Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ Facts about Utah ~ Rice and Asparagus Casserole ~ Jerome and Sandy Beck ~ Spring Begins

  

Good 26º clear frozen morning. 

 

Yesterday the rain came and went and we topped at 59º.

 

 

Picture of the Day ... how a giraffe hides

 

 

Interesting Facts about the state of Utah....

 

Completion of the world’s first transcontinental railroad was celebrated at Promontory where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads met on May 10, 1869. It is now known as Golden Spike National Historic Site

 

Utah is the site of the nations first department store. Zions Co-operative Mercantile Institution was established in the late 1800’s. It is still in operation today as ZCMI.

Interstate 70 enters the eastern edge of the state, from Grand Junction Colorado, and ends where it intersects Interstate 15, near Cove Fort. This section of Interstate 70 is one of the most deserted stretches of Interstate in the United States.

 

Rainbow Bridge, Nature’s abstract sculpture carved of solid sandstone, is the world’s largest natural-rock span. It stands 278 feet wide and 309 feet high.

 

The Great Salt Lake covers 2,100 square miles, with an average depth of 13 feet. The deepest point is 34 feet.

 

 

The average snowfall in the mountains near Salt Lake City is 500 inches

 

Because of the state’s inland location Utah’s snow is unusually dry. Earning it the reputation of having the world’s greatest powder. 14 Alpine ski resorts operate in Utah.

 

Utah mountain peaks, on average, are the tallest in the country. The average elevation of the tallest peaks in each of Utah’s counties is 11,222 ft.-higher than the same average in any other state.

 

Utah’s professional sports teams include the Utah Jazz of the NBA, the Salt Lake Buzz of Triple A baseball, the Utah Grizzlies Hockey club of the International Hockey League and the Utah Starzz of the WNBA.

 

Fillmore was Utah’s first territorial capitol and was named for U.S. President Millard Fillmore. The statehouse was never completed, but the first wing remains Utah’s oldest governmental building and now serves as a state museum.

 

Beaver is the birthplace of two very famous individuals of the past, Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television and Butch Cassidy, the notorious western outlaw.

 

Utah is the only state whose capital’s name is made of three words. All three words in Salt Lake City have four letters each.

 

Utah has the highest literacy rate in the nation.

 

Utah covers 84,900 square miles of land and is ranked 11th largest state in the United States.

 

The federal government owns 65% of the state’s land.

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

Here's a casserole side dish that tastes rich enough to serve for the holidays, or when you've got company coming over. Our Rice and Asparagus Casserole is creamy, cheesy, and full of fresh asparagus. It's an unforgettable side dish!

 

• 1 pound fresh asparagus, cleaned, trimmed, and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 cups cooked rice, cooled
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat  a 8-inch-square baking pan with cooking spray
    
2. In a large pot of boiling water, cook asparagus until tender-crisp, about 5 minutes.
    
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine rice, salt, onion powder, cayenne pepper, sour cream, milk, and 1-1/2 cups of cheese.
    
4. Spoon half of rice mixture into prepared baking pan. Arrange three-quarters of asparagus on top, then spoon remaining rice mixture over asparagus. Top with remaining asparagus.
    
5. Bake 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top and bake and additional 5 minutes.

 

Special anniversary today... high school pal Sandy (Todoran) Beck and her hubby Jerome (LASD ret.) are celebrating their 40th! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KIDS!! xo

 

 

 

 

Historically this date........

1916 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.

1974 – Ian Ball attempts, but fails, to kidnap Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.

1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

1990 – Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery,embezzlement, and racketeering.

1999 – Legoland California, the only Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California.

2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff's deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.

2003 – 2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries begin military operations in Iraq.

 

And births this date include....

1906 – Ozzie Nelson, American bandleader and actor (d. 1975)

 

1922 – Carl Reiner, American film director (d.2020)

 

1928 – Fred Rogers, American TV host (d. 2003)

 

1931 – Hal Linden, American actor (the name he was born with is hilarious!)

 

 

 

1935 – Ted Bessell, American actor (d. 1996)

 

1937 – Jerry Reed, American singer and actor (d. 2008)

 

 

 

All I know. Nuff said. Have a good First Day of Spring Sunday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

 

Spring begins on the March or vernal equinox, which is when the amount of sunshine is approximately 12 hours long. The amount of sunlight will incrementally increase until the first day of Summer.

The vernal equinox marks the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator. This is the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator, from south to north. The vernal equinox happens on March 19, 20, or 21 every year in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, this same event marks the beginning of fall.  Meteorologists mark the spring from March 1 through May 31st.

In 2020, spring arrived a little earlier due to it being a leap year. On Leap Day, there’s a short math lesson regarding the Gregorian calendar. To keep our calendar following the seasons so that spring happens when flowers grow and winter arrives when snow falls, an additional day was figured into years divisible by the number four. This caused the 2020 spring to occur earlier than any living human being alive had ever seen. Before 2020, the earliest spring on record took place in 1896.

 

HOW TO OBSERVE

Get ready for longer days and increased sunshine. Tune-up the lawnmower.  More sunshine means the grass will be growing. 

SPRING BEGINS HISTORY

Human beings have been following the sun and creating a calendar based on seasons since the beginning of time.