Trivial Trivia - taking trivia to new levels

[Eva Elisabeth]

Hint #4: I'll improve hint #3 - think beyond the lines!

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Hint #5: The lemon is "dedicated" to a person whose last wish was right the opposite of Diogenes of Sinope's famous last desire (before put to death by Alexander the Great).

[L Verge]

Didn't Diogenes tell Alexander something to the effect of "stand out of my sunlight?" If that is correct, then this would refer to someone who shunned the sunlight? I am taking a wild guess (because I have no idea how this answer relates to the lemon in a field of clover), but are we talking about Mary Lincoln in her old age?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Laurie, you are correct - Diogenes' last wish was to be in the sun. The sought after desired exactly the opposite. It's not Mary Lincoln. The lemon is probably intended as a favorite food supply for the person's after life.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Hint #6: The person was a CW general. (Where is Miss Booth??? Where Wild Bill?)

[STS Lincolnite]

Hint #6: The person was a CW general. (Where is Miss Booth??? Where Wild Bill?)

Right away when I saw the lemon, I thought of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson who was known for sucking on lemons, but I didn't get the connection to the picture (except that there was a lemon in it). Jackson died as the result of a friendly fire incident. His last words were "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees."

[L Verge]

I'm ashamed that I didn't think of the lemon link also -- and the "behind the lines" hint. I think that was your best brain teaser yet, Eva.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks, Laurie, but the laurels actually go to Bill B., who also took the photos (but the hints were mine).

Kudos, Scott, the lemon is lying here:
   
...in the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, Virginia.

Scott, "lemon" (and laurel) makes me instantly think of Italy - and
Goethe's poem "Mignon's Longing":
You know that land where lemon orchards bloom,
Its golden oranges aglow in gloom,
That land of soft wind blowing from blue sky,
Where myrtle hushes and the laurel's high?
You know that land?
That way! That way
I'd go with you, my love, and go today.

...

(And the land is Italy, of course...) Scott, you win a weekend in Limone Sul Garda:
http://www.comune.limonesulgarda.bs.it/index.asp?lang=2

[L Verge]

Eva - After reading your link to Limone Sul Garda, I think Ponce de Leon looked on the wrong continent for the Fountain of Youth. I was fascinated by the description of a genetic protein common in inhabitants of Limone that has been shown to increase longevity by working against heart disease. Scientists have actually traced it back to the marriage of two people in the 1500s, and because the area was so isolated until the mid-1900s, intermarriage actually kept the good proteins flowing through subsequent generations. Thanks for my medical/science lesson for the day!

[Lincoln Wonk]

Eva
That is amazing.
Kathy

[PaigeBooth]

Hi Eva,

This was a great topic and an excellent trivia question!

Stonewall Jackson has always been a favorite general of mine. Last summer I visited Chancellorsville where Jackson was wounded, and then the home where he died at Guinea Station, VA. I thought I would share with you what I learned about Stonewall Jackson and his "obsession" with lemons.

Although Stonewall Jackson was known to have eccentric qualities, the story that lemons where his favorite fruit may not be entirely true. Since fruit was not abundant for the army during the war, any fruits that were acquired (even lemons) were welcomed. It is true that Jackson was observed eating lemons on several occasions during the war; this was only due to the fact that he ate whatever fruit was available. At times lemons were the only fruit available, so although Jackson did eat lemons, his favorite fruit was actually peaches!

It has also been said that Jackson was concerned about his health and followed a strict diet. Although he enjoyed almost every variety of fruit, he had no special fondness for lemons. He also believed foods that tasted bad, were good for him; since lemons are sour he might have believed this fruit was very good for him.

Today, people who visit Jackson's memorial take him lemons because they believe it was his favorite fruit. Although I have never visited Jackson's memorial, when I do, I will take him a peach!

[L Verge]

I think that lemons were an integral part of 19th-century life when scurvy was a serious ailment for many - not just those confined to shipboard for months at a time. When I was growing up (and until just the past few years when I generally dine alone), fresh lemons were always a part of of my diet, especially at dinner. I'm not talking just lemon meringue pies (and my mother made delicious ones from scratch) and a condiment for fish. We always had iced tea for dinner (even in the winter). Each of us flavored the tea to our liking with sugar and fresh lemon juice squeezed from a whole lemon with just the tip of one end cut off. No sweet tea for us.

When the lemon got used to the point where very little juice was left in it, my grandmother taught me how to stuff an ice cube in the rind, sprinkle in a little sugar, and suck on it. Instant lemonade.

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Forgot to add that part of my "education" on 19th-century living at Surratt House taught me that pure lemon juice was used to bleach freckles at a time when the whitest of white skins was prized in society AND that lemon juice mixed with baking soda made a nice toothpaste (again, the whiteness factor on teeth). Not sure that Gen. Stonewall worried about such things, however.

I'm sure that many of you have heard the old Chinese comment about weird Americans who "first boil their tea to make it hot, then add ice to make it cold and sugar to make it sweet, then lemon to make it sour...very strange customs!"

[Eva Elisabeth]

...while the Chinese diet is very simple - they are said to eat everything that flies in the sky which you can see, except airplanes; everything that swims in the river and the sea, except submarines; and any four-legged things on the ground, except tables and chairs.
Thanks for your kind words, Kathy and Paige!

[RJNorton]

Abraham Lincoln once ate at a tavern in Illinois where the owner's daughters were all redheads. How many red-headed daughters did the proprietor have?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Wild guess - six?

[RJNorton]

Good try, Eva, but it's not 6.