Thoroughbred Horse Rich Strike is 4!

 Happy Birthday!  Rich Strike won the 2022 Kentucky Derby with an 80-1 odds of winning. He was foaled 4 years ago on April 25, 2019, at Calumet Farm, KY

Below is a short video of the story of Rich Strike's historic win in the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby.  "Ritchie"  remains interesting whether he ever wins again, or not.

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Why Did America Fight the Korean War?

 Makes one wonder about the consequence of America's lack of intervention in Russia's invasion of Ukraine 😦😟😳 😮

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Rich Strike: Thoroughbred Got in the Kentucky Derby Race by 1 Point

Once thoroughbred racehorse Rich Strike was claimed (purchased) last September, and deemed by both his owner and trainer a good-enough horse for the Kentucky Derby in May 2022, he was scheduled to run races to get him to qualify. 

A race called John Battaglia Memorial Stakes was pivotal as one looks back at how Rich Strike got to where he is as the Winner of the Kentucky Derby.  Bottom line: there Rich Strike got what he needed to be #21 on the also-eligible list to run in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby  

At the last possible minute, another horse couldn't run the race, Rich Strike got in --- was given the odds of winning at 80 to 1 --- and the rest is horse-racing history. It was incredible!!!

Rich Strike, Thoroughbred Racehorse

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WW2: Hero Dog, Judy the Pointer

 Judy, a purebred pointer, was the mascot of several ships in the Pacific, and was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and taken to a prison camp. There she met Aircraftsman Frank Williams, who shared his small portion of rice with her.

Judy raised morale in the POW camp, and also barked when poisonous snakes, crocodiles or even tigers approached the prisoners. When the prisoners were shipped back to Singapore, she was smuggled out in a rice sack, never whimpering or betraying her presence to the guards.

The next day, that ship was torpedoed. Williams pushed Judy out of a porthole in an attempt to save her life, even though there was a 15-foot drop to the sea. He made his own escape from the ship, but was then recaptured and sent to a new POW camp.

pc: wikipedia

He didn't know if Judy had survived, but soon he began hearing stories about a dog helping drowning men reach pieces of debris after the shipwreck. And when Williams arrived at the new camp, he said: "I couldn’t believe my eyes! As I walked through the gate, a scraggly dog hit me square between the shoulders and knocked me over. I’d never been so glad to see the old girl!"

They spent a year together at that camp in Sumatra. "Judy saved my life in so many ways," said Williams. "But the greatest of all was giving me a reason to live. All I had to do was look into those weary, bloodshot eyes and ask myself: 'What would happen to her if I died?' I had to keep going."

Once hostilities ceased, Judy was then smuggled aboard a troopship heading back to Liverpool. In England, she was awarded the Dickin Medal (the "Victoria Cross" for animals) in May 1946. Her citation reads: "For magnificent courage and endurance in Japanese prison camps, which helped to maintain morale among her fellow prisoners, and also for saving many lives through her intelligence and watchfulness".

pc: wikipedia

At the same time, Frank Williams was awarded the PDSA's White Cross of St. Giles for his devotion to Judy. Frank and Judy spent a year after the war visiting the relatives of English POWs who had not survived, and Frank said that Judy "always provided a comforting presence to the families."

When Judy finally died at the age of 13, Frank spent two months building a granite and marble memorial in her memory, which included a plaque describing her life story.

our beloved Mr Bubbles ❤

Pointer (dog breed)

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International Pineapple Day 2021 and History of Colada

 It's the Pineapple's day to be recognized!  Reminds me of one of the main ingredients of a favorite cocktail drink of mine, the ever popular Piña Colada ... 

3-ingredient Pina Colada

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit... ( Ephesians 5 )

On This Day: June 27th

Piña Colada

History: Colada cocktails

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International Bath Day 2021

 June 14th is International Bath Day!!

