Hooyah! Mission accomplished

Yesterday we looked at the Guinness records about roofs.  Today, in celebration of the rescue of the cave-bound Thailand boys, we look at underground records.   We were there for that record too. It was August 2010 and 33 miners were trapped underground in Chile for 69 days.   But how about this record?  It would be on a lighter note (!): The deepest concert underground was at 1271 m (4,169 ft 11 in) below sea level at Pyhäsalmi Mine Oy, Pyhäjärvi, Finland and was performed by Agonizer (Finland) on 4 August 2007. My Google search goes off-course with a fascinating title: 20 Guinness World Record-breaking destinations to visit around the world.  1.  The largest railway station by number of platforms is New York City's Grand Central Terminal. 2. World's narrowest Street - Germany's Spreuerhofstrasse street. Located in Reutlingen, the thin street is only a foot wide at its narrowest point. ... World's Oldest Restaurant:  You can still dine at the world's oldest restaurant - Restaurante Botín - located in Madrid, Spain. Created in 1725, it still maintains its original 18th-century interiors and firewood oven today. Then Google results return to the topic in a bizarre headline:  "A man who has been buried alive in a pub garden for more than three months has broken the record for the length of time spent in a wooden box underground". Geoff Smith, 37, beat the European record of 101 days - set by his mother - at midnight on Monday. Could you make these stories up?  His mother did it when he was seven years old. "He did it at 37, and it has been his ambition to go and bury himself in a box". Back above ground, it is Lilycrest blooming time.

Taking Christmas to the Max

Yesterday we found out about the oldest Christmas trees.  The Guinness Book of Records bears witness to the striving nature of humanity on the delivery of results with creativity and inventiveness. Here are examples for the Christmas tree: The most expensive decorated Christmas tree remains a holiday tree from 2010 - decorated with $11,026,900 worth of jewellery - 181 items in all. The largest artificial Christmas tree was 180.4 feet tall and created in China in 2015.  It was covered in green synthetic foliage and decorated with ornaments and lamps. The largest human Christmas tree was done in Chengannur, India in December 2015.  There were 4,030 people involved in that tree.  This is a record that continues to grow. The largest display of illuminated Christmas Trees was accomplished by Hallmark, USA in Heralds Square, NY, NY where 449 trees were on parade. The most lights on an artificial Christmas tree is a regular record at Universal Studios in Japan in Osaka.  They do this every year, and have beaten their records over six times in the past.   I hadn't thought about other Christmas traditions.  The largest gingerbread house for charity has a new record.  While the size of the structure is the measure, but they also reported the calorie count at 35,823,400 calories. The array of Christmas records can be found here at the Guinness site. Our flower of the day is the Amaryllis - this name comes from the legend of a shy, timid nymph. Amaryllis fell deeply in love with Alteo, a shepherd with Hercules' strength and Apollo's beauty, but her affections were unrequited.

What do the Oldest People accomplish?

Do you remember the 96 year old man who ran the marathon to become the oldest person to finish a marathon?  That was in 2015. There are others in that age range who have completed physical activities that most people would not be able to contemplate let alone to complete.   I found list25.com with all the oldest people accomplishments - bungee jumping at 96, visiting the north pole at 89, sail around the world at 77, release a new music album at 92, oldest practicing pediatrician at 103, and oldest doctorate at 97, and so on.  I could not predict this one, though.  It came via a headline in December in the Toronto Star:  Notorious 86-year-old jewel thief strikes again in Atlanta, police say "Doris Payne, who was the subject of a 2013 documentary, faces another shoplifting charge, this time for slipping a $2,000 diamond necklace into her pocket. Payne told the AP she realized a simple distraction could make it easy to slip out with a fancy trinket in hand after a friendly store owner let her try on watches as a child and then forgot she had the jewelry on. Her career was born in her 20s when she got the idea that she could support herself by lifting jewelry." I wonder if she has applied to the Guinness Book of Records to be the oldest practicing thief, 86. Or does the Guinness Book 'recognize' achievers without requiring an application? I was in the Watering Can in St. Catharines this week, and took these photos of calla lilies.