Good Morning All!
Happy Birthday to actor Katsumi Tanaka of the original “Godzilla” movie fame (who can forget those cheesy Japanese monster flicks in Japanese?), who turns an amazing 107 years old today!; and to premier violinist Itzhak Perlman, who is 74 today! And here’s to good friend and spouse/contractor/classic car buff extraordinaire, Greg in San Tan Valley, Arizona and to friend and spouse/father/grandfather, employee benefits consultant and author extraordinaire, Dave in St. Paul, Minnesota, who turns 72 tomorrow! Greg & Dave both celebrate their birthdays tomorrow (Sept. 2nd). Happy Birthday Greg & Dave! Thanks for all you do to make this world of ours a better place!
Speaking of interesting people, I recently read about the life of John S. McMillin in “Journey”, a magazine published by the AAA Washington. His final resting place is called “Afterglow Vista” for the radiance remaining in the sky over Spieden Channel in the San Juan Islands after the sun has set. According to the article, “It was the ideal setting for the grand mausoleum he would build in Roche Harbor as a final resting place for himself and some of his family members.” John McMillin (1855-1936) was co-founder and long-time president of the Tacoma and Roche Harbor Lime & Cement Co.. Founded in 1886, the company was a major source of lime used in agriculture, construction and steelmaking in the growing West. McMillan served as a state railroad commissioner, delegate to three Republican national conventions, Sigma Chi fraternity’s first grand consul, and an active member of the Masonic Lodge. The article also mentions that “he was devoted to his family and the natural beauty of San Juan Island. Much of that is reflected in the mausoleum’s construction and setting. McMillin’s life was not unlike that of another resident of the San Juan Islands (the Moran family) who built “Rosario”, a beautiful estate on Orcas Island, one of the islands in the San Juan Islands group. The Morans gained their fortune primarily through shipbuilding (“Todd Shipyards”) in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The McMillan family’s mausoleum features stone chairs, each a crypt for a family member’s ashes, that are arranged around a large limestone table, representing the unbreakable bond of family. One of the stone columns encircling the mausoleum is unfinished, representing the unfinished work in a person’s life…This was all reminiscent of our visit to the burial site of Mark Twain & his family in Elmira, New York some years ago…their headstones were all positioned so as to be sitting around a dinner table at home with Mark Twain at the head of the table and his wife, Olivia, seated at the other end of the table with the children and their spouses seated on the sides of the table…Our world is full of interesting places like “Afterglow Vista”(and the Mark Twain family burial site) don’t you think?
You might recall that I mentioned the delicious bakery items offered in Reykjavik at the Sandholt Bakery. Well, there was an interesting article that appeared in the Reykjavik newspaper about the recent phenomenon of doughnut shop closings in Iceland. It seems that both Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme have closed their operations in Iceland, due to high production costs and low demand for their goodies. According to the article, “Krispy Kreme announced their arrival to Iceland in July, 2016. At that time, Dunkin’ Donuts had been in operation in Iceland for nearly a year. However, the market for doughnuts was apparently overestimated. While both chains enjoyed an initial burst of success, Dunkin’ Donuts was the first to buckle, closing up shop earlier this year. Like Krispy Kreme today, Dunkin’ Donuts cited high operational costs and little demand as the reasons behind their departure…” The article goes on to say that: “No need to worry, though, Icelanders love pastries, and there is still a wide variety of (arguably better) old timey baked goods that you can still buy at countless locations around the country.” Too bad that Icelanders don’t know anything about “spud-nut” donuts, made from potato flour. I had the pleasure of selling these mouth-watering donuts to patrons as a 13-14 year old in downtown Olympia, Washington (my hometown) in the late 1960s. Too bad that they seem to be a thing of the past…
While Icelanders made not have an affinity for American-style donuts, they do make some terrific fish stew…witness the stew I had at Holmavik, one of the outlying fishing/whale-watching villages north of Reykjavik on the way to the Westfjords…it was full of scallops, haddock, cod and other yummy ingredients and tasted oh, so good!
And speaking of great food & atmosphere, be sure to check out Dave’s Bar & Grill in the Spokane Valley. My mom and I visited there yesterday during our weekly shopping adventures and I ordered their french dip sandwich piled high with thinly sliced prime rib with an accompanying au juice that was out of this world. They serve free popcorn to all patrons, as well…a class establishment if I say so myself. My 92 year-old mom mentioned how much she enjoys coming in to eat and having a glass of beer, but that she couldn’t visit as often as before because she doesn’t drive anymore…to which the waitress responded: “You just give us a call and we’ll come get you.”…how about that for service!
