Do You Remember the Ayn Rand Book, Atlas Shrugged?

 While I do not espouse her Objectivist philosophy, I did enjoy the book. I probably read it 40 years ago. So, when I read a review of the book I just finished reading, The Untethered by Southwick, 

I definitely saw the similarities, although the book is less intense. And the ending was too sudden and tied everything up too neatly. 

For the price, though, (I paid nothing), it was worth it. Will I read anything else by this author? I will not seek him out, but if another summary catches my eye, then I might.

RIP, Mom

 

Sara Lynn Walker. passed away today, January 30, 2024. She had gone into the hospital last week because she had COVID, but the real reason was her Alzheimer's had finally affected enough of her body to make it too weak to fight the infection. She joins her husband, Don, with Our Lord in heaven. We will miss her, but she is no longer in pain and is with loved ones that she can recognize again,

RIP, Dad

In late June, my father, Don Walker, passed away from a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the same brain cancer that Sen. John McCain has been diagnosed with. It sounds as if they caught Sen. McCain's cancer earlier that Dad's. I hope so. It is an ugly illness with a life expectancy of around 14 months once diagnosed. When they ran an MRI in early April and found Dad's GBM, they said it was far along and gave him 3-6 months to live. Sadly, he only lived another 3 months, and for half of that, he could no longer communicate.

Once he was released from the hospital and moved into a senior living facility, the staff and hospice personnel were very supportive and responsive to his needs and to mine when I requested something for him, whether it was service or food or drink. I also want to thank my siblings and spouses for their support during the days leading up to and following Dad's home-going.

I think the above photo was taken in October of 2012. We were on a trail just outside of Ridgway, CO. He is wearing one of his many Ouray polo shirts.

Where's Your Chutzpah?

Chutzpah? No, I am not talking about some exotic vegetable, nor even those cute little dolls you win at carnival games. I am talking about guts, nerves, boldness. I am also including self-confidence. Earlier this week, I suddenly got an email that 2 of my 5 projects had been transferred to a different manager. I admit it made me concerned about my boss' boss' interpretation of my skills. Luckily, my boss said they he and his boss both need me to really focus right now on the 3 that are well along in their lifecycle, and the newest team member needed a couple of projects just starting so he can work them from the start.Whew!

People who live in a warm/hot climate can certainly relate to this photo:

On the cover of Apple laptops is an illuminated emblem of the apple. A market has grown around tickers for Apple laptops that showcase the apple in clever ways. You can see some here.

I throught this little poster was kind of funny.

I am watching the Super Bowl as I write this post. The Patriots have scored 25 unanswered point in the second half and the game is tied. I thought for sure that the Falcons were going to dethrone them. I am now much less confident. At least we get to see the first ever overtime in Super Bowl history. BTW, Lady Gaga's halftime show wasn't too bad.

This weekend, we had family come down from Seattle and we joined KLIK+JV and our visitors at the zoo on Saturday. We had a lot of fun. However, a nephew was NOT happy that there are no penguins at our zoo.

Salesman Son thinks I would enjoy Black Mirror on Netflix. Have you seen it? One site described the series as "a hybrid of The Twilight Zone and Tales of the Unexpected which taps into our contemporary unease about our modern world." So, I will be checking that out. And an ad for a new FX show, Legion, looks interesting, too. Well, as my family notes, it "sounds like something you would watch." Plus, The Walking Dead is back. Whoo hoo.

No, I have not found a tool yet for creating new comics. I just now checked and my former tool is still offline.

Otherwise, I am not finding much to share right now. So, I thought about not publishing until I get more, but who knows how long that could be. So, here's a little update.

Post-Inaugural Inanity

The inaugural comments were not mine, but the inanity you usually encounter here definitely is. Let's start first with a couple of things Trump said in his inaugural address...

"What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20th, 2017 will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again." I know we are all hopeful that we see a country we are all happy and thankful to be part of.

"Together, we will make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And yes, together we will make America great again." I am less confident what will change to make there statements true, but all I can do is lift up our country and leaders in prayer.

