Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ Odd Texas Town Names ~ Minestrone Casserole ~ National Weatherman's Day

  

Good 26º frozen morning. 

 

Yesterday we had clouds and blue sky and topped at 58º.

 

Picture of the Day.... funny friends

 

 

 

Interesting about Towns in Texas that have the most bizarre names you'll see...

 

Growing up in Texas, you inevitably pass through some towns with hilarious and bizarre names that will leave you talking about them for days with your friends and family. We’ve all driven through several of these towns and we’ve all definitely wanted to get out and take a picture of the sign to add to our scrapbooks of Texas adventures (if you’ve got one, anyway – we do). We couldn’t cover them all, but these are some of the funniest, weirdest names of towns we could find throughout the Lone Star State. These strange towns in Texas are definitely worth a picture in front of their signs:

Cut N Shoot

The story of how this funny little East Texas town got its name goes like this (in the shortened version): An Apostolic preacher by the name of Preacher Stamps was invited to hold a meeting at the Community House, a place for people of varying denominations to gather. However, he had a questionable reputation, and some people in the town didn't feel comfortable with his presence at the church. So, the town became divided between those in favor of the preacher, and those not. On the day of the meeting, both sides drew up in buggies, bringing knives and guns with them. This scared a little boy, who said, "I'm scared! I'm going to cut around the corner and shoot through the bushes in a minute!" Thus, the name Cut N Shoot was born.

Ding Dong

This unincorporated community in Central Texas always makes lists for unusual names. Zulis Bell and Bert Bell, two early settlers in the area, opened a store and hired an artist to paint a sign for it. He painted two bells, and wrote "Ding" under one and "Dong" under the other. Simple, but the name stuck ever since.

 

Kermit

Kermit is located way out west in Winkler County, and was named after Kermit Roosevelt after his father Theodore paid a visit to the town.

Bigfoot

Named for the famous Texas Ranger William A. A. "Bigfoot" Wallace, a former resident of the town, you'll find it in Frio County in South Central Texas.

Nameless

Turns out Nameless does indeed have a name. In 1869, residents of the community couldn't get the post office department to accept the names they suggested. After six attempts, one resident said "Let the post office be nameless and be damned!" They took that very literally, and Nameless was born.

Bacon

This should be Texans' favorite town! It's located about 7 miles north of Wichita Falls.

Paris 

See, you don't need to travel to France to see the Eiffel Tower; we've got one right here in Texas!

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

 

We raided our pantry to come up with this casserole inspired by one of your favorite Italian soups! Our Minestrone Casserole is thick, hearty, and full of great flavors! That's why it's the perfect recipe for an easy Italian dinner at home.

 

• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 2 cups uncooked medium-sized pasta shells
• 2 (14-1/2-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, undrained
• 1 (12-ounce) package frozen whole kernel corn, thawed and drained
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

 

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Coat a 2-1/2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, cook sausage and celery 8 to 10 minutes or until browned; drain off any excess liquid.
3. Pour sausage mixture into a large bowl and add remaining ingredients; mix well. Pour into casserole dish; cover and bake 50 minutes or until heated through and pasta is cooked, stirring twice throughout the cooking.

***For a little extra flavor, top this casserole with Parmesan cheese!

 

 

 

 

Historically this date..........

1917 – The Congress of the United States passes the Immigration Act of 1917 over President Woodrow Wilson's veto. Also known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act, it forbade immigration from nearly all of south and southeast Asia.

 

............click on the act title...interesting text in this ....

 

1918 – Stephen W. Thompson shoots down a German airplane. It is the first aerial victory by the U.S. military.

1958 – A hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.

 

 

 

And births this date include....

1848 – Belle Starr, American outlaw (d. 1889)

.........My gosh, what a life. Totally wild and out of control. Her son suspected in her murder, but never proven. Daughter was a trollop like her mother. Interesting read.

 

 

1906 – John Carradine, American actor (d. 1988)

 

1908 – Daisy and Violet Hilton, British conjoined twins (d. 1969) ....here's another OMG. Poor things. 60 years conjoined and a very sad death.

1919 – Red Buttons, American actor (d. 2006)

 

1934 – Hank Aaron. American baseball player (d.2021)

 

 

1942 – Roger Staubach, American football player

 

 

 

 

All I know. Nuff said. Have a good Saturday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

 

Always celebrated on February 5th, National Weatherperson’s Day, which is also known as National Weatherman’s Day, honors all individuals in the fields of meteorology, weather forecasting, and broadcast meteorology. The day also recognizes volunteer storm spotters and observers as well as any others that work in the weather field.

This annual holiday commemorates the birthday of John Jeffries, born on this day in 1744.  Dr. Jeffries, a scientist, and a surgeon, is considered to be one of America’s first weather observers.  He kept weather records from 1774 to 1816. Additionally, Jefferies pioneered the field of ballooning in the United States and took his first balloon observation in 1784.

Those being honored during this celebration work hard to accurately forecast and report the always changing, and often unpredictable, weather. Despite all of the new technological advances, meteorologists continue to face challenges in forecasting the weather. Predicting “Mother Nature” and what path she may choose, is a very daunting task even with the most state-of-the-art technology.

Knowing the weather forecast is valuable to us in so many ways. We often look at the forecast to plan our activities for the upcoming days. It affects what we do, how we dress, where we go or even if we go at all.   Being prepared for upcoming storms, hurricanes or tornadoes saves lives.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE:

“The primary mission of the Weather Service (NWS) forecast office is to provide the American public with the best possible warning service to save lives.  Recent severe weather statistics show that we continue to improve our capability to warn the public of impending hazardous weather.

Nationally lead time for flash flood warnings improved from 22 minutes in 1993 to 78 minutes in 2008.  Accuracy over the same time period increased from 71 percent to 91 percent.  Lead time for tornado warnings has increased from 6 minutes in 1993 to 13 minutes today.  Tornado warning accuracy increased from 43 percent to 72 percent.  Winter storm accuracy in 2008 was 89 percent with an average lead time of 17 hours.  Since 1990, the Tropical Prediction Center’s 24 to 72-hour tropical storm forecast track errors have been reduced by more than 50%.  These more accurate and longer lead time warnings help communities stay safe.”

HOW TO OBSERVE

Thank your local weatherperson. It may be the person you turn to on the news to keep you up to date on the latest storms. Or, it may also be the storm spotters who report to the National Weather Service. Their warnings alert us to more imminent dangers that impact our lives and livelihoods. Consider how weather impacts our daily lives and how much you appreciate an accurate forecast whenever possible.  Share your experiences and give a shout out to the weatherperson doing an outstanding job in your area!

 

NATIONAL WEATHERPERSON’S DAY HISTORY

The day commemorates the birth of Dr. John Jeffries, one of America’s first weather observers. The day has been celebrated for more than four decades.

A number of times the weathermen, Jack Church and Matt Jordan with our local TV news put my pictures on TV....