It is January 28, 2021. I’ve got a positive attitude and I am thankful to be alive to enjoy this day. We become what we think. I accept this as truth after reading the quotes of famous thinkers who have come to this conclusion. I have choices today. I choose happiness. It really isn’t complicated. Today is Daisy Day, International Lego Day, Pop Art Day, National Kazoo Day, National Blueberry Pancake Day, and Rattlesnake Roundup Day. I don’t happen to be afraid of snakes, but I don’t round them up either. I think I’ll make some blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Now let’s dust off the history books. In 1671, British pirate Henry Morgan captured Panama City from its Spanish defenders. I don’t expect most of you to know much about Mr. Morgan. Captain Henry Morgan was basically Jack Sparrow if Jack Sparrow was cooler. While most pirates ended up swinging from a rope, Henry Morgan ended his career as a Lt. Governor. In 1813 Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” was published. I looked up her quotes because they give you an insight into a women’s place in society in the 1800s. She said, “A woman, especially, if she has the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.” Times have changed and that’s a good thing. In 1887 in a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world’s largest snowflakes was reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick. Wow! In 1932 the 1st US state unemployment insurance act was enacted in Wisconsin. In 1948 a plane crash in the Diablo mountains killed 28 farm workers being sent back to Mexico, inspiring Woodie Guthrie’s song “Deportees”. If you google the lyrics to the song, it tells a story worth thinking about. This is the day in 1986 that Christa McAuliffe died when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. I remember seeing it happen. Christa was a teacher, not an astronaut. She was a “normal” person going into space. She said, “reach for the stars”. This is also the day in 1225 that Thomas Aquinas was born. He said, “The things that we love tell us what we are.” That quote is very close to “We become what we think”. I’ll leave it there. Enough for this day. Wear the damn mask and stay safe. Abide.
