I recently saw this, and I enjoyed reading it that I wanted to share it.
The peom is called “Look Back to Move Forward” by Tanner Olson I believe.
Road and landscape in rear vision mirror through Arizona long straight roads highly colored landforms
Look Back to Move Forward
I’m learning that looking back helps me move forward. I can’t stay in the past, but I can learn from it and move on.
Moving on is the important part. The hard part. The part that takes courage and trust and faith. Most days I’d rather be in what was, rather than what is, but that’s not living.
And I want to live.
Maybe like you, I am good at moving from one thing to the next without pausing to be grateful for the change.
3, 2, 1 the ball drops, we clink glasses and I am done with what was without ever giving it a moment of reflection.
But what if we paused for a second to reflect on where we once were to where we now are? What will we find? What will we uncover?
There are things I need to sit with either to celebrate them or lay them to rest. There are moments I need to hold, either to life up or put down. There are dreams and fears and goals and relationships I need to reflect upon before I move forward.
Because I am moving forward.
As we open up the calendar to a new year and new decade, I want to encourage you to sit and be for a moment.
Sit and be.
Hope everyone had a good weekend and that they have a good week
Merriwether Lewis and William Clark began their trip to the pacific to explore the land from the “Louisiana Purchase.” The trip would be to see what purchased and what was out there. The deal almost went south when Pres. Jefferson questioned if what he was doing was legal at all.
James Cameron’s “Titanic” won the Oscars for Best Picture. I freely admit I still have never seen the movie in its entirety.
In 1775 Patrick Henry gave his epic quote at, “Give me liberty, or give me death” at the St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia.
The follow up to his hit Album “Piano Man” falls flat but does show an early glimpse of the Piano Man’s potential.
Released on October 11th, 1974, Billy Joel set out to follow up on his success after his hit single and moderately successful album “Piano Man”. Though the album sold a million copies and did reach #35 on Billboard’s top 200, it did fall somewhat below expectations.
The album is collections of some stories and rare instrumentals by Mr. Joel.
“The Entertainer” which would be Joel’s biggest hit on the record was a song that was written in a satirical manner addressing the fleeting fame and audiences’ fickle fascination with its star. Lyrics such as, “Today I am your champion / I may have won your hearts / But I know the game / You’ll forget my name / (And I won’t be here / in another year) / if I don’t stay on the charts“. The same style of lyric and the actual theme applied here would also appear on his 1980 hit single “It’s still rock’n’roll to me from the album “Glass Houses”.
“Great Surburban Showdown” was another interesting hit that addressed his attitude to his rising fame and popularity. Though he wouldn’t hit is peak until 1977’s “The Stranger”. It was becoming clear he knows the direction he was heading on.
The song “Los Angelenos” reflected his views of the city. Coming from New York must’ve been massive scenic change to inspire this song. It also seemed to show that Joel was beginning to be a little homesick.
His other songs I won’t really dive into. I will leave that up to you as the reader to decide that. However. with a couple of instrumentals such as “Root Beer Rag‘, and “The Mexican Connection” this is such a horrible album. My favorite song other than the title song the name this album is named after is “Last of the big time Spenders“. It’s an interesting track but one worth listening to.
If you don’t have this in your record connection, then no worries. It’s on Spotify, but if you enjoy it, I can assure you will find it for sale online or at your record store for a cheap price.
Smoke covers the presidential palace compound in Baghdad 21 March 2003 during a massive US-led air raid on the Iraqi capital. Smoke billowed from a number of targeted sites, including one of President Saddam Hussein’s palaces, an AFP correspondent said.
In 2003 we were deployed in Afghanistan for to dispose of Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban. When we also decided to invade Iraq on the questionable pretext the Saddam and Osama had been in correspondence and there was a possible link between them and 9/11.
We now know that it wasn’t the case. Some scant communication but nothing more. We then decided that we needed to eliminate their mass weapons of destruction. We found out that there wasn’t much and wouldn’t be for several years if they were successful. All of this in hindsight but at the same time I wonder how it wasn’t caught sooner when we went in.
