Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a

Good Morning All & Happy V-E Day and Happy “Outdoor Intercourse Day” (I wonder today will look with “social distancing”???)…Hooray, Hooray for the Eighth of May!

This year will have to go down as one of the best birdwatching years of all-time.  I’ve never seen so many varieties of birds around our house this Spring.  What fun for any avid birdwatcher!

A great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY goes to my friend and the greatest partner & mentor in the history of mankind, Hal!  Here’s to you!  I hope you had lots of fun yesterday celebrating your birthday.  And a belated Happy Birthday also goes to my friend Raelene, wife, mother, fundraising professional, trust administrator and lover of natural hot springs extraordinaire who celebrated her birthday yesterday (May 7th).  Here’s to you too!  And Happy Birthday today to British naturalist David Attenborough, who is 89 today; to singer Toni Tenille of “Captain & Tenille” fame, who turns 80 today; to singer Philip Bailey of “Earth, Wind & Fire” fame, who is 69 today; to actress Melissa Gilbert of “Little House On The Prairie” fame, who turns 56 today; singer Enrique Inglesio, who is 45 today; and blues singer & guitarist Joe Bonamassa, who turns 43 today!  Here’s to all of you!

Among the trove of personal letters I have recently found, there is one that I sent to Judy during my Spring Break, 1977 trip to the South with a group of American History students from Whitman College and our beloved history professor/mentor, G. Thomas (Tom) Edwards.  Tom was a great Civil War historian and made history come alive in the classroom.  He and his wife, Nannette were devoted educators and opened their home to upper-level history majors who took seminar classes with Dr. Edwards.  Some of my best memories of Whitman, for sure!  Tom wrote an excellent biography of Susan B. Anthony called “Sowing Good Seeds” about Anthony’s visit to the Pacific Northwest to further the cause of women’s suffrage.  If you get a chance to get your hands on it, you’ll be glad you did!  Dr. Edwards had a friend who taught history at an all-black college (Southern University in Baton Rouge) and we visited the campus there and attended a couple of classes in Black History while were there.  The night before we visited Southern we stayed at Louisiana State University (LSU) and had the opportunity to interact with students there.  Here’s an excerpt from a letter to Judy dated March 24, 1977:  “From what I’ve observed, there doesn’t seem to be that much mixing between blacks and whites.  Some of the women at LSU-Baton Rouge (our fellow Whtiman female students stayed overnight at one of the sororities on campus) warned our women that it wouldn’t be safe for them to visit Southern Univ. (an all-black school).  In regards to race relations, there seems to be two schools of thought (or attitude).  Some white students that I’ve talked to expressed their fears and seem to judge the character of Blacks based on the fact that they are Blacks.  Other students have told me that they want to judge a Black person based on their individual character…”  Our trip to the South also included a visit to the legendary Civil War historian/author Bell Wiley’s home in Atlanta.  We had dessert with him and his wife in their home and heard many stories of their involvement in the Civil Rights marches of the 1960s.  Mrs. Wiley marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King and was active in the Civil Rights movement….quite an experience for us!  One of the biggest highlights of my time at Whitman College, for sure!

 

There was a delightful article in our local weekly newspaper “Inlander” this week in the Comment Section entitled “Tell Us About A Skill Or Hobby That You’ve Started Or Picked Back Up Since The COVID-19 Shutdown.”  Here are some of the comments featured:

“Water coloring has been a good distraction.”

“Working on my kids’ dream of becoming “YouTube” stars.”

“Learning more songs on my bass guitar.  My six string is feeling neglected.”

“I am teaching myself how to write music notation so I can put my songs on paper instead of keeping them in my head.”  (This comment was my favorite!).

How about that!  Like my Dad was fond of saying…”When you get lemons…make lemonade.”

 

In addition to my Dad and my father-in-law, Dwain, and mother-in-law Marianne, being favorite Washington State University (WSU) graduates, there’s always Keith Lincoln, the legendary Cougar football halfback and San Diego Charger great.  I came across his football card from the 1960s the other day.  Here’s an excerpt from his football card:  “Keith, one of pro football’s most versatile players, can handle any of a number of jobs for the Chargers.  A hard running fullback, Keith can be used effectively as a halfback, and, defensive back and even a quarterback if the situation comes up.  With good hands and good speed, he led the Chargers and finished third in the AFL in kickoff returns last year…”  Keith was born in Reading, Michigan in 1939 and his family moved to Monrovia, California and established a fruit tree/citrus ranch there, growing oranges & avacados among other fruits & some vegetables.  He was a star quarterback for Monrovia High School and then went on to Washington State University to play for coach Jim Sutherland, where he moved to halfback and became known as the “Moose of the Palouse,” given to him by a sportswriter from Spokane.  He met and married his wife Bonnie Jo (McKarcher) while at WSU.  He was the 15th overall pick of the AFL San Diego Chargers in 1961 and chose to play for them over the NFL Chicago Bears under legendary coach Sid Gillman.  As a rookie in 1961, he had a 91-yard reception for a touchdown, the longest catch in the AFL that year.  His 86 and 76-yard touchdown runs in 1962 and 1963, respectively, were the league’s longest run in those seasons.  His 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in 1963 was the AFL’s longest that year, and is tied for the Chargers team record with Darren Sproles (2008).  In the 1963 AFL championship game, Keith was voted the game MVP after the Chargers routed the Boston Patriots 51-10 in the old Balboa Stadium in San Diego.  It remains the only league title in the franchise’s history, as well as the city of San Diego’s only championship in a major sports league.  In that game, Keith carried the ball 13 times for 206 yards and had seven catches for 123 yards, compiling an AFL-record 329 yards from scrimmage.  He also passed for 20 yards.  That record stood for both AFL & NFL players until 1971, when Ed Podolak gained 350 years for the Kansas City Chiefs in a double-overtime playoff game against the Miami Dolphins.  Keith’s 206 yards rushing remained an NFL playoff record for 22 years, when Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams gained 248 yards against the Dallas Cowboys in 1985.  Keith is a member of the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame and was inducted into the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1979 and the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.  He is arguably the greatest Cougar football player in history (Mark Rypien would certainly be in that category as well and there have been some great players in Cougar history!).  After his football career was over, he was an assistant coach at Idaho and WSU and later he became the long-time director of alumni relations at WSU.  He died in Pullman at the age of 80 in 2019.  According to his Charger teammate Ron Mix, “The truth was, his career was a highlight film.”  Here’s to Keith Lincoln and all of the Cougar football greats!

 

Here’s the word definition for the day:

Trove:  A late 19th century word for “A store of valuable or delightful things”…like my trove of personal letters from many years ago I recently discovered!

 

Here’s the comic strip for the day (it comes from “Dennis The Menace”):

Dennis:  “No need to tell me where babies come from…I already asked ALEXA.”

 

Here’s the thought for the day:

“It is that range of biodiversity that we must care for—the whole thing—rather tan just one or two stars.”

—David Attenborough, British journalist & naturalist (born May 8, 1926)

 

Here’s to a great “Victory In Europe” and “National Outdoor Intercourse Day” and lots of love and good wishes always!

Press on,

Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)