Good Morning All & Happy Monday (and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)!
Here’s to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and all those who have sacrificed in the cause of civil rights. He has shown us the way to walk…we must all find those things that unite us and build upon it. We should be living to please our Creator and I’m sure that nothing would please Him more than if we could all live with one another with love, compassion and consideration for each other. As the singers Simon & Garfunkel said: “…What a wonderful world it would be…”
Happy Birthday wishes go to friend Zach in Spokane, who celebrates his birthday today and to long-time beloved friend and lover of souls extraordinaire, Jeanne in Arizona, who celebrates her birthday tomorrow (Jan. 18th). Here’s to you two! Be sure and eat lots of cake and have lots of fun on your special day of celebration!
And here’s to actor/comedian Jim Carrey, who is 63 today; to rapper Kid Rock, who turns 51 today; to legendary actor James Earl Jones of “Field of Dreams” and “The Hunt For Red October” movie fame, who is 91 today; to game show host/comedian Steve Harvey of “Family Feud” T.V. fame, who turns 65 today; and to singer Susanna Hoffs of “The Bangles” music fame, who is 63 today! Happy Birthday to all of you!
Betty White would have been 100 today if she had lived another week or so. What a fulfilling life! She was part of my Dad’s generation…born in 1922….Dad born in 1925. Their generation was something very special! Here’s to Betty, my Dad and my Mom, who was born in 1927 and all those “Greatest Generation” members!
Speaking of my Dad and his generation…
Here’s some more excerpts from the interview he gave for the Washington State World War II Memorial Foundation (he was asked about his experiences during the Battle of Iwo Jima in February-March, 1945):
Question: ” So did…because everybody, when I get to this point, they—they can’t tell me about it. Do you remember where you were in the—were you in the middle, the front, the back of the landing craft?”
Answer: “I was probably two or three, as you go back, about third one (row) back from the front. I wasn’t one of the first guys who stepped off, I was the second two or three that stepped off or I was the third two or three who stepped off.”
Question: “And you’re packed tight?”
Answer: “Oh, yeah, it’s pretty tight. You’re not (gestures) like that but you don’t have a lot of elbow room, no. They’re—they were trying to get you—as many in there as they can. And the beach was already—when I got there—was already starting to be littered with uh…shells are hitting the landing craft. They took in what you call buffalos, like Amtraks, you know, they’re tracked vehicles. They call them buffaloes. They don’t hold as many people but they—they can go, you know, the water and go right up on land. But when they got to the terraces of those—that volcanic rock, what they called the black sands, some of them couldn’t—they couldn’t track up those. So you had—the guys had to jump out. Well, some of the landing craft were hit, of course, by Japanese fire. Cause they had everything zeroed in. They pre-zeroed for artillery and the machine guns and 20 millemeters and everything. So with a lot of people coming in there, it’s pretty hard to not hit somebody, you know. Most of the time. And that’s why we took, and again, this is not to demean—it’s just a poor way to make a living. But we took just about the same casualties first day on Iwo that they took in Normandy. Not that it means that we’re better than, worse than…it’s just to give some relative comparison because people I think know more about the landing in Normandy in a general sense than they do about the landing in Iwo, per se. I’m just trying to convey how intense ti was, how rough it was…”
—Donald M. Newbold, “Interview For The Washington State World War II Memorial Foundation”
“Boy Howdy,” as Sheriff Walt Longmire was fond of saying, it sure seems like we’ve got a “tiger by the tail” with regard to the current homelessness crisis!
I don’t know about the town you live in, but my hometown of Spokane WA has a pretty serious homelessness problem and there doesn’t seem to be a solution in sight. It’s my understanding that most homeless folks are without adequate shelter because of substance abuse, mental illness, lack of job skills and/or “all of the above.” It seems to me that our public officials need to move toward building adequate shelter for folks who refuse to do anything but “live on the street,” with the understanding that, in return for housing, they will submit to substance abuse treatment, mental illness/psychological counseling and/or job training. This housing should be temporary in nature until they are able to move forward with employment and a willingness to re-engage with society. In return, there should be a “no tolerance policy” with regard to malingering and/or occupying public space that might interfere with businesses being able to serve their customers and attract people to patronize their businesses. It’s grossly unfair for business owners and their families (and their employees and their families) to suffer economic hardship because of the behavior of homeless people. Perhaps cities could use some of funds provided to them from the federal government under the “American Rescue Plan” to build temporary housing. If homeless folks aren’t willing to work with the community to remedy their homeless situation, then they should be required to move on and leave the community. “Tough love” has to come into play at some point and the city can’t continue to enable behavior that is detrimental to the overall community. We should always stand ready to help people who make an effort to help themselves. What do you think?
I’ve been enjoying watching the Gonzaga men’s and women’s basketball teams this year. Both are playing exceptionally well. Watching the Zags men’s team is like watching “poetry in motion,” particularly when they get it going on fast breaks and transitions from defense to offense. It’s something to see, for sure! It’s mighty “In-Timme-Dating” to watch. Here’s to my favorite Zag player, Drew Timme, “The In-Timme-Dator.”
Here are some fun facts for the day:
Did you know that Benjamin Franklin is a member of the International Swimming Hall Of Fame? Who knew? I never thought about Benjamin Franklin in a pair of swim trunks…did you?
This one’s for all you Corvette fans out there…On this day in 1953, a prototype of a Chevrolet Corvette was introduced at the General Motors Motorama Auto Show in New York!
Here’s the trivia quiz for the day:
Q: In 1974, Philippe Petit walked on a high wire attached to what landmark…The World Trade Center?…The White House?…The Eiffel Tower?…or The Golden Gate Bridge?
A; The World Trade Center (I remember watching that feat and wondering if they got permission to do it. If memory serves me correctly, they had to plan it out meticulously and get everything ready to go ahead of time on each of the towers and then they just went for it without the authorities being totally aware of what was about to happen. Do you remember that day and was it a total surprise?) It was really something to see! I think you have to be really talented (and really crazy) to do something like that…
Here’s the thought for the day:
“I’ve proven who I am so many times
The magnetic strip’s worn thin
And each time I was someone else
And everyone was taken in
Powers chatter in high places
Stir up eddies in the dust o frate
Set me to pacing the cage…
…Sometimes the best map will not guide you
You can’t see what’s ’round the bend
Sometimes the road leads through dark places
Sometimes the darkness is your friend
Today these eyes scan bleached-out land
For the coming of the outbound stage
Pacing the cage…
Pacing the cage.”
—Bruce Cockburn, “Pacing The Cage,” from the album “Beach House On The Moon” (1999)
Here’s to a great Monday and lots of love & good wishes always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)