I was a young Airman at the time and believed that we were doing the right thing. Not really intertwined into the details of why we were invading to being with. The year before I was in Kyrgyzstan in support of the operations that were going on in Afghanistan. Now, a year later I was in Qatar in support of this “liberation” or “invasion” depending on how you felt looking at it.
WASHINGTON – MARCH 19: U.S. President George W. Bush addresses the nation March 19, 2003 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. Bush announced that the U.S. military struck at “targets of opportunity” in Iraq March 19, 2003 in Washington, DC
I remember watching Pres. Bush explaining what was going to happen if Saddam didn’t comply, and when he announced we were going in. I also remember him flying in a plane and explaining how the operations were over with this “Mission accomplished” banner hanging behind him later that April. I also remember the insurgency rising and violence escalating probably not seen to US troops since Vietnam.
A U.S. soldier watches as a statue of Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad April 9, 2003. U.S. troops pulled down a 20-foot (six metre) high statue of President Saddam Hussein in central Baghdad on Wednesday and Iraqis danced on it in contempt for the man who ruled them with an iron grip for 24 years. In scenes reminiscent of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Iraqis earlier took a sledgehammer to the marble plinth under the statue of Saddam. Youths had placed a noose around the statue’s neck and attached the rope to a U.S. armoured recovery vehicle.
We thought it would work out. Little did we know that we were wrong, dead wrong. This war would drag on for years. It would kill an estimated 500K to 1 Mil civilians. Over 4000 Us troops would also die. 32K Us soldiers were injured, and their lives would never be the same. It would take well over a decade before Iraq would have any kind of stability. The Anbar awakening, and US surge that helped it paved the way for some kind of stable Iraq. Yet I find myself sometimes wondering. Was it worth it? Did we do the right thing going in. Were steps that would have been taken to avoid it or was it right to go in, but we handled in in the most ignorant way.
These questions keep popping in my head as each year goes by in regard to this war. Regardless, it happened and whether the Iraqi’s are better off for it, that is something for historians to decide in the next decades. Yes, the Iraqis have freedom, and yes, their economy is continuing to expand. However, the flaws of our politics and capitalism have also been passed on to them as well.
We still have a troop presence in Iraq. About 2,500 that were left for smaller operations and embassy protections. The Iraqis have been receptive to it but also have reason to handle our intentions and security with skeptism.
Below, I posted some links that offer what is going on in Iraq and what’s changed. I also posted some links about us as country looking back on what happened.
This shot is rather interesting and have been meaning to try it again.
It involves 6 balls, and a rack.
Once you line this up, you will need to use extreme draw on the ball. It will pull the ball back towards the single ball lined at the side pocket. The impact to the rack will create enough force that it will send all 4 balls into the side pocket without interruption.
Video below to demonstrate.
My attempt during the Pandemic
Follow for shots, and more. I will post as time goes on.
On this day in history, the planet Uranus was discovered in 1781 by a French astronomer named Pierre Charles Le Monnie. Here are some known facts about our 7th planet.
Structure and Surface
Uranus is surrounded by a set of 13 rings.
Uranus is an ice giant (instead of a gas giant). …
Uranus has a thick atmosphere made of methane, hydrogen, and helium.
Uranus is the only planet that spins on its side.
Uranus spins the opposite direction as Earth and most other planets.
In Kentucky on this day, Breonna Taylor, an African American EMT, was killed by Louisville, Kentucky, police officers as they burst into her apartment during a botched raid; her death led to massive protests by Black Matter Lives activists and others who called for police reform. Some more information in the links below.
Portrait of the founder of Scientology Lafayette Ronald Hubbard. 1960s (Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
In 1911 L. Ron Hubbard was born. He would found the Scientology church that is followed by celebrities such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Val Kilmer.
