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Having a Jubilee

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 Yesterday, we got the call to please take in one more kitten.  It was supposed to be about the age of my current younger litter, and how could i say no?

The call to the nice lady ended with me agreeing to meet her at a local coffee shop about a mile from me, and a mile from her, too.  She showed up right on time and gave us a beautiful little tortoiseshell kitten that was dehydrated, but appeared healthy.

Then she pointed out the small cut and burn up by the kitten's ear.  Apparently, she had found the kitten earlier that day trapped in the engine of her car!  A call to 911 ended up with a fire truck and a rescue squad taking two hours to free the poor thing.

Bigger Girl says we are having a jubilee because the kitten is safe now, and we have named her that, Jubilee.  She's skittish and needed hydration from the vet's office, and of course she doesn't want a bottle yet, it doesn't taste like mama and she's not quite hungry enough yet.  She will be soon.




Today is

Abolition Day -- Martinique

Bath International Music Festival -- Bath, UK (with musicians from more than 30 countries, this is truly a premier festival; through June 2)

Bear Waking Day -- Norway (traditionally said to be the day the bears awaken from their hibernation, at least according to many sites)

Buy a Musical Instrument Day -- even just a kazoo, and have some fun making music; maybe if this one spreads around the world and enough of us do it, it will foster some harmony in our lives

Election Day -- Cayman Islands

Elf Fest -- Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary (near Needmore, Indiana; through next Tuesday)

Emergency Medical Services for Children Day -- because children need different care, they aren't just tiny adults

Independence Day -- Montenegro

International Day for Biological Diversity -- UN

National Maritime Day -- US (commemorating the first transoceanic voyage under steam power)

National Sovereignty Day -- Haiti

National Vanilla Pudding Day

St. Julia's Day (Patron of torture victims; Corsica, Portugal; Livorno, Italy)

St. Rita of Cascia's Day/La Abodada de Impossibles (Patron of desperate causes, difficult marriages, forgotten causes, illness, lost causes, parenthood, sick people, sterile people, victims of physical spousal abuse, widows, wounded people; against abuse, infertility, loneliness, sickness, sterility, wounds, unhappy marriages; Cascia, Italy; Dalayap, Philippines; Igbaras, Philippines)

Toad-Pinching Day -- Fairy Calendar (Pixies)

Toothpaste Tube Day -- the tube was invented on this day in 1892 by dentist Washington Wentworth Sheffield, who wanted to replace the unhygenic practice of dipping the brush into a jar of dental cream

Unity Day / National Day -- Republic of Yemen


Birthdays Today:

Apollo Anton Ohno, 1982
Ginnifer Goodwin, 1978
Morrissey, 1959
Paul Winfield, 1941
Richard Benjamin, 1938
Susan Strasberg, 1938
Peter Nero, 1934
Sir Laurence Olivier, 1907
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1859
Mary Cassatt, 1844
Richard Wagner, 1813


Today in History:

The Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus, BC334
The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to murder Saladin near Aleppo, 1176
Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe, 1377
Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England, 1455
A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason, 1807
On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna), Napoleon is repelled by an enemy army for the first time, 1809
The SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean; the ship arrived at Liverpool, England on June 20, 1819
HMS Beagle  departs on its first voyage, 1826
The transporting of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished, 1840
Farmers Lester Howe and Henry Wetsel discover Howe Caverns, 1842
The Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames is officially opened, 1897
The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine", 1906
Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, and is the only mountain other than Mount St. Helens to erupt in the continental US during the 20th century, 1915
The most powerful earthquake ever documented, the Great Chilean Quake, measures 9.5 and strikes southern Chile, 1960
The nuclear-powered submarine the USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard 400 miles southwest of the Azores, 1968
Ceylon adopts a new constitution, thus becoming a Republic, changes its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations, 1972
Namco releases the highly influential arcade game Pac-Man, 1980
Microsoft  releases the Windows 3.0 operating system, 1990
Johnny Carson retires from The Tonight Show after 30 years, 1992
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations, 1992
A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, 2002

Of Human Conditions

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"So, mom, I've been studying history, and you know what I've decided?"

When Bigger Girl starts a conversation that way, you know she's also been studying philosophy again.

What's that? i asked.

"With all the rivers of blood that have been shed so that one person can claim he owns a tiny speck more of dirt on a tiny speck of dust in the universe, it's time for people to stop asking if we matter in the universe and start working to make sure we matter to each other right here, especially since our space travel technology is still so primitive!"

That, i noted, was quite a mouthful.

At that moment, Little Girl came in, to lighten the mood.

"Hey, what do you call a book club that's been stuck on the same book for a couple of thousand years?  Church!"

Yes, i'm still laughing.


Today is

Ancient Roman Festivities today:
     Festival for Vulcan -- god of fire, volcanos, and smiths
     Rosalia -- rose festival
     Tubilustrium -- ceremony to purify the trumpet used in sacred rituals

Bluebell Day -- Fairy Calendar

Declaration of the Bab -- Baha'i

Go For A Walk in Your Swim Fins Day -- no, i don't know who comes up with this stuff, and i don't want to

Hay Festival of Literature -- Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales (largest annual festival of literature in a beautiful market town in the Black Mountains of the Welsh marches; through June 2)

Kodiak Crab Festival -- Kodiak, AK, US (through the 28th; there's more than bears up here, you know!)

Linnaeus Day -- Stenbrohult, Sweden (birth anniversary of Carolus Linnaeus on the OS calendar)

Lucky Penny Day -- just a fun one, see if you find a penny today

Memory Days -- Grayson, KY, US ("Tradition and Pride" is this year's theme, with a parade, art show, music, Firefighter's Dinner and more; through Sunday)

Mudbug Madness -- Shreveport, LA (festival of crawfish and Cajun heritage, arts, entertainment, and more; through Sunday)

National Labour Day -- Jamaica

National Taffy Day

Sacrifices to Leto, Pythian Apollon, Zeus, Hermes and the Dioscuri in the deme of Erchia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk's Day (Patron of Belarus)

Students' Day -- Mexico

St. William of Rochester's Day (Patron of adopted children)

World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest -- Peoria, IL, US (competition and festival of ragtime, honky-tonk and old-time music; through Sunday)

World Crohn's and Colitis Day

World Turtle Day -- sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue

Anniversaries Today:

South Carolina becomes the 8th US state, 1788


Birthdays Today:

Kelly Monaco, 1976
Ken Jennings, 1974
Jewel, 1974
Mitch Albom, 1958
Drew Carey, 1958
Marvin Hagler, 1952
Robert Moog, 1934
Joan Collins, 1933
Rosemary Clooney, 1928
Helen O'Connell, 1920
Scatman Crothers, 1910
Artie Shaw, 1910
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., 1883
Franz Mesmer, 1734
Carolus Linnaeus, 1707
Emperor Qinzong of China, 1100


Today in History:

Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne, 1430
The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void, 1533
The Netherlands declare their independence  from Spain, 1568
The Second Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years' War, 1618
After being convicted of piracy and of murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd is hanged in London, 1701
Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals, 1785
Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned King of Italy, 1805
South American independence  leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, 1813
The Báb announces his revelation, founding Bábism (the Baha'i Faith), 1844
Organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan, 1863
The Canadian  Parliament establishes the North West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 1873
The fist transcontinental train arrives in Vancouver, BC, 1887
The first talking cartoon of Mickey Mouse, "The Karnival Kid", is released, 1929
American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Black Lake, Louisiana, 1934
Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with the People's Republic of China, 1951
Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion announces that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann had been captured, 1960
The first version of the Java programming language is released, 1995
The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with 75% voting yes, 1998
The fastest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka, opens at Six Flags Great Adventure, 2005
Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts, 2006
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute, 2008

Feline Friday: Let Me In!

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Let me in!  Guys, don't just lie there, help me!  This is where the food is!
 Yes, they do try to climb in the refrigerator.


Today is

Aldersgate Day -- Methodism

Azalea Festival -- Brookings, OR, US (with a parade and street fair and bonsai, as well as azaleas and more; through Memorial Day)

Battle of Pichincha Day -- Ecuador

Bermuda Day -- Bermuda

Brooklyn Bridge Day -- the most often sold bridge in the US (or so i've been told) opened on this day in 1883

Brother's Day -- celebrate all forms of brotherhood, biological, adopted, fraternity brothers, or members of your labor union

Celebrate Commemorate Memorial Day -- Waterloo, NY, US (the 147th observance at the National Birthplace of Memorial Day includes a car show, crafts, food, races, a biker rally and more; through the 27th, and again on the 30th)

Coal Miner Days -- Novinger, Missouri, US (a turn of the century coal mining town celebrates its heritage; through the weekend)

Day for the Naming of Rocks and Planets -- Fairy Calendar

Don't Fry Day -- another day to raise awareness of the need for sun protection through the summer

Down East Spring Birding Festival -- Cobscook Bay, ME, US (through Monday)

European Day of Parks -- Europe

Feast of Hermes Trismegistus -- Hellenistic Egyptian Calendar (thrice-blessed Hermes, patron of alchemy, date approximate)

Florida Folk Festival -- White Springs, FL, US (a true celebration of Florida's folk heritage; through Sunday)

Full Flower Moon / Corn Planting Moon / Milk Moon
     Buddha Day/Vesak/Waisak  -- Bhuddist (Buddha Day; date varies with many celebrating tomorrow)
     Kasone Full Moon -- Myanmar
     Vesak Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka

Heat Awareness Day -- US (your guv'mint at work, telling you to be careful, it's hot out there)

Hug Your Cat Day -- created by Apricat, star of books written by Marisa D'Vari, who says no matter how aloof, your cat really does want a hug

Independence Day -- Eritrea(1993)

International Tiara Day -- ladies, celebrate your powers of leadership in your life; tiara wearing is optional, it's the fact that you rule that matters

Iris Festival -- Sumter, SC, US (fun, food, music, and beautiful flowers; through Sunday)

La Fete des Saintes Maries -- Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France (Roma [gypsy] festival, to honor St. Sara, St. Marie Jacobe, and St. Marie Salome, their patrons; through the 25th)
 

Last Bell -- Russia (tradition of closing schools for the year by having a formal ceremony with the children, and a first grader rings the school bell for dismissal)

Little Lamb Day -- publication anniversary, in 1830, of the original poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

Lubiri Memorial Day -- Buganda Region, Uganda

Morse Code Day -- anniversary of Morse's first message in 1844 (Morse Code Day is also celebrated on his birth anniversary, April 27)

National Death Busters Day -- because the upcoming Memorial Day weekend in the US is the most dangerous for driving; be careful out there!

National Escargot Day

National Wig Out Day -- US (on the Friday before Memorial Day, don your wig and your alter ego and have fun!  there are events around the country)

Northwest Folklife Festival -- Seattle, WA, US (ethnic and traditional arts event celebrating world cultures; through Monday)

Pitlochry Festival Theatre -- Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland (plays, concerts, exhibitions, tours and talks; through early November)

Sacramento Music Festival (formerly the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee) -- Sacramento, CA, US (some of the best music from around North America; through Monday)

Sara-la-Kali -- St. Sara, or St. Sara the Black's Day -- patron of the Roma (Gypsy) Peoples (pilgrimage)

Spoleto Festival USA -- Charleston, SC, US (a premier performing arts festival; through June 9)

Sts. Cyril and Methodius's Day (Orthodox Church celebration; Patrons of Macedonia) related observances
     Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavonic Literature Day -- Bulgaria
     Slavonic Enlighteners' Day -- Republic of Macedonia

St. Susanna's Day (Patron of martyrs)


Birthdays Today:

Billy Gilman, 1988
Joe Dumars, 1963
Rosanne Cash, 1955
Priscilla Presley, 1945
Patti LaBelle, 1944
Gary Burghoff, 1943
Bob Dylan, 1941
Tommy Chong, 1938
"Engineer Bill" Stulla, 1911
Lillian Moller Gilbreth, 1878
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1819
Abraham Geiger, 1810
Gabriel Fahrenheit, 1686


Today in History:

The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt, 1218
Peter Minuit buys Manhattan, 1626
The English  Parliament  passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants; Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded, 1689
John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day, 1738
Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito, 1822
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" by Sarah Josepha Hale is published, 1830
The first passenger rail service in US, from Baltimore to Elliots Mill, Maryland, begins, 1830
Samuel FB Morse taps out the first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought", 1844
The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction, 1883
The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State, 1900
Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight), 1930
Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight, 1940
Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha's Parinibbana, 1956
Cyprus enters the Council of Europe, 1961
FLQ separatists bomb the U.S. consulate in Quebec City, 1968
The drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the Soviet Union, 1970
The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran, Iran, 1980
Eritrea  gains its independence from Ethiopia, 1991
Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel, 1991
15-year-old Sherpa  Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest, 2001
North Korea bans mobile phones, 2004

Well, it was supposed to be

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...just a normal, average day of feeding the cats at the shelter.  That was before i got there.

Well, really it started a few hours before.  We had 13 foster kittens in the house; five most certainly ready to go to the shelter for pre-adoption, one that was a maybe, one weaned that is nowhere near ready, four that are on the verge of weaning, and a two-week-old that we just have for a few days so we can get her to eat from a bottle before the new-in-training feeder gets her.  No use giving her a kitten that won't cooperate for her first time, it might scare her away, and we need all the help we can get.

Anyway, as i was trying figure out when we would go and get the carrier ready and fix dinner early because Sweetie got home extra early (he had gotten to work just before 5am to help with a special project and got to come home early), and keep an eye out for the bigger kittens so that none of them would pull on a cloak of invisibility right before it was time to go, #2 Son asked if he and Festus could take the van, Jalopy (yes, i name my cars, they are clunkers that deserve names), to a friend's house.  (And if you kept that previous sentence straight, you are saner than i am after all of this happened.)

It turns out the friend lives just a couple of blocks from the shelter, so i offered to drive them when i left, and picked a leaving time.  They decided to walk, which i wasn't too thrilled about.  It's hot as blazes already, but they didn't want to wait another half hour.  They headed out, and fifteen minutes later, as i was gathering kittens, #2 Son called.  He and Festus were hot and dehydrated and could we pick them up off the side of the road on our way past, please?  Sometimes they have to learn the hard way.\

Soon we were on our way, five oldest kittens in tow.  The questionable one, i decided, is just too dinky in size and needs to get a little bigger and stronger.  Besides, she found her invisibility cloak just in time.

Little Girl and i got about a mile up toward the shelter when we saw #2 Son and Festus.  "Ah, the damsels in distress!" she grinned.  She isn't going to let her brother live this one down for a long time.  After dropping them at the friend's house, she and i proceeded to the shelter.

This is where everything got even more complicated.

Carol and 3 volunteers were there.  Carol and one volunteer were doing a combo test on a kitten for a lady who will foster these herself until there is room for them in the shelter, Ms. Vivian was going from cage to cage and room to room clipping everyone's claws as she does on Friday, and Anne was trying to get one of the stepladders to collapse so she could put it away.  The lady who was to foster the kittens was filling out her paperwork and as i walked in, i noticed the computer wasn't working.  Turned out the server was down, so i couldn't clock in, which is really no big deal, as i sign off on the book after we do all the work anyway, checking off all the medications and food given, so they would know i had been there anyway.  When i asked Carol if i should sign in the old fashioned way, she said not to bother, she wasn't going to do anything with it anyway, it would just turn into another piece of paper on her desk.  She was already very stressed, and it was about to get worse.

