It’s hard to believe it’s Friday already, but so it is. And Friday the 13th! Life is short, full of woe and passes quickly. As the Buddha said, “All earthly things decay; strive diligently.”
On this day in 1917, three Portuguese children claimed that they had a vision of Mary, which became the the legend of of Our Lady of Fátima. On May 13, 1940, Germany crossed the Meuse, beginning its conquest of France, and Churchill delivered his famous “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” speech to the House of Commons. On this day in 1989, the student occupation of Tiananmen Square began in China; it was not to end well. Finally, on May 13, 1995, 33-year-old mountaineer Alison Hargreaves from Britain climbed Mount Everest without using either oxygen or Sherpas. Sadly, she died on August 13 of that year, falling after a successful ascent of K2.
Notables born on this day include Bruce Chatwin (1940) and Manning Marable, author of the Puitzer-Prize winning biography of Malcolm X (1950), who died of respiratory disease before the prize was awarded Those who died on May 13 include the zoologist Georges Cuvier (1832), the explorer Fridtjof Nansen (1930), Gary Cooper (1961), and Joyce Brothers (2013). Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili has been reduced to praying for her noms:
Hili: Another Hail Mary and my bowl should be full.A: Normally you use different techniques.Hili: Yes, but now I’m conducting an experiment.
In Polish:
Hili: Jeszcze jedna zdrowaśka i miseczka powinna być napełniona.
Ja: Normalnie używasz innych technik.
Hili: Tak, ale teraz eksperymentuję.
And, in Winnipeg, Gus wasn’t allowed to go outside yesterday, as it was raining and he hates getting his paws wet. He sat in the window looking longingly at the outdoors. The caption of this photo is “Sigh. . .”
A Friday resolution: join twitter or you will miss stuff like this –
https://twitter.com/HorribleSanity/status/535465741810536449
Never mind what’s in it, who has a twopence today?
You can read the entire story here; it’s cool.
That’s nice, although a little sad. Maybe worth threepence which I do not have, but a sixpence could get me two copies.
I once read a book on the Fatima apparitions, written by an author described as a well-regarded historian. Part of the story involved a prophecy that shortly before the next war (WWII), there would be a sign in the heavens. This was said to be fulfilled in 1938 by a frightening red glow in the sky, a phenomenon the writer said remained unexplained. I consulted the NY Times for that day. It turns out Europe experienced a red aurora; the article mentioned these happen every ten years or so.
The most anti-Catholic thing I have ever heard came, unintentionally, from a Catholic. He said the girls of Fatima had told the pope about World War 2 and what was going to happen. Given that the pope later gave Hitler’s coalition the Catholic Center party vote that made him führer, that is a horrible slur.
Should be ‘Strive diligently, regardless.’
Most of the atoms in me now are not going to decay even at the heat death of the universe.