March 14, 2019
Dearest Readers,
Good morning. Today we have visits to 1757 and 1903 awaiting you on On This Date, while Top of the Charts visits 1981 and Philosophy 101 talks about not being afraid to sniff what is on our path.
Thank you for reading.
Cordially,
xoxoxo
Kaitlyn
On This Date:
In 1757 – British Admiral Sir John Byng is executed by firing squad on HMS Monarch, then anchored off the coast of England. Admiral Byng had been condemned for returning to England for repairs to his fleet rather render aid to other British ships during the Battle of Minorca in the Mediterranean. After clemency by King George II was denied, Admiral Byng was taken to the quarterdeck of the Monarch, knelt on a pillow and was shot after dropping his handkerchief, indicating he was prepared to die. His execution was later satirized by Voltaire and was the inspiration for the line “…it is good to kill an admiral from time to time, in order to encourage the others”.
In 1903 – The United States Senate ratifies a treaty with Colombia to build a canal in their province of Panama. The treaty would have no effect because it was later rejected by the Senate of Colombia. The US was unwilling to renegotiate the treaty and later planned the uprising in Panama that led to it declaring its independence from Colombia, which led to a US treaty with the new nation to build a canal.
Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1981:
Hot 100 – 9 to 5…Dolly Parton (2nd of two non-consecutive weeks)
Soul Chart – Don’t Stop the Music…Yarbrough and Peoples (3rd of five weeks)
Country Chart – Guitar Man…Elvis Presley (only week)
Album Chart – Hi Infidelity…REO Speedwagon (4th of 15 non-consecutive weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.
Numbers Racket
10,674: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
22.123: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
607: days until Election Day 2020.
Philosophy 101
The man who finds the smell is the one who sniffs.
Nicholas Monsarrat
Smith and Jones
We must be active participants in our own lives. We must sniff until we find the smell we were meant to find. We can’t be afraid of sniffing along different trails and see where they lead us. We can’t spend our lives sitting on proverbial hind legs waiting for life to come to us. We must go out and aggressively pursue the path we were meant to take.
Now, it is important to note our sniffing will not always take us to rose gardens. sometimes it will take us to the dump, but that’s OK; sniffing many trails is necessary because they teach us the lessons life has for us while sharpening our instincts.
How do we know which trails to sniff and which to avoid? Easy: we live the life we were meant to live; we put nature and circumstance to work for us, instead of fighting these two useful elements. We spend our time doing things we have a knack for, therefore maximizing the talents we were born with. We trust our instincts to show us the path to where we were meant to go. We show the patience to see our path through to the very end. We can’t follow our path some days and not others, some years and not others. We must live the life we were meant to live every day, from the day we step on our path until the day we die.
We cannot be afraid of the smells on our path. We must have the courage to sniff the ones that interest us, the courage to go where our hearts tell us to go. . Only then will we live the life we were meant to live.
Nicholas Monsarrat (1910-79) was a British writer, known primarily for novels about the sea and those who sail it.