What Would It Be Like to Live in a Castle?

 

In my blog for my grandkids, one of my grandsons wanted me to write about castles. His is going to be imaginary, with a diamond drawbridge, a lava mote and alligators in armor. It got me wondering what it would be like to live in a medieval castle. It is important to note that there is a difference between a castle and a palace. Castle were made primarily for defense, whereas a palace is a fancy living space for royalty.  

Medieval castles did not really come with a standard floor plan, but they do have many parts in
common. Across Europe there were 3 or 4 basic plans, but the surrounding terrain, water availability, and other environmental factors often dictated how they were designed.

The first thing you might notice is the wall around the castle, often called a curtain wall. It was normally made of stone. This wall could be up to two meters thick. It normally surrounded the whole castle. There would be openings high on the wall for windows. Many walls had the toilets built right into them. The waste would usually drop down into a moat. There were usually small, angled, openings in the wall called arrow slits or arrow loops where archers could fire at attackers without being out in the open. On the top of the wall was a parapet, a small wall about chest height where the archers could stand. Every few feet or so were higher sections called merlons, for soldiers to hide behind. There might even be openings called Machicolations that hang out away from the wall where soldiers could drop rocks or boiling oil onto an enemy. There were often towers built into the wall. They served as lookout areas, defensive structures, living quarters, and even prisons.

The only entrance in the wall was the main gate. It was guarded at all times and usually had huge wooden doors that could be barred from the inside. It usually included a gate of iron bars that could be raised and lowered. In most castles there was also a draw bridge that spanned the moat. It could be lifted to stop entry and also further help protect the gates.

The moat was usually a lake or deep pit that encircled the castle. It could be filled with water, or even oil that was lit on fire during a siege. The drawbridge was the only safe way across. Since the toilets emptied into it, it would not be pleasant trying to cross through it.

Inside the castle you would usually find a kitchen, a chapel, and a great hall which served as a banquet room. There could be stables and another fortified area called a keep. These were all housed in an area called the bailey, which was the hub of castle life and also contained shops and possible other living areas.

There was usually some source of water inside the castle. Since a river running under your castle wall could be a security risk, a spring or well would be preferable. If a river was the only option, there might be a secret tunnel to the river so water could be available during a siege.

Stairs in castles were almost always circular due to conservation of space. They always turned clockwise, which favored the defenders stopping soldiers coming up. Although the majority of the soldiers were right-handed, this design would be less of a hindrance to someone who fought left-handed.

As much as it would seem romantic to visit a medieval castle during their heyday, I imagine the smells would be alarming. Common people usually never bathed and the elite may have only bathed weekly. Couple that with the moat, and you realize that herbs, flowers, rose gardens weren’t just for looks. Still, I think they would be fun to visit and just imagine.

(https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-medieval-castles/)

Short Beep or Long?

 I was paying attention, sort of. I was waiting at a light and already going through my upcoming day. And then I heard it. Beep! It was just a little beep. The kind that says, “I don’t wish to interrupt, but the light turned green. I like those kinds of beeps. They bring you back to reality, but don’t come across rude. It is also the beep that you to say ‘hi” or “over here”. I call it the short beep.

Then there’s the long beep. It says, ‘If your window was down and I was right beside you, I would be yelling in your window”. In text it would look like @#@#*!!*%@. Now don’t get me wrong, I have seen times where the long beep seems appropriate. But most of the time it’s delivered but mean people who just don’t care about being angry, rude, and obnoxious.

I myself am not a beeper. Not because I don’t want to, but because I seem to always forget which car I’m in. In my wife’s car, the horn is activated on the side of the steering wheel. In my car, it’s right in the center. To top it off, my car might honk, or it might not. Hey. It’s almost as old as my kids. When it does honk, it’s this embarrassing underwhelming “beep” that sound more like the Warner Brothers roadrunner than a car. Put me up against a truck and I’m gonna choose the better part of valor and just bow out.

So what does this have to do with real life? Well, if I have a choice, I’m going to use the short beep. Even if someone deserves a long beep, I want to be as gracious as possible. The bible says, "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." (Colossians 4:6) Romans 12:17-18 tells us, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone”. I’m sure there are time that most people agree that a long beep would be fitting. I strive to give the person a little slack. You have no idea what they have just been through. Perhaps they just got bad news about a job or a project they were working on. Maybe they, or a loved one are going through a tough medical issue. I personally want choose to give them the benefit of the doubt. So what will you choose? Short beep or long?

Oh The Humanity!

 It’s that time again. My work at the State Park is winding down and school is about to start up again. This summer I’ll have to admit, I’m pretty worn. I almost let humanity get the best of me. When I’m at school, I work, for the most part, with people of integrity and who are honestly trying to better themselves and do the right thing. The park has been another matter. Seemingly endless days of people who can’t throw away their trash, make a total mess of the restrooms and showers, and often show total disregard for the rules.

