Thinking of you (and you, and you and you) In 1843, England’s Sir Henry Cole sent the very first Christmas cards. With new stamps making it possible to mail anyone a letter for just a penny, the well-known man was getting more mail than he had time to respond to. He had an artist draw a holiday scene, and printed about a thousand copies – and a tradition was born. –smithsonianmag.com

You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.

Christmas cards!  Every year around Thanksgiving people are often busy writing and sending Christmas greetings by card.  Do your parents send out cards?  Do you get to help them?  Perhaps, your teacher at school has you make a Christmas card. It’s always fun to make stuff that you know will make people happy. And, it’s always nice to be remembered by family and friends we don’t get to see very often.  

I must admit, I don’t always get Christmas cards sent out.  And often, I have been so busy that they end up being more like New Year’s cards. At that point, I suppose I could always send them as Valentine’s and be early instead of late. 😀

Well, as I was thinking about Christmas cards, I was wondering when the tradition got started.  As it turns out there was a man, Sir Henry Cole of England, who felt much like me. He got so much mail and was having a hard time getting it all answered that he asked his artist friend, John Callcott Horsley, to create a greeting card for him. Then he had about 1000 copies made.  What a great idea!  And people have been doing something like it ever since!  I bet the artists appreciated the work, too, at that time of year!

Up until this time, people would make lovely handmade pieces and deliver them directly to the person for whom it was intended. But it took a lot of time and resources. Since then, the idea has grown to include all the holidays. And in our day, we have greeting cards for just about every holiday under the sun now!  Most stores carry some type of cards or stationery for sending greetings.

Well, God, our Father, went above and beyond and actually sent His only Son to us. He emptied all of Heaven for us! He wanted to make sure that we would know, without a shadow of a doubt, that He loves us and wants to be with us always. So, He sent Jesus to tell us and show us the way.

You can find God's love message to you in His word, the Bible. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved (you) the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting Life." And everyday of Jesus' life on this earth the message was breathed: "God loves you!"

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Windswept weed  When tumbleweed plants die, they detach from their roots and get blown about by the wind. They may merge together to form clumps big enough to bury a house, and each plant can spread as many as 250,000 seeds.--nationalgeographic.com

You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.

Do you like Westerns? All the best western movies or books will have pictures of tumbleweed rolling around.  In fact, that’s when I knew I was in cowboy country when I moved to Colorado. I saw my first real rolling tumbleweed!!  At any moment, I thought I might see John Wayne, Clint Eastwood or Zane Grey go galloping by!

But the humble beginnings of this plant did not start in North America. Tumbleweed is actually an invasive plant also heard of as Russian thistle, Russian cactus or wind witch. However, it is neither cactus nor thistle.  The plant first showed up in the U.S. around the 1870s in the midwestern states. The best guess is it was brought in mixed with other seeds, like flax.  It is believed to have originated in Russia.

This plant grows every year in different arid places. It is part of the Amaranth family. It grows and blooms in late spring with tiny flowers on the stem that get pollinated by the wind.  

Once the plant matures in the late fall it dries out, and the stem breaks from its root. This gives the wind the ability to push it around and roll. Then the seeds fall out and get distributed all over and quickly can take root in most soils. As mentioned above, they can send out up to 250,000 seeds per plant.

Photo - Courtesy The Guardian

When the roundish plants dry out they have spiky-like branches that can interlock to each other causing one tumbleweed to combine with others as the wind blows. Some of these can get so big they can cover roadways or block entrances to houses. If there is a windstorm, it can make it very difficult to drive because the tumbleweed can be as large as round hay bales.

Tumbleweeds can cause traffic accidents when they blindly bounce across highways, and herds of these spiny plants have been known to bury cars and houses. In 2014, two counties in Colorado declared a state of emergency when neighbourhoods became overwhelmed. In the previous year, 45 miles of roads had to be closed after being clogged by tumbleweeds.

Unfortunately, tumbleweed is very dangerous in times of dryness and fire. A tumbleweed's tangle of dry branches is particularly flammable and as the dead plants roll their way across fire lines or accumulate against structures like houses, they can become a threat to life should they catch fire.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Canned response We have the French general Napoleon Bonaparte to thank for canned foods.  Wanting to keep his army’s food from spoiling, in 1795, he offered a prize for a way to preserve food long-term.  Candymaker Nicolas Francois Appert closed jars with cork, sealed them with hot wax, wrapped them in canvas and boiled them in water, and in 1810 he won the prize. –tastingtable.com

You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.

