Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a

Good Morning All & Happy Monday (and Happy Spring)!  Well, it’s official, Spring started this past Saturday…although it’s been delayed here in Spokane with some cold temperatures and a cold wind blowing this morning…and a little bit of sleet thrown in!  Bring on the flowers…bring on the sunshine!  We could sure use some Spring, don’t you think?

How about that “March Madness!”  We’re rooting for our beloved Gonzaga Bulldogs today against Oklahoma…may their full-court offense fly today!  And how about those Oregon State Beavers…”OSU our hats are off to you…Beavers…Beavers…shining through and through!”  Let’s hope they win their next game this Tuesday against Loyola-Chicago (even thought they have a 100 year old nun praying and rooting for them!).  Perhaps the Beavs will need some divine intervention of their own!

Continued prayers are lifted up for Grandpa Kirk and that he will be back to 100% soon and prayers for little miss Tempa Jo that things will go smoothly for her and for rest and refreshment for her parents, Jake & Sarah.  Prayers are also lifted up for the Cathey family…that they be given strength and comfort.  There sure seems to be a lot of difficult things going on right now for so many.  It’s times like these when we realize that we’re all in this together!

Happy Birthday wishes go to actor William Shatner of “Star Trek” T.V. fame, who is 90 years old today!  Wow…”beam me up Scotty”; to jazz guitarist/musician extraordinaire George Benson, who turns 78 today; to mystery author James Patterson, who is 74 today; to sportscaster extraordinaire Bob Costas, who turns 69 today; and to actress Reese Witherspoon who is 45 today!  Here’s to all of you!

Here’s the culinary tips for the day…be sure to check out “Ambrosia Bistro” in the Spokane Valley.  All of their dishes are extraordinary and they make a mean martini there too!  The Cooks run a great restaurant there and you’ll be glad you stopped in for a bite to eat.  And don’t forget “Fresh Soul” in Spokane’s East Central neighborhood for some terrific, mouth-watering catfish, ribs, fried chicken (their chicken drumsticks are the best around!)…not to mention collard greens, beans & rice and cornbread, among other delicious sides.  They have a great job training and mentoring program for young people from the East Central neighborhood and are making a big difference in the lives of these young people…providing hope for their future!  Last, but not least, if you want just a quick tasty deluxe hamburger, there’s nothing like a trip to Zip’s Drive-In.  There are a number of them in Spokane and they do a lot to support various causes in our community…they are some of the “good guys” in our business community, for sure!

I’ve been reading the transcript of my Dad’s Washington State World War II History Project and I’m learning things about my Dad that I didn’t know about regarding his World War II experience.  Here is another excerpt from that interview:

Question:  Were you just a kid by yourself or this was a train of Marines or…(this question had to do with Dad’s journey to San Diego on the train to enter basic training at the Marine Corps Depot in San Diego and then on to Camp Pendleton to complete basic training)?

Answer:  No, well, I was, yeah, I was the only one I knew except there was a fellow that I got acquainted with from Centralia (Washington).  And Larry, his name is, hmm…, I’ll have to think about that name.  But I didn’t really stay with him and in fact he went into a different—in boot camp they put you in these platoons.  And he went into a different platoon than I did, but I remember going down with him and we all were looking at each other about the second day of sitting on a siding (railroad siding), what kind of an outfit are we into here?  But I remember the first day there.  Oh, can I harken back just a moment in high school?  One of the things I had a lot of fun doing, playing sports.  We had a lot of fun with that.  I played a dance band, started about my sophomore year, or late sophomore year, and we formed a dance band and so we would play at local dances in town.  Sometimes we got hired, to play for the Eagles or someone hired us.  Or we would—we would put our own dance on.  We’d rent the hall—the labor hall or someplace, have a dance, put flyers out, and so we—we didn’t have a lot of money.  We made a little extra money so that come 1 o’clock in the morning, when most of my friends could hardly buy—afford to buy a Coke for themselves and their girlfriend, we’re down there ordering chicken fried steak (I think Dad said they used to go to “Bridge’s Inn” in Raymond WA, as that was the best restaurant in town in those days…)  I mean, this—(laughs).  But the guys I ran with, none of us except my—there were two guys in the band, one was older, a little older, he was a couple years ahead of us, age and everything (I think Dad said his name was George Sienko…hence “Sienko’s Syncopating Six”).  He was the piano player, very talented guy.  He wrote some beautiful music, and he could arrange, which is also a given talent to know how to do that.  He arranged it so we sounded better than we were.  The music.  But none of the rest of the guys I was with, we had about an eight-piece band.  So nobody smoked or drank.  That wasn’t our thing.  We just liked music and we began to notice there were girls in the world then, but you can’t dance and romance them on the floor if you’re playing a horn.  So that was it.  Just go on.”

—Don Newbold, Interview with Karl Schmidt of Bristol Productions for the Washington State World War II History Project

 

Here’s the word definition for the day:

“Chinook”:  A Native American (Salish Tribe) word meaning “A warm dry wind which blows down the east side of the Rocky Mountains at the end of winter” and/or “A large North Pacific salmon that is an important commercial food fish.”  It would sure be nice to have a “Chinook” wind pass through Spokane today and warm things up and help bring on Spring, don’t you think?

 

Here’s the trivia fact for the day:

Even well educated people use only about one percent of the possible words in the English language when they talk to each other…how about that???  I guess that just goes to show that there are many other ways for us to express ourselves.  The choice of words in the English language are mind boggling, for sure!  I love to find different, unfamiliar words to express myself, how about you?

 

Here is the thought for the day:

“It is when tow such person discover one another, when, whether with immense difficulties and semi-articulate fumblings or with what would seem to us amazing and elliptical speed, they share their vision—it is then that Friendship is born.  And instantly they stand together in an immense solitude.”

—C.S. Lewis, “The Four Loves,” as quoted in “C.S. Lewis’ Little Book Of Wisdom” (2018)

 

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

Press on,

Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)