Mars on August 27

I hoped it was true, but it isn't.

Have you received any e-mail lately about Mars being unusually close to earth on August 27? I have received it from several people, and I was quite interested in it. I thought I'd do a little research and perhaps write about it on the blog. I was hoping for a clear night on August 27 so I could observe the phenomenon.

A quick search for "Mars August 27" yielded some surprising information: this planetary event happened in 2003, and the e-mails for it are still circulating.

Now that I think about it, it does seem that I remember this happening with Mars. I should remember it more clearly than I do, but I was pretty busy at that time. It was the beginning of the Iraq war and Dennis had gone to Kuwait for AAFES. Keely was starting college, Isaac was starting high school, and I was working full-time. All in all, I probably didn't have much time to look at the late-night sky.

Technorati tags: urban legend, Mars on August+27, August 2003

More Wildflowers from Kingman County, KS

Wild flowers of southwest Kansas

My sister-in-law, Kathy, sent me some more wildflower photos from Kingman County, Kansas (southwest of Wichita.) Thanks, Kathy, for sharing these!

It has been an unusually wet year in the part of Kansas where Dwight and Kathy live, and the wildflowers have bloomed in such profusion that's it's hard to imagine.

I hope you'll take time to click on the photos and look at the larger versions. They should load fairly quickly as most are under 150K in size. These little preview images don't really show how the flowers cover the landscape.

Catclaw sensitive briar

Swamp milkweed

Sunflowers

Sunflowers

Leadplant (I think) and sunflowers

Indian blanket flowers and sunflowers

Sunflowers, Indian blanket flower, and western yarrow (I think!)

Sunflowers, yarrow,leadplant, and a mixture of native grasses

Hank chases a deer who has invaded his territory

My sister-in-law Kathy's flower bed

If you enjoyed these photos, you'll enjoy the Kansas wildflower photos I posted a couple of months ago, also from Kathy, my sister-in-law.

Technorati tags: Kansas wild flowers, Kansas wildflowers, Kingman County Kansas

Very Easy Main Dish Recipes

Your chance to help Dennis look good

In a few weeks, Dennis is going to Alexandria, VA, to spend a week with his sister. Bonnie's been undergoing chemotherapy, and while Dennis is there, she'll have her fourth and final treatment.

I don't know if she will feel much like eating, but Dennis is planning to cook for her and Ed while he's there. He asked me today to think of some easy main courses. He is not the measuring-cup and recipe-book type, so here's what I've come up with:

• Pasta salad -- Can be made ahead of time which is a plus. Combine cooked rotini, frozen peas, chopped celery & onion, canned chicken breast, shredded cheese, and ranch dressing.
• Chicken & biscuits -- Place split chicken breasts in a baking dish. Spoon chicken gravy from a can over top. Bake until chicken is cooked through. Then place refrigerated biscuits on top and bake until they're done.
• Pork chops & baked potatoes -- Place pork chops in a baking dish. Spoon undiluted mushroom soup over top. Place split baking potatoes on top of the soup, skin-side up. Cover with foil and bake until everything is done.
• Tuna-mac -- This is one of Dennis's specialties. Cook a box of macaroni and cheese and add a can of tuna (drained).

Do you have a very easy main dish? If you do, please post it. I'd like to have a few more suggestions for him.

Technorati tags: easy recipes, main dish recipes

Pleasant Green CME Church

A country church in Christian County, KY

This little CME church is located a few miles northwest of Hopkinsville. I know of several CME churches in Christian County, and there are probably others I haven't seen yet.

I've rarely heard anyone say the entire name of this denomination. Everyone uses the initials -- CME.

Not long after we moved here, I asked a neighbor lady what CME meant, and she said the letters stood for "Colored Methodist Episcopal." Until just a few minutes ago, I honestly thought that was correct.

The history page of the CME website explains that the denomination was originally called "Colored Methodist Episcopal." I think they mean it was named that, not just called that. The denomination was founded in 1870, to follow the Methodist teachings of John Wesley as set forth in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South's Book of Discipline, but with black leadership.

According to Wikipedia's article about the CME denomination, the name was officially changed to "Christian Methodist Episcopal" during the 1950's. I like the new name. It's dignified, inclusive, and descriptive.

Technorati Tags: CME Church, Colored Methodist Episcopal, Christian Methodist Episcopal, southern church history, black church history

Google Custom Search Bar

New search bar on this blog

I've added a Google Custom Search that's available from Blogger in Draft. It's at the top of the page just under the Prairie Bluestem title. (You've probably noticed it already.)

This search is not a hack . You don't have to go into the HTML of the template and change anything. This is a widget that you can add to your blog in the "Page Elements" of Blogger in Draft.

The search is very cool. The results pop right into the main column of the blog. It searches 4 unique sources (just click the tab you want to display):

• This blog
• The blogs in my blog-roll (listed in the left sidebar)
• Internet sites linked to by this blog
• The entire internet

Please let me know if the search doesn't work right for you, or if the search-bar's position in the column looks wrong to you (maybe it's covering something else or it doesn't seem to be "all there"). It seems to be fine when I look at it on my system and in web renderers, but only you can tell me if it doesn't look right on your system.

Some may remember a similar search bar on Prairie Bluestem before I made the switch to the new Blogger. I got it from a different branch of Google, but it used the same AJAX technology. It looks like the Blogger development team intends to make this search available as a widget for every Blogger weblog.

Oh, one other thing. I've read (here's one place) that it's not illegal to remove the Blogger navigation bar at the top of the page, so I have dared to do it. Removing the navbar does require a small hack of the HTML, but it's very easy to do.

Technorati tags: Blogger widgets, Google custom search, AJAX search