Today is Sunday, September 16 and there are only 100 days until Christmas, so get shopping and don’t forget to get gift receipts! Today we remember the birthdays of Henry V, James Cash Penney and Allen Funt. On this day in 1630 the Massachusetts village of Shawmut changed its name to Boston, in 1968 Richard Nixon appeared on “Laugh-in” and in 1976 the Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women as priests. In Malaysia and Singapore it is Independence Day, in Papua-New Guinea it is National Day and in the US it is American Legion Charter Day, National Play-Doh Day, National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day and Mayflower Day.

So what is Mayflower Day? I am sure you have all figured out that it has something to do with the ship Mayflower, but what? On this day, in 1620, the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, England, bound for the New World with 102 passengers (I don’t want to brag, but I had relatives on that ship). The ship was headed for Virginia, where the colonists–half religious dissenters and half entrepreneurs–had been authorized to settle by the British crown. However, stormy weather and navigational errors forced the ship off course, and on November 21 the “Pilgrims” reached Massachusetts, where they founded the first permanent European settlement in New England in late December. This was not like Columbus, who thought he was going somewhere else. This was a group of people who were forced by nature to end up in a different place. At least they were on the same continent as their original destination, not the other side of the world.

Anyway, I thought you might like to know that. Moving on, I want to talk about people today. I have noticed, while out and about and while looking in the mirror that people are getting bigger. I don’t mean taller, I mean bigger, heavier, wider … I could go on, but I am sure you get my drift. As I said this realization came to me while looking in the mirror. I have noticed that I have a fairly sizable belly going on. If I were pregnant, I would put me in my sixth month. I like to use the excuse that I am not overweight, I am undertall. If I were 6’7” my weight would be great. But I am not.

I am the first person to admit that I need to lose weight. I need to exercise. I used to walk two miles a day, but have allowed the heat to become my excuse for not doing it. I am not sure what excuse I will use now that fall is coming. I might have to actually get out and start walking. Another excuse I use is that my clothes will not fit properly if I lose too much weight. I have been purchasing XL shirts recently and if I lose weight, they will look big on me, rather than me looking big in them. I will say that I have found that some of my shirts have shrunk, but that is not really an excuse. My problem is that my main forms of exercise have been chewing and swallowing food.

But enough about me. If you have ever been out in public you have noticed that I am not the only one with a weight problem. You will also have noticed that compared to some, my weight issues are not really worth getting upset about.  Do not misunderstand – I am aware that some of the weight issues are a result of illness or medications. I realize that some people are the victims of circumstance. The people I am talking about are the ones who are maybe 60 or 70 pounds overweight and are walking around eating a three-scoop ice cream cone or carrying a tray with three slices of pizza and a large coke. I am talking about people who, by their clothing, you can tell that they used to weigh less than they do now.

I am talking about the people who are wearing pants and a shirt or blouse that are so tight that it is a wonder that blood can circulate to their body parts. I am talking about the women who claim that they are not really overweight, they just haven’t lost their pregnancy weight yet. When you ask them how old their child is they say, “Sixteen.” You respond, “Months?” “No, years.” What makes it worse is that I actually heard a man claim that his weight was from his wife’s pregnancy. He felt he had to eat to “keep her company.”

Let’s be honest. The reason people are getting larger is that they are eating more and doing less. We have remotes for everything in our house. We can change channels on TV without having to move. We can tell a device on the counter to play music for us. We can pick up a pad and research just about anything. We can even set our thermostat higher or lower using our phone. Why do we need to move? The answer is simple. We need to move so that we can burn off some of the calories we consume on an almost constant basis. I have said that one of my problems (and a problem for many others, I suspect) is that I mistake boredom for hunger. We need to realize that when our president was running for office, the slogan “Make America Great Again” did not mean the size of the people.

Here is my goal. I intend to get back to walking and trying some other exercises, I plan on getting rid of my pregnancy weight (my son is 42 years old) and working on getting in a little better shape. I hope that you all will do the same (if you need it). Good luck to me and you!

This week our fact tells us that there are 4,300 known species of ladybugs in the world. Really? Prove it! Who did the counting? If more than one person did, how do we know that a type wasn’t counted twice or more? As I have said many times before – if you are going to make a statement like this, prove it!