The sign reads 01.30.2030. It looks like a smooth ride for the 1.6 million miles we will travel today. I’m looking forward to the journey. Lots of small details to see. New people to meet. It will be an exciting trip. The fact that I will end up at the beach is a plus. Today is Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, National Croissant Day, National Escape Day, National inane Answering Message Day, School Day of Non-violence and Peace, and Yodel for Your Neighbors Day. It’s a pretty good list. Wish I had a couple of sheets of bubble wrap to properly celebrate this day. Now to history: On this day in 1647 after 9 months of negotiations, Scottish Presbyterians sell captured Charles I to the English Parliament for 100,000 pounds. On this day in 1661 Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth was ritually executed. He had been dead for two years. On this day in 1797 the US Congress refused to accept the 1st petition from African Americans. The census of 1800 determined the US population to be 5,308,483 of which 1,002,037 were African Americans. On this day in 1835 Richard Lawrence’s pistol misfires as he attempts to assassinate President Andrew Jackson. This is the first attempted assignation of a President. On this day in 1847 Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco. On this day in 1948 Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist. It’s fitting that we look to his quotes to end this post with. Gandhi said, “There are two days in a year that we can not do anything, yesterday and tomorrow.” “Our greatest ability as humans is not to change the world; but to change ourselves.” “All good thoughts and ideas mean nothing without action.” “You never know where your actions will lead to. But, if you don’t do anything they will lead you nowhere.” “The world is big enough to satisfy everyone’s needs, but will always be too small to satisfy everyone’s greed.” I’ll end with “When you are right, you have no need to be angry. When you are wrong, you have no right to be angry.” Abide.
