SUN FUN - SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 2023

 SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 2023 

SUNDAY FUNDAY

WARM-UP

We are a full week into June.  School’s out, kids and families are out and about, and traffic is heavy!!!  

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Last Tuesday was D-Day - Hitler’s Germany had pushed to control most of Germany.  Something I read suggested that he wanted to delay the expected invasion from England until he solved the Russian front.  

From Today in History (History Channel):

“On June 6, 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for the largest amphibious military operation in history: Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of northern France, commonly known as D-Day.

By daybreak, 18,000 British and American parachutists were already on the ground. An additional 13,000 aircraft were mobilized to provide air cover and support for the invasion. At 6:30 a.m. American troops came ashore at Utah and Omaha beaches. 

“The British and Canadians overcame light opposition to capture Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches; so did the Americans at Utah. The task was much tougher at Omaha beach, however, where the U.S. First Division battled high seas, mist, mines, burning vehicles—and German coastal batteries, including an elite infantry division, which spewed heavy fire. Many wounded Americans ultimately drowned in the high tide. British divisions, which landed at Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches, and Canadian troops also met with heavy German fire.”

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My brother-in-law’s dad was one of those 18,000 parachutists jumping into France.  (And, then my brother-in-law followed in his father’s footprints - jumping into the jungles of Vietnam)

It seems that Hitler was a real monster.  “The Holocaust was Nazi Germany's deliberate murder of approximately six million European Jews and at least five million prisoners of war.”

Germany after World War I was devastated and humiliated for a war that they really didn’t lose.  “The most widely studied hyperinflation occurred in Germany after World War I. The ratio of the German price index in November 1923 to the price index in August 1922—just fifteen months earlier—was 1.02 × 1010. This huge number amounts to a monthly inflation rate of 322 percent. 

(We see inflation of 2 or 3 percent and complain.  An inflation rate of 300% would mean a loaf of bread that cost $1 at the start of the month, would cost over $4 at the end of the month!!  If you had a fixed income (like Social Security) $100 at the first of the month would be about the same as $25 at the end of the month!!)

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Aside, at Quinnipiac University we had a visiting professor from Belarus twice.  He talked of buying American Dollars at the first of the month and then cashing them in when needed.  By the end of the month, an American Dollar would be worth about $1.75!!!

I took my friend, his wife, and two friends to dinner in Minsk in 2009.  It was an 87,000 Belarusian Ruble dinner (or about $40 USD at that time!!!).  It does sound more impressive to say “I paid over 80,000 for a dinner of 5!!!”

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Many of your parents and grandparents lived through World War I, the Great Depression, and then World War II.  Some have called them “The Greatest Generation”!!!

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Next Wednesday is Flag Day.  Betsy Ross made the first American Flag with 13 stripes and 13 stars.  The same format exists - but with 50 stars.  (Will that ever change?  What if Puerto Rico became the 51st state?)

In my small town in South Dakota, the local Elks Club sponsored a Flag Day ceremony on the courthouse square.  The community band (with my tuba, my son on percussion, and my daughter on the flute) played patriotic songs for the program.  

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And, in less than a month, we’ll have Independence Day - more commonly known as “The Fourth of July”.  Let’s celebrate 247 years as a nation!!!  2026 will mark the United States semiquincentennial or 250th anniversary.

Meanwhile, let's enjoy the summer!!!

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JOKES

What did the horse say after it tripped? Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t giddyup!

Why can’t you hear a pterodactyl going to the bathroom? Because the “P” is silent

What do you call a well-balanced horse? Stable.

What do you call an angry carrot? A steamed veggie.

Where do polar bears keep their money? In a snowbank.

How do you make an egg-roll? You push it!

What would bears be without bees? Ears.

What do you call a pile of cats? A meow-ntain.

Why do cows wear bells? Because their horns don’t work.

Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two tired.

What did the triangle say to the circle? You’re pointless.

I ordered a chicken and an egg online. I’ll let you know what comes first.

Why was Cinderella so bad at soccer? She kept running away from the ball!

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In the summer of 1960 this week’s top music, 

1 - Connie Francis - Everybody is Somebody’s Fool

2- Everly Brothers - Cathy’s Clown

3 - Hollywood Argyles - Alley Oop

4 - Jack Scott - Burning Bridges

5 - Brenda Lee - I’m sorry

And, in the summer of 1965

1- Four Tops - Sugar Pie Honey Bunch

2 - The Byrds  - Mr. Tambourine Man

3- Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs - Wooly Bully 

4 - Elvis Presley - Crying in the Chapel

5 - The Supremes - Back in my arms again 

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What’s up

Flag Day - Wednesday, June 14

Juneteenth - Monday, June 19th

Summer Solstice - Wednesday June 21st

Independence Day - Tuesday, July 4th

BLESSINGS!!!

Karen White

June 11, 2023