COLUMBUS DAY

COLUMBUS DAY
Today is October 12, 2009 - Columbus Day. Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas on October 12, 1492 - 517 years ago! October 12 became a federal holiday in 1934. In 1971, the legal holiday was assigned to the second Monday in October - the same day that Canada celebrates their Thanksgiving. The day is not a legal holiday in Hawaii, Nevada and South Dakota. To honor the day - and Columbus - I stood our flag in our hall way/entrance way.
Today, Columbus Day is quite controversial. While the Italian-Americans “honor” the day, our Native Americans do not. Generally, the day is losing it’s popularity. There is a “push” to do away with it, and trade the Holiday for the Friday after Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve or such other time. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, 22 states don’t give their employees the day off. Let the parades begin!
I took a shower this morning after breakfast. The showers here at Quail Creek are very interesting to say the least. The shower head is attached to flexible tubing. I chose not to have a shower curtain. But my decision puts a lot of pressure on me to keep the manual spray within the confine of the tile walls. Just in case, I mis-spray, I place a large bath towel on the floor next to the base of the shower. I have become pretty skilled in the past year and a half. I would be comfortable with taking a shower sans towel.
This afternoon, I played bridge. I contributed my $1 to the pot. During play, someone handed me a dollar. So it was a “wash.” The dollar was my “reward” for being “booby’ last week. (the “prize” is the return of your dollar- entrance fee.)We had three tables - 12 players. I ended the day playing at a table with three other men! This is the first time that has happened. There were five men in all today, and seven women playing. The quality of play is about the same, between the genders.
A good thing we are not scheduled to play Bocce tomorrow. The weatherman is predicting lots of rain (2-3 inches - not much compared to the Philippines and Texas, lately). The weather specialists are predicting another dry winter for us. If it happens, it will be the third one in a row. With an estimated population of 38 million people in California, someone had better get “cracking” on nuclear de-salination of the nearby Pacific. In 1950, a limited supply of fresh water was supposed to limit the population growth in California to twenty million people. But, in the ensuing 50 years, the population has almost doubled.
I debated whether to watch the Phillies and Rockies play baseball tonight, or watch Monday Night Football, between Miami and the New York Jets. I ended up “blogging” instead.
RCL - 10/12/09.