LIFE ON THE PLAINS: Modern marvels began to pop up

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by Roland D. Hallee

Growing up on The Plains in the 1950s and ‘60s brought about some revolutionary, and exciting, changes in our way of life. Modern conveniences were beginning to pop up in our humble homes.

How it was: The street I grew up on was not paved, but rather it was gravel. That came later in the ‘60s when they would come around and “pave” the street with liquid tar. Didn’t my mother keep a strict eye on us, because we always went down to the street to investigate afterward. Unfortunately, some of the liquid would spray onto the edge of the lawn, and, of course, you guessed it, we would get some on our shoes, and then attempt to enter the house. No way that was happening. The shoes had to come off.

In our kitchen, there was an ice box, a wood/kerosene stove, and a wringer washing machine. Our house had no television, and no telephone. Actually, we didn’t miss them, because we didn’t know any better. That’s the way it was as far back as we could remember.

Ice box

The first to be changed was the ice box. Believe it or not, it was manufactured by Volkswagen. Every week, a horse-drawn wagon would come to the front of the house from Springbrook Ice & Fuel Co. A man would enter the house, look at the ice compartment, then go back to the wagon. He would grab hold of a chunk of ice with a pair of grapplers, throw the ice over his shoulder and put it in the ice box. The compartment was at the top of the ice box, with a tube that would drain the melted ice into a pan that lay just above the floor. That had to be emptied periodically. One of our chores. Our dad eventually did away with that and bought a brand new Hotpoint refrigerator. That ice box exists to this day.

Then, there was the stove. Wood fired on one side, and kerosene on the other. Behind the stove stood a tank, loaded upside down, with kerosene, with a spring-loaded valve. That tank had to be refilled often from a 55-gallon drum that sat on the back porch. Another one of our chores.

But, boy, I can still smell the wood stove used mostly in the winter. Our mother would make toast and pancakes right on the cast iron plates that covered the wood box. Those were the best I have ever tasted. The rest of the time, it was the kerosene side that got all the use.

On laundry day, which was always Monday, our mother would do the wash, and in more pleasant weather, the clothes was hung outside to dry. During colder weather, the downstairs turned into a clothing maze. She would string clothes lines, criss-crossed through the dining room and kitchen. We had to maneuver our way through the clothes that was hung to dry. That all came to an end in 1964, when dad purchased a brand-spanking new automatic washer and dryer.

In the basement, was the wood furnace. Every fall, a truck load of firewood was delivered on the side lawn, cut and split to stove length (20 inches). My father, and two older brothers would be outside, feeding the sticks through a cellar window, where my younger brother and our mother would stack the wood against the walls. I don’t recall how many cords a year, but I do remember that it was back-breaking work.

Of course, we had to monitor the furnace, especially when our dad worked the night shift. Keep the fire stoked!

On my grandfather’s side, he heated with a coal-fired furnace. Well, after a chimney fire one night, dad had oil-fired forced hot air systems installed. Another marvelous modern convenience. No more lugging and stacking firewood.

All the heat was gravity fed through floor grates, and there were no heating ducts. Right outside our bedroom, on the second floor, was one grate. It would be a wrestling match in the morning to see who would get dressed while standing on the heating grate. As you would guess, the two older brothers would usually prevail. All four of us slept in a single room that my father had dubbed, “the dormitory”.

It was October 1958 when my dad finally decided to purchase a television. There was only one other house on our street that had one (the Montminys). Our grandparents would come over, usually on Sunday nights, to watch Milton Berle do his comedy show. We only had three channels, and they would sign off every night at midnight. I don’t recall any of the other shows, only that later on the Lawrence Welk Show would be a weekly staple. My grandfather would always say, in French mind you, to turn up the volume, citing, “Your grandmother is hard of hearing.”

Then, there was the issue of the telephone. We didn’t have one, but our grandparents did. We would have to give our friends their number. When a call would come in for any one of us, they would go to the wall that separated the two units, pound on the wall, wait for a return knock, and yell the name of whomever the call was for. (My dad worked at Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Co., and was a machine tender. He didn’t want a phone in the house because he didn’t want to be called into work on his days off to replace a wet or dry end “wire” – I told you last week about our weekly lesson on papermaking.)

