Author: mikeljohnston1 (Page 75 of 269)
In the year 1937, Amelia Mary Earhart mysteriously disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during a circumnavigation flight, while the German airship Hindenburg bursts into flames while attempting to moor at Lakehurst, New Jersey, and Aviator Howard Hughes breaks his own transcontinental flight speed record when he flies from Los Angeles to Newark. Yes, things were taking off, but also crashing to the ground as men and women began to explore the skies. Thirty-two years later we would finally make it to the moon. Who knows what is next?
There will be twelve full moons in 2022 with two “Super Moons,” a “Buck Moon,” and a “Sturgeon Moon.” We just experienced a “Wolf Moon,” the first of the year. February is known as the “Snow Moon.” “Historically, many of the nicknames we use for full Moons come “from Native American, Colonial American, or other traditional North American sources passed down through generations,” according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
According to this same article, other names for January’s full moon include Center Moon, Cold Moon, Frost Exploding Moon, Freeze Up Moon, Severe Moon, and Hard Moon. March will be the “Worm Moon,” followed by the “Pink Moon” in April, May’s “Flower Moon,” June’s “Strawberry Moon,” and the previously mentioned “Buck Moon” of July and “Sturgeon Moon” of August.
September is the “Corn Moon, October the “Hunter Moon.” November “Beaver Moon,” and the year ends with December’s “Cold Moon.” The Second Moon in any given month is known as a “Blue Moon,” but there will not be one in 2022 – No Blue in Twenty-Two, but plenty of other moons to look forward to howling at.
“Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like on
A-Jupiter and Mars
In other words, hold my hand
In other words, baby, kiss me
Fill my heart with song and let me sing forevermore
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore
In other words, please be true
In other words, I love you
Fill my heart with song
Let me sing forevermore
You are all I long for, all I worship and adore
In other words, please be true
In other words
In other words
I love you”
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Bart Howard
Fly Me to the Moon lyrics © T.R.O. Inc.
Back in 1998, nearly 24-years ago, I started to write a book about IU basketball. I was on my way back from the Maui Invitational after a 76-63 Hoosier loss in the finals to Syracuse. It was revenge for the Orange who fell in heartbreaking fashion to the Hoosiers back in the 1987 NCAA Championship on the last second shot by Keith Smart. The Maui Championship was little compensation for that setback, but would finally get their overall crown in 2003 with Jim Boeheim still at the helm. Mike Davis had taken over as the Hoosier head coach after Bob Knight was fired in 2000, so Maui was the last matchup between these two coaching legends.
In the Maui game, Syracuse got to the sixty-point mark first, my personal measure for what it takes to beat IU. Over the next two years, I began to research this theory through several trips to the IU Sports Information offices in Bloomington. What I found is that Sixty is truly a magical number when it comes to analyzing IU victories. If they get there first, they usually win – it’s as simple as that!
After a visit from a friend these past few days, I’m suddenly revitalized in my efforts to finish this book. With this former IU basketball player’s help, I now feel that I can gain the credibility to get the “Magic of 60” published.
(Go to Post 1940 for more information)
The year 1935 had some eventful highlights. For example, Amelia Earhart flew solo across the Pacific. In addition, the first technicolor Mickey Mouse short film is released. Also, the China Clipper makes the first Pacific Airmail delivery and FDR signs the Neutrality Act into law, preventing the U.S. exportation of war related items to nations at war. The Mouse always gets my utmost attention, not necessarily these other key historical events of that year. We were just at Disney World for the 50th Anniversary of the park to visit him.
According to Wikipedia, Mickey Mouse was originally the replacement for a prior Disney character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and first appeared in the short Plane Crazy, debuting publicly in the short film Steamboat Willie (1928), one of the first sound cartoons. He then went on to appear in over 130 films, including The Band Concert (1935), Brave Little Tailor (1938), and Fantasia (1940). “Mickey appeared primarily in short films, but also occasionally in feature-length films. Ten of Mickey’s cartoons were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, one of which, Lend a Paw, won the award in 1941. In 1978, Mickey became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
The character was a big part of my childhood, with the television show starting in 1955. I remember the Mouseketeers, especially Bobby, Tommy, Annette, and Cubby and singing:
Who’s the leader of the club
That’s made for you and me
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
Hey! there, Hi! there, Ho! there
You’re as welcome as can be
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
Mickey Mouse!
