NOTE: This post contains one (1) photo with caption, taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.
THURSDAY 04 thru SUNDAY 07 July 2024 — The USA has another birthday, celestial motion, & mead
Thursday 04 … Independence Day
We do not have a family tradition of getting together on the 4th of July for a meal or other activities, and we have never been inclined to buy and use fireworks on this, or any other occasion. When we were younger we would, however, often attend large public fireworks displays. But many people do gather on this holiday, and we have plenty of neighbors who indulge in fireworks, so we were not without a sense of festivity today.
If I understand dates correctly, the Declaration of Independence was unveiled publicly on this date in 1776. Thus, the first anniversary of “Independence Day” was July 4th, 1777 and today was the 248th anniversary of this world-changing event. I hadn’t really thought much about it, but July 4th, 2026 will be the 250th anniversary of the birth of the nation. I presume there will be lavish celebrations that year.
As for what we did today? I have no idea or, rather, I don’t have any helpful notes. If I have to guess, I suspect we worked in the yard, but it’s also entirely possible that we just took the day off and relaxed. It’s been known to happen.
Friday 05 … Aphelion & Mead
Our new wine refrigerator with the racks pulled part way out. The wall hanging is a hooked rug that I (Bruce) made sometime in the 1976-77 timeframe. It was my own design, based on a pseudo-colored x-ray radio photograph of the Milky Way galaxy. The photo was just of the central portion of what is portrayed in the rug.
Aphelion and mead don’t really have much to do with one another, other than the fact that they both happened today. Aphelion is the point (in space and time) when the earth is the farthest away from the sun during its annual revolution. This is a distance of 1.01 AU (astronomical units), approximately 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. (I think 1 AU is the average/mean distance of the earth from the sun.
Since the earth’s orbit is elliptical, rather than circular, there are only two points in the orbit where it is1 AU from the sun. The rest of the year it is slightly farther away or slightly closer.) Most sources I checked seemed to indicate this occurred today, but some indicated that it actually occurred tomorrow. It’s not so much important as it is interesting, at least to astronomy geeks. Indeed, it’s the hottest time of the year in the northern hemisphere. That’s because the distance from the sun has very little effect on our climate. It’s the 23.5-degree axial-tilt of the earth relative to the plane of its orbit, and how that tilt is oriented to the sun throughout the year, that determines our seasons.
Today was the mead tasting at Schramm’s Mead in Ferndale. We left early enough to have lunch before going to Meadery just ahead of our 1 PM tasting appointment. The tasting was in a small room that could comfortably accommodate 6 – 8 tasters. For our session, there were only three tasters, us and another woman. We had asked for a guided tasting, so our host (Charles, I believe), told us a bit about each mead before and as we tasted it, with some discussion following each one, and comparisons to those previously sampled or tasted elsewhere sometime/someplace in the past.
All meads are made with honey as the main source of fermentable sugar, and Schramm’s has a wide range of products based on a careful and skillful selection and blending of both honeys and fruits. The six we tasted today were, in order, Marionberry, Pacific Bramble +, Patty Fay, Apple Crisp, Leatherwood, and Sunflowers. The first three are fruit meads, Patty Fay is made with ginger, while the last two are classic meads. That is to say, they contain nothing but water and honey. These are the meads in which the essential character of the honey is the sole determinant of the taste.
We had a bottle of Patty Fay at home, that I purchased when I visited the meadery some weeks ago to have lunch with Ken (the owner and namesake of the business), but we had not opened it yet, so all six of these meads were knew to us. They were each different from one another, all interesting, and all very much to our taste; really fine examples of the art of mead-making. We bought three (3) bottles, 1 each of Leatherwood, Sunflowers, and Heather. Heather was not part of the tasting but was also a classic mead and was strongly suggested by our fellow taster, who was clearly a regular, and more experienced mead drinker (and customer) than us. As best I recall, we were told it has a strong ginger presence that we would like, given how much we liked the Patty Fay.
Saturday 06 … Why we have desks
Linda had work she needed to do for the bakery, and spent the day at her desk, so I did the same (at my desk). There’s always stuff to do at our desks, especially things that involve our computers rather than our tablets. Besides, we both needed a break from yard work.
Sunday 07 … Off to camp (again), more yard work, and another BdW guest
Madeline took the bus back to Camp Algonquin today, this time for two back-to-back 1-week sessions. I think that one of these sessions included some equestrian experiences. She had already been to “horse camp” (locally) a summer or two ago, and was looking forward to getting back in the saddle.
I resumed my tree pruning work, but wasn’t feeling well. I had a sore throat but no fever. Still, after a few hours I was tired, not feeling the joy of the work, and called it quits for the day.
BdW guest Mark and Kathy L. arrived in the early evening for a 1-night stay. It had been a long day for them, so Linda and I chatted with them briefly and let them settle in. I mentioned that I wasn’t feeling well and kept my distance.
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