Here’s another culinary tip for the day: Be sure to check out the Italia Trattoria (sp?) in Browne’s Addition in Spokane (just west of downtown). We enjoyed a birthday dinner for my daughter Amy there last night. A good time was had by all with good food and conversation. They have great Italian food selections there…my daughter-in-law Sarah gave me a bite of her lamb chops and they were yummy and I sure enjoyed by polenta lasagna! By the way…HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY! Her birthday is on Sept. 5th and she’ll be 33 this year! Wow!!! Here’s to many more Happy Birthdays, Amy! You rock our world, for sure!
I came across the 1969 Topps Football Card for Bobby Walden yesterday…he was born in 1938 in Boston, Georgia. He was an accomplished kicker/punter and played for three seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Eskimos and for 17 seasons in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings and the Pittsburgh Steelers (which goes to show that kickers seem to last the longest as professional football players…they’re able to avoid contact with other football players most of the time!). He played high school football for Cairo High School in Cairo, Georgia and went on to play at the University of Georgia. He was an integral part of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl Champion teams for Super Bowls IX & X. He led the NFL in punting in 1964 with a 46.4 yard average. He was selected to the Pro Bowl as a punter after the 1969 season. He led the Canadian Football League (CFL) in punting, rushing and receiving in 1961-1962. He got a shot at playing in the NFL upon the recommendation of his friend from CFL days, Fran Tarkenton, who was the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. Tarkenton once said that Bobby Walden was the greatest punter he had ever seen. He played for the Vikings for a while and then was traded to the Steelers. He was named to the Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team and holds the Steelers team record for most punts. After football he became the Office Manager for Cherokee Equipment in Bainbridge, Georgia, not far from where he was born. He loved to hunt & fish and was a active member of the First Baptist Church in Bainbridge. He was named to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and Route 84 near Cairo, Georgia was named after him. He was married to his wife for 53 years and had a son and a couple of grandchildren. He was good friends with the legendary singer Hank Williams and his son, Hank Williams, Jr. and also with Steelers legendary quarterback Terry Bradshaw. He died in October, 2018. His wife said that Bobby had only two requests for his funeral…that only Hank Williams music be played and that there be an open keg of beer available for friends and family. Bobby once found a letter from a fan that had been written to him 16 years previously that was lost in storage & never answered. Bobby found the letter when cleaning out the storage and wrote the fan a letter with an autographed picture and sent it to the address on the letter. A family member asked the fan if he was expecting a letter from Bobby Walden and he said, yes, that he’d been waiting 16 years to receive it! Here’s to Bobby Walden and the great Steeler teams of the 1960s & 1970s!
Here is the thought for the day:
“I have always admired a well-told story. I guess you could say that I’m a bit of a sucker for the shock and awe variety: the ones with twists and turns that spiral my emotions into peaks and valleys, and leave me completely captivated. You know the type—the ones with the end that you never saw coming. But my absolute favorite stories are, quite honestly, the ones that I get to tell…
Storytelling is one of the oldest arts in the world. And as I had already experienced, it can be used to mask reality, or, as I became more interested in finding out, it could shine a light on it. As I grew up, I realized that there is a profound freedom in being around people who know who you are down to your studs. Portraying a made-up version ends up confining you to that narrative and that narrative alone. It becomes a keeping-up appearances kind of lifestyle; and anything that superficially constructed can collapse all too easily by real life.
I still love to tell a good tale. Nowadays though, I’m less interested in embellishment for the sake of fanfare. I want only what’s true, because even if it’s not pretty, it’s always gonna be brave. When I tell a story now, it’s to be understood and to better understand myself. It’s my desire for people to walk away from any amount of time spent with me and be pretty dang clear about who I am. It’s a way of holding me accountable to my character and the things I value. It’s also an incredibly freeing way to live. No facades. No heightened portrayals. I want what you see to be what you get—and I want what you get to be real.
It seems to me that there’s no direct path to being truly known if we don’t allow ourselves to be fully seen—for better or worse. But this kind of living will always require vulnerability. I don’t believe that you can have one without the other. There’s no doubt that it’s uncomfortable to share the parts of our story that bring shame and embarrassment to the surface, but I’ll take a few moments of painful exposure over a lifetime of hiding in halfness. Because that’s not really living; that’s just pretending.
I bet the stories that you could tell about yourself are profound. And because they’re likely very different from mine, I bet they’re also profoundly unique. And anything that rare is surely remarkable—and very much worth telling.”
—Chip Gaines, “The Chip Chronicles”, “Magnolia Journal”, Fall/2019, issue 12/wholeness. pages 108-109
Here’s to a great Labor Day holiday and lots of love always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, etc.)