Today, January 19th, the United States is (British, are) observing a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday even though his actual birthday occurred last Thursday. Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, and was assassinated by James Earl Ray in April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. In recognition of Dr. King's dream, all banks, schools, and government offices are closed and mail delivery is suspended, but commercial establishmenrs are open for business as usual. Go figure.
January 19th also happens to be the 80th birthday of Dolly Parton and the 217th birthday, if anyone cares, of the leader of the Confederate forces against the Union during the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865), General Robert E. Lee. Dolly was born in 1946 (as was Donald J. Trump) and Robert E. Lee was born in 1809 (as were Abraham Lincoln and Alfred, Lord Tennyson).
But enough already with the brain dump. Instead, let's all go out there and work on the content of our character as we interact daily with others. No one is guaranteed another breath. I recall that two of my work colleagues were taken in an instant. Bill Montague died in a horrific automobile collision on I-24 in Tennessee. Kenn Pollari was walking across a street in Phoenis, Arizona, when a speeding car struck and killed him. Both gentlemen had expected to sit down to dinner with family and friends later in the day.
Emma in Iowa may tell me I'm wandering again. Maybe the very thing the world needs right now is fewer protesters and more wanderers.
Then again, maybe not.
Maybe I shall turn into The Putz (David Barlow of Tooele, Utah) before your very eyes. If you came along too late to experience his unique, almost indecipherable blogposts, you don't know what you missed.
All of us have dreams of one sort or another. Some live to see them come true. Some never do.
This is my fourth post of 2026 and my 2,320th since this blog began on September 28, 2007.
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