messymimi's meanderings

Ah, Saturday. Since i'm not going to the uni football game, a day to relax, putter around the house, and...

What! What's that? Four days? Really, i'm supposed to leave town in 4 days?

Where did the time go? Don't answer, i know where it goes. And i'm not ready. Plus, i have to work the day before i leave, and that's not going to be easy.

Today, i'll have to get some errands done. MomAndPop Store, which still hasn't opened their new branch so i have to go to the further one, for the seafood i'm bringing, as well as good hot sauces and some local goodies to take as gifts.

BigBoxStore for extra cat litter and paper plates and all the stuff i'll need to leave behind so the house doesn't fall apart while i'm gone.

Of course, it will anyway, i always come home to a mess. But i can try.

Also, i have to decide what to precook (do i want to have my roux made already? what about stock? frozen, prechopped veggies?) and what to take along.

Bigger Girl is lending me Cicero for the trip, so i know i have plenty of room, since for some reason as i get older i find myself bringing more and more stuff with me when i travel. This time, i might bring the Vitamix and a few other kitchen tools i didn't have last year.

And coffee. That's the #1 thing i must remember as far as consumables go, coffee. After all, even when i'm running away so i don't have to play mommy for a week, mommy just don't go without her "mommy go juice."

This is getting exciting!

Today is:

Aloha Festivals Floral Parade -- Oahu, Hawai'i (part of the larger Aloha Festival celebrations this month and next on all the islands, celebrating native Hawai'ian culture)

Ancestor Appreciation Day -- sponsored by the Ancestor Appreciation Day Association of Ann Arbor, MI, US

Cabrillo Festival -- San Diego, CA, US (reenactment of Cabrillo's landing, a Spanish soldier and sailor encampment, Native Kumeyaay demonstrations, dances, crafts, and food; through tomorrow)

Crush a Can Day -- internet generated, so have fun seeing how many (safe) ways you can crush a can, and how flat you can get it!

Eldon Turkey Festival -- Eldon, MO, US (top producer of turkeys has the top turkey festival in the world)

Everybody's Day Festival -- Thomasville, NC, US (and they do mean there's fun for everybody)

Family Health and Fitness Day USA -- www.fitnessday.com/family/index.htm

Feast of Mashíyyat (Will) -- Baha'i

Fish Amnesty Day (same as National Hunting and Fishing Day)

Fun and Fancy Free Day -- go out and have a great day, in honor of the release on this day in 1947 of the Disney film Fun and Fancy Free

French Community Holiday -- French community of Belgium

Fukuro Matsuri -- Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan (a fun-for-tourists way to learn about Japanese culture, through tomorrow, and next weekend)

Geneva Area Grape Jamboree -- Geneva, OH, US (grapes, wine tasting, entertainment, rides, and food; through tomorrow)

Gettysburg Fall Antique Show -- Gettysburg, PA, US

Hug a Vegetarian Day -- i'm open!

International Rabbit Day -- learn to care for these wonderful pets

(4Sa)Kiwanis Kids' Day -- local clubs sponsor events for kids on the fourth Saturday of September

Love Note Day -- take pen and paper and send that special someone a love note today, the idea of Leona Hamel of QC, Canada

Marion County Country Ham Days -- Marion, KY, US (for those who love ham, and a PIGasus parade, and a Pokey Pig 5k, among other events; through tomorrow)

Meskel -- Ethiopian/Eritrian Orthodox Christian (True Cross Day)

Museum Day -- The Smithsonian has information

National Hunting and Fishing Day -- US

National Milk Chocolate Day

National Public Lands Day -- US (Helping Hands for America's Lands -- a day to volunteer on America's Public Lands)

National Corned Beef Hash Day

R.E.A.D. in America Day -- sponsored by CheeREADing, because Reading helps Everyone Accomplish Dreams

Shut Up and Let Somebody Else Talk Day -- begun by someone with an overly verbose spouse, perhaps?

St. Vincent De Paul's Day (Patron of charitable societies/charitable workers, charities, horses, hospital workers, hospitals, lepers, prisoners, spiritual help, volunteers; Brothers of Charity; Saint Vincent de Paul Societies; Sisters of Charity; Vincentian Service Corps; Madagascar; Richmond, Virginia; for finding lost objects; against leprosy)

Taste of Morgan Hill -- Morgan Hill, CA, US (fine arts, entertainment, and plenty for the kids to do, too; through tomorrow)

Thanksgiving Day for Disappearance of Kelp-Koli Again -- Fairy Calendar

Tri-State Band Festival -- Luverne, MI, US (high school bands from Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa compete in four categories)

*World Tourism Day -- World Tourism Organization

Anniversary Today:

Google is founded, 1998

Birthdays Today:

Avril Lavigne, 1984
Gwyneth Paltrow, 1972
Bello Nock, 1968
Sophia Milos, 1965
Shaun Cassidy, 1958
Mike Schmidt, 1949
Marvin "Meat Loaf" Aday, 1947
Delores Taylor, 1939
Claude Jarman, Jr., 1934
Greg Morris, 1934
Wilford Brimley, 1934
Sada Thompson, 1929
Arthur Penn, 1922
William Conrad, 1920
Jayne Meadows, 1919
Thomas Nast, 1840
Raphael Semmes, 1809
George Muller, 1805
George Cruikshank, 1792
Samuel Adams, 1722

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Tonight Show"(TV), 1954
Strike Up The Band(Film), 1940
"Rip Van Winkle"(Bristow opera), 1855

Today in History:

Severe earthquake in the Gulf of Chili, China; reports of 100,000 killed, 1290
Jesuits founded by Ignatius Loyola, 1540
John Adams negotiates peace terms with Britain, 1779
Constitution submitted to the states for ratification, 1787
Jean-Francois Champollion announces that he has deciphered the Rosetta Stone, 1822
The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens, and begins operation of the world's first service of locomotive-hauled passenger trains, 1825
The physics journal Annalen der Physik published Albert Einstein's paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", introducing the equation E=mc²,1905
The first production of a Ford Model T automobile rolls off the line at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan, 1908
First test of a twin engine airplane, in France, 1910
Native American Day is first celebrated, 1916
Democratic National Committee votes to allow female members, 1919
The first Santa Clause Training School opens in Albion, NY, 1937
The Balinese tiger is declared to be an extinct species, 1937
Sierra Leone joins the United Nations, 1961
Richard Stallman announces the GNU project to develop a free Unix-like operating system, 1983
East Timor joins the United Nations, 2002
CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk while flying on Shenzhou 7, 2008
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity discovers direct evidence of a fast-moving stream bed, showing a prior water source on the Red Planet, 2012

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus. It's the place to come for a weekly chuckle, grin, or even a good guffaw, so Laugh and Link Up! It's a great way to start the week.

At the MomAndPopStore yesterday, i got into a conversation with a manager. When i asked how his day was going, he noted that his wonderful wife, one of the sweetest women ever, had let him live through yet another night because of his snoring, so that meant it was a great day.

We got to talking about it, and the subject turned to heritage, and he noted that he is of Irish antecedents. He said, "That means I believe that a kind word is good, but not so powerful as a kind word and a shillelagh, and that I have an innate sense of tragedy that can carry me through any fleeting moments of joy!"

We laughed, but the talk about snoring reminds me of a joke.

Thibodeaux be talking to Boudreaux, an' as usual, dey talkin' about dere wives.

"My wife, Marie, she complain an' whine so much! Allus after me about sumpin', an' I don' know what I'm a gonna do!"

"Now, Thib," Boudreaux say, "You gots to remember dat de female, she be special, an' you gotta treat dem women special. Dey don' burp, fart, sweat, or snore, so you gotta let dem complain and moan or dey gonna bust!"

Sept 28

Today is:

^*Czech Statehood Day -- Czech Republic

^*Drink Beer Day

4%Tzom Gedalya -- Judaism (Fast of Gedalia, a dawn to dusk day of fasting to lament the assassination of Gedalia the righteous governor of Judea)

^*Feast of Hapi and Creation of the Nile -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

^*Fish Tank Floor Show Night -- the Wellcat Holidays people say that your fish keep you entertained all year long, so turn about is fair play, entertain your fish tonight!

^*Frances Willard Day -- Minnesota

4#Freyburg Fair -- Fryeburg, ME, US (a week-long celebration with aggricultural exposition, draft horse competition, a midway, nightly shows, Woodsmen's Day, Firemen's Muster, a juried crafts show, and more; through next Sunday)

4#Gold Star Mother's Day 2014 -- US (the day to honor mothers who have lost a child who was serving in the US Armed Forces)

4#International Rabbit Day -- to promote responsible rabbit ownershipwww.rabbit.org/international-rabbit-day/

4%International Right to Know Day -- FOI Advocates Network, promoting the right of access to information for all people and the benefits of open, transparent, and accountable governmentswww.freedominfo.org/religions/global/rtk-day/

#Menkhet Festival -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

^*Michaelmas Eve -- Celtic celebration, bake your bannock bread tonight for eating on St. Michael and All Angel's Day tomorrow; tonight, build a bonfire and dine on roast lamb, and make sure the menfolk protect the horses, for anyone is allowed to "borrow" one for the celebration tomorrow

^*National Day of Awareness and Unity against Child Pornography -- Philippines

^*National Good Neighbor Day -- US (begun when Mrs. Becky Mattson from Lakeside, Montana, began campaigning for this National Day in the 1970's; go greet the neighbors, and be a good neighbor yourself!)

^*National Strawberry Cream Pie Day

4%Read a Child a Book You Like Day -- someone started this to get us to remember the books we loved as kids, and share them with children now

^*Runic Half Month Gyfu begins (gift)

^*St. Wenceslaus' Day (Patron of brewers; Bohemia; Czech Republic; Moravia; Prague, Czech Republic)

^*Tales of Kelp-Koli's Second Visit -- Fairy Calendar (through the 30th)

^*Teacher's Day -- Taiwan (on the traditional Western date of Confucius' birthday, of course)

^*World Rabies Daywww.worldrabiesday.org

4#(FSU)World Rivers Day -- Internationalwww.worldriversday.com

Birthdays Today:

Frankie Jonas, 2000
Hilary Duff, 1987
Gwyneth Paltrow, 1973
Naomi Watts, 1968
Mira Sorvino, 1967
Janeane Garofalo, 1964
Suzanne Whang, 1962
Steve Largent, 1954
Jeffrey Jones, 1947
Ben E. King, 1938
Koko Taylor, 1935
Brigitte Bardot, 1934
Arnold Stang, 1925
Marcello Mastroianni, 1924
William Windom, 1923
Al Capp, 1909
Max Schmeling, 1905
Ed Sullivan, 1901
Kate Douglas Wiggin, 1856
Frances Willard, 1839
Confucius, BC551

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Ed Wood(Film), 1994
"Cosmos: A Personal Voyage"(Documentary series), 1980
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine"(Single release, Gladys Knight), 1967
"Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales"(TV), 1963
"Dr. Kildare"(TV), 1961
"Hazel"(TV), 1961
"Purlie Victorious"(Play), 1961
Radio Times(Magazine, first issue), 1923

Today in History:

Pompey the Great, member of the Triumvirate, is assassinated by order of King Ptolemy of Egypt upon landing in that country, BC48
King/Saint Wenceslas murdered by his brother, 935
William the Conqueror invades England, 1066
Sinking of the Spanish fleet during a hurricane off the coast of Florida, 1528
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo becomes the first European to reach San Diego Bay, 1542
Publication of "Pilgrim's Progress", 1678
Divorce is legalized in Maryland, 1701
American and French forces begin the siege of Yorktown, 1781
Napoleon Bonaparte, age 16, graduates from the Military Academy of Paris -- 42nd in a class of 51, 1785
Donati's comet becomes the first to be photographed, 1858
Toronto becomes the capital of Ontario, 1867
Sir Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mould growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin, 1928
Indonesia joins the United Nations, 1950
Mali and Senegal join the United Nations, 1960
SpaceX launches the first ever private spacecraft, the Falcon 1 into orbit, 2008

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus. It's easy to participate, just post a picture that makes us say, "Awww!" and link up. After all, it's great to start the week with a cute picture and a smile.

Because i'm leaving on vacation, and because they are plenty big enough now, it's time to send Ladios and Ladias to be put up for adoption. Here's one last picture of the sisters, who were never very far from each other.

They got big!

Since i am working tomorrow and leaving the day after, this is my last day to prepare all the stuff i need for the trip. Looking at this picture makes me wish i were a cat with a good home! No worries!

Today is:

Battle of Boqueron Day -- Paraguay

Constitution Day -- Brunei

Family and Community Day -- ACT, Australia

Festival of Tezcatzonctl -- Ancient Aztec Calendar (chief god of intoxication; date approximate)

Gwynn ap Nudd's Fest -- Celtic Calendar (god of the underworld; date approximate)

International Coffee Day -- and i thought this was every day! also:
     National Coffee Day -- US (what!?! this isn't every day!?)

