Month: January 2024

How to Cope with Pea Pods

The other day, we got to talking about sugar snap pea pods. The last several times we’ve had pea pods, I’ve had to deal with them the same way I always deal with foods, like coconut, that have the texture of processed wood—I spit them out.

Well, I don’t actually spit them out. I carefully yank the stringy, weaponized pea pods from between my teeth and hurl the mess into the parallel dimension where they obviously belong. Sena had the same problem, but politely removed the stringy mess and placed it carefully in my hair.

I did a web search on this problem, which evidently doesn’t get much attention. Almost everyone else loves pea pods, despite the tendency for them to immediately assume the texture of industrial strength confetti.

I found only one exception. It’s a short question and answer section on the Home and Garden Information Center of Maryland Extension. One thing I learned is that sugar snap peas that are grown from a special cultivar (a plant variety produced by selective breeding by an entity known as Satan) on the planet Whacko in a galaxy far, far away.

What happens is that the snap pea pod becomes as fibrous as an ancient redwood tree. The person says that “…pods are so fibrous they are barely worth eating.”

I guess what you can do is write to the producer and complain bitterly about the fibrosity monstrosity.

Or is there another solution? Sena found a YouTube which suggests the problem is the stem of the pea pod. You just cut the stem away, and the stringy mess should strip off with it.

So, there you have it. First strip away the stem—and then throw the pea pod away.

You’re welcome.

Martin Luther King Jr Day 2024!

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day is officially the third Monday of January every year. It’s January 15, 2024 this year. It’s really a community affair, which hopefully expands more broadly out to all people.

There are a number of events planned. In the spirit of emphasizing the community projects, here’s the high points:

The University of Iowa general announcement highlights the food drive and service goals.

The City of Coralville web site lists many activities, including an opportunity to help paint a community mural on January 15th!

The Iowa City web page lists several activities as well, including an MLK Day Family Storytime on January 15th.

Thoughts on “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”

Sena and I got to talking about a Twilight Zone show we saw over the holidays. It was a 1964 episode, not the regular program but short film that won a Cannes Film Festival award in the early 1960s, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

The quick summary is that a Southern plantation owner is being hanged by Union soldiers for trying to set fire to the bridge to prevent the Union Army from attacking Confederate troops. The plantation owner seems to miraculously escape the noose, evades bullets and cannon fire, running all the way back to his plantation in an escape which lasts hours, finally almost rushing into his wife’s arms—but he can’t because at that moment his neck is snapped by the hangman’s rope. All of the action during his escape is a hallucination which happens in the blink of an eye.

It’s based on a short story of the same title by Ambrose Bierce. I vaguely recalled reading it years ago, possibly in a science fiction/fantasy anthology. At that time, I didn’t know the author’s background, which was that he’d been a Union soldier in the Civil War. He fought in a lot of battles and witnessed horrific injuries and death. He disappeared without a trace, and there is no explanation why or how.

As Sena and I talked about it, she wondered more about the details of the Civil War as context, while I thought the main point was about the time compression of a miraculous escape from execution that spoke of the nature and meaning of life and death.

When I searched the web to find out more about the story and the life of Ambrose Bierce, I saw her point.

I read the original story on the Internet Archive. It’s very short. Now, I’m not sure I ever really read it. I’m just a blogger and unworthy to really talk about it other than to acknowledge that it’s a work of genius. How the author’s spare and yet meticulous attention to every terrifying detail of war can be so ugly and yet so mesmerizing is beyond my understanding.

CDC Reports Respiratory Virus Activity Increasing

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported respiratory illness leading to visits to the emergency room and hospitalization are rising across the country.

  • “Seasonal influenza activity is elevated and increasing in most parts of the country.
  • COVID-19 activity also remains elevated overall and is increasing in many areas.  Based on the biweekly period ending 12/23/2023, JN.1 is predicted to be the most prevalent SARS-CoV-2 lineage nationally.
  • RSV activity remains elevated in many areas of the country, though decreases have been observed in some areas.
  • Hospital bed occupancy and capacity, including within intensive care units, remain stable nationally.”