PCC(E) is very tired this morning, still suffering from some chronic insomnia. Well, I do my best. On this day in 1905, Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg kicked off the revolution of 1905, eventually leading to the Big Revolution—the one from which my grandfather fled to found the maternal side of the American Coyne Dynasty. In 1973, the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down by the Supreme Court, legalizing abortion, a decision that every Republican in the U.S. is now trying to gut. Lord Byron was born on this day in 1824 (I’ve seen his name that he engraved as graffiti on the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, Greece); Sam Cooke was born in 1931; and Linda “Exorcist” Blair in 1959. On this day in 1666, the great Mughal emperor Shah Jahan died; he built the the greatest monument to love ever—the Taj Mahal (one of the three most beautiful things on Earth I’ve ever seen). Lyndon Johnson died of a heart attack on this day in 1973, and Heath Ledger in 2008 (was it that long ago)? Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili has taken a walk in the deep snow with her staff—a rare event that’s documented below. She looks like a mini Siberian tiger.
A: So you decided to enjoy winter after all.
Hili: Yes, but if we are having such Arctic weather now, where are the white mice?
Ja: A jednak postanowiłaś cieszyć się zimą.
Hili: Tak, ale jak już mamy taką arktyczną pogodę, to gdzie są te białe myszki?
Meanwhile, Leon is off in the mountains with his staff, ready to hike in the snow. He is, however, a bit disgruntled with the heating arrangements in their vacation cabin. I’m eager to see if he’ll again meet his inamorata, the lovely Balbina, who lives in a lodge higher up.
Leon: You can’t lie down on this heater!
Sir Walter Raleigh was born on this day… o heck – I think it is my brother’s birthday!!! oops…
Big snowstorm coming up through Virginia right now. I hope it veers East before it gets to NY.
What are the other two most beautiful things you’ve ever seen?
1. Machu Picchu from the adjacent mountaintop: an ruined ancient city, high on a hill, surrounded by jungle as far as you can see (the aerial view of Tikal as you’re coming in to land is almost as amazing)
2. The view from the Thayngboche Monastery in the Solo Khumbu: it’s on a hill and flanked by a stunning view of Mount Everest to one side and the snow-clad face of Ama Dablam right across the valley. The view at sunset, when the tops of those huge mountains turn orange, is what one might call a “spiritual” experience.
Byron was born on this day in 1788 not 1824. He died in 1824 (on a different day).
The myszki use their szkis to białe out as the Tigris approaches.
b&
A rather portly tiger, she is.