Right after i came in, a family walked in to look at adopting a cat.  The mom and daughter had seen a couple they were interested in, and brought back dad and other sister to pick one to be the companion to one near the same age they had at home.  Apparently the one at home, which they had adopted off the street a couple of months before, was making their 6-year-old Siamese very cranky with his 4-month-old antics, so they wanted another one of about 4 months to keep it entertained.  Their first request was to go sit in a room with the kitten so they could get to know her better, but as there is no such room where we could put them, we simply shut the door to the rest of the shelter and let them put her down in the big room.  She promptly tried to explore the whole place and climb inside the only piece of furniture in the hallway, prompting a frenzied game of chase and rescue..
 
Meanwhile, Little Girl and i had put our 5 in the tri-level cage that was ready for them, keeping only Ame out so she could be combo tested.  Because she was only found with one sibling, which didn't survive, she had to be tested separately (in a litter, we only test one, and if it's negative, then they all pass, as if one of them has these illnesses, then all the kittens in the litter have it).  Little Girl tried to hold Ame, but when Carol couldn't hit the vein because of too much squirming, i ended up doing it.  The thumps from the other room told us that Ms. Vivian was not having much success with trimming Oscars nails.

About this time, the lady who would foster the other 3 kittens she had found having left, we checked their combo test.  It was positive for FIV, which means that she can't bring them to the shelter for 4 weeks, when they will be tested again.  Often by that time the kittens test negative and are fine, they are just positive because they have the mama cat's antibodies in them, but they have not actually been exposed to the disease.  Carol set the test on her desk to remind her to call the lady with the news.  (The good news from this very nice lady is that, after a year of trying, she finally caught the mama that has been presenting her with kittens every so often, and got her spayed, so this is her last litter.)

The family up front had made their decision and were filling out paperwork, which Carol was handling, another couple of people were milling around looking at cats, the other volunteers were doing whatever needed doing at that moment, and the phone was ringing when Little Girl came out from filling the water pitcher and said the washing machine was leaking.

Indeed it was.  Being the closest, i went to see and found a steady drip from both sides.  Thinking fast, to keep the water from seeping into a colony room, i grabbed three huge dirty towels from the hamper and just threw them down there.  This is about the fourth time we've had the washer repaired, so this time, if it's more than a small leak in a hose, it's going to get itself replaced and go to that great appliance heaven.

Walking back up to see the kittens and grab one from the litter of four to run a combo test on, i noted that my 5 weren't too bright.  They had huddled on the top level, not realizing they could climb to the bottom where the litter box was, and one of them had left a very stinky mess in the middle of the clean cloth that covers the top level.  So it was back to the linen closet to find a fresh cloth to fit.  At that point i moved them all to the bottom so they would see they had a litter box available, and grabbed Gambit so he could be the one tested.

Carol and i got his sample, noted that Ame's was negative (whew!), and when i put Gambit back in the cage, i noted that all of them were now huddled on the bottom level, not realizing they could climb up to the top where the food and water are.  When did it happen that i raised such a set?

At this moment, i took the time to help Carol by grabbing her information sheet that has the list of all the kittens in each foster home, and finished up filling out all of the information on each of mine, so she could get it all into the computer, when once the computer is back up and running.

After that, i was trying to read the medications chart, Little Girl was feeding and watering, the phone was ringing again, the washer had finally finished its cycle, leaving behind a bigger mess on the floor with the now dripping towels, one of the cats in an intake cage that hasn't been feeling too great had barfed all over his cage, the adoption had been finalized and the family had left, Carol had tried to call the repair people for the washer and been told they would have to call her back, and the computer tech people had managed to remotely dig around the innards of the server and decide it probably needed to be replaced.  Poor Carol commented that she was the one who was going to be replaced if things kept going this way.

By the time i finished medicating everyone, including the ones with ringworm (again we have ringworm! will it never end!), cleaning the really nasty cages where sick cats were, helping haul traps for this weekend's trap/neuter/release day, listened to poor Carol take at least a dozen phone calls (including one from the pet store telling her that a cat needed to be taken out of the adoption area of the store that very moment because the fax of the cat's rabies vaccine paper had a slightly smeared line so it wasn't acceptable and a second from the same pet store telling her that one of our cages had been taken over by another rescue group), noted that Gambit's combo test was negative (whew! again), and we had fed and watered every animal in the place, #2 Son and Festus had walked over from the friend's house to catch a ride back.

As i was trying to fill out the paperwork so i could go, a nice man came to request that we take the cat his last tenants had abandoned when they moved out of the house two days before, as he already had one cat they had adopted from us and another stray they had taken in.  Poor Carol was about to have a nervous conniption by now, because we have to put people on waiting lists, and it's so hard when they show up with a cat and we just can't take it, we have no room.

We headed home down by 5 kittens, and i hated having to leave, because it was mayhem, and i know they could have used more help, but i had to get the kids back and cook dinner.  Of course, when i walk in this house it is always mayhem, with kittens screaming for bottles and lots of activity, even if i bring the activity in with me from the car in the form of my passengers as i did this time.

What's really fun about the situation is that vacation season has started, so the volunteers are taking turns being out, and sometimes they are very shorthanded.  In fact, we are going to go do it all again tonight, as it's the Saturday evening caretaker's turn to be out.  Taking an extra day is the least i can do, as we will be out the first week of June.

If i find Carol wandering around with a vacant stare on her face, muttering incoherently, i won't blame her one bit.




Today is

Africa Day / African Liberation Day  -- African Union; related observance
     President Yajya Jammeh's Birthday -- Gambia

Alma Highland Festival and Games -- Alma College, Alma, Michigan (annual celebration of Scottish heritage, with world class entertainment and fun; through tomorrow)

ARMAD: AMATEUR RADIO MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY -- US ("Ham it up for the troops!" is the motto of amateur ham radio operators on the Saturday before Memorial Day)armad.net

First Patriotic Government / National Day -- Argentina (Dia de la Revolucion de Mayo)

Flitting Day -- parts of England; Scotland (traditional day on which leases were up for the year and people moved)

Geek Pride Day / Nerd Pride Day -- celebrate the geek /nerd in you!  Geek culture is the obvious choice to laud when it's Glorious 25 May, Star Wars Day, and Towel Day at the same time; began in Spain as "Día del Orgullo Friki"

Glorious 25 May -- in Terry Pratchett's Discworld

Grubstake Days -- Yucca Valley, CA, US (parade, carnival, rodeo, fun!)

Independence Day -- Jordan(1946)

International Jazz Day -- originated with the New Jersey Jazz Society and sanctioned by the United Nations Jazz Society, the American Federation of Jazz Societies, and the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society, which encourage local festivals of Jazz on the Saturday before the observance of US Memorial Day

Isle of Man Tourist Trophy -- Isle of Man (through June 7; two weeks of the finest road racing on earth)

Julia Pierpont Day -- she came up with Decoration Day, the precursor to US Memorial Day; prepare veterans' graves for Memorial Day today

Liberation Day -- Lebanon

Lobster Days -- Mystic Seaport, CT, US (a New England lobster bake on the banks of the Mystic River; through Monday)

National Brown-Bag-It Day

National Missing Children's Day -- US (promoting awareness of the problem of missing children)

National Tap Dance Day -- US, birth anniversary of Mr. Bojangles

National Wine Day

Offering to Demeter -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

Poetry Day -- Florida, US (since 1947, the state legislature declared this for all public schools in the state; if you don't live in Florida, enjoy a poem today, anyway)

Procession of the Statue of Artemis -- Ancient Greek and Roman Calendars, at Ephesus (date approximate, but always near the Thargelia)

Self-Reliance Day -- an internet originated holiday, based on the idea that we should all become more self reliant in this day when it is a dying art.

Skerpla Month begins -- Traditional Icelandic Calendar (Sharpness)

Star Wars Day -- Part IV, A New Hope was released this date in 1977

St. Bede the Venerable's Day (Patron of lectors; Father of English History)

St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi's Day (Patron of the ill; against illness and sexual temptation)

Taste of Cincinnati -- Cincinnati, OH, US (6 blocks of Downtown Cincinnati is turned into a big food extravaganza; through Monday)

Towel Day -- Douglas Adams fans, unite!  Always know where your towel is.

Utica Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Festival -- Utica, OH, US (local artisans, pony rides, antique gas engines, car show, motorcycle show, magic show, and more, plus tons of ice cream! through Monday)

Waisak/Vesak Festival -- Borobudur Temple, Java, Indonesia (on the day of the full moon, a stunning and spiritual celebration of Buddha's birthday)

War of Jenkin's Ear Living History Demonstrations -- Wormsloe State Historic Site, Savannah, GA, US (a colonial living-history event with musket demonstrations, military drills, tomahawk throwing and more)

Week of Solidarity with the People Of Non-Self-Governing Territories begins -- United Nations


Birthdays Today:

Lauryn Hill, 1975
Anne Heche, 1969
Stacy London, 1969
Mike Myers, 1963
Connie Sellecca, 1955
Frank Oz, 1944
Leslie Uggams, 1943
Ian McKellen, 1939
Tom T. Hall, 1936
Beverly Sills, 1929
Robert Ludlum, 1927
Jeanne Crain, 1925
Claude Akins, 1918
Igor Sikorsky, 1889
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, 1878
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803


Today in History:

First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, BC240
Alfonso VI of Castile  takes Toledo, Spain back from the Moors, 1085
Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ, 1420
The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw, 1521
Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England, 1659
Jews are expelled from Warsaw by Marshall Mniszek, 1784
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates convene a Constitutional Convention to write a new Constitution for the United States, 1787
In the May Revolution, citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the Semana de Mayo, 1810
The Patriots of Lower Canada (Quebec) rebel against the British for freedom, 1837
The first telegraphed news dispatch is published in Baltimore Patriot, 1844
Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London, 1878
The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as the president, 1895
John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in Tennessee, 1925
Henry Ford stops production of the Model T to begin the Model A, 1927
Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks five world records and ties a sixth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field  Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1935
The first ascent of Kangchenjunga (8,586 m.), the third highest mountain in the world, by a British expedition, 1955
In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of African Unity is established, 1963
Star Wars (retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981) is released in theaters, inspiring the Jediism religion and Geek Pride Day holiday, 1977
Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people, 1985
Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion, 2000
32-year-old Erik Weihenmayer, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 2001
Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, 2011

Short and Sweet

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That's how today's Congregational Meeting after church will be.

After a several month search, a replacement associate pastor has been found and offered the position.  The business meeting will sound something like this:

On the recommendation of the Pastoral Search Committee and the Session, the full Congregational Meeting today is for the purpose of approving their selection of Mr. Dave McComb to be our new Associate Pastor.  All in favor, say aye.  All opposed must volunteer for the next Pastoral Search Committee!  Now lets all go have refreshments.

And that, friends, is how i like them.


Today is

Arbor Day -- Aston-on-Clun, Shropshire, England (a Poplar tree in town is decorated and left that way year round; probably associated with Oak Apple Day)

Bob Day -- an internet holiday i couldn't confirm, but if your name is Bob, you deserve a special day just for having that name!

Crown Prince's Birthday -- Denmark

Dracula Day -- Bram Stoker's Dracula went on sale this day in 1897

Dzien Matkl -- Poland (Mother's Day)

Festival of the Valley -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (celebration of the movement of Amun from the East Bank of Thebes to the West Bank; it involved giving flowers and sharing food with the dead)

Goblin Races -- Fairy Calendar

Grand Prix de Monaco -- Monaco (premier Formula 1 race through the streets of Monte Carlo, run since 1929; through the 27th)

Holiday of the Receiving of Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Independence Day -- Georgia(1918); Guyana

Indianapolis 500 -- Indianapolis, IN, US (the world's single largest one day sporting event)

Mother's Day -- Algeria; Dominican Republic; France; French Antilles; Haiti; Mauritius; Morocco; Sweden; Tunisia

National Blueberry Cheesecake Day

National Cherry Dessert Day

National Day of Healing -- Australia (formerly called National Sorry Day; to express regret for the ill treatment of Aboriginal Peoples of Australia)

National Paper Airplane Day -- not an official holiday, but go make one, and have a blast; some people even organize contests

Palio Dei Balestrieri -- Gubbio, Italy (the last Sunday of May always sees a medieval crossbow contest between the town of Gubbio and the town of Sansepolcro, with medieval costumes and arms)

Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day -- Hawai'i

Sally Ride Day -- US (birth anniversary of America's first woman in space)

St. Augustine of Canterbury's Day (First Archbishop of Canterbury and Patron of England; feast day in the Anglican Communion and most Eastern Churches)

St. Philip Neri's Day (Patron of Gravina, Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo, and Rome, Italy; the United States Army Special Forces)

Thargelia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (birthday festival of Apollo and Artemis; through tomorrow, date approximate)

Tivoli Fest -- Elk Horn, IA, US (annual celebration of the area's Danish roots; through tomorrow)

Trinity Sunday -- Christian



Anniversaries Today:

Boston University is founded by the Massachusetts legislature, 1869


Birthdays Today:

Helena Bonham Carter, 1966
Lenny Kravitz, 1964
Sally Ride, 1951
Pam Grier, 1949
Philip Michael Thomas, 1949
Hank Williams, Jr., 1949
Stevie Nicks, 1948
Brent Musburger, 1939
Miles Davis, 1926
James Arness, 1923
Peggy Lee, 1920
Jay Silverheels, 1919
Frankie Manning, 1914
Peter Cushing, 1913
Robert Morley, 1908
John Wayne, 1907
Dorothea Lange, 1895
Al Jolson, 1886


Today in History:

Armenian rebels battle the Sassanid empire and win the right to openly practice Christianity, 451
An earthquake  strikes Kamakura, Japan, killing about 30,000, 1293
Geneva  expels John Calvin and his followers from the city, 1538
Alse Young becomes the first person executed as a witch in the American colonies, 1647
Lewis and Clark first see the Rocky Mountains, 1805
The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress, 1830
Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners, 1857
The impeachment trial of U.S. President Andrew Johnson ends with Johnson being found not guilty by one vote, 1868
Nicholas II becomes Tsar of Russia, 1894
Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 1896
The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made, 1908
The world's longest-lasting tornado, lasting for over 7 hours and traveling 293 miles, strikes Mattoon, Illinois, 1917
British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana, 1966
Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing, 1969
The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2, 1970
Willandra National Park is established in Australia, 1972
George Willig climbs the South Tower of New York City's World Trade Center, 1977
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Japan, triggering a tsunami that kills at least 104 people, injures thousands. Many people go missing and thousands of buildings are destroyed, 1983
The European Community adopts the European flag, 1986
Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era, 1991
The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York, 1998
Sherpa Lakpa Gelu climbs Mount Everest in 10 hours 56 minutes, 2003
The New York Times publishes an admission of journalistic failings, claiming that its flawed reporting and lack of skepticism towards sources during the build-up to the 2003 war in Iraq helped promote the belief that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, 2004
The May 2006 Java earthquake kills over 6,600 people, leaves 200,000 homeless, 2006*

*Occurred 22:54 GMT May 26, 05:54 Local Time May 27, so some sources date it today, some tomorrow

Haiku

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Who always puts back
Empty cartons in the fridge?
Teenagers strike again.

Should i clean the fridge?
Bacon grazes on lettuce
Take that as a yes.

Where is cheese i bought?
Children have opened the new
Before old is gone. 


Kittens, how can you
Be hungry again so soon?
All bottomless pits.

