Ask Rachel

Interesting fact: Aspen leaves are actually red, orange and yellow all year long. They just have so much chlorophyll that you can see only the green, until production fades in the autumn. Now you, too, can sound like a nerd on your fall foliage drive.

Interesting fact: Sprite has been reformulated in Europe to remove 30% of the sugar. If they had removed 42% of it, I’d be a devotee.

Interesting fact: In other countries, it’s common to pay a bathroom attendant the equivalent of anything from 10 cents to $2 to use the facilities. I’m thinking of opening my bathroom to the public.

Interesting fact: “To the nines” is a reference to the nine Muses, unless it’s a corruption of some Scottish phrase “to then eyne,” meaning “to the eyes.” Me, I like to dress to the fives. Occasionally the sevens.

Interesting fact: When the U.S. acquired the Mexican Cession in 1848, Durango was considered part of New Mexico. There but for la gracia de dios go we.

Interesting fact: The first Harley-Davidson is indeed more than 100 years old, rolling off the line in 1904, the same year the first biker shaved for the last time.

Interesting fact: Johnny Appleseed was actually a real estate speculator: planting trees to claim land, which he later sold to tech bros at a ridiculous profit.

Interesting fact: You know that smell of a jar of pennies? That’s actually human body odor: sweat interacting with metal. Yum.

Interesting fact: Face mask sales generated $743 million on Etsy in 2020. Bat Masks would have doubled that, easy

Interesting fact: The word “golf” actually derives from the Dutch word “kolf,” meaning “club.” So a five-iron is in fact a “club club.” And a rich man owns a whole bag of good old boy’s club clubs.

Interesting fact: Pickleball’s popularity is growing more than 20% a year and is the fastest-growing sport in America. Maybe the U.S. Postal Service should get involved.

Interesting fact: An infectious disease expert with the Mayo Clinic says you are more likely to catch a bug in the airport than on an airplane. Except, where do you think all the people on the airplane came from, hmm, Dr. Mayo? 

Interesting fact: Soy lecithin is an emulsifier, sure, but it’s a food lubricant? Not two words I usually put together outside the ol’ love shack.

Interesting fact: Coasters are also referred to as beermats in other parts of the English-speaking world, where clearly they do not drink lemonade or iced tea on warm, humid days.

Interesting fact: A recent report reports that there are, reportedly, other pencil numbers besides #2. And that the number refers to the hardness of the graphite. Someday, if I’m very lucky, I’ll meet a pencil with a #5 or #6.

Interesting fact: Bocce is reportedly the world’s third most popular sport, behind soccer and (this is why I say “reportedly”) golf. But you sure don’t hear Simon & Garfunkel lamenting long-lost bocce players.

Interesting fact: We burn about 100 calories running a mile. An avocado can have 200-300 calories. A $2 avocado therefore is still a worse bargain than gassing up your car.

Interesting fact: The service life of the Motorola bag phone ended in 2008 when the networks went extinct. Long live the bag phone