It seems like it has arrived quickly, but another chance to share with you some observations of recent occurrences and some thoughts of upcoming events, is here.
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I can’t believe that I didn’t realize that March 9 was National Nap Day until after I had written my last column. Created in 1999, it is technically not a national holiday. I would like to propose that it become a national holiday to be celebrated on the Monday after the weekend of the time change to Daylight Savings Time. I envision work places giving that Monday afternoon off so their employees could enjoy a glorious midday nap to make up for some of the sleep lost, due to the time change. For the record, even though I didn’t realize the significance of March 9, I have to admit that yours truly did find time to take a refreshing nap that day.
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I wish that I didn’t have to wait until April to put landscape waste bags out for pick-up. The weather last December was nice enough that I was able to get a jump on the spring work of removing leaves from my yard and landscaping. I was able to store the bags I filled at that time in my utility shed. I also added to them during some of the good weather days we enjoyed this March. Landscape waste bags are picked up from April 1 to Oct. 31, but Mother Nature doesn’t follow a calendar. By the way, like many citizens of Kewanee, I too wish LRS would switch their landscape bag pick up day from Friday to Monday.
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I would like to congratulate Bill Breedlove for being named Outstanding Citizen of the Year. It is a well-deserved honor. It is amazing how much Bill, the Breedlove family and everyone at Breedlove’s Sporting Goods has done for Kewanee. I can only imagine how much more difficult my job as a head football and baseball coach would have been without the assistance I received from Bill in particular, and Breedlove’s in general. I hope everyone realizes how fortunate we are having an asset like Breedlove’s in our community. They have been a great help to everyone, including the Kewanee Park District and all the school districts in the Kewanee area and beyond.
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I wonder if any other people have noticed a steady decline in their investment earnings since January 20 of this year. That happens to coincide with the inauguration of President Trump. Is it being foolish to think that this is just temporary and no cause for great concern?
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I wonder if any of you are concerned about the direction that our government and our country are headed in. When I wasn’t dozing in government class in high school, I managed to learn that our government is based on a system of checks and balances. The three branches of government exist as they do so that one branch doesn’t acquire too much power and control. I hope that Americans don’t lose sight of the way our government is supposed to work. I hope we don’t get fooled into allowing the executive branch to run our country unchecked.
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I would like to thank the Kewanee League of Women Voters for holding a recent candidate forum for the upcoming local election. It helps to let the voters get to know what the candidates are all about, which is very difficult in today’s world. I thought all the candidates who attended the forum presented themselves in a positive manner. It was too bad that some of the candidates either couldn’t, or chose not to be in attendance. I would like to wish all the candidates good luck, even though many of you will already know the results of the election before you read this column.
I don’t know about you, but . . .
In my way of thinking, if you don’t vote in an election, you forfeit the right to complain about the outcome of that election.
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I wonder if any of you have found it ironic that election day for the local election falls on April Fools’ Day. Sometimes I think that anyone that desires to run for public office these days must have a screw loose. I feel that it is especially true for those that run for state and national offices. I also hope that any people elected to public office keep in mind that they were elected to represent the will of those that elected them. Maybe it is a little naïve and foolish to believe that. I believe that most politicians start out with the idea of helping their constituents. Unfortunately, some get lost along the way, especially at the state and national level. They begin to champion a personal agenda, or they become more interested in acquiring power and wealth than they do in helping people.
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I would bet you didn’t know that April 1, in addition to April Fools’ Day, is also National Sourdough Bread Day. It is an annual event to honor the long history of sourdough bread-making. Recently a wonderful human being had the occasion to make a bunch of sourdough bread for a fund-raising event for the St. Jude’s Run. I managed to get my hands on a few loaves. It was wonderful. Just in case you didn’t know, for most people, sourdough is more digestible than regular bread and helps the body absorb more of its nutrients than it would from regular white bread.
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I hope you don’t forget the annual Kiwanis Pancake Day which is Saturday, April 5 from 7 a.m. – 1 p.m., at the First United Methodist Church. A Kewanee tradition for 74 years, it is an important fundraiser for the Kewanee Kiwanis Club which helps the club with its community service work, and helps it serve the children of the world.
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I found it very interesting to find out that on April 13, 1942, The Great Kewanee Fire destroyed three full blocks of the downtown district. I wonder if there is anyone living in Kewanee today that actually witnessed the fire.
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I wonder if any of you have as much difficulty figuring out which day Easter is celebrated on, as I do. Unlike many of the major holidays, it does not fall on the same day every year. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon which is the first full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. It can fall anywhere from March 22 to April 25.
To add to my confusion is the fact that I was raised in the Eastern Orthodox faith, which stills uses the ancient Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar, which America uses, to determine the Paschal full moon. “Greek Easter,” as it was known to me growing up, can fall on the same date as “American Easter,” as it does this year. More often than not, “Greek Easter” falls on a different Sunday, sometimes as much as a month later than the day it is celebrated in our country. Go figure!
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I believe that there will be numerous opportunities to take naps during the month of April when the annual diatribe about the NFL Draft drones on and on, leading up to the Draft, which takes place on April 24-26.
I don’t know about you, but . . .
I think it is time to wrap up this month’s column. I do this by leaving you with some thoughts of the month. The first two come from celebrateyoga.org:
“People do not wish to appear foolish; to avoid the appearance of foolishness, they are willing to remain actually fools.”
“Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet.”
From Words to Live By: “Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened.”
