Treats for Troops

With the holiday season approaching, Pat R. sent information about a safe way to send gifts to our troops. She has used the site personally.

Treats for Troops was founded in early 2003 by Denver business woman Deborah Crane, who was determined to make it safe and simple for every American to send packages and messages of support to our men and women in uniform year round.
Since the Treats for Troops Gift Shops opened in June of 2003, friends, family members, groups, organizations and individual sponsors have sent over twenty tons of treats to American soldiers through Treats for Troops.

Visit the website at http://www.treatsfortroops.com

Fire Rainbow

Pat R. sent this awesome photo to inspire us. Here is what I learned about this rare spectacle.

June 19, 2006 It looks like a rainbow that's been set on fire, but this phenomenon is as cold as ice. Known in the weather world as a circumhorizontal arc, this rare sight was caught on film on June 3 as it hung over northern Idaho near the Washington State border .The arc isn't a rainbow in the traditional sense—it is caused by light passing through wispy, high-altitude cirrus clouds. The sight occurs only when the sun is very high in the sky (more than 58° above the horizon). What's more, the hexagonal ice crystals that make up cirrus clouds must be shaped like thick plates with their faces parallel to the ground.
When light enters through a vertical side face of such an ice crystal and leaves from the bottom face, it refracts, or bends, in the same way that light passes through a prism. If a cirrus's crystals are aligned just right, the whole cloud lights up in a spectrum of colors. This particular arc spanned several hundred square miles of sky and lasted for about an hour, according to the London Daily Mail.
—Victoria Gilman

5 Oaks Pool Yard Sale (from Don)

The yard sale for 27 October was cancelled due to weather. The new date and time are as follows:

Date: 3 November 8-12PM
Where: Five Oaks parking lot.
Cost: $20/space. Table space money will help fund a new playground for the pool.
Contact: Barbara at bbates@bcps.org
Dianne Bettick at dbettick@gmail.com .

Additional info: No tables will be provided by the pool.

Peanut Pumpkin

Check out this new type of pumpkin, the peanut pumpkin. I broke my best serrated knife trying to carve it. The flesh of the pumpkin was 4 inches thick, a cross between pumpkin and melon flesh. Oh, one more thing, don't bring it inside.....it really stinks!

Happy Halloween Home Haunts!

My neighbors Donna, Matt, Ryan, Nick and Katrina on our porch

Bill said several of Sam's crowd came by his haunted abode this evening.

Leatherface was very scary emerging from the fog.....

Happy Halloween!

Guess who? Bill W. didn't sit at his regular table because he

didn't recognize this gorgeous creature this morning.

Operation Welcome Home

Subject: http://www.operationwelcomehomemd.org/

Please take a minute to look at the above web site. If you have never gone to see the troops return home at BWI, it is worth the trip. Glenn

Also, check out the pictures/slide show, the 10th one is Max helping hold the US Postal Service banner. Later on toward the end, Zack and friend Gabe can be seen (OCT 27 pics).

Public Service Announcement from Pat R.

You might want to post this as a public service announcement. Ron Smith has a column on his website called "Will We Heed the Warning?" David Walker, head of Government Accounting Office for 9 years will speak at UMBC on Mon. Oct. 29 in the Engineering Building, Lecture Hall #5 at 5:00 p.m. He will address the financial crisis he sees looming. He is concerned enough to travel around the country to get people's attention on this. THANK YOU......Pat

Anyone else wishing to post birthday greetings, announcements, favorite photos, etc. can email me at shockaglow@gmail.com. That's my Google account for blog information.

Thanks, Pat,
Sue

Get Well Wishes for Charlie

Charlie has been in St. Agnes Hospital over the past week. He has been feeling very weak and has been losing weight. He is also undergoing dialysis three times per week. The hospital team has been looking for the source of a possible infection, but has not found one yet. Charlie will be transferred to Hopkins as soon as they find a bed for him. Keep Patty in your prayers too, she has been working and running to the hospital and needs to keep herself healthy. Get well wishes can be mailed to his home at:

Mr. Charles Lanham

112 Delrey Avenue

Catonsville, MD 21228

More Halloween Hauntings

Bill is also famous in his neighborhood for creating a Haunted House for Trick-or-Treaters on Halloween night. He sent me these photos from previous Halloweens at his home at 116 Sanford Avenue. I think I will be driving by to see what new horrors he will come up with this year on All Hallow's Eve!

