04.12.2021. A new week is upon us. We are collectively walking the path out of the woods and the trees are thinning out. This journey isn’t new to humankind but it is for us. The first recorded pandemic was in 430 B.C. which killed 2/3rds of the population in the Middle East. Glad our latest one wasn’t as bad and is almost over. Today is Drop Everything and Read Day, National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, National Licorice Day and Walk On Your Wild Side Day. Grilled cheese sounds good to me. This is the date in 1861 that Fort Sumter is attacked by the Confederacy, beginning the Civil War. In 1877 the catcher’s mask is1st used in a baseball game. I’ll bet you that a catcher who took more than a few foul balls to his face came up with the idea. In 1934, the 2nd highest wind speed of 231 mph was recorded on Mt Washington. Finally, on this day in 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office and Vice President Harry Truman is sworn in as 33rd US President. FDR said, “In our seeking for economic and political progress, we all go up – or else we all go down.” That’s a good quote to think about right now. Since this is the day that FDR died, here are a couple of quotes from him: “We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American Eagle in order to feather their own nests.” and “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.” He was the right person at the right time. On the other end of the spectrum, this is the day that Abby Hoffman passed. Abby said, “You measure a democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists.” and “Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger.” That’s probably enough for you to ponder on this 12th day of April. Abide.
