Punxsutawney Phil Word Games: Feb. 2, 2012

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL WORD GAMES

FEBRUARY. 2, 2012

     In keeping with my attempt to practice putting word games on my blog, the following will offer you some fun on 2012’s Groundhog DayTo understand their relationships of some of the odd words to Punxsutawney Phil, click on the links that follow the games. Answers to the word scramble are found at the following link:

Towns in Eastern Westmoreland County, PA.

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

TOWNS IN EASTERN WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

A Word Search 

     Today’s post is an experiment.

 

     I am considering making an activity book to accompany my novel, so I was playing around creating puzzles on the computer. Then I decided to see if it would work to insert a word search in a post. I quickly made up a list of towns here in eastern Westmoreland County and submitted it to the word search site (http://tools.atozteacherstuff.com/word-search-maker/wordsearch.php ).

     Let me know what you think…thanks! 

     Oh, I had to leave off the word “Borough” in Laurel Mountain because the community’s full name is too long for the word search!

 

J X X O L X E V F N K T J I Y A L M F P A T F F D Y L D X Y E R P D U M T I T Z C R J W S E N R O T C E R Z J O J M W Y K F H Q U Z U M O X E W F Y W Y C D P Z I Z A U B Z S I O F M L X G R U B S N E E R G X D W N I A T N U O M L E R U A L C L H I Z L S B K J D K W N Q S Z D C W S T A H L S T O W N O N W O T N I L H G U A L J J R A B U D R O F R E T A W U M H U R E I N O G I L M Q B P H I L Z R N E N Q R V V G B K K M I L E S C X S F X P S C T M                               LAURELMOUNTAIN LAUGHLINTOWN LIGONIER STAHLSTOWN WATERFORD RECTOR LATROBE GREENSBURG

Recipe For a Wedding Potpourri

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

RECIPE FOR A WEDDING POTPOURRI

THE WEDDING—a timeless ceremony connecting man with his ancient and his future generations…

THE WEDDING POTPOURRI—of herb and spice, a fragrant reminder of bygone eras…

Begin with the SESAME SEED—the oldest mythological plant found recorded on historic Assyrian tablets…

Tales of wisdom, words of faith, burst forth from the mighty MUSTARD SEED.

For marriage and fruitfulness, chastity and eternal love, enter the fragrant ORANGE BLOSSOMS…

The ORANGE, giving happiness and prosperity, is a well-chosen gift.

Dedicated to Aphrodites and Venus; symbolic of love and beauty,

‘Find the Herb & Spice’ Quiz

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

‘FIND THE HERB and SPICE’ QUIZ

In each phrase below you will find the name of an herb or spice. To make it more interesting, their names are all spelled backwards. How many can you identify?

The answers are revealed at the end of this link: Recipe For a Wedding Potpourri (click on

http://carolyncholland.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/recipe-for-a-wedding-potpourri/ )

1. Pure gas should be used in this project.
2. The new trellis about the garden makes it look very pleasing to the eye.
3. Do not tarry about paying your income tax.
4. Hey Mom, a Dracula is after me. Help!
5. You must pin, tack, and stitch that garment in order to have it turn out professionally.
6. This ship is all I navigated on the

Shooting Snapshots: Terroristic Activity?

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

SHOOTING SNAPSHOTS: TERRORISTIC ACTIVITY?

     I want to thank George F. Will. A recent newspaper column he authored, A snapshot of our times*, has me concerned.

     Will cites examples of photographers questioned about their terroristic tendencies due to the subjects included in their photographs. One was photographing controversial new turn styles in the Los Angeles subway. Another was photographing industrial scenery at night.

     Still another was taking photographs to accompany a news article. The issue about his photographs was the presence of a courthouse in the background.

     Why do these examples raise a concern?

When the Los Angeles Police Department developed a Suspicious Activity Report program, the federal government encouraged local law enforcement agencies to adopt its guidelines for gathering information “that could indicate activity or intentions related to” terrorism…From the fact that terrorists might take pictures of potential infrastructure targets (“pre-operational surveillance”), it is a short slide down a slippery slope to the judgment that photography is a potential indicator of terrorism and hence photographers are suspect when taking pictures “with no apparent aesthetic value” (words from the suspicious-activity guidelines).* (bold print mine)

     Deputies detained and searched the turn style photographer, and asked him if he was planning to sell the photos to al-Qaeda. When the photographer claimed his right to remain silent the deputy said You know, I’ll just submit your name to TLO (the Terrorism Liason Officer program). Every time your driver’s license gets scanned, every time you take a plane, any time you go on any type of public transit system where they look at your identification, you’re going to be stopped. You will be detained. You’ll be searched. You will be on the FBI’s hit list.*

     The industrial scenery photographer finds aestheticism and occasional monetary value in depicting nighttime industrial scenes on film. One night, however, while on a public sidewalk photographing an oil refinery with a large camera on a tripod, deputies ordered him to stop taking pictures, lest they put his name on a troublesome FBI list.*

     A journalist, writing a story on drivers distracted by texting and use of hand-held phones, was taking illustrative pictures at an intersection. A courthouse was in the background. Deputies called the courthouse a “critical facility” and labeled his picture-taking as “suspicious activity,” gave him a pat-down search, and demanded to see the pictures he had taken.

