NO HORSING AROUND

What picture comes to your mind when thinking about the indigenous American Indian?  Well, here's a factor you should consider.

There were horse-like creatures in our hemisphere as far back as 55 million years ago.  These creatures were similar but not really horses as we know them.  In any case, they went extinct about 10-12,000 years ago due to climate changes and, maybe, hunting by humans.  There were no horses in the Americas from that time until 1493, when, on his second trip, Columbus carried a few here.  The Europeans had developed the horse and found out how to tame, ride and use them for agriculture and warfare.  

So understand, the indigenous people we called Indians had no idea what a horse was until the Europeans arrived.  Tribes of the eastern US, east of the Mississippi, had no horses, or very few, ever.  

The big influx of horses came to the Americas with the Spanish military conquest of Mexico beginning in 1519.  The horses the Spanish brought and dispersed spread northward into the land now called the western USA.  Escaped horses, we call mustangs, formed large herds on the Great Plains.  It wasn't until the early 1600s that the Indians of the western and northern regions began acquiring and integrating these horses into their cultures.  

The tribes that best conquered the use of horses were the most powerful. When the Europeans spread westward using horses to pull wagons, the Indians had no idea who they were.  To them, they were the same as other tribes trying to take their land.   Then, the migrating Europeans introduced them to the gun - but that's another story.

MIDWEEK PRAYER

For today, a week before the start of the Lenten season,  I choose a morning prayer written by and for the Missionary Sisters of Charity in Yemen.  It would be a good prayer any morning.

Lord, teach me to be generous,

Teach me to serve you as you deserve;

to give and not to count the cost,

to fight and not to heed the wounds,

to toil and not to seek for rest,

to labor and not to ask for reward.

Thank you.

CHANGES

 I've lived a long time so I've, naturally, seen a lot of changes.  Changes don't phase me that much but the rate of change does.  Ideas come so quickly for an old fart like me.  The changes in our society come so slowly.  

When I was very young, I lived in an all-white, all-christian community and it wasn't that way by accident.  Sadly, there was nothing covert about it.  Blacks had been set free eighty (80) years before I was born.  As I grew up, those with darker skin were still trying to attain status and privileges that lighter-skinned people had.  I was twenty when a Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress to protect all individuals from descrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.  Now I'm eighty and it still seems that the change is not complete.  How long should things take?  Laws don't do it.  They help, but don't make it so.  Only generations can make it work.  

Women received the right to vote in the U.S. in 1920 by the 19th amendment to our constistution.  That was 145 years after our country was established. When I was very young, my mother never worked.  Very few women worked ouitside the home.  World War II had pushed women into the factories and showed they could work. The House and Senate approved an Equal Rights amendment in 1971 and '72 that would guarantee women the same rights as men.  By our Constitution, three quarters of the states have to approve the amendment to make it law.  That has never happened!  We can't get 38 states to agree that women should have the same rights as men. OMG!  How slowly changes are made.  Laws don't do it.  They help but don't make it so.  Only generations can make it work.

In the last thirty years of my life, new causes have arisen; the rights of gays was out front.  They were joined by a myriad of other special cases (lesbians, gays, bi-sexuals, trans, queers, and more) - all seeking equal rights and equal protection.   Being impatient is normal but don't expect much to happen too quickly.  Laws don't do it.  They help but don't make it so.  Only generations can make it work.  

QUIZ

 Well, we've about had it with snow this year in southwest Ohio.  I think we've had enough for several years.  Snow probably got called some rather coarse names this year by those of us who had to deal with it.  You probably think you've heard about it too many times already but I'm giving it one last harrah.

Give me a number of how many words you can make with the word "snow" in them.  I'll give you one: SNOWFLAKE.  Comment the number you came up with - you can use snowflake.  Don't jumble the letters - be able to read the word "snow".  Real words, now!  Hyphenated words don't count - proper names don't count.  Adding 's' to make a plural doesn't count.  I'll have my list on Friday's entry.  

Who thinks our snow will be totally melted by Friday?

SON DAY

 Yes, it is the Son's Day, God's son.  Be friends with Him.  

It is also, the birthdate of my third grandchild; of course, another grandson.  Congratulations to his parents for their work in bringing him to us.  Congratulations to his wife for sustaining him in the chill of North Dakota and for carrying his greatest gift.  Happy Birthday, BEN.

ANSWERS

 Last Monday's "QUIZ" asked you to choose which countries in my list were in the Northern Hemisphere and which are in the Southern Hemisphere.

ANSWER:  All of the listed countries are completely in the Northern Hemisphere - just like me.  Were you surprised about any of them?

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

 So much great information, all in one spot.

  1.  Birds don't pee

  2.  Bats can't walk

  3.  Ants never sleep

  4.  White polar bears have black skin

  5.  Honeybees have two stomachs - one for food and one for honey.

Surely this little nugget is worth the price you paid to visit my blog.

MIDWEEK PRAYER

 Last May, a card was produced noting the election of a new Pope.   Included was a prayer, written by St. Augustine, who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries.  Augustine, a theologian and philosopher, is recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church as well as the Lutheran Church and the Anglican Church.  The prayer is directed to the Holy Spirit, a distinct member of the Trinity;  the "Giver of Life", who proceeds from the Father and Son, who with the Father and Son is adored and glorified.

