Writers are important but so are readers. Readers and writers need each other. Writers provide their audiences with news, valuable information as well as entertainment.
Knowing I will be doing something new the next day can fill me with energy. Sometimes just thinking of ideas for writing can excite me. Those new ideas often give me too much energy that keeps me awake at night. Where do those ideas for writing go when I wake up the next day? Do others have this problem? Or is it just me?
I have several hobbies. When I start a new project or am about to start one, it fills me with energy. I can get up in the morning feeling like the energizer bunny. Learning new things always excites and energizes me. Lately, writing has taken hold of me and I get excited and energized every morning. Until about noon time.
Weather can certainly affect my energizer levels. If its a bright sunny day I am full of energy. But if its a very hot day, all energy seems to desert me. Rainy days are depressing and makes nap time a necessity. Sunny but cool days with a breeze are the absolute best. On those days I even am capable of finding the energy to clean the house. Fall and spring weather are the best times for getting things done.
Travel Excites Me
I don’t often get the opportunity to travel to new places. When I do get an opportunity I am full of energy. I really enjoy seeing new places and doing different things. This summer I went out fishing at the beach for the first time and that was both exciting and interesting. I hope to do more traveling in the future.
Health
Taking care of my health helps to sustain energy levels. Eating good healthy food, drinking lots of water, getting enough sleep and exercise all contribute to energy levels. I try to do all of those things. Going out for walks or to the gym helps to increase my energy. Getting enough of good restful sleep is a problem at times. Eating fruits, vegetables and drinking healthy juices all help to sustain a healthy diet and energy. I did try one of those expensive, supposed to be healthy drinks recently. It was so terrible it went in the garbage. So I won’t be drinking any of those HEALTHY drinks in the future. The picture below is akin to the sign where I bought that awful healthy drink. But its not where I bought it and it cost a lot more.
Everyone has different ways of increasing their energy. But it’s a proven fact that living healthy boosts energy. Eating a healthy diet helps as well. Getting enough sleep and exercising are also beneficial. And for your health, give up those nasty cigarettes.
Women who lived in the 19th century, in the western states had to grow up to be tough. There were limited options for women in the 19th century. Women were generally confined to traditional roles. School teacher, wife, mother or possibility cooking or cleaning jobs were the acceptable role expected of women. But some women, like Calamity Jane, had to learn to shoot, ride horses and defend themselves. They had to learn to be as rough and tough as the men in the West in order to survive.
Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane was born May 1, 1852, as Martha Jane Cannary. Her parents were Robert and Charlotte Cannary, and she was the eldest of six children. Her parents were a rather rough and hard-living couple who moved the family from place to place looking for work. They died when Martha Jane was still very young, only 12 years old. Martha Jane was quickly forced into doing whatever she could to survive and keep the family together. As she grew into a tall, stocky woman, she often did the work that men usually performed.
The Legend of Calamity Jane
She moved to Deadwood, South Dakota, and this is when the legend of Calamity Jane really began. Here, she met Wild Bill Hickok, and rumors flew that they were romantically involved, although this is questionable. She worked, dressed, swore, and drank just like the men did. She worked as an army scout and was a sharpshooter with a rifle. Soon, Martha became known as Calamity Jane and became a Western legend. She made history by touring with Buffalo Bill’s famous Wild West Show in 1895, showcasing her sharpshooting skills. In 1901, The Buffalo Bill Wild West show appeared in Buffalo, New York at the Pan-American Exposition. The Pan American Exposition was opened by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. The Exposition was in many ways analogous to the World’s Fair. One of its attractions was the Indian exhibits. These showcased TeePees and the sharpshooting Buffalo Bill Wild West show.
Calamity Jane in 1901 at the Pan American Exposition
Calamity Jane was quite a character of the old wild west. How much of her legend is true is debatable because Calamity Jane was a known storyteller. Her tales were often not just colorful but highly exaggerated. Martha Jane’s legacy taught women that they were capable of more than being cast in traditional roles.
Calamity Jane, despite her fame, I believe, did not have a very happy or easy life. Calamity Jane was a heavy drinker and died an early death. She is buried next to Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood, South Dakota.
Growing up I listened to mostly country music. As a teenager of course I listened to some rock and roll, but my heart belonged to Country. As Barbara Mandell sang “I was country before country was cool”.
