Good Morning All & Happy Saturday!
Happy Birthday to friend Dave in New Hampshire today! Here’s to you, Dave, and I hope you have lots of fun celebrating with family & friends! Also, let me be one of the first to wish our family friend Kathryn in Portland, Oregon a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope you have a terrific birthday celebration tomorrow with the “other half” of the “better half”, Nico! Here’s to you!
Speaking of birthdays, Happy Birthday wishes go to ice skater Ashley Wagner, who is 29 today; to actress Mare Winningham, who turns 61 today; to actress Debra Winger, who is 65 today; to gymnast extraordinaire Olga Korbet, who turns 65 today; and to actor Pierce Brosnan of “Remington Steele” & “James Bond” fame, who is 67 today! Here’s to all of you!
If you’re looking for a fun activity during the current “coronavirus blues”, check out the Centennial Trail in Spokane that starts at Nine Mile Dam and heads toward The Bowl & Pitcher. It’s a fabulous walk…peaceful and serene punctuated by beautiful bird calls along the way and terrific views of the Spokane River and homes that are along the shoreline. You can park at Sontag Park and do a out and back on the trail. It was a great way to spend the afternoon yesterday! It’s good for your soul!
I’ve been enjoying of late reading two books, one from my in-home library entitled “Executive Orders” by Tom Clancy and one from a good friend and former neighbor of mine entitled “The Good Lord Bird” by James McBride. “Executive Orders” features President Jack Ryan…my kind of President. Here’s an excerpt (President Ryan speaking):
“”So they (politicians/members of Congress) were bragging to you that they were spending more money than they had. If your next door neighbor told you he was kiting checks drafted on your personal bank, you think maybe you might call the police about it? We all know that the government does take more than it gives back. They’ve just learned to hide it. The federal budget deficit means that every time you borrow so much money that it drives up interest rates. And so, ladies and gentlemen, every house payment, every car payment, every credit-card bill is also a tax. And maybe they give you a tax break on interest payments. Isn’t that nice? POTUS asked. Your government gives you a tax break on money you ought not to have to pay in the first place, and then it tells you that you get back more than you pay out, Ryan paused. Does anybody really believe that? Does anybody really believe it when people say that the United States can’t afford—-not to spend more money than it has? Are these the words of Adam Smith or Lucy Ricardo? I have a degree in economics, and “I Love Lucy” wasn’t on the course…”
The title of the book “The Good Lord Bird” comes from an elusive (and now extinct) ivory-billed woodpecker—known as the “Good Lord Bird” because of the exclamations of awed onlookers of the bird—“Good Lord”—which provides a point of calm in the main character of the book’s tumultuous life. “They say a feather from a Good Lord Bird’ll bring you understanding that’ll last your whole life.” You’ll want to check out this book, especially if you have interest in pre-Civil War history and the abolitionist movement. An entertaining read (even if the author took some editorial license in certain spots).
I came across some collectible cards featuring the old T.V. series of the 1960s, “Wagon Train,” starring Ward Bond. There’s one particular card that features a picture of Ward Bond and his co-star, Robert Horton. I looked up Ward Bond on the internet and found the following:
Ward Bond was born in 1903, was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and in the NBC television series “Wagon Train” from 1957 to 1960. How about that? Among his best remembered roles are Bert, the cop, in Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life” (1946) and Captain Clayton in John Ford’s “The Searchers” (1956). Bond was born in Nebraska and his family moved to Denver in 1919, where Bond graduated from East High School. He attended college at the Colorado School of Mines and then went to USC and played football there. He graduated from USC in 1931 with a bachelor of science degree in engineering. Bond was lifelong friend of John Wayne and starred in a number of Wayne films. He was in 13 films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, which may be more than any other actor. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was married twice and had no children. Bond died in 1960 from a heart attack. He was only 57 years old. John Wayne gave the eulogy at his funeral. Bond’s Will bequeathed to Wayne the shotgun with which Wayne had once accidentally shot Bond. Here’s to Ward Bond and “Wagon Train,” a T.V. show that I fondly remember watching as a kid!
Here’s the word definition for the day:
Mindfulness: A 16th century English word meaning “The quality or state of being conscious or aware of something…A mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.” Something my wife, Judy, wishes I practiced when she is speaking to me! Mindfulness is something I need to focus on, for sure! How about you?
Here’s the thought for the day:
“I want people to see a real person on the ice. I want to seem tangible, hard-working, passionate about my skating…not just going out and doing something I’ve rehearsed a million times.”
—Ashley Wagner, U.S. Olympic figure skater
Here’s to a great Saturday and lots of love & good wishes always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)