Peaceful kittens snooze,
And if i ever need more
Much cat hair to knit 


Dust bunnies seem quiet
When i put them in trash
But looks do deceive

Hear them giggle late
In the night as they scatter
O'er the house again!


Today is

Abolition Day -- Guadeloupe; Saint Martin

Bolder Boulder 10k -- Boulder, CO, UK (a fun way to spend Memorial Day)

Buttercup Day -- an internet holiday that just sounds fun

Cape May Music Festival -- Cape May, NJ, US (through June 13; world class music performances of many genres)

Cellophane Tape Day -- patented this date in 1930

Children's Day -- Nigeria (a school holiday)

FindleFritter's Stoat-Wheedling Event -- Fairy Calendar

Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling -- Cooper’s Hill, England (ancient tradition -- pre-Roman -- of rolling a large wheel of Double Gloucester cheese down the hill; winner of the races to catch it wins the cheese, and the rolling is now always held on the Monday Spring Bank Holiday)

Memorial Day -- US and Territories (obs.)
     Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day -- US (on observed Memorial Day, an interfaith encouragement to pray and work for permanent peace in the world)

Mother's Day -- Bolivia

National Grape Popsicle Day

National Heroes' Day -- Turks and Caicos Islands

Pop-up Toaster Day -- Charles Strite applied for his patent on the first pop-up toaster on this day in 1919

Sovereign's Day Holiday / Commonwealth Day-- Belizeusually24th

St. Augustine of Canterbury's Day (Roman Catholic Church observance; Patron of England)

St. Melangell's Day (Patron of hares)

Sun Screen Protection Day -- an annual, and unsponsored, reminder to use that SPF protection, every day!

Tetbury Woolsack Races -- Gumstool Hill, Tetbury, England (this formerly important wool producing town still holds races up and down the hill, from the Royal Oak Pub up to the Crown Pub and back; part of traditional Whitsuntide folklore customs, which is now always held on the Monday Spring Bank Holiday)

Throw the B*st@rds Out Day -- originally directed at politicians, (and if you want to do that, too, great!), and celebrated on various days on various sites, but whomever is making your life miserable, toss them out!  or at least, toss them out of your thoughts for today.

Tour of Somerville -- Somerville, NJ, US (the oldest continuously run major bicycle race in America, always on observed Memorial Day)



Birthdays Today:

Joseph Fiennes, 1970
Jeremy Mayfield, 1969
Todd Bridges, 1965
Adam Carolla, 1964
Louis Gossett, Jr., 1936
Ramsey Lewis, 1935
Henry Kissinger, 1923
Christopher Lee, 1922
Sam Snead, 1912
Hubert H. Humphrey, 1911
Vincent Price, 1911
Dolores Hope, 1909
Dashiell Hammett, 1894
Isadora Duncan, 1878
Wild Bill Hickock, 1837
Julia Ward Howe, 1819
Amelia Bloomer, 1818
Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1794


Today in History:

Habeas Corpus Act, codifying how the writ of habeas corpus is to be used, passes in UK, 1679
Peter the Great founds St. Petersburg, 1703
In Bolivia, the Battle of La Coronilla, in which the women from Cochabamba  fight against the Spanish army, 1812
In Canada, American forces capture Fort George, 1813
Bubonic plague breaks out in San Francisco, California, 1907
The NC-4 aircraft arrives in Lisbon after completing the first transatlantic flight, 1919
The 1,046 feet (319 m) Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public, 1930
Richard Gurley Drew receives a patent for his adhesive tape, later manufactured by 3M as Scotch tape, 1930
The Walt Disney Company releases the cartoon  The Three Little Pigs, with its hit song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?", 1933
In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, , 1937
Toronto's CHUM-AM, (1050 kHz) becomes Canada's first radio station to broadcast only top 40 Rock n' Roll music format, 1957
Australians vote in favor of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and to count them in the national census, 1967
In Culpeper, Virginia, actor Christopher Reeve is paralyzed from the neck down after falling from his horse in a riding competition, 1995
Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire, 1996
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands indicts Slobodan Milosevic and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity, 1999
The May 2006 Java earthquake strikes at 5:53:58 AM local time (22:53:58 UTC May 26) devastating Bantul and the city of Yogyakarta killing over 6,600, 2006


And in other news

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Well, really, there isn't much news around here.  That's the sad truth of it all.

We are popping along day by day, feeding the kittens, trying to find a bigger litter box for Hope cat (who is picky about litter boxes, and no matter what she eats or how little, grows ever larger), feeding kittens, cooking meals, feeding kittens, doing laundry, and did i mention the kittens?

"So many books to read, so little time," Little Girl just said.  That, too.  We are all lost in worlds of books between school sessions.  It's a good thing we have the pool across the street and other things lined up to do, or we might all grow roots from sitting and reading!  (Or, in my case, standing and reading, as i have a stand up desk and refuse to sit down most of the time.)

We are preparing for June and vacation, so there should be so much more going on, but somehow, there just doesn't seem to be much.  Let's just hope it's not a calm before a storm.

Just as i was about to hit publish, Bigger Girl walked in.

"Mom, wouldn't it be neat to be a Wiccan?  You could dance naked through the woods, singing and claiming to be the Queen of the Woods and that the squirrels and chipmunks obey you!"

Some things in my life just defy explanation, and i'm glad.



Today is

Araw ng Watawat -- Philippines (Flag Day)

Armed Forces Day -- Croatia

Contemplate Your Vicissitudes Day -- no, i still don't know who thinks up this stuff, i can think of much better things to contemplate, thank you

Day of Pin-Hiding and Button-Losing -- Fairy Calendar

Downfall of the Dergue Day/National Day -- Ethiopia

National Brisket Day

National Hamburger Day

Pithi Chrat Neanng Korl -- Cambodia (Royal Ploughing Ceremony)

Republic Day -- Armenia; Azerbaijan

Slugs Return From Capistrano Day -- where they spent the winter, so don't go out on the patio barefoot until the first frost; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

St. Bernard of Montjoux's Day (Founder of Alpine hospices; Patron of Alpinists, the Alps, mountain climbers, mountaineers, skiers, and travellers in the mountains)

Whooping Crane Day -- US (birth anniversary of the first crane born in captivity; because those born in captivity refused to breed after they grew up, the attempt to restore numbers this way was discontinued, but these are beautiful birds worth saving)

Women in Trousers Day -- US (on this day in 1923, the US Attorney General announced his determination that it was indeed legal for women to wear trousers anywhere)


Anniversary Today:

Amnesty International is founded, 1961
Sierra Club is founded, 1892


Birthdays Today:

Joseph Cross, 1986
Jesse Bradford, 1979
Sicily Yoder, 1969
Kylie Minogue, 1968
Glen Rice, 1967
John Fogerty, 1945
Rudolph Guiliani, 1944
Gladys Knight, 1944
Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie, and Yvonne Dionne , 1934
Carroll Baker, 1931
Ian Fleming, 1908
Jim Thorpe, 1888


Today in History:

A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse;this leads to a truce and becomes one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated, BC585
James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor are married according to a Papal Bull by Pope Alexander VI and a Treaty of Everlasting Peace (which lasted 10 years) between Scotland and England is signed, 1503
The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel (it will takes until May 30 for all of the ships to leave port), 1588
In the first engagement of the French and Indian War, Virginia militia under 22-year-old Lieutenant Colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party, 1754
Big Ben is drawn on a carriage pulled by 16 horses from Whitechapel Bell Foundry to the Palace of Westminster, 1859
In San Francisco, California, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club, 1892
In the Russo-Japanese War, the Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1905
John B Gruelle patents Raggedy Ann doll, 1915
The US Attorney General says it is legal for women to wear trousers, 1923
The first all color talking picture, "On With the Show", is shown in NYC, 1929
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, is officially opened, 1937
Neville Chamberlain becomes British Prime Minister, 1937
The women of Greece are given the right to vote, 1952
The Palestine Liberation Organization is formed, 1964
Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States, 1975
Eritrea and Monaco join the United Nations, 1993
NATO declares Russia a limited partner in the Western alliance, 2002
The Mars Odyssey finds signs of large ice deposits on the planet Mars, 2002
The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty, 2008

What's the Total?

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It was time, once again, for a visit to some of my favorite car people, Kevin and Lenny.

Sweetie and i switched cars for a day so i could take his in and make sure it's in good shape.

As i walked in, i noticed that, even though they had only been open about 15 minutes, they were already very busy.  Since they were closed for the Memorial Day holiday, this was their make-up day for that.

Lenny greeted me and told me immediately that the coffee was fresh -- they know me so well.  Then he asked what was up.

My Sweetie wants the freon checked in his car, i told him, and it still needs that front end alignment in the worst way.  Give the whole thing a good once over and tell me what else it needs, i added.  Yes, i trust these guys, they do not ever do unneeded work and honor their word and their warrantees.

"Sure, that's easy enough," he answered.  Then he asked if i still had the same phone number and address as he looked me up on the computer.  Yes, i told him, and you know just where it is!

"That's right, I've dropped you off at home more than once," he smiled.  Makes it easy for you to come after me if i don't pay the bill, i grinned back.

Another lady in the waiting area, overhearing the name of my street, asked if she had heard correctly, and it turns out she lives only a few blocks from me.  We spoke for a few minutes, and who should i see walking up than Miss Rose, another neighbor, with her husband, as usual, trying to keep up with her.  She is 82, and has always run circles around him.  Until this year, she always did a walk to raise money for cancer, but she's passed the baton to her daughter now.

Look!  The whole neighborhood is showing up! i joked as i opened the door for Miss Rose and Mr. Steve.  Then i added, i've got the money for that cancer fundraiser, and now i don't have to make an extra trip.  She smiled and thanked me as i handed it to her, and that's one more item off the never ending to do list.

As i settled in with Ol' Bessy, Lenny called out to tell me the good news and the bad news.

"The good news is the A/C is fine, freon level is perfect.  Yes, you do need the alignment.  The bad news is your brakes are shot."

Somehow i knew it.  Sweetie had mentioned something about brakes being a bit "off."

Go for it all, i told him, there's no sense in getting in there for an alignment and not taking care of everything/  And brakes are non-negotiable.

After a couple of hours, Kevin totalled everything up and it was exact, as usual.  As i left i told him i would see him tomorrow with Bigger Girl's car.  It's got an extended warranty, and they do warranty work, and i just want hers looked at this week.

Gearing up for June is not always easy, but it's worth it.


Today is

Ambarvalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (purification festival to Ceres, date approximate)

Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival -- Windsor to Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada (lots of fun in apple blossom time; through June 3)

Ascension of Baha'u'llah -- Baha'i

BookExpo America -- Jacob K. Javits Center, New York, NY, US (publishers display fall titles; through Saturday)

Castleton Garland Celebration -- Derbyshire, England (a Garland King and Lady ride the bounds of the parish on white horses, after which the garland the King wore is placed on the church tower; possibly dating back to Oak Apple Celebrations)

Democracy Day -- Nigeria

End of the Middle Ages Day -- considered such by many historians because of the fall of Constantinople on this day in 1453

Feast of Mars -- Ancient Roman Calendar

International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers -- UN

Learn About Composting Day -- can't find a sponsor for this day, but there is a week sponsored each year, with information available

Mount Everest Day -- Nepal (declared on the anniversary of first ascent in 1953)

National Coq Au Vin Day

National Senior Health and Fitness Day -- US (don't let age get in the way of staying healthy!)

Oak Apple Day / Royal Oak Day -- England (celebration of the restoration of the monarchy; no longer officially recognized, but many localities have traditions that have grown up around this date which are still celebrated)

Pink Flamingo Day -- Don Feathersone created the first one on this day in 1957

Put a Pillow on Your Fridge Day -- supposedly dating back, in Europe and the Americas, to the days when you put a piece of cloth in your larder for good luck; why it became a pillow no one knows

Republic Day -- Nepal

Runic Half-Month of Odal (home, possessions) commences

Squoosh an Ice Cream Sandwich Day -- rules say you must squoosh, not squish or squash!

St. Bona of Pisa's Day (Patron of couriers, flight attendants, guides, pilgrims, travellers; Pisa, Italy)

World MS Day -- information and resources



Anniversaries Today:

Rhode Island becomes the 13th US State, 1790
Wisconsin becomes the 30th US State, 1848


Birthdays Today:

Noel Gallagher, 1967
Melissa Etheridge, 1961
Adrian Paul, 1959
Annette Bening, 1958
LaToya Jackson, 1956
Danny Elfman, 1953
Anthony Geary, 1947
Al Unser, 1939
Paul Erlich, 1932
John F. Kennedy, 1917
Tenzing Norgay, 1914
T.H. White, 1906
Bob Hope, 1903
G.K. Chesterton, 1874
Patrick Henry, 1736


Today in History:

Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire, 1453
Charles II (on his birthday) is restored to the throne of Great Britain, 1660
Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Natives, 1677
The right of Canadians to keep Indian slaves is upheld at Quebec City, 1733
In Patrick Henry's historic speech against the Stamp Act, he answers a cry of "Treason!" with, "If this be treason, make the most of it!" 1765
Present constitution of Switzerland takes effect, 1874
Chemist John Pemberton places his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, the ad appearing in the Atlanta Journal, 1886
Igor Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring receives its premiere performance in Paris, provoking a riot, 1913
Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the loss of 1,024 lives, 1914
Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra record Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", the best-selling Christmas single in history, for Decca Records in Los Angeles, 1942
Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 1953
First of the annual Bilderberg conferences, 1954
Amputee  Steve Fonyo completes cross-Canada marathon at Victoria, British Columbia, after 14 months, 1985
Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station, 1999
Olusegun Obasanjo takes office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule, 1999
A WWII Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., US, 2004

More Odds and Ends

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It was back to the mechanics with Cicero, Bigger Girl's car.  While driving it up there, i noticed her inspection sticker had expired last month.  Good thing i didn't put this off, i thought.

Once i got there, Lenny asked exactly what i wanted.  So i told him to give it a good eyeballing all over and make sure it was good for highway miles for a while, and inspect it, and figure out why her tires were always low.  Then i settled in again, for the second day in a row, to drinking coffee and taking advantage of their wi-fi with Ol' Bessy.

After about an hour, Lenny called me over to show me the results of all the times Bigger Girl had hit a curb.  Her tires were shot, one with a nail in it, her brakes needed adjusting, the transmission fluid was due for a change, and a belt was about to give way.  Eek!

The total was a bit more than double the total the day before, and it would take longer, too.  So i called Bigger Girl to get in my car and come get me.  We ran an errand together, and i got home just in time to hear from Little Girl, "Hi, mom!  I threw up at swim practice this morning, and I feel much better!"

Great, i said, with a tinge of sarcasm, wondering if this was going to necessitate a trip to the doctor.  Was it just that your stomach's upset? i continued.

"Yes, it's this cold, it filled my stomach with snot and I barfed it all over in the grass outside of the fence, then felt better and went on with practice!"

Somehow that doesn't surprise me, the kid is practically cast iron.  Anyway.

We picked up Cicero in the early afternoon, and Bigger Girl went to the bookstore to read while i headed to the shelter to get more formula for this week.

"Mom," Bigger Girl said when next she saw me, "I saw the most interesting person at the bookstore!  An African-American man with some gray at the temples, dressed like a hip hop artist, but with  a heart shaped charm on a necklace, flip-flops with purple flowers on them and purple polish on his toenails!  He was amazing, so confident in his masculinity that he could cross gender lines in what we wore and not even bat an eye!  Why can't more people be like that?  I hate the stereotypes of girls in pink and boys in blue!"

