Good Morning All & Happy Monday!
During one of our weekly visits to the grocery store, my mom and I noticed that there were bags of what looked to be cheese crackers of some sort being advertised on sale for $10.99 a bag…at that price they must do a lot for you! I asked a store clerk why these small bags of maybe 15-20 cheese crackers were priced so high…I said “maybe you meant $1.99 a bag??” To which she responded, “let me check on that.” She came back to us and said that she was sorry that they were mis-priced…they are really $7.49 a bag! How about that? I’m going to have to look into buying stock in Fred Meyer’s (part of Kroger supermarket chain). The store where mom and I shop is ALWAYS busy…and I mean ALWAYS busy! I asked the checkout person when the best time to shop is at the store and she said “there’s really no good time…we’re ALWAYS busy! I’ll check out the performance history of Kroger and let you know what I find out. The other thing that is funny about all of this is that there always seems to be people mingling with one another elbow to elbow at a large business like Fred Meyer’s and our state government seems to be only interested in shutting down and/or curtailing the operations of small businesses to help stop the spread of the pandemic…go figure! What do you think about all that???
How about those Cleveland Browns! Their first playoff win in quite a few years and the first time they beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh in 17 years! Go Baker Mayfield and the Browns! Wouldn’t it be great to see a Browns-Bills AFC Final and a Packers-Saints NFC Final and then the Browns or Bills vs. Packers in the Super Bowl! What do you think? For all of us Seahawks fans, there’s going to have to be some changes made in their offensive line to give one of my NFL favorites, Russell Wilson, more time to find his receivers and the Seahawks will need to come up with a different defense too! What do you think of my “armchair quarterbacking”?
Speaking of sports, how about the Gonzaga University Men’s & Women’s Basketball Teams!!! The men’s team sure sets the standard for excellent “team basketball” with lots of unselfish play. It’s beautiful to watch. Perhaps their unselfish team play will rub off on the rest of the country…we can only hope so, don’t you think???
Happy Birthday to long-time friend Dwan in Spokane and high school friend and classmate Tim in Olympia (who is 67 today)! Here’s to you two on your special day of celebration! Happy Birthday wishes also go to actress Amanda Peet, who is 49 today; to author Max Lucado, who turns 65 today; to one of my favorite professional golfers, Ben Crenshaw (“Gentle Ben”), who is 69 today; to author & clergyman John Piper who wrote the terrific book “Desiring God,” who turns 75 today; and to singer Naomi Judd of “The Judds” fame, who is 75 today! Here’s to all of you!
One can’t be but dismayed by the events that occurred in our nation’s capital this past week. Perhaps one of the best comments made about this tragedy was from a Member of the U.S. Congress from the State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin. Rep. Mullin is 43 years old and when he ran for Congress in 2013 he branded himself as an outsider…his campaign slogan was “A rancher, A businessman. Not a politician!” Mullin is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation and represents the area of Oklahoma where my mother’s family is from. He was interviewed by ABC News Anchor George Stephanopoulos. During that interview, Stephanopoulos said, “That mob was encouraged by the president.” Mullin shook his head, asserting. “I disagree with that. We’re all responsible for our own actions. Full stop. It’s our actions. We’re all adults here, or are supposed to be adults. These flames have been fanned for over five years now.”
“By the president,” Stephanopoulos stated.
Mullin continued, “It’s all of us. The media’s to blame; the Right and the Left is to blame. But at the end of the day we’re all responsible for our own actions…We need to take a hard look at our country. We need to take a hard look at the way we debate. We can agree to disagree but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you; that doesn’t mean I don’t care for you; that doesn’t mean I don’t love this country any more or any less than you. But what we did yesterday was absolutely unexcuseable.”
My heart goes out to all those who lost their lives or were injured in this tragedy, particularly the Capitol Police Officer, Brian Sicknick, who lost his life in the line of duty. We really need to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves if we are doing all we can to be good citizens, to show respect for others who may disagree with us and to preserve and protect our unique, fragile and wonderful system of government and, at the same time “look up” and “not down” for direction in our lives. Our Creator wants us to first and foremost trust & obey Him, above all else and not try to control things ourselves by pursuing our own selfish desires. That would be a “game changer.” What do you think???
Speaking of folks who have served our country, I had the pleasure of visiting with my father’s friend from Marine Corps days, Al Rood on the occasion of his 95th birthday. Al lives in Binghamton, New York and served with an advanced gunfire team during the assault on Iwo Jima in World War II as my father did. During our conversation, Al mentioned to me that he grew up on a dairy farm near the town of Dryden, New York in the Finger Lakes Region of that state. One of the joys of this life have been getting to know Al and his extended family. It’s strange how a World War would bring two families together. Something good that came out of something awful…
I met an inspirational fellow the other day at the Vitalant Blood Center in Spokane. He had suffered a stroke some months ago and is on the road to recovery. He is able to donate blood platelets and does so on a regular basis. He walks with difficulty and it’s a struggle to get around, but he says he is so thankful that he lived through his stroke so that he can give back to others. You’d be inspired and encouraged just having the opportunity to visit with this fellow. His day job is working the night shift (12 midnight to 6:00 a.m.) as a disc jockey for a “cowboy christian radio station” as he puts it. It’s “Today’s Christian Country…KYMS 89.9FM on your radio dial. You can also listen live at www.todayschristiancountry.com. I’m going to check it out later today!
Here’s the trivia fact for the day:
Apollo astronauts trained in Iceland because it was felt that the terrain would most resemble the surface of the moon. (Well, I’ve had the pleasure & privilege of visiting Iceland and, while there are parts of it that resemble the moon’s surface, there are so many other beautiful & unique places to visit there…like waterfalls, the coastline, geothermal pools, isolated fishing villages, cool underground highway tunnels that seem to go on forever, whale watching and typography like none other!). Be sure to but Iceland on your bucket list…you’ll be glad you did!
Here’s the trivia question for the day:
Q: What is the most expensive object ever built…the Burj Khalifa, the International Space Station, the Hinkley Nuclear Power Station or the Hong Kong International Airport?
A: The International Space Station is the single most expensive object ever built. At a cost of $160 billion (and rising, as new sections are added), very few things even come close. Humanity’s most expensive single object floats 248 miles above the Earth and houses an international crew of six astronauts who live and work while traveling at a speed of five miles per second, and orbiting the Earth approximately every 93 minutes. It is the largest artificial satellite that has ever orbited the planet.
Here’s the thought for the day:
“When you’re lost in darkness I will hold the light
I will help you find your way through the night
I’ll remind you of the truth
And keep the flame alive in you
And I will be your shield
‘Cause I know how it feels
When you are a soldier.”
—Steven Curtis Chapman, “When You Are A Soldier”
Here’s to a great Monday and lots of love & good wishes always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)