Wayne's Word Index Noteworthy Plants Trivia Lemnaceae Biology 101 Botany Scenic Wildflowers Trains Spiders & Insects Search  Wayne's Trivia Notes Index   Wayne's Alien Species Index   Wayne's Remember When Index   Remember When 1   Remember When 2   Remember When 3   Remember When 4   Remember When 5  Do You Remember When? Published Occasionally On Facebook  © W.P. Armstrong 2019  Go To Latest "Remember When" Note On This Page Wayne's "Remember When" #51 (19 March 2019) Remember When: In the 1970s I had a racoon family living at my previous home when I started my career at Palomar College. Probably not a good idea, but I became very attached to them. Eventually, the open fields and tangelo orchards were replaced by high density housing developments and my lovely rural house became surrounded by asphalt, houses & traffic signals--just like the crowded, urbanized city in LA County from where I came. Wayne's "Remember When" #52 (23 March 2019) Remember When: I reposted my 48 Ford Convertible image. I restored my car with parts from a factory in LA called Ford Obsolete. This classic Ford model was used in several very popular movies. Gee, I wish I still had my beautiful red car! Wayne's "Remember When" #53 (1 April 2019) Remember When: Restored Richfield gas station along historic Hwy 66 in Cucamonga, CA. I drove past this station many times in my American Graffiti days and before. I have fond memories in my 48 Ford convertible and 1950 Ford 2-door sedan during my high school, junior college, & university days in the late 1950s & early 1960s. Wayne's "Remember When" #54 (25 April 2019) Remember When: I just found my Frank Buck Explorer's Watch, my prized possession when I was 8! The phosphorescent dial even glowed in the dark. This marvelous toy was a prize in my box of Wheaties® in 1949. I never understood why a sundial would need a glow-in-the-dark dial. Wayne's "Remember When" #55 (20 May 2019) Remember When: Many years ago, after my lecture on hybrids, a biology student brought me an unusual "filbert hybrid" crossed with a rubber tree. I told her it was impossible. Then I cracked it open and a condom flipped into the air. I caught it with one hand and the class roared with laughter! Her mother made these at Christmas time for stocking stuffers. BTW, the popular spread Nutella® is made with hazelnuts! Wayne's "Remember When" #56 (30 July 2019) Remember When: During the 1980s I almost bought a wide-carriage manual typewriter at San Diego Office Supply. I had no use for a computer. Then I saw the Apple IIe & my life changed forever to digital. Superworks: PC Version Of Appleworks Wayne's "Remember When" #57 (2 August 2019) Remember When: This silver spoon & fork manufactured before I was born might be a collectible today. Wayne's "Remember When" #58 (2 September 2019) Remember When: From nails & bullet shells to pine cones: Some of my childhood collections on pathway to becoming a taxonomist. Wayne's "Remember When" #59 (18 December 2019) Remember When: It's probably time to replace my old washing machine. Parts are getting really hard to find for this model! Wayne's "Remember When" #60 (11 January 2020) Reflecting back on the most amazing photo in my 60 year career. It didn't require an extensive travel trip. It was at Pinnacles National Park in central California: A lichen that grows on rabbit droppings! See Lichen On Rabbit Poop Wayne's "Remember When" #61 (25 April 2020) This Deluxe Model 5 was maufactured between 1940 and 1949, skipping the WWII years of 1942-1945. Many term papers & reports were typed on it during my childhood, college and post graduate years at Colorado State Univ., Oregon State Univ., & Univ. of Miami. In fact, I was typing a report on it the night that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon! Wayne's "Remember When" #62 (31 May 2020) A corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) appeared in my front yard (20 April 2020). This is the symbolic red poppy worn on Memorial Day & Veterans Day to commemorate all the brave men & women who gave their lives in World Wars. In fact, this is the red poppy native to Flanders Field, Belgium where millions of American & Allied soldiers fought and died in WWI. The poem "In Flanders Field" was written by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae in 1915. In grade school I remember my dear grandmother selling red "buddy poppies" for the VFW and American Legion in remembrance of all those who fought and died. Wayne's "Remember When" #63 (22 May 2020) To keep busy during social distancing, Elaine painted an unusual Lagenaria gourd that I grew many years ago when I was a happy teacher at Palomar College. Click on following link to See Rattlesnake Gourd. Wayne's "Remember When" #64 (21 June 2020) HAPPY FATHER's DAY 2020. My father Paul Armstrong & my 1st car in front of my home in Arcadia, CA. Photo taken in the mid 1950s. I completely restored this old car with all new parts from Ford Obsolete in Downtown LA, including bumpers, chrome trim, dash, etc. I must say I truly miss my father (& my classic car). We logged many great memories together. Wayne's "Remember When" #65 (23 July 2020) I identified this beneficial metallic green fly with red eyes at my home in Twin Oaks Valley. I incorrectly thought it was the species I remembered from the 1950s in Arcadia, CA; however, The Wing Movement Of My Green Long-Legged Fly Did Not Match The Arcadia Fly From My Childhood! CORRECTION: Update 27 July 2020. The wings of Arcadia fly moved like oars in a rowboat: The fly in Arcadia was not a green long-legged fly. It was a "Boatman Fly" (Pogonortalis doclea) introduced from Australia. See following youTube video: Boatman Fly Boatman Fly (Pogonortalis doclea) Family: Platystomatidae By Graham Wise from