I woke up this morning with a line from a Bill Murray movie in my head...

and that movie was the wonderful "Meatballs".  Bill Murray in his character of the camp's senior counselor, Tripper is taking to Rudy Gerner (Chris Makepeace) just before the big two mile run, the last event of the two-day contest between Camp North Star and Camp Mohawk. 

Tripper:  "How's the leg?"
Rudy:  "It's okay"
Tripper  "For now.  But if you don't win, we cut it off."

No, I don't want to cut off my leg, even though it's frustrating the heck out of me.  But it is getting to be really annoying.  Of all the wishes I had for this birthday, having a spasmed out leg was never one of them.

So I promised to talk about the history behind the motto "In God We Trust" that's on all of our money, paper and coins.  That history goes all the way back to our national anthem, and it's fourth stanza.  You don't know it because before ball games, the singers only sing the first stanza.  Here's the whole thing:

"O say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

You can see the line "In God is our trust" in that 4th stanza.  That's where it all started.

Then, during the Civil War, things were not going well for the Union.  Copper and silver coins were in short supply because they were critical war materials.  At the same time, religious leaders in the North pressed the government to acknowledge "Almighty God" on the nation's coins.  So, Congress passed legislation that approved a new coin, the 2 cent piece and allowing the motto "In God We Trust" to be added to this coin.  It ended up on most coins from that point forward, although its absence from the nickel beginning in 1883 and not returning until 1938 keeps it from having been on all coins without interruption.

The motto was added to paper money in 1957, having become the official motto of the United States the year before, at the height of the "Cold War".

One has to wonder about the real impact of "restraining orders" and how inadequate they are in protecting women (mostly) who they are granted to.  A young Riverside woman was told by the father of her two children that if she didn't marry him, she and their kids would be "laid to rest".  The judge was convinced.  Order of protection granted.  Next day, the bodies of the woman and her two children were found, all stabbed to death.  The man who had been ordered to stay away from her was found nearby, covered in blood and was shot when he attempted to flee.  I know that the cops can't guard people like this 24/7, but there has to be more that can be done.  I just don't know what.  But I'm giving it some serious thought.

Obviously, no walk today.  Hope springs eternal and maybe tomorrow.