Well, around 1960, my older brother had a girlfriend who would call periodically. My grandparents would go through the routine, and my brother would go next door to answer the call. Well, my grandparents were both hard of hearing, but they heard every word discussed. My brother had had enough, and persuaded my dad to install a phone at my brother’s expense. It was a two-party line, and you had to know which ring was yours and which was the other party’s. It was very easy to listen in the other party’s conversations, because you didn’t know who the other party was.

Eventually, our dad broke down and had a one-party line brought into the house.

So, in the span of about four years, we went from pretty primitive accommodations, to all the “new fangled, modern” marvels.

Give Us Your Best Shot! for Thursday, August 4, 2022

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To submit a photo for this section, please visit our contact page or email us at townline@townline.org!

CHECKING IT OUT: Emily Poulin, of South China, photographed this female amberwing dragonfly.

PLAY TIME: Gary Kennedy, of Chelsea, sent this photo of a mother fox out playing with her pups.

FAMILY STROLL: Dominique Eldridge caught this family of Canada Geese floating in the water.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: The summer sound of the cicada

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Cicada

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

While browsing through some old emails recently, I noticed one that I had planned to respond to, but as often happens, I was sidetracked and never got back to it. It was an email with photos of cicadas with an inquiry. I apologize to that person for not getting to this sooner.

Cicadas are green bugs, usually one to two inches in length with prominent eyes set wide apart, short antennae and clear wings. They have an exceptionally loud song, produced not by stridulation (making shrill or chirping sounds by rubbing certain body parts together), but by vibrating drumlike tymbals rapidly.

The “singing’ of male cicadas is not stridulation such as many familiar species of insects produce, like crickets, for example. Instead, male cicadas have a resilin structure call a tymbal below each side of the anterior abdominal region. Contraction of internal muscles buckles the tymbals inwards, thereby producing a click; on relaxation of the muscles, the tymbals return to their original position, producing another click. By rapidly vibrating these membranes, a cicada combines the clicks into apparently continuous notes. Only the males “sing.” However, both males and females have membranous structures called tympana by which they detect sounds, the equivalent of having ears.

To the human ear, it is often difficult to tell precisely where a cicada’s song originates. The pitch is nearly constant, the sound is continuous to the human ear, and cicadas sing in scattered groups.

The question posed was as to whether it was a periodic cicada, which spend most of their lives as underground nymph, emerging only after 13 to 17 years. This may reduce losses by starving their predators and eventually emerging in huge numbers that overwhelm and satiate any remaining predators.

At least 3,000 cicada species are distributed worldwide with the majority of them being in the tropics. Most are restricted to a single biogeographical region and many species have a very limited range.

Many of North American species are in the genus Neotibicen: the annual or jar fly or dog-day cicadas (so named because they emerge in late July and August). The best-known North American genus, however, Magicicada, have an extremely long life cycle of 13 – 17 years, suddenly and briefly emerging in large numbers. When this phenomenon occurs, the noise emitted by the cicadas is deafening.

After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig where she deposits her eggs. When the eggs hatch, the newly-hatched nymphs drop to the ground and burrow. Cicadas live underground as nymphs for most of their lives at depths down to about eight feet. Nymphs have strong front legs for digging and excavating chambers in close proximity to roots where they feed on xylem sap (the woody vascular tissue of a plant). In the process, their bodies and interior of the burrow become coated with anal fluids. In wet habitats, larger species construct mud towers above ground in order to aerate their burrows. In the final instar, they construct an exit tunnel to the surface and emerge. They then molt (shed their skins) on a nearby plant for the last time, and emerge as adults. The exoskeleton remains, still clinging to the bark of the tree.

The long life cycles may have developed as a response to predators, such as the cicada killer wasp and praying mantis. A specialist predator with a shorter life cycle of at least two years could not reliably prey upon the cicadas.

