Presidents Day

Hi neighbors. I hope you had a good Valentine's Day. There were roses and chocolates all over the place it seems.

There were even chocolate roses!

The next big thing is President's Day on Monday. I don't think chocolate, roses or words of love mean much to dead presidents; but it is the thought that counts.

Let's all go buy ourselves some chocolate, get a dozen roses and a little wine and raise a half-filled glass to 'ol Abe and George. Some would say Abe was the last president that warranted a toast.

Many say most of the last presidents deserve a roast more than a toast. I don't know. I guess they are trying to do an extremely difficult job the best way they know how.

Because of the prestige of their jobs, many people think they should do their jobs perfectly. We should remember that no one can please all of the people all of the time.

I noticed the other night that President Obama has a lot of new gray hair on his sideburns.

No matter who has the job, no one has ever thought it an easy one.

Most of us think of Abe Lincoln and George Washington as the best presidents ever elected. Those that were in the voting public at the time they ran for office didn't always think so -- many thought Abe and George should not be president.

President Day might be a good time to review all the presidents. Talk to your children about who they were and how the world was when they held the highest office in the land. Show them some of the pictures and portraits of them in all their finery -- that will get their attention and give them a good laugh.

Here's a list. See how many you never heard of and how many you thought were in office not so long ago.

1. Washington, George (1789-1797)

2. Adams, John (1797-1801)

3. Jefferson, Thomas (1801-1809)

4. Madison, James (1809-1817)

5. Monroe, James (1817-1825)

6. Adams, John Quincy (1825-1829)

7. Jackson, Andrew (1829-1837)

8. Van Buren, Martin (1837-1841)

9. Harrison, William Henry (1841)

10 Tyler, John (1841-1845)

11 Polk, James Knox (1845-1849)

12 Taylor, Zachary (1849-1850)

13 Fillmore, Millard (1850-1853)

14 Pierce, Franklin (1853-1857)

15 Buchanan, James (1857-1861)

16 Lincoln, Abraham (1861-1865)

17 Johnson, Andrew (1865-1869)

18 Grant, Ulysses S. (1869-1877)

19 Hayes, Rutherford Birchard (1877-1881)

20 Garfield, James Abram (1881)

21 Arthur, Chester Alan (1881-1885)

22 Cleveland, Grover (1885-1889)

23 Harrison, Benjamin (1889-1893)

24 Cleveland, Grover (1893-1897)

25 McKinley, William (1897-1901)

26 Roosevelt, Theodore (1901-1909)

27 Taft, William Howard (1909-1913)

28 Wilson, Woodrow (1913-1921)

29 Harding, Warren Gamaliel (1921-1923)

30 Coolidge, Calvin (1923-1929)

31 Hoover, Herbert Clark (1929-1933)

32 Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1933-1945)

33 Truman, Harry (1945-1953)

34 Eisenhower, Dwight David (1953-1961)

35 Kennedy, John Fitzgerald (1961-1963)

36 Johnson, Lyndon Baines (1963-1969)

37 Nixon, Richard Milhous (1969-1974)

38 Ford, Gerald Rudolph (1974-1977)

39 Carter, James Earl Jr. (1977-1981

40 Reagan, Ronald Wilson (1981-1989)

41 Bush, George Herbert Walker (1989-1993)

42 Clinton, William Jefferson (1993-2001)

43 Bush, George Walker (2001-2009)

44 Obama, Barack Hussein (2009-present)

Until the next time friends, enjoy and learn from, every holiday you can.