Good Morning All & Happy Monday!
This is my first post on my new blog site “thoughtsforthedayfrompapa-a”. Upon the wise counsel of my wife and esteemed friends, I’ve decided to take the plunge into a 21st century mode of communication…”the blog.” This is partly a move of necessity, as my AOL account was beginning to think that I was spamming all of you who have been receiving “Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a” via e-mail. So I hope you enjoy this new format and I’m looking forward to sharing stories & tidbits of information as I go along. I enjoy receiving responses from you, so please feel free to share what’s on your mind and we’ll see where that takes us. I hope you enjoy reading “Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a” as much as I enjoy writing it! And as my favorite singer/songwriter, Gordon Lightfoot, is fond of saying…”Press On!”
Happy Birthday wishes go to my friend Beth Ann Daigre, wife of a dear friend Lance Daigre—who I had the pleasure getting to know when he was the Human Resources Director at S.L. Start & Associates after a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy. Lance was a fantastic man and I was fortunate to know him and learn from him. He was a great listener and adviser to so many. I got to be friends with Beth Ann through Lance. Here’s to you Beth & Lance and Lance’s early departure from this life was definitely our loss, but Heaven’s gain, for sure. Also, Happy Birthday to my friend, Gary Robinson, who celebrates his birthday tomorrow, April 9th. Not only did Gary have a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force, but he and his wife Carli adopted a number of children out of the foster care system in addition to having children of their own. A remarkable story of love, commitment, fortitude & perseverance, among many other wonderful things you could say about it. Here’s to you, Gary, on your special day of celebration…enjoy! In the world of entertainment, Happy Birthday wishes go to actress Robin Wright of “The Princess Bride” & “Forrest Gump” movie fame…those were two great films and she was terrific in them. Here’s to Robin Wright!
I’m anxious to hear about the Spring Break trip of my daughter Andrea’s (Andy’s) family. They ventured to the Grand Canyon and Sedona. I hope they made it to the Red Rock State Park, just outside Sedona. That was a favorite hike we took when my wife, Judy, and I visited there a few years ago…not to mention visiting Jerome, Arizona, an old mining town and staying at the Jerome Hotel, the old hospital there (it’s supposed to be haunted!). I hope Andy’s family had as much fun as we did on visiting that part of our glorious country.
Speaking of fun experiences, Judy & I got to go to dinner at the home of some of our friends from church last night. They have a lovely home out in the country south of Spokane as you head toward the rolling hills of The Palouse. We also got to spend time with their lovely children, Lizzie & Liam and Liam “showed me the ropes” on his Super Mario video game. The meal that Danelle prepared was fabulous…quiche (sp?) and asparagus prepared with olive oil and sea salt and topped off with homemade apple pie and an assortment of Tillamook ice cream that we brought. The sun came out while we were there and it caste a golden blanket over the fields as sunset neared. Spectacular…lots to be said for living in the country!
I had the pleasure of reading one of my favorite publications, “Rural Montana,” the other day and came upon an article that struck me as inspirational. It’s about a young lady named Jayden Diener and her new business called Elevated Coffee, located in Garneill, Montana, a dot on the map 30 miles southwest of Lewistown, Montana. Jayden is a nineteen year old entrepreneur, starting her own coffee kiosk business in a location some recall being a post office or a grocery store. “I always knew I wanted to be my own boss,” Diener said. “I’d talked about doing this since 2014 (when she was 14!), and after moving here from Monroe, Washington two years ago, I started to get more serious about it.” Fortunately, Diener’s grandparents Bob and Beckie Tidwell—who live practically across the street from her business—have supported her aspiration from day one. When Diener graduated from high school last year, her grandparents bought the lot for her. “Their support was a big part of why I moved out here,” she said. “This is such a good location for a coffee kiosk…I just had to go for it. I figured I might as well spend my money on something I can make back and not wait for a student loan later on.” Wanting to save money and feel personally invested in this endeavor, Diener built the kiosk with help from her grandparents. “My grandpa is a retired contractor,” she said, “He helped me by supervising the project. I learned a lot, and I have a lot of appreciation for this place because I took the time to build it…and it was a pain.” As far as business goes, Diener said traffic flow is steady. She already has several regulars, including some truck drivers. Jody Lang of Cody, Wyoming is one of them. “Any time I head this way I stop by Elevated Coffee,” he said. “She has great coffee and great service.” She encourages locals and travelers to find her Elevated Coffee on Facebook, and keep up with her weekly specials. She also sells baked goods and breakfast burritos. “I have 60-plus flavors to work with and like to get creative, she said. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll make it happen.” Here’s to Jayden Diener and all you aspiring entrepreneurs out there…you help make America great!
