1. I am a sesquipedalian. Literally it means ‘foot-and-a-half’, but also ‘someone who likes to use big words’. You could probably have guessed that :)
2. I’m SUPPOSED to be doing homework
3. During the first century of Europeans keeping records of contact in the Pacific Northwest, 100 Japanese sailors on dozens of derelict junks survived to make landfall after drifting on the current for over a year. As the century went on, and the presence of whaling ships increased in the Pacific, an increasing number of sailors were rescued at sea before reaching North America. Imagine the gene flow, pre-historically….
4. A plurality of otters is called a ‘cuddle’
5. Eating oatmeal really does lower cholesterol (I experimented)
6. Hannibal’s elephants were from a now-extinct subspecies native to the Atlas Mountains.
7. Most of the ‘green stone’ sold to tourists in New Zealand is actually from British Columbia
8. The family name for tomatoes, potatoes, and deadly nightshade is ‘Solanum’
9. Take another look at the sky in the painting, ‘The Scream’, by Edvard Munch. Not artistic license. The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, in Indonesia, put so much volcanic ash into the atmosphere that the sky turned red at twilight for much of the following year. The effect was so pronounced that, on the first evening, firefighters in New York were called out when it appeared the city was ablaze.
10. The Russians not only owned Alaska, but claimed the northwest Pacific Coast down to Ft. Ross near the mouth of the Russian River – nearly to San Francisco Bay!
11. Poverty Point, in northern Louisiana, is a pre-agricultural ceremonial complex circa 1,700 – 1,100 B.C.E. It appears to have drawn pilgrims from as far away as Georgia, Ohio, and the Ozark Mountains. The earthworks cover 400 acres and consist of 53 million cubic feet of soil – each of which weighed 75-100 pounds (35-45 kg) and all of which was moved by hand: no shovels, no wheels and no pack animals!
12. Ticks can become inactive for up to 18 years (possibly more) until stimulated by carbon dioxide indicating an animal is breathing nearby, thus a potential food source.
13. The aurora borealis has been seen as far south as 40º latitude (in Missouri and northern California)
14. People have varying tolerances to the scent of a decaying corpse, but I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t have to fight tossing their cookies when dealing with decaying brains.
15. One does not awaken and immediately remember what happened just before one was knocked unconscious. It takes a while to find one’s memories and put them back in order - and you may never remember what happened immediately before you were hit.
16. A 1994 study sought to determine whether garlic was a defense against vampires. Leeches were used, due to the unavailability of humanoid vampires, but it was found that leeches preferred the hand rubbed with garlic 2:1 over the clean hand. My suspicion? The old story about vampires being repulsed by garlic was actually spread by vampires in an attempt to improve the flavor of their food supply!
17. Woolly mammoths were still alive on Sakhalin Island 5,000 years ago – as a dwarf variety!
18. Sound, motion and color or shape are the most likely to give away your presence. Provided your clothing doesn’t stand out, find a way to break up your outline and then hold still. Someone who’s looking for you can pass close enough to step on your hand without seeing you. - Experience from playing ‘capture the flag’ with R.O.T.C. cadets :)
19. Nothing goes ‘bump’ in the night like an armadillo under the bed!
20. Dad’s sister calls my mom a ‘walking Encyclopedia’ :)