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     In the decade since Sept. 11, 2001, the United States has comprehensively reduced civil liberties in the name of

Is Your Table Big Enough? If not, add a leaf…

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

IS YOUR TABLE BIG ENOUGH?

If not, add a leaf…

     Are you seeking persons to whom you can demonstrate God’s love?

     STOP! You don’t have to seek. In fact, if you are seeking you might just miss the persons that God intends you to give love to.

     Unless you are a hermit living in a cave, isolated from communication with any other human being, a multitude of opportunities to express God’s love crosses your path each day. You don’t have to seek them…they are ever present: the grumpy waitress, the mother maneuvering two young children and multiple shopping bags, the bored face in the doctor’s waiting room, the person in a wheel chair who is unable to reach the item on the shelf, the isolated and the lonely, the overworked and overstressed…

~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Recently, I was in Cleveland Heights “window” shopping at an upscale mall. I wandered into a store to be greeted by a clerk asking if I needed help.

     “No,” I said. “I’m just passing through.”

     Then I hesitated.

     “You know, there is one thing I’m looking for. I don’t know it you have it, but I’ve looked everywhere for it, and just cannot find it.”

     “Well, perhaps I can help,” she said. “What is it?”

     I paused before answering:

Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

LUNG CANCER IN NON-SMOKERS

     Aah, the crisp autumn weather, the warmth of a fire created by the autumnal festival of burning the formerly colorful but now deathly-brown leaves and debris that fell in plentiful amounts off the oak, maple, and apple trees.

     Aah, the homey smell of the cigar smoke as my grandfather read the evening newspaper.

     Aah, the feeling of being grown up as I trooped to the corner store to pick up cigarettes for my mother.

     The not-so-aah smell of cigarette smoke while riding in a car with one or more smoking adults, windows closed against the cold air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

     These were typical experiences in my life as a child in the late 1940s and early 1950s. I’m certain I was not alone in having these experiences of existing in extreme circumstances of air pollution.

     People who have never smoked, but who live in areas with higher air pollution levels, are roughly 20 percent more likely to die from lung cancer than

Such Balmy January 2012 Weather—Enjoyable and Frustrating

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

SUCH BALMY JANUARY 2012 WEATHER

—ENJOYABLE AND FRUSTRATING

     January 15^th, 2012…is the first month of the year almost history? Like the twelve months in 2011, 2012 is zipping past almost without notice. Until January 11^th the weather was wonderfully temperate here in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Then it dipped down to ten degrees. On Friday we woke to snow—you might know, that day I had to travel to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where I facilitate the Beanery Writers Group. I didn’t want to cancel since we hadn’t met since December 9^th—we cancel the second meeting in December due to Christmas celebrations.

     That said, the temperate climate somewhat irritated me. I know—I should have enjoyed it—and so I did. However, my annual January

Smiles Wanted!

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

SMILES WANTED!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

SMILES WANTED!

You don’t have one? I’ll give you one of mine.

You seem so sad.

Just smile.

SMILE!

PRACTICE SMILING!

SHARE A SMILE DAY IS COMING

ON MARCH 1st IT WILL BE HERE!

Every day you spend without a smile, is a lost day.  ~Author Unknown***

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     March first is six weeks away, which provides significant training time to get your smiles in not great but fantastic shape.

     Of course, it’s seems slightly incongrous to me that Share a Smile Day shares March 1 with Pig Day and Peanut Butter Lover’s Day.

     Thus, the first order of business is to get you to smile. : – )

     With that in mind, I offer you a quiz with seven questions about pigs and three about peanut butter (the answers are at the end of this post)*,**,***:

1. What do you call a pig that does karate?
2. What do you call a pig that won the logger?
3. What do you get when you cross a pig with a dinosaur?

Warning: Do Not “Smile Someone” Today!

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

WARNING: DO NOT “SMILE SOMEONE” TODAY!

Wipe that smile off your face…!

Replace it with a frown!

 

     I realize that this command is counterintuitive, the opposite being told SMILE! After all, we smile out of happiness, and we frown out of sadness. And who wants to be sad?

     However, there are other reasons, besides sadness, to frown.

     Experiments show that the simple act of frowning makes you