Meander

Get out the vote

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today is the day we commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday (his birthday is January 15).  I think about Dr. King every day - I drive on MLK Blvd to and from work.  You can't be on the road and see his name/initials bigger than life and not take a moment or two to reflect...at least I can't.  

At my yoga class on Saturday, our teacher read from a book of his quotes and speeches.  She ends every class by distributing a bookmark with a quote related to the day's theme.  These are the two quotes that were on this week's bookmark:

"There is within human nature an amazing potential for goodness."

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"

As I type these, Haiti is in the forefront of my mind.  Such devastation. (The Washington Post has published some amazing photos of the earthquake aftermath.)  There's a lot of opportunity there for goodness and good works.  At the same time, I can't help feeling gratitude.  Gratitude for being able to live the life I do, having the necessary resources and infrastructure for daily living, having a supportive network of family and friends.  

I hope on this commemorative day, you take a moment to pause and reflect on the goodness and good works of Dr. King, his message of peace and tolerance, your own potential for goodness and how you can help another.  I don't have any fitting graphic so I'd like to direct you to Google.  I think their holiday logos are always very clever and interesting.  

 

44

If I had to pick a favorite number, it would be 4.  I was born on the 4th.  Some very important people in my life were born in the 4th month of the year.  Not that my father went to the track much, but when he did, he bet the '4th in the 4th' (4th horse in the 4th race).  I've followed suit when I've been to the track and it's often been fruitful :-)  And now, President Barak Obama, the 44th President of these United States.  4 remains strong, special, symbolic.

Aretha Franklin...was she great or what??  LOVED her hat!  Man, I wish I could pull off something like that.

Those two little girls were so cute.  They're in the middle of history but still are kids, looking around and taking pictures during the ceremony!

I never thought I'd cry hearing Hail to the Chief.

I enjoyed the speech and the poem.  I look forward to re-reading them, as well as the final prayer, when reprinted in tmw's paper.  I know I can probably find them online now but I'd like to take the day to let everything sink in a bit more.

I'm so glad I took off from work today.  And now to pop open the champagne!