Good Morning All!
Well, today’s blog is the last one for awhile, as tomorrow I embark on a World War II-related adventure with my friend, Harold. Harold’s father wrote a journal detailing his movements across France, Belgium and into Germany during his service in the 25th Recon Squadron with General George Patton’s 4th Armored Division. His outfit was one of the first into Bastogne to relieve the 101st Airborne Division who were surrounded by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. We’ll be met in Brussels, Belgium by a personal tour guide/driver, Roland, who will then take us to places mentioned in the personal journal of Harold’s father. Among the places we’ll visit are Nancy; Singling; Bining; Chaumont; Luneville; Arracourt, Viviers; Chambrey; Rohrbach & Bastogne. It should be quite the trip! We’ll then join up with a “Band of Brothers Tour” group in Paris and visit Normandy and then follow the 101st Airborne’s path across France, Belgium & Germany, ending up at Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest near the German-Austrian border. I told Harold I would be A-O.K. on this trip so long as I got to a “Happy Hour” each day. This trip wasn’t on my bucket list, but when Harold asked if I’d like to go with him, and having read his father’s journal, it didn’t take any time at all to say “YES!”. So off we go tomorrow! I’ll be taking lots of pictures and will make journal entries along the way, so I’ll try and share some things about our adventures when I return to Spokane on May 26th.
One thing I forgot to mention about our last visit to The Tana House is that we held a community meeting at Lietz Hall in Martin City MT about “Wildfire and Evacuation Readiness”. We had a good turnout of people from the communities of Glacier Hills, Hungry Horse, Martin City, Coram and West Glacier. We had presentations from the Flathead County Office of Emergency Services; the American Red Cross of Idaho & Montana; the U.S. Forest Service; the Montana State Dept. of Natural Resources & Conservation; and the Fire Service Area Manager & Fire Warden of Flathead County. There was lots of great info provided on the need to plan for a wildfire emergency. The Fire Warden explained the concept of “home defense triage” when firefighters are called into an area of homes threatened by wildfire. They use triage to assess which homes they will expend resources to defend…they look for homes that have made efforts to be “fire-resilient”, i.e. homes that have taken the proper steps to reduce fuels (fallen trees, branches, done proper thinning of trees, etc.) around their home. Since wildfires can be a threat to the lives of the firefighters, they won’t attempt to save structures if there is too much risk of injury and/or death to firefighters. This alone would seem to be a compelling enough reason for homeowners/property owners to take the steps necessary to make their homes/properties “fire-resilient”. It was great to see so many people come out for this “Firewise Community” event. Hopefully, more and more people across America will take the steps necessary to make their homes/properties fire-resilient. If you and/or family members or friends live in areas that could be threatened by wildfires, you will want to check out the Firewise web site at www.firewise.org/usa and/or contact your local state forestry agency. You’ll be glad you did!
We had a great Mother’s Day gathering at David & Andy’s house last evening to celebrate and thank all of the mothers in our family…Judy, Linda, Andy, Sheila & Sarah. We had a terrific dinner of roast chicken, asparagus & homemade mashed potatoes (the real thing!), topped off with a cheesecake with strawberries on top! Thanks to all of the Moms for all you do for your families! Here’s to you!
While we celebrate motherhood, it’s also important to pause and remember those who find motherhood a struggle for one reason or the other…mothers who have lost children; children who live with difficult mothers, mothers who struggle with being good mothers and then the challenges that families face in our society…the things that cause families to break up and the consequences that brings. Prayers are lifted up for these situations…
Another cause for celebration yesterday was my daughter Andrea’s (Andy’s) upcoming graduation from the Masters of Education program at Whitworth University in Spokane. What an accomplishment to earn a Master’s degree as a full-time mom and with all of the other commitments she has to others. It’s a marvelous feat and I couldn’t be more proud of her (and her supportive family)! Here’s to you Andy, as you walk down the aisle next weekend to receive your Master’s Degree diploma!
I found an interesting mystery when I looked at the 1969 Topps Football Card for Johnny Robinson…when I went on the internet to find more information about this player, I came to realize there were two Johnny Robinsons who played professional football at the same time, but the Johnny Robinson I found was no one similar to the Johnny Robinson whose card I had in my possession. The other Johnny Robinson was a LSU graduate (his father was the LSU tennis coach for 40 years!) and is going to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame this year. He played on the Super Bowl IV champion Kansas City Chiefs as a safety. The other Johnny Robinson played for the Detroit Lions as a defensive back, but he remains a mystery, as there wasn’t anything on the internet about him, and the back of his football card is blank (it’s part of a puzzle that results in a picture when put together, but nothing about him as a player or person). It’s the first time this has happened since I started going through my 1969 Football Card collection….how about that? Will mysteries never cease???
Here’s the funny question for the day:
Q: Why did the cows return to the marijuana field?
A: It was the pot calling the cattle back.
Here are some thoughts for the day:
“Trying to be fascinating is an asinine position to be in.”
—Katharine Hepburn, multi-Oscar winning actress
“Only the really plain people know about love—the very fascinating ones try so hard to create an impression that they soon exhaust their talents.”
—Katharine Hepburn, multi-Oscar winning actress
“Either the day must come when joy prevails and all the makers of misery are no longer able to infect it, or else, for ever and ever, the makers of misery can destroy in others the happiness they reject in themselves.”
—C.S. Lewis, “The Great Divorce”, as quoted in “C.S. Lewis’ Little Book of Wisdom: Meditations on Faith, Life, Love, and Literature” (2018)
There were two Bible passages read in church yesterday that I thought were extremely encouraging and I’d like to share them with you…
The first comes from Genesis, Chapter 28, verses 10-17 and talks about Jacob’s Dream:
“Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven.”
The second reminded me of my friend Tim’s son, Nathanael, a fine boy indeed who is quite a chess player. This passage recounts the meeting of Nathanael & Jesus:
“Nathanael said to him (Phillip), “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Phillip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Phillip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
What encouragement to know that our Creator seeks a relationship with whom He has created…his beloved (us!), whom he knows even before we have the opportunity to meet him…
Here’s to a great Monday and lots of love always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, etc.)