We have finally reached the month of December 2022. When I was young and my family was poor, mom would give me a Sears and Roebuck catalog and tell me to pick out 1 or 2 gifts and then we would write a letter to Santa. I would spend hours and hours trying to pick the best ones. Christmas is a magical time when you’re 5 years old and have a mother who knows how to nurture the Christmas spirit. Good memories. Today is East a Red Apple Day, National Christmas Lights Day, National Pie Day, Rosa Parks Day, and Wear a Dress Day. Pie Day works for me. Now some history: On this day in 1640 Portugal declares its independence after 60 years of Spanish rule. This resulted in a war between Portugal and Span that lasted 28 years before Spain recognized Portugal’s independence. This is the day in 1641 that Massachusetts became the first colony to give statutory recognition to slavery. On this day in 1742 Empress Elisabeth ordered the expulsion of all Jews from Russia. In 1750 the first school in America to offer manual training courses opened in Maryland. On this day in 1884 near Frisco, New Mexico, deputy sheriff Elfego Baca held off a gang of 80 Texas cowboys trying to kill him for arresting on of their friends, Charles McCarty. Either they weren’t trying to kill him very hard or Elfego had lots of bullets and was a good shot. In 1913 on this day the 1st drive-up gasoline station opened in Pittsburgh. In 1913 Ford started the world’s first moving assembly line for the Model T. In 1955 on this day Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus. Today’s dead person is the author James Baldwin who died in 1987. James said, “I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do.” “One cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one’s own.” “You cannot fix what you will not face.” I’ll end with this powerful quote: “If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the unprotected – those precisely, who need the law’s protections most! – and listen to their testimony.” Now, go live this wonderful, once in your lifetime day. Abide.