Brisbane, Australia CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/ w/index.php?curid=40575630 Wayne's "Remember When" #66 (17 October 2020) Remember When: Two vintage cars I owned, worked on and drove during the late 1950s & early 1960s. Wayne's "Remember When" #67 (11 December 2020) Many years ago I led a group of botany students to the ice-covered summit of 10,000 ft Mt. Baldy in the San Gabriel Range. I discovered that 2 students did not return on last ski lift that day. No one was prepared for sub-zero temperatures on the mountain so I had to call the Mt. Baldy Search & Rescue. As rescue team was preparing to leave, 2 weather-beaten, tearful students showed up in a car. They lost trail and hiked down difficult Devil's Canyon to the highway. This stressful field trip with a marvelous group of students had a happy ending! Wayne's "Remember When" #68 (26 May 2021) Just had 2nd melanoma excised 50 years after standing on top of Mt. Whitney (& other high mountains). Except for sun glasses, I unwisely & regrettably never used any protection from intense UV radiation. Wayne's "Remember When" #69 (29 May 2021) Remember When: Yours truly on another arduous alpine hike over 50 years ago without a hat. Sierra de San Pedro Mártir, Baja Calif. in search of the rare, endemic San Pedro Martir Cypress, Hesperocyparis (Cupressus) montana. Wayne's "Remember When" #70 (1 June 2021) I have communicated with many prestigious naturalists during my career at Palomar College, but one of the most famous was Richard Dawkins of Oxford University regarding the fig & its symbiotic pollinator wasp. This is truly one of the most complex & fascinating relationships between a plant & an insect. See Wayne's Word Fig Page Wayne's Remember When #71 (2 August 2021) Remember When: As a railfan, I remember the marvelous, electric streetcars and steam engines of my childhood in Arcadia, CA during the early 1950s. Wayne's Remember When #72 (18 January 2022) Remember When: I once discovered the wildflower Silene verucunda infected with the sexually transmitted disease called "anther smut" on Palomar Mtn. In my lecture on safe sex in plants I used this flower model. I got some strange stares as I carried the large flower model across campus!   Plant Sexuality & Political Correctness   Wayne's Remember When #73 (18 February 2022) San Clemente Island: Now that COVID-19 is considered an endemic rather than pandemic disease, I thought my image of a true plant endemic might be interesting. Owned and operated by the U.S. Navy, this fascinating island includes several federally endangered plant species found no where else on our planet. Many years ago I visited this island courtesy of the U.S. Navy and accompanied by two former ex-military students.   COVID-19 Page: Endemic vs. Pandemic Defined   Wayne's Remember When #74 (23 April 2022) Remember When: Many years ago a newspaper reporter entered my name into Wikimedia. Later, I added a few links to my online accomplishments. I thought anyone following Wayne's Word might be interested by scanning QR code. Wayne's Remember When #75 (27 August 2022) Remember When: The common lawn mower back in the 1950s was a reel mower powered by your back & arms, with wheel-driven rotary blades. It was difficult to sharpen and not handy in tall grass with a lot of branches! Wayne's Remember When #76 (28 September 2022) Windswept, ice-covered lodgepole pine near 10,000 ft. summit of Mt. San Antonio (Mt. Baldy), San Gabriel Mtns. Memorable (stressful) hike with botany class (June 1988). 2 students did not return on trail, had to call search & rescue. Luckily students found their way down steep slope before search was initiated that night from command center. Wayne's Remember When #77 (5 January 2023) I took thousands of wildflower images in San Diego County with outstanding Kodachrome film while teaching botany classes at Palomar College during the 2nd millennium (latter decades of 20th century). These images date back before some of you were born, or at least when you were the age of my students (or younger). BTW, the rains of Jan. 2023 might produce a splendid wildflower season. Wayne's Remember When #78 (23 February 2023) These unopened knobcone pine cones date back to my fire ecology research days at CSULA over 50 years ago. They are from a fire-adapted native CA pine. They remain closed for decades & gradually open during the heat of fire to release their seeds on the ash-covered slopes. Wayne's Remember When #79 (Circa Late 1990s) Memorable Day Many Years Ago: Astragalus (locoweed) is the largest genus of flowering plants with an estimated 3,000 species worldwide. Many are attractive wildflowers in California. Some species, like A. oxyphysus, can be lethal to livestock if they eat enough of it. I once found a dead steer in Kern County that fed on this species. World authority Rubert Barneby at NY Bot Garden verified ID of my specimen. A friendly Kern County Sheriff stopped to question my plant investigation on private range land! Locoweeds Of Anza-Borrego Desert Region Mechanism For Astragalus Alkaloid Poisoning   Locoweeds Used For Natural Gums & Medicine   Wayne's Remember When #80 Remember When: Does anyone remember being greeted by an MS-DOS C:\ prompt on your computer monitor in the previous century? I continued using DOS programs on Windows computers until 1 June 2006, day 1978 of the 3rd millennium (21st century) following last official classes I taught at Palomar College. Wayne's Word resided on Windows servers for 25 years. Since Palomar dropped my website it now lives on a UNIX server at Network Solutions! Wayne's Remember When #81 It is truly amazing how computer technology has changed in the past 30 years! All text material & images on these pages copyright © W.P. Armstrong