History of International Bath Day

Legend has it that on June 14th, Greek mathematician, scientist, and scholar, Archimedes, discovered while taking a bath that an object’s volume could be accurately measured by being submerged in water! Unable to contain his excitement over this discovery, Archimedes leaped out of the bathtub and yelled, “Eureka, Eureka!” as he ran through the streets of Syracuse, Greece. Since the exact date of Archimedes’ birth was unknown, the day chosen to commemorate is the day that is believed he kept out of the bathtub….June 14th.

How was this date determined? The ancient Greek legend says that it was exactly one week before the beginning of summer…the calendar in those days was astronomical, and seasons were determined due to the 23.5-degree tilt of the Earth’s rotational axis in relation to its orbit around the sun. Summer began (then and today) on June 21st, so a week before is June 14th, and this was the date set. 

We would like to recognize this day because we believe that bath time is the IDEAL time for learning and discovery for children. Bath toys can teach children the basic properties of physics such as empty/full, float/sink, heavy/light, and cause and effect all while having FUN in the tub!

As we know, the world has evolved constantly, and this is also just as true for the way we bathe. While this may sound insane, it really isn’t. When it comes to bathing, if we look back only 100 years, the whole concept of bathing in some countries was not a relaxing one at all; in fact, it was downright uncomfortable.

In 19th century England, a bath in many cases was a large cold metal container placed in front of a fireplace, and in some countries, this is still the case believe it or not.

Now when we look at bath time, it’s something to look forward to, drawing a nice bubble bath doesn’t end with the simple things. There are now bathtubs with jets for a hot tub-like experience, and the 21st century has really seen a rise in the sales of essential oils for those looking for a little something extra from their bath.

Taking all of this into account, it seems that over the next 20 years, things are going to advance even more, and with the creation of temperature regulation devices for bathtubs, you will never be pained with a cold bath ever again.

pc: unknown

So, no matter what your ideal bath may be, you should remember that the evolution of the bathtub has come a long way, so you should embrace the power of the bath and really treat yourself this International Bath Day.  - by Days of the Year

Days of the Year

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Crossing A Rubicon

According to Suetonius, Caesar uttered the famous phrase alea iacta est ("the die is cast"). The phrase "crossing the Rubicon" has survived to refer to any individual or group committing itself irrevocably to a risky or revolutionary course of action, similar to the modern phrase "passing the point of no return." Caesar's decision for swift action forced Pompey, the consuls and a large part of the Roman Senate to flee Rome in fear. Caesar's subsequent victory in Caesar's civil war ensured that punishment for the infraction would never be rendered. This took place during the time of the Roman Republic. - Wikipedia

From an email concerning Money Management (which deserves its own separate post, but the phrase is explained within its context):

We were broke!

How could this be possible? We weren't living extravagantly (at least it didn't seem that way). But, numbers don't lie.

I realized that we needed to do something - and do it quickly - if we were to avoid disaster.

Larry and I discussed our situation. We were out of time - out of money - and out of options.

We were heartbroken and we felt like failures.

That day, we vowed that we would learn how to handle money, figure out how to budget, and live within our means.

We had crossed our Rubicon.

If you've never heard that phrase, it refers to a day in 49 BC.

Julius Caesar was making the Senate in Rome mighty nervous. He had been sent to keep order in a a far off post of the Empire. Julius had apparently been quite popular and had amassed a collection of soldiers, dedicated to serving him (and not necessarily Rome).

The Senate quickly called Julius back to home base. He was told not to cross the Rubicon River with his new band of fighting warriors in tact. He had a choice to make. Would he follow the directives of Rome or cross the river, thus beginning a war with the Senate (and the mightiest empire on the face of the earth)?

He chose to cross the river - with his men.

Thus, to this day, making a decision from which you will not retreat is referred to as, "Crossing your Rubicon".

from Hope, Under the Median

What's my most recent Rubicon or point of no return?  I am committed to moving forward in Life; and lessening my dependence, longing, or bondage to the Past. Too much time and energy looking back  has brought me nothing but tears, anger, malice and guilt, sigh  😕😢😒 

God help me!

