Good Morning All & Happy Friday!
It looks like another Spring like day in Spokane. Lots of sunshine & blue skies again today. The birds are singing and plants are starting to emerge from a Winter slumber. I love Spring! It was officially Spring yesterday (March 19th), but you can still tell that Winter lingers, as the morning temperatures are still nippy with a chill in the air. Bring on the flowers! There’s no season like Spring!
Speaking of celebrating Spring, there are other reasons to celebrate today…my friend and IT/software programmer/developer extraordinare, is 54 today! Happy Birthday Ken! He’s come a long way from Lewiston, Idaho to becoming a resident of the Gold Coast in Australia. Just goes to show that you can be anywhere in the world to pursue your profession. Happy Birthday also to comedian Carl Reiner of “The Carol Burnett Show” and “Blazing Saddles” fame; who turns 98 today; to one of my favorite actors/entertainers, Hal Linden, who is 89 today; to actor William Hurt of “The Elephant Man” movie fame, who turns 70 today; to producer/director & consummate New Knicks fan Spike Lee, who is 63 today; to actress Holly Hunter, who turns 62 today and to Boston Bruins hockey great, Bobby Orr, who is 72 today! Here’s to all of you!
I spoke with my niece, Nerys, yesteday and she told me that her trip to London, England recently with my other niece, Lacy, was a great experience. I asked her what the highlight was for them, and without hesitation, she said their visit to “Skygarden”, a series of spectacular gardens that provided a 360 degree view of the city of London. She called it “unforgettable.”
During my self-imposed quarantine at home during the current coronavirus challenge, I’be been going through possessions trying to figure out what to keep and what to toss. I took a load of items from our house to Goodwill yesterday and I asked the attendant if he had been unusually busy these past few days, to which he replied that donations are definitely up from people who are spending some of their “down time” cleaning out their houses and apartments. Among the items I’m going through is quite a collection of books. Among them are some of the books from my father’s library. I came across a definite “keeper” yesterday entitled “The Marines” by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. It’s a table top book filled with terrific pictures and a narrative history of the Marine Corps. There’s a passage in the book that captures what the Marine Corps meant to my father, a veteran of World War II and the Assault on Iwo Jima: “Marines enjoy a reputation for prowess in combat, a reputation earned in battles “in every clime and place: throughout our nation’s history. Yet, it has been said that the most important contribution the Marine Corps has made to our nation is not that it has fought and won battles. Rather, its most enduring contribution is that it makes Marines, imbues them with extraordinary mettle, and returns the great majority to civilian life with exceptional qualities of confidence, determination, leadership, and a winning spirit that gives strength to our national character. And so it was with my dad. I am certain that what dad learned in the Marine Corps, along with his abiding faith in God and Jesus, sustained him through the challenges he faced with his debilitating leg injury and enabled him to persevere through it all and come out on the other side as a successful husband, father, business owner and insurance professional. Here’s to the Marine Corps and all for which it stands!
Speaking of successful people, I had the pleasure of coming across the 1969 Topps Football Card for William Wesley (Bill) Asbury, born in 1943 in Crawfordville, Georgia and who played high school football for Princeton High School in Sharonville, Ohio. Bill went on to play college football at Kent State University (The Golden Flashes). Although experiencing adversity one year through acute renal failure, he came back and was Kent State’s top rusher during his playing days there and was a top track & field athlete there as well. He was the MAC Offensive Player of the Year in 1965. He was a 4th round pick in the 1966 NFL Draft and played his entire three year NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers (from 1966-1968). In 1967, his 73 yard run vs. the Chicago Bears was the longest from scrimmage in the NFL that year. At 230 lbs., he was strong fullback and was a very effective runner. After his NFL football playing days, he pursued an advanced degree in Sociology from Kent State and then took a position with Sanford Rose as part of their executive search team, honing his skills and knowledge of equal employment opportunity and procedures. He became a member of the City of Akron’s Human Relations Commission. He went on to a 27 year career with Penn State University, serving as its Vice President for Student Affairs & Affirmative Action Officer and retired in 2003 and was named Vice President Emeritus for Student Affairs. Bill Asbury is a great example of someone who took his scholarship opportunity in sports and used it to advance himself in the professional world. Here’s to Bill Asbury and all those athletes who went on to successful careers outside of sports!
Here’s the word definition for the day (and a great one for Springtime):
Nosegay: “A small bunch/bouquet of flowers, typically one that is sweet-scented.”
Here are some thoughts for the day:
“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.”
—John Burroughs
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The Sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”
—Alexander Graham Bell
“There is nothing greater and better than this—when a husband and wife keep a household in oneness of mind, a great woe to their enemies and joy to their friends, and win high renown.”
—Homer, “The Odyssey”
Here’s to a great Friday and lots of love & good wishes always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, etc.)