80

 I had a note on my phone that I had written some time ago and I couldn't remember if I had used it as an entry on this blog.  So, I opened the blog and typed 80 in that little block up top with the magnifying glass in it.  Voila!  I got over 90 results.  As I always do, I sat and read them for a long time - more than an hour and a half.  Such great information.  Of course, I'm so witty.  (try it some time)

I couldn't find it, so here goes.

I'm 80.  Imagine you are 80.  Think about it.  How do you picture yourself?  How is your health?  Where are you and what are you doing to keep busy?  

I've always thought that one of the great attributes of successful people is the ability to see, or have a good vision of, the future.  I think anyone can get better at it.  Like everything else, it takes practice.  Don't be afraid.

Now for the main question.  What is it that the 80 year-old you would wish that the present-day you would change?  What changes would the 80 year-old you wish you had stopped postponing?  Okay, do it! ... for the sake of that 80 year-old.

SUNRISE, SUNSET

 There is a beautiful song from the play "Fiddler on the Roof" that is called "Sunrise, Sunset". It is sung by and for the father and mother at their children's wedding.  Here are the lyrics.  I've writen them as prose.  They touch me.  It is one of my daughters' birthday today but the sentiment goes for all four of my children and their spouses and their children, especially those about to marry.

Is this the little girl I carried?  Is this the little boy at play?  I don't remember growing older.  When did they?  

When did she get to be a beauty?  When did he grow to be so tall?  Wasn't it yesterday when they were small?  

Sunrise, Sunset.  Sunrise, Sunset.  Swiftly flow the days.  Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers; blossoming even as we gaze.  

Sunrise, Sunset.  Sunrise, Sunset.  Swiftly fly the years.  One season following another, laiden with happiness and tears.  What words of wisdom can I give them?  How can I help to ease their way?  

Now they must learn from one another day by day.  They look so natural together.  Just like two newlyweds should be.  Is there a canopy* in store for me?  

Sunrise, Sunset.  Sunrise, Sunset.  Swiftly fly the years.  One season following another, laiden with happiness and tears.

 * "canopy" refers to the traditional Jewish chuppah used during a wedding ceremony.  

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STACEY!

MIDWEEK PRAYER

Don't get hung up on the peripheral do's and don'ts.  Jesus told us specifically, that we must, most importantly, love God with all our hearts, all our souls and all our minds ... AND ... that we must love our neighbor as oursleves.  All the laws that really matter are contained in these two things.  

Lord, 

teach me to love, 

help me to love, 

and forgive me 

when I don't act with love,

when I don't speak with love,

when I fail to act when I should have.

Amen

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY

 You know you can look up any blog entry I've ever made.  It's not hard.  Well, I plugged Ireland into the search box and came up with a whole bunch - here are a few good ones.  Enjoy the day - be safe.

    6/10/2011

IRELAND

Did you know that County Clare in Ireland is three times larger than Butler      County, Ohio but has less than half the population?
  :o)

3/17/2018

WEEKEND LITURGY

Typically, on Saturdays, I write about Bible verses to be read at Catholic mass on the weekend.  Today, I'm diverging to my patron:  Saint Patrick.  Today is his day and it marks the end of Winter for me.  It was the end of "winter" for the Irish when Patrick brought the story of Christ to them. 

We celebrate this day. That's not a bad thing.  Celebration is good.  Many get drunker than snot.  That's okay too.  Just don't run into me on the roadway. 

You know there are no snakes in Ireland . . . unless you drink too much.  Then you might start seeing all kinds of strange and evil things.  Patrick brought Christian religion to Ireland and told them of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The Irish have been concentrating on the 'spirits' end of the message for a long time. 

Patrick baptized the Irish with water.  The English word 'whiskey' is an Anglicisation of the first word of the Gaelic phrase 'uisce beatha' which translates to 'water of life'.   Do you see where I'm going with this?  Have a Jameson and it will all come clear.  I wish you a great celebration today . . . be safe.
🍹

7/02/2020

THIS N THAT

Reportedly, the people of the Republic of Ireland have sent (so far) $1.8 million (collected via a "go fund me" account) to a Native American Indian tribe (the Choctaws) to help defray their expenses through the COVID-19 pandemic.  They say it is in repayment for money that tribe sent to Ireland in 1847 during the Potato Famine in which over a million Irish died.  The tribe sent $170 back then.  

1/21/2024

IRELAND OH IRELAND

 Sign in the window of an Irish pub.

Today's special

7-course Irish meal

Six pints and one potato

6/11/2011

IRELAND

Did you know that the whole country of Ireland is smaller than the US State of Ohio?
:o)

FLUIDITY

 The following is a map of Europe in 1926 - 100 years ago.  Fluidity is the quality of a substance or situation that allows it to flow - to change.  I've put this map here to remind everyone just how fluid the world can be - how fluid the nations are.  For the past several years, we have been upset with Russia for attacking Ukraine; for wanting part of that country for themselves.  How dare they not honor the border we see on our map!?  

