On Mark Twain

 Mark Twain held a pistol to his head.

But he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger.

So, he put down the pistol and picked up a pen…

Many textbooks portray Mark Twain as poised, self-assured, and composed.

However, the Twain described in writings from 1865 and 1866 is far from that man…

At this time, Twain was living in San Francisco and earning $100 a month writing 2,000-word columns, 6 days a week for a newspaper called the Territorial Enterprise.

The 29-year-old Twain was struggling immensely. He was drowning in debt. The local pawnshops owned nearly all his possessions.

In a letter from 1865, he wrote to his brother:

“If I do not get out of debt in three months – pistols or poison for one – exit me,”

And he nearly took the first option.

There are many stories about what exactly made him change his mind:

One story describes how his eyes met a bill for coal he had received. The wording on the bill was so peculiar for such a low sum of requested money that it made him do a double take. It supposedly brought about a chuckle and he reflected on the oddity of life, putting down his pistol.

Some accounts claim that when he brought the pistol to his head, he couldn’t bear to pull the trigger out of his thoughts of cowardice.

Whatever the truth may be, we do know that the great literary figure had some very dark days in his lonely San Francisco apartment…

Shortly after this incident, Twain hit his first home run. He finally leaned into his inclinations of humor with The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.

It was a humorous work and was published by the New York Saturday Press on November 18, 1865. It brought him his first taste of international fame.

And the rest is history!

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE:

- The Brightest days often come right after the darkest nights.

Life is very strange. In many ways, it is like a video game, in the sense that it is full of tests. Things get extremely hard in life and as long as you hang on and keep pushing, you will make a breakthrough and get to the next level. It's always hardest right before a significant breakthrough. Then things are great for a while but eventually, the pattern repeats itself. The tests vary in difficulty but they all push the individual to ascend to higher levels of consciousness and character.

This story of Twain’s dark days displays the idea perfectly. He was in just about the lowest place a person can be, yet he didn’t let go of himself and as a result, very quickly got his first big win.

I’m sure you can relate to this story in some way - reflecting on your own difficult times. Hopefully, the video game analogy provides you with a greater awareness of the pattern.

So, when things get dark, hold on, keep pushing and bright daylight will come soon enough.

Written by The Knowledge Archivist on Twitter

Read More: https://www.droidalerts.com/separated-for-what-felt-like.../

In Rio Grande Valley for the winter

 86 degrees at our place in La Feria, Texas, with forecast of 89º high and possible light scattered showers for today.

Arrived at our place Thursday about 3:00 pm. 

Was able to park trailer on empty place east of us where we can tote things in the back door directly to the kitchen.  Was told that Tommy, who lived in Raab's old place, has moved to relatives in Florida and his house is for sale.  He was having dementia problems for some time and not totally surprised at this.  Stiver's house doesn't appear opened, but Sharleen had told us she had sold it.  Pam Elanger's sisters had bought Pat & Lois Sumner's place and were to move here in June.  However, their house sold quicker than expected and they are here, staying in Pam & Bill's Travel Trailer and Sumner's are preparing to move, probably to Arlington, TX area where they have a daughter living, so the girls can move into Sumner's place..Photo taken out back dour of our house.

Plants in back yard

are doing fine!

Our site in New Braunfels, TX on Wednesday night was near, almost below Interstate 35.  Since we had a pull through site didn't have to unhook.  All their back-in sights you had to unhook. 

Didn't take photo of Tuesday night south of Ponca City, Oklahoma, but was out of town, off a state road and under trees by a river.  Very quiet back-in site and got some rest after fighting the high winds all that day.

   Speaking of winds, we were heading into high winds most of our 1,235 miles drive down here.

Discovered this rather large (30-40) wasps nest over where we were parking the pickup.  Was able to dispatch them with some spray.

Some of unloading the pickup.

Got all the insulation panels off the windows and stored for the winter in the overhead shelves in the shop area.

Flowers are all doing well here at our place.

Was nice to use the hot tub last night.  Our 25-year old hot tub in Clarinda sprung a leak a week or so before we packed up to come south.

Had a couple pretty

good sized limbs

come off our Ash

tree onto the garage

a couple days

before we left.

Got it cut up.

I am pretty sure the following is referring to the Southeast US, not South Texas.  Enjoy:

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW IF YOU MOVE TO THE SOUTH.

1. A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.

2. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South.

3. There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no one's seen before.

4. If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.

5. Onced and Twiced are words.

6. It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy!

7. Jawl-P? means: Did you all go to the bathroom?

8. People actually grow, eat, and like okra.

9. Fixinto is one word. It means I'm going to do something.

10. There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there's supper.

11. Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. It is referred to as the Wine of the South.

12. Backwards and forwards means I know everything about you.

13. The word jeet is actually a question meaning, 'Did you eat?'

14. You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is, you work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

15. You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em.

16. Y'all is singular. All Y'all is plural.

17. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect, or animal.

18. You carry jumper cables in your car for your OWN car.

19. You only own five spices: salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, Tabasco, and ketchup.

20. The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local high school sports, motorsports, and gossip.

21. Everyone you meet is a Honey, Sugar, Miss (first name), or Mr (first name)

22. You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

23. You know what a hissy fit is..

24. Fried catfish is the other white meat.

25. We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive!!!

26. You understand these jokes and forward them to your Southern friends and those who just wish they were from the South.

AND one more:

27. Why did the chicken cross the road? To show that stupid possum that it CAN be done!

Later, L C M