There were so many great songs and albums that I am not sure I can pick just one album. Loretta Lynn was definitively a big favorite but then she paired up with Conway Twitty. That duo was dynamic in country music. And I loved everything that the pair of them sang, together or separately. I miss those two.
Another favorite combination was George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Like Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, together or separately these two were an awesome duo.
Other legends in country music:
Donna Fargo 1970s
Hank Williams Sr and Hank Williams Jr
Charlie Pride
Johnny Cash
Dolly Parton
Patsy Cline
Kenny Rogers
The Statler Brothers
Oakridge Boys
All of these were favorites of mine and all are legends of Country music. As for my favorite album, it’s just too tough to choose just one. My favorite album would be any collection featuring the greatest hits from any of these legends.
We often think of Prince Charles and Princess Diana when discussing disastrous royal marriages. Maybe Prince Andrew and Fergie Anderson also come to mind. It’s true those marriages didn’t turn out well, but there were several other royal marriages that also failed. King Henry VIII had five failed marriages before he married his last wife, Katherine Parr.
Several of his marriages ended in divorce, and at least two of Henry VIII’s wife were beheaded. That is really a tragic end to a royal marriage. But then we also have the story of the Prince of Wales and Princess Caroline of Brunswick. Their story is less known, but it is the story of another royal marriage that turned into a disaster.
Prince George Frederick Augustus
Prince of Wales, George Frederick Augusta, the heir to the British throne. Known as Prinny to his friends | Source
Prince George Frederick Augustus
Prince of Wales, George Frederick Augustus was born at St. James Palace in London on August 12, 1762. His parents were King George III and Charlotte Mecklenburg Strelitz. He was their first son of fifteen children, although one of those children died at a young age. George, being the oldest, was given the title of Prince of Wales and heir to the throne. George was a charming young man when he wanted to be. He was also rather a handsome sort and well educated to fit his status as the future King of England.
George was very well-dressed and took great pride in being fashionable. George also indulged in heavy drinking, gambling and womanizing. He had at least two relationships with women who were older than he was. One of those women was named Mary Robinson. The other woman was Maria Fitzherbert. He was deeply in love and deeply in debt due to his excessive spending.
The Secret, Not-So-Legal Marriage
George had fallen in love with Maria Fitzherbert. She was a woman who had been married twice to two older men. Both men had left her widowed. George was totally captivated by the young, beautiful woman with light blonde hair and flawless complexion. Maria was a Roman Catholic and a widow, making her an unacceptable wife for a future king. George was a determined young man. He finally persuaded Maria into a secret marriage. It was performed at her house with family members as witnesses.
Neither King George III nor parliament had given approval for this marriage. As heir to the throne, George IV needed approval from both the King and parliament. Without these, it could not be recognized as a legal marriage under English law. Shortly thereafter, Maria was delivered a letter stating that her relationship with the prince was finished. Sometime later, the pair did reunite after he had married and separated from Princess Caroline. Rumors suggested that Maria gave birth to several illegitimate children. These children were rumored to be fathered by Prince George over the years of their relationship.
Princess Caroline of Brunswick
Princess Caroline of Brunswick was George’s cousin, although the two had never met. She was the daughter of his Aunt Princess Augusta of England and the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel. She was said to be rather bold, coarse, loud and rude in her manner of speaking. Her sense of fashion was almost non-existent. Her clothing was out of fashion and was often worn without proper washing. Her own personal hygiene was also lacking. She neglected to wash properly most of the time or change and wash her undergarments. As a result, she often had an offensive odor.
This is rather strange. A young woman with servants to look after all of her needs would surely have clean, suitable clothing available. Of course, Caroline had her good points as well. She was kind and generous. She was known for her charity work. She loved and fostered several homeless children later in her lifetime.
Princess Caroline of Brunswick
The Prince and Princess Meet
The first meeting of the Prince of Wales and his soon-to-be bride Princess Caroline got off to a very rocky beginning. He did not find her attractive at all. He had no wish to marry anyone at that point in his life. Princess Caroline was also 26, which at that time was considered to be an age unfit to get married. He already had his mistresses to keep him happy. Truthfully, he was repulsed by his future bride. The only reason that Prinny (his nickname) had agreed to marry at all was that he was heavily in debt.
Parliament had agreed to cover his debts if he married, and Princess Caroline was chosen as his bride. Princess Caroline was disappointed. She felt humiliated by the way the Prince had treated her at their first meeting. At a later supper, Caroline was rude. She talked and laughed loudly about subjects that should not have been discussed at the supper table. Perhaps she was just very nervous and insecure at the time. In any event, neither of them made a good impression on the other one.
