(In case you haven't noticed, my favorite part of the writing process is the research. Hands-down. No question. In my next life, I'm coming back as a professional researcher.)

But I digress.

At Monell, scientists focus on the mechanisms by which humans (and a few other species) process and interpret sensory input. Specifically, how we smell and taste things, and how that input affects us. Research done at Monell is why we know all sorts of interesting stuff, like:

  • cats are unable to taste sweets
  • olive oil contains anti-inflammatories
  • why smoking pot gives some people the munchies

They're also responsible for more serious discoveries, like the mechanics of detecting the taste of sugar (it's complicated). Monell researchers identified the specific receptor for sweet/sugar. It's also very complicated, but basically when this receptor encounters something sweet, it sends a signal to the brain, and the brain does its thing. Also complicated.

In a perfect world, we would be very appreciative that we have produced so many smart humans and they are doing such good work for us at Monell. But, alas. That dreamy scenario is complicated by a couple of important facts:

  • only about half of Monell's operating budget is provided by more or less neutral taxpayer dollars.
  • the other half is supplied by far-from-neutral corporate donations.

Corporate funding means sometimes the donors get an early look at test results. It also buys the donors access by asking the Monell staff to create bespoke experiments specifically designed for an existing or proposed product of said donor.

This is not to say the staff at Monell is on the take. There is no indication anyone has ever skewed test results to please the Krafts and Nestlés of the world. But that doesn't stop Big Food from spinning test results to suit their needs. For example, when test results indicated the preference for things that taste sweet could be identified in newborns, Big Food spun that result to say liking sugar was 'natural', to offset negative publicity about the risks of eating sugar to excess.

Or that time in the 1970s when a Monell study discovered that children and African Americans had a higher preference for salty or sweet foods than other segments of the population. Some corporations (like Frito Lay, for example) interpreted this as a green flag to crank out as many salty-crunchies as those markets would bear.

Sometimes the Monell staff are appalled at the perversion of the data they have worked so hard to produce. One look at the public health crisis, not just in our country, but world-wide, tells you who is currently winning that PR battle.

The spooky face fragment sculpture at the entrance of Monell is supposed to represent the awesome power of the human senses. But I see its ravaged visage more as a cry for help. If the scientists at Monell can come up with a method for resisting the siren call of the salty-crunchy aisle at the grocery store, then I'll be really impressed.

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Published on Leave a comment on We Are All Clueless

True wisdom is knowing what you don't know. - Confucius

The call to action to buy this candle: "Tired of feeling like a bone-dry hack?" Not kidding.

Once upon a time, I was stumped for a blog topic. (I'm sure I'm probably the only blogger that happens to.) Falling back on the last refuge of the blogger who can't decide what to write about, I checked to see what was trending on Twitter. It changes constantly, of course, but here's what was listed when I checked.

#HappyBirthdayBeliebers
#LiamWeStandByYou
#AquariusComeBack
#NionerAndRemaja
#Balqis
#BuZulumArsiTitretir
#GustavvoLimaNoDomingoLegal
The Bat Cave
TheApprenticeAsia
AngkaYangkamu
Eriksen
Three Musketeers

Talk about a lesson in humility. Of the twelve topics listed, how many did I know with certainty what they were about? Exactly one. I could hazard a guess or at least give the definition of the words on a few. After Googling all of them, I discovered that just because I knew the definition of a few words, certainly did not equate to knowing what the heck the hashtags or trends were about. Before you continue reading this post, take a moment and see if you can predict what each one is about.

Okay. Let's see how you did. No pressure.

  • The Apprentice Asia is obviously about the reality show. My confidence is so high on that assumption I didn't even fact-check it.
  • The Beliebers one wasn't too difficult to guess - it had something to do with the Canadian pop singer. But if you guessed it was his birthday, you would be wrong. I think the fans were celebrating his 7 year anniversary on Twitter?? Still not sure about that one.
  • Speaking of heartthrobs, Gusttavo Lima is one in Brazil. And 'Liam' is someone from American Idol. 
  • Indonesian topics dominated the list of 12. I know what Three Musketeers are - book/film or candy bar. But I could not have guessed why that was trending. Apparently one of the movie versions was broadcast on telly in the Phillipines recently. This was a big deal because it was broadcast without being 'tagalized' (translated into Tagalog). The Angka appears to be something about lucky numbers.
  • The Aquarius thing is an analysis of the traits of men with birthdays around this time of year.
  • BuZulumArsiTitretir is Turkish and looks like something that if I click on through, I will land on a terrorist watch list. Not kidding.
  • It is a shame The Bat Cave was a broken link. Apparently it was a cool home theater setup.
  • Eriksen is soccer (football) related.
  • Balqis may possibly be a musical group/artist.
  • And the Nioner-and-Remaja I could not figure out, even with the aid of Google's translating tool.