Inventors Day -- Argentina

Make a List of the Top Ten Happiest Days in Your Life Day -- must have been started by an optimist

Mutation Day -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

National Attend Your Grandchild's Birth Day -- a day to remind grandparents to be active in their grandchildren's lives (and if you need a reminder, i wonder about you; if you aren't allowed by bitter parents, i feel badly for you)

National Mocha Day

Navaratri Dusserha/Dasain/Dashain/Dasara -- Hindu (Festival of Dirva, wife of Shiva, and a time to go back home and reconnect with family, especially in Nepal and parts of India; through the 13th; local dates and official government days off will vary)

Northeast Kingdom Fall Foliage Festival -- Walden, Cabot, Plainfield, Peacham, Barnet and Groton, VT, US (all 6 towns take turns welcoming visitors during the famous fall foliage season, with local food, music, culture, and more; through Saturday)

Queen's Birthday Holiday -- WA, Australia

Quick Draw Day -- debut of Quick Draw McGraw and his side kick, Baba Looey, in 1959

Sts. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and All Angels' Day (Michaelmas)
     Archangel Gabriel, Patron of broadcasters, clergy, communication workers, diplomats, messengers, philatelists/stamp collectors, post offices and postal workers, radio and radio workers, secular clergy, telecommunication workers, telgraphers, telephones, television and television workers; Argentinian ambassadors; Seattle, Washington
     Archangel Michael, Patron of artists, bakers, bankers and banking, barrel makers/coopers, battle, boatmen/mariners/sailors/watermen, dying people, emergency medical technicians/paramedics/ambulance drivers, fencers and fencing, grocers and greengrocers, haberdashers and hatmakers, knights, milleners, paratroopers, police officers, radiologists and radiotherapists, security guards, sick people, soldiers, swordsmiths; for a holy death and safety at sea; England, Germany, and over 25 cities around the world; against danger at sea and temptation
     Archangel Raphael, Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, blind people, doctors/physicians, guardian angels, happy meetings, love and lovers, mentally ill people, nurses, shepherdesses/shepherds, sick people, travellers, young people; Dubuque, Iowa; MacKenzie-Fort Smith, Northwest Territories; Seattle, Washington; against bodily ills, eye diseases/eye problems, insanity/mental illness, nightmares, sickness
     related observances:
     National Day of Remembrance for Policemen Killed -- Australia (St. Michael, Patron of police officers)
     Payment of Quit Rent by London Royal Courts of Justice -- Michaelmas is a traditional English "Quarter Day", when rents come due

Thimphu Drubchen -- Thimphu, Bhutan (start of one of Bhutan's biggest tshechu festivals, sacred masked dances dedicated to Bhutan's protective spirit; tourists may watch but are strictly prohibited from taking pictures)

VFW Day -- US (The Veterans of Foreign Wars was established on this day in 1899)

World Heart Day -- International (to raise awareness of the signs and dangers of cardiovascular disease)

Birthdays Today:

Emily Lloyd, 1970
John Paxton, 1960
Bryant Gumbel, 1948
Patricia Hodge, 1946
Lech Walesa, 1943
Dave Wilcox, 1942
Ian McShane, 1942
Madeline Kahn, 1942
Jerry Lee Lewis, 1935
Anita Ekberg, 1931
Lizabeth Scott, 1922
Trevor Howard, 1916
Stanley Kramer, 1913
Michelangelo Antonioni, 1912
Greer Garson, 1908
Gene Autry, 1907
Enrico Fermi, 1901
Horatio Nelson, 1758
Miguel de Cervantes, 1547
Pompey the Great, BC106

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Grace Under Fire"(TV), 1993
"Thirtysomething"(TV), 1987
"Designing Women"(TV), 1986
"MacGyver"(TV), 1985
"Houdini, A Circus Opera"(Opera), 1977
"The Judy Garland Show"(TV), 1963
"My Favorite Martian"(TV), 1963
"The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show"(TV), 1962
"My Three Sons"(TV), 1960
"Outlaws"(TV), 1960
"The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"(TV), 1959
"Sergeant Preston of the Yukon"(TV), 1955
"A View from the Bridge"(Play), 1955
The Barefoot Contessa(Film), 1954
A Star is Born(Film), 1954
"Make Room for Daddy"(TV), 1953

Today in History:

Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumata, securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire, BC522
Battle of Salamis, at which the Greek fleet under Themistocles defeats the Persian fleet under Xerxes I, BC480
Pompey the Great Celebrates ending the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday, BC61
Saladin's army marches into Jerusalem, 1187
The First Congress of the US adjourns, 1789
"Scotland Yard", London's Metropolitan Police Force, goes on duty, 1829
The first practical public electric tramway ever opens in Blackpool, England, 1885
John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire, 1916
The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed, 1954
Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite, is launched, 1962
WGPR in Detroit, Michigan, becomes the world's first black-owned-and-operated television station, 1975
Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to set foot on Irish soil with his pastoral visit to the Republic of Ireland, 1979
The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth, 2004
The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history, 2008
An 8.0 magnitude earthquake near the Samoan Islands causes a tsunami, 2009
The Koreas agree, for the first time in two years, to hold working-level military talks, 2010

Preparations to leave town are still underway, and getting more complicated by the moment.

Me leaving town alone is the equivalent, to my Sweetie and kids, to their being left alone on the tundra or in the wilderness to fend for themselves, with no supplies.

The first time i made a trip like this, to Albuquerque several years ago, they called me on average every two hours the first two days of the trip, and a little less after that.

While i try to leave detailed instructions:

Detailed lists, on the refrigerator.

It helps to a degree, but i still get a lot of phone calls.

The other complication is getting everything i'm taking packed and ready. Because i don't know what ingredients i will or will not find anywhere outside of south Louisiana, i have to bring all the ingredients for gumbo with me. This entails me having to mentally go through every step, imagine what i would grab from the cabinet or fridge or wherever, and bring it along.

Then there's the fact that i'm the weirdo vegan, so i pack a lot of food for me, because it can be difficult having my strange food preferences in places where the dominant cuisine is much more typical fare, with lots of meat. Many a restaurant has had nothing on the menu that i would eat but an overpriced, soggy salad and steamed vegetables. It can get old eating that meal after meal when i'm out a lot.

Today i am working, so when i get home, i have a ton to do so that i can be on the road tomorrow. Lots of packing, lots of last minute laundry, and plenty of "how will we get along with you not here!" whining. Yes, they really act that helpless, and they survive. It makes them tough.

And it makes me grateful to be able to get away for a while, i need it!

Today is:

Agricultural Reform Day -- Sao Tome and Principe

Ask A Stupid Question Day -- teachers wanted to get students asking more questions, so they did, even if the questions were stupid; now, it's a holiday on the last school day of September each year!

Celtic Tree Month Gort begins (Ivy)

Day of Liberation of the Republic of Abkhazia -- Abkhazia (disputed territory on the Black Sea)

Do Something Wacky With A Grandparent Day -- just not the monkey bars, please; old bones don't knit fast enough

Durga Puja -- Hindu (start of the five day celebration of the goddess Durga)

Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (the Greater Mystery Rites, date approximate; mystery rites of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis, one of the most sacred times of their year)

Independence Day -- Botswana

International Translation Day -- International Federation of Translators

Kokkeisetsu -- Chinatown, Yokohama, Japan (Chinese National Founding Day in the largest Chinatown in Japan; through tomorrow)

Medetrinalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival fruits offer to the goddess of medicine)

Monkey Bars Day -- a day to go see if you can still do tricks on the monkey bars, because the internet wants to kill us and let the machines that would never do anything so silly take over

National Mud Pack Day -- give yourself a facial

National Hot Mulled Cider Day

St. Gregory the Enlightener (or Illuminator; Patron of Armenia)

St. Jerome's Day (Patron of archaeologists, archivists, Biblical scholars, librarians, libraries, school children, students, translators; Saint-Jerome, Quebec)
also an Apache celebration of Geronimo, the Native American who was named after this saint

World Dairy Expo -- Madison, WI, US ("Designer Dairy" is this year's theme; through Saturday)

Anniversary Today:

Haleakala National Park is established in Maui, Hawaii, 1960

Birthdays Today:

Dominique Moceanu, 1981
Marion Cotillard, 1975
Jenna Elfman, 1971
Crystal Bernard, 1964
Eric Stoltz, 1961
Fran Drescher, 1957
Deborah Allen, 1953
Victoria Tennant, 1953
Marilyn McCoo, 1943
Z.Z. Hill, 1935
Johnny Mathis, 1935
Angie Dickinson, 1931
Elie Wiesel, 1928
W. S. Merwin, 1927
Truman Capote, 1924
Deborah Kerr, 1921
Buddy Rich, 1917
William Wrigley, Jr., 1861
Rumi, 1207

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush(Publication date), 1990
"Murder, She Wrote"(TV), 1984
"Cheers"(TV), 1982
"Love Child"(Single release), 1968
"The Flintstones"(TV), 1960
"Tea and Sympathy"(Play), 1953
"The Red Skelton show"(TV), 1951
"Porgy and Bess"(Opera), 1935
Little Women(Publication date), 1868
"Les pecheurs de perles/The Pearl Fishers"(Bizet opera), 1863
"Die Zauberflote/The Magic Flute"(Mozart opera, K. 620), 1791
The Gutenberg Bible(first section, publication date), 1452

Today in History:

Rambam (Maimonides) authorizes Samuel Ibn Tibbon to translate the Guide of the Perplexed from Arabic into Hebrew, 1199
Anesthetic ether is used for the first time by Dr. William Morton, who extracted a tooth, 1846
German scientist Hermann von Meyer announces the discovery of the first fossil of an archaeopteryx, 1861
The first Portuguese immigrants arrive in Hawai'i, 1878
The world's first commercial hydroelectric power plant begins operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States, 1882
Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner, 1901
The first manned rocket plane flight, made by auto maker Fritz von Opel, 1929
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Yemen join the United Nations, 1947
The World Series, featuring the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, is televised for the first time, 1947
The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world's first nuclear reactor powered vessel, 1954
James Dean is killed in a road accident, 1955
Mexican-American labor leader César Chávez founds the United Farm Workers, 1962
James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi, defying segregation, 1962
General Suharto rises to power in Indonesia after an alleged coup by communists, and massacres over a million Indonesian people suspected of belonging to the Communist Party, 1965
BBC Radio 1 is launched and Tony Blackburn presents its first show, 1967
Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation, 1980
The Dalai Lama unveils the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights in Canada's capital city of Ottawa, 1990
The first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat are taken 600 miles south of Tokyo, 2004
The controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, 2005

Just can't wait to get on the road again!

Okay, okay, i'll stop singing! Yes, i know what my voice sounds like, i won't let it happen again.

It's just that i get so excited.

Yesterday was long, and began with a hurried run for some last minute things. Then i got a call to please get to work as early as possible and i did, which turned out good. There was lots of laundry at work, and that always means a long workday, but i also managed to get the spills from the fridge and freezer and clean the ledge i've been eyeing for quite a while and never had time to get to.

While there, i placed an order for stuff Sweetie will pick up while i'm gone, and i got a reservation settled, and i came home worn out and cleaned all of my cleaning supplies.

Then it was time to pack, although i'd been gathering stuff for what seems like ages.

So today i'm heading for Kentucky in Cicero, and i have a nice motel room awaiting, and a cottage tomorrow.

Just remind me not to drink too much coffee (a big temptation on the road), and no one should have to peel me from the ceiling anytime soon.

Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- South Korea

Balloons Around the World -- balloon artists around the world are encouraged to donate an hour or more to a charity of their choice in their community, entertaining children everywhere with balloon sculpture

Bat Appreciation Month -- hooray for Bat Conservation International!

Change a Light Day -- US (was originally sponsored by EntergyStar, promoting energy saving light bulbs; although they don't seem to be running this particular campaign any more, it's a great idea to switch to the highest efficiency bulbs you can)
     while the original dates were on Wednesdays, some websites list this on the first Sunday

Children's Day -- Singapore

Christmas Seal Campaign begins

Chuuk Constitution Day -- Chuuk, Micronesia

Cut Out Dissection Day -- let's find alternatives for school kids!

Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux a/k/a Therese of the Child Jesus or The Little Flower of Jesus (Doctor of the Church; Patron of African missions, AIDS patients, air crews/aircraft pilots/aviators, florists/flower growers, missionaries, sick people, those who have lost parents, tuberculosis; Australia; France; Russia; several cities around the world; against bodily ills and tuberculosis)

Festival of Penha -- Rio de Janiero, Brazil (through the 31st; pilgrimages to the Church of Our Lady of Penha)

Firepup's® Birthday -- have fun learning fire safety from Firepup

Flattering Finals -- Fairy Calendar

Global Diversity Awareness Month begins -- to foster and further our understanding of the value of people of all races, genders, nationalities, ages, religions, sexual orientations, classes, and physical disabilities

Guoqing Jie -- China; Hong Kong; Macau (National Day/Founding of the Republic)

Homemade Cookies Day

Independence Day -- Cyprus(1960); Nigeria(1960); Palau(1994); Tuvalu(1976)

International Day of Older Persons -- UN

International Music Day -- information from the International Music Council

Investiture of the Captains Regent -- San Marino

Kalends of October -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also
     Day Sacred to Fides -- (goddess of faithfulness and keeping your word)
     Festival of Juno Sororia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Juno the Sister, protector of young women at puberty)

Little Golden Books Day -- the first twelve were published on this day in 1942 (Baby's Book of Objects, Bedtime Stories, Mother Goose, Nursery Songs, Prayers for Children, The Alphabet from A to Z, The Animals of Farmer Jones, The Golden Book of Fairy Tales, The Little Red Hen, The Poky Little Puppy, This Little Piggy and Other Counting Rhymes, Three Little Kittens)

Month of Freethought -- inspired by Freethinkers who emigrated to the US in the 19th century

National Book It! Day -- teachers across the US can join together with Pizza Hut to encourage the love of reading

National Lace Day -- US (a day for lace fanciers share their love of lacemaking!)

National Walk Your Dog Week begins -- a campaign to bring awareness of and fight the increasing problems in the US with canine obesity

Nottingham Goose Fair -- Nottingham, England (dating back to at least 1284, what began as a fair market so people could stock up on food supplies for winter is now a fun festival with rides and games; through Sunday)

O'qituvchi va Murabbiylar Kuni -- Uzebekistan (Day of Teachers and Instructors)

Pageantry in Oslo -- Oslo, Norway (Storting [Parliament] convenes to decide the date for its ceremonial opening, which is usually the following weekday, when the King opens the session in the presence of the Corps Diplomatique, preceded and followed by a military procession between the Royal Palace and the Storting.)

Pancasila Sanctity Day -- Indonesia

Popcorn and Tears Movie Appreciation Night -- go see a tear jerker; if guys don't want to go, make them stay home and vacuum

Pudding Season begins (Time to preserve meat from slaughtering for the winter by making meat puddings.)

Ram Mating Ceremony -- various towns and villages in Turkey (through the 20th, each village setting its own date; after being separated from the females for two months, the rams are returned with ceremonies to ensure good luck and lots of babies next spring)

Right-Brainers Rule Month begins (because left handers / right brainers are in their "right" minds)

St. Remigius of Rheims' Day (Patrn of France; Rheims, France; against epidemics, fever, plague, religious indifference, snakes, and throat pain)

St. Romanos the Melodist's Day (hymn writer of the early 6th Century whose surviving works are still sung)

Unification Day -- Cameroon

US Fiscal Year begins (Why in October?)