The Wedding
Prince George and Princess Caroline on their wedding day Source: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Prince George and Princess Caroline were married at St. James Palace on April 8th, 1795. His father was delighted to see his son get married. However, it was not a day of happiness for the future king of England. It is said that he was drunk during the ceremony and continued to drink for the rest of the day. When the couple retired to their bed-chambers, George was so drunk that he fell to the floor. He spent his wedding night passed out on the floor.
George managed to do his duty at some time. He had relations with Princess Caroline, who became pregnant almost immediately. With an heir on the way, the prince ignored Caroline completely. Their daughter, Princess Charlotte, was born, and the couple separated soon after. Princess Caroline was forced to leave her infant daughter with her father.
Princess Caroline, the Lonely Queen
Not much more than a year after they were married, Princess Caroline moved out of her husband’s residence. She took up residence at Blackheath, London. How lonely the new Princess of Wales must have felt in a foreign country with few friends of her own. Blackheath was located to the southeast of London and was a wealthy area. Here, the estranged wife of the Prince of Wales was lived with fewer restrictions. At BlackHeath her behavior and activities sometimes caused scandals.
One of those scandals was when she took in an infant, and some people whispered that she was the mother. This incident caused King George to form an inquiry into her activities. Although the inquiry proved she was not the mother of the infant, the king no longer welcomed her. She was not allowed in his household anymore.
After losing the king’s support, Princess Caroline left England and traveled throughout Europe. She created more scandals with a handsome young Italian servant that she had employed. Imagine the scandal they caused as they traveled together. Despite the scandal this may well have been the happiest time of Caroline’s life. Sometime during Caroline’s years abroad, several things changed. Her only daughter, Princess Charlotte, married Leopold George Christian Frederick, became pregnant and died in childbirth. Her husband, Prince George, had also taken over as Regent for his father, who was mentally unstable.
Caroline Returns to Be Queen but Is Put on Trial
In 1820, King George III died, officially making the prince, King George IV and Caroline the Queen of England. She returned to England and expected to be crowned queen alongside her estranged husband. Now king, George refused to have Caroline crowned as his queen. Instead, he wanted to be rid of her and needed grounds for a divorce. At his insistence, parliament put her on trial. They claimed she had committed adultery with her Italian man servant, Bartolmeo Pergami. They also accused her of other indiscretions.
Much like Princess Diana and Prince Charles’s public divorce, this one also had everyone in England engaged. The princess had her supporters publicly supporting her cause, and the prince had his own supporters. Unlike modern-day royal dramas, the only thing missing was television and social media.
Eventually, parliament ruled in favor of Princess Caroline. King George was denied his divorce. A divorce would have allowed him to remarry and produce another heir to the throne.
The Final Insult to the Queen
By rights, Princess Caroline, still legally married to King George III, was now queen even if the marriage was a total disaster. She expected to attend the king’s coronation and be crowned queen alongside her husband. But the king would not allow her to be crowned with him. He left orders that she would not be allowed to enter Westminster Abbey, where the coronation was taking place.
Caroline showed up to the coronation anyway but was refused entrance into Westminster Abbey. Basically, the door was shut in her face. Therefore, she was never officially crowned Queen of England. Princess Caroline of Brunswick later became the Princess of Wales and was the uncrowned queen of King George III. She died within a few short weeks after receiving the final insult from a disastrous royal marriage.
King George IV served as his father’s regent from Feb 5, 1811 until he was crowned King O England Jan 20, 1820. George served as king until his death on June 26, 1830.
Queen Caroline attempts to enter Westminster Abbey for King George IV coronation but is refused entry.
Where to start?? There are so many topics I would like to study and have more information about. I would like to have more knowledge and skills about history and writing. Health, money, and laws are also of interest to me.
I have always wanted to learn to make soap, candles, and rugs. I would also like to learn weaving. How’s that for a list of things I will probably never have the time left on earth to learn. I also want to add this. There are a lot of good books which I will never have the time to read.
Writing is something I would like to have a better knowledge of. I want to take some courses in writing. One thing my writing needs improvement on is dialogue. For me, history goes with writing. Writers are recorders of history so I would wish for better knowledge of history.
