What's necessary?

In response to last week’s question, "What's necessary?," my writing and sailing friend Rich advised, "Not as much as you think, way less than your boss  thinks and everything your wife thinks."

My dad's beach buddy Bob declared, "Breathing is a good starter" to which my neighbor Al expounded, "'Necessary' is based upon your goals in life.  In one case it might be air.  In another, it's remembering to put the toilet seat down."

My equestrian friend Royce replied, "It's according to what you are doing!" to which my cycling friend Ted, who is a private pilot, shared, "Take-offs are optional, landings are necessary."

My friend Richard counseled, "Death and (if you believe the government) taxes."  My social media friend Mark  suggested, "Only Monday morning 'Hmmms'," and then my DISH friend John replied, "Hal, I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this subject."

My sailing friend Mike explained, "Ah, my friend, you must know the Old English necessary from two ancient but noble words:

ness, a promontory, cape, headland or point, and

estuary, the arm of the sea that extends inland to meet the mouth of a river

Thus, necessary (a corruption of the ness-estuary combination) is a river mouth protected by a headland

….or when you’re sailing, it’s using the shrouds in good weather or the head in bad to complete the “necessary” bodily functions."  And we know regular bodily functions are necessary.

Please share your thoughts about this week's "things that make you go 'Hmmm' “:

Is perfection the enemy of "done"?  (from my friend Marya)

Lord, give me a sense of humor; give me the ability to understand a clean joke; to get some humor out of life, and to pass it on to other folks. 

Hal

Something I recommend doing this Thu evening:  I follow the advice of generally avoiding conversation about religion -- except for this one interfaith event.  You see, a priest, a rabbi and an imam walk in to a bar….this is an evening of celebration of Thanksgiving and of how similar we are ---- through words and music, and a bit of humor.  Comments from those who attended last year included “This is the most enjoyable heartfelt service anyone could experience” and “We look forward to it every year.”  And yes, there is a dessert reception afterward -- and there's no cost although we invite you to bring canned foods to donate to MUST Ministries.

You'll hear comments from Bahá'í, Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Unitarian Universalism as well as a Palestinian guest speaker presenting in a Jewish sanctuary.

I guarantee you will talk about this celebration on Friday and throughout your weekend.

Details are in the display below and on our Facebook page.  I invite you to join me Thu, 11/20 at 7:00pm  either in person or streaming online.

Thanks to Demetri Martin, Steven Wright and George Carlin for the inspiration for Hmmm.

Stop by www.nichelabs.com to see what else I'm up to.