We’ve now reached the 10th day of January 2020 and the guilt of not being able to keep any of your New Year’s resolutions for more than 1 day should be nearly gone. After all, the bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:32 “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die”. Since “tomorrow” is a metaphor for “sometime in the future”, I will happily follow these biblical instructions. Let’s find out what the Commission has designated for today: It’s Houseplant Appreciation Day, National Bittersweet Chocolate Day, National Oysters Rockefeller Day, National Cut Your Energy Costs Day, Save the Eagles Day and Peculiar People Day. I’m going with Oysters. Maybe some tonight to celebrate this day? Could be. This first historical footnote for today happened in 49 BC when Julius Caesar defies the Roman Senate and crosses the Rubicon, uttering “alea iacta est” (the die is cast), signaling the start of civil war which would lead to his appointment as Roman dictator for life. I’ve heard the term “Crossing the Rubicon” before so I decided to look up the word. It’s a shallow river in North Eastern Italy. This is the date in 1776 that the pamphlet “Common Sense” Thomas Paine was published. He said, “The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.” On this day in 1901, oil is discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas. It was a gusher and that started the Texas oil boom. Oil from the drilling site went 150 feet in the air. In 1917, suffragettes called the “Silent Sentinels” held their first protest outside The White House led by Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party. She said, “We women of America tell you that America is not a democracy. Twenty million women are denied the right to vote.” She was the driving force behind the suffragette movement. My grand daughter’s name is Alice. I’ll end this post and start this new day with a quote from Jimmy Buffett because the bible quote I cited is similar to Jimmy’s “I’d rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead.”. Today, really live it. Good food, good drink, good friends and good fun. Be sure to Abide.