World Vegetarian Day

Anniversaries Today:

EPCOT opens, 1981 (Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow, or, if you work there, the insider title, Every Person Comes Out Tired)
Walt Disney World opens, 1971
Stanford University opens, 1891
Yosemite National Park and Yellowstone National Park are founded, 1890
South African College is founded, 1829 (Now University of Cape Town)

Birthdays Today:

Zach Galifianakis, 1969
Mark McGwire, 1963
Esai Morales, 1962
Grete Waltz, 1953
Randy Quaid, 1950
Stephen Collins, 1947
Tim O'Brien, 1946
Rod Carew, 1945
Stella Stevens, 1936
Julie Andrews, 1935
Albert Collins, 1932
Richard Harris, 1932
George Peppard, 1928
Tom Bosley, 1927
Jimmy Carter, 1924
William Rehnquist, 1924
James Whitmore, 1921
Walter Matthau, 1920
Bonnie Parker, 1910
Vladimir Horowitz, 1903
James Lawrence, 1781
Richard Stockton, 1730
Henry III, King of England, 1207

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Compact Discs, 1982 (Billy Joel's "52nd Street" Album)
"Remington Steele"(TV), 1982
"Kung Fu"(TV), 1972
Night of the Living Dead(Film), 1968
"The Merv Griffin Show"(TV), 1962
"The Honeymooners"(TV), 1955
"This is Your Life"(TV), 1952
"Tom Corbett, Space Cadet"(TV), 1950
"Best Foot Forward"(Musical), 1941
Ford's Model T, 1908
World Series Baseball, 1903 (the Boston Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates)
Postal Special Delivery, 1885 (USPS began special delivery services)
Postcards, 1869 (in Vienna, Austria)

Today in History:

Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia, BC331
The Russian Parliament accepts the annexation of the Ukraine, 1653
First session of the new French legislative assembly is held, 1791
Spain cedes Louisiana to France in a secret treaty, 1800
The first steamboat to sail the Mississippi River arrives in New Orléans, Louisiana, 1811
Maria Mitchell discovers a non-naked-eye comet, 1847
A cyclone strikes Calcutta, India, killing 70,000, 1864
Karl Marx'"Das Kapital" is published, 1867
The world's first postcards are issued, in Vienna, Austria, 1869
John Philip Sousa becomes the new director of the USMC Band, 1880
Thomas Edison opens the first electric lamp factory, 1880
The USPS begins special delivery mail service, 1885
Jews are expelled from major Russian cities, 1898
Arab forces under T.E. Lawrence, a/k/a Lawrence of Arabia, capture Damascus, 1918
An oil field accident cost aviator Wiley Post his left eye, but he used the settlement money to buy his first aircraft, 1926
The Pennsylvania Turnpike, often considered the first superhighway in the United States, opens, 1940
Mensa International is founded in the United Kingdom, 1946
First broadcast of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, 1962
The Concorde supersonic transport plane breaks the sound barrier for the first time, 1969
Walt Disney World opens near Orlando, Florida, United States, 1971
The United States returns sovereignty of the Panama canal to Panama, 1979
EPCOT Center opens at Walt Disney World, 1982
William Gibson's groundbreaking novel Neuromancer is published, introducing the word "cyberspace" to the English language, 1984
Denmark introduces the world's first legal modern same-sex civil union, 1989
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom takes over the judicial functions of the House of Lords, 2009
A dedicated 3D TV channel, Sky 3D, launches in the UK, 2010

As opposed to My Kentucky Home, which name is taken and would be silly, because i don't live there.

Anyway, as was typical for me, i didn't get out of the house as smoothly as i had hoped. It took a lot longer to pack the the car than i thought, and i left behind my raisins, and the vegan mayonnaise. Also, i think i left all of the roux i made, but that's just oil and flour and time, and i'll make more.

But after telling everyone good-bye at least twice, and getting Bigger Girl to show me what to do when it won't shift out of park, i started on my way.

When i travel, i like to say that my favorite thing to do is take my time, stop every two hours, enjoy the ride, etc. Well, the fact is, i had a long drive, over 11 hours even without traffic and construction zones, so i surprised myself. This drive i went further without any stops at all than i ever have before, and the few i made were all short and sweet, and it was great.

Of course, i'm an old bat church lady, so i like to listen to Christian radio stations, and i had a list of them planned on the route. When i couldn't get those, i found others, and so i got to sing and pray a lot on the way. Traffic wasn't bad at all, except that i hit Nashville right at 5pm, but even that was more annoying than difficult.

One thing that always confuses me and my sense of time is time zone changes. It looked like i was going to make it into the area i was going by around 8pm, and then i crossed into Eastern time, and so anyway, it was 9pm when i met up with Fivecat and she showed me how to get to the hotel.

Boy am i glad she did! The back country roads are very windy, with deer crossings being frequent. If i hadn't been following her, i would have been lost. She got me checked in safely and then took me to a local pizza place where they not only had a gluten free crust, but didn't bat an eye when i said that i'm a vegan, could they make it with just sauce and veggies and no cheese! As i hadn't stopped to eat all day, just snacking on a few things in the car, it was wonderful.

Little_Ninja was already at the hotel, but had been out visiting another friend she has in the area when i checked in. She was back when Fivecat and i got in from the pizza place, and we sat and talked a while.

All in all, a good first day, even if i did get several calls from Sweetie about how the dishes weren't doing themselves and how they couldn't find the trash bags i had left right on top of the can.

Thank heaven i'm away for a few days!

Today is:

Batik Day -- Indonesia (UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage)

Buttering-Up Quarter Finals -- Fairy Calendar (I have no idea what this means, but anything to do with butter sounds good.)

Chung Yeung Festival -- China; Hong Kong; Macau (Double Nine Festival/Ancestors' Day; date differs in other parts of Asia)

Cowboy Hall of Fame Ceremony and Banquet and Rex Allen Days -- Willcox, AZ, US (the kickoff for Rex Allen Days, includes the Cowboy Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and celebrates Willcox's own silver screen cowboy; through Sunday)

Dalton Defenders Days -- Coffeyville, KS, US (honoring those who defended Coffeyville's banks against the Dalton Gang in 1892; through Sunday)

Dashain Festival -- Hindu (also called Dussehra, Dashera, Phulpati/Fulpaati, or Navratri, a celebration of victory of Lord Rama over evil; official government holidays for this multi-day festival vary throughout India, Nepal, Bhutan, and other countries with large populations of Hindus)

Day of Appearance of the Primordial/Eight Great Netjers -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Gandhi Jayanti -- India (Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary)

Go for a Stroll After Dinner Night -- because it's healthy

Great American Beer Festival -- Denver, CO, US (festival that holds the Guinness World Record for most beers tapped in one location; through Saturday)

Guardian Angels Day -- recognize and thank your own Guardian Angel
Feast of Guardian Angels -- Spain (patrons of the police force)

Independence Day -- Guinea(1958)

International Day of Non-Violence -- UN, in honor of Gandhi's birth anniversary

Mehregan -- Iran (pre-Muslim Zoroastrian festival of Persia to honor Mehr, which means friendship, affection, and love; also called Persian Festival of Autumn)

Name Your Car Day (and i hope you don't have to name it "Old Unreliable")

National Custodial Workers Day -- US

National Fried Scallops Day

Old Man's Day -- Braughing, Herts, England (in honor of a 16th-Century man's escape from premature interment; he left money for a street sweeping and celebration on this day which is still observed)

Phileas Fogg's Wager Day -- he made his famous wager, according to Jules Verne, this day in 1872

St. Leger's Day (a/k/a Leodegar; Patron of blind people, millers; against blindness and sore eyes)

World Farm Animals Day

Anniversaries Today:

Redwood National Park is established in CA, US, 1968

Birthdays Today:

Paul Teutul, Jr., 1974
Kelly Ripa, 1970
Lorraine Bracco, 1955
Sting, 1951
Annie Leibovitz, 1949
Donna Karan, 1948
Don McLean, 1945
Rex Reed, 1938
Moses Gunn, 1929
George "Spanky" McFarland, 1928
"Sheriff John" Rovick, 1919
Alex Raymond, 1909
Graham Greene, 1904
Bud Abbot, 1895
Ruth Cheney Streeter, 1895
Groucho Marx, 1890
Cordell Hull, 1871
Mahatma Gandhi, 1869
King Richard III of England, 1452

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Moon Over Buffalo"(Play), 1995
"Ben Casey"(TV), 1961
"The Twilight Zone"(TV), 1959
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents"(TV), 1955
"The George Gobel Show"(TV), 1954
"The Jimmy Durante Show"(TV), 1954
"Comedy in Music"(Victor Borge one man musical), 1953
Peanuts(Comic strip by Charles Schultz), 1950
"Ah, Wilderness"(Play), 1933
Volkskrant(Dutch newspaper, first edition), 1919

Today in History:

Saladin takes Jerusalem from the Crusaders, 1187
Jacques Cartier discovers Mount Royal (Montreal), 1535
Kazan is conquered by Ivan the Terrible, 1552
Jan Lippershey completes a prototype of the modern reflecting telescope, 1608
George Washington transmits the Bill of Rights to the States for ratification, 1789
The Texas Revolution begins with the Battle of Gonzales against Mexican troops attempting to disarm the people of Gonzales, Texas, and meeting with stiff resistance, 1835
J Osterhoudt patents the tin can with key opener, 1866
John Logie Baird performs the first test of a working television system, 1925
The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", commonly known as Opus Dei, is founded by Saint Josemaría Escrivá, 1928
Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published, 1950
The anthology series The Twilight Zone premieres on CBS television, 1959
Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first African-American justice of United States Supreme Court, 1967
NATO backs US military strikes following 9/11, 2001
American Samoa joins the North American Numbering Plan, 2004
NFL plays first regular season game outside United States when the Arizona Cardinals defeat the San Francisco 49ers 31-14 in Mexico City, Mexico, 2005
The parliamentary election in Georgia is determined by the OSCE to be "fair and free", 2012

Getting out of the house was made even more interesting, i forgot to say, because Bigger Girl tried to get me to take the taser her friend the EMT lent her. When i refused, she said, "But, mom! You are going to Tennessee! It's full of Tennesseans!"

When i told her that i was actually going to Kentucky, she said, "That's even worse! It's full of Kentuckians!"

Laughing, i still refused.

Part of the adventure of the driving itself which made it fun for me was the roller coaster nature of the roads. Living in the swamps, it's all flat. (Sometimes i jokingly say it goes downhill both ways, but that's an exaggeration, even though we are at or just below sea level.)

Also, i got to see rocks! As much as i could, i took glances at the beautiful valleys, the hills above me, and the rocks. It is also so nice to be seeing trees besides the typical pulp pines that line our roads. The variety is nice, and some of them are starting to just barely get the tinge of autumn. That's something else i don't see back home. Yes, i'm a tourist, and i wear a badge.

Last year, driving with Little_Ninja, she swore that she never gets a ticket for speeding because she says hello to the cows and horses whenever she sees them, and it brings her luck. While i do enjoy exclaiming over seeing the cows and horses and rocks, i swear by setting my speed at the speed limit, and only going a bit faster if i have to pass someone, then slowing back down. It served me well, as i did see officers out, and even saw a couple of people pulled over.

The motel was the only one in the small town. Eighteen rooms, clean, comfortable, owner operated, and very reasonably priced. When i finally got in to stay for the evening, i didn't piddle around much but went to bed, and it was around midnight.

The next morning, my abnormal brain woke me at 4am as usual, so i got up and read and prayed and showered and went to the local McD's for coffee. Then i searched out the local grocer, and found a place very similar to our MomAndPop Store back home. They had a bargain price for grapes, and i got a few things i needed, and wandered back to the motel, where i rested and talked to the owner and talked to Little_Ninja.

The owner of the motel was quite a character. He saw me eating my dried seaweed snack, and tried some. He liked it! He said that when he first took a bite, he didn't think he would, but the stuff is tasty.

Fivecat came and we met her dogs, Paisley and Her Glorious Highness Cinnamon Barks-a-lot. The latter is a Pomeranian, and she lives up to her name. We went down to the marina for a while then Fivecat took the dogs home. We got to feed the fish cat food at the marina, which is always. For lunch we tried a small local restaurant, and by the time we were done, the resort called. Our resort house was ready.

It was time to move in to where i will be staying with Grace, Eagle, and Script for the rest of the trip. Gads but Cicero had a lot of stuff packed in her, which i actually finally realized when we got there to unload. Fivecat and Little_Ninja went to freshen up at their own places, while i got settled in and started the gumbo preparations.

Today is:

Arafat Day -- Afghanistan; Bahrain; Djibouti; Kuwait; Libya; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates

Bayfest Mobile -- Mobile, AL, US (world class musical entertainment and fun, with thousands of dollars earned going toward giving young people musical scholarships; through Sunday)

Buttering-Up Semi-Finals -- Fairy Calendar

Children's Day -- Singapore

Come and Take It Festival -- Gonzales, TX, US (celebrating the cry of Texans fighting for independence when the Mexican military demanded a cannon be returned; through Sunday)

Eid al-Adha -- Islam (Festival of Sacrifice, a three day commemoration of Abraham's obedience and willingness to sacrifice his son; begins at sunset, local customs of date and official government days off in many places will vary)

Fell's Point Fun Festival -- Baltimore, MD, US (a festival in Baltimore's original seaport; through Sunday)

Festival of Bacchus/Dionysus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (tasting the old and new wine and celebrating the harvest)

Independence Day -- Iraq

Kae Chun Jul -- Korea (National Foundation Day, BC 2333)

Kentucky Apple Festival -- Paintsville, KY (apples, music, arts and crafts, antique cars, rides, food, and fun; through tomorrow)

Lee National Denim Day® -- US (but i'm sure they want this one celebrated anywhere jeans are sold and worn!)www.denimday.com/

Morazan Day -- Honduras (Soldier's Day, trad.; will be observed on Monday)

National Butterfly and Hummingbird Day -- internet generated; celebrate these beauties today, no matter where you are

National Carmel Custard Day

National Diversity Day -- US (vow tolerance, embrace how differences make the world a better place)

National Storytelling Festival -- Jonesborough, TN, US (a three-day celebration of storytellers, stories, and oral tradition from around the country and around the world, all in Tennessee's oldest town)

Oschophoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (in honor of the return of Theseus after killing the Minotaur; deities celebrated were Dionysius and either Athena or Ariadne, depending on the source cited; date approximate)

Ozark Fall Farmfest -- Springfield, MO, US (largest agricultural trade show in the Ozarks; through Sunday)

Relief of Leiden Day -- Netherlands

Reunification Day /Unity Day-- Germany

Springs Folk Festival -- Springs, PA, US (Amish crafts and food at the height of fall foliage; through tomorrow)

Sts. Ewald the Black and Ewald the Fair's Day (Patrons of Westphalia)

Swappin' Meetin' -- Cumberland, KY, US (through tomorrow; celebrating the rich heritage of mountain people)

Techies' Day -- give your techies some well deserved appreciation

Tennessee Valley Old-Time Fiddlers Convention -- Athens, AL, US (200 contestants, 18 catagories, all crammed into two music filled days; if you love old time fiddle music, this is the place for you)

Thimphu Tsechu -- Thimphu, Bhutan (Drukpa Buddhism festival, the last days of the Drubchen; through Monday)

World Smile Day -- do one act of kindness, help one person smile, in honor of Harvey Ball, who created the Smiley face
some sites tag this as Send A Smile Day, or have it on different days