Other predators include bats, spiders and robber flies. Cicadas are fast flyers and can escape if disturbed, and they are well camouflaged. They are difficult to find by birds that hunt by sight.

Cicadas have been featured in literature since the time of Homer’s Iliad. They are also mentioned in Chinese and Japanese literature. Cicadas are also a frequent subject of haiku, where, depending on type, they can indicate spring, summer or autumn.

Cicadas have been used as money, in folk medicine, to forecast the weather, to provide song (in China), and in folklore and myths around the world.

Cicadas feed on sap; they do not bite or sting in a true sense, but may occasionally mistake a person’s arm for a plant limb and attempt to feed. They are not a major agricultural pest but in some outbreak years, trees may be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of females laying their eggs in the shoots.

The periodical cicada, which takes 13-17 years to emerge, does not exist in Maine. The Maine cicadas are the annual or dog-day species, which emerge in late July and August. It is common to discover a cicada’s shed exoskeleton on a tree (in Maine, at least) than it is to find an actual cicada. That it because they are strong fliers that spend their time high in the trees, so without the mass emergences that take place in other regions of the country, one is not very likely to encounter one in Maine very often, making them a thing of curiosity for anyone unfamiliar with them.

I have seen cicadas at my camp, but only on a few occasions.

By the way, cicadas are the critters you hear buzzing in late summer. Old farmers’ lore states that the first killing frost of the season will occur 90 days following the first sounds of the cicada. We heard the first buzzing of the cicada on July 22, which means the first killing frost will occur around October 22. Can’t you just wait?

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Which former Red Sox outfielder went on to become a NASCAR truck series driver following his retirement from baseball after the 1996 season?

Answer can be found here.

FOR YOUR HEALTH – Get A Boost Against COVID: What You Need To Know About Boosters

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It’s still vital for residents to protect themselves and their loved ones from COVID.

(NAPSI)—COVID vaccines and boosters have reduced the threat of COVID, allowing many people to gather, travel, and celebrate with more peace of mind. Vaccines and boosters provide the best protection against the worst outcomes of COVID, yet people still have many questions around boosters.

“We’ve entered a new phase of the pandemic, and we know more about the virus than ever before,” said Dr. Bhagy Navalkele, associate professor at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS. “We know that vaccines provide the best protection from COVID-related hospitalization and death. Boosters then add an extra layer of protection.”

Here is what people should know about the COVID boosters:

Boosters provide the best protection against severe illness and death. Over time, vaccines may become less effective at preventing COVID, and just because you’ve had COVID doesn’t mean you can’t get it again. Getting boosted extends your protection and keeps you safer from emerging variants. A booster shot is another dose that—as the name suggests—boosts immunity to the virus as time passes. Vaccinated people who have also had a booster are less likely to get sick; but if they do catch the virus, the illness is usually less severe. For adults ages 65 or older, boosters can more than double their protection.

Vaccines and boosters protect vulnerable populations against COVID. Everyone 5 or older who has completed their initial COVID vaccination series should get a booster. Individuals who are up to date on COVID vaccines not only receive protection for themselves, but they also help reduce the spread of COVID to people who are at high risk due to age or compromised immune systems.

Second boosters provide added protection for people at higher risk. Adults age 50 or older and immunocompromised individuals can improve their protection even more with a second booster. CDC recommends second boosters, with either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, for:

•People age 50 or older who got their first booster four months or more ago,

•People who got a Johnson & Johnson vaccine and their first booster with a Johnson & Johnson dose at least four months ago,

•Residents of long-term care settings,

•People with certain underlying medical conditions that impact their immune systems, and

•Pregnant and recently pregnant people.

Boosters are readily available to all vaccinated people ages 5 years or older. Just like the vaccines, booster shots are available at no cost to anyone living in the U.S. People who got Pfizer or Moderna vaccines should get a booster five months after the initial doses. Vaccinated adults 18 or older may choose any available vaccine as a booster, regardless of the type or brand of vaccine received previously. Only the Pfizer vaccine is available as a booster for those ages 5 to 17.

