Earth entered the time/space of the 16th day of January 2021 last night at midnight. We have never been here before and will never be here again. I remind you of this concept often in the hope that you will share my focus on the present. This isn’t “just another day”. It’s Appreciate The Dragon Day, International Hot And Spicy Food Day, National Fig Newton Day, National Nothing Day, National Religious Freedom Day and Prohibition Remembrance Day. I love the hot and spicy so that would be my personal choice. I also like Fig Newtons. Plenty here for everyone. Now let’s see what’s happened on this date. In 1412 The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy. They became the richest family in Italy and largely responsible for the Italian Renaissance. In 1793 French King Louis XVI sentenced to death by the National Convention during the French Revolution. I guess they didn’t have impeachment. In 1868 the refrigerator railroad car was patented by William Davis, a fish dealer in Detroit. This is the dark day in 1919 that Congress ratified the 18th Amendment to the Constitution authorizing the prohibition of alcohol. In 1939 the daily newspaper comic strip “Superman” debuts. This is the day that author and director Susan Sontag was born. She said, “I envy paranoids; they actually feel people are paying attention to them.” Dark humor. This is also the day in 1794 that the English historian Edward Gibbon assumed room temperature. Ed said, “I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.” That’s good advice. That’s a wrap for this day. Find a new recipe for something hot and spicy or just have a fig newton. That’s my plan. Abide.
