My granddaddy was a conductor on the railroad. I’ve kept his old lantern as a memory of his occupation. In the daytime, he could hang out of the caboose to wave his hand so the engineer at the head of the train knew all was good to go. At night he’d wave the lantern up and down so the train could leave the station.
Y6 #2122 sitting at the water tanks in Buena Vista, Virginia.
Trains have to run on fixed schedules because there’s more trains than tracks. An old cartoon from the 1930’s has two trains colliding, as the observer says, “What a way to run a railroad.” Irony was a thing back in the day, and not a recent invention lost on the dull of today. Running trains on time before we had GPS communications was a feat of excellence, and on time performance meant goods and people were transported in the most efficient and economical manner then as now. The railroads instituted standard time in time zones in the U.S. and Canada on November 18, 1883. Prior to that, time of day was a local matter, for most cities and towns used some form of local solar time, maintained by a well-known clock (on a church steeple, for example, or in a jeweler’s window).
The use of standard time gradually increased because of its obvious practical advantages for communication and travel. Standard time in time zones was established by U.S. law with the Standard Time Act of 1918, enacted on March 19. Congress adopted standard time zones based on those set up by the railroads, and gave the responsibility to make any changes in the time zones to the Interstate Commerce Commission, the only federal transportation regulatory agency at the time.
Artist: Alfred Stieglitz (American, Hoboken, New Jersey 1864–1946 New York)
Date: 1902, printed 1910
When Congress created the Department of Transportation in 1966, it transferred the responsibility for the time laws to this new department. Today we now have Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time, which leaves some of us wondering biannually is do we save or lose sleep, and if the change is really worth it. My daddy used to say the old folks thought the “extra hour of sunshine was burning up their gardens.” Of course, only the clock changed, not the hours of available daylight.
The railroads had a schedule for every train and every stop along its route to its destination. They were originally printed as broadsheets in newspaper or magazine form, but now they’re found on the internet, like most everything else.
When I lived in the center of my state and I turned out the lights for bed at night, I could count on hearing the train pass through the crossing a mile down from my parsonage. It was always on schedule, just as I had a set bedtime for getting my best snooze times. Maybe you’re wondering why a cooking and health blog cares about trains, but being regular is important, just as having a schedule is for the trains.
My mother’s side of the family came from farming folk, so they appreciated the rhythms of nature. If I spent the day with my nannie, I was sure to be treated with a dose of prune juice from the dark green glass jar in her ice box. If that didn’t produce the desired result by the next morning, I got another dose to make sure I produced the much anticipated “bowel movement.” My people kept track of such things, and while a daily result wasn’t required, at least five of the seven days were deemed necessary for good health, or the dreaded fleet’s enema made its appearance. My people didn’t want to be “stove up,” as they called constipation.
Often this happened in the hot summer when we didn’t drink enough liquids to stay properly hydrated when playing outside. “Drink from the garden hose before you get thirsty,” mom always said. Usually we sprayed water on each other at the same time, but it was so hot, we’d be dry in no time.
So how can we keep regular year round, and especially in the hot summer months? This June has been unseasonably hot in many parts of the country due to climate change and the extreme weather events it brings. The Texans who froze in the winter are now experiencing brown outs as their electric grid attempts to handle their state’s larger population’s increased demand for air conditioning in the higher temperatures.
Up north, the midwest hasn’t seen heat this early in the year before. The average temperature in June at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (all the daily highs and lows combined) for the first 13 days was a toasty 81.4 degrees (the highs were 90-99F). That’s a full 14 degrees warmer than average. It also smashes the previous record from 1976 by a full 5 degrees. The Western states are experiencing a “heat dome,” with a significant drought and heat in an early and extreme summer heat wave, with the possibility of fires.