Not too many good things come out of war, but apparently we can thank French General Napoleon Bonaparte for his concern of how he was to feed his men on a long term basis. It’s hard to fight a war with malnourished soldiers just because you have no way to keep food from spoiling.

Have you heard the saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention”? Sometimes the most important inventions are created out of great need. But the French government had a unique way to motivate people to come up with an idea for this. In 1795, they decided to offer 12,000 francs to the first person who could come up with a successful way to preserve food. In 1980, that would equal about $50,000 US!

In the past, the usual methods were to dry, smoke or pickle food. But these ways tended to take a lot of the nutrients away. Ideally, they needed something more practical and easier to transport over long distances. They also needed something that would work with a greater variety of foods.

Well, one person took the contest to heart and was determined to win. Nicolas Appert, a French confectioner, cooked food in wide-mouth wine bottles, and through trial and error determined the suitable cooking time to preserve various meats and vegetables. He capped the bottles with cork, sealed them with wax, and reinforced the closure with wire. 

It only took about 15 years, but we won the prize!  In 1809, Appert published “The Art of Preserving All Kinds of Animal and Vegetable Substances for Several Years” and presented his findings to the government. He was awarded the prize in 1810 and used the money to support his canning factory (the world’s first) in Massy, south of Paris.

As time went on, different materials were used to store food, like tin for cans. In 1858, American Tinsmith John Landis Mason patented a square-shouldered glass jar with a threaded mouth and a metal screw-top which held into place a rubber gasket and tin lid. Best of all, Mason’s jars and screw-tops were reusable. Today, Aluminum and steel are the materials most commonly used for canned food and drink storage. However, a lot of people who can at home still use the good old Mason jar!

The next time you go to visit your grandparents and your grandma serves you canned pears or applesauce, remember to thank her! Then share with her this food for thought!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Better together Corals may look like colorful plants in the ocean, but they’re actually animals.  Many individual creatures live and grow while connected to each other, forming reefs, sometimes known as the “rainforests of the sea.” –nationalgeographic.org

You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.

It’s Thanksgiving time!!  Right now in school, you may be studying about New England and how the pilgrims came and established the colonies. But did you know there are different kinds of colonies?  Today, we will learn a little bit about coral and coral reef colonies.

Have you ever had a chance to go scuba diving or snorkeling in the ocean? If so, you have probably seen some coral reefs. There are all kinds of coral - different shapes and different colors.  A coral reef can look like a shelf made from rock with little dents or holes all in it. But coral is actually made up from a lot of different animals that live in colonies.

Coral reefs can be found all over the world! However, most coral reefs grow in shallow, clean ocean waters on either side of the Equator, because they need sunlight and warm temperatures all year to survive. And even though the coral reef is made up of  living creatures, it also provides a home for a lot of other creatures to live, or hide in, if needed.

Each coral animal (or polyp) is like a little bag. The opening on top is the mouth. Tentacles (little arms) around the mouth carry stinging nematocysts, which paralyze the small animals eaten by the coral polyps. Most corals get energy and nutrients from symbiosis with photosynthetic unicellular algae called zooxanthellae. 

The many types of coral include stony, soft, black, thorny, horny, and blue corals. As they grow, corals form different patterns and shapes. They may look like feathers, fingers, branches, or even a brain.

Corals have a skeleton that may be outside or inside the body. Stony corals have a hard, outside skeleton made of a mineral called calcium carbonate. As these corals die, new corals build up a colony on top of the dead corals’ skeletons.

Pollution and climate change have been very hard on these beautiful living entities. Some countries are making changes to help protect the coral so it will be around for many years to come.  We can help, too! By being more mindful of how much water we use, and remembering to throw our trash away properly, we can make a difference to the environment around us.  And just like the Native Americans helped the pilgrims survive when they first came to America, we can help the coral survive by being careful of the earth. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Caribbean crossover  Grapefruit was first found in Barbados about 300 years ago as an accidental hybrid of an orange and pomelo. Its name is believed to come from the fact that grapefruits grow clustered together like bunches of grapes. –tastingtable.com

You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.

