My Daily Smile

Life is short - begin every day with a smile!

“Duty, Honor, Country”

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“This will remain the land of the free so long as it is the home of the brave.“
 -–Elmer Davis

I’ve often heard it said that freedom isn’t free, and that’s so very true.

Since the day our great nation was founded every generation has produced thousands of patriots who were ready and willing to risk their own lives to protect the freedoms we enjoy as Americans from the tyrants who would  endeavor to take them away.

Virtually every cemetery and graveyard in this country holds the remains of men and women who answered the call of duty and came home draped in the flag they fought so hard to protect.

On Memorial Day we come together as a nation to remember and honor all the brave souls who selflessly sacrificed their own futures so the rest of us could enjoy ours in freedom and peace.

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Watch a 10 year old Sierra Hull demonstrate her mandolin skills

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Image credit: Sierra Hull

Living (and loving) Life

A while back I featured this video of mandolin prodigy Sierra Hull performing at the ripe old age 11 on the “Grand Ole Opry” with Allison Krauss & Union Station.

As you might expect, that video was quite well received by most everyone that saw it.

Well, I managed to find another awesome video of a young Sierra teaming up with another of her musical idols, the one and only Sam Bush.

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Video: Do you remember the great Hawaiian blizzard of 2021?

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Snow on the ground in Hawaii

Living (and loving) Life

Did you hear about the terrible blizzard that struck Hawaii back in 2021?

No, I didn’t horribly misspell North Dakota, Minnesota or Alaska. I really did mean Hawaii.

As I mentioned in this post, the big island of Hawaii receives snow on its two highest volcanic peaks every winter, and the winter of 2021-2022 turned out to be quite a doozy.

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How the same fortune cookie paid off big-time for 110 total strangers

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Living (and loving) Life

Have you have ever dined at a Chinese restaurant?

If so, you probably received a fortune cookie with a set of lottery numbers printed on the little slip of paper that had the “fortune” on it.

Lots of folks actually purchase lottery tickets with the numbers from their fortune cookies, but only rarely does it ever pay off.

After all, those fortune cookie lottery numbers are simply made up out of thin air.

In other words, playing the numbers from a fortune cookie is essentially no better or worse than having the lottery machine pick your numbers at random on your behalf.

But one day back in 2005 (March 30, to be exact), 110 lucky folks won big by playing the same set of “fortune cookie lottery numbers”.

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“I don’t know” are three of the most powerful words in the English language

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Living (and loving) Life

Have you ever been asked a question that you didn’t know the answer to? Of course the answer to that question is yes.

After all, there isn’t a human being alive today who knows everything there is to know about every possible topic. That’s easily confirmed simply by watching an episode or two of the popular Jeopardy! quiz show.

Have you ever wished you could do something that you simply didn’t have the skills you would need in order to accomplish it?

Well here’s the thing: we don’t need to know everything about everything in order to succeed in life. Consider the following questions…  [Read more…]