On CBS Sunday Morning, I was reminded of comments from a couple of other inaugural addresses.

Of course, one of the most famous sentences of an inaugural address comes from John F Kennedy. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." You've got to admit that is an uplifting and stirring sentiment.

How about Abraham Lincoln? "On the occasion corresponding to this, four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war, seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came." Who knows? It could have been quite a while before his opponents realized he had just slammed them big-time.

In case you were wondering, no, I did not watch the speech live. I read his comments later. I didn't go to JFK's or Lincoln's either.

In a related vein, how would you like to see Obama's farewell address songified? You can stop halfway through if you want since you will have seen the repeated 'chorus' a couple of times.

I've got to agree with the creator of this next photo. Now, I cannot see anything else.

I would NOT like to come across this at my house, either.

As I type this, I have just finished watching the NFC and AFC Championship games. It seems Atlanta will take on New England. I will be pulling for the Falcons.

With the games over for today, CBS is airing a new program, Hunted, about a games in which people are trying to evade others hunting them. So, they have to stay off the grid for 28 days. If they can do so, they win $250,000. Could you do it? On the show, they are alerting us to how many cameras see us all day every day. I don't think I would make it. I cannot imagine any of them will.

Get A Head of Jimmy Carter?

Why didn't anyone tell me I could have purchased a wax figure of Abraham Lincoln for $9,000? I missed the auction, which was held last Saturday in Gettysburg, PA. He sold for $8,500. Obama sold for $2,000. Hillary Clinton went for $675. BTW, no, I wold not have placed him in my car for the purpose of using the HOV lane. I mean, come on, who's going to pull over Honest Abe? Before we leave this topic, let's take a look at Jimmy Carter's head.

Why didn't anyone tell me that I can buy some retired circus items such as juggling balls or branded tents? Actually, they are still available, and you can bid through February. Oh yeah, one other small item. They require a minimum $50,000 deposit if you will be bidding, so check your couch cushions. Speaking of circuses, I'm sure you heard the news that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will be closing forever this coming May. Even through we have not attended for many years, it still feels sad since they have been an American staple for for 146 years.

I found this interesting story on vox.com. There is a video of the process in the article, but here is the key info. "Shigeru Miyamoto is a big name in gaming. Since he first designed Donkey Kong in 1981, he’s been called “the father of modern video games” — and for good reason. Before Donkey Kong, most video game designers tackled game design by working on the programming first, not the plot. But Donkey Kong started out as a game adaptation of the 1980 Popeye movie with a hero, a bad guy, and a damsel in distress. After Nintendo was unable to secure the rights to use those characters, Miyamoto was inspired to invent a story that used the same themes. He wound up with the classic love triangle between a gorilla, a princess, and the character we now know as Mario. Three decades and 247 Mario titles later, Miyamoto faced a unique game design challenge this year: creating a game for a console that Nintendo didn’t design. Super Mario Run, released for iPhone in December 2016, is the first Mario game for a non-Nintendo platform. designing it meant using the touchscreen — quite possibly the simplest controller they’ve ever worked with — and creating a game users could play just by tapping one finger."

I like this next product. It is the Tapplock, the world's first fingerprint smart padlock. Worried because it requires a charge? Fear not (according to the website), the rechargeable lock works for 18 months on a single 2-hour charge.

How's the new year treating you? Well, I hope. I pray that you are using this new year as a new beginning to your lives. Spiritually, physically, financially, emotionally, mentally. Let's all be looking for ways to make this year better than last... better than any before. It's up to you.

Happy MLK Day!

One of the articles I just read is really interesting about the inspiration for his final speech on the night he was assassinated. In 1958, he was stabbed in Harlem while siging books. The surgeons worked many hours to save his life, and one was quoted as saying, "had Dr. King sneezed or coughed the weapon would have penetrated the aorta.” This quote formed the foundation of King’s “I have been to the mountaintop” speech. I will let him tell you about it.