Halloween Haunting

Bill Tucker as Leatherface

Bill will be helping out at tonight through Sunday, Oct. 28th, at The Haunted Pool. The haunting is a fund-raiser for the Crosby Crossing Swim Club. (located in the neighborhood behind the Double TT Diner). You can be scared for only $5 per person between 6:30 to 9:30 pm. For directions and more information, check out the pool's website at http://www.crosbycrossingswimclub.com/.

Happy Birthday to Jean

Sarah and Jean in Washington DC viewing the cherry blossoms

Jean celebrated her birthday on October 25th by watching some Hollywood folks film a horror movie on the corner of her street at Bishops Lane and Frederick Road. They spent the day filming a Jeep drive past the (fake) disemboweled carcass of a dog, and filming the Jeep driving into the car bays at Ridgeway Auto. Sarah reported that the film business was boring, that the day consisted of "Action", followed minutes later by "Cut", followed by hours of waiting in the rain. That's life, kid......it's what happens in the small moments while you think you are waiting for something more.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to a wonderful Mom and Grandmom!

Halloween is Coming....

These Sam's regulars were celebrating Halloween early this weekend at a party. Can you believe they worked for NSA before retirement?

Guess who brought in this sign to Sam's to express his political views? Did you guess Glenn?

Halloween Pumpkin Masterpieces

Can't take credit for carving this one personally, and it is probably a bad image for a bagel shop blog, but it made me laugh. Must have been inspired by Doug's Taylor Pork Roll sandwich.

The Men's Club

Rumor has it that some of the guys decided that it was time to meet beyond the breakfast hours. The First Annual (?) Meeting of the Sam's Bagels Men's Club was held this week at Shipp's Cafe. I can't report any more as I wasn't there of course......perhaps one of the attendees can share their eye witness account. Given the attendees, I feel it would be a safe bet that something humorous or noteworthy happened!

Happy Birthday to Paul!

I am blessed with one of the best Dads in the world! He has always taught by example to be kind to everyone, helpful, generous, calm, hard-working and fair. While we don't always live up to his high standards, they give us a mark to strive for. He also has one of the best laughs, the kind that makes other people laugh without even knowing what is funny. We celebrated his birthday tonight with a family party and had a great time. Here he is pictured with two of his grandchildren, Paul and Sarah.

Here's to many more happy birthday celebrations!

This puzzle is called Lateral Thinking . .

Pat Richardson emailed me this puzzle to post. She obviously thinks we need to improve our brain power, based on the level of conversation she has observed at Sam's. (The answers are under the comments for this post)


Think like a wizard . .



man

------------
board




Ans. = man overboard



Okay, let's see if you've got the hang of it.



stand

------------
I




ans: I understand



OK . .

Got the drift ?


Let's try a few now and see

how you fare ?



/r/e/a/d/i/n/g/


r
road
a
d



Not having a good day now, are you ?


Redeem yourself.



cycle
cycle
cycle



Easy to figure out, ha!



0

------------
M.D.
Ph.D.



C'mon give it a little thought ! !


knee

------------
light


I'm sure you'll have not problem getting this one.


ground
---------------
feet feet feet feet feet feet


Good One, try this!!



he's X himself



Here's an easy one!!



ecnalg



Not even close ?!!?



death ..... life



Okay last chance ................



THINK



And the last one is very fun- - -




ababaaabbbbaaaabbbbababaabbaaabbbb...

Photo of the day

Well, this morning Bill W. told this story of the origin of the bagel. (Who knew such creativity lurked within?) Back in ancient Greece, there was an apothecary named Bagelus. A customer came to Bagelus' shop seeking treatment for gout of the big toe. Bagelus had the idea of wrapping the affected toe in soft dough, and then having his patient sit in the warm sun. The dough baked in the sunshine, and though a cure for gout was not found, a tasty breakfast food was discovered. As Bill would say, alas, the rest is history.

Photo of the Day

This photograph is from Dr. Mike's travels in the deep dark jungles of Belize. The woodcut depicts the ancient Mayan Bagel Goddess, highly revered for centuries throughout Pre-colonial Central America. Legend has it her crusts were always firm, her centers always soft, and her holes always symmetric.

In this image she lifts the top of the bagel, and its underside emits a splendor of holy light which bathes the congregation of her Temple (not shown here). Note the absence of cream cheese or other topping which might dilute the bagel’s purity.

Fall Photo

This is one of my favorite fall photos. It was taken at twilight last year in a stand of very tall trees in Patapsco Park. The moon was starting to appear, it was very quiet, just magical! Please send me some of your photos, or I will just continue to bore you with mine.........