Do you like grapefruit? It’s ok if you don’t. As a kid I did not like it myself - any citrus for that matter. But now that I am older, I love it.  In fact, that is one of the things I appreciate about wintertime, the citrus fruit that comes up from Florida or California. Grapefruit and mandarin oranges are the best!

Grapefruit is a citrus fruit that is big, round (about the size of a softball) and yellow on the outside, but on the inside is anywhere from white to light pink to really dark red. It has big ole seeds that are easy to take out. Some people like to eat it with salt. (Personally, I never understood that one.)

According to one site I researched, grapefruit is 92% water, has great Vitamins C and A, and can help lower your blood pressure and bad cholesterol - if you don’t put salt on it. This fruit grows on trees that can reach up to 25 feet high and beyond. The leaves of the trees are a shiny dark green, and before the fruit is formed, there are pretty white blossoms.

As the quote above explains, this fruit was first found in Barbados about 300 years ago as an accidental hybrid of an orange and a pomelo. Now, unless you live in Southeast Asia, you may not know what a pomelo is.  I had to look it up.

The pomelo is a citrus fruit that is pale green or yellow when ripe. Its flesh is sweet and white. The rind is very thick and spongy. It is the largest citrus fruit, usually 15–25 centimeters (5.9–9.8 in) in diameter. It weighs 1 to 2 kilograms (2.2 to 4.4 lb). Reminds me of a small bowling ball! I wouldn’t like to stand under one of those trees on a windy day!!

Well, back to the grapefruit. Over the years fruitgrowers have experimented with the plants to grow different varieties of grapefruit. Some are really sweet and some are quite tart. That is also why some are different colors inside. Apparently the darker the inside, the more health benefits you receive.

This reminds me of the many fruits we will enjoy in Heaven. Did you know the Bible talks about this? In Revelation 22:2 it says, “In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”   Who knows, God may even allow us to help in the creation of new fruits!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Truth in advertising or Dutch feat Twenty-six percent of The Netherlands is below sea level.  About 7200 square kilometers (2700 square miles) was once underwater, including lakes and wetlands, and has been drained to create dry land. – netherlandsinsiders.com

You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.

Both!  The Netherlands, also known as Holland, is located in northwestern Europe. You know the place, it’s where the people speak Dutch, and you can find rows and rows of beautiful tulips of all different colors! The best time to see them in bloom is late March to Mid-May. If you go in April, you can’t miss!

The country backs up to the North Sea. The northern and western region is called the Low Netherlands. About half the region lies below sea level and used to lie under water. Dutch engineers drained the land using windmills and later water pumps. Barriers such as sand dunes, dykes, and dams keep the water out. These lands reclaimed from the sea are known as polders. That is another thing the Dutch are famous for, their beautiful windmills that help keep the land dry.

If you ever get to travel to The Netherlands, you may not realize that you are below sea level. That’s because hundreds of pumps are working daily to keep the water out. Today more than 1,491 miles (2,400 kilometers) of dikes shield the low, flat land—almost half of which lies below sea level—from the North Sea. Without the existing dikes 65 percent of the country would be flooded daily. The water volume that the Dutch have to drain annually to keep their land dry is an astounding 19 trillion liters of water. That’s 5 trillion gallons of water a year!!!

If you like to ride a bike while you see the sights, you will fit right in! Many of the residents ride bicycles for transportation in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, and other cities. Did you know that there are three times as many bicycles as there are cars in the Netherlands? Very impressive!

There are cute animals there, too! They have hedgehogs, badgers, otters and deer, to name a few. And in 2019 it was cited that a wolf had settled there for the first time in more than 140 years! They think that by now, more have followed.

All in all, Holland is a very impressive country with a very rich history! But there is another Country which is even more impressive. It is called, "the great city, the holy Jerusalem." Rev. 21:10.

It is the New Jerusalem. We are told in Revelation 21 and 22, that the streets are made of pure gold, like transparent glass. It has a great and high wall, with twelve gates, three on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The construction of its wall is of jasper; and the city is pure gold, like clear glass. And its foundation is made up of all kinds of precious stones including jasper, sapphire, emerald and amethyst. How beautiful this city must be!!

But the best part about this city is that the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb live there. And they have invited us to live there, too! Wouldn't you like to join them? I do!!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Keys to success The earliest locks, thousands of years ago, were made entirely of wood. The Romans not only started making locks out of metal, they invented wards, blocks that prevented the wrong key from opening a door. --unitedlocksmith.net

You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.