Those of us who live in the south know some real tricks to staying cool in a hot, humid summer: keep the window shades drawn until the sun passes by, keep the lights dim since they throw off heat, drink cool non alcoholic beverages hourly, eat light foods, cook outside if possible, limit traffic in and out of the home (every time the door opens, cool air escapes and hot air enters), wear cotton not polyester, and rest in the afternoon heat. Beyond this, keep a fan going to stir the air and maintain a positive attitude. Cooler days will come soon enough.
Eating raw veggies such as carrots, cauliflower, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, and broccoli in a slaw with greek yogurt and apple vinegar and chopped fresh mint is very refreshing. You can also add feta cheese to it if you like. Also consider peas, lentils, and beans. We make soups in the winter, but these same ingredients will make good cold dishes in the summer. Three bean salad doesn’t have to swim in an olympic size pool of French dressing. Instead, make your own olive oil and vinegar dressing with garlic, parsley, oregano, cayenne pepper, a dash of salt, and basil if you like. Chill and serve.
For good gut health, aim to get 25 grams of fiber a day if you’re a woman, or 30 grams if you’re a man. If you’re still short after incorporating more veggies into your food plan, remember raspberries have a high fiber content with 8 grams per cup, 65 calories, 15 grams of carbs, and 5 grams of sugar. One kiwi twice a day (140 grams) has 5 grams of fiber, 90 calories, 21 g of carbohydrates and 15 g of sugar.
While my nanny recommended 4 ounces of prune juice as the “dose of salts” to keep me regular, it has 2 grams of fiber, 22 grams of carbs, and 13 grams of sugar with 83 calories. Another way to get the benefit of the laxative effect of prunes is to eat 1 ounce of the dried plums. This contains 67 calories, 18 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber, and 11 grams of sugar.
Calories and sugar intake are important to everyone, especially to older people and to those who have diabetes. If we approach our life as a whole, rather than cut it into parts, we’ll also feel more whole. Too often we exclude foods in a diet mentality, living in an “either/or” mindset, until we crack. Then we fall into “all or nothing” thinking, until we’re worse off than we were before, and we try the same scenario again.
The plain, unvarnished truth is there’s no quick weight loss scheme that leads to long term weight loss, but adopting a long term lifestyle approach to new habits will bring the desired results. Try adopting “Life’s Simple 7” concept, developed by the American Heart Association, which recommends activity, healthy diet, weight loss; the management of cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar; and stopping smoking for a healthy lifestyle.
If we were gentler with our selves and offered more grace to our embodied souls, no matter what shape they are in, we might live with more joy and peace. We only need to be “going on to perfection” in love of God and neighbor, not trying to perfect our BMI or our housekeeping. If it’s too hot to cook, remember fresh spinach, tiny tomatoes, and chopped summer squash are three veggie sides to add to 4 ounces of rotisserie chicken. Breathe and relax. Don’t add any sweat to the heat. It’s hot enough already.
Stay cool, I’m drinking decaf green tea by the pitcher full.
Love,
Cornie
Standard Time Began With the Railroads
http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/d.html
Steamy summer of ’21: Hottest June on record so far
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/06/15/steamy-summer-of-21-hottest-june-on-record-so-far
Health Benefits of Kiwi
https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-kiwi#1
Title: The Hand of Man
Artist: Alfred Stieglitz (American, Hoboken, New Jersey 1864–1946 New York)
Date: 1902, printed 1910
Medium: Photogravure
Dimensions: 24.2 x 31.9 cm (9 1/2 x 12 9/16 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949
Accession Number: 49.55.9. The title alludes to this modern transformation of the landscape and also perhaps to photography itself as a mechanical process. Stieglitz believed that a mechanical instrument such as the camera could be transformed into a tool for creating art when guided by the hand and sensibility of an artist.
Y6 #2122 sitting at the water tanks in Buena Vista, Virginia.
Creator: Link, O. Winston
Class Y6, No. 2122
Collection O. Winston Link Museum Archives Collection
Imagefile 039\200905082.JPG
Number of images 1
Object Name Print, Photographic
Object ID OWL2009.05.082
Extent of Description 1-photographic print, size 8″ x 10
Cornie's Kitchen 