January 25th is now here. This morning I’m going to remind you that the future is only an expectation. Since our lives are finite and will end, I suggest that doing what you dream of doing and doing it as soon as you can. In one of my recent songs, I ended the first verse with “Cause pretty soon we’ll all be dead.” This day’s celebratory events are A Room of One’s Own Day, Fluoride Day, Library Shelfie Day, National Irish Coffee Day, and Opposites Day. Not a great list but Irish Coffee is good. Moving on; on this day in 1327 Edward iii became the King of England at the age of 14. On this day in 1799 the 1st US patent for a seeding machine was issued. This was a big deal for farmers and at this point in history, most people were farmers. On this day in 1858 the “Wedding March” was first played at the wedding of Queen Vitoria’s daughter when she married the crown price of Prussia. On this day in 1890 the United Mine Workers of America was formed. On this day in 1915 transcontinental phone service was established between NYC and San Francisco. This is the day in 1970 that the move “M*A*S*H” was released. Today is the birthday of the English author W. Somerset Maugham who stopped writing in 1984. Here are a few of his quotes: “Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.” “It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.” “The fact that a great many people believe something is no guarantee of its truth.” “I don’t think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.” I’ll end with this nugget of wisdom: “From the earliest time the old have rubbed it into the young that they are wiser, and before the young had discovered what nonsense this was, they were old too, and profited them to carry on the imposture.” Abide.
