The milepost reads 01.10.2023. I’m grateful to be able to live this day. It may not be a lot different than the 28,347 days I’ve already lived but I’m going to treat it as a special one. That means paying more attention to the details of it and being as kind as possible to everyone I meet. For all of us, it’s Houseplant Appreciation Day, National Bittersweet Chocolate Day, National Cut Your Energy Costs Day, National Oysters Rockefeller Day, National Poetry at Work Day, Peculiar People Day, and Save the Eagles Day. This is the day in 49 BC that Julius Caesar defied the Roman Senate and crossed the Rubicon and started a civil war that would lead to his appointment as Roman dictator for life. On this day in 1663 King Charles II gives the Royal African Company a monopoly over trade along the West coast of Africa in “redwood, elephants’ teeth, negroes, slaves, hides, wax, guinea grains, or other commodities of those countries”. On this day in 1870 John D. Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil. On this day in 1901 oil was discovered at Spindletop, Beaumont TX starting the Texas oil boom. On this day in 1916 in retaliation for President Wilson’s recognition of the Mexico’s Carranza government, members of Pancho Villa’s revolutionary army take 17 US mining engineers from a train and shoot 16 of them to death. Don’t know why the 17th wasn’t also shot. Today’s dead person is Pulitzer Prize winning author Sinclair Lewis who said, “I must say I’m not very fond of oratory that’s so full of energy it hasn’t any room for facts.” “Funny how the world always praises its opera-singers so much and pays ‘em so well and then starves its shoemakers, and yet it needs good shoes so much more than it needs opera.” “People will buy anything that is one to a customer.” Last one: “When fascism comes to the United States it will be wrapped in an American flag and will claim the name of 100 percent Americanism.” Enough for today. Abide.
