The Pear Tree Project has reached its 100th newsletter!
Whenever we hear about this milestone, most people get excited because it is a significant landmark. And, many times there are lists that accompany the occasion.
Why?
Our species loves lists – shopping, to-dos, bucket, check, brainstorming, top one hundreds, twenty-fives, tens – well you get the picture.
The popularity is fairly easily explained. They do the following:
- They inspire debate
- They are easily sharable
- People can comment on what they got right and wrong
- If their favorite is on it; it can be a source of pride
- They bring order to chaos
- They help us remember things
- Most are finite
- The word “list” can be traced back to William Shakespeare
- They relieve stress and focus the mind
- They keep us from procrastinating
One caveat, the results are unlikely to win universal approval. There is a bit of comparing apples to oranges. However, we have hand-picked some strong ones for your perusal, that should keep you smiling while scratching your heads!
Random & useless facts from around the world:
1. Finland has the most heavy metal bands per capita.
2. Mount Everest was possibly shrunken by an earthquake.
3. Pope John Paul II was made an honorary Harlem Globetrotter.
4. On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens each year.
5. Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class.
6. Quebec City is the only walled city in North America north of Mexico.
7. Frank Sinatra was offered the starring role in Die Hard when he was in his 70s.
8. New Jersey is the top producer of the world’s eggplants.
9. Antarctica has the largest unclaimed territory on Earth.
10. Edgar Allan Poe married his thirteen-year-old cousin.
Next up, and this one is near and dear to us because of its shout out to the world’s best fruit:
Day 1: A partridge in a pear tree
Day 2: Two turtle doves
Day 3: Three French hens
Day 4: Four calling birds
Day 5: Five golden rings
Day 6: Six geese a-laying
Day 7: Seven swans a-swimming
Day 8: Eight maids a-milking
Day 9: Nine ladies dancing
Day 10: Ten lords a-leaping
Day 11: Eleven pipers piping
Day 12: Twelve drummers drumming
On a slightly more serious note, our next list is the oldest featured here:
- I am the Lord thy God. Thou shall not have strange gods before Me.
- Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
- Remember to keep holy the Lord’s day.
- Honor thy father and mother.
- Thou shall not kill.
- Thou shall not commit adultery.
- Thou shall not steal.
- Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
- Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
- Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s goods.
Ok, back to facetiousness:
- Dolphins give each other names
- A cat’s ear contains 32 muscles
- The closest living relatives of the Tyrannosaurus rex are the chicken and the ostrich
- Crocodiles cannot stick out their tongues, but alligators can
- Dragonflies have six legs but can’t walk
- Camels were previously imported to Arizona in 1856 and 1857
- Snails sleep for periods of 13 to 15 hours. Some hibernation-like periods can last years
- A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue
- Most pandas around the world are on loan from China
- Sloths can hold their breath longer than dolphins
Top five Peanuts Specials:
5. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving – who doesn’t want a dinner of pretzel sticks, popcorn, toast, and jelly beans?
4. A Boy Named Charlie Brown – part of an ongoing theme of children doing preposterous things on their own, (Charlie Brown and Linus travel to New York City by bus). Linus going through withdrawals without his blanket is golden stuff.
3. It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown – who among us didn’t have something they believed in so strongly as a kid and ultimately found out “the truth?”
2. Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown – Incredibly quotable and so many characters at their best. Kids left to build a hand made raft and navigate the river and wilderness on their own for summer camp. How can that possibly go wrong?
1. A Charlie Brown Christmas – The gold standard against which all other holiday specials are measured. Linus is spectacular as the moral compass of the story and his gospel quote from the stage should still affect anyone with a soul.
We truly hope you enjoyed our lists. THANK YOU for reading and here’s to the next 100!!
Did You Know? There are approximately 722,000 centenarians living in the world today, and there are roughly 108,000 seniors who are 100 years old or more in the United States. With the constant surge in population growth around the world, and with more advanced medicine widely available, the world’s centenarian population might reach one million within the next fifty years.