Googling Potato Beetles

Our local pub is bedecked in flags for the Six Nations rugby championships, which begin on Feb. 5. The games bring together the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Wales and France, with Wales the defending champions.

Aren't you impressed that I know all this?

Well, in reality I walked past the pub and wondered, "Why are there six flags hanging in the windows?" The Internet did the rest.

I know we say this all the time, but how did we ever survive without Google? I remember being perplexed by the most minor, insignificant things. Here's another example. I've told you I was a stamp collector as a child. Well, I have this stamp in my collection:

It's not quite a postage stamp, because it has no nationality or denomination. It's obviously some kind of campaign stamp for stopping these bugs, "kartoffelkäfer." But what on earth is a "kartoffelkäfer"?

I remember taking this stamp to my high school German teacher and asking her, and even she didn't know -- though we both assumed it was some kind of pest.
 
Well, last night, out of the blue (because for some reason this popped into my head), I Googled "kartoffelkäfer," and it turns out it's the Colorado potato beetle. Apparently this insect was the focus of a series of eradication efforts in Europe after being accidentally introduced there from North America in the late 1800s. During World War II, Germany waged a propaganda campaign accusing the Americans of deliberately dropping the beetles on their crops, and apparently these allegations persisted during the Cold War among the nations of Eastern Europe. So this German stamp was issued to raise awareness, kind of like an Easter Seal. (There's an alternate design, used on posters, showing the insects' carapaces decorated in red, white and blue stars and stripes!)

A 45-year-old mystery, at least in my mind -- solved at last! Thank you, Google.

I know you're all wondering how Dave is doing. He's still not feeling great and in fact he's asleep as I write this. We don't have any answers yet from his PCR but we're hoping results come through today.

Meanwhile, I'm still Covid negative as of this morning and I haven't developed any of his symptoms. But I decided yesterday that I was not going to upend my life to avoid it in my own household. I am not wearing a mask at home (I wear a mask all day at work and that's quite enough, thanks) and we're both sleeping in our bed as usual. (We have a big bed and there's usually a snoring dog between us, so there can be a measure of social distancing while sleeping!) We don't have a guest room so my only other option would be moving to our sofa, which isn't very comfortable.

I figure, if I get it, I get it. My boss and her husband went through all sorts of elaborate attempts to keep his infection from spreading to her -- including masking around the house and sleeping in different rooms -- and she got it anyway. I think in all likelihood if Dave has Covid I'm already infected. So I'm just going to live life as usual and see what happens.

I found this walking Olga yesterday morning -- a tile drinks coaster,  lying on the sidewalk. There was also one with a heart on it but not really caring for the design, I left that one behind for the next lucky pedestrian!