by Morning Reflections | Apr 14, 2021 | Uncategorized
The origins of state nicknames are a bit of a mystery.As social historian Bill Bryson points out in Made in America: “No one can say for sure why Iowans are called Hawkeyes, why North Carolinians are Tarheels, why Kansans are Jayhawkers (there is no such bird), or why...
by Morning Reflections | Apr 13, 2021 | Uncategorized
Viktor Frankl yearned to make a contribution to humanity.As a respected young psychiatrist in Vienna before World War II, he had meticulously prepared the manuscript for a book that he dared to believe might help change the world. Since he and his wife were not...
by Morning Reflections | Apr 12, 2021 | Uncategorized
On two occasions more than 40 years ago, the whole world almost had a very bad day.At mid-morning on November 9, 1979, watch officers at the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) inside Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, were shocked to see their early warning screens...
by Morning Reflections | Apr 9, 2021 | Uncategorized
Tombstone epitaphs fall into several categories.There are the silly ones that don’t really exist:Perry Mason: The defense restsHumpty Dumpty: “I was pushed!”Elvis Presley: A hunk, a hunk of rotting bonesThe Pillsbury Dough Boy: “I will rise...
by Morning Reflections | Apr 8, 2021 | Uncategorized
Irish author and artist Christy Brown was born in 1932 in Dublin, one of 22 children (13 of whom survived) belonging to a bricklayer and his wife.Christy was not like his siblings. His body was ravaged by cerebral palsy. As a child he could not speak. ...
by Morning Reflections | Apr 7, 2021 | Uncategorized
You might say that I married into Daffodil Mania. My wife’s mother, Phyllis, was joyfully fanatical about those perennial bulbs – whether white, yellow, orange, or pastels – that are currently blooming in many parts of America.She once served a term as president...