Learn More

For more information and to find a vaccine, visit www.vaccines.gov.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: I’m back in Florida

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by Debbie Walker

I am back in Florida and the weather is no better here than there. But I do miss that lake view.

While I was up there, I picked up a brochure for Sebasticook Region Land Trust to look at. It is what they called their Spring Newsletter 2022. It’s what they refer to as Speaker Series and Events. This one still has August and September events listed. August is named “Waterways & Connections”, Saturday, August 6, is Live Walk for Connor Mill. August 17 another Live Walk called Nature Immersion Walk. September is called Forest Revitalization with another Live Walk and a Zoom presentation called Coyotes, America’s Song Dog.

That’s only two months of activity but think of all the months you have been keeping any group activities at a distance. These are outside entertaining exercises and education at very low risk. With all the nastiness going on in the world right now wouldn’t it be nice to surround yourself with such beautiful land? These things show us a positive side of life. What better for healing us all.

While I was in Maine, I did spend some time with several “interesting” people. They made me realize my activities are quiet compared to theirs!

What do you say to someone who got out of bed, naked, grabbed a gun and headed out the door to the back 40, chasing after a fox trying to get to the proverbial hen house? No luck but at least she didn’t get chilled!

Then the next one pipes up to tell us about last November. It was after dark, and he was also naked (wife was laughing quite hard now). He claimed he heard someone by his hot tub outside, digging. He, too, took of running out around the house, naked, BB gun in hand. He was up against a muskrat headed back to his new winter home. The man got off three shots before the muskrat fell over right at his entrance of his almost new home.

Okay, that is the best I can do, there are one or two more “characters” I met. I do remember their being some interesting people as I was growing up in Maine. Not much has changed, I guess.

Recently, I fell in love with a new magazine called Mary Jane’s Farm. In it was an article written by Cindy about “Butter the Size of an Egg”. It is about old-time measurements for cooking. It wasn’t until late 1800s that we began standardized cooking measurements. I am going to share some of the older measurements. There may be more listed on a site called “Home Cooking” on About.com but here is what I have:

1 Jigger = 1.5 oz.
1 gill = ½ cup
1 teacup = a scant ¾ cup
1 coffee cup = a scant cup
1 peck = 2 gallons, dry
1 pinch/dash = picked up between fingers
½ pinch = picked up by thumb and finger.

I know you are aware that I find strange things interesting.

I’m just curious what stories you could tell! Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org. with any questions or comments especially if you want to share your story. Have a great week and thank you for reading.

REVIEW POTPOURRI – U.S. President: Martin Van Buren

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Martin Van Buren

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Martin Van Buren

When I was in third grade, an aunt gave me a calendar with paintings and photos of all the presidents from George Washington to Dwight D. Eisenhower. I remember being fascinated by these names and faces: Washington’s implacable dignity, John Adams’ cherubic candor, Jefferson’s humane inscrutability, etc.

Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) with his bald head and wavy hair similar to that of the Three Stooges Larry Fine, had a good-natured congeniality and aura of approachability.

Reading up on his career in New York state politics and his subsequent rise to national clout, I now see how the term used to describe him, “sly fox”, was an apt one.

A few examples:

Van Buren was sympathetic to the farmers but also allied himself with the insidious Tammany Hall party machine which would influence so much of what went on in New York.

He supported state Governor Dewitt Clinton’s spearheading of the building of the Erie Canal but then threw his weight behind Clinton’s opponent in a re-election campaign.

He believed in the expansion of voting rights but opposed universal suffrage.

He opposed the annexation of Texas as a slave state but was otherwise silent, seeing the abolition of slavery as a threat to national unity (in 1848, he would speak out against slavery as the chosen candidate for the short-lived Free Soil party, a coalition of anti-slavery Democrats, Whigs and abolitionists.).

His skills as a mediator and good listener were highly conducive to building some bridges between political foes, as was his occasional support of policies anathema to his allies.