 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Philippians 4

Gaius Julius Caesar 

Ides of March

Under the Median

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US Political Life 2021: Lessons Learned from 5 Roman Emperors

Unlocking the Bible,
 by Pastor Colin Smith
A study of Romans 12 during these troubling, uncertain political times.

"Overcoming Evil with Good"




5 Roman Emperors:
(spans approx. 70 years after Christ's birth)

1.  Emperor Augustus  ( 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14)
     Reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (Luke 2:1)

2. Emperor Tiberius (6 November 42 BC – 16 March 37 AD)

   Year 29 AD: the start of Jesus' ministry.
    Reigned from 14 AD to 37 AD

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene ... (Luke 3)

3.  Emperor Caligula (31 August 12 – 24 January 41 AD)
     Reigned as emperor from AD 37 to AD 41.  
    4 traumatic years

He had an illness that affected him deeply and turned him into a tyrant, thus increasingly losing his mind.  Ordered an altar built for himself.  Believed he was a god.  
Roman secular historian, SUETONIUS wrote that Caligula ordered all statues of gods from around the Roman empire should be brought back to Rome.  Heads cut off, images on faces and new heads s/b of Caligula.  A golden statue in the temple had to be dressed like him daily.  There were excesses, indulgences, orgies.  Caligula spent all of the assets/money of the state passed on by Emperor Tiberius.  

 A man ought to be either a good economist, or an Emperor - - Caligula

Four years later, Emperor Caligula was assassinated by 2 members of his Guards

4.  Emperor Claudius (1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54)
reigned as Emperor  from AD 41 to 54

Gave edict regarding Jews -- that all Jews depart from Rome.  Yet, there was somewhat of a relief after Emperor Caligula.  Priscilla & Aquila had moved to Corinth because Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart Rome.

 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;

 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. (Acts 18:1,2)

5.  Emperor Nero (15 December 37 – 9 June 68 AD)
The year was 54 AD.  His Uncle was Emperor Claudius.  Nero ruled for 15 years.  He committed suicide at age 32.  

•  Nero had a good singing voice.  Historian, Suetonius, wrote that spectators even pretended to be dead in order to be carried out of Nero's ego-filled shows
• Nero was a man of extraordinary cruelty.  He arranged for the murder of his first wife, his aunt, and of his mother.
• Nero married 5x ... to 3 women ... and to 2 men ... over the course of 15 years.

"The whole of [Nero's] life was one continual scene of lewdness, sensuality, cruelty and folly." -- Suetonius

What were the CHRISTIANS up to?

At 33 AD the Church was "born".  The next 30 years, as recorded in the Book of Acts, were years during the reign of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.

The Book of Romans, was written by the Apostle Paul in Corinth during Winter of year 56-57 AD.  Romans 12 was written when Nero was Emperor - - wow!!  Apostle Paul wrote Believers to submit to governing authorities (during the reign of Nero!). 

Shortly after the Book of Romans was written, false charges were brought against the Apostle Paul in Caesarea and he was arrested.  But Paul was a Roman citizen.  Any Roman citizen charged with a crime had the Right of Appeal to be tried in Rome itself, rather than in a conquered province.  See Acts 25:11 

"... I appeal unto Caesar." 

Two years after AD 60-61, the Apostle Peter was in Rome.  While he was there, he wrote 1 Peter.  Moved by the Holy Spirit, Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:12 (AD 63)

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

Peter was prophetically speaking about the great fire of Rome which happened in AD 64 -- one year later.

Tacitus, Roman historian, wrote that only 4 of the 14 Roman precincts were unaffected by the fire.  As Rome burned, Nero sang.  Thus, the famous saying,  "Fiddling while Rome burned."

People knew that Nero was behind the fire.  Thus, Nero needed a scapegoat -- Christians!

Tacitus:  To scotch the rumour, Nero punished with utmost cruelty, a class of men whom the crowd styled, "Christians".  Christians were arrested ...  vast majority convicted ... for hatred of the human race.

Their death was made a matter of sport... Hence there arose a feeling of pity toward Christians.  Their death was to satisfy the savagery of one man ...

