Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Good Morning and welcome to the Almanac for Tuesday, January 9, 2018. 

It was New Year’s Eve.  Several people were gathered in a little bungalow (I believe they call it a shed-eau or something like that) located in the suburbs of Wannaska and we were celebrating the incoming New Year.  I guess that is a tradition for people all around the world, but I have never been big on it.  I usually like to get to sleep early and wake up on New Year’s Day well rested and hangover free.  Even though the temperature was down around -30 degrees Fahrenheit several of the party guests had already gone for a couple of moonlit walks around the property and had been enjoying a few cold, refreshing drinks. 

I had found a relaxing chair that was close to the pot bellied stove and was warming my pot belly next to it when several guests began to discuss writing for an almanac.  They asked me if I was interested in writing a weekly almanac entry.  I figured that the cold air on one of the walks or perhaps a bit of overuse of the refreshing drinks was what prompted their request, so I laughingly agreed.  So there on the shores of the South Fork of the Roseau River I made an apparently binding verbal commitment to almanac writing.

Well, I didn’t know what an almanac was (or at least I was blocking out the memory of what it was) so I looked it up when I got home.  I found this definition somewhat disheartening. 

Almanac:  an annual calendar containing important dates and statistical information such as astronomical data and tide tables; a handbook, typically published annually, containing information of general interest or on a sport or pastime.

I really didn’t see myself as a writer capable of doing any of the things listed in the definition.  I have always considered myself to be a writer of fiction such as novels, poems, and grocery lists but not really a calendar writer.  In fact, I am seldom sure what the date is. 

I will give it a shot though.  As I said above, the date is January 9, 2018.  Thanks to Bing I found out that many famous people were born on this date.  I read through the entire list and found out that I had never heard of any of them.  If you are reading this and your birthday is today then you are probably as famous as any of the people I found, so Happy Birthday! 

So I randomly chose three people from the list of “notables” born on January 9.  In 1695 John E Loovens was born.  He was a lawyer.  I looked around for other information such as his nationality, accomplishments, or date of death but couldn’t find anything.  Mr. Loovens, if you are still alive and practicing law, Happy Birthday…and it is about time you accomplished something that is Google-worthy!

The second person I randomly chose was born in 1820.  His name is Pavel Krizkovsky, and he was a Czech born composer and conductor.  His best known work is the cantata Sts. Cyril and Methodius.  I looked for his music on iTunes but found nothing, which makes me wonder what I will do with that iTunes card I got for Christmas. 

The final person I found was Derek Allhusen, an English equestrian who was born in 1914.  He is an interesting person, and I know this because I was actually able to Google his name and find something.  He won an Olympic gold medal in 1968.  He was a 54 year old grandfather when he won team gold and an individual silver medal at the summer Olympic Games in Mexico City.  He passed away in the year 2000, possibly the only equestrian to be infected with the Y2K bug. 

And that is my almanac entry.  If you have complaints (or are somehow related to John E Loovens and want to pass on some of his overlooked accomplishments to me) please email me at ffefreekshow@hotmail.com.  Thanks for reading!