Yom Kippur -- Judaism (begins at sundown)

Birthdays Today:

Neve Campbell, 1973
Gwen Stefani, 1969
Janel Maloney, 1969
Clive Owen, 1964
Jack P. Wagner, 1959
Dennis Eckersley, 1954
Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1954
Dave Winfield, 1951
Lindsey Buckingham, 1949
Roy Horn, 1944
Chubby Checker, 1941
Erik Bruhn, 1928
Gore Vidal, 1925
James Herriot (James Alfred Wight), 1916
Harvey Kurtzman, 1902
William Crawford Gorgas, 1854
George Bancroft, 1800

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"L.A. Law"(TV), 1986
"Scarecrow and Mrs. King"(TV), 1983
"Quincy"(TV), 1976
"The Dick Van Dyke Show"(TV), 1961
"The Andy Griffith Show"(TV), 1960
"The Pat Boone Show"(TV), 1957
"The Real McCoys"(TV), 1957
"Captain Kangaroo"(TV), 1955
"The Mickey Mouse Club"(TV), 1955
"Father Knows Best"(TV), 1954
"Our Miss Brooks"(TV), 1952
"The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet"(TV), 1952

Today in History:

The state of Gojoseon (modern-day Korea) is founded by Dangun Wanggeom during the reign of the Chinese emperor Yao, BC2333
The siege and battle of Alesia is ended by the surrender of Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, to Julius Caesar, BC52
Julius Caesar's assassins suffer a decisive defeat at the First Battle of Phillipi, BC42
Jews are expelled from Eger, Bohemia, 1430
The Duke of Montrose issues a warrant for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor, 1712
British Captain James Cook anchors in Alaska, 1778
General Napoleon Bonaparte first rises to national prominence being named to defend the French National Convention against armed counter-revolutionary rioters, 1795
George Washington proclaims the first national Thanksgiving Day will be held on Nov. 26, 1789
American author Edgar Allan Poe is found delirious in a gutter in Baltimore, Maryland under mysterious circumstances; it is the last time he is seen in public before his death, 1849
J.S. Thurman patents a motor-driven vacuum cleaner, 1899
The first conference on wireless telegraphy agrees to adopt SOS as the warning signal and sign of distress, 1906
Leon Trotsky, Adolph Joffe, Matvey Skobelev and other Russian exiles in Vienna, Austria, found the Pravda newspaper, 1908
Mrs. W.H. Felton, of Georgia, becomes the first woman seated in the US Senate, 1922
A V-2 /A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany is the first man-made object to reach space, 1942
The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon, 1952
Germany is reunified, 1990
Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy is attacked by one of the show's tigers, 2003
Archaeologists on the Egypt-Gaza border find the first evidence of a 2,000-year-old city, 2010

How in heaven's name, i asked myself, do you get all of the way up here and into the middle of making gumbo and forget the green onion!?!?!

That was the question as i got back to it. At the resort cottage on Thursday, i worked on making roux and chopping veggies and making stock. The rental people say the kitchens are fully outfitted, and for the most part they are if you don't need a really sharp knife or any type of measuring cup or spoon or pot holders. While i do travel with my good knives when i bring the cast iron, i didn't have measuring utensils or pot holders, and had to guess at some stuff that needed measuring and wing it to work with hot pots. It worked out. Then Fivecat and Little_Ninja came back and we went into Louisville.

Fivecat was born and raised in this area, and actually lived in Louisville at one time, so we got a nice tour of areas i wouldn't have known to look for, with a bit of history thrown in. We were heading for the science museum, which was to have an exhibit about beer, complete with tastings of the work of local breweries. No, i don't drink, but i went along to be with my friends.

Eagle was in the area, stuck in traffic, so we met up with her and decided to get some dinner before going to the museum. There was a very nice place that had a lovely vegetable stir fry. Funny how i manage to always find something i can have! After dinner, because i just don't drink (half a beer and i'm asleep) and Eagle was staying at the resort and was tired from her drive, she and i went back and Fivecat and Little_Ninja stayed for the museum.

It was nice to have a late hour to just sit with Eagle and talk over a cup of Sleepytime tea, after we got all of her stuff in.

The next morning, bleary-eyed, i got up to finish the gumbo so it would be ready for dinner. We had a busy day planned, and i stood there sipping a very strong cup of my favorite dark roast asking myself how you forget the green onion. Then i just added it to the list of stuff to get, and made what had been a beautiful, clean resort cottage kitchen into a mimi-mess. (Yes, i've earned my screen name honestly, even if i do clean stuff up well.)

Little_Ninja came over, while i was cooking, to bake pecan pies for dessert. There were no measuring cups, and she hadn't been able to buy any at the store, so she bought funnels that had ounce marks on them, and made it work. She is a great cook and can bake! She stayed behind to tend to them while they were in the oven, while Fivecat, Eagle and i went to meet up with Mr. Fivecat and go into Shelby.

Once there, we walked through some of the shops. The place reminded me of Jennifer's in Pensacola, before it closed. Tons and tons of booths with old and new and amazing things for sale by individual dealers. There was even a green marble rolling pin, just like the one my kids broke. For a split second i thought of buying it, but then i realized, why should i do that? They'll just break another one!

By this time we all wanted lunch, and Little_Ninja had finished her pies and was in. Script got there just in time for lunch. It was so good to finally see her again!

At lunch we discussed what we want to do over the next couple of days, and got in touch with Grace and Blossoming. We agreed to meet up at the farmer's market, which is actually a local farm that sells a lot of their own produce, and produce from other farms in the vicinity. They had apple butter, which Sweetie loves, so i got some for him.

While there, i heard from Dayeanu, who couldn't come on this trip even though she wanted to, because her mother had just passed away. She was asking if i could drive through on my way home and visit her. That took a few phone calls, but i arranged to get back home a day later than originally planned.

Speaking of calls, by the end of Friday it was official! Every member of my family had called me at least once! Over the phone i had given instructions for locating postage stamps, a formal jacket, and birth certificates, explained to Sweetie how to get a copy of a check that someone is claiming we never gave him but which the man cashed, reassured Bigger Girl that Jalopy's dash lights don't mean a thing, and told Little Girl how to package the food for the event that evening.

No wonder i need time away.

After the market/farm, with all of us in one place at one time finally, we called and finished making reservations for the rest of our activities, and we went to Kroger for groceries.

Going to the store with this many people can be like herding cats, so we simply set a rule -- meet back at the door with the pumpkin display in 45 minutes, no exceptions. We did so, amazingly, and went back to the resort cottage for gumbo and pumpkin pie and a film of Fivecat's stand up comedy routine, which had me laughing harder than anything i've seen in a long time. She loves being in entertainment, and she has talent.

Today is:

Albuquerque International Balloon Festival -- Albuquerque, NM, US ("Spirit of the Winds" is the theme for 9 days of fun)

Buttering-Up Final -- Fairy Calendar

Cohocton Fall Foliage Festival -- Cohocton, NY, US (with the world famous tree-sitting contest; through tomorrow)

Durga Puja -- Hindu (celebration of the goddess Durga, final and biggest day of celebration)

Eid al-Adha -- Islam (Festival of Sacrifice, a three day commemoration of Abraham's obedience and willingness to sacrifice his son; began at sunset yesterday, local customs of date and official government days off in many places will vary)

Fall Astronomy Day -- Bringing Astronomy to the People (local astronomical societies, planetariums, museums and observatories sponsor public viewings, presentation, workshops, etc., to increase public awareness of astronomy and our amazing universe)

Feast of the Hunters' Moon -- Fort Ouiatenon Historic Park, West Lafayette, IN, US (a re-creation of French and Native American life of the mid-1700s at a fur trading outpost; through tomorrow)

Festival of Hathor -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Golf Lovers' Day -- internet generated, enjoy if you love golf

Ieiunium Cereris -- Ancient Roman Calendar (fast for the goddess Ceres)

Improve Your Office Day -- and water that plant while you are at it!

Independence Day -- Lesotho(1966)

Inter-American Water Day -- begun in 1992 by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (AIDIS) and the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA)

International Frugal Fun Day -- created by Shel Horowitz, author of The Penny-Pinching Hedonist; some of his ideas for how to celebrate are here

International Toot Your Flute Day -- an internet generated day for shameless self promotion

Issaquah Salmon Days Festival -- Issaquah, WA, US (celebrates the return of the spawning salmon to the hatchery; through tomorrow)

Johnny Appleseed Days -- Lake City, MN, US (two days of apples and fun)

Kanelbullens Dag -- Sweden (cinnamon roll day)

Knox County Scenic Drive -- Knox County, IL, US (drive through up to 100 miles of scenic rural Spoon River Valley, with attractions at every stop; this weekend and next)

Morro Bay Harbor Festival -- Morro Bay, CA, US (a working waterfront at play; through tomorrow)

National Apple Harvest Festival -- Gettysburg, PA, US (this weekend and next)

National Ship in a Bottle Day -- another one i can't find a source for, but it's listed everywhere

National Taco Day

Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival -- Nihonmatsu, Japan (one of Japan's 3 largest lantern festivals; through the 6th)

Peace and National Reconciliation Day -- Mozambique

Pumpkin and Apple Celebration -- Woodstock, VT, US (lots of hands on fun with apples and pumpkins; through tomorrow)

Spoon River Valley Scenic Drive -- Fulton County, IL, US (15 villages participate in arts and crafts, antiques, collectibles, demonstrations, and showing off the beauty of the fall foliage; through tomorrow and again next Saturday and Sunday)

St. Francis of Assisi's Day (Patron of animal welfare societies, animals, birds, ecologists, ecology, environment and environmentalists, families, lace makers/lace workers, merchants, needle workers, peace, tapestry workers, zoos; Italy, especially Assisi, as well as several other cities around the world; against dying alone, fire)
Blessing of the Animals Day -- at many Catholic Churches, in honor of the Saint

St. Petronius' Day (Patron of Bologna, Italy)

10-4 Day (C.B. 'ers) -- fourth day of the tenth month, ten-four, good buddy, etc.

Tewa Deer Dance -- Tewa Native Americans (celebrating the cosmic duality of the feminine and masculine, and honoring male and female ancestors; through the 7th)

Vodka Day -- internet generated

Woofstock -- Wichita, KS, US (celebrate peace, love and pets; bring your pup and participate as all proceeds go to the Kansas Humane Society)

World Animal Day -- International
"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man." ~ St Francis of Assisi

World Card Making Day -- Paper Crafts Magazine suggests you have fun and make a card today

World Space Week begins -- International

Yom Kippur -- Judaism (began sundown yesterday, ends sundown today)

Anniversaries Today

The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, 1957
The Soviet Union launches Luna 3, 1959 (first satellite to photograph the moon's distant side)

Birthdays Today:

Rachael Leigh Cook, 1979
Alicia Silverstone, 1976
Abraham Benrubi, 1969
Christoph Waltz, 1956
Anita DeFrantz, 1952
Armand Assante, 1949
Susan Sarandon, 1946
Clifton Davis, 1945
Anne Rice, 1941
Jackie Collins, 1937
Alvin Toffler, 1928
Charlton Heston, 1924
Buster Keaton, 1895
Damon Runyon, 1884
Edward Stratemeyer, 1862
Frederic S. Remington, 1861
Rutherford B. Hayes, 1822
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, 1807

Debuting/Premiering Today

"The Alvin Show"(TV), 1961
"Leave It To Beaver"(TV), 1957
Snoopy, in the Peanuts Comic strip, 1950
Dick Tracy(Comic strip), 1931

Today in History:

One of the largest naval battles in history, the Battle of Lake Poyang, ends when the Chinese rebel forces of Zhu Yuanzhang defeat Chen Youliang, 1363
The first full English translation of the Bible, sometimes called the Matthew Bible, which contained the work of translators William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale, is printed in Switzerland, 1537
Pope Gregory XIII's calendar adjustment that bears his name takes effect, with tomorrow being not Oct. 5, but Oct. 15, 1582
Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts drafts its first code of law, 1636
Peter Stuyvesant establishes America's first volunteer fire department, 1648
Christian Huygens patents the pocket watch, 1675
The state of Belgium is created after separation from the Netherlands, 1830
The New Orleans Tribune becomes the first black daily newspaper, 1864
The Orient Express, linking Turkey to Europe by rail, makes its first run, 1883
Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis character debuts on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, 1941
The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is opened for signature, 1991
The Rome General Peace Accords ends a 16 year civil war in Mozambique, 1992
NATO confirms invocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, 2001
SpaceShipOne wins Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight, by being the first private craft to fly into space, 2004
What is believed to be the oldest high-altitude human settlement is found in Kokoda, Papua New Guinea, 2010

It is such a shame, i thought to myself, that i didn't realize we would be in Indiana!

At 7:45 that morning, as we pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store in town, we were set. My ice chests were in the back of Cicero, we had packed a picnic lunch, and we were on our way to Churchill Downs.

Script stayed at the resort to rest and enjoy a quiet day and prepare our supper, and the rest of us, Fivecat, Grace, Little_Ninja, Eagle, Blossoming, and this mimi went to see the sights that Fivecat had arranged for us to enjoy.

While i know there is such a race as the Kentucky Derby, and that it is held at Churchill Downs, and that it's fun to watch every year, i didn't know that the Derby itself is a race put on by a certain race club and it happens to be held at Churchill Downs, but they are separate "entities." This and more can be learned by going on the tour and going through the museum and watching the film in the amphitheater.

We were lucky to get to take a morning tour, as there were horses out being exercised, and we got to watch that as well, and talk to a few jockeys who were willing to stop and answer questions. There's a lot to see in the museum, and if i ever get a chance to go back, i want to explore the second floor further.

We couldn't stay long enough for me to do that this time because we were going to meet up with Irisbloom, another friend from our online group who lives locally. Our meeting location was at the Falls of the Ohio State park, and that is in Indiana. We crossed the beautiful Ohio River from Louisville into Indiana, and met her in the parking area. She is a writer, and is as sweet in person as i thought she would be.

The Falls is where there are exposed fossil beds from when this area was a tropical sea.

In other words, i said to the docent, this used to be the Gulf of Mexico!

"Just about!" was his answer.

The day was sunny and the temperatures had dropped and the wind was so wicked it made one of the metal fences "sing." Really, this fence line makes a musical tone when the wind cuts through it like that. It's the kind of briskly cold day that usually hurts me, but i wanted to get out on that fossil bed, and cold wasn't going to stop me.

In fact, it didn't. Our docent guide led the way to where we had to climb rocks and driftwood and he showed us what to look for in the fossil beds. It was so cold my hands were numb but nothing could numb the delight in getting right down there on the limestone flats and spotting coral and snail and trillobite fossils. Going back up was harder to do, as we took a steeper route, but i wouldn't have missed that for the world.

