TOMATOES: The Beauties of a Fall Harvest

This is the time of the year when the fall harvest begins. For gardeners, anxious to taste the first tomatoes of the season, this is the time when the fruit swells on the vines and everyone scurries to find ways to store the pretty red or yellow beauties for future use. There are more than 4,000 varieties of tomatoes in our world, ranging from the small, marble-size cherry tomato to the giant Ponderosa that weights more than three pounds.

Tomatoes can be cooked, eaten raw, canned, frozen and used in a variety of sauces. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans eat more than 22 pounds of tomatoes every year. More than half this amount is eaten in the form of ketchup and tomato sauce.

Technically, a tomato is a fruit, since it is the ripened ovary of a plant. In 1893, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of “Nix vs. Hedden” that tomatoes were to be considered vegetables.

The word "tomato" comes from the Spanish tomate, and is member of the deadly nightshade family. Tomatoes were not cultivated in North America until the 1700s, and then only in home gardens since many people thought them to be poisonous. By 1782, Thomas Jefferson was raising tomatoes on his plantation. But it took until the 1900s for them to may their way into American cookbooks.

The H. J. Heinz Company, also known as the Heinz Company, and commonly known as Heinz, is a food processing company and is worldwide famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup. Its world headquarters is in Pittsburgh, PA. Henry Heinz picked the number 57 at random because of its sound after he rode an elevated train in New York City and spied an advertisement for a shoe store boasting “21 styles.”

Whether your eating pizza sauce, tomato soup, ketchup on your fries, or a simple BLT (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato) sandwich, the tomato is now a common ingredient in most people’s diets. Let the fall harvest begin!

Today in History

Do you read a daily newspaper? In our small town, we get our local newspaper, The Progress, still delivered to our door by a paper girl. After a busy day at the computer or working in the yard and around the house, I enjoy sitting down with a cup of coffee and the local paper. I even have our newspaper held when we’re on vacation, or sent to us if we plan to be away for a long period of time at one particular place.

I know many people now read all their news online, but I still love the newspaper in its original form—a somewhat flimsy, drab ecru, non-glare news print that allows you to touch, browse, flip from news to sports to comics to Dear Abby in seconds. You can easily lay it aside if you get interrupted, but quickly return to your favorite spot minutes later. And no one cares if you fold, bend, or wrinkle it—or later reuse it to wash your windows or catch the water and mud from your dirty boots!

There is one particular section of the newspaper I particularly like. It’s called, “Today in History;” and for a writer, it has a wealth of information. For example, on Tuesday, August 5^th in 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal was laid on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor. In 1914, what is believed to be the first electric traffic light system was installed in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1924, the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie” by Harold Gray made its debut. And in 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe, 36, was found dead in her Los Angeles home, her death ruled a probable suicide.

Along with an important event on a selected same date in time, “Today in History,” also includes birthdays of important people and a “Thought for Today.” As a writer, we are always looking for those rare tidbits of information to squeeze into a historical novel or to give us a spurt of creative energy, a springboard leading to other similar ideas. Right now, I’m curious to learn about the behind-the-scenes preparation and work for erecting the Statue of Liberty. But of course, when today’s paper arrives, I may be led astray to yet another topic.

We all have ways to jump start our imaginations as writers, artists, musicians, dreamers, and people who enjoy toying with the creative muse. What are some of your catalysts for creativity?

To be fair to my favorite Progress column, I can’t end without sharing my favorite “Thought for Today,” taken from the August 4, 2014 edition: 

        “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”—Anne Frank (1929-1945).

You Can't Have Too Many Shoes, Can You?

I have always been fascinated by shoes. When I find a pair that fits, I often buy the same style in a different color. You can’t have too many shoes, can you?

History cannot pinpoint exactly how or where the first shoes actually evolved. However, I am convinced that the process was probably spurred on by early cave women, egging their menfolk to develop something that fit better, felt better—and looked better than what their neighbor was flaunting when she emerged from her cavern to pick berries and gather firewood.

Various sources state that the very first footwear that resembled shoes were found in drawings on Spanish cave walls some 15,000 years ago. The crude shoes were merely baglike wrappings made of animal fur and skins that may have been padded with grass and leaves and were worn in the cold regions or on hazardous terrain.

The first know footwear in warm surroundings consisted of sandals made of plant fibers or leather. The ancient Egyptians wore sandals as early as 3700 B.C. along with the ancient Greeks and Romans. In China, people wore wooden-soled shoes and cloth shoes for thousands of years. American Indians developed leather moccasins long before European settlers arrived.

Somehow through the ages, shoes have become a part of people’s clothing; and fashion often determines the style of shoes a person wears along with the climate and a person’s occupation and activities.

HERE ARE SOME REAL FUN FACTS (with credit to ShopSmart):

According to Consumer Reports National Research Center for ShopSmart magazine, the average American woman has 19 pairs of shoes. But she only wears four pairs regularly and one quarter of the average woman’s shoes have only been worn once!

On an average, a female from ages 13-16 may own about 15 pair of shoes including sneakers. And older woman 16-21, who perhaps has a job: 25-40 pairs. A mature woman 25-+, anywhere from 40-60 pair of shoes.

Thirty-three percent, or one third, of women have trouble finding the room to store all of their shoes.

Close to half of the female population (43%) has been injured, at least moderately by their shoes.

Sixty percent of women have regretted a shoe purchase.

So, tell me, what’s on your feet and what’s in your closet?

Happy Birthday, America!

Independence Day, better known as the Fourth of July, is the birthday of the United States of America. It is celebrated on July 4th each year in states and territories of the United States and is the anniversary of the day on which the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress—July 4, 1776.

The founders of our new nation and thirteen colonies considered Independence Day an important occasion for rejoicing. The first Independence Day was observed in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776. The Declaration was read, bells were rung, bands played, and the population rejoiced. In early day, Independence Days were occasions for shows, games, sports, military music, and fireworks.

The exuberant use of fireworks and the firing of funs and cannons caused deaths and injuries in the early days. By the 1900s, people began a movement toward a “safe and sane” Fourth. Cities across our nation passed laws forbidding the sale of fireworks unless trained people were hired to explode them.

In 1941, Congress declared July 4^th a federal legal holiday. Today, many communities stress the patriotic importance of the holiday and celebrate with programs, pageants, games and plays, athletic contests and picnics.  

 

Happy Birthday America!