Health, Money, and Laws
These are all topics that most of us should have more knowledge of. They affect all of our lives. The better I understand health and the things that affect my health, the better my body and life will be. As I get older I wish for a better understanding of how my body works. I need to know and understand about medicines and medical tests and procedures. Health also has the elements of history and writing. Here again, it is writers who document health reports and studies.
Doesn’t everyone wish for more knowledge about money? How to earn money, spend it wisely and invest it to make more money. I know I have always wanted to learn more about those topics.
Another topic I have often wished I was better informed on the topic of laws. I have sometimes encountered situations in which I would have like to be more informed about laws. Lawyers are very expensive and thankfully I have not had much need for lawyers.
Someday, I am going to find the time to learn how to make candles, rugs and weaving. I also want to take a course in pottery at some point. These are all topics I hope to explore some day. I would also like to learn to do some real weaving. These are my topics I would like to learn more about. Dreams for the future.
Daily writing prompt
Which topics would you like to be more informed about?
Music can lift people’s spirits. Music can make us happy. Music can make us feel like dancing. Certain music can make me feel sad and even make me cry. Some music just sounds like noise I want to stop.
Photo: Tuomas Vitikainen
My life doesn’t have much music in it right now. Not that I don’t like music. I used to love country music. But today’s country music has changed so much. It seems to be more rock than country. I used to enjoy the stories that were told in country music. But the stories seem to be gone and I often don’t know what the music is about. I loved the old country music of George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, and Conway Twitty. There are too many others to mention.
Here’s a story about country music a friend of mine told me. When she was younger her husband was a drunk. He would come home late or in the early hours of the morning. She said she used to turn on the music loudly in the mornings. She played songs like “Don’t come home drinking with loving on your mind”. Music allowed her to express her emotions without the use of words and made her feel better. She later divorced her drunk husband.
What would my life be without music. It wouldn’t change my life very much right now. But I still love to listen to music and even went dancing recently. Another night we went for Karaoke. That was interesting hearing all different types of music. And the music was great for dancing. Without music would we be dancing??
I’ve never been a person to have wild, noisy holidays.
When the new year begins, I usually am spending that day with family, or at least part of the day. I generally cook the traditional pork and sauerkraut with mashed potatoes for lunch. Pork and sauerkraut is supposed to bring you good luck and good fortune in the new year. Well this year, it certainly has brought me very little good fortune. Hopefully, next year will be better.
Then comes Valentines Day in February. This holiday is usually ignored. Sometimes, I may get together with other seniors at the senior center and have a good meal.
Saint Patrick’s Day comes in March. I get out the crock pot and cook a corned beef brisket. I add chopped potatoes and cabbage to the crock pot. Two of my children show up for that holiday. They like corned beef and cabbage.
Easter can come in either March or April. Then I cook turkey or ham with everything included. The whole works. The aromas of turkey or ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, side dishes fill the house. One of my favorite dishes to go with ham is baked pineapple. Depending on their spouses most of the children come for Easter. In the future I plan on going to church for Easter services.
Memorial Day weekend is at the end of May. We used to always have a big family gathering with everyone bringing food. Always a lot of great food and family. Games are played for the young and the adults. Sometimes it’s volleyball or croquet. Other times it’s corn hole, or wiffle ball. One thing the young ones love to do is play in the creek nearby. And you will hear their parents remembering their younger days when they played in the creek.
July 4th as its name says comes in July. This holiday is spent celebrating in different ways. As a child were always excited for the July 4th parade. Sometimes, we participated in the parade in one way or another. One time my son and his cousin dressed up as Betsy Ross and Uncle Sam. Another time he marched with his cub scout group. Times have changed over the years. The parade is still held on the 4th of July but I rarely get there. Now the small town where I live has yard sales that weekend all over town. So I either have a yard sale or I go browsing other yard sales. Then in the evening there are fire works held at the dirt racing track.
The next few months are quiet summer months with no holidays. Just hot summer months for beach vacations, swimming and trying to stay cool.
Halloween is the end of October when the weather has cooled down. I do almost nothing to celebrate Halloween. I am usually staying with an elderly lady who was a former teacher. She wants to see the dressed up kids. So I am the one who answers the door for her. I bring them inside to visit with her while handing out candy.
Thanksgiving comes in November. This is the day like Easter that I cook the big meal with everything and the kids come home. But it’s usually a nice quiet day.
