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Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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The Stroller
Friday, February 3, 2012
THURSDAY’S WORD was heyday (HAY-day). It means the period of one’s greatest popularity, vigor or prosperity. “Here is Hemingway both in his heyday, soaring on the accolades of The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms, and his decline, precipitated by alcoholism and two airplane crashes that may have well left him with undiagnosed brain injuries.” — From a blog post by Alexander Nazaryan on the New York Daily News’ PageViews blog, Dec. 13, 2011 (Source: Merriam-Webster)
FRIDAY’S WORD is stiction (STIK-shun). “Tire quality can affect stiction at the start of an auto race.” (Source: Merriam-Webster)
This is a leap year, which means that it has 366 days instead of the usual 365 days that an ordinary year has, but why is a leap year necessary?
According to infoplease.com:
“Leap years are added to the calendar to keep it working properly. The 365 days of the annual calendar are meant to match up with the solar year. A solar year is the time it takes the Earth to complete its orbit around the Sun — about one year. But the actual time it takes for the Earth to travel around the Sun is in fact a little longer than that — about 365 1⁄4 days (365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, to be precise). So the calendar and the solar year don't completely match — the calendar year is a touch shorter than the solar year.
“It may not seem like much of a difference, but after a few years, those extra quarter days in the solar year begin to add up. After four years, for example, the four extra quarter days would make the calendar fall behind the solar year by about a day. Over the course of a century, the difference between the solar year and the calendar year would become 25 days! Instead of summer beginning in June, for example, it wouldn't start until nearly a month later, in July. As every kid looking forward to summer vacation knows—calendar or no calendar — that’s way too late! So every four years a leap day is added to the calendar to allow it to catch up to the solar year.”
Debbie Hall, executive director of the Martinsville-Henry County Historical Society, said the historical society is considering reviving Courthouse Day on either Sept. 22 or 29. She said she had been getting requests from the public to hold another Courthouse Day, such as the one that was held several years ago and was “very successful.” In the meantime, Hall said, if there are crafters who do traditional things such as making baskets, working with iron, etc., they may call her at 403-5361.
A Brunswick stew and bake sale will be held Saturday at Fieldale United Methodist Church with proceeds to go to community mission projects, such as helping the Shoes for the Sole project, and Christmas gifts for Carver Elementary School students. The stew, sponsored by the United Methodist Men, will be ready for pickup at 11 a.m. at $6 a quart. Call the church at 673-6355 to preorder. The United Methodist Women will have a variety of baked goods for sale at 10 a.m.
Here are some quotes to ponder:
• “A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.” — Winston Churchill
• “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” — Winston Churchill
• “Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices — just recognize them.” — broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow
• “It’s very hard to take yourself too seriously when you look at the world from outer space.” — Astronaut Thomas K. Mattingly II
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