A battle was fought here on this date in 585 B.C. This is the oldest date that we can fix with mathematical certitude because a solar eclipse ended it. The soldiers feared that the sudden darkening was a sign from the gods and fled. Peace was declared between the Medians and Lydians. This river became their boundary.
This isn't a holiday but it ought to be one. The oldest event that can be dated in all human history - that ought to be celebrated.
This is also April Fool's Day but this year it does double duty as the day the Last Supper is celebrated.
Lorene Marie Flicek was born this date in 1928. She's in a nursing home now and I wish she could read this blog. I bet she would be interested. Back in the days that the political conventions were broadcast gavel to gavel, we used to watch them together.
Used to be Washington's Birthday was a holiday and then Lincoln's, too. In a sensible decision to limit the number of national holidays, they were combined with any other President who someone might want to celebrate into one, all-inclusive holiday.
Kathy and I were married this day in 1978 at 2 p.m. at St. James Cathedral, Seattle. Kathy was late.
(Okay, she was in a side room with her folks making last minute adjustments to her gown and stuff - but I'm ommiting that part.)
Born in January, 1929, Martin Luther King gave the US much needed Civil Rights leadership in the 1950's and early 1960's. It is sad to contemplate that a century after the Civil War, the attitudes of racial prejudice still hampered social progress of the United States. King confronted the wrongs of society while also doing it in a non-violent way.
While no leader is perfect, King's later record was marred by error. In his private life, the womanizing left a blot on his legacy. Here, as elsewhere, he ought to be treated equally with the other great men of history. Historians should not shrink from the "warts and all" approach to biography.
In his public policy positions, there were two areas of concern:
1) He opposed the Vietnam War because of disproportate use of Blacks as soldiers. One wonders if he would have opposed Lincoln's Civil War, too. In that war, too, Blacks enrolled in the army in numbers disproportionate to their percentage of the population. His position just did not make sense.
2) He advocated monetary compensation for slavery, proposing $50 billion over 10 years. He chose Playboy Magazine as the venue for making this proposal in 1965. Such a historic proposal ought to have been presented on a better platform than that. On the substance, however, no allowance was made for the payment in blood made by the US Army in the Civil War.
To sum up, this great man was like most other great men: his good qualities were larger than life; his bad qualities were, too.
This is the day commerating The Three Wisemen laying their gifts before Jesus. This day marks the end of the Christmas Season.
In our family, this is when we take down the Christmas decorations. In practice, we do the work on the next weekend after.
In culture, Christmas Carols refer to "the twelve days of Christmas". This is the twelfth day. In Latina culture, this is called Three Kings Day.
Ephiphany means to reveal. Theologically, this day is significant because the 3 Kings traveling and then paying homage to the baby Jesus revealed him as above all. Today Christian churches use the message to encourage people to "show" Jesus to the world by witnessing and by good deeds.
More information: The Voice.
Jack Ronald Le Moine, Senior was born this day in 1924. Still hanging in there!
I love you, Dad!
Here we are - another new year's day. It never was much of a holiday and if I had my way, it would be dropped in favor of some other holiday - Martin Luther King day, for example.
Did you know that New Years Day was first celebrated 4,000 years ago by the ancient Babylonians? Back then it was the first New Moon after the first Vernal Equinox. Start of Spring seemed the logical time to start a new year - rebirth of the plants, cooling temperatures, and all that.
January 1 is purely arbitrary. Yet, it has become traditional. It is hard for me to imagine treating January 1 as just another workday. I've stayed up to midnight all my adult life. It just seems natural to experience the first moments of a new year. - And when it begins a new decade, as well (let alone a new century!) one is hard pressed to sleep the night away.
So, this holiday has practical value.
My New Year Resolutions: Get CPE done early. Keep up this blog regularly.
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