Christmas as everyone knows comes in December. I used to try to do the whole bit: decorating, making cookies, presents. Now I celebrate in a much quieter manner. I have never been a big decorator. You have to drag everything out and a few weeks later put everything away. I will put up a small tree and that about does it. I came to the conclusion a few years back that Christmas is not about decorating cookies, shopping or even gifts. It’s about celebrating the birth of Jesus.
New Years Eve is also in December. It ends the old year and begins the new year. We always hope that the new year will be a good year. To celebrate, I go to a gathering of friends, old and new friends. We have a good supper with everyone contributing food. Then we play card games or other favorite games.
So, how do I celebrate holidays?? Each holiday is different so they are celebrated differently. But the major way that I celebrate most holidays, is with family, friends, and always, lots of good food and fun.
On May 24, 2018, President Donald Trump officially pardoned John Johnson, the former heavyweight boxing champion. Who was Jack Johnson? What crime did he commit? Why did the president grant him a pardon years after Johnson’s death?
Johnson’s Early Years
John Arthur (Jack) Johnson was born on March 31,1878, in Galveston, Texas. This was not many years after the Civil War had freed the slaves in the South. Johnson’s parents, Henry and Tina Johnson, were former slaves. Jack Johnson was one of Henry and Tina’s several children and Jack did not get much of a formal education. He was forced to leave school at a young age to help support the family. He found employment on the docks. But Johnson was a tall, large black man who would not settle for just being a common dock worker. Instead, he set his sights on becoming the first African American heavyweight boxing champion.
At the young age of fifteen, Johnson fought his first fight. Sometime in 1897 he went professional. In his early career, he would fight in private clubs. He realized he loved the money he was making by doing something he loved.
In Johnson’s early career, he fought Joe Choynski, another fighter from the Galveston area. Johnson was knocked out. This type of fighting was illegal in Texas at that time. Both fighters were arrested. Bail was set very high, higher than either man could come up with. The sheriff came up with an arrangement that suited everyone. Both fighters avoided actually going to jail. The sheriff’s arrangement was for both men to meet in a cell and spar every day. Choynski and Johnson became friends. But more important, Choynski became Johnson’s mentor and coach for the time they spent sparring in a jail cell.
Jack Johnson’s List of Major Fights
Jack Johnson (nicknamed the Galveston Giant) formally began his boxing career on Nov 1st, 1898. He had an amazing list of hard-won fights.
Nov 1, 1898: Johnson won a fight against Charley Brooks in Galveston, Texas.
May 8, 1899: Johnson won against John Hayes in Chicago. The following year, these two matched up again in a tie.
Feb 25, 1901: Johnson fought Joe Choynski and lost.
1903: By this time, Johnson had won 50 fights. Johnson fought Denver Martin and won. This fight earned Johnson the World Colored Heavyweight Championship.
Dec 1926: Johnson fought Tommy Burns and became the first African American to hold the Heavyweight Boxing Championship title.
July 4, 1910: Johnson fought James Jefferies in Reno, Nevada, a fight that was dubbed the fight of the century. Johnson won, which led to race riots.
Racial Tensions Arise
By this time, Johnson had made a name for himself. He was a black man in an era of Jim Crow laws and racial tensions. The Civil War wasn’t that long ago. Johnson soon faced legal problems because he was a colored man who had beaten James Jefferies, a white man. There was much celebrating that Johnson had won against a white man. This victory did not sit well with the white boxing world.
Johnson also liked white women; he had been married to two white women and was involved with white prostitutes. This did not go very well with whites during the time of Jim Crow laws.
Johnson’s White Wives
Johnson’s first wife was Etta Terry Duryea. She was a wealthy white socialist from Brooklyn, and their marriage proved to be a disaster. They were married from January 1911 until September 1912—not even a full year—at the time she committed suicide.
Boxing Champion Jack Johnson and his wealthy wife pose for the cameras
Johnson then met Lucille Cameron, another young, nineteen year-old white girl from Minneapolis. Lucille’s mother was outraged that her daughter was dating a black man. In Oct 1912, she accused Johnson of kidnapping her daughter. The case went to trial. Lucille stood up for Johnson. She refused to say that she had been kidnapped. As a result, the charges were dismissed. Lucille and Johnson were then married on Dec 4th 1912 and later divorced in 1924.