Van Buren’s wife Hannah died at 35 of tuberculosis in 1819. In 1838, their son Abraham married Angelica Singleton (1818-1877), a second cousin of former First Lady Dolly Madison who finagled the match. During the remaining two years of Van Buren’s presidency, she served as her father-in-law’s hostess with consummate elegance.

Van Buren outlived presidents Harrison, Tyler, Polk and Taylor and witnessed the election of the 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. Being born to Dutch-speaking parents, Van Buren learned English as a second language.

CRITTER CHATTER: Area farmers help with much needed milk supply

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by Jayne Winters

I wasn’t sure what this month’s article would be about, but after just a few minutes of talking with Don, we agreed a thank-you was in order to some local farmers who recently helped during a shortage of fresh milk for this year’s fawns.

When I visited Duck Pond Wildlife Rehab in June, I was immediately drawn to one of the newest admissions: a days’ old fawn whose mother had been hit by a car. She was one of about 16 Don has cared for so far this summer and after a little urging from Don, quickly drained her noontime bottle. Although one of Don’s “favorite” critters (the other being foxes), fawns require 24/7 care due to their feeding schedules. Don usually orders powdered milk from a company in Arizona in anticipation of many injured or orphaned coons and fawns arriving in April/May.

The company makes milk that is protein/fat specific for wild animals in zoos and those in the care of rehabbers. The obvious advantage of the dry form is you make only what you need so nothing is wasted or spoils; the liquid is warmed in the microwave, but is only good for 24 hours. The cost is $200/pail, plus shipping, and Don typically uses eight pails a year. For the very young fawns, he prefers to feed with fresh goat milk that he’s been able to obtain locally, averaging 165 gallons/year. Luckily, fresh milk can be frozen until needed. The first morning feeding is 6 – 7 a.m., with subsequent bottles provided every six hours around the clock. Even though they’re hungry, some fawns – especially the youngest – are reluctant to take a bottle. Changing the nipples on the bottle often does the trick, but by then the milk may need to be warmed again. Fawns will drink milk until Labor Day and then gradually switch over to grass, leafy greens (clover, dandelions, etc.) and finally, grain.

Last month found Don in dire need of goat milk as the order from Arizona had been delayed. I contacted Jamie and Heidi Bray, friends of mine who have a small farm in Somerville. I had recently visited their newborn goat kids and knew mom Kiwi was providing a good supply of milk. They were happy to drop some off at Duck Pond and put Don in contact with good friends Anil and Kelly Roopchand, who own Pumpkin Vine Family Farm, a pasture-based goat dairy also located in Somerville. Don made a drive out to the farm and was duly impressed with the tour and milking operation by Anil’s and Kelly’s son, Keiran. He was especially appreciative of the milk donations: neither the Brays nor the Roopchands would accept payment. In addition, Don has been in contact with Tom and Lynn Ryan, of Little Valley Farm, in China, who have supplied him with fresh goat milk for years. With another possible Winslow source, it looks like he and the fawns are all set for the summer!

Once the fawns are large enough to fend on their own, they’re released in the group they were brought up with rather than individually as there’s more security in numbers. And Don is adamant about not releasing after October, right before hunting season.

As I got ready to leave, Don had a call from an IF&W biologist about four gray squirrels whose nest had been accidentally displaced by CMP workers repairing a line. After assessing them, they’ll likely be transferred to another rehabber in Boothbay for more care. I also got a few photos of a gray fox kit that was too small for an outside pen and was being housed in a dog carrier in the house. You never know what you’ll find at Duck Pond!

Don continues to keep admissions and long-term residents at a limited number by transferring many rescued critters to other rehabbers who have generously offered to assist in their care. Please check these websites to see if there is a rehabber closer to you to help keep critter care at Duck Pond more manageable: https://www.mainevetmed.org/wildlife-rehabilitation or https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fish-wildlife/wildlife/living-with-wildlife/orphaned-injured-wildlife/index.html

Donald Cote operates Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center on Rte. 3, in Vassalboro. It is a nonprofit state permitted rehab facility supported by his own resources & outside donations. Mailing address: 1787 North Belfast Ave., Vassalboro ME 04989 TEL: (207) 445-4326. PLEASE NOTE THE PRIOR wildlifecarecenter EMAIL ADDRESS IS NOT BEING MONITORED AT THIS TIME.