Our picnic lunch plans did pose a problem, as the wind and cold would have made it a miserable thing to try to eat outdoors. The ranger in charge graciously let us have our picnic in a lookout room in the back of the museum! We picked up after ourselves and wiped down the tables, and i asked if there was a vacuum cleaner so i could sweep the floor, but the ranger declined, saying she would do that later.

This state park has a really neat museum and a lovely view of the river and those amazing fossil beds, but it does have one problem; if the water pressure goes down, you can't use the restrooms. We'd just had lunch, and so we had to trek to the facilities at one of the outdoor areas. It was just like what i've seen at public swimming pools, but at least it's not an outhouse where you have to check for spiders.

Irisbloom's time with us was way too short, as her husband and daughter came to get her just as we were done at the park. It would have been nice to get to spend more time with her, i really liked her way with words.

Next on the agenda was back to Louisville for a riverboat ride. Again, the wind was wicked and it was very cold, but i did go stand outside for a while and all of us enjoyed the trip. Looking down at the river and looking up to the shores from the river are two completely different things.

We got back to the resort tired and happy, and Script had been busy. Fivecat headed home for a bit and Blossoming and Little_Ninja went to the hotel to freshen up, and when we all got back together at the resort for dinner, it was a delight. Mr. Fivecat joined in again, and we had a cold Italian meal that nourished the soul as well as the body.

Script thinks of everything, including the wine. Though i don't normally drink, this wine was a dessert wine that you only drink out of a cup about the size of the ones you have for communion at church. That much i can have, and it was like drinking liquid nectar.

We spent another evening in laughing and talking and enjoying our time together, and if i weren't so sleepy, i would have wanted it to go on all night.

Today is:

Apple Festival -- Old Prairie Town, Topeka, KS, US (celebrating apples and Topeka's turn of the last century heritage)

Armed Forces Day -- Indonesia (Hari Tentara Nasional)

Blessing of the Fishing Fleet -- there are two that i can find:
Church of Saints Peter and Paul and Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA, US (a blessing is offered on the first Sunday of October each year)
North Wharf, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa (a festival, and Portuguese food, and a blessing from the local Catholic Archbishop)

Constitution Day -- Vanuatu

Do Something Nice Day -- internet generated; make someone's day brighter, it will brighten your own

Erntedankfest -- Germany (Thanksgiving/Harvest fest, on the first Sunday in October)

Festival of the Five Toes -- Fairy Calendar

Festival of Mania -- Ancient Roman Calendar (held to placate the Manes, on dates when it was believed the doors to the underworld were open and the dead were free to roam)

Fire Prevention Week begins -- Canada; US (and a great idea everywhere, feel free to join in)

Great Books Week begins -- previously sponsored by Excellence in Literature; this year, their website doesn't mention it, but it's always the first full week of the month

International African Diaspora Day

International Day of No Prostitution -- information here

Long Walk Day -- David Kunst finished his walk around the world on this day in 1974; go for a long walk in his honor

Most Common Birthday -- US (yes, according to Anybirthday.com, on average, more people are born in the US on this day than any other; wonder if it has anything to do with today being 9 months after New Year's Eve?)

National Apple Betty Day

National Metric Week -- US (yes, it's no fun to switch; get over it and learn, it's good for your brain!)

Noisy Munching Day -- a fun day for kids, or your own inner child; munch chips, celery, pickles, anything loud, to annoy others

Nubaigai -- Pagan Lithuanian Calendar (harvest festival; can't get independent confirmation that it's always on this day)

Pulaski Day Parade -- Philadelphia, PA, US (honoring the Polish patriot known as the "Father of the American Cavalry")

Republic Day -- Portugal

St. Placid's Day

Thesmophoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (start of a 3 day women's festival of Demeter; date approximate)

Unicorn Questing Season begins -- as established by the late W. T. "Bill" Rabe, get your official license here

World Communion Sunday -- Christian

World Teachers Day -- UN

Birthdays Today:

Jesse Eisenberg, 1983
Kate Winslet, 1975
Parminder K. Nagra, 1975
Josie Bissett, 1970
Mario Lemieux, 1965
Laura Davies, 1963
Michael Andretti, 1962
Maya Ying Lin, 1959
Bernie Mac, 1957
Bob Geldof, 1954
Clive Barker, 1952
Bob Geldof, 1951
Karen Allen, 1951
Jeff Conaway, 1950
Steve Miller, 1943
Vaclav Havel, 1936
Bill Dana, 1924
Glynis Johns, 1923
Bil Keane, 1922
Donald Pleasence, 1919
Allen Ludden, 1917
Larry Fine, 1902
Robert Hutchings Goddard, 1882
Louis Lumiere, 1864
Chester A. Arthur, 1829
Denis Diderot, 1713
Jonathan Edwards, 1703

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Monty Python's Flying Circus"(TV), 1969
"Love Me Do"(Single release), 1962
"Zane Grey Theater"(TV), 1956
"You Bet Your Life"(TV), 1950
"Secret Service"(Play), 1896
"Orfeo ed Euridice/Orpheus and Euridice"(Opera), 1762

Today in History:

Founding of the city of Concepcion, Chile, 1550
The Gregorian calendar is introduced in Italy and other Catholic countries, 1582
March on Versailles by the women of Paris, 1789
Shawnee Chief Tecumseh killed in the battle of the Thames, 1813
Founding of the City of Anaheim, 1857
Destruction of most of Calcutta by cyclone, approximately 60,000 die, 1864
A strong hurricane devastates the Bay of Fundy region of Maritime Canada, 1869
The surrender of Chief Joseph, after the 1,700 mile retreat, marks the end of the Nez Pierce War, 1877
The first individual time trial for racing cyclists is held on a 50-mile course north of London, 1895
Sir Samuel Griffith is appointed the first Chief Justice of Australia and Sir Edmund Barton and Richard O'Connor are appointed as foundation justices, 1903
First appearance of the Little Orphan Annie comic strip in the NYC Daily News, 1924
Suffrage is extended to women in France, 1944
The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake kills 110,000, 1948
The first documented recovery meeting of Narcotics Anonymous is held,
1953Dr. No, the first in the James Bond film series, was released, 1962
The first episode of the famous comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus aired on BBC, 1969
Signature of the European Patent Convention, 1973
Raoul Wallenberg is made an honorary US citizen, 1981
Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, 1984
The first official version of the Linux kernel, version 0.02, is released, 1991
The Bulldozer Revolution begins in Belgrade, eventually leading to the resignation of Slobodan Milosevic, 2000
A new, though threatened, language known as Koro, is discovered by a team of linguists on an expedition to Arunachal Pradesh, in northeastern India, 2010

Sunday morning i was lazy. At home i get dressed before i walk out of my room and start working around the house the moment i'm out. There's no time to be lost if i'm going to get things done before i have to take Little Girl to school or run errands or go to work or get to church on time.

This Sunday morning was different. Grace and Script and i were going to go to the 11am service at the local United Methodist Church, so i decided i wasn't going to put on my regular day clothes and then change into church clothes and then change back. Instead i just stayed in my robe and no slip socks, in fact we all sort of lounged around in our night clothes and had a nice brunch, then got dressed.

While getting ready and dressed, i had an oops moment -- i knocked into the ironing board and the iron fell off and broke. This would necessitate a trip to a MallMart at some point, but it was just one of those little happenings you deal with and don't worry about it.

Church was a blessing, as it was World Communion Sunday. The people were so very friendly, and the pastor at this small church has a special ritual i had never seen. As each person takes communion, s/he goes to the rail and kneels and prays, and he goes to each person and puts his hand on your shoulder and silently prays for you. The sermon was about Sodom and Gomorrah, and he pointed out how much of their judgment was from their lack of care for the poor.

After church, we met back up at the resort and all of us went to My Old Kentucky Home State Park. The tour reminded me of the plantation tours back home, but this house still has almost all of the original furnishings! It seems it was only owned by the same one family, and when the last owner sold it to the state so it could become a state park, she donated most of the furnishings so it would look as it did in the 1840's and 1850's.

While Stephen Foster, who wrong the song "My Old Kentucky Home" never lived there, the original owner, John Rowan, was his cousin and this was Foster's favorite place to visit.

From there we went about a mile up the road into Bardstown. We walked and saw some of the sights, and tried to visit the cathedral. It was supposed to be open until 5pm, but at 4:30 when we got there, it was already locked up. Apparently someone wanted to knock off early!

Dinner was at the Old Talbot Tavern, which has been in continuous operation since 1779. We laughed and talked and ate and probably overstayed our welcome, and then went back to the resort where some of us enjoyed the hot tub.

It may not sound like we did much, but for a Sunday, it was plenty.

Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Egypt

Blue Shirt Day / World Day of Bullying Prevention -- bullying hurts all of us

California Rideshare Week -- California, US (designed to encourage commuters to take personal responsibility for reducing traffic and smog by pledging to rideshare); it all started with
Ride-Share Week 2014 -- Ventura County, CA, US (encouraging car dependent Californians to drive less, save money, keep the air cleaner, and carpool)

Child Health Day -- US

Country Inn, Bed-and-Breakfast Day -- across North America (special events to introduce people to the wonderful world of country inns and bed-and-breakfasts)

Earthquake Remembrance Day -- Turkmenistan

Festival of the Other Five Toes -- Fairy Calendar

Garlic Lovers Day -- internet generated, unofficial, and delicious

Ivy Day -- Ireland (death anniversary of Irish nationalist leader and Home Rule advocate Charles Stewart Parnell)

Jackie Mayer Rehab Day -- Sandusky, OH, US (anniversary of renaming the local rehab hospital after Sandusky's "favorite daughter", Jackie Mayer, Miss America 1963 and stroke survivor, now advocating on behalf of stroke survivors)

Labour Day -- ACT, NSW, QLD, & SA, Australia

Mad Hatter Day -- US (second crazy day in the year, to balance April Fool's Day, and based on the 10/6 on the Mad Hatter's hat in Tenniel's drawing; in English-speaking countries where the day preceeds the month in notation, it is celebrated on June 10)

National Education Day -- Kiribati

National German-American Day -- US (anniversary of the disembarking of the first German immigrants to Pennsylvania in 1683)
German Pioneer Day -- Pennsylvania

National Noodle Day

National Physician's Assistant Day -- US (anniversary of the first graduating class of physician assistants from Duke University on this day in 1967

Peat-Cutting Day -- Falkland Islands (Spring Holiday)

St. Faith's Day (Patron of pilgrims, prisoners, soldiers)

St. Bruno's Day (Founder of the Carthusian Monks; Patron against demonic possession)

Territory Day -- Christmas Island

Thanksgiving Day -- Saint Lucia

Tishreen Liberation War Day -- Syria

World Day of Architecture -- with a Facebook page

World Habitat Day -- UN (Habitat for Humanity)

Anniversaries Today:

Elizabeth Taylor marries Larry Fortensky, 1991
American Library Association founded in 1876

Birthdays Today:

Jimmy Sisto, 1974
Elisabeth Shue, 1963
David Zucker, 1947
Britt Ekland, 1942
Thor Heyerdahl, 1912
Carole Lombard, 1908
Janet Gaynor, 1906
Helen Wills Moody, 1905
Florence Seibert, 1897
Le Corbusier, 1887
Karol Szymanowski, 1882
George Westinghouse, 1846
Jenny Lind, 1820

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"(TV), 2000
"The Gin Game"(Play), 1977
"I Hear a Symphony"(Supremes single release), 1965
The Jazz Singer(Film, the first "talkie"), 1927

Today in History:

The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman Republic army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus in the Battle of Arausio, BC105
Founding of Germantown, Pennsylvania by 13 Mennonite families from Germany, 1683
The Americans and French begin the siege of Cornwallis at Yorktown, which becomes the last battle of the American Revolutionary War, 1781
Benjamin Hanks patents a self-winding clock, 1783
Louis XVI accedes to the demands of the women of Paris and returns to that city, 1789
Great Fire of Newcastle and Gateshead begins shortly after midnight, leads to 53 deaths and hundreds of injuries, 1854
The American Chess Association is organized and holds the first major US chess tournament, in NYC, 1857
The American Library Association is organized in Philadelphia, 1876
Thomas Edison shows his first motion picture, 1889
Nabisco Foods debuts its Cream of Wheat, 1893
Beatrix Van Rijk becomes the first licensed Dutch woman pilot, 1911
Opening of The Jazz Singer, the first prominent talking movie, 1927
Egypt launches a coordinated attack against Israel to reclaim land lost in the Six Day War, 1973
Massacre of students gathering at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand to protest the return of ex-dictator Thanom, 1976
Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House, 1979
President of Egypt, Anwar al-Sadat is assassinated, 1981
51 Pegasi is discovered to be the first major star apart from the Sun to have a planet (and extrasolar planet) orbiting around it, 1995
Jason Lewis completes the first human-powered circumnavigation of the globe, 2007

Just the name "MegaCavern" conjured up images in my mind of the times i've been in caves, which i really enjoyed.

This was fun and interesting in that it's a totally man made cavern, not a cave. Formerly a limestone quarry, it now has businesses in it. One of those is a zip line, which Grace, Blossoming and Eagle went on, and another is the tram, which the rest of us enjoyed.

They also do vermiculture, raising worms to make great fertilizer. The tour guide proves the worms are edible and healthy by eating one!

This cavern was a designated bomb shelter at one time, with plans to house 50,000 people if the need ever arose because of nuclear attack. Only people on the list would be accepted, with politicians topping the list because, of course, you can't rebuild civilization without a glut of politicians.

After being in a cavern for a few hours, we emerged to a wet world where our picnic lunch plans had to change. A restaurant filled the bill, and since it was a quintessentially local place it gave us a special memory.

Our plan was to visit the Louisville Zoo for the afternoon, maybe look up some relatives in the gorilla house (haha), but by the time we finished lunch, it was only going to be open for another two hours or so because they close early in fall and winter. All of us were a bit tired and ready for rest and quiet, so Fivecat headed home and the rest of us went to the resort or hotel.

We did meet back up in the evening for leftovers and a fun evening of talk, laughing, and the game Taboo. Not as much done as we had actually planned, but just an all around good day, with enough activity to keep us busy and enough down time not to wear us slap out.

Today is:

Bathtub Day -- can't confirm this one, but it's as good a day as any to be glad you have one!