The only reason i didn't have to answer her was that i was interrupted at that moment by Sweetie, calling to tell me he had an extra errand after work and so would be home even later than he thought.

Sometimes i am very glad for the telephone.


Today is

Anguilla Day -- Anguilla

Corpus Christi -- Catholic Christian

Dia de Canarias -- CN, Spain (Canary Island Day)

Einherjar -- Asatru (Modern Norse Pagan) Calendar (a memorial for the war dead in Valhalla)

Farmington Country Days -- Farmington, MO, US (fun for the family, celebrated the old country way; through Sunday)

Feast Day of St. Joan of Arc (Patron of captives, martyrs, opposition of Church authorities, people ridiculed for their piety, prisoners, rape victims, soldiers, WACs, WAVES; France)

Heirloom Seed Day -- While i can't find the history of this one, it's a good one to celebrate, we need to raise awareness of and preserve heirloom seeds

Indian Arrival Day -- Trinidad and Tobago (anniversary of the 1845 arrival of the first Indian laborers to Trinidad)

Lod Massacre Remembrance Day -- Puerto Rico

Loomis Day -- because if we are going to honor Marconi, we should also honor the Washington, D.C., dentist Mahlon Loomis, who patented a wireless telegraphy system before Marconi was even born

Mother's Day -- Nicaragua

My Bucket's Got a Hole In It Day -- this one may be listed on another day as well, since no two sites agree; mercy, just go get a new one already! or go get out your Hank Williams records

National Mint Julep Day

St. Walstan of Bawburgh's Day (Patron of agricultural workers, farmers and farm workers, field hands, husbandmen)

This Day -- Fairy Calendar

Water a Flower Day -- no sponsor or reason given for this day, except that the spring rains are slowing and you don't want your garden to wilt


Anniversaries Today:

Henry VIII marries Jane Seymore, 1536


Birthdays Today:

Wynonna Judd, 1964
Tom Morello, 1964
Meredith MacRae, 1945
Michael J. Pollard, 1939
Keir Dullea, 1936
Benny Goodman, 1909
Mel Blanc, 1908
Peter Carl Fabergé, 1846


Today in History:

Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem; the Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall, 70
19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal, 1431
In Florida, Hernando de Soto  lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold, 1539
Publication of La Gazette, the first French newspaper, 1631
The Pennsylvania Evening Post become the first daily paper in the US, 1783&
John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria, 1842
Westminster's Big Ben rang for the first time in London, 1859
Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern "Memorial Day") is observed in the United States for the first time, 1868
New York City's Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public, 1879
The Treaty of London, 1913, ends the First Balkan War and Albania becomes an independent nation, 1913
In China protests erupt against the Great Powers infringing on Chinese sovereignty, 1925
A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes, 1948
The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened, 1959
launch of Surveyor 1 the first US spacecraft to achieve landing on an extraterrestrial body, 1966
At the Ascot Park in Gardena, California, daredevil Evel Knievel jumps his motorcycle over 16 cars lined up in a row, 1967
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators, 1989
272 days after the September 11 attacks, closing ceremonies are held for the clean up/recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site in New York City. The last remaining steel beam is removed and transported to the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, 2002

Feline Friday: Teaching

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C'mere, mini-me, I'll teach you to drink from the bowl!

Dansig teaching Thomas about the water bowl.



Today is

Arrival Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

Bicycle Race Day -- anniversary of what is supposed to have been the first bicycle race ever, at the Parc de Saint-Cloud, Paris, in 1868

Buffalo Days Celebration (with Buffalo Chip Throw) -- Luverne, MN, US (parade, arts in the park, and the throwing contest; through Sunday)

Centralia Anchor Festival -- City Square, Centralia, MO, US (anchor driving, archery shoot, tractor show, carnival, crafts, softball and more; through Sunday)

Dia de Castilla-La Mancha -- Castile-La Mancha, Spain

Derby Festival begins -- Epsom Downs Racecourse, Surrey, England (today is Surrey Ladies Day, with Derby Day tomorrow)

Doha Document for Peace in Darfur Commemoration -- Sudan

English Riviera Dance Festival -- Torquay, Devon, England (learn ballroom dance, or take a master class, all levels are welcome, with Gala Evenings where you can dance the night away; through next Friday)

Feast of the Visitation of Mary -- Christianity (Mary's visit of her cousin Elizabeth, chronicled in Luke 1:39-56)

Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival -- Little Chute, WI, US (celebrate with other Cheeseheads; through Sunday)

Harvard Milk Days Festival -- Harvard, IL, US (parade, carnival, food, fireworks, petting zoo, and more, all as a salute to hard working dairy farmers; through Sunday)

International Horseradish Festival -- Collinsville, IL, US (lots of fun in the "Horseradish Capital of the World"; through Sunday)

"Make My Day" Day -- birth anniversary of Clint Eastwood

National Macaroon Day

Portland Rose Festival -- Portland, OR, US (over 50 events, including three parades, dragon boat races, and more celebrate a city full of roses; through June 16)

President's Day -- Palau

Route 66 Summerfest -- Rolla, MO, US (citywide celebration to kick off the summer; through Sunday)

Royal Brunei Malay Regiment Day / Royal Brunei Armed Forces Day -- Brunei

Save Your Hearing Day -- because once it is gone, you will regret it; on the anniversary of the concert by The Who which set a Guinness World Record for loudest rock concert in 1976

Speak in Complete Sentences Day -- be a good example!

St. Petronilla's Day (Patron of mountain travelers; against fever)

Take This Job and Shove It Day -- birth anniversary of Johnny Paycheck

Telluride Balloon Festival -- Telluride, CO, US (volunteer to help with the festival and you may get a free balloon ride! through Sunday)

This Day (again) -- Fairy Calendar

What You Think Upon Grows Day -- Stephanie West Allen wants you to remember the power of positive thinking

World No Tobacco Day -- WHO


Birthdays Today:

Jonathan Tucker, 1982
Colin Farrell, 1976
Brooke Shields, 1965
Lea Thompson, 1961
Gregory Harrison, 1950
John Bonham, 1948
Sharon Gless, 1943
Joe Namath, 1943
Johnny Paycheck, 1941
Peter Yarrow, 1938
Clint Eastwood, 1930
Denholm Elliott, 1922
Don Ameche, 1908
Norman Vincent Peale, 1898
Fred Allen, 1894
Walt Whitman, 1819


Today in History:

Rameses II (The Great) becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, BC1279
A devastating earthquake strikes Antioch, Turkey, killing 250,000, 526
Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus and Cumans, 1223
Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary, 1669
The Godiva procession through Coventry begins, 1678
The Province of Pennsylvania bans all theater productions, 1759
In Australia, Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth, reached Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains, 1813
In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O'Neill leads 850 Fenian raiders across the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, Ontario, as part of an effort to free Ireland from the United Kingdom. Canadian militia and British regulars repulse the invaders in over the next three days, 1866
Dr James Moore of the UK wins the first recorded bicycle race, a 2k velocipede race at Parc de St Cloud, Paris, 1868
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes, 1884
Arrival at Plymouth of Tawhiao, King of Maoris, to claim protection of Queen Victoria, 1884
Over 2,200 people die after a dam break sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1889
The Union of South Africa (predecessor of the Republic of South Africa) is created, 1910
The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles, 1927
A 7.1 magnitude Earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan, 1931
The Republic of South Africa is created, 1961
The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide  that buries the town of Yungay, Peru, 1970
In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30, 1971
The Muppet Movie, Jim Henson's Muppets' first foray into the world of feature length motion pictures, is released, 1979
The burning of Jaffna Library, Sri Lanka, is one of the violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the twentieth century, 1981
Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead, 1985
Athena 98.4 FM, the first legal private radio station in Greece, starts broadcasting, 1987
Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was Deep Throat, 2005

Time once again for...

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 ...The 20th Annual Cram the Whole Family in a Two-Bedroom Condo at the Beach for a Week Family Should Be Close But Not This Close Vacation!

Yes, we are on the road again, and Willie Nelson singing that song is my earworm.  Time once again for a week of sand in our shorts, salt water in our faces, hunting ghost crabs by flashlight, fishing from the dock, hunting for fun stuff at the flea market/antique store, visiting the Naval Air Museum and the Little Zoo That Could, chlorine and sunscreen and junk food and wondering what the kids are up to but being too relaxed to really care enough to go find out.  After all, if they are up to anything, Brick the security guard will deal with them, and they don't want that, so they generally behave.

Today is travel and buy food when we get there day, and we will meet up with everyone at the condo and settle in.  This year's cast of characters are:

Dr. Born Organized Clean -- known as Doc, the patriarch and a man who, in his 70's and retired from private practice, is still busier than i am as a mom and janitor and kitten raiser and volunteer and everything else.  He's very precise, very skilled, and is finding out, now that he has time, that he's a great cook (apparently it runs in the family).

Miss Prissy -- matriarch, married 51 years to Doc as of about two weeks from now, and his opposite in terms of organization and precision.  She's born to shop, and much of our time will be making sure she gets to do so.

Uncle P -- the elder of my two younger brothers (if that makes sense, and if it doesn't, sorry, i'm working on caffeine and one brain cell right now), single and always has been and is happy that way.  Works with mentally disabled adults and loves it.

Uncle J -- younger of my two younger brothers (and to show you how tired i am, i almost typed "bothers" there instead of "brothers", which would have made sense when i was 13), divorced custodial father of two and could have become a con man but went into sales instead.  He's a natural; like Doc, who could have made a living selling eggs to chicken farmers.

Bryn -- "tweenage" daughter of Uncle J.  Is growing into a very nice young lady, although she still picks way too many fights with her younger brother.

Dre -- 6-year-old who gets on his sister's last nerve just by being 6 and existing, and one of my favorite kids ever (besides my own, of course).  He and i always have lots of fun.

Sweetie -- my husband, almost 60 and still dreaming of being a rock star on the local restaurant and bar circuit (which he will start doing when he retires in just over a year, he's already got the guys who want to do it with him).  Isn't too much for beaches, but enjoys the vacation time and all the other stuff we do over the course of the week.

Bigger Girl -- my elder daughter who just finished her second semester of Junior College.  A philosopher, she loves animals and isn't afraid to give a horse an injection, bravely prod an angry cow into a chute for a procedure, and yet gently hold a dying animal to comfort it.  Artistic and with a flair for the dramatic, she's also one of those people who talk non-stop if she isn't reading or singing or playing piano.

#2 Son -- the younger of my boys, a born con artist like Doc could have been if he hadn't had medicine as his life long dream, and like Uncle J kind of is.  Wants to be a professional chef, and meanwhile is still into going to the creek and catching snakes.

Little Girl -- my caboose.  Perfect pitch, can draw, paint, write stories, and is an anchor for the swim team.  Plays equally well with the guys and the gals, just generally gets along with everyone.  She's a big help with children and pets.

mimi -- just me, chief cook, bottle-washer, laundress, and the one whose job is to keep her head in every emergency, no matter what.

Hold on for fun, it's going to be a ride.


Today is

Arrival of the Swiss at the Port-Noir -- Switzerland

Birthday of SPB Yang di-Pertuan Agong -- Malaysia (in this elective monarchy, the current king's birthday is celebrated on the first Saturday in June, regardless of his actual birth date)

Beypazari Havuç Güveç --  Turkey (weekend festival celebrating a traditional carrot dish)

Capital Hill People's Fair -- Denver, CO, US (arts, entertainment, and fun; through tomorrow)

Dare Day -- Manteo, NC, US (a fun festival and unofficial kick-off for summer)

Derby Day -- Epsom Downs Racecourse, Surrey, England

Dia da Crianca -- Cape Verde (Youth Day)

Dia de la Marina -- Mexico (Day of the Navy)

Drawing Day/Pencil Day -- used to be sponsored on the first Saturday with the motto "Drop Everything and Draw", but even though no longer promoted by any specific group, you can still enjoy some time drawing today

Early Bird Day -- an internet derived day that reminds us the early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese

Eel Festival -- Jyllinge, Denmark (through tomorrow; every restaurant and pub in town serves fried eel, and there's lots more fun around town)

Enshu Hamakita Hiryu Matsuri -- Hamamatsu City, Japan (honors the river god Ryujin)

Famadihana -- Madagascar (from now until November, various areas celebrate "turning the bones," a fascinating reburial of the dead ceremony)

Feast of St. Justin Martyr (a/k/a Justin the Philosopher; Patron of apologists, lecturers, orators, philosophers, speakers)

Festival of Non-Linearity -- another one you find on the internet, no meaning or rhyme to it, but if you like to think in non-linear ways, enjoy today!

Festival of the Oak Nymph -- Celtic/Pagan (around this time of year, the Celts took a day to honor all hamadryads (female natures spirits who inhabit oak trees)

Flip a Coin Day -- as noted by The Ultimate Holiday Site, which claims Julius Caesar invented it (doubtful, but the Romans did toss coins)

Gawai Dayak -- Sarawak, Malaysia (harvest festival begins today)

Go Barefoot Day -- originally sponsored by Soles4Souls, which recycles shoes to those who have none; while i cannot find if they are sponsoring a day or week this year, it's a good reminder not to let your old shoes end up in a landfill

Hari Lahir Pancasila -- Indonesia (Pancasila Day)

Heimlich Maneuver Day -- Dr. Heimlich first published his suggestion for aiding choking victims with "subdiaphragmatic pressure" on this day in 1974

Hen-Peeler's Holiday -- Fairy Calendar

Independence Day -- Samoa

International Children's Day

Kalends of June -- Ancient Roman Calendar; related observances:
     Day Sacred to Tempestas (goddess of storms)
     Festival for Juno Moneta (Juno as goddess of money)
     Festival of Carna (goddess of health and vitality, and also of doors and locks, which were to be repaired today)

Madaraka Day -- Kenya (National Day or self-rule/responsibility day)

Maritime Gig Festival -- Gig Harbor, WA, US (parades, entertainment, and fun with the view of Mount Rainier to grace it all; through tomorrow)

Mint Julip Day -- Oxford University, England (the drink was introduced there this day in 1845, and they liked it so well, they dedicated a day to it!)