Have you ever heard this phrase before? Under lock and key? Usually something very valuable is kept under lock and key for safe keeping. But there were not always locks and keys to protect things. People just had to trust that others would respect their things and their homes.

Unfortunately, in a sinful world, people’s trust didn’t last long. According to Wikipedia, locks have existed for several thousand years, with one early example discovered in the ruins of Nineveh, the capital of ancient Assyria. Isn’t that amazing? It seems soon after the first humans were sent out of the Garden of Eden, it was found necessary to think of ways to keep people’s things and homes safe with locks.

So, locks and keys were made. As is mentioned above, the earliest locks were made of wood. Apparently the Egyptians also used these. Locks such as this were developed into the Egyptian wooden pin lock, which consisted of a bolt, door fixture or attachment, and key. When the key was inserted, pins within the fixture were lifted out of drilled holes within the bolt, allowing it to move. When the key was removed, the pins fell part-way into the bolt, preventing movement. However, wooden locks were found to break fairly easily with the right tool or right amount of pressure, or even rot after a time because of dampness. 

Eventually, the ancient Romans figured out a way to make locks and keys out of metal, which lasted much longer and were much more durable. They developed the skeleton keys made from bronze or iron to open things like doors and chests without having to break them. These keys could sometimes open a lot of different locks, so they even invented wards, blocks that prevented the wrong key from opening a door.  

Well, today there are several types and designs of locks and keys. Have you ever used a padlock and key to lock up your bike or home shed?  I remember when I was in school, we had lockers that had combination locks on them. We had to remember our number code to spin the dial to open the lock, much as you would to open a safe.

There are also some called deadbolt locks. This has a large cylinder of metal that fits into the doorframe when you turn the knob from inside your house. People on the outside would need a key to open it. Many people use these to help keep their homes secure. 

Today there are way more modern locks. Just a little while ago I was at a hotel where I had to use a plastic card with a magnetic strip to gain entrance to my room.  Some very high level security places even have rooms where you can only gain access by either pressing your thumbprint on a pad, or having your eye scanned. These are called biometric locks. Because every fingerprint and iris is unique, these provide a much more effective security system because they are obviously hard to copy.

Well, this makes me think of a very special key to a very special place and Person. The Person is God and the only way we can come into the presence of God is if we know Jesus. Let’s see what it says in this verse. John 14:6: Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is our Key to Salvation and to eternal life! I hope you get to know Him better and better every day!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

What goes around No matter what shape a soap bubble starts out as it will try to become a sphere. Spheres have the least surface area, so take the least energy to achieve.--thoughtco.com

You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.

Bubbles! I think we are all fascinated with bubbles. From the time we were little kids, just enough to be aware of our surroundings, to however old we are now, I think we have all enjoyed time with bubbles. 

A bubble is just air wrapped in soap film. Soap film is made from soap and water (or other liquid). The outside and inside surfaces of a bubble consist of soap molecules. A thin layer of water lies between the two layers of soap molecules, sort of like a water sandwich with soap molecules for bread. They work together to hold air inside. 

The older we get, we can see more and different things to appreciate about bubbles. For instance, have you noticed that no matter what the shape of the blowing wand is, the bubble would take a shape of its own - always a sphere? That is because, as the statement above says, spheres have the least surface area (of any shape), so take the least energy to achieve.  Nowadays, there are all kinds of different shapes of wands to use. You can even be creative and make your own.

A nice soap and water solution and a blowing wand is all you need to have a lot of fun and make a lot of bubbles.  You can even research just the right soapy solution to cause the bubbles to last longer before they pop.

Bubbles pop because the water between the soapy layers eventually evaporates. Remember, weather can play a big part in how long bubbles will last, as well. You can experiment with blowing bubbles in different kinds of weather. On really humid days, see if the bubble lasts longer than on a hot, dry day. What happens on a really cold day? Does it last longer or shorter than a hot day?

Something else that is fun to try with bubbles is to see if you can move them, or combine them, or how long you can hold them in your hands before they pop.  The key to having them last longer while handling them is to make sure your hands are wet and soapy too.

When I think of bubbles, I think of joy. John 15:11 says, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." So, if the adults in your life have lost their joy or need a pick-me-up, try surprising them with bubbles. The time you spend together will make for joyful happy memories!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Dude Awakening Back in the 1800s, the term “dude” originally referred to men who were obsessed with wearing the latest fashion.  It’s likely an abbreviation of “Doodle” in “Yankee Doodle,” a British term that originally made fun of the American “dandies” who always tried to be stylish.--mentalfloss.com

You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.