BOL Foundation Day -- Laos

Face Your Fears Day -- Stephen Hughes (hityourstride.com) encourages you to use this as a day to try to do something you've always been afraid to do

Feast Day of Ma'at -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of the Deerk Toes -- Fairy Calendar (celebrating the toes on a fairy's "deerk", for which there is no human equivalent)

Lepanto Day -- Greece

Nagasaki Kunchi -- Nagasaki, Japan (harvest festival, through the 9th)

National Flower Day -- US (anniversary of President Reagan signing the bill, in 1986, that made the rose the US National Flower)

National Frappe Day

Nobel Conference 50 -- Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN, US (annual two-day science symposium)

Nones of October -- Ancient Roman Calendar; other observances
Festival of Juno Cutitis and Jupiter Fulgor
Victoria, Lady of Victories Day a/k/a Pallas Athena -- also celebrated by the Ancient Greeks

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary -- Catholic Christian

St. Justina of Padua's Day (Patron of Padua, Italy; Santa Giustina, Italy)

Try To Start An Argument Over Which Is the Best Muppet Day -- Kermit, hands down (argue below, if you wish)(Possibly started by the International Association of People without a Life)

You Matter To Me Day -- because the phrase"you matter to me" can make a profound difference in someone's life

Anniversaries Today:

Larry King married Julie Alexander, 1989
Dow Jones makes the first report, in the Wall Street Journal, of an average of the prices of 12 industrial stocks, 1896

Birthdays Today:

Toni Braxton, 1967
Simon Cowell, 1959
Michael W. Smith, 1957
Yo-Yo Ma, 1955
Vladimir Putin, 1952
John Cougar Mellencamp, 1951
Joy Behar, 1943
Charles Dutoit, 1936
Thomas Keneally, 1935
Amiri Baraka, 1934
Bishop Desmond Tutu, 1931
Al Martino, 1927
R. D. Laing, 1927
June Allyson, 1917
Vaughn Monroe, 1911
Andy Devine, 1905
Niels Bohr, 1885
Thomas J. Wise, 1859
James Whitcomb Riley, 1849
Caesar Rodney, 1728(O.S. date)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Independent(Newspaper, first issue), 1986
"Cats"(Musical), 1982
"Route 66"(TV), 1960
"Your Hit Parade"(TV), 1950
"One Touch of Venus"(Musical), 1943
"Eve of St. Mark"(Play), 1942

Today in History:

The epoch of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar), BC3761
The first public burning of books in Louvain, Netherlands, 1520
Ralph Wedgewood patents carbon paper in London, 1806
The first chartered railway in the US, the Granite Railway, begins operations, 1826
Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba, 1886
Henry Ford institutes the moving assembly line, 1913
Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland college in the infamous 222-0 football game, 1916
160 consecutive days of 100*F+ temperatures begin at Marble Bar, Australia, 1924
Beat poet Allen Ginsberg reads his poem "Howl" for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco, 1955
U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmits first ever photographs of the far side of the moon, 1959
Nigeria joins the United Nations, 1960
Oman joins the United Nations, 1971
Cats opens on Broadway and begins a run of nearly 18 years, 1982
The Great Flood of 1993 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, 1993
Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, is found tied to a fence after being savagely beaten, 1998
The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan begins, 2001
A Southampton University research fellow discovers a long lost Antonio Vivaldi flute concerto at the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh, 2010

Our final full day only had loose plans, and they didn't really firm up until around 10am, which was fine by me.

We had been to Louisville several times, but now it was time to see Lexington a little, which i'd been wanting to do. So we planned, despite the forecast rain, to go to Ashland, the home of Henry Clay in Lexington.

Again i felt like i was at one of the plantation tours back home, and i'm glad i find them so interesting, they never grow old to me. There is a type of wallpaper in the Ashland home that is so very rare there are almost no other examples of it extant, and tons of really interesting stuff.

Since Ashland is just a block off Main Street, we headed back down there to a small restaurant that we had seen in the travel book that was vegetarian/vegan friendly. It turned out to be excellent, and very accommodating.

While we were there, there was a tornado watch, but all we got was a bit of drizzle. One area of Lexington, we found out after we were back at the resort with the blue skies over us as we walked the trail, had a tornado touch down!

The evening was spent with those of us who hadn't left town, and Fivecat our hostess and her husband, eating leftovers and talking and wishing the evening would never end.

All of the leftovers that we weren't packing home was given to Fivecat to take home -- it took up all of the back of her minivan!

As much as i wanted to, i couldn't stay up late, because the next day would be a long drive. Dayeanu would be expecting me, and i had a card for her from the rest of the group.

Today is:

Air Force Day -- India

American Touch Tag Day -- go outside and remember how much fun it is to play tag

Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day -- at your own risk! sponsored by Susan E. Schwartz of "Teddies Are The Answer"

Cephalopod Awareness Days: Octopus Day -- celebrating the most intelligent invertebrates in the world; today, celebrate all the eight-armed species

Children's Day -- Iran

Emergency Nurses Day

Feast of St. Bridget -- Sweden (traditional date, others who recognize the saint celebrate on July 23; Patron of widows; Europe; Sweden)

Feast of St. Keyne -- Celtic Saint, patroness of the spring and tree arbor that bear her name; the first to drink of her water after being newly married will have the upper hand in the marriage

Frankfurt Book Fair -- Frankfurt, Germany (world's largest international book fair; through Sunday)

Full Hunter's Moon/Full Blood Moon/Full Sanguine Moon (some also consider this the true Harvest Moon, if last month's came too early)
     Boun Ok Phansa and Ventiane -- Laos (end of "Buddist Lent" and a traditional boat race festival starting tomorrow)
     Kojagrat Purnima -- Nepal (end of Dashain)
     Thadingyut Full Moon/"Buddhist Lent" ends -- Myanmar (begins at sunset, through tomorrow)
     Vap Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka

Independence Day -- Croatia

International Top Spinning Day -- sponsored by the Spinning Top and Yo-Yo Museum, to recognize the Earth as a large spinning top; add your spins to the total and e-mail results to the sponsor

International Walk to School/Bike to School Day -- to promote both healthy exercise and less pollution

Lovable Lawyers Day -- internet generated, and if you love one, good for you

National Fluffernutter Day

National Pet Obesity Day -- because about half of pets in the US are overweight or obese

National Pierogi Day -- this day in 1952, Ted Twardzik, Sr., produced Mrs. T's Pierogies samples and took them to a local grocery store; eat a pierogi today in his honor

National Stop Bullying Day -- sponsored by Hey U.G.L.Y., which stands for Unique Gifted Lovable You

Navy Day/Battle of Angamos Day -- Peru

San Ernesto Day -- celebration of Che Guevera as a saint who answers prayers for rain among Bolivian campesinos

SAVE Today -- US (Stop America's Violence Everywhere, a day created in 1995 by the American Medical Association Alliance)

Sergeant Alvin C. York Day -- US (the feats for which he earned the Medal of Honor in 1918 were accomplished on this date)

St. Demetrius' Day (Patron of Belgrade, Serbia; Salonica, Greece; Thessaloniki, Greece; against evil spirits)

St. Pelagia the Penitant's Day (Patron of actresses)

St. Thais' Day (Patron of fallen women)

Sukkot -- Judaism (begins at sundown, through sundown the 15th)

Tavistock Goose Fair -- Tavistock, Devon, UK (known locally as the Goosey, dating back to 12th-century Michaelmas fairs, this orginal livestock fair is now mostly a fun festival)

Tube Top Day -- if you dare. i don't

Anniversary Today:

Ozzie Nelson marries Harriet Hilliard, 1935

Birthdays Today:

Matt Damon, 1970
Darrell Hammond, 1960
Stephanie Zimbalist, 1956
Bill Elliot, 1955
Sigourney Weaver, 1949
Sarah Purcell, 1948
Chevy Chase, 1943
R. L. Stine, 1943
Jesse Jackson, 1941
Harvey Pekat, 1939
Paul Hogan, 1939
Clodagh Aubry, 1937
Rona Barrett, 1936
Faith Ringgld, 1930
Juan Peron, 1895
Eddie Rickenbacker, 1890
Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro, 1676
Heinrich Schutz, 1585

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Cagney and Lacey"(TV), 1981
"Sugar Babies"(Revue) 1979
"The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet"(Radio), 1944
"Capricorn Concerto"(Barber Op. 21), 1944
"In the Shadow of the Glen"(Play), 1903

Today in History:

Constantine, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, defeats Licinius, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, at the Battle of Cibalae, 314
Great standing on the Ugra river, a standoff between the forces of Akhmat Khan, Khan of the Great Horde, and the Grand Duke Ivan III of Russia, which resulted in the retreat of the Tataro-Mongols and eventual disintegration of the Horde, 1480
The supernova "Kepler's Nova" is first sighted, 1604
The Massachusetts Bay Colony forms its first government, 1633
First recorded eruption of Galunggung (volcano of West Java, Indonesia) sends boiling sludge into the valley (this volcano would later erupt at such a time as to cause passenger jets to be damaged and forced into emergency landings), 1822
The first Hawai'ian constitution is proclaimed, 1840
The telegraph line from LA to SF opens, 1860

A gas explosion causes the Peshtigo Fire, in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, which killed between 1,200 and 2,500 people and consumed the entire town of Peshtigo and surrounding forests and several other villages -- the deadliest fire in American history, it covered 1.5 million acres, and occurred on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, 1871

The Great Chicago Fire, which consumed 4 square miles, killed 200, and destroyed the original Emancipation Proclamation, began, 1871

The first women's prison run by women opens at the Indiana Reformatory Institute, 1873
Dow Jones begins reporting an average of selected industrial stocks, 1896
Edmonton, Alberta and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan are incorporated as cities in Canada, 1904
New York Yankees's Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series; one of only 20 perfect games in MLB history, 1956
Algeria joins the United Nations, 1962
Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia, 1967
Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60mph at Blowering Dam, Australia, 1978
A deadly earthquake hits Pakistan, 2005
Australian mare Black Caviar ties the horse racing record set by Phar Lap with an unbeaten run of 14 wins, 2011

It is true that if you want to hear G-d laugh, all you have to do is try to make some plans. They will never go quite as expected.

My original travel dates were from the first to the 8th. Talking to the other ladies, i realized i needed to make plans to go see Dayeanu, who wasn't able to join the fun because of her mother's ill health. In fact, her mother had died a few days before we got together, and she was really in need of some cheering up. Thus i became the cheering up committee.

This involved me changing my plans from going home on Wednesday and going to work on Thursday to going to Dayeanu's on Wednesday, heading home on Thursday, and going to work Friday.

Then i got up Wednesday morning, got everything packed and ready to go, and Cicero wouldn't start.

Well. That's a monkey wrench.

Fivecat came over and gave me a jump start, and i drove behind her to the local mechanic, who is a friend of her husband and whom they trust. Mr. Richard got to the shop about 10 minutes after we did, and promised to look at it after he did a couple of other jobs that had been promised first thing that morning. We went back to the resort, where we could stay until 11am, which was check out time.

So much for saying good-night the night before, i went back in and spent a bit more time talking to my friends, and when we all left just before 11, Fivecat called Mr. Richard.

It was a battery, and he had Auto Zone send one so that it would have a warranty back home! That's how good he is, he thought of that. He only charged me $120 for all of it, and that included making sure the starter and alternator weren't involved. In fact, he said, the battery had been installed back in 2008! So indeed, it was more than time to get a new one.

The fact that Cicero had this problem right there where my friend lives was a blessing, although it sure didn't feel that way in the first few minutes. The battery would have died on the way home, possibly in some place where i would have had to pay for a tow and been at the mercy of the nearest garage.

While waiting for Cicero to get out of the car hospital, i made a hotel reservation in a town halfway between Nashville and Memphis. That way i could drive halfway to Dayeanu's place on Wednesday, the rest of the way Thursday morning, and drive home on Friday.

A quick call to The Big Boss, and an explanation that i was temporarily stranded in Kentucky with a broken down Cicero, resulted in his telling me that i can simply come in to clean Miss P's house next Tuesday, and his place on Thursday if it needs it. He was very gracious about it, and more worried about me than about my getting the work done, for which i am grateful.

Sweetie was very understanding, although he was beyond tired of dealing with everything at the house without me. Then again, i think it's good that he has to do that once in a while!

Once i got back on the road, i took it easier than i had on the way up, as i was starting to get weary. Stopping at the Tennessee Welcome Center, i asked a few questions and the very nice man there showed me a highway that bypassed Nashville traffic, and i made it to the town where my hotel was without having to go through a major city. That was very helpful.

In this small town, it took a bit of a search for the hotel, but it was worth it. It is a small chain, very inexpensive, but the rooms were pristinely clean and had amenities you sometimes don't get in very expensive hotels.

After checking in, and a bit of a misunderstanding about the fact that i need a non-smoking room because of my lung condition, which was solved very pleasantly, i headed out to find dinner and do something to occupy a bit of time before bed. An Oriental restaurant filled the bill, as those usually do since you can get lots of stir fried veggies, and then i wandered around a couple of stores and got gas so i wouldn't need to in the morning.

And so to bed, once i got back in a settled.

Today is:

Abolition Day -- Saint Barthelemy

Cephalopod Awareness Days: Nautilus Night -- celebrating the most intelligent invertebrates in the world; today, celebrate all of the lesser-known extant cephalopods

Chicago International Film Festival -- Chicago, IL, US (oldest competitive international film festival in North America; through the 23rd)

Community Day -- Valencia, Spain

Curious Events Holiday -- Fairy Calendar

Establishment of the Samitinget in Norway -- Sami People's Parliament

Feast of Abraham the Patriarch -- Christian

Festival for Fausta Felicitas -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of good luck and joy)

Festival for Venus -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Give Peace a Chance Day / Instant Karma Day -- in honor of the birth of John Lennon

Independence Day -- Uganda(1962)

Korean Alphabet Day -- Korea (Hangul Nal)

Leif Erickson Day -- Iceland; Norway; Minnesota and Wisconsin, US

Messenger Appreciation Day -- 10/9 in radio talk is a request to repeat information

Moldy Cheese Day (Sorry, but I do not like the stinky, moldy cheeses, at least not the heavier ones.)