Missouri State Championship Racking Horse Show -- Stoddard County Fairgrounds, Dexter, MO, US (an afternoon and evening of excellent and elegant showmanship)

Mothers' and Children's Day -- Mongolia

National Family Recreation Day -- US (seems to have been started by the community of Arvada, CO, US, wanting families to enjoy the great outdoors together)

National Hazelnut Cake Day

National Trails Day -- US (be safe out there, if you want help becoming a hiker there's info here)

National Tree Planting Day -- Cambodia

Peddler's Village Fine Art and Contemporary Craft Show and Festival -- Lahaska, PA, US (juried competitions, crafts, art activities for children, and more; through tomorrow)

Pilgrimages to St Patrick's Purgatory begin -- Station Island, Lough Derg, County Donegal, Ireland (three day pilgrimages to the island where St. Patrick supposedly showed the Irish heathens Purgatory so they would be converted continue through Aug. 15; such pilgrimages date back at least to the 10th century)

President's Day -- Palau

Say Something Nice Day -- as declared by the mayor of a town in South Carolina who is tired of all the negative talk all the time

Seed to Stalk --  Jamestown Settlement, Williamsburg, VA, and Yorktown Victory Center, Yorktown, VA, US (spend time this month exploring American agriculture of the 17th and 18th centuries, learning the practical used of herbs and plants)

Sjómannadagurinn -- Iceland (traditional Seamen's Day; now a two day Festival of the Sea)

South Carolina Festival of Flowers -- Greenwood, SC, US (thirty-six events, something for everyone; through the 26th)

Stand for Children Day -- stand.org founded by a rally this day in 1996, seeking to ensure all children graduate from high school

Strawberry Festival -- Independence, MO, US (one of many such festivals all over as strawberries come into season -- look for one near where you live some time this month, and go have a good time)

St. Theobald Roggeri's Day (Patron of church cleaners, cobblers, porters, shoemakers; against fever and sterility)

Summer Library Book club Season begins -- anywhere that school is out, check your local library for a summer book club for children or adults; you never know what world you will discover when you read

Superman Day -- publication of the first Superman comic was this day in 1938

Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure Day 2013 -- Washington, D.C., US

Tohoku Rokkon Matsuri -- Morioka, Japan (a special matsuri, bringing together six major festivals from the district that was hard hit by the 2011 earthquake; through tomorrow)

Toppenish Mural Society's "Mural-In-A-Day" -- Toppenish, WA, US (professional artists work to paint a complete and historically accurate mural in one day, accompanied by an arts and crafts show and food fair)

Victory Day -- Tunisia (anniversary of the Adoption of the Constitution of Tunisia in 1959)

Wicket World of Croquet® Day 2013 -- The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, Indianapolis, IN, US (croquet tournament fundraiser, includes an Alice and Friends game for the little ones)www.pbhh.org

Xterra Off-Road Triathalon, Four Corners Event -- NM, US (some of the most extreme racing anywhere)

Yobuko Otsunahiki -- Higashi Matsuura, Saga prefecture, Japan (Big Tug-of-War, with one team representing the land and the other the sea; victory for the land means good crops, for the sea means good catches)



Anniversaries Today:

Kentucky becomes the 15th US state, 1792
Tennessee becomes the 16th US state, 1796
Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, is founded as the first US land-grant university, 1808


Birthdays Today:

Alanis Morissette, 1974
Heidi Klum, 1973
Ron Wood, 1947
Robert Powell, 1944
Rene Auberjonois, 1940
Morgan Freeman, 1937
Colleen McCullough, 1937
Pat Boone, 1934
Edward Woodward, 1930
Bob Monkhouse, 1928
Andy Griffith, 1926
Marilyn Monroe, 1926
Nelson Riddle, 1921
Brigham Young, 1801


Today in History:

Hugh Capet is elected King of France, 987
Beijing, then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols  under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Beijing, 1215
Friar John Cor records the first known batch of scotch whiskey, 1495
Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England, 1533
Mary Dyer is hanged for defying a law banning Quakers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1660
The battle of the Glorious First of June is fought, the first naval engagement between Britain and France during the French Revolutionary Wars, 1794
U.S. President James Madison asks the Congress to declare war on the United Kingdom, 1812
James Lawrence, the mortally-wounded commander of the USS Chesapeake, gives his final order: "Don't give up the ship!" 1813
James Clark Ross discovers the North Magnetic Pole, 1831
American adventurer William Walker conquers Nicaragua, 1855
Treaty of Bosque Redondo is signed allowing the Navajos to return to their lands in Arizona and New Mexico, 1868
Thomas Edison receives a patent for his electric voting machine, 1869
Napoleon Eugene, the last dynastic Bonaparte, is killed in the Anglo-Zulu War, 1879
The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine to count census returns, 1890
Louis D. Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court, 1916
The First Conference of the Communist Parties of Latin America is held in Buenos Aires, 1929
Charles de Gaulle comes out of retirement to lead France by decree for six months, 1958
New Zealand's first official television broadcast commences at 7.30pm from Auckland, 1960
Kenya gains internal self-rule (Madaraka Day), 1963
The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine, 1974
The first black-led government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 90 years takes power, 1979
CNN begins broadcasting, 1980
Air France Flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil, Killing all 228 passengers and crew, 2009
General Motors files for chapter 11 bankruptcy, 2009

Getting There Is Half the Fun?

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 Friday afternoon we took all of our remaining kittens to the shelter to go to other foster homes for at least a week.  While every one of them had finally figured out how to drink formula from a bowl, none of them were quite big enough to even go up for pre-adoption.  Besides, spring has truly sprung and every kitten cage is full, we are one crowded shelter.

We did our usual feeding and medicating and watering and sweeping floors while we were there, then went home to pack and prepare.  As a concession to time, and because i don't have it often and it's a treat, i didn't cook and Sweetie brought home vegan pizza (it's even gluten free and soy free!) from a local bakery that caters to those with allergies or gluten intolerance.  Yes, usually i eat a totally raw, vegan diet, but in this case, i ate cooked vegan stuff, and i always binge on it and feel terrible about it the next day.  That's why it's a rare treat!

We didn't set a specific time to leave Saturday morning, and no one but me got up early, but we still got everyone up, everything packed (except one vest i wanted to bring), all the instructions for Anne posted for when she comes to take care of the cats, all of the leftover food in the fridge to the neighbors with 6 children and no money so they could eat it and we wouldn't come home to rotten stuff, and were heading down the road at 8am.  Not bad.

And the road construction is over, so our only highway traffic was trying to get through the Mobile Tunnel, as usual.

We stopped at the Mississippi and Alabama Welcome Centers, both of which are nice places to wander and get lost in, looking at all these wonderful places you can visit.  Unfortunately, #2 Son and Little Girl are not much for such wandering, so we didn't really linger as much as i would have liked.  When it was time to get off the highway, instead of at Pensacola, we exited at Loxley.  We were hungry and went up to Foley to find a restaurant.  That was an adventure in crawling from light to light with everyone else.  It became very tedious, very quickly, but none of us wanted fast food, and most local places are all about either steak or seafood -- very little caters to vegetarians like the girls and i are.  When we spotted a chain restaurant that i know has a nice salad bar and great guacamole, we stopped there.  All of us were tired and cranky from the last 15 miles taking almost as long as the previous 50.

After lunch, we made a trip to the grocery store to get supplies, where everyone splits up and there are two or three baskets being hauled around and it's a Saturday so it's crowded and we go in circles to find each other and figure out who grabbed milk and did everyone get the kind of juice or bread or whatever-it-is that they wanted, and we find each other and lose each other again and everyone in the store ends up thinking we are nuts as we call each other on the phone to find each other (it's a big store), and by the time we leave we are more than ready to leave (and they are more than ready to have us gone, even though it costs a lot to buy this much food) and then on to Perdido by way of the Beach Express.

#2 Son drove Bigger Girl's car part of the way, and he's a very good driver (he should be ready to test for a full license soon).  He stayed right with me, and i was careful not to signal for us to get over unless i knew there was plenty of room.

Once there, the smell of the ocean just hits you and you are suddenly care-free, or at least i am.  Unloading didn't take long and we got everything into the condo, where the rest of the family were waiting for us. 

Dre was the first to greet me -- almost knocking me over with the force of his bear hug.  Have i ever said how much i love that kid?  Anyway, there were hugs and whispers of secrets between cousins and Little Girl took her shoes off and announce, "I hope you all know that I'm not going to put shoes on again for the whole vacation!"

Everyone scattered then, Bigger Girl went to the piano room, and the next time we went through the foyer areas we could hear her.  She will do that a lot for the next several days.  #2 Son and Little Girl went to find Brick, the security guard, who is their hero.  Doc and Uncle J headed to the pharmacy to get a few things, and some of us decided to fix ourselves a snack.

A bit later i wandered down to the beach, to be nearly tackled again by a now wet and sandy Dre.  He and Uncle P had gone to the beach "just to look" at the water.  Well, we all know what happens when a 6-year-old goes "just to look."  He was still in his shorts and t-shirt, and had been going in the water, then coming up to dig a hole in the sand, then going back in the water.  The hole was very deep by now, and Uncle P offered to go back up and get a towel (not being a dad, he did really think they were going just to look, i would have brought a towel anyway).

Soon we were joined by Bryn, and she and her brother chased each other in and out of the surf, then she buried him in the sand.  The sun was very low on the horizon and the clouds had moved in, so there was a rough surf and lots of wind, making it cooler on the beach than in the water itself.

As it did get cooler, proposals to go on up were met with resistance until Bryn said the magic word to Dre, being the word "pool."  #2 Son had been sent down with one towel for the two kids (insert smile here over still clueless uncle), so we washed off the sand and the kids got in the big outdoor pool, where i set the timer for 30 minutes so we wouldn't be out there all night..

Dre managed, for the first time every, to do a handstand from the bottom of the pool and a front flip in the water, just like his big sister.  They were both proud of him and tired from the efforts when they finally clambered out, dried off as best they could sharing one towel, and headed upstairs.

There was, as usual, still cooking and TV watching and computer surfing and such going on, and we lined up to take showers and get ready for bed.

After all, tomorrow is another big day.


Today is

Celebration of the Arts -- Community Center, Yorba Linda, CA, US (fine arts and music festival for all ages)

Children's Awareness Memorial Day -- a day to remember children who have died from violence

Coronation Day -- United Kingdom

Coronation Day and Social Forestry Day -- Bhutan (anniversary of  the coronation day of the Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the 4th Druk Gyalpo, in 1974, and the day children plant trees)

Day of the Rice God -- Chiyoda, Japan (rice transplanting festival to honor Wbai-sama, the Shinto rice god)

Father's Day -- Lithuania

Festa della Republica -- Italy (National Day/Feast of the Republic)

Festival of Light and Dark Spots -- Fairy Calendar

Festival of Utter Confusion -- an internet declared holiday, and this is the one for me!

Hristo Botev Day -- Bulgaria (poet and national hero who fell fighting the Turks this day in 1876)

"I Love My Dentist" Day -- no one will claim starting this one, so it makes me suspicious

Isabel Province Day -- Isabel Province, Solomon Islands

Kuramae Jinja Matsuri -- Kuramae Jinja Shrine, Tokyo, Japan (every two years, but cancelled in 2011 because of the earthquake, so this year's festival should be a great one)

National Bubba Day -- created by comedian T. Bubba Bechtol for Bubbas everywhere to have their day

National Cancer Survivors Day -- US (National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation)

National Child's Day -- US (wait, isn't every day children's day around here?!)

National Rocky Road Day

St. Blandina's Day (Patron of girls, people falsely accused, torture victims; Lyon, France)

St. Elmo's Day (a/k/a St. Erasmus; Patron of ammunition workers, boatmen, childbirth and women in labor, explosives workers, mariners, navigators, ordnance workers, sailors, watermen; Gaeta, Italy; against abdominal pains, appendicitis, birth pains, childhood intestinal disease, colic, danger at sea, intestinal disorders, seasickness, stomach diseases, storms)

Turtle Races -- Danville, IL, US (49th annual; proceeds go to help the disabled in the community)

Yell "Fudge" at the Cobras in North America Day -- at noon, your local time, because according to Wellcat Holidays, cobras hate fudge and will not stay if we mention it


Anniversaries Today:

U.S. President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom, 1886 (only president to wed in the executive mansion)
Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories & Head of the Commonwealth, 1953 (the first major international event to be televised)


Birthdays Today:

Justin Long, 1978
Zachary Quinto, 1977
Queen 'Masenate Mohato Seeiso, Queen consort of Lesotho, 1976
Wayne Brady, 1972
Joel Tobeck, 1971
Dana Carvey, 1955
Dennis Haysbert, 1954
Cornel West, 1953
Jerry Mathers, 1948
Marvin Hamlisch, 1944
Stacy Keach, 1941
Charlie Watts, 1941
Sally Kellerman, 1937
Johnny Weissmuller, 1904
Hedda Hopper, 1890
Sir Edward Elgar, 1857
Thomas Hardy, 1840
Marquis de Sade, 1740
Martha Dandridge Custiss Washington, 1731


Today in History:

The Vandals enter Rome and begin 2 weeks of plundering, 455
The First Siege of Antioch ends when Crusader forces take the city, 1098
The first Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France, 1615
Bridget Bishop is the first person to go to trial in the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692
The Derby horse race is held for the first time in Epsom, England, 1780
P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States, 1835
The Slavic congress in Prague begins, 1848
Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his early radio device, 1896
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act, making Native American Indians withing US territories and states US citizens, 1924
Lou Gehrig begins his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played, 1925
In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic, and exile their king, Umberto II di Savoia, 1946
The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations, 1955
Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft land on another world, 1966
Pope John Paul II visits his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country, 1979
The Bhutan Broadcasting Service brings television transmissions to the Kingdom for the first time, 1999
Europe launches its first probe to voyage to another planet, Mars, 2003

Seaside Services

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My abnormal brain woke me at 4am Sunday with the message that sleep time was over, not to bother rolling over and trying for another hour.  So i quietly went through my morning routine and slipped downstairs to grab a cup of coffee and go watch sunrise on the beach.

Sunrises never used to impress me, then we started coming to the beach.  There's nothing quite like it.  The morning was cloudy so i knew i wouldn't actually see much of it, but i was able to see the sky turn rosy above them and even the thickest of the clouds were tinged with pink and orange as the light increased.  It's wonderful to get in your exercise (walking in sand is exercise, make no mistake about it) and see such a beautiful sight at the same time.

Walking back i was just in time to catch the beach attendants putting out the umbrellas and cushions for the day.  Both had already worked up a good sweat, even though it wasn't really hot yet, and one remarked to the other, "Every summer when I come back to work here, I remember why I'm in school!"  These young men, mostly college age, work hard through the summer and earn enough for a year's tuition at small, local colleges.  It's a great plan, and they earn it all.

 Since i had gotten in touch with my friend Di, who lives in Mobile, and she is out here on the island, too (the lady for whom she is "nanny and house mother" has family who own a nice place here), we decided to meet up and go to church service together on Sunday morning.

Now, i have been to some services.  Growing up Roman Catholic, going to Greek Orthodox church with friends, going to Anglican church with other friends, being in the middle of the Catholic Charismatic movement, and variously going to Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, non-denominational, and churches that dance in the aisles and pray in tongues, not much surprises me and i very much enjoy most types and kinds of services, traditional and modern.  It is simply balm to my heart to be in church.  This one, the one we decided to attend, is still unique.

In all the years we have been coming down here, i have never ventured into one of the shore's most famous landmarks:  The Flora-Bama Bar.  The famed place sits right on the state line between Florida and Alabama, and is home to the Interstate Mullet Toss.  People come from all over the country to this place, and it is a run-down ramshackle of a place, several buildings on both sides of the road, tents, beachfront, and souvenir shop.

This church service is in the bar tent, with the Solid Rock in the Sand Band worship team set up right on the stage on which they have the bikini contests.  With beer banners all over, all of the wooden picnic tables moved and folding chairs set up, smaller kiddie tents where your children can draw and color before the service begins, and brightly colored fishing tackle boxes as collection boxes (which are not passed, if you want to donate, you go find a box to put it in), they play and sing and preach and the music is old-time religion mixed with honky-tonk and modern praise and worship tunes.