I hope you can enlarge the map below and still read the names of the countries.  Number 1, you will not find Ukraine - didn't exist.  Belarus didn't exist. Czechoslovakia no longer exists - it become the Czech Republic and Slovokia.  Yugoslavia is gone and has become Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia - Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro.  These weren't the only changes, just the most obvious.  So many changes - most  brought about by war.  Did I mention that Kiev, the Capitol city of Ukraine, was located in the Soviet Union?

My point is, "Don't be so shocked when nations battle over borders.  Who is to say when the freeze takes place and no more border changes are allowed?  I am old enough to have seen changes before.  Much of the world that is aiding Ukraine is doing it for their own benefit - not the Ukraine people. Everyone seeks safety - most find it in the status quo.  Change can be scary.  I wont be surprised if that war ends with the Russians owning some ground that Ukraine thought was theirs."

PS:  BEFORE 1867, 159 YEARS AGO, ALASKA WAS PART OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE.

ANSWERS

I think I've mentioned before that I gave up watching news programs on TV from any network.  I do turn on the local news when I first get out of bed and turn to business news to see how the stock market is doing.  Other than that:  nada!  zilch!

So, have I mentioned how I do keep up with current events?  My main source is news I recieve in my e-mail each day.  I read from a source called "1440".  It's a free digest.  It's real easy once you get the hang of it.  They have only three main stories each day, they are fairly short and as unbiased as you can find.  They have connectors to other sources if you want those stories in greater depth.  Then they have a list of stories in which they only give one line of explanation but again offer a connection if you are interested.  I've really learned to like it.  

I heard an add this week for a new news service in which they explained how the news services from which we get information shape our thinking.  It's impossible to avoid it.  After you follow a particular news service for any period of time, you think they way they do.  Give "1440" a try.  Yes, you will have to read instead of listen; but it's short.  By the way, 1440 is the year the printing press started the knowledge revolution and the number of minutes in a day.  

Concerning Languages from the last Monday's QUIZ:   

1.  Kinyawanda is spoken in Rwanda (G)

2.  Tagalog is spoken in Philippines  (B)

3.  Amharic is spoken in Ethiopia  (F)

4.  Gujarati is spoken in parts of India  (C)

5.  Telugu is spoken in parts of India  (E)

6.  Dari is spoken in Afghanistan  (A)

7.  Pashto is spoken in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran  (D)

It's Friday the 13th!  What could go wrong?  Whatever, I still love you.  

 

AGING

I'm back on "aging" again.  I saw this on a video by a doctor.  These are five tests that this doctor gives to find out if you are doing well with the aging process.  Most of these have to do with the problem of falling.  Falls are often the first step on a steep and final decline for the elderly.

I know you are not all elderly but this would be a good check at any time of your life to see how you stack up.  These five tasks are not all easy, by any means.  Test yourself.  If you fall short, practice.  Do them over and over until you can measure up.  Good luck.

1.  From a seated position on a chair, stand up with your hands crossed over your chest.  Sounds easy enough but it takes some leg muscles.  I didn't have much trouble with it.  

2.  Walk backwards straight for 10 steps.  Keep your head forward.  Sounds like a DUI test, doesn't it?  I found it easy. 

3.  Stand on one foot for 30 seconds - no helping hands.  This was the hardest one for me.  30 seconds is a long time.  I'm going to keep practicing.

4.  Touch your toes without bending your knees.  There is no time in my life that I can remember being able to do this and now my belly makes it impossible.  I gave myself a pass on this one but I'm going to keep trying anyway.  

5.  Get up from lying down on the floor without help.  No using hands on other objects.  This takes a little work and thought but you can do it - I did.

That's it.  If you can do all these, you're not that old and you stand a good chance of avoiding falls. 

MIDWEEK PRAYER

There is a quote from the blessed lady, Saint Mother Teresa, that goes something like:  "We do not need to do great things, just little things with great love."  I think that's beautiful.  

Great love is more than an emotion, it is the state in which one would do anything good that needs to be done for another person.  One would put that person's well-being above their own.  That is love.  That is the test that proves their is love.  There is no greater example of love than when one person gives up his life for another.

Let us pray:  

Almighty Father,

I believe in you; 

You are my God and I am your child.

Like a good father, 

You have given me all that I have that is good.

Even more, You gave me and the world your Son.

Your Son gave us himself; his own human life

as an example and finally as a sacrifice; 

like a lamb which humanity slaughtered.  

He left us the "way"; the way to life after death in His church.

And rejoice, He left us the Spirit of God to guide us.

Let me always follow your "way" I pray.  

Amen

THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES

 It's almost universal in the animal world that the males of the species are more beautiful than the female.  According to Darwin, it has to do with the need to be attractive to females, to ensure finding a suitable partner, to fulfill the need to produce offspring and increase the population.  The ability and need to reproduce is built into every living thing.  