This was only 6 years after Paul's appeal to the Emperor.

Christians have been here in these evil, uncertain times before.  

Christians are here today, but the ROMAN EMPIRE is not -- Pastor Colin Smith

Tertullian (c. 155 – c. 240 AD), Christian writer, was the first to call Nero the first persecutor of Christians.

"Examine your records.  There you will find that Nero was the first that persecuted this doctrine." (Tertullian, wikipedia).

Emperor Augustus

Emperor Tiberius

Emperor Caligula

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus

Emperor Claudius

Emperor Nero

Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus

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Potato or Potatoe??

Potatoes -- one of today's favorite foods -- were once considered poisonous "devil's apples."  Originally grown in the Peruvian Andes, papas were dismissed by the Spanish conquistadors as "primitive."  But when food became scarce and the conquerors were forced to eat them, their opinion changed.

Europeans initially balked at these "edible stones."  Farmers grew them, but only to feed their livestock.

Happy National Potato Day!

The potato's popularity began to rise after Frenchman Antoine Parmentier promoted their nutritional value, crediting the staple for his survival when he was imprisoned during the Seven Years' War.  The potato enthusiast made sure Benjamin Franklin had a helping at a banquet in Paris in 1767.  Impressed by their taste and versatility, the statesman spread the word back home and the potato effectively pushed turnips and rutabagas off the plate.
(- Have a Good Day, June 2018)

A raw potato is 79% water,  

17% carbohydrates (88% is starch),  

2% protein, and contains negligible fat - wikipedia

Tomb of Antoine Parmentier – Père Lachaise Cemetery

And having food and raiment 

let us be therewith content.

1 Timothy 6:8

POTATO

Antoine-Augustin Parmentier

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A Lesson From the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Lessons that will cost practically nothing to implement:

By Danish Hameed

When new virulent diseases emerge, such as SARS and Covid-19, scientists and labs begin to find new vaccines and treatments for those affected. As the current crisis unfolds, governments are enforcing quarantine and isolation and public gatherings are being discouraged. Health officials took the same approach 100 years ago, when influenza was spreading around the world. Though the results were mixed, records from the 1918 pandemic suggest that a few things proved quite helpful while dealing with influenza. Some hard-won experience from the greatest pandemic in recorded history could help us in the weeks and months ahead in view of the COVID 19.
In 1918, it was recorded that severely ill flu patients nursed outdoors recovered better than those treated indoors. A combination of fresh air and sunlight seems to have prevented deaths among patients and infections among medical staff. There is scientific support for this and research show that outdoor air is a natural disinfectant. Fresh air can kill the flu virus and other harmful germs. Equally, sunlight is germicidal and there is now evidence that it can kill the flu virus as well.

Open-Air’ Treatment in 1918
During the great pandemic, two of the worst places were military barracks and troop-ships. Overcrowding and bad ventilation put soldiers and sailors at high risk of catching influenza and the other infections that often followed it. As with the current Covid-19 outbreak, most of the victims of so-called `Spanish flu’ did not die from influenza: they died of pneumonia and other complications.
When the influenza pandemic reached the East coast of the United States in 1918, the city of Boston was particularly badly hit. So the State Guard set up an emergency hospital. They took in the worst cases among sailors on ships in Boston harbour. The hospital’s medical officer had noticed the most seriously ill sailors had been in badly-ventilated spaces. So he gave them as much fresh air as possible by putting them in tents. And in good weather they were taken out of their tents and put in the sun. At that time, it was a common practice to keep sick soldiers outdoors.
Open-air therapy, as it was known, was widely brought into use when dealing with patients from the Western Front. And it became the treatment of choice for another common and often deadly respiratory infection of the time; tuberculosis. Patients were put outside in their beds to breathe fresh outdoor air. Or they were nursed in cross-ventilated wards with the windows open day and night. The open-air regimen remained popular until antibiotics replaced it in 1950s.
Doctors who had first-hand experience of open-air therapy at the hospital in Boston were convinced that the regimen was effective and the same technique was adopted elsewhere. If one report, that was published in this regard, is correct, the treatment reduced deaths among hospital patients from 40 per cent to about 13 per cent. According to the Surgeon General of the Massachusetts State Guard: “`The efficacy of open air treatment has been absolutely proven, and one has only to try it to discover its value.”

