MDBCs 06 Jan 2024

January 6 is Bean Day. If your question after hearing this is, why? Well, because beans are healthy – they are rich in proteins and fiber and they taste good.

Some believe that this unofficial holiday, which is also known as Nation Bean Day in the United States, was created to commemorate the death anniversary of scientist Gregor Mendel. Known as the Father of Genetics, Mendel experimented on peas to discover the laws of genetic inheritance.

Many Varieties

Although many people around the world consider peas as part of the beans family, they are not technically beans. Botanists classify peas and snap peas as vegetables.

Beans have been consumed by humans since ancient times. They are a natural source of proteins, fibers and vitamins and have a small environmental footprint. Today, there are 40,000 known varieties of beans around the world. Only a few of these are cultivated for human consumption.

How to Celebrate?

This is easy, have beans for every meal: baked beans for breakfast, red beans and rice for lunch, and bean soup for dinner.
For dessert, have jelly beans, even though technically they are not beans.
Make bean art. Use different colored beans to make pictures.

Did You Know…

...that the leaves of a bean plant tilt towards the Sun in the day and fold up during the night?

***

Here's my favorite dad joke, with me as the dad: Every Sunday on the way to church, we would have to stop at a railroad crossing. And each time, I’d tell my 12-year-old daughter, “A train just went by. Know how I can tell? It left its tracks.” I got a moan the first couple of Sundays.

After a while, every time we’d pull up to the crossing, all I had to do was look in the rearview mirror and she would smile. My daughter is now a college graduate and lives out of state, but every time I cross those tracks, I think of her.

***

My dad was not a jokester, but his fun side did come out once in a while. When I was 12, he took me to a Chicago White Sox game with a group from a local tavern. The game between the Sox and the Indians was in the ninth inning, with the Sox ahead by a run. I was having so much fun, I said, “I hope the Indians tie the game in the ninth.”

The die-hard Sox fans we were with were horrified, but not Dad. He started cheering for the Indians to score, even as the men yelled, “Cut it out; you’re a Sox fan!”

The Sox ended up winning, everyone was happy, and my dad and I laughed all the way home.

I miss him tremendously.

***

My father and I were in the snowplow he drove for work when I saw a switch encased in a box.

“What’s this for?” I asked.

“It’s to turn red lights green,” he replied. As we reached a red light, he pointed to the box. “Try it.”

I hit the switch, and it worked—the light turned green! Only much later did I find out that it was his garage-door opener.

***

Q. A prisoner is forced to go into one of three rooms, but he can choose which room. The first room is ablaze with fire. The second one is rigged with explosives that will go off as soon as he enters. The third contains a pair of lions who haven't eaten in years. Which room should he choose to survive?