Thursday is the 7th anniversary of the terror attacks on America - also called Patriot Day

Already too many people ask why we would want to remember such an event every year - it’s too depressing, it’s not happened again, etc. Well - if we don’t remember it - and we become complacent, it will happen again.

With more and more countries coming out of third world status, and countries that we never took much notice of in the past suddenly showing up front and center in the news – and suddenly a lot more modern and advanced than we remember them being. We aren’t so much the world power that we were 40 years ago. But as we do defend our own and fight our battles and others when asked – we make more and more enemies, who are now able to stand up and fight.

9/11 is now history – but it’s history that is still fresh in our collective memory and something we don’t want to see repeated on our soil.

Like they say – those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it.

Some of the numbers involved in 9/11 -

• 65,000 - personal items recovered from ground zero 
• 437 watches
• 144 rings
• 119 earring
• 80 bracelets
• 77 necklaces
• 2,998 - Total number killed in the attacks - (excluding the 19 hijackers)
• 2,603 – in the WTC and on the ground in NYC
• 343 firefighters and paramedics
• 246 – were on the planes (excluding the hijackers
• 200+ people jumped to their deaths from the burning towers
• 125 – at the Pentagon – 55 were military
• 90 – countries represented among the dead

                             Don’t your forget.

Baseball season begins tonight (that’s opposed to the two games earlier in the week between Boston & Oakland in Tokyo).  It’s going to be an interesting year - with a lot of firsts, milestones and finals.  

President Bush will throw out the first pitch tonight at the Washington National’s new home National Park (they’re playing the Atlanta Braves).  The largest baseball crowd ever (they hope) 115,300 - gathered to celebrate the LA Dodgers 50th anniversary on the left coast with the last exhibition game of their season - played at their former home - the LA Coliseum.  The folks at the Guinness World Record will determine on Monday if it’s an international world record.  

It’s been 100 years since Jack Norworth composed a song that would become known as “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” which is now a game staple during the 7th inning stretch.  And it’s been 100 years since the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series! 

Monday’s Opening Day will be the last ones for two stadiums in the same city - Yankee Stadium & Shea Stadium in New York.  This year’s All-Star game will be the 4th and last played at Yankee Stadium (2008, 1977, 1960, 1939).  

Throughout the season new milestones will be reached in batting, pitching and scoring.  New managers will get their first wins and old managers will call it a career.  Players will get their first home runs, first put outs, first strike outs, more records will fall – and likely more players will get into trouble for one thing or another.  

2008 is a fresh start for a game that’s been overshadowed by the steroid scandal and other headline-making news that has put too many black marks on what is supposed to be “America’s pastime.”  But if you’re a fan – you’ll stick it out through thick and thin – just like I root on my Mets in good years and in bad.  I just hope that September 28th takes its sweet time getting here! 

PLAY BALL!

This is a Scotish aire partially written by the poet Robert Burns, but not published until after his death. “Auld Lang Syne” means ‘old long ago’ or ‘the good old days’ and is sung at midnight in nearly every English-speaking country to ring in the New Year.  Because the song is generally sung about once a year, the melody is more recognizable than the words - which usually are sung incorrectly past the first line or two. 

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?

CHORUS
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup!
And surely I’ll buy mine!
And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend!
And give us a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

While to us the song is one that represents beginnings - in some Far Eastern countries and Hungary - it represents endings or farewells and is sung at graduations or funerals!  It also represents endings and farewells in Brazil, Portugal, France and several other European countries.  

The melody we are familiar with may or may not be what was originally intended by Burns, but it’s what was made popular by band leader Guy Lombardo who actually had the song released as a single in 1947. 

Happy New Year!  May 2008 be everything you want it to be. 

I lit a candle outside…
trying to remember so many names……
remembering how many died……
and so many families left unsaid….
some still wishing for that one day to come…
they will get a call saying they found their loved one…
     (author unknown)

You can light a candle in memory to someone lost or loved - the candles will remain lit for 48 hours - just click on the candle   And remember all who have died in the war on terror, but especially your neighbors from Delaware and Maryland

Patriot Day was created through a proclamation (Public Law 107-89) by President George Bush after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. The day is in memory of the nearly 3000 who lost their lives at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, DC and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. President Bush has made the resolution and proclamation to designate September 11 as Patriot Day each year since 2002. The legislation requests that President designate September 11 as Patriot Day each year. The day is a discretionary day of remembrance – which means it is not an official public holiday.

How or when Patriot Day is observed depends on your location. US flags are to be flown at half-staff and flown from residences as well (that includes US buildings abroad as well). Now, here’s where location will make a difference. Americans are asked to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46am (EDT) to mark the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, crashing into the World Trade Center in New York City. A moment of silence could also be held at 9:03am (EDT) when the second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, struck the second tower of the World Trade Center, at 9:43am (EDT) when American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon or at 10:10am (EDT) when United Airlines Flight 93 went down in a field near Shanksville, PA.