"There was another letter that came from a little girl… I looked at that letter and I'll never forget it. It said simply, 'Dear Dr. King: I am a ninth-grade student at the White Plains High School.' She said, 'While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I'm a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I'm simply writing you to say that I'm so happy that you didn't sneeze.'

I want to say tonight that I… am happy that I didn't sneeze. Because if I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1960, when students all over the South started sitting-in at lunch counters. And I knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up for the best in the American dream and taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy, which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1961, when we decided to take a ride for freedom and ended segregation in interstate travel.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been down in Selma, Alabama, to see the great movement there.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been in Memphis to see a community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering. I'm so happy that I didn't sneeze… I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land."

I am too young to remember many details about Dr. King, but I do see his legacy in society today.

On a federal holiday like today, but MBH and I are off work. Of course, that just means we are doing housework instead of paid work. She did some laundry last night after watching the Dallas Cowboys lose to the Packers. Today, it is house straightening time... after we go shopping.

End of the Week Comments

Do you like Cadbury Eggs? Those yummy eggs of goodness that come out around Easter every year? I do and have bought them during that season for years. Now, though, I like the ones filled with caramel more than the traditional ones. Anyway, this year, they've added a twist. Cadbury Oreo Eggs. I would certainly try one.

I wouldn't be happy if things were running up my backside, either.

You remember that we went to Universal Studios in mid-December. I really enjoyed both the Harry Potter ride and the world built around it. Apparently, it was patterned heavily after the Harry Potter movies of the 2000s. After feeling embarrassed by a granddaughter that I had never watched the movies, I had to do just that. MBH joined me and we watched some 20 hrs of HP and made it through the last one this past weekend. I actually enjoyed them more than I thought, and now, the land at Universal does make more sense.

I did not go with the group last year when they went to Universal, but the oldest granddaughter was chosen for a wand ceremony where a certain style of wand chose her. Amazingly, this year, the younger granddaughter was chosen and a wand chose her. Pretty cool, and I saw the inspiration acted out in the movie, making those ceremonies at the wand shop at Universal even more fun. You can read more about it, check out some pictures, and see places where your wand can do magic here.

Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by.

Some Stuff For You , And Some Stuff (Hopefully) For Me

Have you ever heard of the Andy Griffith Show? It ran through the 1960s and starred... Andy Griffith. I'm not going to really talk about it except to share the following. I just learned that they filmed at least 2 Star Trek episodes on the Mayberry sets. When Star Trek first debuted, the show was so underfunded that the set of Mayberry was used to film several different scenes. You can see Mayberry in the episodes “Miri” and “City on the Edge of Forever.” You can actually see Floyd’s Barber Shop in the background of scenes where Captain Kirk is walking with Edith Keeler. Also visible are the Mayberry Courthouse, Walkers Drugstore, and several other major landmarks.

Have you been wondering how the population of states has changed over the last year? Here you go.

From the "Well, he is a lord" file: A Brazilian grandmother has been praying to a figurine from Lord of the Rings for years without realizing. The woman thought she was praying to Saint Anthony but it turns out the figure was Elrond, Lord of Rivendell. On closer inspection, she said Saint Anthony wasn't what he seemed. The pointy ears may have given the game away. Now that this has been discovered (and gone viral), she's got a new figure and this time it's the real deal.

I need some help from those of you that frequent this blog. As you may remember from earlier this year, I have started a new blog to help us capture family memories. Not just those involving Dad and his progeny, but any from the O.F. Walker family. So, I need to know how to reach out to all of our cousins, aunts, uncles, kids, etc. You can email me, text me, call me, just let me know which contacts you have and I will  reach out. Thanks.

Is it true that we have been cutting cakes wrong forever? This video shares a method that will keep the exposed surfaces to a minimum to reduce drying. Watch it and see if you will try this way to cut your cake.

Hey, I know it is short and sweet, but at least I got around to posting something. Count your blessings (either because you haven't had to read many posts this year, or because I finally shared another one). Thanks for stopping by.