Mop Fair -- Tewkesbury, England (through tomorrow; festival dating back to the 12th century, originally a fair in which prospective employers came to find laborers, now two days of fun, fairgrounds rides, traditional games and sideshows, and more)

National Chess Day -- US (declared by President Ford in 1976)

National Day of Honor -- Peru (sometimes translated as Day of Dignity; commemorates the nationalization of the countries oil fields)

National Depression Screening Day® 2014 -- US (find out how to help spread the word)

National Student Day -- US (a day for college students to celebrate and promote social responsibility by volunteering)

National Submarine/Grinder/Hoagie/Hero/PoBoy/Pierogi Day -- each of these has its own special day, but today you get to pick which one you want

St. Denis' Day (Patron of possessed people; France; Paris, France; against frenzy, headaches, rabies, and strife)

St. Dionysius the Areopagite's Day (considered the first Bishop of Athens, mentioned in Acts 17; Patron of Zakynthos Island, Greece; against headaches and the devil)

St. Louis Bertrand's Day (Patron of Caribbean vicariates; Columbia; Dominican novices)

Sukkot -- Judaism (began at sunset yesterday, through sunset on the 25th)

Takayama Matsuri Autumn Festival -- Takayama, Japan (ancient, elaborate floats parade through the old city; through tomorrow)

World Post Day / Universal Postal Union Day -- UN

World Sight Day -- International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (This year's theme is "Universal Eye Health" and the Call To Action is "No more Avoidable Blindness")

Ziua Nationala de Comemorare a Holocaustului -- Romania (National Day of Commemorating the Holocaust)

Anniversaries Today:

Mission San Francisco de Asis, the oldest building in the city of San Francisco and now called Mission Delores, is founded, 1776
King Louis XII of France marries Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII of England, 1514

Birthdays Today:

Zachary Ty Bryan, 1981
Brandon Routh, 1979
Eddie Guerrero, 1967
David Cameron, 1966
Michael Pare, 1959
Mike Singletary, 1958
Tony Shalhoub, 1953
Scott Bakula, 1954
Sharon Osbourne, 1952
Robert Wuhl, 1951
Jackson Browne, 1948
John Entwistle, 1944
Brian Lamb, 1941
Joe Pepitone, 1940
John Lennon, 1940
Russell Myers, 1938
Donald Sinden, 1923
Jacques Tati, 1908
Bruce, Catton, 1899
Alfred Dreyfus, 1859
Camille Saint-Saens, 1835
Mary Ann Shadd Cary, 1823 (with her husband, the first black newspaper publishers in the US)
Robert de Sorbon, 1201 (founded Sorbonne University, Paris)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"High Button Shoes"(Musical), 1949
"The Iceman Cometh"(Play), 1946
"June Moon"(Play), 1929
"Topaz"(Play)1928

Today in History:

Leif Ericson discovers "Vinland" (somewhere in New England or Nova Scotia, possibly?), 1000
Leif Ericson lands in L'Anse aux Meadows, Canada, a definitive European landing in the "New World", 1003
The Korean Hangual alphabet is devised, 1446
Founder of Rhode Island Roger Williams is banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a religious dissident after he speaks out against punishments for religious offenses and giving away Native American land, 1635
Collegiate School of CT (Yale University) is chartered in New Haven, 1701
Father Francisco Palou founds Mission San Francisco de Asis in what is now San Francisco, California, 1776
City of Hobart, Tasmania, founded, 1804
Official opening of the University of Ghent, 1817
Isaac Singer patents the sewing machine motor, 1855
Joshua Stoddard of Worcester, Mass., patents the first Calliope, 1855
The first US underground pipeline for carrying oil is laid in Pennsylvania, 1865
Aaron Montgomery starts the mail order business that will later become Montgomery Ward, 1872
The Universal Postal Union is created as part of the Treaty of Berne, 1874
The first 2-way telephone conversation over outdoor wires occurs, 1876
Washington Monument opens to the public, 1888
Woodrow Wilson becomes the first US president to attend a World Series Game, 1915
National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) forms, 1926
Hoover Dam begins transmitting electricity to L.A., 1936
A day after being captured, Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara is executed for attempting to incite a revolution in Bolivia, 1967
The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia, 1970
Abolition of capital punishment in France, 1981
A 13 kilogram (est.) fragment of the Peekskill meteorite lands in the driveway of the Knapp residence in Peekskill, New York, destroying the family's 1980 Chevrolet Malibu, 1992
North Korea allegedly tests its first nuclear device, 2006
First lunar impact of the Centaur and LCROSS spacecrafts as part of NASA's Lunar Precursor Robotic Program, 2009

Thursday morning i woke up bright and early so i could get back on the road and, i hoped, get through Memphis before the morning traffic got too bad. That's exactly what happened, so i arrived at Dayeanu's lovely place at around noon!

The first thing i noticed, driving up to the house, were the bales of hay, the air of genteel decay of the fences, and then the goats and horses. Pulling up to the big house behind her vehicle, i saw Dayeanu sitting on the porch waiting for me.

She was as warm and welcoming as i remembered, and she gave me the grand tour of the house. The property has been in the family for more than a hundred years, although they don't have as much acreage as they used to, and they no longer have cattle. This year, with her mother being ill, she didn't even put in a kitchen garden.

We sat and talked and sipped tea and i met and i talked to the macaw. He wouldn't salute me, but he did wave hello. She introduced me to the dogs, and shoed the goats off of the porch, and we went out to pet the horses.

Then we sat and talked and gabbed some more, She asked me if i would like to ride a horse, and i told her about how Fivecat hadn't been able to take us to a horse farm, so i would love a ride if it could be arranged. She spoke to her daughter Kay who said she had been wanting to exercise a couple of them.

This being a farm and not a place where someone else brings the horses to you and you get to ride and then someone else brings the horse back to the barn and takes care of it, i got my first lesson in how to prepare a horse for riding. Kay introduced me to the curry comb and the brushes and how to use them, and i brushed my horse's mane and tail until he closed his eyes in ecstasy.

He and the other horse got a bit cranky, though, when they saw the saddles. It was as if they said, "Hey, wait a minute, how come every time we get brushed, we then have to give you a ride!" Kay saddled them, with me staying out of the way except when she asked me to do something or another. When i was young i was taught to ride, and nothing else, which isn't a good way to learn.

Kay and i rode long enough for me to have a good time and for the horses to get a bit of exercise. The horse i road was a gray Arabian, and he is the grand old man of the place so rides very gently. Both horses wanted to head back to the barn at every opportunity, but Kay insisted they behave and give us a good ride, and i even got to trot a bit!

It was so much fun, and then i hosed down the horse. We put the saddles and bridles in the shed, and by the time we came back out, both horses were rolling, undoing all the brushing and rinsing we had done. It's okay, they were cute.

After i had a shower, we went and had a very nice dinner. It was a great end to the day.

Today is:

Alex Kivi Day a/k/a Kivi Day -- Finland (The Day of Finnish Literature)

Algonquin Mill Festival -- Carrollton, OH, US (an 1800s pioneer festival; through Sunday)

Apple Butter Makin' Days -- Mt. Vernon, MO, US (making apple butter on the courthouse lawn, and lots of other fun; thrugh Sunday)

Arbor Day -- Poland

Bonza Bottler Day

Cephalopod Awareness Days: Squid Day/Cuttlefish Day -- celebrating the most intelligent invertebrates in the world; today, celebrate the tentacular species that all have ten tentacles

Columbus Day Festival and Hot Air Balloon Regatta -- Columbus, KS, US (through Sunday)

Curacao Day -- Curacao

Double Tenth Day/National Day -- China; Taiwan (In remembrance of the revolution against the Imperial Manchu Dynasty.)

Festival for Juno Moneta -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Juno as goddess of money)

Fort Ligonier Days -- Ligonier, PA, US (commemoration of the Battle of Ligonier with reenactments, parade, entertainment, etc.; through Sunday)

Guayaquil Independence Day Holiday -- Ecuador

Hull Fair -- Hull, England (a fair that dates back over 700 years, now one of the countries largest traveling funfairs; through the 18th)

Independence Day / Deed of Cession Day -- Fiji(1970)

Journee Nationale de la Femme Marocaine -- Morocco (National Women's Day)

Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest -- Kitchener and Waterloo, ON, Canada (second largest Oktoberfest in the world; through the 18th)

Kruger Day -- South Africa

KWP Foundation Day -- North Korea (1945)

Maroons Day -- Suriname (celebration of indigenous peoples)

Medford Jazz Festival -- Medford, OR, US (over 100 jazz performances, many by nationally known bands, plus food and celebration; through Sunday)

Mississinewa 1812 -- Mississinewa, IN, US (the largest War of 1812 living history and reenactment event; through Sunday)

Moi Day -- Kenya

Natchitoches Historic Pilgrimage -- Natchitoches, LA, US (National Historic Landmark District homes, plantations, and the sites where the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed are featured on this fabulous tour; through Sunday)

National Angel Food Cake Day

National Cake Decorating Day -- some websites say today, some say the 17th

National Handbag Day -- started by www.PurseBlog.com

Naval Academy Day -- US

New York Comic Con -- NY, NY, US (through Sunday)

Ocean County Columbus Day Parade and Italian Festival -- Seaside Hgts., NJ, US (through Sunday)

Parke County Covered Bridge Festival -- Rockville, IN, US (with 31 historic covered bridges, this is the covered bridge capital of the world; tours, arts and crafts booths, demonstrations, and old-fashioned homemade foods, through the 19th)

Rockport Seafair -- Rockport, TX, US (fresh-from-the-bay seafood, entertainment, crab races, and more; through Sunday)

Royal National (Gaelic) Mod -- Inverness, Scotland (Gaelic Language Festival; through the 17th)

Sawara Festival -- Chiba, Japan (also called the Grand Festival of Sarawa, one of Japan's major float festivals; through Sunday)

Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word -- Nashville, TN, US (through Sunday)

St. Charles Scarecrow Festival -- St. Charles, IL, US (handcrafted scarecrows, music, entertainment, and more; through Sunday)

St. Francis Borgia's Day (Patron of Portugal; Rota, Marianas; against earthquakes)

St. Paulinus of York's Day (Patron of Rochester, England)

Tag der Volksabstimmung -- Austria (Referendum Day)

Tennessee Fall Homecoming -- Museum of Appalachia, Clinton, TN, US (celebrating the culture and heritage of Appalachia; through Sunday)

Victorian Theatre by Candlelight presents "Cold Blooded" -- Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, Indianapolis, IN, US (watch as prominent Indianapolis attorney Benjamin Harrison prosecutes Nancy Clem, the first woman tried for murder in the state of Indiana; this weekend and next)

War of Independence Anniversary -- Cuba

World Day Against the Death Penalty -- International

World Egg Day -- International (from the International Egg Commission)

World Homeless Day -- no one should be homeless

World Mental Health Day -- International

World Porridge Day -- celebrating Scotland's traditional national dish

Anniversaries Today:

Edward M. Kennedy, Jr., marries Katherine Anne "Kiki" Gershman, 1993
Richard Burton marries Elizabeth Taylor, 1975 (second time)
The United States Naval Academy opened with 50 midshipmen and 7 professors, 1845

Birthdays Today:

Adrian Grenier, 1976
Bob Burnquist, 1976
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 1974
Mario Lopez, 1973
Brett Favre, 1969
Daniel Pearl, 1963
Tanya Tucker, 1958
David Lee Roth, 1955
Nora Roberts, 1950
Jessica Harper, 1949
Charles Dance, 1946
Ben Vereen, 1946
Harold Pinter, 1930
Richard Jaeckel, 1926
Thelonious Monk, 1917
Edward D. Wood, Jr., 1924
Helen Hayes, 1900
Giuseppe Verdi, 1813
Henry Cavendish, 1731 (discovered hydrogen)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Upstairs, Downstairs"(TV), 1971
"The Bob Newhart Show"(TV), 1962
"Milk and Honey"(Musical), 1961
"Porgy and Bess"(Folk opera), 1935
"Die Chinesische Mauer/The Great Wall of China"(Play), 1946
The Tuxedo, 1886 (introduced at The Tuxedo Club in New York)

Today in History:

The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000 to 30,000 in the Caribbean, 1780
The first non-Native American settlement is founded in Oklahoma, 1802
William Lassell discovers Neptune's moon Triton, 1846
The first "Dinner Jacket" is worn to the Autumn Ball at Tuxedo Park, NY, 1886
President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal, 1913
Ho Chi Minh enters Hanoi after the French pull out of the city, 1954
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he is refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant, 1957
The Windscale fire in Cumbria, U.K. is the world's first major nuclear accident, 1957
The opening ceremony at The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, is broadcast live in the first Olympic telecast relayed by geostationary communication satellite, 1964
The Outer Space Treaty, signed on January 27 by more than sixty nations, comes into force, 1967
In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group, 1970
Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, 1971
After having closed borders for about two hundred years, Armenia and Turkey sign protocols in Zurich, Switzerland to open their borders, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI adds Arabic to the languages in which the weekly Vatican address is broadcast, 2012

The family had kept up a steady stream of calls the whole time i was gone, so on my way back Friday i did dawdle a bit.

Sitting with Dayeanu a while, i did laundry and enjoyed one of her very delicious smoothies. Then on the drive, i stopped a couple of times more than i needed to, getting unsweetened tea and decaf coffee and stretching my legs and enjoying the slow drives down the back roads from the middle of Arkansas through Natchez, Mississippi and into Louisiana.

Once back in town, at only just after 3pm, i was reminded of another reason i love to get away -- the interstate was at a dead stop. Yes, i know Friday evening's rush hour starts on Thursday morning. That's when i decided to not take the interstate the last few miles and just stuck to the surface streets.

At home, i was hit with good news -- the girls had already done my Friday shift at the cat shelter! They knew i would come in tired, so they went and did it for me.

Also, this time, there weren't any dirty dishes waiting for me! There was dead food in the fridge, but no one had starved (although the cats want me to think they did -- drama queens).

Sweetie was so happy to have me back, he was beside himself. Next year, i'm going to send him on his own trip while i'm gone, or bring him along, rent him his own car, and tell him to go have fun. It would certainly be better than having him mope for a week like he has always done when i'm away.

Anyway, this was a good trip away for me, i enjoyed it, and i hope next year's sanity retreat can be somewhere on the West Coast. There are a lot of people i wouldn't mind stopping to see on the way.

Today is:

Apple Butter Festival -- Berkeley Springs, WV, US (simmering spicy apple butter in copper kettles in the town square, plus lots more; through tomorrow)

Armed Forces Day -- Abkhazia

Catoctin Colorfest -- Thurmont, MD, US (juried art festival, live music, food, and more; through tomorrow)

Cephalopod Awareness Days: Myths and Legends Day -- celebrating the most intelligent invertebrates in the world; for all the cephalopods of legend, literature and movies

Chowder Days/Chowderfest -- Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT, US (a beautiful, and delicious, riverfront festival featuring seven kinds of New England Chowders; through Monday)

General Pulaski Memorial Day -- US (celebrating Casimir Pulaski, "the father of American cavalry")

Harvest Celebration -- Billings Farm, Woodstock, VT, US ('tis the season, especially for apple cider and lots of pumpkins; through tomorrow)

It's My Party Day -- so go have one!