I once decided that if I had a superpower, it would be to turn things (including people) on and off with mind control. I’m sure I would abuse it, but it would come in handy. Music too Loud? Off. Student out of control? Sleep. Crazy drivers on the highway? 10-minute car time out. Ya, I would definitely misuse it.

This week for whatever reason, probably because God knew I needed it, I remembered a song that one of my 6^th graders brought to class sometime in the last millennium. It was from Steve Green’s children’s album “Hide Them in Your Heart vol. 1”. It was taken from the last verse of Romans 12. Verses 17-21 say, 

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 Here’s the song. It’s simple, but hard to forget. It followed me all week.

One of the other park employees and I we talking about it. Making things clean for people that don’t appreciate it. Helping the entitled when they could easily do things on their own. Enduring being lied about because the other person was too embarrassed to admit their own failure. Picking up the slack for another employee who isn’t quite doing their part. It could really get to you if you let it. We both agreed that were not really working for them. We are working for those that deserve a clean park, a nice place to relax. But ultimately we both agreed we’re doing our best because God expects us to overcome evil. So we do – by doing good. And that’s ok. We’ll let God sort it all out in the long run. Today, I’m just, doing good.

Why Can’t People Throw Away Their trash?

After months and months of blaming the raccoons for the torn napkin, the lone chip bag, or the piece of foil that used to hold barbequed chicken, tucked away in the bushes, I have come to a sad conclusion. The animals are not the problem; the people are. Last week we cleaned a campsite that must have had at least 50 or 6o cigarette butts scattered all over the ground. We found multiple beer bottles thrown into the bushes right next to the trash can. (And yes, we have recycling area that no one seems to notice either.) I even found a McPherson Strut off of someone’s car neatly tucked under a small bush – not 10 feet from a half empty dumpster.

The teens & children are not totally innocent either. We often find candy wrappers, squeeze drinks, and other various broken and unbroken toys spread all around. One of the hardest things to pick up are the straw wrappers form the Capri Sun containers. Ant then there are the bottle tops both plastic and metal. I literally could pick them up all day. Rake and area and you’ll find ten more. It’s a never-ending struggle.

I have pondered the reason or reasons for all this mess and here’s what I have come up with.

1.     Entitlement – many people think it is below them to pick up. “someone else will do it.” Aren’t we paying people to clean it up? Isn’t that what janitors are for?”  

2.      1. Laziness – They just don’t feel like walking to a trash can. It is said that Walt Disney counter that it took 30 steps to finish a hot dog. He then put a trash can every 30 feet. People don’t like to put a wrapper in their pocket or bag until they come across a trash can. How pathetic! (https://jvieker.com/the-story-of-disneylands-trash-cans/)

3.    2. Altered Consciousness – I think many of the beer & liquor bottles pile are the consequence of the “one to many” syndrome. One to many beers = “Where did I leave my drink?”

4.    3. Poor Training – Parents don’t seem to spend the time training their children to pick up anymore. It could be that they don’t want to spend the time to do it. It’s just easier to pick up things themselves. Training takes time and work.

5.     4. Selfishness – I can guarantee that the majority of picnickers and campers would never keep the yards at their own house like they leave our parks. In fact, I have seen people throw things on the ground and then later complain about the “trash” that has blown into their yard form elsewhere in the neighborhood. Something just ain’t right!

So So what can we do? Train the employees, children, friends and family under our sphere of influence to think about others again. If you wouldn’t like to have a place look trashy, don’t trash it yourself. If everyone would just pick up the trash that they come across in front of them every day, imagine what a wonderful thing that would be!

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4

OK, Rant Over. Have a great week!

Crazy from the Past

I love reading about the science and Natural discoveries of the past. We believed a lot of crazy things. This week I want to delve into 3 areas of craziness form the past: food, fashion and foolishness. We look back at it now and say, “What were they thinking?” Yet who’s to say we don’t have ideas that someday people will cringe at.

First is food. Did you know that originally, tomatoes were thought to be poisonous? They are part of the nightshade family of plants, many of which are deadly. Tomatoes originated from South America. They we first brought to Italy in the 1500s and then spread to the American colonies in the 1700s. The French
nicknamed them pomme d’amour or “love apple” because they thought it was an aphrodisiac. Others called it the “poison apple”. This was probably because it was sometimes served on pewter plates and the acid in the tomatoes leached out the lead in the pewter. Thomas Jefferson grew and ate tomatoes. It is said that in 1820 Col. Robert Gibbon Johnson, a horticulturalist, ate a basket of tomatoes on the courthouse steps of Salem New Jersey to show everyone they were safe. Soon they spread across the country. The once “poisonous” tomato was now a household staple. (https://www.uvm.edu/extension/news/history-tomatoes)

Second is fashion.  Radium was discovered by Marie Curie in 1898. It is a highly radioactive element. In the 1920s there was a craze where radium was put in all sorts of products. It was used in watch dials

to cause the numbers to glow in the dark. They made a movie about it called “The Radium Girls”. There was radium in hair tonic, cosmetics, toothpaste, and even false teeth. You could find radium glass and water crocks. There was even radium infused mineral water. Sometimes just the name was used as an advertising agent. After many deaths because of radium it was regulated by the FDA in 1938. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_fad)

The third is about a good idea that wasn’t really tested and thought through. From the 1920s to the 1950s a machine was designed that used x-rays to help sales people fit the shoe to the person. Seeing the bone structure of the client was a real help, but people, including the sales person received huge doses of x-rays that caused all sorts of problems including cancer and other tumors. We still use x-rays in medicine today, but we know a lot more about it.

