Allan Island is located just west of Fidalgo island. It is a 292 acre private island. It was named by Charles Wilkes who led the first United States Navy expedition assigned to explore the Pacific Ocean in 1838. He surveyed Puget Sound and named dozens of landmarks including Elliott Bay. Wilkes obsessive behavior and harsh code of discipline was the inspiration for Herman Melville's Ahab in the book Moby Dick. Wilkes named it in 1841 after Capt. William H Allen…
For many years people would use the phrase "A Hobson's choice" in referring to a situation where they only had one option. The orgin of the phrase is based on actual historical fact. Around the turn of the 17th century Thomas Hobson ran a carrier and horse rental business in Cambridge, England. He rented horses much as cars are rented today. While he had a large number of horses to rent he would require customers to chose the horse in…
I am always moved by stories about couples who were so close to one another during life that they die within a short time of one another. Last night, on the NBC News, there was the story of a couple who fell in love in high school married and lived together for a very long time. When one died the other died within several days. I was reminded of the story that was in the be news last year. It…
I thought these photos were of interest that I found on the website stumbleupon.com.This is a photo of African American doctors and nurses working to save a Klu Klux Klan member in the ER: I can't imagine it being cold enough to freeze Niagra Falls, but it did happen and here's the photo of it:
This entry is entirely based upon my reading of the National Catholic reporter for April 2012. Acknowledging a large amount of plagiarism, I think several subjects are worthy of thought. At the risk of offending my fellow Catholics once again, here they are with my thoughts: One article dealt with retired Australian Bishop Geoffrey Robinson who was an invited speaker in Chicago. During his talk he said the major fault of the church regarding the clergy sex abuse scandal is…
Trish Vickers is a 59 year old woman who lives in Charmouth, Britain. She had operated a gift shop there. but developed diabetes and seven years ago became blind as a result. She decided to write, however she doesn't type or use computers. Instead she uses a system of rubber bands stretched across a writing pad as a guide for the ball point pen as she writes. She began to write poetry with this system. Then she was inspired to…
There has been considerable writing and discussion about the legendary Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes fame who just died. Some of it contains helpful messages for all of us. For example, Beth Knobel, who co-wrote Wallace’s book “Heat and Light” says he understood the importance of drama or what Wallace called “heat” as well as the light of objective information. She says he was always impeccably prepared and set high standards for investigative journalism. Leonard Shyles, who is a communication…
I came across the following at http://www.rogerknapp.com/inspire/schulzphilosophy.htm and it made me smile plus it was inspirational. So, I’m taking the liberty of sharing it with you. Give the credit to Roger Knapp. The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read this straight through, and you'll get the point. 1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world. 2. Name the last five…
I have a wonderful poetry book owned by my motherin law that has a variety of poetry. I was reading it this morning and the first paragraph ofr Edwin Markham's poem A Creed struck a note with me about the truth of our relationship to our fellow human beings. This is what he wrote: "There is a destiny that makes us brothers; None goes his way alone. All that we send into the lives of others comes back into our…
