Category: History

Snollygoster is a Fun Word to Learn

: a shrewd, unprincipled person

“Truman lamented that Dwight Eisenhower had given in to congressional “snollygosters“—unprincipled politicians.—Orme Wilson”

This is a quote I found on the Merriam Webster Dictionary website. I was going to talk about the word “gumption” which is today’s word of the day. I was sidetracked when I saw that snollygoster is the current top word look-up at this website. I did not know what it meant, so I looked it up. I found the above quote. I tried to look up Orme Wilson since I did not recognize this name. I found that there was more than one Orme Wilson, so I searched who was the Orme Wilson that used the word “snollygoster” to describe politicians. I found this:

“President Harry S. Truman. Truman lamented in his personal correspondence and speeches that Dwight D. Eisenhower had surrendered to congressional “snollygosters”—which he defined as unprincipled, shrewd politicians who care more about getting into office than about party, platform, or principles. Because Orme Wilson Jr. was a prominent diplomat during the Truman era, his papers, letters, or related historical records are cited by lexicographers as the source material verifying Truman’s use of the word.” I found this quote from Wikipedia.

According to Merriam Webster, the word can be traced back to the word “snallygaster” which was a mythical creature. Etymology– “probably alteration of snallygaster a mythical creature that preys on poultry and children.”

A dark winged dragon stands among dead chickens beside a rural wooden farmhouse.
Could this be a snallygaster or a snollygoster?

In case you are more interested in the word “gumption”, here is the link: Definition of gumption.

My First Post Still Standing

Four-panel comic showing stages of sleep and waking involving a man in pajamas.
A comic strip illustrates a man’s transition from sleep to wakefulness through dreams and sleepwalking.

https://movingforwardslowly.com/2015/09/20/am-i-awake-sleepwalking-or-dreaming-who-is-in-charge/

This post I just linked is from the year 2015. The original post did not have a picture. This comic strip was added today, though it is not a comic in the Ha,Ha sense. I had some other posts before this one, however, I deleted several from the year 2015. I decided to revisit this post today because oddly I did wake from a very strange dream this morning, and it was a relief to me that it was just a dream.

The image and caption above are both generated images in the comic book style. Though some of my dreams during this period of time were downright terrifying or very confusing. I don’t know why the image generator made the character a man. I decided to keep it this way because it puts more distance between me and my past dreams.

Reading Books

This summer has not been a big reading time for me because I have been too busy with projects around our home, and working outside trying to prevent our backyard from becoming a wilderness of weeds, and doing some experimental cooking and mixology, and tending to my family’s needs.

This past Tuesday I checked out my first book of the summer. Its title intrigued me, The Origin Of Ava. I am only on page 17 at this point. I have never been a super avid reader like my brother and sister. I have to be in the mood and have the time and see a book that captures my attention. There are a few writers that I own several of their books, and they range from entertaining non-fiction to purely fiction. I prefer writing that appeals to a nerd’s desire to learn new things or is detailed with specific facts within a fictional story. I often have been challenged when asked what is my favorite book because I don’t think I have just one. For some reason, when I opened the recent library loaner, I thought of the first adult book that really captured my attention and kept my attention for all of the 937 pages. This book was Hawaii written by James A. Michener. I chose this picture from Wikipedia because this is what the book cover looked like. It was a book that must of come into my possesion from my parents collection.

I was surprised today when I looked up the information about this book. It was published just a few months after Hawaii became our 50th state. “August 21, 1959 President Eisenhower signs the formal proclamation admitting Hawaii as the 50th state.” This means that Hawaii was not yet a state when my brother was born there in 1955. I never knew this or really thought about it until today.

You live and you learn! 🙂

Miscellaneous Thoughts and Information

I miss my water lilies. We had to totally clean out the pond this spring because the cattails had taken over. It was a mess to clean out, so I am skipping water plants this summer. Next summer I will probably put one in, and closely monitor cattail invasion. Without pond plants there have been very few dragonfly sightings.