LIFE ON THE PLAINS – Sundays were special: Especially when dad didn’t work

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Waterville Post Office, built in 1911, as seen in this 1960s photo.

by Roland D. Hallee

Back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, life on the plains was relatively simple. During the winter, it was school, and during the summers, we pretty much discussed that a couple of weeks ago.

But Sunday’s were special.

Being from a French Catholic household, Sundays always began with the Sunday Mass at St. Francis de Sales Church. The whole family, six of us – father, mother, my three brothers and me. The Mass back then was celebrated in both French and Latin, and it would last well over an hour. Sometimes, my mother had her hands full keeping us focused. My dad wasn’t always with us because he sometimes worked the 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. shift at Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Mill, in Winslow.

When my dad came with us, we would ride to church. When he didn’t, we would walk.

After church, we would head home and begin preparations for the Sunday dinner. That was always the major meal of the week. It would consist of chicken, ham, beef, or pork with all the potatoes and vegetables, and always…always something sweet to finish it off. Sunday dinner would usually last from noon to about 2 p.m., where everything was discussed from how school was going, how our sports teams were doing, world politics, and, of course, when dad was at Sunday dinner, we got our weekly lesson on how to run a papermaking machine, and the process of making paper. At one point, I was sure I could go to the mill and run that machine myself.

Occasionally, I would go next door – we lived in a duplex with our grandparents living next door. There I would find my grandfather sitting by the radio, listening to his favorite program, La Melodie Francais, hosted by Edgar Poulin, who lived on Water St., in a house located across the street from the present-day Forrest J. Paré VFW post. (By the way, Mr. Poulin was grandfather to The Town Line’s business manager and China resident, Claire Breton.) He would play old French music from Canada. My grandfather, who was a jokester with a great sense of humor, would call the show, La Maladie Francais, which translates to The French Sickness.

My grandfather was Canadian-born, but later became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He would sit in his big, stuffed chair, and do a jig with his feet, without getting out of the chair. It was a pleasure, and entertaining, to watch him do that.

Every once in a while, after church, if the weather was nice, we would take a Sunday drive out to the country. Now, back then, once you reached the end of Silver St., and crossed the bridge, you were in the country, heading up the Oakland Road, to Oakland, which is now called Kennedy Memorial Drive. There was Mea­der’s Horse Farm, on the left, where JFK Plaza is now, and nothing until you reached the Penny Hill Farm, which is now the doctors’ complex and Eye Care of Maine. We would sometimes stop for fresh vegetables. If you headed north up Main St., you would be in the country when you reached what is now Elm Plaza and all the other businesses located on both sides of the road. There was nothing but open fields.

Occasionally, my dad would somehow work up the courage, and after reading the morning paper, call out to the four of us and say, “How about if we go see a Red Sox game?” So, off we’d go, head to Boston on a Sunday morning, and return home that evening. You always had a feeling he would do that after he would read that the Sox were playing a doubleheader that day. Get two games for the price of one. On July 20, 1958, I actually saw Jim Bunning, of the Detroit Tigers, pitch a no-hitter. I also saw Ted Williams hit the 521st and last home run of his career on September 28, 1960, in his last major league at-bat.

Enough of that!

Sundays were always a family day back then, again, when my dad didn’t work the “day shift.” We would all dress up for church, and pretty much stay that way the rest of the day. Doing anything to ruin your “Sunday best” would put you in a deep bunch of trouble. My mother was meticulous, and she expected us to do the same.

It never seemed to rain on Sundays.

Read other installments in this series here.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Swans are sighted on west shore of Webber Pond

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Swan

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

It has been reported that a bevy of swans has been spotted on Webber Pond. Interesting. So I had to investigate. Oh, by the way, a bevy of swans is when they are on the ground. While in flight they are called a wedge.

The swan is known around the world for its beauty, elegance, and grace.