New Blog Created!

I've begun a new project that will require help from all of you to make it worthwhile. I have created a new blog for all of us to capture family memories. As I noted in the header of the new blog, "Share your memories of being part of the Walker family. Time with cousins, aunts, uncles, immediate family, vacations, reunions, whatever." So, travel over to http://thewalkerfamilymemories.blogspot.com/ and start adding in those great memories. Go back as far as you want. This will give us a shared place to gather them.

It's Next Year

Has anyone noticed that I haven't been posting new posts as frequently? My new job really limits access to the site during the day, so I have to write it the night before. The challenge there is that MBH and I share this one computer, and we are fitting in dinner and some TV, so I just don't have much time for it. Also, I haven't found a lot of new content in recent months. I just wanted you to know that I am still here.

Let's talk about 2016, OK? Daughter-in-love lost her maternal grandfather this past year, and he was a long-time family friend of ours since the 1980's. He was ready to go Home and be forever with his Savior and his wife. I know that he is (more than) happy and no longer in pain. We miss him, but PTL for our time with him.

MBH (My Better Half) is learning how to deal with diabetes. She had suspected her symptoms meant diabetes, and we are now learning how to better eat and exercise to manage her blood sugars.

I am in a new job and I know the Lord led me to it. I am only a contractor, but that's OK. Who knows where it could lead.

FAD (Future Accountant Daughter) is really enjoying her job in the payroll area of a nearby city. She finishes her degree next summer.

SS and family are all doing well. We just returned from a trip to Universal Studios with them and had a great time. It is totally different from my last visit long ago. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is amazing. Simpson's Land is very clever. The Backstage Tour has changed a lot.

Now, let's talk about the unbelievably sad passing of both Carrie Fisher and her mother, Debbie Reynolds, just one day apart. Can you imagine how sad the family is right now? I cannot.

From the 2016 Things That Look Like a Face file:

From the 2016 Animals But Mainly Cats Puns file:

From the Improbable Santa file, here is Liam Neeson trying out to be a mall Santa.

That is enough for today. Welcome to 2017, my friends.

Who'd'a Thunk It?

It wasn't "only a cough", as I claimed yesterday. It is bronchitis and now, I am on medicine. Hopefully, it means that I can sing Sunday night. Even if I cannot, I will stand with the choir (unless my cough is still bad), and I will lead my small group as we sing "Silent Night."

Have you ever heard of a giraffe dog? No, me neither, but....

NLTD just pointed me to a great video of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer done to the Hamilton soundtrack called Hamildolph. Eclipse 6 did a great job with it.

I found another funny screenshot from Family Feud with Richard Karn. Well, I am assuming they are correct transcriptions from the show.

Here's something I learned today from one of the tech-y sites I frequent.
A Backronym (short for Backward Acronym) is a type of acronym that is created by choosing a “set” of letters, then a name/title (multi-word term) that fits the letters. An example is NASA’s naming its ISS treadmill C.O.L.B.E.R.T. (Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill) after comedian Stephen Colbert.

This is an example of the type of roads we usually take in the backcountry of Southwest Colorado. Looks fun, doesn't it? Yeah, it is. You can see one of our Jeeps up ahead of me.

I am embarrassed to tell you about what a horrible driver Preacher Bro is. So, instead, I will show you. Look, his better half is trying to escape through the roof. I think I heard her saying, "Let me out or I'll smack you!" You can even see her raising her hand.

Is it Friday already? I hope that you understand when I don't have time to write a new blog post. Sometimes, I have personal things I want to share. Sometimes, I find web stuff to share. Sometimes, though, I just don't have enough content, or maybe I don't have enough time. Trust me, people, I will warn you if I ever decide to end the blog. Today is not that day. See you next week.

I'm Telling Myself It is Only a Cough

Last night, I tossed and turned all night with a nagging cough. Don't you hate that? As a way to pass the time, I ended up thinking about Hamilton, the musical, which then led me to think of the other major, political musical that I have seen. Do you know what it was? Sure, 1776. It looks like I first saw it in 1970 in Dallas and it was amazing. Probably as exciting back then as Hamilton seems right now.