Here are 3 pictures taken today of an Ironweed native plant named “Southern Cross”. It is just beginning to bloom. I purchased it out at the historic Abernathy & Spencer Green House & Garden Center in Lincoln, Virginia

My camera card is full of pictures, some I had never downloaded and really looked at. I chose one to highlight today. It is a picture of a North American Green Tree Frog that I took at Huntly Meadows Park in Fairfax County, Virginia. For more information about the frog look here: https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/amphibians/frogsandtoads/green-frog/index.php

Since I am not an expert, I am just guessing that it is a North American Green Tree Frog. I provided a link so that you could make your own determination.

Since the full Buck Moon is today/tonight, I did a little research on historical events that have happened around the full buck moon in July. I was surprised to see that the Apollo 11 Moon Landing was close to the full moon (not exactly on the full moon). They listed other historical events, though none appeared to have happened exactly on the day/night of the full moon. I did not do extensive research.

This is one of my favorite t-shirts. I wore it yesterday

I saw the buck moon last night and it was so lovely, it looked full even though it was only almost full. I hope to see it again tonight.

Cranberry bean update– I picked my third full bowl of the beans this afternoon. I have made 2 soups so far…soon to be 3. 🙂

Update 7/30/2026 –5:26 PM-– I did see the moon last night! After I had cleaned up everything for the day and turned off all the lights, I had the thought to check to see if I could see the moon, and sure enough it was front and center skimming the tree line directly in line of my kitchen window. I went outside and right on the threshold between inside and outside I got a beautiful full view of the Buck Moon. Light wispy clouds were hugging it and some moved across its surface, though none could dim its brightness and its beauty.

Family Connections

I have been talking about cleaning projects around my house this summer. My biggest project was cleaning, organizing and updating a few things in my office and sitting area. This is the room I keep my cookbooks, garden books, other books, writing materials, and tech equipment. It also used to contain the old family recipe box I salvaged from our garage a few years back. The old box literally fell apart the other day. At first I was going to buy a new recipe box, however, it did not seem right for what I was going to put in it. I thought surely I must have an old box to transfer the old recipes into. I found this box in my bedroom. I don’t remember exactly how this came to me, though it is from relatives on either my mother or father’s side of the family.

It was very enjoyable going through all the old recipes. It started with an email from my sister asking me if I had grandmother’s cheesecake recipe that used milnot. This is its own story which I will not go into at this time. I did not find one labeled as my grandmother’s, however, I did find one that must be very similar, if not the exact recipe she used. I did find a recipe for a 4-square fudge cake that I had remembered making for my father’s birthday long ago. I have been looking for it now and then over the years and never could find it. Well, it was cut out from a magazine, and I had written at the top of it, Daddy’s birthday cake 1980. Many of the old recipes were not written neatly on index cards. They were cut out from various sources.

I found one old recipe card that I don’t ever remember, and it was very interesting in many ways. At first I thought it was from a local source since it had the name Fairfax in an address on top. I have a long history in Fairfax County, and Fairfax city in Virginia, so I tried to look it up. It turns out it is from an old historic Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles, CA. There is a Fairfax District which is a historic neighborhood in Central Los Angeles. My sister used to live very near to the Old Farmer’s Market, and I do remember her taking me there. I think this recipe card must have been picked up by either my mother or my father, and then made its way into the family recipe box.

Out of curiosity I looked up Marconda’s Meat Market and it is still there at stall 514, though my recipe card states stall 512. They have been open since 1941, so maybe stall numbers changed at some point.

Screenshot taken today.

I am making the beef stroganoff today. The recipe card is 2-sided. The veal birds in sour cream recipe made me ask – what are ‘veal birds’? I had to look it up. I will let you do the same if you are interested. I will have to try this recipe in the future. It does sound good.

It’s a small world!

Update 7/27/2026 — I found a picture of the recipe box before it fell apart. Look below.

