Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a

Good Morning All & Happy Thursday!

Prayers are lifted up for my childhood friend, Mike, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a naval AWACS pilot in the first Gulf War and recently retired FedEx pilot, who just experienced “Hurricane Sally” in the Pensacola FL area, where Mike and his wife reside.  Evidently, the water that came on shore (rain and tidal surge) was of Biblical proportions.  I hope everyone made it through “Sally” O.K., but you have to think that much damage was done by all that water!  WOW!  This has been a “wild and crazy” year, to say the least…it reminds me of the bumper sticker…”get in, sit down, shut up and hang on!”  “Sally” also reminded me of Eric Clapton’s signature song “Lay Down Sally”…I imagine everyone in Pensacola and surrounding areas, like Mike, were hoping that “Sally” would indeed “lay down” and be quiet!

Happy Birthday to basketball star and former Chicago Bulls & Los Angeles Lakers coach, Phil Jackson (and current resident of Lakeside, Montana), who is 75 today!  Everytime we drive along Flathead Lake on the way to The Tana House we see this mammoth home built on top of a mountain just below the highway and surmise that it must be Phil Jackson’s home.  It’s the biggest one there is in those parts!  My wife, Judy, saw Phil at the Blacktail Grocery in Lakeside some years ago in the beer section trying to figure out whether to buy Bud, Bud Light, Miller, Miller Lite, etc…..so many choices in the beer section these days!  I even had a “Phil Jackson sighting” some years ago in a rest stop just outside Ritzville…in drives a beautiful black Mercedes sedan and out comes none other than Phil Jackson.  You couldn’t miss him…he’s one of the tallest, biggest men I’ve ever seen…so much so that he seemed to be as big as his car.  I’m not sure how you fit a large 6’10” frame into a car!  He seemed like a pretty nice guy, as I greeted him and he wished me well in return.  Here’s to you, Phil Jackson, and all the great teams New York Knicks teams for which you played and for all the great NBA teams & players you coached over the years…the Bulls, the Lakers, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant…WOW!!!

I received word the other day that one of our national treasures recently passed away…National Park Service Historian Emeritus Edwin (Ed) Bearss.  It’s my understanding he was close to 95 years old.  He was, without a doubt, one of the pre-eminent Civil War historians and guides in the history of our country.  I had the pleasure and privilege of accompanying him on a Civil War battlefield tour held in conjunction with the 150th Anniversary of Appomattox (the end of the Civil War).  It was thrilling for me, a Civil War history buff, to walk the battlefields with Ed and gain his insights into what took place there.  He was an engaging speaker and very approachable & personable.  He loved talking about Civil War history with those who loved to hear about it.  I’ll never forget walking “The Crater” at the Petersburg battlefield and visiting surviving entrenchments along the Petersburg defenses with Ed.  My two favorite moments with Ed were when he stood and visited with Civil War re-enactors at Sailor’s Creek Battlefield who portrayed Confederate soldiers who made the march from Petersburg to Appomattox at the end of the war.  It was fascinating to hear him converse with them, and they with him.  It was obvious that the re-enactors knew immediately who Ed was and their admiration and esteem for him was evident.  The other event with Ed that will always stick in my mind was him having our tour group “re-enact” the surrender ceremony at Appomattox when the Confederate soldiers stacked their arms in the presence of one of my heroes, Joshua Chamberlain, and the Union soldiers under his command at the very spot it took place.  Ed had us pretend that we were the Confederate soldiers, war weary and downhearted, being shown respect and honor by Chamberlain and his command.  It was quite a moving experience, for sure!  Here’s to Ed Bearss and all of the great work he did in conveying the lessons of history to so many.  He was truly “one of a kind” and will be sorely missed by all of us who had the pleasure of meeting him and spending time with him.  It was fantastic to have the chance to be with him.  As the director of the tour company wrote when she informed us of Ed’s death…”now he’ll have the chance to ask Lincoln, Grant & Lee why things happened they way they did.”  Ed shared a bit about his faith in talking about events of the Civil War.  He sure came a long ways from being a kid on a farm in Montana who happened to catch presidential candidate Al Smith’s straw hat at a whistle stop in Montana during his 1928 presidential campaign to being the pre-eminent and beloved National Park Service Historian Emeritus (I’m pretty sure there aren’t many of them!).  I’m also sure he’s having quite the time of it in the Kingdom of Heaven getting all of his Civil War questions answered!  Thanks again Ed!

Ed’s death brought to mind an essay I just read entitled “Rediscovering the Wisdom in American History” by Wilfred McClay, the author of the book “Land of Hope:  An Invitation to the Great American Story.”  In the essay, McClay talks about a lesson learned from Appomottax.  Here’s an excerpt:

“…let me suggest that the story of the ending of the Civil War in April, 1865 might hold a lesson for those of our fellow countrymen today who seem to regard America’s past with contempt:

“On April 9, after a last flurry of futile resistance, Lee faced facts and arranged to meet Grant at a brick home in the village of Appomattox Court House to surrender his army.  He could not formally surrender for the whole Confederacy, but the surrender of his army would trigger the surrender of all others, and so it represented the end of the Confederate cause.