I don't think that I mentioned that one of my aunts passed away last week. The folks and Architect Bro and his wife attended her funeral. She has had Alzheimer's for some time, so the last couple of times I saw her, she did not remember me. Man, that disease is such a challenge to deal with, probably for the person afflicted as well as those of us who interact with them. Let's pray that some research will lead to a breakthrough in treatments.

Don't you feel sorry for this dog?

I must have missed this episode of Family Feud.

I liked this view of town because it highlights the American flag flying on the mountain south of town. The street you see in the middle of town is, you guessed it, Main St.

This is the sign at the overlook where we stopped for the flag photo.

Who want to see one of those great Pinterest fails? I know that I do. If you don't, skip over the next image right now.

I hope you are ready for Christmas because your shopping days are almost over. I hope mine are all purchased, too. I'll have to check with MBH on that.

Take a deep breath. Did you get enough oxygen? I think that I did

I had my biannual cardiac stress test and they said I made it 10.75 minutes (compared to just over 9.5 minutes two years ago). And based on that, it seems that my VO2Max (a measure of a person's aerobic fitness) is just over 37. So what, right? According to charts, that is in the Good range. What does this mean? Is a higher number “good”? All else being equal, a higher VO2 max is a good thing: it means that your body can take in more oxygen and deliver it to your muscles, enabling you to run faster for a given effort (not that I run). Still, it does imply I am doing OK right now.

How are you feeling now that Donald Trump is the president-elect? I know that he hasn't taken office yet, but at least the stock market is doing well. What about his cabinet selections? Are you pleased with them? They seem OK to me, and I hope that he actually listens to them. Madonna feels like women gave up on Hillary. She said “A lot of it has do with jealousy and some sort of tribal inability to accept that one of their kind could lead a nation. Other people just didn't bother to vote because they didn't like either candidate, or they didn't think Trump had a chance in the world. They took their hands off the wheel and then the car crashed."

Here's looking at you. kid.

OK, cat lovers. Where's the cat?

Downtown Ouray this fall.

Here is a view of the town from the road south of town.

In case you gave up, here is the cat.

And I don't know about you, but I am ready to get Tuesday underway. See you on the other side of today.

Nothing to Worry About

Somehow, I've been busy at nights and have not taken the time to write a new blog post. And so far, I've been just too busy at work to even think about it during the mornings. So, I am starting this on Sunday to be sure I have something ready to share. How do I like my new job? As you might hope, I am really liking it. You may remember that I took this position knowing that it was only funded through the end of December. I am getting a little nervous, although my manager said he is working on 2017 funding for all positions including mine. So, a little nervous but not too much...yet. Worst case, I go back to my contracting company and let them find me another new, exciting job. He did good on this one, right?

If I do have to leave this job, maybe they will get me a goodbye cake? I hope it is better than this one (actually, this is pretty clever).

Sunday's Stupidest Things calendar entry was fun. I included their clever opening commentary on the calendar entry because it added to the fun:
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2016
FROM THE 365 STUPIDEST THINGS EVER SAID 2016 PAGE-A-DAY CALENDAR »

ON “THEY PUT DOWN THEIR BRIEFCASES AND JUMPED HIM”

COLORADO MAN ATTACKED BY THREE COYOTES WALKING TO WORK
headline, AOL Entertainment (thanks to Bill Heard)

Do you have anyone in your family (maybe a great aunt or something?) who wears ugly Christmas sweaters? If so, I still imagine they cannot easily beat this one.

What do you think of the new chip cards instead of using magnetic strips on your debit cards? Have you noticed that it takes longer to complete the transaction now? Plus, it also means that we cannot use the debit card in credit mode because you are forced to enter your PIN (at least, I see that at our grocery store).

I saw this headline online, but did not follow the link. Would you have?