Fresh Air is a Disinfectant
Patients treated outdoors were less likely to be exposed to the infectious germs that are often present in conventional hospital wards. They were breathing clean air in what must have been a largely sterile environment. We know this because, in the 1960s, Ministry of Defence scientists proved that fresh air is a natural disinfectant. Something in it, which they called the Open Air Factor, is far more harmful to airborne bacteria — and the influenza virus — than indoor air. They couldn’t identify exactly what the Open Air Factor is. But they found it was effective both at night and during the daytime.
Their research also revealed that the Open Air Factor’s disinfecting powers can be preserved in enclosures — if ventilation rates are kept high enough. Significantly, the rates they identified are the same ones that cross-ventilated hospital wards, with high ceilings and big windows, were designed for. But by the time the scientists made their discoveries, antibiotic therapy had replaced open-air treatment. Since then the germicidal effects of fresh air have not featured in infection control, or hospital design. Yet harmful bacteria have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics.

Sunlight and Influenza Infection
Putting infected patients out in the sun may have helped because it inactivates the influenza virus. It also kills bacteria that cause lung and other infections in hospitals. During the First World War, military surgeons routinely used sunlight to heal infected wounds. They knew it was a disinfectant. What they didn’t know is that one advantage of placing patients outside in the sun is that they can synthesise vitamin D in their skin if sunlight is strong enough. This was not discovered until the 1920s. Low vitamin D levels are now linked to respiratory infections and may increase susceptibility to influenza. Also, our body’s biological rhythms appear to influence how we resist infections. New researches suggest that they can alter our inflammatory response to the flu virus. As with vitamin D, at the time of the 1918 pandemic, the important part played by sunlight in synchronizing these rhythms was not known.
 https://thekashmirimages.com/2020/03/16/a-lesson-from-the-1918-influenza-pandemic/

Spanish Flu 1918

A Lesson From the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Spain Becomes 4th Most Coronavirus-infected Nation

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C. S. Lewis on the Coronavirus

C. S. Lewis (72 years ago) on the Coronavirus :

Just replace "atomic bomb" with COVID-19 (abbreviation for coronavirus disease 2019)

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

pc: wikipedia

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds. 

“On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948) in Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays

COVID-19

Coronavirus Disease 2019

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Christmas 2019: Nuts for Nutcrackers

Went  a little crazy for cute Nutcrackers this year.  It began when my children bought me a MacKenzie-Childs embroidered Nutcracker Brigade lumbar pillow for my birthday in October (it has since been sold-out at their web site).  I then bought Nutcracker disposable paper place mats by Hester & Cook for a dinner here at home. We attended my friends' party for her granddaughter which had Nutcracker as its theme. Party favors were Nutcracker cookies made by the ever-talented Ashley.  I purchased Nutcrackers at 50% off at Hobby Lobby, yay! 
I saw Nutcrackers everywhere! The only thing missing is for me to watch the Nutcracker Ballet by Tchaikovsky live and in color. It's been years.

my friend's collection on display

Nutcracker dolls, also known as Christmas nutcrackers, are decorative nutcracker figurines most commonly made to resemble a toy soldier... While nearly all nutcrackers from before the first half of the 20th century are functional, a significant proportion of modern nutcrackers are primarily decorative, and not able to crack nuts. - wikipedia

Other than the MC pillow, my  personal favorite is the black Nutcracker.  He is dressed as a kingly Magi.  His outfit is beautifully & vibrantly colored. He was the only one of his kind at the Hobby Lobby store. 

pc: Hester & Cook

pc: Facebook

In him was life; and the life 

was the light of men.

John 1:4

Nutcracker Brigade Pillow

Nutcracker Doll

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