Initially the day was called the “National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims of the Terrorist Attacks.” Then changed to Patriot Day by a by Joint Resolution 71 which was approved in the US House by a 407 – 0 vote (25 members didn’t vote) on October 25, 2001 and approved unanimously by the US Senate on November 30, 2001. President Bush signed the resolution into law on December 18, 2001.

People have had some trouble wrapping their thoughts around Patriot Day – with most referring to the day as 9-11 or September 11th instead. Another problem with the day is that it is often confused with Patriots’ Day (one has an ‘s’ and one doesn’t). Patriots’ Day is observed on the third Monday in April and is a civic holiday in Massachusetts and Maine. It is also a public school observance day in Wisconsin. Patriots’ Day has nothing to do with Patriot Day.

Canada shares the observance of Patriot Day as well with flags on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and all Canadian diplomatic missions in the US flying at half-staff.

Why do the good people of Delmarva fear snow?

What is it about the white puffy moisture that causes so many people to fear for their lives? Why does normal life come to a complete end on this peninsula every time a stupid weatherman mentions that unmentionable,….”Chance of Snow”?

Like a flock of screaming children at recess, you run to the supermarkets, mini-markets and roadside stands to purchase Milk, Eggs, Bread and Toilet Paper. OK, so this leaves me to believe that the fear of snow brings about the massive hankering for French Toast which you apparently don’t have the digestive tract to properly handle, hence the toilet paper.

Question: When was the last time people in this area were literally ’snowed-in’ so bad that they were unable to leave their home because of the high snow? When was the last time the roads were so un-navigable that nobody, and I mean nobody, was able to drive including Police, EMS and newspaper delivery people? How many of you live so far from civilization that if you were snowed in and ran out of toilet paper, you would be too far away to walk to a neighbor’s house and borrow some? And finally, why are the elements to make French Toast so important to you in the event of snow?

I was transferred to North Carolina some years ago by the retail company I worked for at the time. My store was in Hanes Mall in Winston Salem, we lived in a tiny town called Advance. Our first winter there was the worst in anyone’s memory. The snow wasn’t so bad, it measured almost 12 inches, but the following ice storm took out power lines all over the area. We were without power for 5 days. Since the state had very little snow in this area, local municipalities never felt the need to purchase snow plows or even road salt. Being from Pennsylvania, I was accustomed to driving in heavy snow and easily drove to and from work while many stayed home to wait it out. In our home, no electricity meant no cooking, we had an electric oven. We did have a fireplace and actually made some stew in it as well as heated up leftovers and such. Mostly, we ate out during the outage. The locals, who were not used to driving in snow made the most of it by working together. Farmers drove their big tractors around to neighbor’s homes, seeking lists of needed supplies before driving to the local filling station/mini-market. Folks with 4-wheel drive or who were brave ventured to Mocksville, to the supermarkets, armed with many shopping lists, especially for the elderly.

People just automatically came together to help one another in the ‘crisis’ as I believe they would here as well! They also used the time to play. A neighbor with a four-wheeler stopped by our home to let the kids grab their sleds and hold a rope as he pulled them through the neighborhood. He told us of a plan to gather at the top of a local road which had a nice hill for sledding that night. We drove (much to their astonishment) instead of walking the 3 miles with our sleds. They had a huge bonfire and a large farm tractor which would drive down the hill with a huge tow-rope, pulling the kids back up the hill so they could have more fun without getting so tired of the reverse trek.

But here, well, that’s a different story. As some of you may know, I run nearly 2 dozen weekly trivia gameshows at local (and not-so-local) restaurants and other venues. One such venue is a new game inside the private gated community, The Peninsula. For our premiere event last Sunday the staff had acquired reservations for more than 50 people to sit in a nice restaurant inside their community, with a warm fire, protected by a back-up generator, where their was plenty of eggs, bread and milk as well as a supply closet full of toilet paper, and enjoy a trivia game with a house-cash prize. Slowly but surely these reservations cancelled one-by-one until we had but one team left for the game. Why? “Chance of snow.”

By the end of the game that first massive snowfall of 2007 had grown to nearly an inch with ‘bitter’ temps in the upper 20’s and virtually no wind. Why should such a minor meteorological event prevent people from going out to have a good time? Why do we scare so easily? I don’t let such occurrences prevent me from events. When I was young I didn’t let blizzards prevent me from honoring my commitment to a girlfriend for a date to the movies. Why should I start fearing the white fluff now?

My final point is to encourage you folks to stop being so scared of your own shadows! You have to live your life to enjoy it. Your end will come, but here on Delmarva it is very unlikely it will be caused by hunger due to a snowstorm. Get out and live!