A Trip to Pinckeyville Park Today

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Recently Pinckneyville Park in Duluth, Georgia, upgraded all the play equipment for kids. They finished the upgrades about a month ago. Today was the first time Keira was able to see the new play equipment. I will share only a few of the photos I took.

The main play area has a Butterfly and Dragonfly theme and you can see the awesome Dragonfly See-Saw.

Then at the secondary play area the main theme is Spiders with a side theme of bugs or beetles. You can see Keira climbing on a very unique Spider-inspired device.

The Olympics - Marathon

Written By:  Andrew & Becx Eide

Every four years the Olympics holds the Summer Olympics and the longest-running (pun intended) event is the Marathon Foot Race which is approximately 26 miles in length. Also in Cities across the world nearly every week there is some sort of Marathon Foot Race being held and they are also usually around 26 miles in length.

Have you ever wondered where they got the name Marathon for this race and why they came up with a very odd distance of 26 miles?

The Marathon is a long-distance running event with a current official distance of 26.2 miles. The event was instituted in the first Olympics in 1896 and was designed to commemorate the fables run of the Greek soldier, Pheidippides who was a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens. The legend tells that he ran the entire distance from Marathon to Athens, without stopping, and he burst into the Assembly to announce the victory at Marathon, and then the legend says he collapsed and died.

Whether this is a true story, or a mere legend, the fact remains that Pheidippides’ legend is what instituted the run we call the Marathon and why it is distanced at 26.2 miles and it is a non-stop race.

The distance has varied over the generations but the distance of approximately 26.2 miles, the approximate distance from Marathon to Athens, remains in place since the first official Olympics in 1896 and it remains one of the most popular, and consistent in distance, races around the world today.

How To Catch A Fly

Written By:  Andrew Eide

In my younger days (yes I can remember back that far) I used to show off by trying to snag a housefly out of the air with my bare hands. If memory serves me correctly I was successful in about 1 percent of the attempts.

I used to also try to snag a fly that was standing still on a surface. Again I was successful in maybe 1 percent of the attempts.

Then I saw a video on a nature program which changed my odds. The video showed, in slow motion, that when a fly takes off, they jump up and when they move their wings to fly their motion is at first a backward motion. The backward motion is not very much in the way of distance but it was enough to give me the information I needed to obtain at least a 50 percent success rate in snagging flies with my bare hands.

So here is the technique I used when attempting to catch a fly which is sitting still on some surface. I knew that the fly jumps into the air and when it starts to fly it takes an up and backward motion before it starts flying forward. So I brought my hand slowly up behind the fly. My hand is about 6 to 8 inches above the fly but still behind it. I then quickly brought my hand forward and the fly will see and sense my hand coming and it will jump off the surface and start to fly. Since the fly goes up and back before going forward it literally leaps and flies backward into my hand. Although I was often unable to close my hand around the fly quick enough I used to catch a few in my day.

Please rest assured that I honestly don’t do this any longer and I haven’t done this fly catching thing for over 20 years. The reason is obvious when you review my posts this month concerning flies and the diseases they can bring our way. The last thing I want to do is catch a fly in my hands and have their sticky feet, and slobbering mouths, depositing icky stuff into my hands.

Flies - A General Discussion

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Today I am talking about flies. Actually, I just want to focus on the housefly which is the most common fly we humans have to endure. I am sure you are asking why I want to discuss houseflies, or any flies, this month and you have a valid question. It is because we (me along with my Becx) titled the month of July with the main topic of:  Flies & Fireworks that’s why.

The housefly is known by the scientific name of Musca Domestic. That scientific name sounds disgusting eh? It is a suborder of Cyclorrhapha. The housefly is the most common of all domestic flies and it accounts for about 90 percent of all flies in human habitations. It is also one of the most widely distributed insects found in the world. It is considered a pest and it can carry serious diseases. I will not discuss the disease carrying aspect of the housefly in this article. I will post an article later in the month which discusses the various diseases carried and transmitted by several types of flies.

The normal description of a housefly is that adults are 8 to 12 mm long. Their thorax is gray with four longitudinal dark lines on the back. The whole body is covered with hair-like projections. Females are slightly larger than males and have a larger space between their red compound eyes. Houseflies have only one pair of wings as the hind pair is reduced to small halters that aid in flight stability.

Each female housefly can lay approximately 500 eggs in several batches. Within a day larvae (maggots) hatch from the eggs. They live and feed on (usually dead and decaying) organic material such as garbage and feces. They live for at least one week. At the end of their third instar, the maggots crawl to a dry, cool place to transform into pupae. The adult flies then emerge from the pupae. Adults live from two weeks to one month in the wild. After emerging from the pupae the flies cease to grow. Small flies are not necessarily young flies but are instead the result of getting insufficient food during the larval stage.

About 36 hours after emerging from the pupa the female is receptive for mating. Flies depend on warm temperatures and, generally, the warmer the temperature, the faster flies will develop.

Houseflies feed on feces, open sores, sputum, and moist, decaying organic matter such as spoiled food, fruit and flesh. Since houseflies can only take in liquid food they spit out saliva on solid foods to predigest it.

Overall my determination is that flies, especially houseflies, are disgusting creatures to be kind in my words. All I can say is...Ewwwww!!!

Fireflies

Written By:  Andrew Eide

My topic today is Fireflies. Before I launch into my article please be advised that fireflies are not flies at all…they are beetles.

