We just entered October 1, 2021. October was the 8th month of the year on the Roman Calendar. It comes from the Latin word for 8. When the Romans converted to the 12-month Julian Calendar in 45 BC, several Roman emperors tried unsuccessfully to rename it. To me it means the beginning of Fall. I’m happy not to have to spend the next 6 week raking leaves. Today is also the International Day of Older Persons (that would be me), Less Than Perfect Day (me again), International Music Day, International Racoon Appreciation Day, National Black Dog Day, Model T Day, World Vegetarian Day, and my World Smile Day. Now to see what happened on this day. This is the day in 1800 that Spain ceded Louisiana to France. On this day in 1837 the “Racer’s” Hurricane that made landfall in Mexico and then took a right turn and moved up the entire coast of Texas and Louisiana before it moved into the Atlantic 9 days later from South Carolina. On this day in 1864 a cyclone hit Calcutta and 70,000 were killed. This is the day in 1888 that the National Geographic magazine was published for the 1st time. In 1893 the 3rd worst hurricane in US history killed 1,800 in Mississippi. In 1908 on this day, Henry Ford introduced the Model T which costs $845. This is the day in 1985 that E. B. White, author of Charlotte’s Web died at the age of 86. I’m ending this post with some of his quotes which are short, profound, and enlightening: “Old age is a special problem for me because I’ve never been able to shed the mental image I have of myself – a lad of about 19.” “Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to the facts.” “Life is like writing with a pen. You can cross out your past, but you can’t erase it.” I’ll end with this one, “I get up every morning determined to both change the world and to have one hell of a good time. Sometimes, this makes planning the day difficult.” Abide.