On this particular Sunday there was an acapella quartet visiting that specializes in fifties music as well as gospel.  They were fabulous, and as usual, the bass was the tallest and skinniest guy in the group.  (Did you ever notice the bass is always the tall, skinny dude?  You never see a short, fat bass in one of these groups, even Sweetie, back when he was the bass for such a church group, was the tall, skinny guy.)  They put on quite a show, the sermon was short and to the point, and they gave a prize to the people who had come from furthest away -- they had people there from Hawaii and Alberta, Canada.  You could tell that the church that puts this on each week love G-d with their whole heart, it shows in how many of them come out and serve to bring G-d's love even into a bar, and they do it after the two morning services back at their main campus.

Once church let out, we went back to the condo and decided to head to Everman's, the place where i get my health food fix for the week -- yes. even on vacation.  It's in the old part of Pensacola, so we made the almost half hour drive into town to find that two things have changed.  The sewage treatment area behind the store has been moved, and the store is doing so well that it is expanding.  By the time we come back next year, it will have almost doubled in size.

We spent a pleasant hour eating some very delicious stuff -- wraps and sandwiches for everyone else, a nice wheatgrass smoothie and salad for me and Bigger Girl -- and then i shopped and got bread that i can eat and fruits and veggies and even a few healthy snack foods.

On the way home, i received two phone calls.  The first was from #2 Son.  Doc had taken him to BigBoxStore to get a fishing license, because now that he is 17 he has to have one, and it turns out he needs more than just his state ID, he has to have his Social Security Number, too.  Of course, i don't have his memorized, so he'll have to wait until i can call our accountant on Monday, he will have it in his records and we will get it that way.

The second call was from our bank.  Although i had warned them beforehand that we would be in this area vacationing for a week, and given them they dates, they were calling to verify that the recent huge transaction at several stores were really from us.  This is service, getting calls like this on a Sunday -- and i thank her for it.  It's nice to know if my card ever gets stolen and is suddenly being used in unfamiliar ways, they will notice and find out about it very quickly.

Sunday afternoon attendance at Bedside Baptist being mandatory for us, as many as i could get to do so took an afternoon siesta, and the evening was spent going from pool to beach to cooking burgers for dinner (Doc cooked, and those of us who don't eat burgers had fruit smoothies with spinach and other yummies), and hanging out on the beach outside watching the sunset until the final traces of red faded from the sky, swept away, it seemed, with the light clouds rolling in.


Today is

Broken Dolls Day -- Japan (all broken dolls are taken by their children to monks for burial)

Callynteria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (a service of atonement and cleaning Athena's temple; date approximate)

Chimborazo Day -- to publicize that while Mt. Everest may be the highest, the top of Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is the furthest from the center of the earth

Dr. Charles Drew Day -- honoring the man who made blood transfusions possible

Emanicipation Day -- Tonga (obs.)

Festival to Bellona -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of war)

Impersonate Authority Day -- at your own risk, i will not bail you out just because i noted an internet holiday and you decided to celebrate it ;)

Jack Jouett Day -- Virginia (the "Paul Revere" of his day and place, rode to warn Governor Thomas Jefferson that the British were coming, 1781)

Mabo Day -- Australia

Martyr's Day -- Uganda

National Egg Day

National Chocolate Macaroon Day

National Leave the Office Earlier Day -- sponsored by Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro, who urges people to maximize productivity so they can leave the office earlier every day
     note that some websites say this should be the first Monday, and some the first Wednesday, of June

Opium Suppression Movement Day -- Taiwan

Pull Your Pants Up Day -- internet generated, various dates given, and some are trying to make it a national movement; to encourage young men to pull up their pants for 24 hours and see if they enjoy having both hands free

Queen's Birthday -- New Zealand; Niue

Repeat Day -- i said, "repeat day" (no, i don't know who comes up with this stuff, sometimes; if i do, i try to place the blame appropriately)

Sovereign's Birthday -- Cook Islands

St. Clotilde's Day (Patron of adopted children, brides, disappointing children, exiles, parenthood, parents of large families, queens, widows; against the death of children)

St. Kevin of Glendaulough's Day (Patron of blackbirds; Dublin, Ireland; Glendaulough, Ireland; Ireland)

Western Australia Day -- Western Australia (formerly called Foundation Day)

Worst Day in the Fairy Year -- Fairy Calendar (must be nice to know when your worst day will be)


Anniversaries Today:

U.S. Air Force Academy first graduating class, 1959
The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson, 1937


Birthdays Today:

Lalaine, 1987
Rafael Nadal, 1986
Anderson Cooper, 1967
Deniece Williams, 1951
Suzi Quatro, 1950
Curtis Mayfield, 1942
Colleen Dewhurst, 1926
Allen Ginsberg, 1926
Tony Curtis, 1925
Leo Gorcey, 1917
Josephine Baker, 1906
Dr. Charles Drew, 1904
Ransom E. Olds, 1864
Jefferson Davis, 1808


Today in History:

French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy, 1140
Hernando De Soto claims Florida for Spain, 1539
Construction of the oldest stone church in French North America, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, begins at Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, 1620
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo is founded in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, 1770
President John Adams moves to Washington, D.C., to live in a tavern (the White House wasn't ready), 1800
In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kg of opium confiscated from British merchants, which prompts the First Opium War, 1839
In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, Cree leader Big Bear escapes the North West Mounted Police, 1885
The poem "Casey at the Bat", by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, is published in the San Francisco Examiner, 1888
The coast to coast Canadian Pacific Railway is completed, 1889
One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, British Columbia, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa, Ontario, 1935
Launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew, which included the first space walk by an American, 1965
A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill ever recorded, 1979
SkyDome is officially opened in Toronto, Ontario, 1989
Aboriginal Land Rights are granted in Australia in Mabo v Queensland (1988), a case brought by Eddie Mabo, 1992
USS Carter Hall engages pirates after they board the Danish ship Danica White off the coast of Somalia, 2007

Can't Get Away from Destiny

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Another sunrise walk on the beach that featured clouds turning colors, but no sun could be seen until it was well up.  It was still worth seeing, as i walk toward the east and onto the nature reserve, where there aren't any buildings to interfere with the view.

(Note:  yes, it costs to go on the nature reserve.  Yes, at the beginning of the week i stop there and pay for a week's worth of beach walks, and keep my little receipt with me so if any rangers stop me, they will know i am not trying to get in without going through the gate and paying.)

By the time the sun is well up, it's still not even 7am and everyone else is still asleep except Doc, who get up with the chickens as i do, so i decided to run to the store to pick up a few things, including orange juice for Sweetie, who can put away gallons of the stuff.  In fact, when we are here, he does.  Anyway, i grabbed the keys and headed out -- right into traffic.

It seems to be my destiny to run into traffic wherever i go, even on vacation.  If i went to a place on earth where there had never been a traffic jam, someone would start one.  This time, i was construction on the bridge off of the island's west side.  The workers had shut down one lane and were directing traffic, and someone who didn't want to be so directed caused a nice accident.  So we sat for a good while, up on that bridge, waiting for them to figure out how to get us all around the person who didn't want directions, and at the same time get the police and a tow truck in.

Thus when i got to the store, i helped myself to even more coffee than is good for me and lingered until i was rather sure the traffic had cleared.  It had, although they were still directing traffic around the construction on the one open lane, it was running quite well and everyone was cooperating.

Back at the condo, there was movement and life, so i had my favorite breakfast, a mango, pineapple, and avocado salad.  Then i took my puzzle book, pencils, eraser, reading glasses, and lap desk and went to sit under the waterfall and lollygag and watch the kids swim, ours and other people's.  One lady had a cute little guy in the water in the shade near me, and he swam and played and had a blast.  Watching him laugh just made me laugh all over, and he wore himself out from so much play and went down for his morning nap right on one of the pool chairs.  All of us were chased upstairs by the daily storm that blows through.  They don't last long, but long enough to go have some lunch, at least.

After lunch, Doc had a treat for the older kids -- he took them to an electronics store to buy them each a tablet computer for the upcoming school year.  Because we were sans kids for a while, Sweetie and i went to check out a few of our favorite haunts, and find a few new ones.

Our favorite locally owned souvenir/clothing shop had a beautiful selection of nice, summery dresses, and Sweetie insisted i try one on.  He liked it, so of course i had to get it.  Then he found a pair of sandals to replace the ones he got there two years ago.  He also found a hat for Brother-in-Law, The Mouth.

Several years ago, Sweetie gave his brother a hat of a particular vintage style, and his brother wore it all of the time, until he lost it about a month ago.  He has been bugging the living daylights out of Sweetie, asking him if he could get another.  Now, we have another, and if he loses this one, he's on his own.

Next up, we went to a strip mall to look for clip-on sunglasses for my new driving glasses at a store that specializes in sunglasses.  They didn't have anything to fit, but next door was the best named coffee shop i've ever seen.  It's called "Liquid Life Coffee Shop." Anyone who knows me and my addiction will know i insisted we go in to see if they had coffee mugs with that logo, because i would love that.  It turns out they don't, not yet, but the owner has designed a few things and they should be coming in a couple of months.  In a few months, i'm going to get on their website and pester them to sell them to me online, because i don't want to have to wait a year, i'm too impatient!

Sweetie then wanted to find a guitar shop, so we crossed to the Florida side of the island and headed to Pensacola.  We were in parts of the city i hadn't been to before, and we managed to find the mall, and the guitar place.  He noodled around among the musical instruments, and i picked up a ukelele.  It's a beautiful little instrument that i'll have to take up one day, when i have spare time.  Yeah, right.

As much as i dislike malls, we did stop there so he could get some shoes for work at Dillards.  For some reason, that's the only place that carries the particular type he has to wear at work.  Then we decided it was time to head home.

So did everyone else, as my destiny caught up with me and we got stuck in the afternoon rush hour.  Working my way to the interstate took a long, long time, but once we got on going the opposite direction from most people we made good time.  Even though i've never been this particular route before, i managed to find the exit and the back roads to the island.  Sometimes having a weird sense of direction where i know what leads where serves me well.

Dinner for those who eat such things was Doc's roast and mashed potatoes and i pulled out a salad and insisted on leaving it out until almost everyone had some.  My brothers are notorious for not eating vegetables in any form, and while #2 Son eats salad and veggies almost every day when we are at home, as Bigger Girl noted, the only green thing he's had since we left home was a green Popsicle.  We remedied that.

The rest of the evening was spent on the beach, where the setting sun behind the clouds sent rays like golden fingers into the sky opposite.




Today is

Audacity to Hope Day -- to encourage all to have the audacity to keep hope

Demise of Imam Khomeini -- Iran

Emancipation Day -- Tonga (trad.)

Festival for Hercules Custos -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Hercules the Custodian)

Flag Day -- Estonia

Flag Day -- Finland (Armed Forces observe the birth anniversary of Carl Gustaf Mannerheim)

International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression -- UN

Jarila's Day -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (Festival of Jarila, god of the sun and fertility)

Lailat al Miraj -- Islam (observance of Mohammed's night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem; begins at sundown, local customs and dates may vary)

Lassie Day -- the first dog to play the role of Lassie, in the movie Lassie, Come Home, was born this day in 1940

National Cheese Day -- not to be confused with Cheese Lover's Day earlier in the year

National Cognac Day

National Frozen Yogurt Day -- not to be confused with the Frozen Yogurt Day celebrated on Feb. 6 in Los Angeles, where the temperatures make such a thing possible

National Unity Day -- Hungary

Old Maid's Day -- supposedly established after WWII, when there were so many eligible young ladies who weren't getting any younger

Plynteria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival in Athens in honor of Athena; date approximate)

St. Petroc's Day (Patron of Cornwall and Wales, as well as many locations in Cornwall, Wales, and England, and Saint-Meen, France)


Birthdays Today:

Russell Brand, 1975
Angelina Jolie, 1975
Noah Wyle, 1971
Sam Harris, 1961
George Noory, 1950
Michelle Phillips, 1944
Joyce Meyer, 1943
Bruce Dern, 1936
John Drew Barrymore, 1932
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, 1928
Dennis Weaver, 1924
Robert Merrill, 1919
Rosalind Russell, 1907
Aesop, BCE620 (not certain, but close enough)


Today in History:

Chinese astronomers make the first recording of a solar eclipse, BC781
Sir Walter Raleigh establishes the first English colony on Roanoke Island, old Virginia (now North Carolina), 1584
Forces under the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan, 1615
New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada taken from the Acadians, 1760
A transit of Venus is followed five hours later by a total solar eclipse, the shortest such interval in history, 1769
The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon), 1783
Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for the Kingdom of Great Britain, 1792
The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title, 1878
Henry Ford test drives his first prototype automobile, the Ford Quadricycle, 1896
Massachusetts becomes the first state of the United States to set a minimum wage, 1912
A patent for the ATM is granted to Donald Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain, 1973
The Tiananmen Square protests are violently ended in Beijing by the People's Liberation Army, 1989
Solidarity's victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, 1989
Falcon 9 Flight 1 was the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket,2010

Suits Me Fine

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Each morning has been cloudy, but it's a particular kind of cloudy.  There are no clouds directly above when i stand on the beach.  Instead, they surround the horizon on all sides, ranging from thin wisps to cotton ball puffs to large banks, and the sun comes up behind them so you can see it coloring the whole rim of the sky around you in pinks and oranges.

Tuesday ended up being Foley day, the day everyone goes to the big outlet center a couple of towns over.  As soon as we could get Bryn out of bed (she is a notoriously difficult person to wake up), we trooped out there in 3 vehicles and did the "shop 'til you drop" gig.  School clothes, kitchen gadgets, sunglasses, and more.

And suits.  We couldn't forget suits.  Doc is going to be having a big soiree in October, and it's a black tie optional thing, so we all have to be dressed to the nines.  Bigger Girl found the shoes and scarf and just the right undergarments, but will search for the dress at a shop she loves nearer to home.  Sweetie will wear his formal suit, i have a dress, but my two youngest never dress up if they can possibly help it, and for this, they can't help it.

So, they went for matching suits.  Yes, #2 Son and Little Girl will be wearing black pants that are almost the same cut, black shirts, black jackets, and dark gray ties.  They will be buying matching Fedoras, too.  They figure if they have to dress up, they may as well look like something out of a mafia movie.  It will be formal enough, though.  And this way they will have something decent to wear year round -- their initial idea was to rent matching tuxedos.

Back at the condo, it was spaghetti night, and the evening was spent in going up and down to the pool, to the beach, back to the pool, and, eventually, to the beach after dark to hunt ghost crabs, catch and release style.  The crabs range from tiny, about the size of a coin, up to average eating crab size, although the big ones are rare and they aren't edible.  They are the color of the sand, so they blend in and you can hardly see them except when they are moving.

Children (and big kids) love to go to the beach with flashlights, buckets, and sometimes nets and catch them.  When there are several in a bucket, you turn it over and watch all the crabs scurry away.

The kids don't realize it's just as much fun for the adults to watch the kids doing the chasing as it is to watch the crabs!  It's a good way to get them tired for bed, too.


Today is

15th Khordad National Uprising -- Iran (1963)

Apple II Day -- the Apple II first went on sale today in 1977
     note that some historians say it went on sale June 10, others say the first models were shipped out that day

Arbor Day -- New Zealand

Clean Air Day -- Canada

Festival of Popular Delusions Day -- just another person's desire for a bizarre holiday to celebrate

Grunklovsdag -- Denmark and the Faroe Island (Constitution Day)

Indian Arrival Day -- Suriname (marking the arrival of indentured laborers from the Indian subcontinent)

Judgement Day -- Fairy Calendar (Nosegays)

Liberation Day -- Seychelles

Natalicio de Oblang Nguema Mbasogo -- Equatorial Guinea (President's Day)

National Attitude Day -- if this is really a day to celebrate, try to have a positive one

National Gingerbread Day

National Running Day -- details here

Nones of June -- Ancient Roman Calendar; related observance
     Festival of Semo Sancus -- god of loyalty, honesty and oaths (one of the oldest Roman cults, probably Etruscan or Oscan originally)

Old Fort Days and Billy the Kid Tombstone Race -- Fort Sumner, NM, US (fun for all, including a rodeo, dance, demonstrations by Native Americans, and, on Saturday, the finale, a race through an obstacle course carrying an 80lb tombstone!)

Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival -- Sedalia, MO, US (with a variety of free and paid venues, it's a good time for all; through Saturday)

St. Boniface's Day (Patron of brewers, file cutters, tailors; Fulda, Germany; Germamy; Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, Canada)

Tailors Day -- the first Wednesday of June is noted on many sites as the day to thank your tailor

The National Tournament -- Spruce Meadows, Calgary, AB, Canada (features the Spruce Meadows Show Jumping Championship and the Nexen Cup, with live entertainment and activities daily; through Sunday)

World Environment Day -- UN


Birthdays Today:

Mark Wahlberg, 1971
Brian McKnight, 1969
Kenny G, 1956
Jill Biden, 1951
Suze Orman, 1951
Ken Follett, 1949
Spalding Gray, 1941
Bill Moyers, 1934
Tony Richardson, 1928
Panco Villa, 1878
Thomas Chippendale, 1718
Pu Songling, 1640


Today in History:

Traditional date for the sinking of Atlantis, 8498BC
Titus and his Roman legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem  in the Siege of Jerusalem, 70
Kraków, Poland  receives city  rights, 1257
The first Great Lakes steamer, the Frontenac, is launched, 1817
Houston, Texas is incorporated by the Republic of Texas, 1837
Denmark  becomes a constitutional monarchy, 1849
Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery serial, Uncle Tom's Cabin or, Life Among the Lowly starts a ten-month run in the National Era abolitionist newspaper, 1851
Denmark  amends its constitution to allow women's suffrage, 1915
Elvis Presley introduces his new single, "Hound Dog", on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements, 1956
The first government of the State of Singapore is sworn in, 1959
The Apple II, the first practical personal computer, goes on sale, 1977
Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi orders an attack on the Golden Temple, the holiest site of the Sikh religion, 1984
A severe heat wave across Pakistan  and India  reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50°C (122°F) in the region, 2003

Catching the Moment

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Weird dreams don't usually wake me up, but i had a doozy.  A group had figured out how to steal people's computer passwords, and i had figured out how to stop them.  Apparently while i was calling attention to the authorities in my dreams, i was also thrashing around and Sweetie woke me up.  That was 3am, and that was all the sleep i got.

My sunrise walk was the cloudiest yet, but still pretty.  We spent our morning swimming and playing and doing the laundry and running the dishwasher and running up and down and everywhere around.  By about noon, i rounded up everyone who wanted to go to the Naval Air Museum, and away we went.

Going aboard the Navy Base is always interesting, and on this day they had some kind of an event that had just ended, and the Museum was very crowded.  We had a blast, especially Dre.  His father had been more than happy to send the kids to the museum so he could have some time off, so while Bryn and Little Girl wandered to see what they wanted, occasionally meeting up with #2 Son and Bigger Girl, Dre and i played.

He is a hands on kid.  Everything he could climb into, he did.  Everything he could go up the stairs to get closer to, he did.  Everything you are allowed to touch or mess with, he did so.  When we got to the exhibit that shows a typical town during WWII, and i told him that this was what things looked like when Doc and Miss Prissy were very young, he was fascinated.  He ran me all over that place for a couple of hours, and we had so much fun.

When we had all seen everything we really wanted to see, the girls headed out to do a few things on their own, and i took the boys back with me.  Dre was ravenous, so i fed him chips and a corn dog and candy.  He asked if he could eat the candy first.  Not a problem, i told him, you aren't my kid, i get to spoil you!  Ah, the fun of being the aunt.

After i took him back to his dad at the pool, i got back upstairs to find a pink flamingo in my bed.  Her name is George, i was told by Bigger Girl, and she is mine.  For many year's i've threatened to get a pink flamingo and take pictures of it all over whenever we go on vacation, and now i can actually do it!

By evening, i was tired of chores and running up and down with everyone and all of the crazy mess that is our vacation, and i really wanted a "piece of quiet" as Dolly from The Family Circus always says.  So i sent a text message to Di that read:  Help -- i'm being held captive by a family that can't fend for themselves for more than five minutes!  She texted me back inviting me to go visit her place, and as soon as i could get away, i took her up on the offer.

Her directions were interesting.  Get on the island and take a right, then there will be a stop sign after a while and take another right, and then a right at the fire station, and when you get there call me and i'll walk down to the road to meet you.  Reminded me of the people who tell you to turn by the old tree that used to be at Such-and-Such road, you know the one.  Anyway, i managed to find it (it's not that big an island, i think you would drive around in a circle and eventually get back where you started anyway) and i got to see the house she is house sitting.

Also, i got to meet the dogs, Lulu, the geriatric Golden Lab that lives there full time, and the dogs that belong to the girl she nannies, the mutt Doodle, and The Terrorist Terrier, a Yorkie who actually adores children (most of them don't).  All three are friendly, and somewhat crazy.  We had to walk next door to get them when they decided that children next door meant it was time to go visit, and Di says she spends a lot of time bathing them because they play in the sand and won't stay out of the water.  The vegetation around there is not lawns, not on the beaches, but it is tall, taller than the Terrorist Terrier who disappears into it, then pops up to see the lay of the land, runs a ways further, then pops up again to have a look see, looking for all the world like a rabbit hopping up from behind bushes.

Di and I sat on the porch and talked "of shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings."  Well, kings anyway, specifically Crusades, and Richard the Lionheart, and how history is written by the winners.  We discussed families and friends and ideas and events and watched as the light faded from the sky.

It's that moment you never catch.  You look up, and there is light, and the sun is going down, or it has but there is still that glow and color, and the next moment, after you've looked down and looked back up, the dusk is gone and the stars are out.

Same with good times with friends, or with an eight year old nephew, or with a daughter whose sense of humor provides you with a pink flamingo named George.  You enjoy the times, and wish they could last forever.  All you can hope to do, really, is catch the moment.



Today is:

Bonza Bottler Day

Chicago Blues Festival -- Chicago, IL, US (the largest free blues festival in the world; through Sunday)

Curwood Festival -- Owosso, MI, US (over 40 events commemorate the life and work of James Oliver Curwood, the Owosso-born author and conservationist; through Sunday)

D-Day -- 69th Anniversary

Drive-In Movie Day*

Fardagar -- Traditional Icelandic Calendar (time when farm workers moved from one farm to another, the time to settle debts, and until the 20th-Century, the day to start the fiscal year; always the Thursday through Sunday of the 7th week of summer)

Helicopter Day -- the first one was tested in Berlin on this day in 1936

Hyun Choong Il -- South Korea (Memorial Day)

Judgement Day -- Fairy Calendar (Petal Hats)

June Bug Days -- Baldwin, WI, US (music, tractor pull, free outdoor movie night, and more; through Sunday)

National Applesauce Cake Day

Nationaldagen -- Sweden (National Day)

National Gardening Exercise Day -- because gardening is good for the body and soul

National Huntington's Disease Awareness Day -- US

National Yo-Yo Day -- Donald F. Duncan, Sr.'s, birth anniversary; go get out your old Duncan and see if you still remember how to go around the world (but not near Great Aunt Mabel's antique lamp she left you, please)

Shelburne County Lobster Festival -- Shelburne County, NS, Canada (celebrating the Lobster Capital of Canada; through Sunday)

Shirane Takogassen -- along the Nakanokuchi river bank in Shirone, Japan (kite flying and kite fighting; through the 10th)

Stevenson Depot Days -- Stevenson, AL, US (bringing back the days when the Iron Horse of the Rails was king of transportation; through Sunday)

St. Norbert of Xanten's Day (Patron of peace; Bohemia; Madgeburg, Germany; against birth complications)

Superman Celebration -- Metropolis, IL, US (only in Metropolis, right? through Sunday)

Teachers' Day -- Bolivia

Winnipeg International Children's Festival -- The Forks, Winnipeg, MB, CA (a premier family festival with incomparable entertainment and activities; through Sunday)


Birthdays Today:

Staci Keanan, 1975
Max Casella, 1967
Ena, 1966
Bjorn Borg, 1956
Sandra Bernhard, 1955
Harvey Fierstein, 1952
Robert Englund, 1947
Gary U.S. Bonds, 1939
Thomas Mann, 1875
Nathan Hale, 1755


Today in History:

Twenty-four wagonloads of Talmudic books are burned in Paris, 1242
The Qing Dynasty Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor capture Beijing during the collapse of the Ming Dynasty; the Manchus would rule China until 1912 when the Republic of China is established, 1644
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world's first university  museum, 1683
A devastating fire destroys one-third of Moscow, including 18,000 homes, 1752
Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte is crowned King of Spain, 1808
The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London, 1844
More than 100,000 inhabitants of Bombay are killed as a cyclone in the Arabian Sea pushes huge waves into the harbour, 1882
The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins, the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, 1912
The Chrysler Corporation  is founded by Walter Percy Chrysler, 1925
*The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey, United States, 1933
A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy, 1974
Mongolia  holds its first direct presidential elections, 1993
A near-Earth asteroid estimated at 10 meters diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya with an estimated force slightly greater than the Nagasaki nuclear bomb, 2002
Tamil is established as a Classical Language in India, 2004

Photo-Finish Friday: Views of Paradise

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A few views from paradise.

There are fish in the water that are so tiny and see through, that when they end up in the sand, you can hardly see them.  When i do see them flopping, i scoop them back into the water.


Yes, literally, they are clear, and you can walk right by and not see them.  This one is just over an inch long.

For those who want to know why we call them ghost crabs, the next picture will show you.





The crab in the above picture is about 2 inches long.  These are the crabs the children catch and then release by flashlight at night, although i took this picture early in the morning.

Next is a view of paradise, as i like to call it.



This is the view coming up from the beach toward the pool.  It's lush, i can promise you.

Finally, my favorite place to sit, under the waterfall at the larger, outdoor swimming pool.  This is where i relax and do crossword puzzles.




This kind of view is why we don't mind coming back to the same vacation spot year after year.

While i think she only had one picture at a time in mind, i thank Leah at The Goat's Lunch Pail for the idea of a Photo-Finish Friday, and i couldn't help but share more than one picture this time.


Today is

Banana Split Festival -- Wilmington, OH, US (through tomorrow, in the city claiming to be the birthplace of the banana split)

Bell Tower Festival -- Jefferson, IA, US (shows, entertainment, parade, and more all in the shadow of the Mahanay Memorial Bell Tower; through tomorrow)

Birthday of Prince Joachim -- Denmark

Coal Miner Days -- Sparwood, BC, Canada (festival and fun! through Sunday)

Daniel Boone Day -- Kentucky, US (date in he first sighted, in 1767, what would become Kentucky)

Fes Musiques Sacrees du Monde -- Fez, Morocco (Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, with all types of sacred music featured, from Spanish gypsy laments to Sufi chanting and everything between; through the 15th)

Flag Day -- Peru

Great American Brass Band Festival -- Danville, KY, US (this year's theme is Slides Rule, a Celebration of the Trombone; through Sunday)

Journalist's Day -- Argentina (marking the first publication of a newspaper in Argentina on this day in 1810)

Judgement Day -- Fairy Calendar (Leaping songs)

Labour Day -- Bahamas

Lilac Festival -- Mackinac Island, MN, US (largest summer event on the Island; through the 16th)

National Chocolate Ice Cream Day

National Donut Day -- US (successor to the original Donut Day begun by the Salvation Army in 1938 as a fundraiser in Chicago, and it is still used as a fundraiser there for Salvation Army projects)

Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival -- Oklahoma City, OK, US (more than 100 tribes meet to pow wow and celebrate their heritage, through Sunday)

Riverbend Festival -- Chattanooga, TN, US (nine days of fun on the banks of the Tennessee River)

Sacred Heart of Jesus -- Catholic Christian

Senior Race Day -- Isle of Man (final day of the Tourist Trophy races which is for Seniors only)

Sette Giugno -- Malta (commemoration of the tragedy of June 7, 1919, considered their National Day)

St. Meriadoc's Day (Patron of the deaf and against deafness)

Summer Farm Toy Show -- National Farm Toy Museum, Dyersville, IA, US (farm toys, parade, tractor rides, and more; through tomorrow)

Tecumseh! the Epic Outdoor Drama -- Chillicothe, OH, US (Mon-Sat, until Aug. 31; spectacular reenactment of the life and death of the great Shawnee leader)

Texas Folklife Festival -- San Antonio, TX, US (the signature event of the Institute of Texan Cultures; through Sunday)

Union Dissolution Day -- Norway

VCR Day -- the first Sony Betamax went on sale today in 1975

Vestalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (multi-day festival for Vesta, goddess of the hearth, this first day termed the Vesta Asperit; through the 15th)

Vivien Kellems Memorial Day -- born this date in 1896, she fought the IRS and income tax for her whole life

Windsurfing Regatta/Unvarnished Music Festival -- Worthington, MN, US (windsurfing, swap meet, and music on the beach; through Sunday)


Anniversary Today

YMCA is founded by George Williams, 1844


Birthdays Today:

Michael Cera, 1988
Anna Kournikova, 1981
Larisa Oleynik, 1981
Allen Iverson, 1975
Karl Urban, 1972
Prince, 1958
Liam Neeson, 1952
Jenny Jones, 1946
Tom Jones, 1940
Gwendolyn Brooks, 1917
Dean Martin, 1917
Jessica Tandy, 1909
Paul Gauguin, 1848


Today in History:

The first Crusaders begin their Siege of Jerusalem, 1099
Port Royal, Jamaica, is devastated by an earthquake, 1692
David Thompson reaches the mouth of the Saskatchewan River in Manitoba, 1800
Asian cholera reaches Quebec, brought by Irish immigrants, and kills about 6,000 people in Lower Canada, 1832
1,800 Fenian raiders are repelled back to the United States after they loot and plunder around Saint-Armand and Frelighsburg, Quebec, 1866
Tolbert Lanston receives patents for monotype typesetting machines, 1887
Norway's parliament dissolves  its union with Sweden, 1905
Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder for sale to the public, 1975
Priscilla Presley opens Graceland to the public, 1982
Mt. Pinatubo erupts, sending an ash cloud 7km/14.3mi high, 1992
The United Nations defines the Blue Line as the border between Israel and Lebanon, 2000

Chill!

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The tropical storm wasn't near enough to do much around here, but it did do a few things.

First, it brought in a lot of seaweed on Tuesday and Wednesday, but it was no longer out there by Thursday.

Also, it caused the highest tides i had ever seen out here.  It caused the highest tides the park ranger had ever seen, either.  He was having a difficult time looking for sea turtle nests -- they've found two already this season, which is a good start, and more turtles have been seen out there.  Sea turtle nests are a treasure around here, marked off with wood and the stuff i call crime scene tape even though it's used for other stuff than crime scenes.  There are signs telling you to call the park rangers if you see the babies hatching, and it's a really big deal.  Anyway, he was having a hard time finding enough beach to look on, the tide was so high.