Being in the dark about some topics was understandable in the Dark Ages, when our ancestors had fewer options for staying informed.  For example:

  • The Chinese invented gunpowder about the same time Leif Ericson discovered America (1000 A.D.). But it was hundreds of years before gunpowder became commonplace in the West. 
  • Christopher Columbus' Spanish sponsors had to wait eight months to hear whether or not his gamble on sailing west amounted to anything. 
  • The last battle of the American Civil War was fought a month after Confederates surrendered at Appomattox in April of 1865 because Texas troops hadn't gotten word it was over. 

Today we have the technology to stay informed. But so many people are overly preoccupied with their own little worlds, they don't bother. Even when we are interested in the world around us, parsing the torrent of information available is a tall order. 

I'm not arguing for even more screen time so we can all know what lottery numbers are trending in Indonesia today. But just realizing how much there is out there that we don't know serves as a healthy reality check. 

Image from Gaping Void

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1

Published on 1 Comment on The Brits Are Through Horsing Around

One more post about hair, and I'll stop, I promise.

Have you heard about the TV series, Rake? It stars Greg Kinnear as a ne'er-do-well Los Angeles lawyer. No lack of material there, amirite? The show is pretty funny, but I discovered it is the American version of an Australian series (tagline: 'the bar has been lowered'). So I gave the original a look as well, which is also a scream. Because it features a lawyer, naturally there are many courtroom scenes. And here's the connection to the hair topic:


He has a curious craving for a bag of oats, guaranteed

What on earth is up with those ridiculous wigs the British empire lawyers, or 'barristers', wear in court?? A courtroom should be a scene of solemn dignity. Yet the most powerful guys in the room are all wearing what looks like a child-size vintage Easter bonnet. I should know - I had one (bonnet, not wig). Might as well have the President deliver the State of the Union in a Davy Crockett-style cap. Or an amateurish orange combover.

How can one be expected to maintain decorum and focus while wearing a hot, itchy, not to mention comical, remnant of a 400-year-old tradition on top of your head? For comparison, imagine wearing one of those Viking horn helmets the next time you give a PowerPoint presentation at work.

Turns out the wigs are a holdover from the 17th century wig craze. The Brits and the Aussies have given up wearing them except on special occasions. I'm sure they are all thrilled. Not only do they look silly, they were expensive and a pain in the tuckus to maintain.

The barristers aren't the only ones who are thrilled. The wigs are made of horse hair. I guess those donations from Manes of Love will have to go somewhere else.

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Published on Leave a comment on Biting Back: Nature’s Mosquito Repellents

The second of two posts about everyone's favorite insect. Here's the first.

photo via Terminix website

Flipping our calendars to the month of June brings thoughts of summertime, vacation, fun in the sun – and mosquitoes. Mankind has been battling this flying menace for thousands of years. We now have potions and lotions and sprays and devices designed by modern science to keep mosquitoes away. But what about Mother Nature’s own weapons? Dragonflies, bats, and purple martins all have a reputation for being effective against mosquitoes. Are they worth a try?

Dragonflies: YES

Dragonflies and their cousins, damselflies, have existed for more than 300 million years. This is longer than the dinosaurs lasted, and much longer than human beings have been around. Beautiful and beautifully engineered, dragonflies are capable of incredible flying maneuvers at impressive speeds. Their legs, wings, and jaws have interesting features custom-made for catching flying insects for dinner. Best of all, their favorite food is mosquitoes. Even at the larval stage of development, dragonflies feed on mosquito larva. In fact, some of the larger species are known as ‘mosquito hawks’ for this very reason. One estimate is that a single dragonfly is able to consume 600 mosquitoes per day. Dragonflies do not sting, bite, or otherwise intentionally harm humans. They appear to be most effective in controlling mosquitoes during the larval stage. However they are very enjoyable to watch in the adult stage, as they come in an almost endless supply of bright colors and are very entertaining in flight. Unlike many other insects, dragonflies do not feed on, nor are they attracted to, flowers or plants. Because they spend the majority of their life span as larvae, they require a clean and permanent source of water nearby to make them feel welcome in your yard. If you live within a quarter mile of a body of water, this is sufficient. If not, you may create an artificial source of water for them.