Speaking of aspiring entrepreneurs, my daughter Amy and son-in-law, Joel, are going great guns on their pre-opening activities for The Barre Code Spokane, which they will be opening on May 11th. They’ve already sold 50+ memberships and they aren’t even open yet. There is a lot of excitement building about the launch of their business in North Spokane. Their studio will be located on North Division, just south of the Wandermere Shopping/Business District, right across the street from Pine Acres Golf Center. Check them out at www.thebarrecode.com/spokane and/or on Facebook at The Barre Code Spokane. Here’s to Amy & Joel for the courage to take the entrepreneurial risk and contribute to business development in this corner of the world!
Speaking of things to check out, visit www.pegnow.org for information about People For Effective Government’s (PEG’s) next public forum on May 7th, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at the North Spokane County Library, 44. E. Hawthorne Road. Mike Petersen, Executive Director of The Lands Council will be speaking on “Environmental Stewardship In The 21st Century.” Please come and bring family & friends…you’ll be glad you did!
Here is the music tip for the day:
Check out “In The Fields” by pianist Doug Hammer; “For The Love Of A Princess” (the theme song of the movie “Braveheart”) and “The Gael” (the theme song of the movie “Last Of The Mohicans”)…phenomenally good and inspiring.
Here is the funny Medical Dictionary Term for the day:
Pelvis: Second cousin to Elvis
For all you Pittsburgh Steelers fans out there, I came across the 1969 Topps Football Card for Dick Hoak. You could make a case that Dick is the biggest Steeler ever, having been with the Steelers for 45 seasons…10 as a player and 35 as a coach. How about that! Dick was originally from Jeannette, Pennsylvania and played college football as a running back at Penn State. He was chosen by the Steelers in the seventh round of the 1961 NFL Draft. He had an impressive pro career, amassing 3,965 rushing yards in 1132 attempts with 25 touchdowns. He also caught 146 passes for 1,452 yards and 8 touchdowns. He was named to one Pro Bowl and led the Steelers in rushing three times. He retired after the 1970 season as Pittsburgh number 2 all-time rusher, and is currently fifth all-time in rushing yards for the Steelers. After his pro career, he was hired by then coach Chuck Noll as running backs coach and served in that position for 20 years. When Noll retired in 1991, Hoak was the only one of Noll’s assistants retained under his successor, Bill Cowher. During Hoak’s tenure as Assistant Coach, the Steelers rushed for over 30,000 yards (the only team to do so in this time period) and led the league in rushing yards three times. He was the position coach for Steeler greats Franco Harris and Jerome Bettis. He was the longest tenured coach in Steeler history, from 1972 to 2007. Hoak was involved in every title game and playoff victory during the 74 season history of the Steelers up to the time he retired. Wow! He lives in Hempfield, Pennsylvania. His wife, Lynn, died on March 9, 2019. Here’s to Dick Hoak and the great Steeler teams of the 1970s & 1980s!
Here are some thoughts for the day:
“The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”
—C.S. Lewis, “The Screwtape Letters,” as quoted in “C.S. Lewis’ Little Book Of Wisdom: Meditations on Faith, Life, Love, and Literature”
“He who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only.”
—C.S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory”, as quoted in “C.S. Lewis’ Little Book Of Wisdom: Meditations on Faith, Life, Love, and Literature”
“Wonderful, merciful savior…precious redeemer and friend
Who would have thought that a lamb could, rescue the souls of man
Oh you rescue the souls of man…counselor, comforter, keeper
Spirit we long to embrace…
You offer hope when our hearts have,
Hopelessly lost our way
Oh, we’ve hopelessly lost our way.
You are the one that we praise,
You are the one we adore.
You give the healing and grace our…
Hearts always hunger for.”
—Selah, “Wonderful, Merciful Savior”