Did you know that both Mother's and Father's Days are national holidays?  Of course they are always celebrated on Sundays, so they are not a federal holiday.  President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation in 1914 designating  Mother's Day  as the second Sunday in May.  Of course motherhood has long been cherished, and the ancient Greeks and Romans held festivals in honor of mother godesses Rhea and Cybele. Mind you, the Greeks and Romans also honored fathers, and in Catholic Europe, St. Joseph's Day ( March 19 ) is a feast day dedicated to Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.  But Father's Day in the USA had a rather startling beginning that few know. First, Father's Day did not become a national holiday until 1972. The reason why has everything to do with civil rights movements in the 1960s. The story starts in 1964 when a middle-aged father and mid-level federal appointee, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, dreamt a solution to America's racial conflict in his sle...

What could be better than a nearly two months around the world trip, mostly flying, but also including three different cruises, plus six days in New York City?   I called it OMG Adventure, for Our Momentous Global Adventure.  The journey was, indeed, monumental and mostly enjoyable.  We were most thankful, however, for maintaining good health throughout the circuit, as we caught 11 planes ( where I more recently reported that  this is dangerous regarding COVID-19 ) and two out of the three cruises had covid outbreaks.  There were days when I thought, boy, wouldn't it be nice to avoid all this stress by staying home. Home is 15 Craigside,  a senior's community in Honolulu.  We go on trips because we're getting old, for every one could well be the last.  We do have a major adventure coming up this fall/winter, with two cruises, one from Seattle all the way through the Panama Canal to Southampton (UK), then a second being on a European Christmas...

    Ken Jennings knows about everything.  That now includes the afterlife. That's the title from  National Public Radio  about him. What do you know about Ken Jennings?  From  Wikipedia : He will turn 50 next year. Is the highest-earning American game show contestant, from five different venues, including $4.5 million just from Jeopardy!, where he holds the record for the longest winning streak...of 74 wins. Before 2003, contestants were limited to 5 consecutive wins. Previous to Jennings' run, Tom Walsh had the highest winning streak, of eight. Ken began his reign on 2 June 2004. In that  first episode,  he almost lost in Final Jeopardy, until Alex Trebek accepted his answer as correct.  There was a technicality.  If not for that, the story of Ken Jennings would not have happened and Jeopardy might now be no more. Win streak ended on 30 November 2004 to challenger Nancy Zerg.  He won $2,522,700. In 2011 the competitors were Je...