monday's mulling: fact checking

Last Wednesday, the day after the midterm elections, two photos began appearing repeatedly on friends’ Facebook pages. The first showed Niagara Falls illuminated in blue, accompanied by comments such as “This is so great!” and “Thanks, Canada!” Others shared similar sentiments, celebrating the election results.

But in their excitement, many people failed to look at the bigger picture. As much as Canadian government officials might have enjoyed sending a political message, the joint U.S.- Canadian Niagara Falls Illumination Board strictly prohibits partisan political lighting. The widely circulated image was not a live political tribute at all. It was an older photograph taken by a visitor in September. On November 3, the Falls were actually illuminated in teal for a 15-minute period at 10 p.m. to recognize Alzheimer's Awareness Month.

Nevertheless, some people interpreted the blue illumination as a symbolic middle finger to Donald Trump.

The second image came from a Facebook page called Denmark. At first glance, it would be easy to assume that the Danish government was celebrating the election results or expressing its political views. But doing a little bit of digging tells a different story.

The page identifies itself as Denmark. v/Jeppe Frederiksen. That name is associated with a registered business in Odense NV, Denmark, listed with the Danish Central Business Register (CVR) as a sole proprietorship involved primarily in communications consultancy and advisory services. In other words, this is not an official Danish government page. It is a page associated with an individual and his own opinions, not an official statement or endorsement from Denmark.

These two examples illustrate just how easily social media can blur the line between fact, interpretation, and wishful thinking. A photograph gets shared, a political meaning is attached to it, and before long, people are celebrating something that may never actually happened.

It's understandable that people feel strongly about election results, and there's nothing wrong with celebrating a political outcome. But enthusiasm needs to coupled with curiosity, and a convincing photograph or official-sounding page name should never be mistaken for proof.

still going strong...

I do love taking photos of flowers, and I’m loving how some are still blooming so prolifically during this first week of November. Just look at that fence lined with all those beautiful pink flowers. Summer colors are still showing off, joining the spotlight with autumn’s gorgeous shades of gold and orange.

There’s frost on the ground this morning and the weather forecast is calling for temperatures to dip into the 20s°F (-7°C) next week. It won’t be long before those lingering summer colors fade away and join the fall leaves placed in the street for the city's leaf pick-up trucks to take away.

For now, I will enjoy every last bit of this floral show.

 

hey, little cutie

This photo is self-explanatory.

#someonecomegettheirdoggy

Someone is missing his or her stuffy. Thank you to the good samaritan who rescued this sweet little pup from the sidewalk. Hope he's back home soon.

 

the friday feed: apple cake

I love apple pie, but I don't bake pies. My mom was an amazing pie baker, but that gene didn't pass down to me. My favorite fall dessert to bake is apple cake.

October 31 was the farm's last day of business for 2026, and I made an apple cake to take in to celebrate the end of the season. I've had this recipe for almost 50 years.

I got the recipe while working at my first job out of college as a paralegal. The week before Thanksgiving, one of the other paralegals brought an apple cake to share with everyone who worked on our floor. Oh my, it was delicious! It ranked right up there with Mom's apple pie.

This cake always takes me back to those early working years: driving my VW Rabbit or taking the bus downtown, the things I learned, and the transition from college student to young professional. I remember realizing that the bosses' secretaries were the ones who really ran the ship, figuring out who to avoid at the office Christmas party, and making friendships along the way. There were late nights preparing for trials, out-of-town trips to clients' businesses, and being recognized for my research skills. After five years on the job, the decision came to stay home after my son was born.

So much of those work days comes back with making this cake The workplace was a very different place back then. We gathered in offices, shared coffee breaks, celebrated birthdays, exchanged recipes, and got to know one another in ways that just happened when we worked side by side.

It makes me wonder if today's work-from-home generation has those same opportunities to make connections with coworkers, share favorite recipes, and discover that someone down the hall makes an apple cake worth keeping for 50 years.

thursday's thought for the day

Autumn isn't really about endings. It's about having the courage to change, the grace to let go, to make room for what comes next, and the faith that something beautiful will grow again. 

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

Back on October 29, which was my son’s birthday, Neil, the creator of the blog Yorkshire Pudding, published a post titled “"Quotations.".” He wrote about The Quotation Dictionary and how he used it when writing academic essays as a student at the University of Stirling in Scotland back in the 1970s. He still has that book.

In that respect, Neil and I are kindred spirits. I, too, have held on to some of the old reference books from my college days. And just recently, I added another one to my collection when I purchased a Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language at a friend’s garage sale.

My love for dictionaries goes back to fifth and sixth grades. When the class was  learning how to use one, our teacher gave us a weekly exercise involving our spelling words. First, we had to alphabetize the words in our spelling books. Then we would take out a couple of sheets of paper, look up each word in the dictionary, write it down, underline it, identify its part of speech, indicate its syllabication, and finally write its definition. Whatever we didn’t finish in class became homework.

There was plenty of moaning and groaning from some of my classmates, but not from me. I actually enjoyed the exercise. I liked searching for the words, discovering their meanings, and learning something new along the way. Looking back, those assignments probably helped develop my appreciation for words and the English language.

Now, back to my Webster’s Dictionary. It is an absolute giant! The pages measure 8 by 11 inches, and the book is 5.5 inches thick. There are 2,006 pages devoted just to A-to-Z words and their definitions. But that’s not all. It also contains sections listing the populations of U.S. cities and foreign cities, information about U.S. presidents, maps of countries, a digest of the purposes of current federal agencies, and so much more. This eight-pound tome is practically a reference library all by itself.

I imagine that most students today rarely, if ever, use a physical dictionary. With resources such as Merriam-Webster Online, Dictionary.com, the Cambridge Dictionary, and the Oxford English Dictionary, definitions, word origins, and thesaurus tools are just a few clicks or taps away. Information is instantly available at their fingertips, without having to thumb through page after page to find what they need.

And while I appreciate the convenience of online dictionaries, there is something special about holding a big, old-fashioned dictionary in your hands. You can open it to look up one word and, before you know it, find yourself exploring several others along the way. Sometimes the words you stumble upon are just as interesting as the one you originally set out to find.

That's what I miss most about the physical dictionary: the journey of discovery. Looking up a word was never just about finding a definition. It was about learning, exploring, and occasionally getting sidetracked. Technology may have made finding words faster, but I think there is still room on the bookshelf for a good old dictionary.

 

text messages are driving me bonkers

And I truly truly truly truly truly will never send you any money because you have no idea what a comma is.