Check out this photo of a bridge in the Dennis Weaver Memorial Park in Ridgway, CO. Sure, it is just a normal bridge over a stream, but it is the first time I flew my drone out of my sight. I walked up onto the bridge and then flew my drone underneath it. hoping that I did not miss anything as I watched the passage only using the camera on the drone. When we watched the footage later, I had not told anyone I did this, so they were all debating whether or not I would fly it under the bridge. It was fun.

MBH shared this video with me and I enjoyed it enough to add it to today's blog. It is clips of the cast of ST:TNG saying the words to the Christmas classic Let It Snow. Well, almost all the words. If you ever watched that series, watch this Youtube video.

Back to my photos, here is a shot from the drone footage as I prepared for the bridge fly-by. You can see me on the bridge making sure I would not lose my drone in the Uncompahgre River.

Well, I need to get ready for our Chorale Christmas concert with the orchestra tonight.

Fried "Air"

Every year, state fairs across the country vie for who can create the newest food craze. You've heard of fried ice cream, fried Coke, fried butter. Guess what I just saw on Groupon. I'm sure it will become a new craze, if I can ever understand how they can fry 'air'.

How was your Thanksgiving. Ours was very nice, spending the first part of the day with parents and the second part with kids and grandkids. We also had family in from NV and had a good time with them. Throughout the whole weekend, we ate waaaay too much. For all our blessings and challenges, though, we want to thank the Lord.

I'm not much of a cat person, but this rings true.

Quotation marks. Do you ever seem them used in a way that makes something seem suspicious? Here are a couple of examples.

My hard disk is totally full, so I cannot share any more photos until I free some space. Sorry. Hopefully, I can deal with this tonight. Have a great Monday.

A Tale of a Tale About Peanuts

Today's Jokes and Puns calendar entry:
How many cooks does it take to stuff a turkey?
Only one, but you really have to squeeze him in.

Happy Thankgsiving! Today's post is primarily one fun article about a classic animated television show. It is a story from NYMag about how A Charlie Brown Christmas almost never made it to the air.

Soon, millions of American families will come  together to celebrate the holidays and passive-aggressively debate whether the country has just been saved or destroyed. For many, one annual ritual will provide a welcome distraction: watching a depressed child get berated and mocked relentlessly. A Charlie Brown Christmas, based on the “Peanuts” comic strip, has aired every December for the last 50 years — longer than any other holiday program besides Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. For last year’s anniversary, President Obama called the special “one of the country’s most beloved traditions.”

Lee Mendelson, who produced A Charlie Brown Christmas, thinks its message might be particularly relevant this year, with at least half the population feeling like someone pulled the football away. “These people identify with Charlie Brown maybe more than ever after this election season. He keeps fighting back and keeps enduring,” Mendelson says. “If we ever have to fight bullying, at so many levels, this is it.”

What most people don’t realize is that the holiday classic barely made it into production — and was almost buried forever. In 1965, no one believed that Charles Schulz’s story of an underdog sticking to his principles in the face of constant bullying would make for good TV. The show originally sprang from a failed documentary Mendelson had tried to make about Schulz. No networks had wanted it, but after Charlie Brown and the gang were featured on the cover of Time magazine, Coca-Cola’s ad agency, McCann Erickson, got the idea for a holiday special and approached Mendelson. Desperate after his documentary imploded, he lied and told the agent that, in fact, he and Schulz had discussed such a project. He called Schulz and told him they’d sold A Charlie Brown Christmas. “Schulz said, ‘What’s that?’” Mendelson recalls. “And I said, ‘It’s something you’re going to write tomorrow.’”

Mendelson rang animator Bill Melendez, who had helped animate a two-minute segment in the never-aired documentary. The three met in Schulz’s office in Sebastopol, California. Schulz wanted the show to focus on the childhood stress of putting on a Christmas play. Mendelson had just read The Fir-Tree by Hans Christian Andersen and suggested the story include a tree that is as sad and misunderstood as Charlie Brown. They cranked out an outline and put it in a Western Union shipment to Atlanta. Several days later, the agency told them they had a short six months to deliver the animated special.

