And then there are the stories that just lead you to the conclusion that there are people with too much time on their hands.

Researchers at the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation in Wisconsin have concluded that obesity rates increase in cities where the newspapers publish high-calorie dessert recipes.

Assuming that some percentage of the readers of any particular newspaper like to bake and that of those, a percentage may try the recipe for that luscious fat and calorie-ridden dessert, we must then calculate how many people that baker is likely to serve this treat to. Six? Seven? Eight at most, I should think. Assume then that this dessert is a big hit and friends and family insist that the baker must prepare this treat again, thus it begins to show up at company parties and family functions and holidays. That would be how often, three or four times a year? Does something you eat four times a year make you obese?

The report notes that the news media play an important role in providing nutrition information, but with respect to recipes, “this information is seldom studied.”

Maybe there’s a good reason for that.

My father was a stubborn man. Maybe I should say determined, for that is a better description of the way he lived his life. He didn’t believe in asking for help, whatever the obstacle, he would overcome it, whatever the task he would accomplish it through determination and a combination of the strengths of body and will. My father was Scandanavian, his parents having immigrated to Canada from Denmark.

I’d like to say I inherited his determination, but it may well be that my form of the characteristic is more akin to sheer stubborness. Which is why I got a laugh out of this story.

Seems about 45 years ago, the Scandavian community in Seattle wanted to erect a statue to Leif Erikson, (Eiriksson, Ericson - you choose a spelling) the Norwegian explorer who is acknowledged to be the first European to set foot in North America, 500 years before Columbus.

Well the city didn’t particularly want the statue but agreed to give it a spot at Shilshole Bay where Erikson’s rigid symbol of determination has stood for four and a half decades now.

Recently the city decided to refurbish the statue and move it to another location. A ceremony was planned and equipment readied to take the statue off its platform and carry it elsewhere. The only problem is, the stalwart explorer doesn’t seem to want to move. Since the first attempt on Tuesday, they have made three attempts to lift the statue and so far Leif refuses to budge. Seems his legs are filled with cement and he’s been cemented to the platform as well as being secured with steel bolts. After 40 man hours and many dulled jackhammer tips, Leif still stands keeping watch over Shilshole Bay.

It seems almost as if Leif’s spirit is embodied in that statue, determined and strong, not swayed by the fact the city didn’t want him there in the first place and now refusing to vacate the spot he managed to secure. It reminds me a lot of my father, that will to overcome and to stand strong, regardless of the nature of the onslaught.

I have decided that I don’t mind being called stubborn and determined, sometimes that’s the way to be. When they come to tear you down, stand tall and proud and look out into the world you have discovered.

The city hasn’t announced when it will make a fourth attempt to remove the statue. Secretly, I hope they give up and leave Leif standing right where he is. Anyone who puts up that much of a fight deserves to win.

‘Stubborn Scandavian’ sticking around in Seattle

Day 3, and statue still doesn’t budge

Biography of Leif Ericson

International Leif Erikson Foundation

Email is a wonderful thing. It’s immediate and convenient and doesn’t require you to throw away the outer envelope or detach the lower portion and address the return envelope or even search for a stamp. Sure, eventually your junk mail folder bursts with spam mail and even your inbox gets an unhealthy amount of spam despite filters, but it’s easily disposed of with a simple click of the mouse.

Yet we bemoan the demise of the art of letter-writing and miss the excitement and anticipation of a letter long hoped for from a loved one far away. Even I wax nostalgic at times for such things. But the daily contents of my postal mail box is enough to cure me of that.

Inevitably it is filled with circulars, large cardboard coupons, flyers, junk mail, mail-grams, and sweepstakes entry forms that promise riches.
There is one set of sales circulars that takes up the whole mailbox and often the mailman is so generous, he gives me two of them. My real mail is wrapped up in this bundle of newsprint and usually spills out all over the porch when I try to remove the contents from the box.

Worst of all are the letters that disguise themselves as real mail. My telephone service provider sends several a week, sometimes several in one day. I have had to learn to look for the red line at the top of the envelope which indicates that it is a very important overdue bill notice. I have learned to keep those and throw the rest away. I figure that for every one real piece of mail, there are about six pieces of junk mail.

I realize this is not just a burden on me, but also on the US Postal Service and its dedicated mail carriers. Think of trudging through ice and snow just to deliver a bundle of sales offers and sweepstakes promos - how demoralizing.

And now and again there are the stories of mounds of mail being found in the homes of deceased mail carriers. I can’t really blame them, I wouldn’t want to carry all that garbage around either. This happened a few months ago in my area. A mail carrier didn’t return from his rounds and his supervisor went to his home to check on him. What he found was that the mail carrier had expired of a heart attack. He also found a lot of mail, years worth of it.

Most of it was junk mail, circulars, filler mail and mail for people who had moved with no forwarding address. Had he lived, the mail carrier would have faced federal charges but I for one, would like to say “thank you”.

I don’t have time every day to scrutinize the mail and sort out the important items from the junk offers and those addressed to “current resident”. I would prefer my mailman hoard my mail for me, instead of it being kept in piles at my house.

If my mail carrier secretly spirited away all my sales circulars and junk mail, I wouldn’t mind a bit. I might even give him a nice envelope with a tip at Christmas. Alas, the federal government takes a dim view of mail carriers sorting through the mail and only delivering the really important stuff.

Personally, I wish more mail carriers would do it.

Valentine’s Day has changed a lot through the centuries. For one thing, it isn’t just sweethearts who exchange cards and gifts anymore. Since the first Valentine cards were produced commercially in the US in the 1800’s the industry has expanded to the point where there’s a Valentine for nearly everyone in your life, from your Grandma to your paper boy.

And for those who are fed up with the commercialism or just simply cannot stand another dose of hearts and flowers, there’s the anti-valentine.

The free anti-valentine messages are a sure antidote to the forced emotional nature of the holiday.

My favorite card says: Happy unimaginative, consumerist-oriented and entirely arbitrary, manipulative and shallow interpretation of romance day.