Some Day

O-o-h Child
Favorite Line(s):
Some day, yeah We’ll put it together and we’ll get it undone Some day When your head is much lighter Some day, yeah We’ll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun Some day When the world is much brighter
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On This Day In:
2020	No Answers Yet
	120 Day Health / Weight Update (Jan 2020)
2019	Stationary Target
2018	And Firmly
2017	Nearer My Goal To Thee
2016	Relatively Simple Actions
2015	And Yet, You Did
2014	Difficult Learning
2013	Four Things To do
2012	When I Was Young…
	Emergence

Lite It Up

Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.
―    Socrates
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On This Day In:
2020	No Answers Yet
	120 Day Health / Weight Update (Jan 2020)
2019	Stationary Target
2018	And Firmly
2017	Nearer My Goal To Thee
2016	Relatively Simple Actions
2015	And Yet, You Did
2014	Difficult Learning
2013	Four Things To do
2012	When I Was Young…
	Emergence

Caught In The Rain

Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
Favorite Line(s):
If you like piña coladas
And gettin’ caught in the rain
If you’re not into yoga
If you have half a brain
If you like makin’ love at midnight
In the dunes on the cape
Then I’m the love that you’ve looked for
Write to me and escape
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On This Day In:
2020	Me Too
2019	#45: Whitewalkers Tremble, Treason Is Forever
2018	Light Or Darkness
2017	Doubtful Education
2016	Absolute
2015	Still The Best Teacher
2014	Inside The Soul
2013	A Toe In The River
2012	Believe It Or Not
2011	The Road To Recovery (And More Myths)

An Obligation To Condemn Is Not An Obligation To Ban

I believe in freedom of speech, but I also believe that we have an obligation to condemn speech that is racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic, or hateful.
―    Rep.  John Robert Lewis
From his book:  “Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement“
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On This Day In:
2020	Me Too
2019	#45: Whitewalkers Tremble, Treason Is Forever
2018	Light Or Darkness
2017	Doubtful Education
2016	Absolute
2015	Still The Best Teacher
2014	Inside The Soul
2013	A Toe In The River
2012	Believe It Or Not
2011	The Road To Recovery (And More Myths)

Knock Him Off His Feet

Mighty Love
Favorite Line(s):
A Mighty Love
Can Sometimes Make
A Weak Man Strong
A Mighty Love
Can Sometimes Make
A Rich Man Weep
And Knock Him Off His Feet
To Have A Mighty Love
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On This Day In:
2020	Steppin’…
2019	Every Vote Counts
2018	Or A President
2017	Pleasures
2016	Why Not?
2015	Je Suis Charlie
2014	To The Nines
2013	Higher And Truer
2012	Life’s Last Question
2011	A Single Heartbeat
	A Little Male Humor – WHY MEN SHOULDN’T RETIRE

I’d Argue Wealth, Then Income

I just think that – when a country needs more income and we do, we’re only taking in 15 percent of GDP, I mean, that – that – when a country needs more income, they should get it from the people that have it.
—    Warren Buffett
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On This Day In:
2020	Steppin’…
2019	Every Vote Counts
2018	Or A President
2017	Pleasures
2016	Why Not?
2015	Je Suis Charlie
2014	To The Nines
2013	Higher And Truer
2012	Life’s Last Question
2011	A Single Heartbeat
	A Little Male Humor – WHY MEN SHOULDN’T RETIRE

Where Did All The Blue Skies Go?

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
Favorite Line(s):
Whoa,
Oh,
Mercy mercy me
Oh,
Things ain’t what they used to be,
No no
Where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows
From the North and South and East
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On This Day In:
2020	A Profound Source
2019	Sad Words
2018	Self-Sorted
2017	Right
2016	At Least One Step
2015	Month To Month Rental
2014	Professional Beliefs
2013	Books Are…
2012	True Distinguishing Marks
2010	Sub-300

Thousands

There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ person.  We are made up of thousands of others.  Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.
—    George Burton Adams
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On This Day In:
2020	A Profound Source
2019	Sad Words
2018	Self-Sorted
2017	Right
2016	At Least One Step
2015	Month To Month Rental
2014	Professional Beliefs
2013	Books Are…
2012	True Distinguishing Marks
2010	Sub-300

