8 Things I Learned in February

I began writing this post on February 5, and was quite happily surprised that I learned the first 3 things on this list so soon in the month. I think we all learn things constantly; writing them down helps us realize it is happening.

1. Young Miner’s Lettuce tastes good. I’d heard this most of my life, but didn’t get the “young” part, and would pick it when it was in flower. Then, it tastes bitter. “Young” means newly sprouted, pre-flower stage.
2. There is a new podcast on the World Wide Web called Women’s Work. Tsh (yeah, I know. . . it is pronounced “Tish”. . . whatsamatter with her parents?) Oxenreider interviews women who work in interesting businesses. I discovered the vowelless Tsh when she was interviewed on What Should I Read Next, and I liked her book choices. 
3. Did you know there is an International Correspondence Writing Month? Yeppers. It is February, and in the spirit of creative, cute and trendy, it is called “InCoWriMo”; I learned of this from Pencils.com. They, the pencil people, said to write them a letter and they would send something in return. (Prolly just a coupon for a slight discount on a product if you spend an enormous amount first. . . yep, I am cynical.) InCWriMo actually has a website, and it is simple and beautiful, the way I hope my own will become.
4. There is a thingamajig that goes on the end of a special camera lens that allows one to insert a slide and then photograph it to convert it to a digital file. In the olden days, art was photographed onto slide film, and it was tricky business to get the light right and the image square. Now, when we want to see pictures of our old work, we hold up a little slide to the light and squint, unless we have a friend with a thingamajig on her camera. But, this teaches us that our slide photography was dismal and horrible and didn’t show off our work. Is this why we didn’t get our work accepted into juried shows? (Notice I am hiding behind the royal “we”?)
5. For some reason, Guatemala keeps appearing in my life. A few months ago, I proofread a book called Rooftop Reflections for a friend about his home-building trips in Guatemala; a few weeks ago, 2 friends went to Guatemala on a mission trip; recently, my niece announced her engagement to a fine man from Guatemala. Yesterday I met a man who is married to a woman from Guatemala.What does all this mean? (This one is more of an observation; learning will come later, if at all.)
6. The word “anthropogenic”: it means environmentally despoiled by humans. Can’t say that I’ll use it much in conversation, but it is always good to increase one’s vocabulary.
7. Cows rarely have twins. Did you know that? I didn’t. Ewes are more likely to have twins.
8. Ever seen the classic portrait oil painting called Pinkie (painted in 1793 by Thomas Lawrence, hanging in  the Huntington Museum)? Did you know Pinkie had TB and died a year later at age 12? New info to me.