Attempted Assassination Anniversary - 30 March 2021 - Plague Journal Day 383

Micah 6:8
Exodus 20:13
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Forty years ago today, 30 March 1981 U.S. President Ronald Reagan was shot when a mentally ill gunman opened fire outside a hotel in Washington D.C. Apparently he claimed his only motive was to become famous. I'm not going to help him out by repeating his name, even this long after the fact.
Everyone of the appropriate age remembers where they were when President Kennedy was shot. Well, I also remember where I was when President Reagan was shot. I had gone home for lunch between classes (grad school) and turned on the TV while I ate my braunschweiger, onion, cheddar, mustard, and crunchy peanut butter sandwich. I tuned to CNN to see what was going on in the world, and there was the report of the assassination attempt.
It was very surreal, and even more bizarre when I returned to campus and told folks about what I had seen. This was long before everyone was connected all the time, so no one there had heard the news yet. An unsettling experience, and an odd memory.

At least we have another, more positive event to celebrate today, as it's the 154th anniversary of our purchase of Alaska from Russia. Initially known as Seward's Folly, it seems that we made a pretty good buy after all. Glad to have the 49th State in the Union! (That's a shot of 49th State Brewing near Denali. We had a great dinner and a couple different beers there several years ago.)

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.