Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a

Good Morning All & Happy Tuesday!

Well, I got to spend the day yesterday with my granddaughter June and grandson Izaak (Ike) and ain’t life grand!  What fun to be with them!  They are both so wonderful (can you tell I’m a little biased?).  We had a grand time reading books, playing with cars & tractors (and helicopters), playing outside (for just a little while…it is Winter after all!), changing diapers, and making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  It doesn’t get much better than that!  Being a grandparent is everything they said it would be (AND MORE!)…Here’s to June & Izaak and all grandchildren out there!  Another wonderful gift to enjoy from our Creator…

Speaking of special people, here’s to friend and former Vitalant (Inland Northwest) Blood Center employee extraordinaire, Ellen, who celebrated her birthday and to friend Susan in Forks WA and friend and former business associate, Jeff, who celebrate their birthdays tomorrow.  Here’s to all of you on your special day of celebration!

Happy Birthday wishes also go to TV news journalist extraordinaire Roger Mudd, who is 93 today; to singer/songwriter extraordinaire Carole King, who turns 79 today (wow!); and to actor Joe Pesci of “Lethal Weapon” movie fame, who is 78 today.  Here’s to all of you!

Today my 94 year old mother, Chris, gets her first vaccine shot!  Hooray!  It sure took a lot of looking around (and help from friends like Debbie & Bill) to get an appointment for my mom!  The vaccine distribution set up has been somewhat of a fiasco thus far.  “Willy-nilly” process to say the least and there doesn’t seem to be rhyme nor reason as to who gets the vaccine and when.  You’d think a 94 year old woman with heart & diabetes issues would be at the front of the line just after health care workers, first responders and teachers.  Under current protocols, it seems as though a healthy 65 year old guy like me can go get an appointment for a vaccine, particularly those who are savvy with a computer (and the internet).  Now what’s the fairness or justice in that, I ask?  I hope all of you have better luck in getting your vaccine in an orderly and efficient way!

I mentioned recently that I came across a treasure on an internet search on my Dad, Don Newbold, that was instigated by my mother who asked if I had gone on the internet recently to what had been posted about my Dad.  Well, lo and behold, a transcript of an interview Dad did for the Washington State World War II History Project some years ago appeared!  How about that?  It’s full of remembrances from my Dad that we hadn’t fully heard when he was with us.  Here’s another excerpt from that interview:

Question:  “Do you remember where you were when Pearl Harbor got hit?”

Answer:  “I know exactly where I was.  I had delivered the newspapers—I had a newspaper route out in this community which included the Willapa I lived in and the old Willapa, which, the logging camp, I went through that, and on Sundays I went even further and we went to what we call “Camp One” where there’s an old Grange Hall, and I went around the river—there’s a river road.  Followed it on up.  And I didn’t have enough daily customers to go daily but I went on Sundays cause I had extra Sunday customers.  I finished the route.  I used to get up at quarter till five and pick the PI paper (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) up and deliver it and it took me from then till probably about 7:10 or 7:15 to get back home.  So it was a long—all on a bike, this was no walking (Dad was usually accompanied on his route by his faithful and loving dog, Panda—there are lots of great stories about Panda and Dad never forgot her).  Because we’re scattered out so much in that community.  So came home…

This Sunday, particular Sunday, and it was later when I got home.  I didn’t get home until probably 8—8 or 8:30 cause of the distance involved.  Had breakfast and then decided I was tired and went to bed.  And this was December 7th, of course, this was about time of basketball, and in a small high school, you turned out for everything—track, basketball, you know.  You can be a big fish on a little pond, in other words.  And so I was tired, I went up—upstairs, and laid down in the bed and I don’t recall the exact hour it would have been, but all of a sudden I heard some yelling downstairs.  And it was my—I lived with a step-father and dmy mother and two step-brothers who are—one that’s almost my same age, by a month, but the other one was younger, and an older sister (step-sister) by two years older than I.  But I heard this yelling and—so—then they ran up to the bottom of the stairs and yelled “Pearl Harbor was bombed.”  You know.  Well, I’m out of bed and we were all around the radio.  We had an old Stewart-Warner radio, that was high tech communication of the day.  And we stuck with the radio almost into the night, you know, listening to this…”

Hey, if you get the chance, check out the two minute Super Bowl ad from Jeep.  It’s available for viewing on Facebook…it features Bruce Springsteen and is awesome.  It talks about Americans meeting “in the middle” for the sake our country.  Inspiring, to say the least!

Here’s the fact for the day:

A normal spider has about 600 silk glands on its body that it uses to spin its web (I’ll bet you were dying to know about it!).

Here’s the interesting trivia for the day about iconic movie “Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs”:

Walt Disney wanted to find the perfect voice for Snow White.  He even turned down actress Deanna Durbin because he thought her voice, at age 14, was too mature.  He finally chose Adriana Caselotti, a classically trained singer.  However, it would be the only major role she ever performed.  Because Walt Disney wanted to preserve the sound of Snow White’s voice, Caselotti’s contract prevented her from ever singing again.

As we all know, the fight for civil rights has gone on since Adam & Eve were in the Garden…The promise of equal rights for all Americans shone brightly during and just after the Civil War, only to be stifled by White Codes and other efforts to deny equal rights during the period called “Reconstruction.”  Unfortunately, our country lives with this awful legacy to this day. The following trivia questions comes from that period…

Q:  Who became the first Black U.S. Senator in 1870…John Lewis?…Frederick Douglass?…Carol Moseley Braun…or Hiram Revels?

A:  A Republican from Mississippi, Hiram Revels took office on February 25, 1870.  He became the first Black senator a mere three weeks after Black men gained the right to vote with the 15th Amendment.  During his time in office, Revels fought for Black American’s civil rights and education.

Here are some thoughts for the day:

“Oh, the best of all things is the first day of spring when the water runs heavy and fast

The mermaids have all gone to Davy Jones’ Ball…And it seems their first trip was their last

They had so much fun…They don’t wish to return

to the beach where they lay all day long…

They’d rather stay under…And boy, it’s no wonder

When all the rock lobsters roll on.

It’s a mighty fine way to be found…

Triangle, Triangle…Oh see my ship dangle

We’re bound for Bahama, my friend

Like lovers like danger…Like babies like mangers

But that’s where my storybook ends…

Like soldiers of fortune, believers in God

And all kings without crosses to bear…

All sweepers and cleaners with no mesdemeanors

Should try the triangle out there…

It’s a mighty hard way to come down…And a mighty fine way to be found

So hand me my grip…from an old sailing ship

Put the kiss of dawn on my lips…

With some luck tonight, I might have her at my fingertips…”

Gordon Lightfoot, “Triangle”

“One thing have I asked of the Lord…that I will seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord…all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to inquire in his temple.”

Psalm 27, verse 4

Here’s to a great Tuesday and lots of love always!

Press on,

Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)