Pi in the Sky and Walt Disney's Long Lost Brother

Yam goes back to college later this week, so today we ran some errands that needed to be done before she leaves, like a dental appointment and a haircut.

After I parked the car and as we made our way towards the dental office, Yam stopped and pointed to the sky and said, "Hey look, Pi in the sky!"

Then she said, "I wish I would have brought my camera!"

Of course I had mine with me...I never leave home without it...you never know when blogable material will present itself and need to be photographed.

Remember, one of my nicknames is "Rainman", given to me by The Colonel since I began blogging, because I always have my camera with me and I snap away at what seems to him, the most mundane things.

So, I gave Yam my camera and she captured "Pi in the sky".

We both knew this would end up as a blog entry.

Seeing the unique cloud formation got us to thinking about the origin of the saying, "pie in the sky".

I "googled" it when I got home and this is what I found out.

In 1911, a Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies) named Joe Hill (born Joel Hagglund) wrote a song called, "The Preacher and the Slave". It was a parody of the Salvation Army song, "In the Sweet By and By".

The song's chorus follows:

You will eat, by and by

In that glorious land above the sky;

Work and pray, live on hay,

You'll get pie in the sky when you die.

He wrote the song because he did not like the way the Salvation Army was more interested in saving souls rather than feeding the poor with the money that was placed in their pails.

The Salvation Army's "Pie in the Sky" equaled, the promise of Heaven, while continuing to suffer in this life.

Later, in 1939, the term would mean, a prospect of future happiness during this life, which is unlikely to ever be realized. FDR and his administration had much to do with the change in meaning.

Our last errand of the morning was grocery shopping. We decided to shop at Publix.

Publix grocery stores can be found in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. The first store opened in Winter Haven, Florida in 1930.

Mr. George W. Jenkins is the founder of Publix.

There is a picture of Mr. Jenkins hanging above the water fountains in the store.

Yam and I have always thought Mr. Jenkins could pass as Walt Disney's long, lost brother.

With my camera in hand, Yam covertly snapped a picture of the picture, while feigning the need for a drink from the fountain.

Mr. George W. Jenkins. (Maybe the "W" stands for Walt, a family name?)

Mr. Walt Disney.

If they are long lost brothers, what explains the name difference? Perhaps they were separated when very young, and a kind, childless couple (Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins of Winter Haven, FL) adopted little George. Winter Haven is southwest of Orlando, where Walt would one day build Disney World.

You never know what you'll see and what may become a blog post when you are running some errands...don't forget your camera!