It is 04.02.2023 and it’s going to be a fun day. It’s the day we have our annual Parrot Head Poker Run which is an afternoon of friends, music and the big basket raffle. It’s a day to create some good memories. How lucky can a person get? It’s also Education and Sharing Day, Geologists Day, International Children’s Book Day, International Fact-Checking Day, National Ferret Day, National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, Palm Sunday, and Reconciliation Day. I think I’ll make a couple of PB&Js with some apple slices mixed in for my lunch. Now some history: On this day in 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain. On this day in 1767 King Charles III of Spain orders all Jesuits expelled from the Spanish Empire. This is the day in 1863 that the Women’s Bread Revolt took place in Richmond Virginia. What started out as a March of 100 or so women to the Governor’s mansion to protest the lack of food and the high prices turned into a riot with thousands of people involved looting food warehouses and stores. This is the day in 1877 of the first Easter egg roll held on the White House lawn. This is the day in 1917 that Jeannette Rankin, R- Montana, began her term as the 1st woman member of the US House of Representatives. On this day in 1931 a 17-year old girl named Jackie Mitchell struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition baseball game played in Chattanooga, TN. This is the day in 1960 that Mabry Harper caught a world record 25-pound Walleye at Cedar Bluff on the Cumberland River in Tennessee. Today we visit the grave of Emile Zola who was A French novelist that passed in 1902. Emile said, “Civilization will not attain to its perfection until the last stone from the last church falls on the last priest.” “These young people naturally grow up with ideas different from ours, for they are born for times when we shall no longer be here.” “It is not necessary that one should humble oneself to deserve assistance, it is sufficient that one should suffer.” You need to think about that one. I’ll end with “Governments are suspicious of literature because it is a force that eludes them.” Now that’s a timely quote for Florida. Abide.
