Good Afternoon All & Happy Tuesday!
According to the ground hog in Pennsylvania (“Phil”), Spring will be early or on time this year. It’s a typical February day in Spokane with cold winds and lower temperatures! I always thought it would be well to cancel February except Valentine’s Day and family/friends’ birthdays. What do you think? After the holidays, “bring on Spring”! I love the daffodils, blooms of other plants and flowers, the birds singing, warmer temperatures with light breezes…you name it!
Speaking of pleasant things…
Happy Birthday to my friend Curt in Spokane…son, husband, father and optical care professional extraordinaire, who celebrated his birthday yesterday, February 26th! Here’s to you, Curt! Happy Birthday wishes go to dear friend Hwa in Spokane…daughter, wife, mother and pianist and hospitality manager extraordinaire, who celebrates her birthday on March 2nd; to long-time friends Jeff & Jon Hastings (“the dynamic duo”), who came into this world together on March 8th; to friend and financial advisor Scott in Liberty Lake WA & Florida…father, grandfather and Edward Jones professional extraordinaire (and Vanderbilt University grad, no less!), who celebrates his birthday on March 10th; and last, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST…my beloved niece Lacy in Seattle WA, daughter, auto mechanic, keyboard player, snowboarder, high school hurdler star and Techno Music DJ extraordinaire, who cuts her birthday cake on March 14th! Here’s to all of you on your special day of celebration and have lots of fun!
Speaking of celebrations, here’s to long-time friends David & Cindy in Lancaster CA, who celebrate their wedding anniversary on March 6th. Happy Anniversary you two! God did a marvelous thing bringing you together!
Here’s to celebrity birthday people Joanne Woodard (spouse of Paul Newman), who is 94 today; to singer/songwriter Johnny Van Zant, who turns 64 today; to one of my all-time favorite singers, Josh Groban of “You Lift Me Up” fame—what a voice, who is 43 today and gifted actress Kate Mara, who turns 41 today. Happy Birthday to all!
Do any of you wonder what’s happening to our magnificent country? I like to think of myself as an optimist kind of person, believing that no matter how much people mess things up, God is still in control and governs our destiny (as long as we acknowledge, love & obey Him…now, that’s a “tall order,” don’t you think? Thankfully, He gave us a way out through Jesus). Hearts need to change and the only way we can do that is through ourselves…through the core of our being…our spirit, if you will. We need to surrender all of our ego, pride, selfishness, self-dealing, deceit and disobedience and lay them at His feet. We need to be accountable to the one who created us. Left to our own devices, we fail miserably. What do you think?
I shared in one of my previous e-mails that my Dad was quite a winemaker back in the late 1960s and 1970s. He could make quite the Petite Syrah wine! Smooth drinking and a great tasting wine. Perfect with dinner! We had the privilege of having a glass of wine underage at home and it gave us a healthy appreciation for alcohol. One of my uncles was an alcoholic, so I was always aware of the damaging effects of alcohol abuse. I’ll always have fond memories of “stomping the grapes” in our garage. Dad used to go to the Seattle railroad yards and pick up his supply of petite syrah grapes from a gentleman who had them shipped on the rails from the Sonoma Valley in California. Wow, what fun was that! Thanks, Dad, for allowing us to be a part of your winemaking adventures!
In response to my story about Dad’s winemaking exploits, my long-time friend Greg from Olympia WA days, send me a hilarious e-mail. Here’s some excerpts:
“…Lots of stuff I could reply to but what popped out was your dad making wine brought back a recollection…I think my dad and Don collaborated as I recall (I think Greg is right, if my memory serves me correctly…I remember seeing him in our garage with Dad!) The timing was about the same…
I think because dad (Greg’s dad) was chemist and didn’t drink anymore that he brought a different perspective to the game using hydrometers, etc. than other people did (Greg’s right about that…it takes some “chemistry savvy” to make a good bottle of wine!). Who knows…Anyway the wine was excellent.
Greg then went on to recount his WSU introductory class in “mixacology” or something to that affect…He goes on to say:
“I filled up the “caverness” trunk & backseat of my ’69 GTO (a great car!) and took all of their alcoholic creations as well as the store-bought and a special bottle (it was 99.9% pure alcohol from his lab, and took it all back to Wazzu where I stayed at Strite-Param (sp?), the well-known coed party dorm. There were many festive evenings and I’m sure failed exams for some time after…” Well, never let it be said that WSU students weren’t well versed in “spirits” and terrific sharp white cheddar cheese (a la “Cougar Gold”). We even had some good football and basketball teams now and then (or should I say “occasionally!).
Here’s what happened on this day in 1980:
The first and final (only) Grammy For Best Disco Recording” was awarded to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” I think we played this tune at our wedding rehearsal party at the Lewis & Clark Hotel in Lewiston ID on April 11, 1980, among other disco favorites…dancing the night away!
Here is the fact for the day:
According to Amazon, the most highlighted Kindle posts are: The Holy Bible; Steve Job’s autobiography: and “The Hunger Games”
Here’s the thought for the day…
“Remember…sell something, cancel somebody…CREATE EXCITEMENT!
—Donald (Don) Newbold…husband, father, grandfather, insurance broker, comedian, U.S. Marine and lover of souls extraordinaire
Here’s to a great night and good day tomorrow!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)