An Ounce - For Your Consideration

Did you know Chewing tobacco and Christmas trees have something in common? Stay with me now - His name was Prince Albert, who married Queen Victoria – Well known and popular royal power couple in the 1840s.  A strong precursor to the Kardashian phenomenon, the name of Prince Albert was everywhere.

But, What did he have to do with the Christmas Tree? Listen and find out!

In the lyrics of the song Merry Xmas/War is over, John Lennon penned the words, “ And, so this is Christmas” – But, is it? Traditionally in our time, we celebrate it on December 25th of each year. The purpose of the celebration? To commemorate the Christ child born in a manger in Bethlehem, of Judea, in the meridian of time. An event now celebrated by Christens and non-Christians alike, as a time of family, gift-giving, generosity, and celebration.

 However, Christmas was not always on December 25th. In fact, it is believed by most scholars and historians that Christ was born in the spring of the year.

 SO….How did we end up celebrating Christmas in the dead of winter?

Got a great story about a real character who almost everyone has heard of. But, We’re going to explore his childhood and some of the other attitudes and behavior he exhibited later in life.

Al was born on March 14th, 1879. As a newborn, he was described as having a ‘swollen and mishappen head’ and a grossly overweight body.

When Al’s grandmother saw him the first time she was reported to have screamed, “Much too fat! Much too fat!”.

As a young child, he was famous for his temper tantrums. He would yell, and holler, and throw things. Lots of things – toys, books, or whatever he could get his hands on.

He was an unquantified genius whose vivid mind has impacted so many meaningful advances in technology. He loved and took time for kids, and was an accomplished musician.

But, he was at times, also quite a selfish and insensitive jerk.

Like most human beings he was a mix of good and bad, Brilliance and stupidity, Light and Dark.

Not that different from most humans.

I’ve got a really fun little story about a boy and his dog. You’ll find it a bit different than other ‘boy-and-his-dog’ stories. Because, this dog was supposed to be a hunting retriever, meant to swim out in the cold waters of a pond and retrieve ducks. But, at this task, he became pretty much useless  - Or at least that what a neighbor thought when he saw what the dog could do.

So many times, something new and seemingly miraculous has been introduced to the world, and many just haven’t got the eyes to understand what they see. When the neighbor saw the dog pointed had out a ‘perceived flaw’, without seeming to comprehend the miracle he had just seen with his own eyes. 

Have you ever heard of the fabled lemming?

A Lemming is a small rodent, a bit like a small mouse but more of a vole, with a short tail. 

Every five to seven years, they are said to instinctively recognize they have overpopulated, and a large group of them will head off in a furry little heard, and commence to stampede headlong off a cliff and into the sea, committing mass suicide for the benefit of the colony. 

Lemmings are cute little mammals who seem to love life in a beautiful environment. They are not melancholy balls of fluff that sit around contemplating the existential questions, who get depressed and angry about their existence,  then get all wound up and stampede into the ocean.

That is a myth.

How the heck did we ever come to believe this?

I have a question for you. How do you get from where you are to where you want to be?

That’s a question not only of geography, but also one vision, self-identity, and personal worth.

Well – I believe the first thing you have to do is figure out where ‘there’ – the place you want to go or the destination – is.

Then you have to ‘want’ to get there. You will have to start with ‘wanting’ to go ‘there’. You need to have a vision of what you want to reach. An ideal, goal, or destination.

Then, you go, you do, you act.

Arthur Ashe said, “start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can.”

NO one’s road to achieving what they desire is the same. Some may begin with advantages or challenges along their path of desire, some may be on that road much longer than others, but all begin with the same basic tools. 

But before you make any purposeful trip through time, space, or self – you have to ‘want’.

Or, in other words, there must be ‘Desire’. 

In the mid-1950s, in Bangkok Thailand, a well-loved and centuries-old statue of Buddha was being moved from its tin-roofed pagoda to a more permanent location. This statue of the Buddha, covered in a concrete stucco and inlaid with colorful glass was 10-feet-tall. 

It was incredibly heavy even considering its large size, and very difficult to move.

During the move, and in a final attempt to lift the incredibly heavy statue, some of the riggings shifted and the statue smashed into the ground, seriously cracking the stucco and concrete at the base.

That's where the Story gets really interesting!

So why do they call it a hummingbird?

Because it remembers the melody, but it can't remember the words.

 OK sorry – but how about this. A flock of hummingbirds can be referred to in many ways. Grouped together they can be called a Boquete, a glittering, a hover, a shimmer, or ….. a tune (without words of course).

And, the name Hummingbird – comes from the sound of their rapidly beating wings. 

With their bright colors and in your face personalities they are a bit of a fixture in our back yard during the summer. They are fun to watch. 

But, What if they were bigger – 

Imagine they were Humming along with those bright colors at about the size of a pigeon or crow.

Buzzing you every time you got to close.

Problems can be like hummingbirds.

The threat a problem seems to pose in direct proportion to it’s perceived size.

Lynne Cooper was born on October 4, 1916, in St. Louis Missouri. 

But, Who was she?

In her early years, she worked as a school teacher. 

And, Lynn was a graduate of Washington University in her hometown of St. Louis and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa sorority.

IN 1939, during a tour with her sorority sisters at Radio station KXOK, Lynn met Paul Aurandt (or-NOT) who was employed at the station. Paul took a shine to her immediately and precociously asked her out to dinner that evening – and Lynne accepted. 

In 1940 they married.

But Paul’s Angel, Lynne, continued as his greatest fan, and valued creative and business partner. 

It was in 1944 that the Aurandt’s (or-NOT) settled in Chicago. Paul found a position and took on his now-legendary nom de plume. 

I expect you’ve heard of Paul, but without the genius and collaboration of His Angel, it is likely he would have never risen from obscurity.

Lynne was Paul’s greatest asset.

If you know Paul - it is because of Lynne.

This little bean has been around delighting the tastebuds of humans for thousands of years. 

What Little Bean you ask? Well, we’ll get to that.

Around 4000 thousand years ago the Olmec’s of Central America began to pick from the trees, pods, each pod containing about 40 beans. 

Cortez said though he was in search of gold, the Aztec emperor gift him with a cup of the drink made from this highly prized bean.

And, the drink became popular among the rich and ruling class, the Spanish version was mixed with Honey and sugar to sweeten the naturally bitter taste.

A century or so later the cat was out of the bag when the French King Louis the 13th married Anne, the daughter of Spanish King Phillip the 3rd.

Then this marvelous drink made its way to Britain, and then the rest of Europe. Still, it was enjoyed only by the Noble Class for its health benefits and decadence. Plantations were established along the equator by many of these colonizing nations to produce this valuable little bean.