What about the human animal?  Females seem to be the ones with the need to be attractive to the males.  They spend at least 10 times as much time and money on the endeavor as men.  What happened to the great plan?  The really strange part is they never overcome the need to make themselves more attractive even when they are beyond the age to reproduce and have preselected a suitable partner.  Maybe, there is something else going on in their minds.  

It must be that women do not make themselves attractive for men only but for other women.  If so, what could the reason be?  It could have nothing to do with reproducing.  Didn't Darwin look at the human animal?  It seems there is a fallacy in his theorem.  

As for me:  I don't know the answer. All I can say is "Vive la difference"     

QUIZ

This quiz is based on my blog of 3/5/26, last Thursday.  I mused that no one would know who spoke some of the languages included in the entry.  I'm sure no one looked them up out of curiousity.  Now, if you want to be the big prize winner, you must be a good guesser or a user of AI or studious enough to search.

Here are the languages with the strange names:

1.  Kinyawanda

2.  Tagalog

3.  Amharic

4.  Gujarati

5.  Telugu

6.  Dari

7.  Pashto

 I have almost no clue who writes or speaks the above languages.  I did look them up and here are the answers:  Match them if you can.

A.  30.6 million people speak this language in Afghanistan

B.  Over 90 million people speak this language mostly in the Philippines

C.  63.8 million people speak this language in India

D.  35 to 55 million people speak this language in Afghanistan and Pakistan

E.  96 million people speak this language mostly in India (fastest growing language in the USA)

F.  38 million people speak this language as their first language in Ethiopia

G.  Over 20 million people speak this language mostly in Rowanda

SON DAY

 If you set your clocks an hour forward today, I promise to save that hour for you and give it back in the Fall when you might be able to make better use of it.   

Nice guy, aren't I?  

At least, say a prayer today.  I'm sure you know one.  If not, make one up - they're better that way - anyway.

BONUS QUIZ

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is holding a tournament this weekend at the Blue Bay Golf Club.  After the second day of competition, the following are the names of the top twenty-two contestants in order by scores. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to pick out the American players.  Good Luck.

1.   M. Lee

2.   Y. Liu

3.   A. Kim

4.   W. Zhang

4.   A. Furue

4.   A. Kim

7.   P. Phatlum. 

7.   M. Liu

7.   Y. Hwang

7.   A. Ashok

11. E. Henseleit

11. H. Choi

11. R. Yin

14. A. Pano

14. M. He

16. F. Kinhult

16. R. Choi 

16. J. Shin

16. R. Takeda

16. J. Bae

16. S. Zhou

16. C. Lopez-Chacarra Coto

Hint:  there are three.  🏌

NEW START

Are you ready for a new start.  N E W  S T A R T

This is what you need for good health.  These eight are important and can't be overlooked.  Test yourself to see if you are doing what is right for your mind and body.

1.  Nutrition       Are you eating properly?  the right variety, the right amount?

2.  Exercise        Are you getting the right amount of exercise?

3.  Water            Are you keeping your body well hydrated?

4.  Sunlight        Are you getting suficient sunlight on your skin?

5.  Temperance  Are you limiting your consumption of food, drink and drugs?

6.  Air                Are you getting outside to breath in the fresh air; doing deep breathing?

7.  Rest              Are you sleeping properly?  enough sleep?  restful sleep?

8.  Trust            Are you trusting yourself, your friends, your surroudings?  

NO?     Fix it!

LANGUAGES

 I receive in the mail a monthly statement about my Anthem health insurance accounting.  It's usually short, two pages  - - -  but, they send three additional pages of warnings.  Well, it's really just one warning.  It says "Attention, if you speak (insert a language), free language assistance services are available to you..."  than it gives instructions to get this assistance by calling the number on your health card.  You wouldn't think it would take three pages, typed on both sides, to get this note across.  It does because they repeat the note 29 times in 29 different written languages.  TWENTY-NINE

Here is the way I break them down:  besides English, the ones which use our alphabet are Spanish, Dutch, French, German, Hatian Creole, Italian, Kinyarwanda, Somali, Swahili, Tagalog, Turkish, Uzbek and Vietnamese.  Three use the extended alphabet including the Russians, Serbians and the Ukraine.  Four languages that use the little pictures that mean something; a letter, a word or a group of words:  Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Japanese, and Korean.  Then we have the languages that use something that, well,  I have no Idea what to call it.  Let's say they use little squiggles:  Amharic, Gujarati, and Telugu.  Now we have two with little squiggles underneath a line:  Nepali and Hindi.  Last but not least, we have little squiggles read backwards (right to left):  Arabic, Dari and Pashto.  

I'm amazed that Anthem has customers that read all those languages.  I'm amazed they have employees who speak all these languages.  I'm amazed there exists so many languages.  Who even knows where they speak these languages?

I'm thinking this world is not close to ending because I've always pictured everyone speaking the same language in the end.