Halfway through production, when the team was still working with black-and-white illustrations, a McCann executive (Mendelson is almost certain it was Neil Reagan, the older brother of President Ronald Reagan) showed up in Sebastopol to check in on the progress. He was put off by the slow pacing of the story. Mendelson, Melendez, and Schulz assured him it would be better once there was music and color. The executive said he wouldn’t tell the agency what he thought — because if he did, he was sure they would cancel the show.

For the music, the team had courted up-and-coming jazz musician Vince Guaraldi, whose “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” seemed to strike the same balance of somber enlightenment and childlike buoyancy that Schulz achieved in his comic. But when they played the introduction song as the children skated on the frozen pond, Mendelson realized it was way too slow and solemn. It was missing something. He sat down at his kitchen table and wrote out the words to “Christmas Time Is Here” on an envelope. Guaraldi enlisted the children’s choir of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in San Rafael, California, to sing the lyrics.

Lyrics or not, the CBS executives didn’t think jazz belonged in a cartoon. They also challenged Schulz’s decision to use untrained children instead of professional adult voice actors. They especially couldn’t understand why children would use such big words. (Lucy: “We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It’s run by a big Eastern syndicate, you know.” Charlie Brown: “Don’t think of it as dust. Think of it as maybe the soil of some great past civilization. Maybe the soil of ancient Babylon. It staggers the imagination. Maybe carrying soil that was trod upon by Solomon, or even Nebuchadnezzar.”) This, despite the fact that for about 15 years, “Peanuts” characters had spoken with advanced vocabularies.

Schulz even got pushback from his own team. Mendelson suggested a laugh track would save the show and Schulz responded by standing up and walking out of the room. When Schulz, a Sunday school teacher, said Linus should recite from the Gospel of Luke, Mendelson and Melendez protested. “We looked at each other and said, ‘Well, there goes our careers right down the drain,’” Mendelson recalls. “Nobody had ever animated anything from the Bible before, and we knew it probably wouldn’t work. We were flabbergasted by it.”

Of course, now Mendelson realizes that Linus’s segment probably made the entire project work. “That 10-year-old kid who recited that speech from the Bible was as good as any scene from Hamlet,” he says.

When CBS finally saw the finished product, they were sure it was doomed. It was still too slow, there was no action, the kids weren’t polished, the jazz didn’t belong. “The general reaction was one of disappointment — that it didn’t really translate as well as we thought it would,” former CBS executive Fred Silverman said in the 2015 short documentary, The Making of ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas.’ “There were specific negative comments about the music, the piano music, some of the voicing, which sounded kind of amateurish.”

But Coca-Cola had already bankrolled the program, and it was listed in TV guides. CBS had to air the show, but the execs were certain it would flop, never to run again. Mendelson thought he had killed Charlie Brown.

When A Charlie Brown Christmas aired at 7:30 p.m. ET on December 9, 1965, half of American TV viewers tuned in. The reviews were outstanding. Washington Post TV critic Lawrence Laurent wrote, “Good old Charlie Brown, a natural born loser … finally turned up a winner.”

CBS immediately ordered four more specials. The show won a Peabody and an Emmy Award. In the end, Schulz, Mendelson, and Melendez wound up making about 50 “Peanuts” programs together, most of them for CBS. “We did whatever we wanted to do,” Mendelson says. “In our business, that’s craziness. We did one on cancer. We did one on war. We were just given a free ticket for half a century and tried to honor that by being entertaining but also being important and educational.”

The only person involved who wasn’t surprised was Schulz. The cartoonist was plagued by depression and self-doubt his entire life, but he always had confidence in his characters and their stories. He believed everyone knew what it felt like to fail despite doing everything right. “We hear about authors who write best about what they know. Steinbeck wrote about the West. Hemingway wrote about, well, everywhere,” says Mendelson. “Schulz jumped ahead in school so he was always the youngest, and he endured a lot of bullying. He felt a lot of loneliness, and I think that was the bedrock of his whole philosophy.”