The Mann Act 1910
The Department of Justice failed to convict Johnson in the Lucille Cameron case. They quickly found another woman who was willing to testify that Johnson had taken her over state lines several times. This woman was Belle Schreiber, another white woman he met in May 1913. She was a prostitute in a house that refused black men. However, Johnson persuaded Belle to travel with him several times, crossing the state lines. This violated the 1910 Mann Act. The 1910 Mann Act stated that it was a federal offense to travel over a state line with a woman or young girl with the intention of prostitution or any immoral act. Belle was convinced to testify against Johnson. As a result, he was convicted of violating the Mann Act and sentenced to one year in prison.
Evading the Law
Johnson was let out on bail as he appealed the court’s decision, but he quickly decided that he was going to disappear. He eluded the police and headed for Canada, where he joined up with his wife Lucille. From Canada, they headed to France where Johnson managed to book some fights. However, World War I was on the verge of hitting Europe so Johnson and Lucille headed south to South America.
Jack Johnson Loses His Heavyweight Title
In 1914, another fight was scheduled for the world boxing title. Johnson would face Jess Willard in the ring in Havana. Willard was younger and well trained for the fight, but Johnson was favored to win. However, Willard managed to wear out Johnson and won the fight, thus taking the Heavyweight Boxing title from Johnson. It would be years before the boxing world would let another black man fight for any boxing titles.
After losing to Willard, Johnson returned to the USA in 1920 and turned himself in to law enforcement to serve out a 10-month prison sentence. After his release, he returned to boxing and continued fighting until he was 50 years old. In 1920, Johnson and Lucille were divorced. He later married Irene Pineau. He remained married to her until his death in a car accident in 1946 in North Carolina.
Jack Johnson the Legend
Jack Johnson was a boxing legend. He fought hard, loved white women, and at times lived a life of luxury. He paved the way for other great African American boxers who would become world boxing legends. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993.
I wish I had learned that all people have value. Even those like me who think they don’t have value.
I was raised in a large but poor family. One very important lesson that I have learned in life is that I might have come from a poor family. However, I had a much better life than younger generations who are given everything they want. We had a stay at home mother and a hard working father. They both loved us very much. Today, I still have five living and loving siblings. I have often said that our family very closely resembled the Television show (The Waltons). I loved that show.
There is another story I would like to share. Dolly Parton had a big hit song with her song (Coat Of Many Colors) that her mother made for her. I can also relate to that. My mother was a good seamstress and she made me a coat. Now my coat was nice. My mother got a lot of compliments on that coat. It was all blue denim but she made it with love for me.
Being poor did have bad influences on me. I didn’t even know I was poor until another girl in third grade brought me an Easter egg. She said that my family was poor and I probably didn’t get anything for Easter. She was right. It was then that I started to notice that my clothes weren’t as nice as the other girls. My hair was cut by my mother and wasn’t stylish. I came to think I wasn’t as good as other children.
My self esteem suffered. I started to stay in the background trying not to be noticed. This pattern of behavior followed me throughout my school years. I decided against college because I felt we couldn’t afford the cost. I had started working in my junior year and I enjoyed having money of my own. I enjoyed being capable of affording some new store bought clothing. Years later, I did return to college. I wish I had done that when I was young enough to have enjoyed the experience.
But I didn’t always appreciate my large family. I hated that we were poor. But we survived and made better lives for ourselves and our children. But looking back, the one lesson I wish I had know was how terribly valuable everyone, including myself, is. The second lesson I wish I had know, was how valuable family is.
Daily writing prompt
Share a lesson you wish you had learned earlier in life.
Chocolate and sweets is my favorite types of food. I know. They are all bad for you but they taste much better than broccoli. I overheard a doctor telling people in a restaurant “that if it tastes good, spit it out”. Of course he was joking. He had a good sense of humor. When promise margarine was popular, I heard him also telling people to “eat that promise.” He would joke that they could enjoy a few extra years in a nursing home.
I love chocolate. Chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No, I don’t eat chocolate for meals. I do try to follow a more healthy diet and lifestyle. I feel better when I eat better and exercise regularly. But I do still treat myself to chocolate candy. After all, life is short and we should enjoy the things we like to eat.
But is chocolate good or bad for you? According to Harvard Medical School chocolate has some good benefits. Their report listed the following possible good health benefits:
better brain functions
lower blood pressure
increase the flow of blood throughout the body
lower bad cholesterol
Increase good cholesterol
The report does add that milk and sugar used to make chocolate increase the calorie content. These ingredients do not provide a good benefit to cocoa.
So after reading that report, I love chocolate even more. Who else loves chocolate?
History Lovers Corner 