Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Suddenly tomorrow is lost to yesterday.

   If there's to be a tomorrow,

                   it had better be today!

Marvin Irving Blusteln

Janis,

An overly optimistic outlook.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Marvin, it's good to hear from you.

"For we must weep before we can laugh. Out of sadness comes the awakening, and out of the awakening comes the laughter." -- Lin Yutang

I have confidence in the people who are working to keep our republic.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Jim Lehrer (of PBS) died today at 85 years of age.

Beverlee Ann Arpan (Marshall)

Several years ago I read the book, No Certain Rest, (historical fiction) by Jim Lehrer when it first came out in 2003, about Antietam, which I thought was an excellent read, combining the past with the present.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"Only friendship which can stand occasional plain speaking is worth having." -- Lin Yutang

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

The U.S. confirms the 4th case of coronavirus.

NBA's Kobe Bryant and his 13 year old daughter, one of her teammates and a parent, and the pilot died in a helicopter crash en route to their basketball game.
Kobe, "Mamba", played with the Lakers for 20 years,
was the father of 4 daughters, and a big supporter of women's athletics.

Stewart Myrent

Carol, really enjoyed your post about the progression (& regression) in life & that it does all, indeed, seem to come full circle.  It was hilarious & I loved it!

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

None of us know how we will meet our end.  
We watched Kobe grow up.  
We watched him grow as a person and take on and meet new challenges.  
He was a man on a journey.

Stewart Myrent

Carol, I have now looked at your slide show about life's full circle of ups & downs, probably 3 or 4 times now, because I'm laughing hysterically, every time I look at it.  Thanks again.  I did want to mention a couple of things about Kobe Bryant's sad demise, because when I first heard that he & a daughter had both died as a result of a helicopter crash, I was in disbelief.  Because it was Kobe Bryant - one of the greatest basketball players, EVER!  Everyone alive has heard of Kobe Bryant.  (I'm guessing even in remote corners of the globe.)  The first thing I thought, is something I've been thinking for a long time now (especially now that I'm older) - that the absolutely BEST thing to have in life, is good luck.  It's way better than ANYTHING else.  The problem with good luck, though, is that it's totally out of your control.  Kobe's run of luck had been pretty good - until he got on that helicopter.  So, bad things happen to people all the time, but everyone not only heard about it, but pretty much everyone has heard of Kobe Bryant.  I took a helicopter ride one time (I think it was out of Palwaukee Airport) & the pilot took us out over the lake & then downtown.  It was great!  However, no mishaps, thankfully.  But if that helicopter had gone down (because of bad luck, or any other reason), no one would have noticed that Stewart Myrent had died in a terrible helicopter crash.  Perhaps, some of you (if you even heard who had died in that horrible accident), might think "...Stewart Myrent...hmmm...I may have gone to school with him.  Name sounds familiar."  The other thought I had about this, is that, "What were Kobe & his daughter doing on that helicopter, in the first place."  I had that one helicopter trip (& I'm glad I did), but perhaps, Kobe, being a celebrity, rides in helicopters all the time, & this time it caught up with him.  BAD LUCK - way worse than good luck.  

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Beware coronavirus.  
In 2015 Bill Gates alerted the world to the threat of a pandemic.

Stewart Myrent

I received additional info today about Kobe Bryant's fatal helicopter crash.  It turns out that I was partially right, that, because he was a celebrity, he probably took more helicopter flights than the one I had taken.  It turns out that the helicopter was Kobe's very own, privately-owned helicopter.  It was not operated by any commercial helicopter company.  Also in SoCal, in the LA area, it is much easier to get around, flying above all the bumper-to-bumper traffic, as long as you can avoid that last helicopter trip.  But, still, how many people can afford their very own helicopter?  Another example of good luck being way better than being unimaginably wealthy.

Paul Richard Hain

I'm a private pilot.  The heli was flying under Visual Flight Rules (VFR). He was flying in Class G airspace that has a few restrictions.  He had to remain clear of clouds and have one statute mile of visability.  The pilot request a Special Visual Flight Rule clearance to proceed, presumably because of less visability and fog.  This is a very dangerous choice.  He was flying into rising terrain with limited visability. The SVFR clearance was granted.  He was now flying below radar contact that he requested to guide him to their destination.  In conditions like he was in, the pilot should have been flying under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) which require a pilot to fly using cockpit instruments rather than visual sight.  The pilot may have experienced vertigo, complete sensory disorientation and then lost control of the heli.  They were so low in altitude there was no room to regain control.  Crash!  A terrible tragedy.

Minimum Visual Flight Rules flying is very dangerous even for the best pilot.  The pilots decision-making lead to the accident.  Diverting back to better conditions, landing and renting a car from Hertz would have ended the day happy.  Weather is always what you see out the windscreen.  If you can't see anything you are headed for oblivion.

Alan A. Alop

Stewart Myrent

Alan, thank you for passing on "This Modern World", by Tom Tomorrow, which I don't remember seeing before.

Paul Richard Hain

Ah, ah, ah, Alan.  Rules.  Objective rules apply.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Get a grip, Paul.  
It's time for a good laugh.
Every day the Sargeant-at-arms says: "Senators will remain silent on pain of imprisonment,"
yet the Senators talk (quietly).

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Lots of moving parts.

We're in a new moment.  
 

Coronavirus is a public health emergency in the U.S.
The virus is spreading 'round the world faster than expected.

David St. Pierre Bantz

Swedish pancakes this morning; filling is lingonberry, aka low bush cranberry in Alaska. I first tasted these from Judy Kerstetter's mom and have been a fan since. Made these in my mom's acient cast iron griddle.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Yummy... Swedish pancakes are a favorite of my Larson grandchildren... we also eat them with lingonberries, but have never rolled them... yours are whetting my appetite...

 to David
 from Lin Yutang
"Our lives are not in the lap of the gods,
 but in the lap of our cooks."

Donald Henry Kuehn

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL? 

 Go Chieeeeeeffffs!

DK

Nancy Doyle (Sudlow)

We have lived in Arlington Heights, IL for over 40 years.  Jimmy Garoppolo grew up here.  Sorry, Don, but I'm rooting for Jimmy and the 49ers!

Theodore John Forsberg

Yo David- great minds cook alike- had my Swedish pancakes with local maple syrup- my ligonberries are for thanksgiving turkey. My iron pan was my Grandmothers ( mor mor for the Swedes out there) and I can not even guess how old it is. 

Stewart Myrent

I was not even going to post, but the lure of the Swedish pancakes, with LINGONBERRIES, were too much to pass up.  I remember getting Swedish pancakes, filled, of course, with lingonberries, probably 40 or 50 years ago, & I believe I used to get them at IHOP, but I'm not sure. They were wrapped, just as your beauties were, David & they were great!  If anyone also remembers, or knows, if IHOP carried the Swedish pancakes, please let me know, so I can worry slightly less, about my sanity.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Congrats, DK.

Hats off to Big Red and the Chiefs!

It's good to see OK open emotion -

the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat -

the fun of competition and championships

that comes with sports and sporting events -

appropriate venues for competition

(with referees and open review)

(and in golf, an honor code).

Lots to celebrate in Kansas City.