This is the 13th day of December 2023. I’m expecting a very pleasant day. It will be filled with playing pool, lunch with friends, good music, a couple of rum and cokes and a grilled burger to finish off the day. I enjoy living my life. Tolstoy said, “If you want to be happy, be.” I do, I have, and I am. The holidays for December 13th are Ice Cream Day, National Cocoa Day, National Day of the Horse, National Violin Day, Pick a Pathologist Pal Day, and US National Guard Birthday. Any list with ice cream on it is a good list. On this day in 1636 the Massachusetts Bay Colony organized three militia regiments to defend the Colony against the Pequot Indians. This action is recognized as the founding of the US National Guard. On this day in 1759 the first music store in America opened in Philadelphia. On this day in 1916 an Avalanche near Tyrol in Northern Italy killed 10,000 Austrian and Italian troops. On this day in 1964 in El Paso, Texas, President Johnson and Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz set off an explosion diverting the Rio Grande to reshape the US-Mexico border. On this day in 1957 Richard Pryor hosted SNL. This was the first time that SNL used a time delay for the show. On this day in 1983, 9,655 fans got to watch the highest scoring game in NBA history: Detroit 186, Denver 184. This is the day in 2003 that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured by Us forces. On this day in 1204 the Jewish philosopher, astronomer and physician Maimonides died. Here are some of his observations: “We each decide whether to make ourselves learned or ignorant, compassionate or cruel, generous or miserly. No one forces us. No one decides for us, no one drags us along one path or the other. We are responsible for what we are.” “I will destroy my enemies by converting them to friends.” “Mans obsession to add to his wealth and honor is the chief source of his misery.” “Nobody is ever impoverished through the giving of charity.” I’ll end with “It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death.” I’m beginning to like Maimonides. Abide.