The swan has the ability to swim and fly with incredible speed and agility. This bird is also very intelligent, devoted to its mate, and highly aggressive about defending its young. They are a common sight in temperate and colder climates around the globe.

The English word “swan” is also shared with the German and Dutch. It likely has its roots in the older Indo-European word swen, which means to sound or to sing.

This bird is much faster on land than you might suspect with speeds of 22 miles an hour. In the water, it can also achieve speeds of around 1.6 miles per hour by paddling its webbed feet. But if they stretch out their wings, then swans can let the wind carry them at much higher speeds while also saving energy.

These birds feature prominently in human mythologies and arts around the world. Some of the most famous stories involve metamorphosis and transformation. A Greek legend claims that the god Zeus once disguised himself as a swan. The famous 19th century Tchaikovsky ballet Swan Lake, which derived from Russian and German folk tales, is the story of a princess transformed into a swan by a curse. And of course, the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Ugly Duckling is about a duck that transforms into a swan.

Swimming gracefully through the water, these birds are an impressive spectacle whose characteristics include a large body, a long and curved neck, and big feet. Each species has different colored plumage. The common mute swan is almost completely covered in white feathers except for an orange bill and some black markings on the face.

These birds rank as the largest waterfowl and among the largest birds in the world.

Among these birds’ most remarkable social characteristics are the intense bonds they form with one mate for life. Unlike many other species of birds (even the closely related geese and duck), this has a few distinct advantages. First, it allows the pair to learn from their reproductive failures and develop better strategies. Second, the couple will share several duties, including the construction of nests, which they build out of grasses, branches, reeds, and other vegetation. This makes them far more effective than it would be on its own. Third, because of their long migratory routes, they have less time to acquire a mate, so the lifelong bond actually saves them time.

These birds are quite defensive animals that will do anything to protect their young. To drive off threats, they will engage in a display called busking, which involves hissing, snorting, and flapping with their outstretched wings. Due to their relatively weak bones, this display is largely a bluff that has little force behind it, but it doesn’t stop them from gloating. After driving off a predator, they make a triumphant sound. They also communicate through a variety of other vocalizations that emanate from the windpipe or the breastbone, including in some species a geese like honk. Even the so-called mute swan can make hissing, snoring, or grunting sounds.

After the breeding season, the bird migrates to warmer climates in the winter by flying in diagonal V formations with around 100 individuals. When the lead bird tires, another one takes its place at the front. These birds can be either partially migratory or wholly migratory depending on where they nest. The fully migratory species typically live in colder climates and may travel the same route thousands of miles every year toward warmer climates.

These birds are endemic to ponds, lakes, rivers, estuaries, and wetlands all over the world. Most species prefer temperate or Arctic climates and migrate during the colder seasons. The common mute swan is native to Europe. It was later introduced into North America (where it flourished).

Swans are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and other animals. When swimming in the water, it feeds via a method called dabbling in which it flips upside down and reaches down with its long neck to the vegetation at the bottom of the floor. The bird can also come up onto land in search of food.

These bird’s large size, fast speeds, flying ability, and rather aggressive behavior (at least when threatened) are a deterrent for most predators, but the old, ill, and young (especially the eggs) are sometimes preyed upon by foxes, raccoons, wolves, and other carnivorous mammals. Habitat loss, pollution, and overhunting have all posed a persistent threat, but they can adapt quite well to human habitations, and the cultivation of ponds and lakes for local wildlife has kept population numbers high. In the future, swan habitat and migratory patterns will be affected by climate change.

Thanks to years of protection, the swan genus as a whole are in excellent health. According to the IUCN Red List, which tracks the population status of many animals around the world, every single species of the swan is listed as least concern, which is the best possible conservation prognosis. Population numbers, though not known with precise accuracy, appear to be stable or increasing around the world. The trumpeter swan endemic to North America once fell to as little as 100 birds in 1935, but it has since been rehabilitated.

Swans have symbolized different things to different people. They were a symbol of religious piety in ancient Greece. They were revered for their purity and saintliness in Hinduism. And because of their lifelong bonds, they’ve also symbolized love and devotion around the world.