image by Magical Soulz via unsplash

Bats: YES

There are many types of bats that feed on insects in North America. Bats are not likely to harm humans. They eat their share of mosquitoes as they hunt in the early evening hours. It is estimated that an average bat can consume 500-1000 mosquitoes each night. Bats have been used in metropolitan areas as a natural and safe way to control mosquitoes, which sometimes carry diseases harmful to man. If bats are likely to live in your area, you can attract them by installing a bat house in your yard.

A 1980 renovation transformed the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas into an ideal bat cave, soon attracting migrating Mexican free-tailed bats.  Info and photo from https://www.austintexas.org/things-to-do/outdoors/bat-watching/

Purple Martins: NO

The purple martin, a bird and member of the swallow family, has a reputation for eating lots of mosquitoes. While it is true that the martin and other swallows do eat a lot of insects by swooping through the air with their mouths open, mosquitoes actually make up very little of the purple martin’s diet. Martins tend to feed during the daytime and at fairly high levels above the ground. Mosquitoes, on the other hand, are more plentiful later in the day and into the evening, and are found close to ground level. Martins are fun to watch and many people enjoy attracting them to their homes by building birdhouses especially designed for them. But they are not an effective way to combat mosquitoes.

Purple martins returning to their roost at Bomb Island on Lake Murray in South Carolina.

Even the most effective of nature’s mosquito eaters cannot solve the problem entirely. A creature that can eat thousands of mosquitoes sounds very efficient, until you realize that the mosquito population is easily numbered in the millions. In addition, dragonflies and bats will probably eat other insects as well, or may wander away from your yard to pursue their dinner. In the case of dragonflies, they are dinner for someone else (birds, frogs, spiders) -  their presence in your garden is not always guaranteed. Nevertheless, if you are interest in a more natural way of reducing your mosquito population, consider giving Mother Nature’s repellents a try.

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Published on 2 Comments on Gallinippers*, Be Gone!

The first of two posts about everyone's favorite insect. Here's the second.

Long before the dawn of man, the mosquito was around, anxious to make a meal of him. In the 21st century, we have many years of scientific research providing us with a variety of complex chemical sprays and lotions to keep the pests away.

Alas, these modern products have only been available relatively recently. Early cultures had to 'make do', as we say here in the South, with other methods.

STRONGLY recommend reading this article about the Karankawas at the Texas State Historical Association website https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/bmk05

One of the first mosquito repellent methods consisted of smearing something on the skin. Early peoples didn’t know that only the female mosquito feeds on blood, or that she is attracted by a combination of aroma and temperature. All they knew was that the little buggers had an annoying, itchy bite. Therefore, if one could come up with something that would keep the mosquitoes off their skin, the battle was won. No one can know for certain how they decided on what to use, but it does make sense that they settled on something that smelled absolutely awful. After all, if it repelled their fellow humans, wouldn’t it work the same way on mosquitoes?

Journals of early European explorers in America relate the use of rancid bear grease, alligator grease, and even shark oil. The grease was simple to find – it was the layer of fat just below the skin of animals killed in a hunt or perhaps found already dead. The shark oil comes from the shark’s liver. The natives smeared the grease or oil, sometimes combined with dirt, over all exposed skin. As they often went with very little clothing, this meant they were usually covered head to toe with the smelly mixture.

Primitive cultures also figured out that if they built smoky fires, this seemed to keep mosquitoes away. Some cultures preferred a certain type of tree, such as black mangrove. Others were not so picky – any green wood was acceptable. The secret was to get the wood smoking while not allowing it to achieve a full burn. During the summer months when mosquitoes were in full force, much time and effort was spent collecting wood specifically meant to keep mosquitoes at bay. It is difficult to say which was more unbearable – being covered with dirt and animal fat, or withstanding the heat of a smoky fire in the middle of summer, complete with stinging eyes and choking breath. Clearly mankind was willing to do almost anything to keep the mosquitoes away.