The scientific name for these beetles we call fireflies is Lampyridae of the beetle order Coleoptera. They are winged beetles which are commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs. This is due to their conspicuous use of bioluminescence to attract mates or prey. Fireflies produce what is called a “cold light” with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. This light is chemically-produced from the lower abdomen and the light may be yellow, green, or pale-red, with wavelengths from 510 to 670 nanometers.

There are about 2,000 species of fireflies found in temperate and tropical environments. Many are found in marshes or wet wooded areas. The larvae of the firefly also emit light and are often called “glowworms.”

The light production of fireflies is due to a type of chemical reaction called bioluminescence. This process occurs in specialized light-emitting organs usually on a firefly’s lower abdomen. The enzyme luciferase acts on the luciferin, in the presence of magnesium ions, ATP, and oxygen to produce light.

The production of light in the larvae, or glowworms, serves a different function than it does in adult fireflies. It appears to be a warning signal to predators since many firefly larvae contain chemicals that are distasteful or toxic.

It was originally thought that the light produced by adult fireflies was also used as a warning signal but the primary purpose is now thought to be in selecting a mate. They have various ways of communicating with their light during courtship including: steady glows, flashing, and the use of chemical signals unrelated to the photic systems.

The female of the Photuris fireflies are known to mimic the mating flashes of other fireflies for the sole purpose of predation. Target males are attracted to what they believe is a suitable mate only to be eaten. This has caused the Photuris firefly to be referred to as femme fatale fireflies.

I grew up in Oakland, California in the San Francisco Bay Area and I don’t remember seeing fireflies in the Bay Area. I believe I saw a few here and there when we camped in the mountains but they are not common in this area. When I lived on the East Coast, both in the States of Virginia and Connecticut, I remember those nights when I could sit outside and watch the fireflies flit around and flash their lights. It was a truly calming and relaxing experience.

Fireworks

Graphic:  Fireworks.jpg

Written By:  Andrew Eide

I believe everyone enjoys fireworks. There are some who don’t enjoy the noise but most people enjoy watching fireworks.

I saw an episode of the Discovery Channel program called Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe where his dirty job was to work at a fireworks factory. The program was enlightening as the owner of the factory explained to Mike how they place different items inside the fireworks so that when it explodes in the sky different colors and shapes and designs are made.

During my research on fireworks I came up with some basic information. It appears the history of fireworks goes back thousands of years to China. It seems that some early “fireworks” may have been produced even before the invention of gunpowder.

The idea is that one of the first “firecrackers” may have been chunks of green bamboo which someone threw into a fire when dry fuel ran out. Of course the bamboo rods sizzled and blackened, and after a while, the bamboo unexpectedly exploded. The reason is bamboo grows so fast that pockets of air and sap get trapped inside the plant’s segments. When they are heated the air inside of the holly reeds expands and eventually bursts through the sides.

Later in China gunpowder was produced. It appears that gunpowder, with its current uses, may have been an accidental discovery while alchemists of that day were developing a sulfurous mixture as an elixir of life. Over time they worked on perfecting gunpowder in a form similar to what we use today. Along with the perfection of gunpowder came the perfection of weapons. However we are not talking about weapons today so I will return to the subject of fireworks.

Although the Chinese developed early fireworks it is noted that after the technology was brought to Europe, the Italians worked on perfecting fireworks to a form similar of those we have today.

I cannot go into every detail of how fireworks work the way they do so please feel free to do your own research on that. I will close my comments today to let you know the ingredients, other than gunpowder, which may be placed into fireworks to give them the different colors, etc. These ingredients include:  Metal powders to give white sparks such as: Strontium for red color. Barium for green color. Copper for blue color. Sodium for yellow color. They also include Potassium Chlorate which burns faster and hotter than Potassium Nitrate. This allows them to create colors which are deeper and brighter.

What truly amazes me is how they can put so many different items into a “ball” or “capsule” which is shot into the air and when it explodes it produces a specific pattern or design. Think about the concept. You stuff all these little items inside the “ball” or “capsule” and you have to figure it out ahead of them what it will turn into when it explodes in the air.

I find this truly amazing.

Celebrate Independence

Written By:  Andrew Eide

This month, on July Fourth, we celebrated the Independence of the United States of America. I am not going to get into a political discussion on who the people of the day wanted independence and freedom from. You can research that on your own.

Today I am just going to talk about freedom and independence in general terms and how they relate to what we have in the United States of America, or at least what our Founding Fathers envisioned for our country.

These people who founded the United States of America wanted freedom from oppression and independence to make decisions on their own without being dictated to by others. Obviously back on those days things were not equal as they wanted them to be. There was a lot of oppression and discrimination and people on one side dictating to the people on the other side. However, to be fair to those who drafted up the Declaration of Independence, their intentions were good and they were working on what ideals and concepts they had at that point in time.

There are many countries in the world where people do not have the generous freedoms we enjoy here in the United States. In some countries women have no rights or privileges. In some countries persons of the ruling class look down on those less-fortunate ones who are in a different class. In other cultures there is one religious group which is in the majority and they suppress all the other minority religions because they can get away with it.

I am very happy I was born in the United States of America. I am very happy that I married a wonder woman, Becx, who is from the Philippines, and that she has the opportunity to live and work here in the United States. I am happy that we still have privileges and freedoms here which are not available to many people around the world.

Although people in the United States complain and moan about everything they should instead realize what a blessing they have living here.