On October 28 2020, my dad, Dr. Jim Byrd passed. The past few weeks have been filled with emotion and a flood of memories of my childhood and adult years with him. In addition to his love for family and friends around the world, my father will be forever remembered for chemistry, music, travel, food and photography.
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Finding out this morning that Royal Robbins passed away brought back many memories from my childhood. Growing up in the Central Valley, I heard Royal speak at school and local community events frequently, read his autobiography and chatted with him a number of times at the Royal Robbins' Modesto company store and warehouse.
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#NeverForget - I always thought this was a powerful statement. And on this International Holocaust Remembrance Day I'm feeling it more than ever before because of the actions of the current US President - from building a wall between the United States and Mexico to the suspension of refugees and immigrants from Muslim countries.
January 27 is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. This is a day we remember the 6 million Jews and the 5 million others. A horrific genocide. As we say #NeverForget, we’ve also said #NeverAgain, but it has happened again - Cambodia, Darfur, Rwanda, Bosnia. And it is still happening.
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There has been ice on the ground in Vancouver for weeks and the temperatures have remained below freezing most of the time (currently the thermometer shows 1°C / 34°F - so just above freezing). It has been beautiful - some of the best skiing I've ever had at Whistler due to the great snow. And the clear skies over the city have created spectacular views...but I just can't get Paul Kelly's song out of my head...Cold as Canada.
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The curse was broken. Wow. The longest any Major League Baseball team has gone without winning the World Series - 108 years.
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While I first saw Bob Dylan in concert in 1991 (at San Jose State University), It was in 1997, when I was in high school, that Bob Dylan was the subject of two school projects - one in my English class and the other in my US History class. That was the first time I listened to all of Dylan's official recordings in chronological order (and of course added in a number of bootlegs). It was that experience which educated me on the impact he had on American history. I fell in love with his music and gained a deeper appreciation of how one man, one voice, can influence movements. It was also in 1997 when I was extensively researching Bob Dylan, that I first read letters and articles explaining how he should receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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On this patriotic weekend, I was very moved by the Ad Council's campaign "Love Has No Labels" - about how love is beyond age, disability, sex, or any other labels. "To love America is to love all Americans." We need to love more than just Americans, living in Canada reminds me how much people just need to love people.
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A great reminder that there really is no problem. Does that mean there is only opportunity?
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