This effect is easily achieved by forgetting to open the damper in your indoor fireplace. NOT recommended.

Less offensive methods evolved with the passage of time. Early peoples were very knowledgeable about the properties of the plants growing nearby. They soon discovered that plants with pungent or strong smells seemed to be effective against mosquitoes.  Many of these plants are still used today for the same purpose. One of the most familiar to modern culture is citronella. Lavender, eucalyptus, and garlic are just a few of the plants that have some effect on keeping mosquitoes away. Before glass windows or wire screens were commonplace, people often constructed window boxes in order to grow some of these fragrant plants just below the window in the hopes of steering the mosquitoes away. Even today, in many countries where mesh screening is not widely available, window boxes still serve this purpose. These plant remedies have never been quite as effective as smoky fires or animal fat, but they are certainly more pleasant.

Modern man is still battling with the mosquito. We are still very interested in keeping those hungry females from biting us, no matter how unpleasant the solution. But the next time you complain about applying one of those high-tech creams, lotions or sprays, just remember – it could be worse. It could be alligator grease.

  • “gallinipper” is another word for mosquito.

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Published on Leave a comment on Super Bowl Bonuses: Going Green

A previous version of this post first appeared in 2016.

I blogged previously about the history of some of the world championship hardware teams earn when they win a championship. I promised to follow up with the real reason all those players are smiling as they hoist those trophies: their financial bonuses.

According to various sources, the winners of Super Bowl L (50, but as a former Latin student, I'm going old school there) won $97,000.00 each. That's right. Every player on the Denver Broncos roster earned more for winning that game than many people earn in a year. The Panthers each received $49,000.00 for losing it. That will pay for a lot of tissues for wiping away the tears on the plane ride home.

2015 Super Bowl bling

Ninety-seven grand is very grand indeed, but here's the kicker (pun intended): the Super Bowl bonus is literally pocket change for most of the players. The average player salary in the NFL is over $2 million per year. The regular season consists of 16 games, so that works out to about $125,000.00 per game. Teams who reach the Super Bowl have also received bonuses every time they advance in the post-season, so the total bonus take for the champs is closer to $165,000.00 per player. That doesn't include the ring each player will receive after several months of design and manufacture. The rings for the 2015 champs, the New England Patriots, are valued at $36,500.00 each.

Salaries are just the tip of the income iceberg for many professional athletes. Endorsements are where the real money is. Peyton Manning is not only the master of the endorsements game. He's an expert in product placement. Some estimate his mention of Budweiser products in his post-game interviews to be worth billions to the company, which trickles back down to him in the form of profits at the two Anheuser-Busch distributorships in which he owns a stake. And that doesn't even include the Papa John's and Nationwide contracts and his latest entertainment ventures. (Come to think of it, I'm surprised he didn't deliver part of his canned Super Bowl speech to the tune of the Nationwide jingle.) Estimates of the elder Manning's annual endorsement income is $12,000,000.00. That's twelve million if all those zeroes are starting to make your eyes spin. Remember, that's on top of his 5-year, $96 million contract for actually playing football. That's just over $19 million per year, so it's more than the endorsements, but with the endorsements, 350-lb linemen are not threatening to separate your head from your shoulders on every play.

Is it me, or doesn't Grange favor Manning just the tiniest bit?

In the early years, football players were paid per game. Player salaries fluctuated wildly based on perceived skill as well as the budgets of the various teams. The first player to play under season-long contract was Red Grange in 1926. He was paid $100,000.00 for a 19 game season with the Chicago Bears. That may not seem like much compared to the numbers I was throwing around earlier. It's certainly less than what many players earn per game today. But factoring in inflation over the last 90 years, that works out to about $1,300,000.00 in today's money. Not bad, considering he had to wear a helmet that looks like it was inspiration for a Coneheads skit.

The players union made progress in standardizing salaries starting in the 1970s. Thanks to the popularity of the game, broadcast rights, ticket prices, and licensing revenue, there's a lot of green to go around for the players who get the hooey knocked out of them every Sunday for our entertainment. From the look of their celebration dances (and their bank account balances), they're enjoying it as much as we are.

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