Everett Jenkins Birthday Blog

  I rarely pay attention to the passing of obscure military figures.  However, for some reason, the passing of Billy Waugh caught my eye https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/world/asia/billy-waugh-dead.html I got halfway through the obituary when I came to this passage He was saved by two soldiers, one of them his commander, Capt. Paris Davis. Despite his own gunshot wounds, to an arm and a leg, Captain Davis helped Mr. Waugh crawl to a helicopter. Those actions by Captain Davis earned him the Medal of Honor, which was belatedly  presented to him by President Biden in 2021 . Mr. Waugh received the Silver Star. and the link contained within the passage led me to an article that occurred a couple of years ago that caused me to once again reflect about our American soul   https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/15/us/paris-davis-medal-of-honor.html However, the article also caused me to come to the realization that the Waugh obituary was in error because it was only last month th...

A passing of note, the legendary Ahmad Jamal passed away yesterday. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/obituaries/ahmad-jamal-jazz-dead.html His passing leaves a certain sadness, however, his songs have an eternal quality. So while he may be gone for others, but not for me...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIW0bRcV6Ic Peace, Everett "Skip" Jenkins Fairfield, California April 17, 2023

 A few years ago, I took a DNA test.  Quite expectedly,  the test results indicate that I am 73 percent of African (West African) heritage.  However, one surprise was that I was only two percent Native American, the same percentage as the two percent attributed to being Scandinavian out of my total twenty-five percent Northern European bloodline.  The twenty-five percent European American component was not surprising. After all, my surname "Jenkins" came from somewhere and I suspect that it came from a white progenitor from England or Wales https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=jenkins additionally, my paternal grandmother (my father's mother) and my Canadian cousins are from the Saunders bloodline https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=saunders and that bloodline is quite English.  However, one name that has stayed with me for many years is the name of a great great grandfather, a certain Arthur Conley, a white man who married a black woman to...

  On Thursday, April 6, 2023, on the way from Barcelona to Lourdes, my guide stopped at the mountaintop monastery known as Monserrat.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_de_Montserrat_Abbey The time allocated for this visit to this monastery was one hour.  However, it is a massive monastery perched on a mountain cliff and my fear  of heights slowed my pace.  On that Thursday, I spent a good 15 minutes at the information center trying to determine what was available for me to see.  I walked over to the basilica but it was not open.  So I found that I spent about 20 minutes in the gift shops choosing souvenirs that I wanted to bring home with me.   While in the gift shop I was amazed by the massive collection of black madonnas on display. I soon learned that the black madonna was the reason for the existence of the monastery and that her significance extended beyond this mountain sanctuary in Spain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vir...

  It has been an eventful day here at Lourdes. I went to the 9:30 am  Good Friday  mass. It was held in the open air on the plaza in front of the basilica. I suppose there may have been two to three hundred people there. They had a line of people in wheelchairs as well as many others who appear ed  to be ailing from one malady or another. After the end of the service, the people began to form a tiered grouping to take a photo of all those who attended. Those in wheelchairs were in the front while the more able bodied were in the back. I initially stay ed   away  from the group, however, a man in the group saw me and beckoned me to come join the photo. Somewhere, in the digital universe, there now exists a photo of me in the back row of the attendees of the Good Friday mass at Lourdes on April 7, 2023. Wow! After the photo, I went to the grotto of Massabielle where the apparitions of the Lady of Lourdes manifested  for Bernadette . I walked into the cav...

I received an email a few moments ago from my Amherst College classmate, Peter Alfvin, who is a resident of Manhattan Beach ... and who has been keeping me informed of the City discussions concerning the return of the Bruce Beach property to my Bruce Family relatives and the compensation paid along with the protracted process of the Bruce Family receiving an apology for what was done to the family one hundred years ago.  Peter's email title says it all and the attached newspaper article says it all.   At long last, the City of Manhattan Beach has apologized to the Bruce Family.  Now, finally, ... maybe ... the reconciliation can begin. Peter, lunch is on me when next I come down your way.  We have much to talk about my friend. Peace, Everett "Skip" Jenkins  Barcelona, Spain April 5, 2023 88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 Manhattan Beach Off...

I was in Barcelona on Wednesday, April 5.  I took a tour of the city which ended with the spectacular Sagrada Familia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia I am still disturbed by what I saw.  However, despite being overwhelmed, I am convinced that in so many wondrous ways the entrance to the Sagrada Familia was the result of a mind meld between Antoni Gaudi   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoni_Gaud%C3%AD   and God.  I am not certain what was the source for the creative works on the exit from the Sagrada Familia.  However, the entrance is a truly awe inspiring work and one that I shall never forget. Now on to Lourdes. Peace, Everett "Skip" Jenkins Barcelona, Spain April 5, 2023

Sometimes the world gets something right.  Congratulations to Dave Hixon!  He has been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame  https://www.gazettenet.com/Longtime-Amherst-College-baseball-coach-Dave-Hixon-elected-to-basketball-hall-of-fame-50475870 Now, all those who live in or near Springfield should be prepared to receive a phone call about housing during the induction ceremony time. Wow!  What a year! Peace, Everett "Skip" Jenkins Fairfield, California April 1, 2023 -----Original Message----- From: skipjen2865@aol.com To:  Sent: Sat, Feb 18, 2023 3:47 pm Subject: Congratulations Dave Hixon! 2023 Hall of Fame Nominee I just turned on the television and began watching a documentary on Shaquille O'Neal, when at the bottom of the screen it began to list the nominees for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.  To my surprise, the name of my Amherst College track teammate, Dave Hixon, appeared. I then went on line and sure enough there he was https://nba....

  88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 Alphabetical Index 2022 9/11 Remembrance Day  A00067 A Day with Bernadette, A Few Moments with Moses the Ethiopian A00063 A Day with Bernadette ... and the Lady  A00144 A Most Profound Thich Nhat Hanh Memorial  A00113 A Return to Allensworth: From a Field of Weeds to a Field of Dreams  A00149 A Return to Monserrat and a "Miraculous" Introduction to the Black Madonna  A00145 A Side Trip to Dublin and an Exploration of Black Irish Roots  A00146 A Surprising Connection to Our American Soul  A00148 Abdul Qadeer Khan, Father of Pakistan's Nuclear Program  A00003 Ahmad Jamal, R. I. P.  A00147 All the Beauty and the Bloodshed and All That Breathes  A00131 April 2022 Must Watch TV: Benjamin Franklin: A Film by Ken Burns  A00036 Art Laboe, R. I. P.  A00078 Barrett Strong, R. I. P.  A00117 Bill Russell, High Jumper  A00062 Black Savants: ...