Schulz’s message of perseverance in the face of dejection always resonated with American audiences, a reminder that we should keep kicking no matter how many times they pull the ball away. If that sentiment happens to be particularly relevant this year, Mendelson is pleased.

“Hopefully,” he says, “this positive program will be soothing at a time of uncertainty.”

Pretty nice story, isn't it? I know that I have seen it more times than I can count, and am looking forward to it again this year, its 51st birthday.

Pre-Thanksgiving Thanks Giving

Did you remember that yesterday was the 23rd anniversary of the assassination of President John F Kennedy? Do you believe the finding that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman? I guess we'll never know for sure.

If you are like me, and I know that you are not, you have wondered what the difference is between a street and an avenue and a road. No, I have never actually wondered that, but I came across a video where they explain the differences.

Funny road sign juxtaposition (good word, right?):

Cat selfie, anyone?

I was looking at Amazon last night for some heavy-duty 10ft Lightning cables for our iPhones. You know how it is when you start looking around in Amazon, though. I also want to get some additional propellers for my drone. I do not have any replacements for the silver-topped ones. I saw a sale for FPV (first-person view) goggles. So, as I dug around, it led me to Youtube for people using those goggles to fly their drones, which means you are seeing through the camera as your eyes. That led me to seeing a video about putting prop guards on my drone, which would then require some adjustment on my carrying case so the bases could remain attached. And all of this while watching Designated Survivor on television.

Up near Montrose, CO, we came across this little lake at Chipeta State Park that looked picturesque. So, I made everyone pull over while I took some photos. The first one I captured showed these cattails on the near shore. I was not able to determine if the lake itself has a name.

Zooming in on the far side revealed this small pier.

There is a walking path around this lake, with benches for those who want to sit and relax, or maybe sit and take photos.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I hope my reminders to give thanks for everything have gotten you in the spirit of the season. We really should be giving thanks more often than we do (well, maybe I am only speaking for myself. That's OK). I have so many blessings and yet, I often take them for granted. I hope that you are more cognizant of the ways God has blessed you. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Kids and Cats and Canned Biscuits

Who doesn't love biscuits? I know that I do, although they are probably not great for me. Still, this article describes 6 ways you can use the canned ones to build a pretty tasty meal. The Monkey Bread and the Calzones look the best, although our sister-in-law made the dumplings on vacation and they were really good.

We are not through with food-related stories though. Oh no! And the reason this next one caught my eye was a sandwich that includes cheese, roasted strawberries and dark chocolate. No, I don't want to to try it. In fact, I have not eaten a grilled cheese sandwich in over 3 years, but that doesn't mean you might like some of the options in this article.

NLTD's boyfriend thinks I should look at replacing my current fitness tracker with an older Apple Watch. I haven't decided for sure to replace my tracker yet. I am just considering options because the band on my unit it looking really grubby. I mainly use it to make sure I take a minimum of 5,000 steps per day. I know that is below the recommended 10,000 steps that somebody (but I don't know who) recommends.

No, this photo is not my family, but the cat reminds me of ours. What cat, you may ask? Check the close up in the lower right.

The 16-member small group that I am leading at our Chorale is going very well. We are working on an arrangement of Silent Night that we will sing at the Christmas Party and probably as the offertory at one of the concerts.

This photo has a story. MBH and I were walking the neighborhood circle in Ouray, CO, this summer. As we neared the end, I noticed the mountain in the distance and liked the way it looked. I stopped to take this photo and a homeowner asked me why I was taking a photo of her house. I pointed out that I was shooting the peak in the distance and she allowed me to continue. I should have taken a photo of her house without telling her, but I didn't.

Later that same day, a light rain passed through and I took these shots.

Got kids? I know that you are thankful for them. Today, your assignment is to thank God for them and the blessing they are to your life. Oh, and also, turkeys. They taste really good. For me, I'm thankful for malted milk balls. Two days until Thanksgiving.