The Virginia Cavaliers may have a stellar defense, but to say they have an offense to match it would be comical at best. The Cavaliers shot a horrendous 33% from the field and only score 49 points. Their defense however showed up. Holding the Blue Devils to 59. Which was a drastic drop from the 96 they scored more than 24 hours ago against Pitt.
Duke shot below 43% but hit the shots that were needed and made the proper adjustments from their loss to Virginia 2 weeks ago.
While both teams are virtual shoe ins for the NCAA Tournament, the question would be who will go further. If today is any indication, then Duke should go pretty far while UVA will probably exit early, or midway through.
Regardless, as a Virginia fan I am still satisfied with their season thus far. A definite improvement over the last season where they were booted from the NIT Quarterfinals. Howvever, I am still frustrated with their lack of consistant big scorer and that is more of recruitment issue than anything. Coach Tony Bennett has a special system he uses and is deeply invested in. He will sacrifice talent to ensure his system works. Yeah, doesn’t make sense huh? Bennett will need to find some scorers evetually if he wants to keep his time in Virginia going.
With that said, we will now sit back, and wait for the Tournament brackets to be released. Let predictions begin.
U.S. Naval Hospital. Corpsmen in cap and gown ready to attend patients in influenza ward. Mare Island, California, 12/10/1918. (U.S. Navy)
On this day the first cases of the Influenza Virus popped up at Fort Riley. What was initially perceived as something small would blow up into a major medical pandemic.
The Virus had its start in the military barracks and prisons. It would spread throughout the country and eventually into Europe, and Asia. The Primary spreader for Europe was infected troops who were deploying during the battles of World War I.
It would kill 675,000 Americans, and between 20-50 Million people worldwide. It was originally called the “Spanish Flu” because it was perceived that it was the epicenter of the where the Virus was thriving.
For the first time in history, social distancing methods were applied to attempt to slow or stop the spread.
University of California, Berkeley, California, 1919. Open air barber shop during influenza epidemic. (National Archives)Influenza Epidemic 1918 – Policemen in Seattle, Washington, wearing masks made by the Seattle Chapter of the Red Cross, during the influenza epidemic. (National Archives)
Masks were a requirement, also city ordinances were applied to ensure enforcement. Kinda interesting looking at this and seeing how a 100 years later during COVID that it was a perception that our “civil rights” were going away. It really shows how the older generations with their blatant flaws still understood the concept of public safety and some compassion/courtesy for their fellow citizens. It’s also sad that most Americans had no idea that we had been through this before and there much rioting and protest about it.
While the virus would eventually mutate and weaken after each wave. The last being in 1920. It did show that society was willing to do what was needed to ensure that they would make it through this crisis, even if it meant inconveniencing their lifestyles for the sake of health.
Examples above of city ordinances for mask mandates.
Influenza victims crowd into an emergency hospital near Fort Riley, Kansas in this 1918 file photo. The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic killed at least 20 million people worldwide and officials say that if the next pandemic resemblers the birdlike 1918 Spanish flu, to 1.9 million Americans could die. (AP Photo/National Museum of Health)In this 1918-1919 photo made available by the Library of Congress, a conductor checks to see if potential passengers are wearing masks in Seattle, Wash. During the influenza epidemic, masks were required for all passengers. The virus killed at least 50 million people, including 675,000 Americans. Some estimates put the toll as high as 100 million. By comparison, the AIDS virus has claimed 35 million lives over four decades. — Mask worn to check influenza spread 1918. The admonition of the New York Health Board to wear masks to check the spread of influenza epidemic has been headed: “Better ridiculous than dead”, is the view of one official. (Library of Congress via AP, National Archives)
I did a lot of reading about this when Covid hit and was intrigued as to how history could almost repeat itself to the letter. It’s impressive how they were able to cope considering the lifestyles, medical, and technological disadvantages at the time. Yet they seem to be able to handle it much better than we did to some extent. That’s my opinion though and I could be wrong.
Below I posted some links if you would like to learn a little more about this.
Throughtful Reader 