A Soul Passing

As of today, there have been 378,777 COVID-19 related deaths in the United States.  This post is about one of them…
Last week, while we (the nation) were going through a violent civil insurrection in the nation’s capitol, Joseph Beierly was engaged in his own personal “insurrection” battle.  Sadly, he lost his battle.
I met Joe back in 1962, through his older brother, Ralph Beierly who was in my grammar school class.  Ralph had five brothers (in order: Dave, Frank, Ray, Ralph, Joe and George) he lived with and two half-brothers who were already grown up and no longer living at home.  Joe was the second youngest of those still at home.  Joe / Ralph’s parents took me under their wings and it was not unusual for me to have dinner at their house more than once a week.
At some point, you realize the older and younger siblings of your friends (like your own brothers and sisters) become “real” people, instead of “big” or “little” brother / sister of… (whomever).  Sometimes this realization is sudden.  Frequently, it is not.  For me, this happened with Joe while we were on a “road-trip” to Canada.  Joe and I had gone up to Lake Shasta to water ski and hang out on another friend’s pontoon houseboat for a week.  Unfortunately, my other friend had a family emergency and had to secure the houseboat and return to the Bay Area, so Joe and I were left high and dry for the remainder of the week.
Joe Beierly on our trip to Canada
At the time, Joe was working for a telephone manufacturing company which was doing something in Canada and offering U.S. staff the opportunity to relocate if they wished to.  Joe asked if I would mind spending the remainder of the week driving up to Canada to “check out” the new location to see if he was interested.  With nothing else to tie us down, I agreed to split the costs and off we went.
Joe drove up to Seattle and then we boarded a ferry to Vancouver.  That’s pretty much it.  We saw a lot of greenery.  Joe and I rode our first car ferry.  (Why a car ferry?  Just because neither of us had ever been on one.  We drove back.)  We listened to a lot of music during the drives.  A couple of nights we camped and a couple we stayed in “inexpensive” (cheap) motels.  We mostly did just enough to keep the trip going.  Then we’d park and chill.  Did I mention we brought along seven cases of beer for the week we expected to stay at Shasta?  As I recall, we got through five of them and I let him have the remainder when we got back to S.F.
What did I learn about Joe?  Mostly he had grown up to be his own man while I was away in the Army.  He was a bit of Dave (he enjoyed working with his hands).  He was a bit of Frank (he could be a charmer when he wanted to be).  He was a bit of Ray and Ralph in music tastes and how he treated other people with respect – irrespective of their job / station.  Like his dad, he had a way of looking at things logically and figuring them out.  Like George, he had a “little brother” attitude: “You may be a bit older, but I’m nippin’ at your heels, and I’ll catch up soon.”  But mostly, what I realize now is that he had what I call the Beierly “give it try” attitude.  “If it doesn’t work out, we’ll fix it or try something different.”
Joe in his Dress Whites
I’m not sure if Joe ever got offered or accepted that job in Canada.  (I don’t believe he did.)  The next thing I heard he was in the Navy.  I was a bit surprised by that because Joe wasn’t one to take “instruction” from his older brothers (a mind of his own), but he took to the Navy like a fish to water.  Joe got married (to Ceal, the proclaimed love of his life).  He made a career of service.  And he raised a family which he openly cherished.  We were both raised Roman Catholics.  I’ve tended to fall off the wagon periodically, but Joe became a working Christian (“by their acts you shall know them”).  Unfortunately, with my living in Europe and his living around the world (and / or way over on the East Coast), I never got a chance to ask him about that.  I would check in with Ray before and after football season and Ray would tell me about Joe’s kids this and Joe traveling there and Joe helping these people with that.  All the things “family” talk about when you’ve known each other long enough to not have to say anything and you’re sure there’s always time to kick-it again in a few months.
Joe and Ceal
And now, Ray and Joe are both gone…
The world is a better place for them having been here.  My world is a little less sunny for their passing.  And once again I mourn the loss of a brother by another mother…
COVID-19 is just a virus.  It doesn’t care about how many lives it takes or the families and grief it leaves behind.  378,777 of our fellow Americans have died…  This post has been about one of them.
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On This Day In:
2020	Implications
2019	Just To…
2018	Still Going…
2017	Great Risk
2016	Robbery
2015	Humanity Plus
2014	Dinner For Two?
2013	Exercise For Those Over 50
2012	Tearful Joy!!
	Except When He’s Left

I Hear You Singing In The Wire

Wichita Lineman
Favorite Line(s):
And I need you more than want you
And I want you for all time
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On This Day In:
2020	Implications
2019	Just To…
2018	Still Going…
2017	Great Risk
2016	Robbery
2015	Humanity Plus
2014	Dinner For Two?
2013	Exercise For Those Over 50
2012	Tearful Joy!!
	Except When He’s Left

Thank You, Georgia!

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
—   Mahatma Gandhi
[Two new Senators and Democratic control of the U.S. Senate!!!  A big “Thank You!” to the State of Georgia.   Of course, 21 January 2021 starts the real work for all of America.   —   KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Implications
2019	Just To…
2018	Still Going…
2017	Great Risk
2016	Robbery
2015	Humanity Plus
2014	Dinner For Two?
2013	Exercise For Those Over 50
2012	Tearful Joy!!
	Except When He’s Left

Talkin’ To Myself And Feelin’ Old

Rainy Days And Mondays
Favorite Line(s):
Funny,
But it seems
I always wind up here with you
Nice to know
Somebody loves me
Funny,
But it seems
That it’s the only thing to do
Run and find the one who loves me
(The one who loves me)
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On This Day In:
2020	You Are Not Late (Yet)
2019	Too Difficult To Try
2018	Hold Fast
2017	The Only Real Security
2016	Time Said
2015	If Only Common Sense Were More Common
2014	PTI
2013	What Now, Then?
2012	Big C, Little B
	Duty, Honor, Country

Democrats Talking To Republicans

Before you tell the “truth” to the patient, be sure you know the “truth,” and that the patient wants to hear it.
—   Richard Clarke Cabot
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On This Day In:
2020	You Are Not Late (Yet)
2019	Too Difficult To Try
2018	Hold Fast
2017	The Only Real Security
2016	Time Said
2015	If Only Common Sense Were More Common
2014	PTI
2013	What Now, Then?
2012	Big C, Little B
	Duty, Honor, Country

Look Inside Your Heart

Higher Love
Favorite Line(s):
Think about it,
There must be higher love
Down in the heart
Or hidden in the stars above
Without it,
Life is wasted time
Look inside your heart,
I’ll look inside mine
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On This Day In:
2020	A Strength Of Science
2019	A Higher Standard
	Make Two Calls
2018	Irreplaceable Sparks
2017	Saving For April 15th
2016	First Wish
2015	Tracing Shadows
2014	One Thing
2013	More Is Less
2012	The Screw-Up Gene

Gifts

Your talent is God’s gift to you.  What you do with it is your gift back to God.
—   Dr. Leo F. Buscaglia
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On This Day In:
2020	A Strength Of Science
2019	A Higher Standard
	Make Two Calls
2018	Irreplaceable Sparks
2017	Saving For April 15th
2016	First Wish
2015	Tracing Shadows
2014	One Thing
2013	More Is Less
2012	The Screw-Up Gene