Finally (if you've stuck with me through that last run-on sentence), it kept everything cool  In fact, the mornings and evenings were downright chilly.  More than once i was very glad i had my coat with me as the temperatures were unseasonably cool.

Thursday, because it wasn't so blazingly hot, we went to the zoo.  The official title is the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, but the Discovery Channel called it "The Little Zoo That Could," and that's what we call it.  It's small and you can tell the animals are well cared for.  We got to pet the lemurs, and i didn't get bitten this time.

Bigger Girl and Little Girl also went in with the kangaroos, and they swarmed Little Girl.  It turns out they love chewing bracelets, and she was wearing several of the bands she makes out of yarn.

That afternoon, Miss Prissy got to do some more shopping.  She didn't buy much, but she got a ton of ideas for stuff to make once she gets back home.  In other words, she'll go spend as much at thehobby stores buying the supplies and making the stuff as she would have spent buying it in the first place, but she is an artist and it keeps her happy.

Sweetie and i went out to dinner Thursday, and the rest of the family went to see Iron Man III.  Afterward, when #2 Son walked in, he put on the new suit we just bought him and came out looking like a member of La Familia.  He announced, "It's time for the poker tournament."

They apparently had organized a poker tournament, no money, just cards, and he was up all night.

That is why Friday was spent just lounging.  Being at the beach is wonderful, it's so nice to do nothing all day and then relax after.

Today, sad to say, is going home day.  One last sunset walk last night, one more sunrise walk this morning, and then the mad rush to get home.  To the cats.  That i've already had calls about.

Enjoy your Saturday, everyone!


Today is

Belmont Stakes -- Belmont, NY, US (145th Annual, the third jewel of the Triple Crown)

Best Friends Day -- as declared by the ecard people

Betty Picnic -- the Betty Club, founded by Betty Wilder and Betty Patterson of Grant's Pass, Oregon, began hosting a picnic for all with their name in 1987, and want Bettys all over the world to have a Betty Picnic on the second Saturday of June each year

Big Mac Shoreline Spring Scenic Bike Tour -- Mackinaw City, MI, US (weekend bike tours of varying lengths along the beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline, with a concluding ride over the Mighty Mackinac Bridge; through tomorrow)

Billy the Kid Tombstone Race -- Fort Sumner, New Mexico (racers carry an 80 pound tombstone through an obstacle course! a tribute to the number of times the tombstone has been stolen over the years; there is also a triathlon)

Bounty Anniversary Day -- Norfolk Island (celebrates the arrival of the Bounty descendents from Pitcairn Island)

Do-Dah Parade -- Kalamazoo, MI, US (a "Salute to Silliness" that is worth seeing)

Elfreth's Alley Day (Fete Day) -- Philadelphia, PA, US (one of the oldest continuously inhabited streets in the country)

Feast of Bona Mens -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of right thinking, the personification of the mind)

International Young Eagles Day -- Experimental Aircraft Association members and chapters focus on providing introductory flights to children 8-17

Judgement Day -- Fairy Calendar (The Good and Evil are given their just rewards)

Kaiko Kinenbi -- Yokahama, Japan (Yokahama Port Opening Festival; through tomorrow)

Lindisfarne Day -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan (commemorating the Viking raid on Lindisfarne in 793)

Name Your Poison Day -- just another wacky holiday with no explanations

National Caribbean-American Health and Aids Awareness Day -- with events all over the US

National Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day

Primoz Trubar Day -- Slovenia (birth anniversary of the author of the first Slovene language books and consolidated the Slovene language)

Sovereign's Day/Queen's Birthday -- British Virgin Islands; Pitcairn Island (leave it to the descendants of mutineers to celebrate on a different day from the rest of the Commonwealth, and convince others to do so, also!)

St. Medard's Day (Patron of brewers, captives, imprisoned people, mentally ill people, peasants, prisoners, vineyards; for good harvests, good weather, and rain; against bad weather, imprisonment, sterility, and toothache) related event:
     Festival of the Rose -- Salency, France (on St. Medard's Day, and supposedly begun by that saint before the year 545)

Upsy Daisy Day -- the day to remind people to get up joyfully and gratefully each morning (tell that to my sleep-til-noon family!)

Vacuum Cleaner Day -- Ives W. McGaffee obtained a patent on this day in 1869 for the first carpet cleaner that worked on a vacuum principle

Watch Day -- the sign that you are over 30, you still wear a watch!

World Brain Tumor Day -- International

World Oceans Day -- this year's theme is "Together we Have the Power to Protect the Ocean"

World Wide Knit in Public Days -- better living through stitching together! through the 16th


Birthdays Today:

Kim Clijsters, 1983
Kayne West, 1977
Keenen Ivory Wayans, 1958
Tim Berners-Lee, 1955
Boz Scaggs, 1944
Nancy Sinatra, 1940
Joan Rivers, 1933
Jerry Stiller, 1927
Barbara Bush, 1925
Robert Preston, 1918
Francis Crick, 1916
Frank Lloyd Wright, 1867


Today in History:

Vikings raid the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, commonly accepted as the beginning of the Scandinavian invasion of England, 793
Richard the Lionheart's Crusade begins with his arrival at Acre, 1191
American attackers are driven back at Trois-Rivières, Quebec, 1776
The volcano Laki, in Iceland, begins an eight-month eruption which kills over 9,000 people and starts a seven-year famine, 1783
Mr. Hall of NYC advertises the first commercially made ice cream, 1786
Ives W McGaffey of Chicago patents the first vacuum cleaner, 1869
Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his punched card calculator, 1887
Theodore Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act into law, authorizing the President to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land with historical or conservation value, 1906
Carl Laemmle incorporates Universal Pictures, 1912
Milton Berle hosts the debut of Texaco Star Theater, 1948
The United States Supreme Court rules that Washington, D.C. restaurants could not refuse to serve black patrons, 1953
The first World Ocean Day is celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1992
The first Transit of Venus since 1882 takes place, 2004
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, is hit by the State's worst storms and flooding in 30 years, 2007

Recap

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 What i love about our yearly Florida vacation:

Too much to list, but i can start with sunrise walks and sunset walks on the beach.  Those i could love year round.

The proximity to what we need, but none of it is so close that i would be tempted to go often if we lived there.  (With no MomAndPopGrocery across the highway and BigBoxStore a short drive away, i wouldn't be tempted to go more than once every couple of weeks.)

Complimentary coffee in the lobby from 5am to noon.

One of the most comfortable beds i've ever slept on.

The slow pace, the quiet, the gardens (which i could never replicate with my black thumb), the ability to just relax.

What i wish could be better:

The fact that there is no recycling unless you find a place yourself to take stuff.  We are spoiled here with being able to recycle almost everything and have it picked up at the curb.

A couple of highlights of this vacation that i haven't had a chance to write about yet:

Little Girl and #2 Son found a wallet stuffed with money, and didn't even look in it when they walked straight up to the front desk and turned it in.  The owner of the wallet is someone who lives in his condo full time, and he knows Doc and was impressed that they turned it in almost before he had a chance to realize it was gone.  (Little Girl says G-d better give her brownie points for this one!)  And yes, he did leave a reward for them when he found out who had turned it in, although they would have done it anyway.

Finding out that most of the people they met assumed that Little Girl and #2 Son were dating was a hoot to me (although not to them, they were embarrassed).  They didn't know that people were assuming that, and when they figured it out had to start introducing themselves and saying "This is my brother" or "This is my sister" during the introductions.  It's not often i get to laugh that hard.  (No, they don't look anything alike, that's why new friends assumed they were dating, not brother and sister.)

Bryn and Dre hardly fought the whole week.  Anyone who knows how much a 13-year-old and an 8-year-old sister and brother can fight will understand how nice it was that they got along.

Doc has revealed that plans are underway for a Disney vacation in 2015.  We didn't expect to be going back, so that's a big thing to us.

Oh, and for anyone who has any doubts about whether we are fully operational again, the call from Miss W came right as we were passing Biloxi.  We threw the stuff in the house and headed right for the shelter, and now have one single bottle-feed kitten in the house.  He's a newborn, so we are back to the every two hours feeding again.



Today is

Abused Women And Children's Awareness Day

Accession Day -- Jordan (King Abdullah's accession to the throne in 1999)

Donald Duck Day -- his screen debut was today in 1934

La Rioja Day -- La Rioja, Spain

Murcia Day -- Murcia, Spain

National Heroes Day -- Uganda

National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day

Profess Your Love Day -- promoted by ecard companies which think you need to say "I love you" more often

Puerto Rican Day Parade -- NYC, NY, US (recognizing the many Puerto Ricans in the US, and especially in New York City)

Purple People Eater Day -- Sheb Wooley's hit reached #1 this date in 1958

Race Unity Day -- Baha'i sponsored observance promoting racial harmony

Remembrance for Sigurd the Dragonslayer -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan (in some traditions called Siegfried)

Sjalvstyrelsedagen -- Aland Islands (Self-Governing Day)

St. Columbia of Iona's -- Celtic Christian, today is one of the luckiest days of the year to superstitious Highland Scots, especially propitious if it's a Thursday (Apostle to the Picts; Patron of bookbinders, poets; Ireland; Scotland; Pemboke, Ontario, Canada; against floods)

St. Ephraem's Day (creator of hymns; Patron of spiritual directors, spiritual leaders; Syria)

Torikoe Matsuri -- Torikoe Jinja Shrine, Tokyo, Japan (festival and highlighting of Tokyo's largest Mikoshi [portable Shinto shrine])

World APS Day -- spreading awareness of Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndromewww.apsfa.org/

Write to Your Father Day -- a week before Father's Day, write him a letter and ask him things like what he finds most enjoyable or exciting or scary or satisfying; encouraging people to stay in touch with Dad on a deeper level than the commercial holidays


Anniversaries Today:

Nero marries Claudia Octavia, 53
Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito marries Masako Owada, 1993


Birthdays Today:

Natalie Portman, 1981
Johnny Depp, 1963
Michael J. Fox, 1961
Dick Vitale, 1940
Jackie Mason, 1928
Les Paul, 1915
Robert Cummings, 1910
Cole Porter, 1891


Today in History:

Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide, 68
Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse, 721
Jacques Cartier is the first European to discover the Saint Lawrence River, 1534
The Harvard Corporation is established as the first corporation in the Americas, 1650
James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia, 1732
The Congress of Vienna, forerunner of the League of Nations and the UN, ends with much of Europe's borders redrawn and settled, Switzerland's neutrality confirmed, and free navigation guaranteed on many rivers, 1815
Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa and head west for Salt Lake City carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts, 1856
Alexandra Palace in London burns down after being open for only 16 days, 1873
China agrees to lease Hong Kong to Britain for 99 years, 1898
Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, becomes the first woman to drive across the United States, 1909
Queen Elizabeth II officially opens London Gatwick Airport, 1958
Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria, 1967
Secretariat wins the Triple Crown, 1973
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) opens its priesthood to black males after 148 years, 1978
The British lease of Hong Kong expires, 1997
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO sign a peace treaty, 1999
In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, six women were arrested for practicing driving in an empty car lot; women are banned from driving on the road, 2011

Article 3

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 Blogger has been giving me fits.  Changing post titles i thought i had set.  Not publishing as scheduled.  It's not very nice, but "We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works," as Douglas Adams said.

We are also apparently stuck with people who aren't too terribly bright being in charge of who gets on a plane and with what items.  There are probably plenty of good, nice, intelligent people who work for TSA, but of course they don't make the news.

The ones who tried to prevent actor Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca the Wookie in the original Star Wars series, from bringing his cane on an airplane because it's shaped like a light saber, are the ones who make news.

Really, what did they think he was going to do with it?  Then again, maybe i don't want to know what they thought.  It might scare me to know their logic.

Speaking of logic, Bigger Girl has her own logic about why there is no Men's Rights Movement.

"If they feel so marginalized in society, why don't they start a men's rights movement?" she asked the other day.  "I'll tell you why.  Because they would need a woman to help organize it and be the secretary!"


Today is

Abolition Day -- French Guiana

Alcoholics Anonymous Founders Day
   
Army Day -- Jordan

Ball Point Pen Day -- date, in 1943, Biro patented one of the early models of a ball point pen (it was as awful as the other early ones, though!)

Celtic Tree Month Duir (Oak) commences

Dia de Portugal e de Camoes -- Portugal (National Day)

Duanwu -- China (Dragon Boat Festival; the actual festival day this year is Wednesday, but the offical holidays begin today)

Herbs & Spices Day

Holiday of the Wan Thing -- Fairy Calendar (the Wan Thing arrived in Fairyland this day and has sat there looking wan ever after, so the Fairies decided to give it its own holiday)

National Black Cow Day

National Iced Tea Day

Peace of Chaco Day / Chaco Armistice Day -- Paraguay and Bolivia (commemorates the end of a war between the two)

Queen's Birthday -- Australia (except WA); Papua New Guinea; Turks and Caicos Islands; Tuvalu

Rape of Lidice/Lidice Memorial Day -- Czech Republic and Slovakia/New Jersey, US (in one of the most-remembered atrocities of WWII, the small town of Lidice, Czechoslovakia, was invaded by Nazi troops who murdered every man, burned every house, and sent all the women and children for "reeducation.")

Reconciliation Day -- Republic of the Congo

St. Brigid of Ireland's Day (Patron babies/infants/newborns, blacksmiths, boatmen/mariners/sailors/watermen, cattle, children whose parents are not married, dairymaids/dairy workers, fugitives, midwives, nuns, poets, poultry farmers, printing presses, scholars, travellers; Douglas, Lanarkshire, Scotland; Ireland; Ivrea, Turin, Italy; Kildare, Ireland; Leinster, Ireland)

Tano Festival -- Korea (start of a 3 day festival)

Where the Wild Things Are Day -- birth anniversary of Maurice Sendak


Birthdays Today:

Joey Zimmerman, 1986
Tara Lipinski, 1982
Leelee Sobieski, 1982
Hoku Ho, 1981
Shane West, 1978
Elizabeth Hurley, 1965
Michael Burger, 1957
John Edwards, 1953
F. Lee Bailey, 1933
Maurice Sendak, 1928
Judy Garland, 1922
Saul Bellow, 1915
Frederick Loewe, 1904


Today in History:

Frederick Barbarossa drowns leading his troops across the Saleph River to attack Jerusalem in the Crusades, 1190
The first American log cabin is built, at Fort Christina in Wilmington, Delaware, 1639
Bridget Bishop becomes the first person hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692
Captain James Cook runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef, 1770
A landslide dam on the Dadu River created by an earthquake ten days earlier collapses, killing 100,000 in the Sichuan province of China, 1786
The Jardin des Plantes museum opens in Paris; a year later, it becomes the first public zoo, 1793
The first Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place, 1829
Myall Creek Massacre in Australia: 28 Aboriginal Australians are murdered, 1838
The first class of the United States Naval Academy students graduate, 1854
Mount Tarawera in New Zealand erupts, killing 153 people and destroying the famous Pink and White Terraces, 1886
Americus Callahan of Chicago patents the window envelope, 1902
The inaugural service for the United Church of Canada, a union of Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregationalist churches, is held in Toronto Arena, 1925
Dr. Robert Smith takes his last drink, and Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio, United States, by him and Bill Wilson, 1925
Six-Day War ends: Israel and Syria agree to a cease-fire, 1967
Apple ships its first Apple II personal computer, 1977
The Spirit Rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission, 2003
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