SUNDAY FUNDAY - SEPTEMBER 4, 2022

 SUNDAY FUNDAY

SEPTEMBER 4, 2022

SEPTEMBER 2022 

Tear another sheet off the calendar - August 2022 is gone.  Do you have memories (good or bad)?  Did you do something significant?  Or … was it just another month - just another checkmark on your way to death?

Time is an interesting entity.  At times, time is our friend, and at other times, it seems as if time is our enemy.  

Abraham Lincoln said “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years”

“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” – Samuel Ullman

“The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

In the play, “Waiting for Godot”, two characters await the arrival of a person named Godot.  Some analysts suggest it is like waiting for God - waiting to die to leave this world.  

To keep the heart unwrinkled — to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent — that is to triumph over old age.” – Thomas Bailey Aldrich

MEMORABLE

I felt I needed to do something “memorable” for the summer of 2022.  So, I bought a tent and a cot and went off in search of adventure.  I’m not quite a Don Quixote yet, I didn’t go to rescue damsels in distress or to fight windmills with my faithful assistant and heroic steed.  So, off to find state high points.

My first high point was some years ago when I taught at Mount Hood Community College.  On those clear days, Mount Hood was beautiful, so off into the car and drove to Mount Hood - and Timberline Lodge.  I didn’t “climb” Mount Hood, but I count it as my first “State High Point”.  Climbers to Mount Hood typically leave the lodge at midnight and it takes about six hours to get to the top and another four to descend.

My second State High Point was Black Elk Peak in South Dakota - near Mount Rushmore and in the Black Hills.  This had a well-marked trail and I did hike to the top and back (and, coming back, carried and helped my eight-year-old daughter down!!!).  

My third State High Point didn’t have a name back then but is now called “Hawkeye Point” in Iowa.  It was a farmer’s field covered (then) with corn in northwest Iowa.  So, I “passed” within a half-mile of the high point (close enough for me).

My fourth State High Point was Mount Frissell in Connecticut (or Massachusetts).  The peak of Mount Frissell is in Massachusetts but as you hike towards the peak from the south side, you reach the high point of Connecticut.  (Interesting).  

My fifth State High Point was Jerimoth Hill in Rhode Island - a rocky point in the woods of Rhode Island just east of Connecticut.

My sixth State High Point was Guadalupe Peak in western Texas (in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park).  Another one of those “I visited but didn’t get to the top” points - but I still count it!!  I hiked a little on the trail.

My seventh State High Point was Mount Magazine in Arkansas - and I did hike to the top (yeah!!!).

My eighth State High Point was Charles Mound in Illinois - a few miles south of Wisconsin, and about 20 miles east of the Mississippi River and Dubuque Iowa.  Like the Iowa high point, it is in a farmer’s field and is open to the public only three weekends a year (and I wasn’t there on the right weekend, but I count it anyway!!) 

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That leads to last week - three State High Points (and only one significant one)

I drove to Black Mesa State Park in far west Oklahoma, camped in a tent, and hiked on Black Mesa the next morning.  Interestingly, Black Mesa State Park and Black Mesa are not in the same place, but about 12 miles apart!!  I met six new friends on my hike - they were black and had four legs and said “Moo”.  They weren’t sure what to do with me, and I skirted around them.  The trip to the top was about four miles one-way and I walked about 2.5 miles. (Close enough for me).  Number 9!!

Number 10 was Mount Sunflower in Kansas.  It also was a farmer’s field about 2 miles east of the Kansas/Colorado border.  I drove about twenty miles on a gravel road to reach this point!!  It was “maybe” six inches higher than the surrounding area!!!  (Kansas is kind of flat!!!)  The picture shows the monument and you can see into Colorado (someplace in the distance)

And, my third State High Point (so far anyway), was Panorama Point in Western Nebraska - about one mile north of the Nebraska/Colorado border, and also about one mile east of the Nebraska/Wyoming border.  It is possible (but not suggested) to walk to the geographical marker for the three states from Panorama Point.  It is not suggested because this high point is in the middle of a huge area with buffalo (and … buffalo droppings).  This was about 14 miles on gravel roads!!  The picture shows the buffalo (fortunately they were hanging out a ways away from the actual high point!!!)