So the lesson from history? Jumping into technology without really knowing it can be very foolish! I wonder what they will say about us in 50 years?

Fireworks!

(This week both the Musings page and Notes from Papaw have the same post. I’m either lazy or on vacation. Honestly, I’m not sure which.)

This Saturday is the Fourth of July. People around the nation will attend parades, have picnics, light of fireworks at their home, and if your city is having one, attend a professional fireworks display. There you can see bursts of wonderful colors and different shapes, golden showers of sparkles, and eye-widening kabooms!

Have you ever wondered how professional fireworks are made? Ya, so did I. So let’s take a look at the anatomy of a typical firework. When you see a firework display from the launching end, It looks like a bunch of tubes all lined up together. These tubes are called mortars. Inside the tube is the shell. The shell is made of two parts, The lifting charge and the color pellets. The lifting charge is located on the bottom of the shell that is usually made of black powder. It is there to lift the top section high into the air. This makes it easier to see. It also keeps the explosions, sparks, and any hot embers away from people and high enough to burn out before they hit the ground. The top section of the shell has the colorful part. It contains small pellets called stars. These can be made to produce different colors, shapes, and noises. Some of the designs are proprietary, which means they were invented by the firework makers, and the formulas are closely guarded secrets. There are usually at least two fuses. The first fuse lights the lift charge. Once the firework is safely in the air, a second fuse, sometimes called the timer fuse, causes the section with the stars to explode (the burst charge) and starts the stars burning also. They now can even create designs with the fireworks. One special firework that I have seen ends up making a smiley face!

The colors usually come from various metal salts. A salt is a combination of a metal and one or more nonmetals. Table salt is sodium chloride, made of the metal sodium and a gas called chlorine. Here is a list of the most commonly used salts.

Strontium: Red

Calcium: Orange

Sodium: Yellow

Barium: Green

Copper: Blue

Strontium + Copper: Purple

Magnesium, Aluminum + Titanium: White

(Source: https://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/science-at-home/diy-science-fun/the-science-of-fireworks)

And to think these all started with the Chinese putting gun powder into long bamboo tubes. This is thought to have happened somewhere between 600-800 AD, during the Tang Dynasty.

For those of you who don’t have a fireworks display in their home town, here is a display from 2025, courtesy of the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland. Enjoy!

Ice Cream!

Saturday, June 27^th is National Ice Cream Cake Day. I have no idea why, but just the same, let’s roll with it. Except the cake can wait for another installment.  I have met very few people who don’t like ice cream. I even know people that are lactose intolerant who like ice cream. Now I realize it says Ice Cream Cake Day, but I’m only really hearing ice cream at the moment. My favorite flavor? Ya, whatever is available in the freezer at the time. I have serious issues at Baskin Robins or Cold Stone. I end up doing the “Eeny meeny miny mo” thing. Moose tracks is the current option. So me being me, I had to look up where it came from.

According to the Museum of Ice Cream (https://www.museumoficecream.com/blog/history-of-ice-cream/) ice cream has been invented several times. In 400 BC the Persians were eating something called faloodeh, a kind of an ice dessert. In 200 BC the Chinese mixed frozen milk and rice. In India they made kulfi, a slow-frozen milk dessert containing pistachio, saffron, and cardamom. In the Middle East people made sharbat, which is fruit syrups chilled with ice. It’s where we get our words sherbet and sorbet. These all happened independently of each other. Hey, people like their frozen dessert!

Up until the mid-1800’s ice cream as we know it was a luxury, reserved for only the well-to-do crowd. It was popularized in America by Thomas Jefferson who fell in love with it while visiting Europe. It is said that Washington spent a large amount of money just on ice cream.

It all changed when a lady named Nancy M. Johnson invented the hand-cranked ice cream machine in  1843. It swiftly moved ice cream into everyday homes. Add to that refrigeration, and ice cream parlors began springing up in neighborhoods across the nation.

Some of my favorite childhood memories are tied to warm summer evenings when my cousins would come from Missouri and we would have dinner in my grandparent’s yard. The adults would con the children into turning the crank on grandma’s old ice cream mixer for a small share in the product. It was soft serve at its best. I volunteered any time I could. Now they make ones with motors that do the mixing. Still nothing tastes quite like ice cream made with your own two hands. We can’t seem to get enough of it. Hand mixed, Soft serve, frozen yogurt, gelato, there seems to be a store on every corner.

Hmm, I think I’ll have a double scoop with rocky road and chocolate fudge – in a waffle cone please. Nuts on top? Oh, now that does sound lovely…