We have arrived at December 26th, 2021. Only a few more days until we turn the page and begin 2022. I’m sure it will be filled with chaos just like 2021 and 2020 and so on. Chaos is defined as “disorder and confusion” which fairly describes our 24/7 news cycle. The less I pay attention to what talking heads say is happening, the better I feel. The events for this day are National Whiner’s Day, Thank You Note Day, National Candy Cane Day and Boxing Day. The Whiner’s Day was created by Kevin Zaborney in 1986, “to encourage gratefulness for what we have rather than what we do not.” Kevin had a good idea. Now to the history part of this post: On this day in 1492, Christopher Columbus established the first lettlement in the New World. La Navidad in Haiti. Today the town is named Mole-Saint-Nicolas. If you search for images, you will find it’s a beautiful place. In 1620, Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory’s crimes and serial murders are uncovered. She is believed to have killed over 600 women. On this day in 1862 the largest mass execution in US history took place when 35 Dakota men were hung. The US Dakota war was an uprising of several Sioux tribes in Minnesota. It all started when a hunting party stole eggs from settlers. As usual in American History, it didn’t go well for the Indians. The author Henry Miller was born on this day in 1891. Henry said, “Surely everyone realizes, at some point along the way, that he is capable of living a far better life than the one he has chosen.” “We do not talk – we bludgeon one another with facts and theories gleaned from cursory readings of newspapers, magazines and digests.” I could not agree more with both of those quotes. This last one is also a gem: “To be silent the whole daylong, see no newspaper, hear no radio, listen to no gossip, and be thoroughly and completely lazy, thoroughly and completely indifferent to the fate of the world is the finest medicine a man can give himself.” Abide.
