Merry Christmas!

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.  ~Norman Vincent Peale

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself…
~Norman Wesley Brooks, “Let Every Day Be Christmas,” 1976

I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.  ~Harlan Miller

A Christmas candle is a lovely thing;
It makes no noise at all,
But softly gives itself away.
~Eva Logue

Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money.  ~Author Unknown

At Christmas play and make good cheer,
For Christmas comes but once a year
~Thomas Tusser

Nikola Tesla Childhood Accident

He almost died in a accident at a mill. He best described the accident in his autobiography:

“There was a large flour mill with a dam across the river near the city where I was studying at the time. As a rule the height of the water was only two or three inches above the dam and to swim to it was a sport not very dangerous in which I often indulged. One day I went alone to the river to enjoy myself as usual. When I was a short distance from the masonry,
however, I was horrified to observe that the water had risen and was carrying me along swiftly. I tried to get away but it was
too late. Luckily, though, I saved myself from being swept over by taking hold of the wall with both hands. The pressure
against my chest was great and I was barely able to keep my head above the surface. Not a soul was in sight and my voice
was lost in the roar of the fall. Slowly and gradually I became exhausted and unable to withstand the strain longer. Just as I
was about to let go, to be dashed against the rocks below, I saw in a flash of light a familiar diagram illustrating the
hydraulic principle that the pressure of a fluid in motion is proportionate to the area exposed and automatically I turned on
my left side. As if by magic, the pressure was reduced and I found it comparatively easy in that position to resist the force of
the stream. But the danger still confronted me. I knew that sooner or later I would be carried down, as it was not possible
for any help to reach me in time, even if I had attracted attention. I am ambidextrous now, but then I was left-handed and
had comparatively little strength in my right arm. For this reason I did not dare to turn on the other side to rest and nothing
remained but to slowly push my body along the dam. I had to get away from the mill towards which my face was turned, as
the current there was much swifter and deeper. It was a long and painful ordeal and I came near to failing at its very end,
for I was confronted with a depression in the masonry. I managed to get over with the last ounce of my strength and fell in a
swoon when I reached the bank, where I was found.”

Kitt Peak National Observatory

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Kit Peak National Observatory, (abbreviated KPNO) member of NOAO (National Optical Astronomy Observatory) is “50 minutes southwest of Tucson” in Arizona. Aden B. Meinel (the first manager) chose the mountain as the building spot for an observatory with a contract from NSF (National Science Foundation) with the land being leased from Tohono O’odham (a group of native Americans in Arizona) in 1958. The “council” approved the lease for unknown reasons in the 1950s, charging a first-time payment of $25,000 and after that $10 per acre per year. By 2005 they had 22 telescopes for eight different organisations, and after the NOAO started planning 7 more telescopes called: The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) The Tohono O’odham became angry because they were trespassing on sacred grounds, and in 2005 they took legal action on NOAO.

“Kitt Peak observatory never should have been built, The one thing that keeps bothering me, is that they want to keep building and building and building. They keep desecrating the mountain over and over again.” ~ Mildred Antone, Tohono O’odham

They attempted to stop construction of the 17 million dollar project and harassed several employees, an example would be when they stopped someone in his car. “Most Tohono O’odham are friendly, but the tribe has shown no interest in tourism.”

You could take a free virtual tour here.
You can see there hours here.