November 18th has become the 19th. A new day to do with what we want, if we’re lucky enough to have everything we need (food & shelter) and be in a place safe enough to do what we want to do. Everyone who reads this post probably falls into the above stated categories. A couple of billion people on this planet don’t. Be thankful. Today is American Made Matters Day, Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day, Equal Opportunity Day, International Men’s Day, National Blow Bagpipes Day, Play Monopoly Day, Rocky and Bullwinkle Day, and World Toilet Day. I may celebrate today with some Carbonated Beverage with a little bit of rum later on this afternoon. Now some history: On this day in 1851 Ivan the Terrible murders his son after an argument. In 1805 on this day Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific Ocean. This is the day in 1861 that American poet and abolitionist Julia Ward Howe wrote the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”. On this day in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address. On this day in 1895 American inventor Frederick D. Blaisdell patented the pencil. On this day in 1923 the Oklahoma State Senate ousts Governor Walton for anti- KKK measures. On this day in 1959 “Rocky & His Friends” debuted on ABC. On this same day Ford Motors cancelled the Edsel. On this day in 1965 Kellogg’s Pop Tarts pastries were first sold. This is the day in 1975d that “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” starring Jack Nicholson was released. Today we will celebrate the words of Emma Lazarus who was an American poet. She wrote “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” You might want to read her description of who we once were one more time. Somedays you only need a single quote. This is one of those days. Abide.