(Donald Duck)
Mickey Mouse!
(Donald Duck)
Forever let us hold our banner
High! High! High! High!
Come along and sing the song
And join the jamboree!
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
Mickey Mouse club
Mickey Mouse club
We’ll have fun
We’ll meet new faces
We’ll do things and
We’ll go places
All around the world
We’re marching
Who’s the leader of the club
That’s made for you and me
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
Hey! there, Hi! there, Ho! there
You’re as welcome as can be
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
Mickey Mouse!
(Donald Duck)
Mickey Mouse!
(Donald Duck)
Forever let us hold our banner
High! High! High! High!
Come along and sing a song
And join the jamboree!
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
(yay Mickey)
(yay Mickey)
(yay Mickey Mouse Club!)
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
I realize that most of my posts this week have not been necessarily humorous, as is my writing goal every morning. After all, I should be in a good mood after such a brilliant game (or at least first half) that I.U. played in defeating conference foe Penn State, but I’ve been troubled with serious matters like finance, death, family, and neighborhood issues. Life is not always a “Box of Chocolates,” as Forrest Gump’s Mom might remind him. I actually watched a Tom Hank’s movie, Cast Away, this week on Free Form out of boredom. It was his serious side of acting and something I hadn’t watched in a long time.
I’m actually getting an early start to this blog because we’re picking up friends at the airport this morning. It will be a shortened run on day 4,779 of The Streak. “Run, Forrest, Run.” I’m borrowing my son’s car for the weekend, so we’ll have plenty of room for luggage and guests. We have dinner reservations and games to watch, as one of our guests is a former I.U. basketball player. Blogging my not be as automatic each morning with my home routine gladly disrupted.
On Matinee Monday, we saw the movie, The King’s Daughter, because that’s how we usually start every week of retirement and since it’s still free! We had seen most everything else, and this one turned out to be a bit of a surprise, with memories of our visit to the Palace of Versailles a few years ago. It was not a historical piece as expected but instead a fantasy about mermaids and their gifts of healing immortality. The phrase, “Love is Immortal,” struck my wife as very romantic and inspired some poetry on my part. It’s not the usual sing-song, humor that I write, but rather a reflection on the word IMMORTALITY and its impact on long-standing relationships like ours:
I Love You, Sweetiepie,
More than words can Express.
Measured through years,
Of Knowing the True you.
Real beauty seen inside and out,
Trusting you always to be Mine,
And part of me Forever.
Love for us will Never end,
Immortality is Ours.
Timeless treasured Twosome,
You and I eternally One.
You never really lose someone that you LOVE!
Copyright 2022 johnstonwrites.com
The moving truck is here! It’s only taken us nine months to effectively drive our next door neighbors to move. (See Post #1933 Murder Thy Neighbors). Technically, it was a neighborhood joint effort after they continued to remain anti-social. Just for the record, we were not the first to report them to HOA officials. We tried to communicate and continued to invite them to street parties but it was futile. Now, we’re all excited at the prospect of new, friendlier people. However, I’m always leery of the warning: Be careful what you wish for!
Ours is not a housing addition for recluses. The homes are close together and similar in style, while people are active. We have monthly get togethers and social outings, lunches, food trucks, and a multitude of recreational opportunities. The sidewalks roll-up early with many early risers – walkers, runners, and dog owners out for a morning stroll. There’s a dog park, two clubhouses, and a major league ballpark that generate interaction. The only downside has been the continuous construction that is finally coming to an end. My wife would add alligators to the short list of negatives about living here. This was a major issue with our neighbors, who were illegally feeding the birds and other wildlife, so our adjoining lawns became a hunting ground for sharp-toothed predictors. They refused to stop despite HOA warnings and ignored our pleas.
Moving is a hassle, so I feel sorry that they had to do it twice in one year. I first spoke to them while our home was still under construction, and had no reason to suspect that would be the last time. They ignored all our attempts to further engage and often times went out of their way to avoid us and everyone else. I never spoke to her, after observing her reluctance to come outside. The birds were apparently her only social outlet, so I understand her resistance to stop feeding them. They should have never moved into a very social neighborhood like this one, and I hope they find what they need somewhere else. They certainly took advantage of escalating home costs in quickly finding a buyer, Hopefully, this new neighbor will be an improvement, but be careful what you wish for!