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,

That my thoughts may all be holy.

Act in me, O Holy Spirit,

That my work, too, may be holy.

Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit,

That I love but what is holy.

Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit,

To defend all that is holy.

Guard me, then O Holy Spirit,

That I always may be holy.

PREPARATION

"BE PREPARED"  This is the motto of the Boy Scouts of America.  It's great advice and a good thing to keep in mind all through your life.

I heard Elon Musk say, in essence, that even though the intrinsic purpose of a rocket launch may be to put something or some people into orbit, the planners have to keep in mind that every rocket flight is an opportunity to learn more for the next flight.  That's real preparation.  

In your life, every step you take will move you in one direction or another but it can also be an opportunity to learn. Each decision we make should make the next decision a better one.  Think about that during your day.

Give this a try.  Figure out what you can learn while you're doing a daily chore.  Ask yourself if there might be a better way of doing it.  Try something new - a different way of doing something you often do.  You just might really learn something.  There is always "a better way".  Test yourself - - test what you do.  Make changes.  If not good, try others.  Ultimately, be prepared.

QUIZ

 This is easy and not so much a quiz as a list to test yourself.  You could look up the answers but what fun would that be.  At least give it a try.

For ease of locating things, we divide the Earth up into hemispheres.  A hemisphere is one half of the whole.  I live in the Northern Hemisphere.  The Southern Hemisphere is determined by the Equator.  The Equator is an imaginary line that divides the world in two - half in the North and half in the South.  

So here is the test.  I'm giving you a list of countries near the equator.  All you have to do is say if you think they are in the Northern Hemisphere or the Southern Hemisphere.  Okay?  I'll give you the answers on Friday if you don't want to look them up before that.

1.  Vietnam (Southeast Asia)

2.  Panama  (Central America)

3.  Nigeria (Africa)

4.  Iran (Western Asia)

5.  Venezuala (South America)

6.  Ethiopia  (Africa)

7.  India  (South Asia)

8.  Greenland (😂)

Do you think the groundhog had the nerve to peek out of his hole, today?  He could get a frostbitten nose.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACOB!  

ANSWERS

 Here are the answers to Monday's quiz.  

1  1776  USA

2  1788  City of Cincinnati founded

3  1790  Hamilton County founded

4  1809  Miami University founded

5  1819  University of Cincinnati founded

6  1831  Xavier University founded

7  1837  Procter & Gamble founded

8  1841  Cincinnati Enquirer founded

9  1860  U.S. Civil War began

10 1865  U.S. Civil War ended

11 1867  Suspension Bridge opened

12 1878  Music Hall Opened

13 1883  Kroger Company founded

INFORMATION

When I worked, I prided myself in always being aware of every bit of news available.  I could talk on almost any current event subject.  Now, you may be aware that some time ago I stopped watching all national news programs, reading newspapers and most local news programs.  It has left me quite uninformed ... I think it's better than being misinformed.   

:)

MIDWEEK PRAYER

The snow this weekend reminded me of a Bible verse - one I had heard a long time ago.  It is in the Book of Job.  (That's not pronounced "job" but "Jobe")  Job was a good man who lived long before Jesus.  He's the one whom we remember when we say someone has the patience of Job.  He always tried to do the right thing but his life was one disaster after another.  All Job's friends assumed he was doing evil things because they assumed God rewarded good people and punished the bad on Earth.  Job didn't know what to think but he never wavered from doing what was right.  Job actually got mad at God for letting so much evil befall him.  God eventually showed Job a vision explaining His divine power and goodness.  He then understood the wisdom and mercy of God.  Here are a few lines from the 37th verse of the book, starting with line 5.

"At God's command amazing things happen, wonderful things that we can't understand.  He commands snow to fall on the earth and sends torrents of drenching rain.  He brings the work of men to a stop; he shows them what he can do.  The wild animals go to their dens, the storm winds come from the south and the biting cold from the north.  The breath of God freezes the waters, and turns them to solid ice.  Lightning flashes from the clouds, as they move at God's will.  They do all that God commands, everywhere throughout the earth; he may send it to punish men, or to show them his favor."

EMBARRASSING MOMENTS

 I was never very shy in front of a microphone.  I hosted events at church and school funtions, did readings in church, was chairman of business organizations. announced a peewee football game or two, and was master of ceremonies at sports league banquets.  No, I wasn't shy.  

Once, at a varsity basketball game at Fenwick High School, I was asked at the last minute to announce.  Of course, I agreed.  Someone would be next to me keeping track of fouls, team fouls and time-outs.  No big deal.  I just had to talk.  

I'm now reminded of a famous saying that I just love.  "It is better to keep your mouth shut and seem a fool than it is to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

The first thing an announcer has to do is introduce the starting line-ups.  The other team gave me theirs very nicely.  For Fenwick, I had a program listing all the players.  When the teams are being announced, the two referees position themselves at each end of the midcourt line.  One was directly in front of me.  I was going real good, sounding professional, like (for example) "At center, 6-3 senior forward Joe Smith." .

 Well, I was searching through the whole list of players for each starter.  I thought I had them marked but I got to a point and couldn't find the fifth starter.  I looked and looked.  The crowd became testy.  I sweated. To top it all off, the referee right in front of me turned and asked "Are you guys going to play with only four, tonight?"  I was mortified.

I finished the night but never tried it again.