Uncle Thor's Lessons, Anecdotes and Humor

I have shipped some odd items to incongruous places. For instance, in the late 1990s I shipped several boxes of Confederate toy soldiers from New York to a customer inTennessee. There was the time I shipped New York City souvenirs to hillbillies in Kentucky. I shipped two books about General Sherman from New Jersey to [...]

Imagine if we gave an average fellow an untrained thoroughbred horse, and we asked him to train it for a race. Without the right knowledge or experience, he would have a tough time just getting the horse to carry a rider. The thoroughbred might be look like a fine example of a racing horse, but [...]

Horses have been domesticated for thousands of years. During that time, the species has grown larger due to selective breeding. There was a time before Alexander the Great when horses were not strong enough to carry armored men. By the time of Julius Caesar, armored horsemen were common. Like cats, dogs, cattle and sheep, the [...]

Here are a few exercises to help you have a better experience of the Eh Rune. Give them a try. I hope you enjoy them. The Eh Rune energy is such that it pays to take a light touch to most of these exercises. If you find yourself smiling while doing them, you are on [...]

There is a way of winning that can best be described as not losing. Does it sound silly? Believe it or not, it is genuine. One of the ways to victory and success is to not lose. Granted, there is more to it. Let me explain: I have seen many people lose simply by giving [...]

The necessity for morale is frequently underrated. Nonetheless, it is the most essential ingredient for success. “Keeping one’s spirits up” is a worthy attitude. It has won many a struggle. The plain fact is that all too often, defeat and victory are a matter of mind rather than the actions of the opposition. Persistence, endurance [...]

Recently, someone’s “pet” chimpanzee went on a rampage. It seriously injured one woman with life-changing injuries. The animal attempted to attack police officers. It was shot, and it ran off and died. The chimpanzee had been a pet and was treated more like a child. It was reportedly “tame.” So how could this happen? How [...]

Sometimes I like to read an old book that I had read before. Last week, it was Guadalcanal Diary. I had not read it in about 40 years. Books and movies have a similar quality, in that some are worth reading again, but most are stories you only want to hear once. Different stories talk [...]

Sometimes I come up dry. Sometimes it is hard to think of an appropriate subject for the daily lesson. Today was one of those days. Is it “writer’s block”? Is there a lack of inspiration? It is much simpler than that. Rather than teach, today is a day to reflect. In our hectic lives, there [...]

The later myths depict Tyr sacrificing his hand so that the Fenris wolf can be bound. I believe the origins of this particular tale are much more ancient. They depict as aspect of Tyr that reflects on the greater good of the community. In the myth, Tyr “takes one for the team.” It uses drastic [...]