Mark’s Musings – February 13, 2019
Mark Fortune
Did you get your fill of chocolate over the weekend? I am confident your response would be a big “YES” if you attended the Chocolate Extravaganza at the Coshocton County Career Center on Saturday. This event is the main fundraiser for the Pomerene Center for the Arts and a lot of hard work and time goes into making this event a success. The many volunteers that use their talent to make and bake those delicious treats and delicacies deserve our appreciation for a job well done! Thank you.
Major League spring training starts this week with Cleveland Indian pitchers and catchers reporting on Tuesday. The lineup that you will see take the field for the Tribe this season is a much aligned and unfamiliar bunch to those that are used to seeing Brantley, Gomes, Encarnacion and other veterans who are gone. Now saddled with Lindor possibly being out two months adds to the pessimism from some fans. However, some needed bullpen relief comes to the Tribe via Padres All-Star Brad Hand. He is likely to become the closer. And the Tribe is once again favored to be the American League Central Division champ which probably means they bump into the Astros in the post season.
With Valentine’s Day this Thursday perhaps our cards, notes, candy and flowers should be directed to Washington. As in Washington D.C. I think that is where the love is needed. Or maybe we all take a different approach and start from the inside. We start with ourselves, our own homes, neighborhoods, churches, schools and workplaces by encouraging and speaking positives to one another. That is probably much more realistic and the potential for growth beyond our imagination is real. We just might be surprised what could happen.
President’s Day is just around the corner–Monday, Feb. 18 to be exact as we celebrate the birthday of two of our greatest President’s–George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. There are others spread throughout history that are also famous and recognized for being great leaders–especially in times of crisis. The one President that I think it would have been interesting to have lived through their Presidency would be Theodore Roosevelt. Of course, he would probably get lambasted today for his hunting expeditions but he was also a leading advocate for our National Parks. But you have to admire Roosevelt’s courage and enthusiasm for living especially since he was not expected to live a very long life. His would be an inspiring story for the youth of today.
It seems that the state of Virginia’s leadership has some issues to deal with. They need to make the correct decision for the Commonwealth and get things right. At some point we may need to have a court case that decides just how far back in someone’s life we can reach for potential “bad stuff”. Or should there be a moratorium on this? Think about it in today’s fast paced and instantaneous world of social media. Have a long term goal of being a politician? You may want to hit the pause button before you post that photo or tweet. But how is a student in junior high or even high school supposed to think that far ahead? Is this too much of an expectation and maybe the “rules of engagement” don’t start until you hit age 18 or 21? I just thought this might be something to ponder as we go forward. The folks from Virginia will not be the last to suffer the consequences of poor decisions that become public.
Category: Mark's Musings, Opinion