It was a poignant scene, dignified and restrained and sad, as when a terrible storm that has raged and blown has finally exhausted itself, leaving behind a strange and reverent calm, purged of all passion…They showed one another a deep and respectful courtesy, and Grant generously allowed Lee’s officers to keep their sidearms and the men to keep their horses and take them home for the spring planting.  None would be arrested or charged with treason…

…Four days later, when Lee’s army of 28,000 men marched in to surrender their arms and colors, General Joshua L. Chamberlain of Maine, a hero of Gettysburg, was present at the ceremony.  He later wrote of his observations that day, reflecting upon his soldierly respect for the men before him, each passing by and stacking his arms, men who only days before had been his mortal foes:  “Before us in proud humiliation stood the embodiment of manhood:  men whom neither toils and sufferings, nor the fact of death, nor disaster, nor hopelessness could bend from their resolve; standing before us now, thin, worn, and famished, but erect, and with eyes looking level into ours, waking memories that bound us together as no other bond;—was not such manhood to be welcomed back into a Union so tested and assured?…On our part not a sound of trumpet more, nor roll of drum; not a cheer, not a word nor whisper of vain-glorying, nor motion of man standing again at the order, but an awed stillness rather, and breath-holding, as if it were the passing of the dead!”…

…Chamberlain’s words suggested that there might be room in the days and years ahead for the spirit of conciliation that Lincoln had called for in his Second Inaugural Speech, a spirit of binding up wounds, and of caring for the many afflicted and bereaved, and then moving ahead, together.  It was a slender hope, yet a hope worth holding, worth nurturing, worth pursuing…If Chamberlain’s troops could find it in their hearts to be that forgiving, that generous, that respectful of men who had only days before been their mortal enemies, we certainly ought to be able to extend a similar generosity towards men in what is now, for us, a far more distant past…

…This was good counsel then and now, and it is an example of the wisdom that the study of history can provide us.  May such wisdom be an impetus for us to rediscover such a humane and generous example in our own times.”…

Speaking of history, I just read in the paper this morning that for a mere $8 million, you too can be the proud owner of “Stan the T. Rex,” the largest skeleton of a T. Rex known to exist.  It’s being offered by Christie’s Auction House in New York.  I wonder why the Black Hills Institute is selling it right now…maybe it’s a “seller’s market” for dinosaur bones!.  I sure hope who ever purchases it doesn’t just put it in their private collection.  Something like that needs to be available for all to see…like the magnificent and fascinating Royal Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada along the banks of the Red Deer River some 90 miles or so east of Calgary.  What a grand place to take an inquisitive boy like my grandson Joshua (Josh).  He (and we) had the time of our lives there!  For all of you dinosaur fans out there, it’s a must see!  You’ll be glad you did!

I came across a collectible card in my collection yesterday that features the “North American B-45 Tornado”, an early American jet-powered bomber designed and built by North American Aviation.  It cost $1.1 million in 1950 to build one Tornado.  It has the distinction of being the first operational jet bomber to enter service with the U.S. Air Force, as well as being the first multiengine jet in the world to be refueled in midair.  The card describes the B-45 Tornado as “The first multi-jet bomber to go into service with the U.S. Air Force”…it “took to the air in March, 1947.  It darted into the air from the secret base at Muroc, California.  The sleek, trim lines of the Tornado light bomber were pleasing enough, bu the performance, while adequate, did not come up to the Boeing B-47 (Stratojet)” and it was replaced by it in the late 1950s.  The B-45 Tornado had a history of technical problems, particularly low levels of engine reliability.  The Air Force found it to be quite useful during the Korean War…it was used to perform both conventional  bombing and aerial reconnaissance missions.  On December 4, 1950, the first successful interception of a jet bomber by a jet fighter occurred when a B-45 was shot down by a Soviet-built MiG-15 while inside Chinese airspace.  During the early 1950s, a total of 40 B-45s were extensively modified so that they could be equipped with nuclear weapons…improvements were made to their defensive systems and the fuel tank was expanded to increase its survivability and range.  The B-45 Tornado was retired from service in 1959 and replaced fully by the Boeing B-47 Stratojet.

 

Here is the word definition for the day:

“Gab”:  An 18th century Late Middle English word meaning “Talk at length, typically about trivial matters.”  (Boy, do I like to “gab”!  I got in trouble at school on a number of occasions for talking incessantly, sometimes in class…I remember one time I had to write “I will not talk out of turn” on the blackboard 100 times in Mr. Melina’s sixth grade class at Lincoln Elementary School…did I ever have “writer’s cramp” after that!  That seemed to cure me (for a time!).

 

Here’s the thought for the day (inspired by “Hurricane Sally”):

“There is nothing that is wrong…In wanting you to say here with me

I know you’ve got somewhere to go…But won’t you make yourself at home and stay with me?

And don’t you ever leave…

 

Lay down, Sally, and rest you in my arms…Don’t you think you want someone to talk to?

Lay down, Sally, no no need to leave so soon…I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you.

 

The sun ain’t nearly on the rise…And we still got the moon and stars above

Underneath the velvet skies…Love is all that matters

Won’t you stay with me?…And don’t you ever leave…

 

Lay down, Sally, and rest you in my arms…Don’t you think you want someone to talk to?

Lay down, Sally, no need to leave so soon…I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you.

—Eric Clapton, “Lay Down Sally”

 

Here’s to a great Thursday and lots of love and good wishes always!

Stay safe…stay strong…press on!

Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)