There are other memories from this trip.  The awesome night sky in Black Mesa State Park where there are to be no lights after nine o’clock - and the stars were brilliant.  Two nights of singing frogs (males singing to attract female frogs).  Guys, aren’t you glad you didn’t have to sing to attract your wife?  The breakfast cafe in Julesburg Colorado, walking through the animal barns at the Nebraska State Fair, and the memory of driving over 2000 miles (I’m glad gas is a little cheaper!!!)

Memorable?  Yes!!!

I have friends who have a goal of going to all the major league baseball parks.  Others have goals of visiting as many National Parks as possible.  Other friends want to get to a Super Bowl, or to the National Hot Dog eating contest, or the US Open Tennis Tournament.  

Do you have similar goals?  Are there memories that you can share with your grandchildren and treasure in your heart?

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” (Maya Angelou)

SOME JOKES!!

What did the mayonnaise say when somebody opened the refrigerator? "Hey, close the door! I'm dressing!"

Time flies like an arrow… Fruit flies like a banana!

How do you make a good egg roll? You push it down a hill!

Apple is designing a new automatic car. But they're having trouble installing Windows!

That baseball player was such a bad sport. He stole third base and then just went home!

I've started sleeping in our fireplace. Now I sleep like a log!

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NATIONAL WAFFLE WEEK - September 4-10, 2022 - National Today

So, not just national waffle DAY - but national waffle WEEK!!!  I have fought weight gain my whole life - and waffles are my enemy!!  But, on my trip, I splurged twice and had waffles!!

Waffles have flour and little squares that demand that I fill them full of sugary syrup and (real) butter.  I like my waffles soggy - soft and gushy - and with about a million calories!!!  (See why waffles are my enemy!!) 

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Labor Day - September 5, 2022 - Everything You Need to Know about Labor Day (nationaltoday.com)

“Do you get weekends off work? Lunch breaks? Paid vacation? An eight-hour workday? Social security? If you said “yes” to any of these questions, you can thank labor unions and the U.S. labor movement for it. Years of hard-fought battles (and the ensuing legislation they inspired) resulted in many of the most basic benefits we enjoy at our jobs today. On the first Monday in September, we take the day off to celebrate Labor Day and reflect on the American worker’s contributions to our country. 

It seems that joining a labor union is on the rise with some Starbucks and other locations now having unions.

FIGHT PROCRASTINATION DAY - September 6, 2022 - National Today

I was going to celebrate Procrastination Day this year, but I'm going to wait until next year!!!

NATIONAL BEER LOVERS DAY - September 7, 2022 - National Today

I don’t drink a lot of beer and I don’t drink a lot of alcohol, but if I have an alcoholic drink, it will be a beer.  That used to be easy - but since I was 21 (way too many years ago), it seems like beer has taken off in a million directions - IPA, light beer, dark beer, flavored beer, microbreweries, and so many more.  (And, starting on September 24, then October 8, 15, 22, and 29 - you can celebrate Oktoberfest at Walburg and have a German beer!!! And, listen to the Brushy Creek Brass Band play!!!) 

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WORLD PHYSICAL THERAPY DAY - September 8, 2022 - National Today

Probably all of us have had physical therapy sometime over the years - after all, we are getting older!!!  Does it seem like some physical therapists like to see us in pain?

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SEPTEMBER

The original seventh-month “sept” was a prefix for seven - but the year started in March, so October was the eighth month and December was the tenth month - as the prefixes show).

It should be cooler, maybe even more rain, maybe save some electricity on air conditioning.  

Let’s all celebrate the end of a hot summer, let us love one another!!! Think about wearing school colors for September 8th, and about a night at Walburg!!  And Jean’s San Gabriel Women’s Club fundraising!!!  (I hope they have waffles!!!)

LOVE WINS!!!

Karen White, September 4, 2022, ©