The common phrase “swan song,” which means a mournful call at the moment of the swan’s death, appears to be a myth. It is still regularly used in modern English to signify a final graceful exit, but the origin of this belief is not well understood. According to the author Jeremy Mynott, who wrote a book about birds in the ancient world, the phrase might have to do with the swan’s connection to Apollo, the god of prophecy and music. The philosopher Plato believed that the swan song was a “metaphorical celebration of the life to come.” Rather than bewailing their own deaths, Plato writes, the swans are “happy in the knowledge that they are departing this life to join the god they serve.” Other ancient authors were skeptical of the swan song and sought to debunk it. More recently, some scientists have tried to find a more rational and scientific explanation for this belief, but more likely it’s based entirely on symbolism and myth.

Despite their intense devotion to each other, swans do not die from grief. This appears to be a myth derived from a dubious ancient source. If a mate dies prematurely, then the surviving swan will usually find a new mate. What they feel after a mate dies is not entirely clear, since we cannot know fully what they are thinking.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Which shortstop’s league-leading 209 hits helped him win the 1997 rookie of the year award?

Answer can be found here.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: 10 tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle

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A happier, healthier you can start with a quality fitness program.

by Yiqing Song, Professor of Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology, Fairbanks School of Public Health

At this extreme moment, we began working from home, away from campus, and keeping social distance for as many people as possible. As we stay home and are stuck with the foods that have been in our fridge or pantry for a while, we are temporarily living a sedentary lifestyle with increased odds of physical inactivity, excessive eating and sitting, stress, anxiety, and depression. In particular, many of us will gain some weight during the pandemic and may keep the extra weight permanently, which may carry considerable health risks for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart attack, stroke, and other health problems.

Here, I’d like to share some basic tips and resources for how to maintain your healthy lifestyle, body weight, and overall well-being while staying home and engaging in social distancing.

1. Measure and Watch Your Weight

Keeping track of your body weight on a daily or weekly basis will help you see what you’re losing and/or what you’re gaining.

2. Limit Unhealthy Foods and Eat Healthy Meals

Do not forget to eat breakfast and choose a nutritious meal with more protein and fiber and less fat, sugar, and calories.

3. Take Multivitamin Supplements

To make sure you have sufficient levels of nutrients, taking a daily multivitamin supplement is a good idea, especially when you do not have a variety of vegetables and fruits at home. Many micronutrients are vital to your immune system, including vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, and E, as well as zinc, iron, copper, selenium, and magnesium. However, there’s currently NO available evidence that adding any supplements or “miracle mineral supplements” to your diet will help protect you from the virus or increase recovery. In some cases, high doses of vitamins can be bad for your health.

4. Drink Water and Stay Hydrated, and Limit Sugared Beverages

Drink water regularly to stay healthy, but there is NO evidence that drinking water frequently (e.g. every 15 minutes) can help prevent any viral infection.

5. Exercise Regularly and Be Physically Active

At this time, at-home workouts may be a good idea. But you can also walk your dog or run outside.

6. Reduce Sitting and Screen Time

Exercise can’t immunize you from your sedentary time. Even people who exercise regularly could be at increased risk for diabetes and heart disease and stroke if they spend lots of time sitting behind computers.

7. Get Enough Good Sleep

There is a very strong connection between sleep quality and quantity and your immune system. You can keep your immune system functioning properly by getting seven to eight hours of sleep each night.

8. Go Easy on Alcohol and Stay Sober

Drinking alcohol does not protect you from the coronavirus infection. Don’t forget that those alcohol calories can add up quickly. Alcohol should always be consumed in moderation.

9. Find Ways to Manage Your Emotions

It is common for people to have feelings of fear, anxiety, sadness, and uncertainty.

10. Use an App to Keep Track of Your Movement, Sleep, and Heart Rate

A reminder: People with serious chronic medical conditions, including extreme obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are at a higher risk of experiencing complications and getting very sick from the COVID-19 infection. They should talk to their medical providers and listen to their advice.