Do you know the fun little ditty "Yankee Doodle"? When I was a kid I thought that was a very funny little song. I didn't really know what it meant, but it was great to sing about a feather and macaroni in somebody's hat with my friends. I mean, who doesn't like macaroni? Especially if it's covered in cheese!

Well, as I got older I learned older words and meanings. Older words, as in those that have been around for a couple hundred years. I found out that some of the words or phrases that we use today can have a way different meaning than they did two centuries ago.

Take the word "dude". Today, when we say this, we may be calling a friend or classmate to get their attention. Or, we may be talking about going to a dude ranch. What is a dude ranch? Straight from The Dude Ranchers’ Association, a dude ranch is a vacation destination that hosts guests to share in their Western lifestyle activities. Typically, a dude ranch is an all-inclusive immersive vacation that provides lodging, meals, horseback riding adventures, fishing, hiking, campfire, and much more.

Wikipedia says, Dude is American slang for an individual, typically male.[1] From the 1870s to the 1960s, dude primarily meant a male person who dressed in an extremely fashionable manner (a dandy) or a conspicuous citified person who was visiting a rural location, a "city slicker". In the 1960s, dude evolved to mean any male person, a meaning that slipped into mainstream American slang in the 1970s. Current slang retains at least some use of all three of these common meanings.[2]

The best known of this type is probably Evander Berry Wall, who was dubbed "King of the Dudes" in 1880s New York and maintained a reputation for sartorial splendor all his life. This meaning of the word, though rarely consciously known today, remains occasionally in some American slang, as in the phrase "all duded up" for getting dressed in fancy clothes.[6]

I often think of royalty who dress up very grand especially if they are attending a royal function such as a ball or a state dinner. Others, even in today's world, may dress to impress, especially if they are going for an interview or a fancy function.

This all makes me think of King Solomon. Back in his day, I bet he was the wealthiest, best dressed King Dude of all time. But the Bible tells us of something even more fancy. Matthew 6: 28-33 says, “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these'."

If the lilies of the field were even more fancy than King Solomon, can you imagine what heaven will be like?! No one can outshine God's awesome creation!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Shell Cooperation Hermit crabs need shells to survive, but constantly outgrow them.  When it's time to trade up, hermit crabs will often line up in size order, swapping shells so each crab gets one that better fits them. – discovermagazine.com

You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.

Hermit Crabs are quite interesting characters. Have you ever seen their eyes? The compound eyes are actually on stocks and can turn 360 degrees to watch for predators. I don't know how scientists know this, but apparently the crabs can tell the difference between colors and shades, but not shapes.

They are crustaceans and arthropods. This means that they live mostly in water and have a hard shell, a segmented body, and jointed appendages. They are invertebrates and have exoskeletons. Exoskeletons are a hard outer shell covering the body to protect it and provide support.

But the hermit crab, unlike other crabs, have only a partial exoskeleton and they don't grow the shell they wear. That's why they like to live in discarded shells of other crabs. But they have an interesting problem. They outgrow their borrowed shells fairly often and have to give them up to look for larger ones.

They are very social creatures and often hang out with other crabs. This gives them an excellent opportunity to play musical shells. They watch for the time when the biggest one among them finds a larger empty shell and when it is ready to move into the new one, the rest all line up in order of size. When the largest switches out, so do the rest and everyone is happy again until the next time. Some say they are more likely to change around a full moon.

There are a lot of different kinds of crabs. Some live in saltwater, some in fresh. Some live on land, but close to water. If they lose a limb or an eye, they can often grow it back after a few moltings. It will form a translucent blob at the stump called a jelly leg. When it molts, a new leg forms from the jelly limb. In larger crabs it can take a few molts before the leg is back to full size.

The crabs are scavengers. Those that live in water are bottom feeders. They clean up the floor of the body of water in which they live. That is why it is not good to eat them. They can carry a lot of harmful chemicals like pesticides, PCBs, dioxin and chlordane. These chemicals are concentrated in the mud, and bottom-feeding fish can accumulate them by swallowing mud while feeding.

All in all crabs are very intriguing creatures. They are also very resourceful. And God has given them a purpose to help clean the earth.