I still have the pieces. It might be able to be glued back together.

Her Majesty’s Ship: A Flight of Imagination

Sorceress in a purple gown steering an elaborate magical ship in space
A regal sorceress steers an ornate magical ship through a starry cosmos.

Someone the other day asked me how long I have been blogging. I told her I think it was 2015 in the late summer. The blog was started as my way to mentally work through a tough time in my life. The other day when I was cleaning a file cabinet I found a bag with printed out copies of some of my earlier posts. I have to search my posts to remember whether I saved it here or whether I deleted it. I have deleted many of my earlier posts. My earlier posts had no pictures. I found a paper copy of a post from December 22, 2016 which I think is pretty funny. It was a stretch of my imagination that went outside the boundaries of reality. I decided to let my picture generator here create a picture for this post. I think it goes well with the light-hearted theme. Rather than link the post I will post a picture of it. It is easier for me this way.

Flashback to 2018

As I have been cleaning and organizing our home and going through cabinets and closets, I have been finding all sorts of interesting things that I had forgotten about. When an item is found it brings back memories. I ran across this chalice still in its box in a china cabinet. The charity partnership between Stella Artois and Water.org that was going on in 2018 motivated me to buy this chalice. When Amazon.com had the Smile option where you could have a percentage of your purchases go to the charity of your choice, I explored the participating organizations and that is how I was introduced to water.org.

I do like the beer Stella Artois, though, I rarely drink these days. I definitely thought at the time that it was a worthy promotion for water.org and Stella Artois. You should check out the Stella Artois website. They are an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Stamps and Feathers

The USPS issued a new stamp yesterday. I read this in the news this morning, so I went to their website to check it out. I ended up buying a sheet of 20. I like the way the feathers are arranged to make the date 1776. This got me to thinking about some recent feathers I have found in my garden this summer.

About 2 to 3 weeks ago I was looking out my kitchen window, and I wondered where the hawks have been going these days because I had not seen any in a couple months. About 3-4 days later I witnessed a hawk visiting our garden. It was smaller than any I had seen before. I guessed it was a young hawk. You would think I would be a hawk expert by now, but I am not. I cannot determine whether the hawk was a Cooper’s Hawk or a Sharp-Skinned Hawk. The Sharp-Skinned is the smaller of the two, however, a young Cooper’s would be smaller than an adult. I was very excited when I found a feather in my garden that must be from the hawk I spotted. He has visited a few more times since the first sighting. I will show you the hawk feather with a dove feather, and 2 catbird feathers. All are from our garden. 

Update on 7/9/2026 -- The hawk was back today. It was sitting on the old raised bird bath. A very heavy solid bird bath that looks like stone, though because of the worn look on the bottom of the bowl makes me think it is a composite of materials. 
I got a better look at this hawk through binoculars; and because of where it was sitting, I could judge its size better than previous sightings. The hawk has no red or rust coloration, possibly because of age. I also got a good look at its talons (claws) They did not appear nearly as big as other hawks I have seen. I also got a better look at its tail feathers, and they looked more squared off than rounded. I am becoming more convinced that it is a relatively young sharp-skinned hawk. The yard was clear of all other birds, so it is still capable of frightening the other birds. (Sorry, no pics) I would have to already be in the yard with my camera in a hiding spot to capture a good picture. Its visits are too irregular, and I am too busy inside to spend time doing this.
Here is a picture of a hawk hunting in our garden many winters ago. We have had several hawk sightings in our garden over the years. I work in a neighboring town at the middle school, and the mascot is a hawk! I see this as evidence that hawks see our area as a great habitat.
The reason I was able to capture this picture is because I already had my camera set up on our deck with a long lens before the hawk came hunting. It was pure luck, and as I recall it was my birthday, so I had taken the day off work. My husband and I later traveled downtown for some sightseeing, though I don't think anything we saw there was as exciting as what I saw at home in the morning.