I’ll start my writing this morning, as has been the current tradition, with a historical tidbit from the year corresponding with the number of this post, “Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican Pres. Herbert Hoover. The 1932 election was the first held during the Great Depression, and it represented a dramatic shift in the political alignment of the country.” In another 20 posts from now, I will have been born and soon these tidbits will be personal memories. I’m feeling a bit melancholy today with cool temperatures, gray skies, and the chance of rain. A post by one of my high school classmates yesterday is the real reason. Nearly two hundred names of deceased members of the Class of 1969 were listed. For most people, my wife included, this alarming number is much greater than the size of her entire graduating class. I added Grant Balkema and Bob Grove to the list, as other losses of life were added as the day went on. One-fifth of my fellow high school students are gone, some of which I never knew other than a picture in the annual.
It made me think of life as a lottery, some of us luckier than others. I was fortunate in several related lotteries including adoption and the Viet Nam War. Some of these classmates lost their lives fighting for our country, while I could have ended up at any any other high school if it weren’t for the loving people that made me part of their family and raised me in Elkhart, Indiana. I might not have had a life at all if abortion had been an option. I’m certainly thankful for all I have today.
While I was contemplating life and death, the sweet smell of baked goods led me to the kitchen. My wife’s new neighborhood friend was teaching her how to make Nazook. It’s often spelled nazuk or nazouk, Armenian Նազուկ, Persian نازوک), an Armenian pastry made from flour, butter, sugar, sour cream, yeast, vanilla extract and eggs, with a filling often made with nuts, and especially walnuts. Nazook is sometimes referred to as gata. After a few bites, my depression went away, even though my waistline was probably starting to swell. How sweet it is!
Two eventful things happened in 1931. First, the Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the United States national anthem. Secondly, on St. Patrick’s Day, Nevada legalized gambling and the party has never stopped. Vegas has always been a fun break from real life as recounted in Post #350, written back in 2017. I’ve been there only once since (See Post #1220). The Covid threat struck at that time and I’m not so sure that the cough I left with was not related. I certainly didn’t leave with any winnings and the world began to quickly shut down. Our next stop was Arizona as the event cancellations started to take place – No Spring Training, no restaurant dining, no concerts, and no going anywhere without a mask.
It now seems like a lifetime since we’ve been to Las Vegas, and with Valentine’s Day (See Post #1223) just around the corner, we should be there. It’s where our marriage began nearly 21-years ago in April. There’s a very classy Marriott Vacation Club near the strip that we’ve been anxious to stay at for a short getaway. Flights are always cheap to Vegas but food and gambling is costly. I doubt that we get there this year with friends and family coming to visit and other travel plans in the works. However, I can still dream about Vegas Nights, even though my last memory is a Barry Manilow concert.
My wife wants to see Lady Gaga in Vegas. In October of 2021, after a 652-day Covid hiatus, she returned to the newly minted Dolby Live theater at Park MGM. At the first performance, she’s quoted as saying, “many of you still have your masks on and some of you don’t, and I think it is nice not to judge each other and let’s just try to have some fun … please feel free to take off your masks and dance, just stay six feet away from each other.” The website I just visited listed dates for 2071, but I think that’s a mistake. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta would be 85 with my wife and I well in our hundreds. Seeing her then may be just as unlikely as getting tickets in the next few years, with performances at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park recently postponed. It’s simply a Las Vegas Dream!
“Extra, Extra, Read All About It.”
“1930 Major News Stories including first year of the great depression, Prohibition Enforcement is Strengthened, Graf Zeppelin Airship Completes Flight From Germany to Brazil, Mahatma Gandhi begins 200 mile march to the salt beds of Jalalpur to protest British Rule, 1350 banks in the US fail, Smoot-Hawley Tariff bill …”
When the 2030s eventually arrive in eight short years, I will be on the verge of eighty and most of my savings will be gone. We’ll be living strictly on Social Security and my pension without the luxury of global travel. Hopefully, most of my bucket list will be fulfilled by then and I’ll still be in good health. I will have lost loved-ones in the process as time marches on. It’s hard to think about – I’d rather live in the moment.
As we were watching Episode Five of Peaky Blinders last night, the stock market had just crashed, in the same time frame as these numbered posts – ninety years ago. Times were as different as they are the same. The Market is on a downward trend again this morning, more family members have mild cases of Covid, and angry protests continue against government intervention. Needless to say, I did not have a good day yesterday in the World of Sports and the weather is in the 40s – a Florida Freeze.
