It is now March 16, 2022. I woke up this morning dreaming about playing the blues on my ukulele. I don’t recall ever doing that before. It’s a nice way to greet a new day. Jake Shimabukuro says that “If everyone played the ukulele, the world would be a better place.” I agree with him. Today is Curlew Day, Lips Appreciation Day, Everything You Do Is Right Day, National Freedom of Information Day, National Panda Day, and National Artichoke Heart Day. Now let’s see what happened on this date. On this day in 1190 the York (England) massacre of 150 Jews took place. A mob of Christians gave the Jews a choice: convert and be baptized or die. On this day in 1802 West Point was established. This is the date in 1882 that the US Senate ratified the Geneva Convention which established the Red Cross. This is the day in 1968 of the My Lai massacre when American soldiers killed 400 unarmed Vietnamese civilians. This is the day in 1995 that the Mississippi House of Representatives formally abolished slavery and ratified the 13th Amendment. It only took them 130 years to decide. For those of you who think I only footnote bad news, on this day in 2003 a worldwide peace vigil was held in 100 countries in more than 6,000 locations. Today we will visit the boneyard for quotes from people who have passed on. The first is Judge Roy Bean who died in 1903 on this date and said, “Don’t interfere with something that ain’t bothering you none.” Good advice. Next is Arthur Godfrey who died in 1982 and said, “You know if you don’t do nothing, you don’t do nothing.” And finally, the great Henny Youngman, King of the one liners, who died in 1998 said, “We were married for better or worse. I couldn’t have done better, and she couldn’t have done worse” and “I got two wonderful children and two out of five isn’t too bad” and “There was a girl knocking on my hotel room door all night! Finally, I let her out.” Abide.
