December 19, 2021. Did you know that our solar system is flying through space at a speed of 1.3 million mph? Yep. Earth is moving at a leisurely 66,627 mph around the Sun as we are rocketing through empty space at an incredible speed. During this day, we will travel 31.2 million miles. It’s ironic that I can still get a speeding ticket for going over 20 mph in my golf cart. Go figure. Moving on. Today is Holly Day, Look For An Evergreen Day, National EMO Day (type of music), National Hard Candy Day, and National Oatmeal Muffin Day. Who doesn’t love a nice warm chewy muffin with butter and jam on a winter morning? Sounds good, doesn’t it? This history of this day has some interesting footnotes. This is the day in 1686 that according to Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe left his island after 28 years. On this day in 1732, Ben Franklin, under the name Richard Saunders began the publication of “Poor Richard’s Almanack”. In 1843 on this day, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens was published and 6,000 copies were sold. In 1887 on this day Jake Kilrain and Jem Smith fought 106 rounds in a bare–knuckle fight. The rules for bare knuckle boxing are different. When someone is knocked down that is a “round”. Then they have to return to a mark in the ring and the next round starts. They went 106 rounds. Wow. I usually end these posts with quotes that I find interesting from people long dead. While searching through the obituaries, I found Lepa Radić. She was a Bosnian Serb born in 1925. In 1951 she was awarded the Order Of The People’s Hero for her role in the resistance movement against Germany. She was caught shooting at German troops. When they put the noose around her neck, the German officer offered her a reprieve from the gallows if she would reveal her comrade’s names. She responded that she was not a traitor and that her comrades would revel themselves when they avenged her death. I’m grateful that I don’t live in a time and place where courage like that is called for. Abide.
