February 23, 2019
Dearest Readers,
Thank you for indulging us in our day off yesterday.
Good wishes for a good day, and many thanks for stopping by.
xoxoxo
Kaitlyn
THE ALMANAC
On This Date:
In 1903 – Cuba leases land that will become the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to the United States in perpetuity. Originally a coaling station for US Navy ships, it is used as a detention facility in addition to accomdating ships. The US sends Cuba an annual check, now for $4,085, but Cuba has not deposited one since 1959, which Fidel Castro always maintained was by accident. It remains the oldest foreign US military installation and is the only one in a Communist country.
In 1945 – One of mankind’s most iconic photographs is taken when Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal photographs six United States Marines raising a flat on Mount Suribachi, on the island of Iwo Jima in the western Pacific. Rosenthal would later say he saw activity out of the corner of his eye and turned to take a picture and wasn’t sure if he got anything decent until later. The photograph first appeared in newspapers two days later, a Sunday, and later that year won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography. \
Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1980:
Hot 100 – Crazy Little Thing Called Love…Queen (1st of four weeks)
Soul Chart – Special Lady…Ray, Goodman & Brown (only week)
Country Chart – Years…Barbara Mandrell (only week)
Album Chart – The Wall…Pink Floyd (6th of 15 weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.
Numbers Racket
10,655: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
22.032: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
626: days until Election Day 2020.
Philosophy 101
…to live life well one must live with awareness.
Louis L’Amour
Education of a Wandering Man
Everyone on this planet lives, but not everyone actually lives. This is too bad, because unless you born with no chance, living well is within the reach of all us.
Awareness helps. We must be aware of many things: the world around us, what our government is doing to us, and, more than anything, we must be aware of what we are doing to ourselves. Are making our time serve us, or are we merely marking time while on this planet? Are putting nature and circumstance to work for us, or are fighting nature and circumstance? Are we on our path, or are we living a life we are not completely in step with?
Yes, circumstances can overcome us at times, but by and large, we get out of this life what we put into it. Those that pursue the lives they were meant to live with diligence and courage end up living the lives they were meant to live. Those who squander their time and talent may very well end up wondering where the years, decades, went and looking back at what might have been.
Nothing is worse than that. Fortunately, all of us have it within our power to make good things happen for ourselves. All we need is the wisdom to know what we are about and to recognize the talents we were born with. Then we need the courage to maximize those talents and go out and live the life we were meant to live. Then we need the patience to live this life every day. Not some days and not others, not some weeks or years and not others. We must do it every day.
When we do this, we are living with awareness and at an appropriate time will be looking back at time well spent and a life well spent.
Louis L’Amour (1908-88) was an American writer.