I've been published thousands of times as a Journalist, Editor and as a Freelance writer. I rarely had the chance to be humorous except when I had to author a daily news column where I was free to be slightly funny.
Now, I can be funny when the opportunity presents itself. But I am not going to poke fun at The Almighty, even though many of his worshipers are fair game.
But the following has nothing to do with Christianity. It is an item tied to what our publication called: "This Day in History."
THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
July 28, 1586: Sir Thomas Harriot introduces potatoes to Europe.
Years before he became Europe's version of the Spud Stud, young Harriot was hired by Sir Walter Raleigh, he of the
muddy cloak, to be his chief navigator. It seems that Raleigh and his half brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had sailed
with 11 ships to the Cape Verde Islands in 1578, and the ships had become badly scattered.
So Raleigh needed Harriot, especially since Raleigh had decided he wanted to pay a visit to what was then some other
garden spots in the New World.
Besides being a navigator, Harriott fancied himself something of a botanist, and his love of plants and all things fauna
brought him in close contact with Native Americans. After painstakingly learning the phonetics of Indian language, Harriott
was thrilled to learn that for weeks his new friends had wanted him to take a bath.
It is believed that soon after this, Harriott learned about potatoes and published a treatise on the need to cut down on carbs.
Delighted with his findings and a new book contract, Harriott sailed for home and dumped the potatoes before the Queen.
The new repast was met with mixed reviews. The English were noncommittal but the Russians were ecstatic. As were the
French, who immediately began to deep-fry them.
Harriot, however, never became wealthy. Unlike Lord Hamburger, whose name we all know and venerate today.
( I wrote this on July 28, 2009 ).