Jack-O-Launch/Punkin Chunkin Colorado -- DeLaney Farm, Aurora, CO, US (with the official Punkin Chunkin Contest, divisions include trebuchet, compressed air cannon, catapult, human power, and youth; a free festival for the whole family)

Louisiana Art & Folk Festival -- Columbia, LA, US (celebrating the rich folklore and music arts of Louisiana)

Meditrinalia/Vinalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (tasting of the year's new wine; in honor of Meditrina, goddess of health/medicine, longevity, and wine, and Bacchus, god of wine)

Monster Myths by Moonlight -- Milford, KS, US (wear your costume and take a nature walk to learn the truth about such Halloween "monsters" as bats, snakes, spiders, vultures, etc.)

Mountain Glory Festival -- Marion, NC, US (celebrating the mountain heritage)

National Sausage Pizza Day

Old Michaelmas Day -- Celtic Calendar

Oyster Festival -- Chincoteague Island, VA, US (oysters served almost every way imaginable, all you can eat!)

Pine Barrens Jamboree -- Waretown, NJ, US (celebration of New Jersey Pinelands, with canoeing, nature walks, music, kids' activities, and more; free!)

Prater's Mill Country Fair -- Dalton, GA, US (a Southern festival of quality artists, craftsmen, music, and food; through tomorrow)

Qatar Prix L'arc de Triomphe -- Longchamp Race-course, Paris, France (one of the world's greatest horse races, first run in 1920; celebrations and events through tomorrow)

Revolution Day/Uprising Against Fascism Day -- Republic of Macedonia

Scenic Drive Festival -- Van Buren County, IA, US (includes flea markets, an arts festival, and historic architecture; through tomorrow)

Sedona Arts Festival -- Sedona, AZ, US (celebration of visual, performing, and culinary arts, with proceeds going to student art programs and scholarships; through tomorrow)

Shaker Village Harvest Festival -- Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, New Gloucester, ME, US (with free demonstrations and paid workshops and events)

St. Gomar's Day (Patron of childless people, courtiers, cowherds, glove makers, people in difficult marriages, separated spouses, woodcutters; Lier, Belgium; against hernias)

Sunbeam Sliding Sunday -- Fairy Calendar (only occasionally on a Sunday)

#Universal Music Day -- celebrate music as our universal language; this year's theme is"Dreams Really Do Come True"

Vermont Apple Festival -- Springfield, VT, US (family fun, farm animals, food, farmer's market, crafts, and apples; a true family oriented event held at Riverside Middle School)

"You Go Girl!" Day -- in honor of Kathy Sullivan, first American woman to walk in space

Anniversary Today:

William Jefferson Clinton marries Hillary Rodham, 1975

Birthdays Today:

Emily Deschanel, 1976
Stephen Moyer, 1969
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, 1969
Jane Krakowski, 1968
Luke Perry, 1966
Joan Cusack, 1962
Steve Young, 1961
Dawn French, 1957
David Morse, 1953
Daryl Hall, 1948
Robert Gale, 1945
Ron Liebman, 1937
Dottie West, 1932
Roscoe Robinson, Jr., 1928
Elmore Leonard, 1925
Art Blakey, 1919
Jerome Robbins, 1918
Charles Revson, 1906
Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884
Harlan Fiske Stone, 1872
Henry John Heinz, 1844
George Williams, 1821 (founder, YMCA)
Mason Locke "Parson" Weems, 1759

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"(Play), 1984
"Saturday Night Live"(TV), 1975
"Imagine"(Lennon single release), 1971
"Allegro"(Musical), 1947
"The Silver Tassie"(Play), 1929
The Comptometer (the first adding machine known to be accurate at all times, patented by Dorr Eugene Felt), 1887

Today in History:

Massive earthquake strikes Aleppo, Syria, 1138
Columbus' ship sites land on the horizon (the Bahamas), 1492
Huldrych Zwingli is killed in battle with the Roman Catholic cantons of Switzerland, 1531
Peter the Great becomes tsar of Russia, 1689
Explorer Meriwether Lewis dies under mysterious circumstances along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee at the Grinder's Stand Inn, 1809
The first steam powered ferryboat, the Juliana, begins operation, 1811
Australia's oldest university, University of Sidney, is inaugurated, 1852
The Great Chicago Fire is finally extinguished, 1871
David Houston patents roll film for cameras, 1881
First female FBI "special investigator", Alaska Davidson, appointed, 1922
With the opening of store # 1252, in Milford, Delaware, J.C. Penney becomes a nationwide company, with stores in all 48 states, 1929
CBS's mechanical color system is the first to be licensed for broadcast by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, 1950
Pope John XXIII convenes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years, Vatican II, 1962
NASA launches Apollo 7, the first successful manned Apollo mission, 1968
The NBC sketch comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live debuts with George Carlin as the host and Andy Kaufman, Janis Ian and Billy Preston as guests, 1975
The Mary Rose, a Tudor carrack which sank on July 19 1545, is salvaged from the sea bed of the Solent, off Portsmouth, 1982
The record high of the Dow Jones Industrial Average occurs at 14,198.10 points, 2007
A ban on fracking is upheld by the Constitutional Council of France, 2013

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus. It's the place to come for a weekly laugh, and it's easy to do, just Laugh and Link Up!

Friday afternoon i got back home, and Saturday morning i found out that Mr. Eddie had died a few days before and that the funeral was in a couple of hours. Mr. Eddie had lived in this area for about 40 years, was the spearhead behind organizing the neighborhood pool and the local volunteer fire department (which he later worked to make a regular, funded fire protection district), worked with the neighborhood civic association, and was on the park commission board and the city/parish planning commission.

He was also, as the priest pointed out at the service, a lover of corny jokes. Sometimes his wife of 52 years, Ms Peggy, wished he weren't such a lover of them!

Mr. Eddie was a man who lived his life in such a way, as noted in the eulogy, that no one had to lie at his funeral. In honor of Mr. Eddie, several corny jokes.

What kind of key opens a banana?
A monkey!

Why did the poor man sell yeast?
To raise some dough!

What did the football coach say to the broken vending machine?
Give me my quarterback!

Why wouldn't the sesame seed leave the gambling casino?
Because he was on a roll!

How do you make an egg roll?
You push it!

What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
Frostbite!

What do you call an apology written in dots and dashes?
Remorse code!

What is an astronaut's favorite place on the computer?
The space bar!

Why did the scarecrow win an award?
He was out-standing in his field!

Why did the dinosaur cross the road?
Because the chicken joke wasn't invented yet!

Today is:

Ayathrem -- Zoroastrianism (feast of bringing the herds and flocks home, a five day feast, dates approximate)

Bullying Bystanders Unite Week -- sponsored by Hey U.G.L.Y., which stands for Unique Gifted Lovable You

Burgoo Festival -- North Utica, IL, US (only the Burgoomeister knows the secret recipe! enjoy the burgoo, as well as music, food, antiques, and more)

Cephalopod Awareness Days: Fossil Day -- celebrating the most intelligent invertebrates in the world; today, for all the "incredible suckers that have gone extinct"

Chicago Marathon

Child Rambunctiousness Appreciation Day -- remembering back to when we didn't say every kid with ants in his/her pants needed drugs

Children's Day / Feast of Our Lady of Aparecida -- Brazil

Cirio de Nazare -- Belem, Brazil (two week Feast of Cirio begins in Belem [St. Mary of Bethlehem])

Clergy Appreciation Day

Cloud-Stamping Pentathlon -- Fairy Calendar

Cookbook Launch Day -- someone started this one just because s/he likes cookbooks is my guess

Day of Fortuna Redux -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of successful journeys and lucky homecomings, favored by travelers and soldiers)

Day of Giving the Black Land to Horus and the Red Land to Set -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

"Discovery" of America by Columbus, actual date; most government holidays will be on the Monday nearest this date
     Columbus Day -- Turks and Caicos Islands; US and Territories
     Descubrimiento de América -- Mexico
     Día de la Hispanidad or Fiesta Nacional de España -- Spain
     Dia de la Raza -- Latin America and especially Guatemala (Day of the Race, or Day of the Natives)
     Día de la Resistencia Indígena -- Venezuela (Day of Indigenous Resistance)
     Dia de las Americas/Descubrimiento de America -- Uruguay
     Dia de las Culturas -- Costa Rica (Day of the Cultures)
     Dia del Descubrimiento de dos Mundos -- Chile
     Discovery Day -- Bahamas
     Encuentro de Dos Mundos -- Ecuador
     Pan America Day -- Belize

Fiesta Nacional de Espana -- Spain (National Day/Hispanity Day)

Freethought Day -- celebration by Freethinkers of the effective ending date of the Salem witch trials

Grandmother's Day -- FL, US

Independence Day -- Equatorial Guinea(1968)

International Moment of Frustration Scream Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, who want you to go outside at 1200GMT and scream for 30 seconds so we can all get it out of our systems

National Gumbo Day -- first, you make a roux...

Native American's Day -- often celebrated on both the observed and the traditional Columbus Day; a day to mourn Native American victims of conquest and oppression, make peace, and celebrate the empowerment of Native Americans

Old Farmers Day -- an unsponsored day, and any day is a good day to honor the men and women who work hard to grow our food

St. Edwin of Northumbria's Day (Patron of converts, hoboes/tramps, homeless people, kings, parents of large families)

St. Wilfred of York's Day (Patron of Middlesbrough, England; Ripon, England)

Warai Festival -- Wakayama, Japan (a laughing festival, in which wine flows and this place earns its name as one of the happiest places on earth; the laughter is because one of the spirits of the shrine didn't wake in time for a meeting, and was laughed at, so now everyone laughs)

White Sunday -- Samoa and American Samoa (children wear white to church and run the church services, are served a special meal, and receive new church clothes for the upcoming year)

Windsor Pumpkin Regatta -- Windsor, NS, Canada (racing giant pumpkin boats [PVCs -- Personal Vegetable Crafts] across Lake Pezaquid, plus a parade and other festivities)

World Arthritis Day -- people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases can make their voices heard today

Anniversary Today:

Day of Six Billion, 1999 (marking the world population reaching that number)

Birthdays Today:

Marion Jones, 1975
Kirk Cameron, 1970
Adam Rich, 1968
Hugh Jackman, 1968
Carlos Bernard, 1962
Ronald E. McNair, 1950
Susan Anton, 1950
Chris Wallace, 1947
Tony Kubek, 1936
Luciano Pavarotti, 1935
Dick Gregory, 1932
Charles Gordone, 1925
Jean Nidetch, 1923
Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1872
Jonathan Trumbull, 1710

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Jesus Christ, Superstar"(Rock opera), 1971
"The Bob Hope Show"(TV), 1953
"The Burns and Allen Show"(TV), 1950
"Call Me Madam"(Musical). 1950

Today in History:

The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon, BC539
King John of England loses his crown jewels in The Wash, 1216
Nichiren, Japans Buddhist monk who founded Nichiren Buddhism, inscribes the Dai-Gohonzon, 1279
Christopher Columbus' expedition makes landfall in the Bahamas, 1492
Massachusetts discontinues all witch trials, 1692
America's first asylum for "Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds" opens in Virginia, 1773
Bavarian royalty invites the citizens of Munich to join the celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen; this celebration becomes the founding of the first Oktoberfest, 1810
Charles Macintosh, of Scotland, sells the first raincoat, 1821
Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) is enacted by British rule in India, which named over 160 local communities 'Criminal Tribes', i.e. hereditary criminals, 1871*
President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House, 1901
An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston, 1928
The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits, 1964
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams is published, 1979
The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip, 1979
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China, 1986
NASA loses radio contact with the Magellan spacecraft as the probe descends into the thick atmosphere of Venus, 1994
The proclaimed 6 billionth living human in the world is born, 1999
The second Chinese human spaceflight, Shenzhou 6, is launched, 2005
The first of the thirty-three miners trapped in the Copiano mining disaster, Florencio Avalos, is rescued, 2010
The customary law preventing women from inheriting their family home is overturned in Botswana, 2012

*Not repealed until India's independence in 1949

As Garfield the Cat once noted, there's no good reason to get out of bed today.

Not on Monday the Thirteenth!

Except that i need to help #1 Son get to work after he drops off his car to be fixed, and i have to get the ironing done.

Then there's the fact that, while they did mostly keep up with the dishes and litter boxes while i was gone, there's a lot that didn't get done around here, and i can't put it off as i have to go to work tomorrow.

While my body will be up and doing the work, my heart will be here:

Riding at Dayeanu's place.

At this time, i would like to say Happy Thanksgiving to all Canadians! May each of you have a blessed and beautiful celebration with family and friends.

Today is:

Ana-hachimangu Yabusame -- Toyama Park, Tokyo, Japan (demonstration of the ancient art of horseback archery)

Anti-Columbus Day

Assassination of the Hero of the Nation Day/Prince Rwagasore Day -- Burundi (Commemorates the assassination of Prince Louis Rwagasore in 1961.)

Clean the Crumbs Out of the Broiler Oven Day -- keep it working longer, and prevent a potential fire

Columbus Day/Discovery Day/Two Worlds Day/Anti-Columbus Day/Native Americans Day/Pan America Day -- observed, several countries
     American Indian Heritage Day -- AL, US
     Columbus Day (obs.) -- Turks and Caicos Islands; US and Territories
     Dia del Respet a la Diversidad Cultural -- Argentina
     Fraternal Day -- AL, US
     Native Americans' Day -- much of the US formally; almost everywhere informally (a day to mourn Native American victims of conquest and oppression, make peace, and celebrate the empowerment of Native Americans)

Commonwealth Culture Day -- Northern Mariana Islands

Dia del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural -- Argentina

Fitness Day / Health-Sports Day -- Japan

Fontinalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (garlanding of fountains)

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction -- UN (this year the focus is on taking into account the needs of older persons during times of disaster)

International Skeptics Day -- while there are skeptic organizations around the globe, there's no documentation of this being celebrated internationally; maybe the creator of the day wanted us to be skeptical about it?

John Peel Day -- UK (in honor of his last broadcast)

Lotu-a-Tamaiti -- Samoa; Tokelau (Day after White Sunday)

Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day -- find information about this disease herehttp://mbcn.org/

Modern Mythology Day -- internet generated, go look up a few modern myths on truthorfiction.net or snopes.com and have a good laugh

National Kick-Butt Day -- a day to kick yourself in the rump, jump start yourself to doing something you've been wanting to do and making excuses for not doing; begun by Sylvia Henderson

National Police Day -- Thailand (Wan Tamruat)

National Yorkshire Pudding Day

Navy Establishment Day -- US

Norfolk Island Agricultural Show Day -- Norfolk Island, Australia

Runic Half-month Wyn (joy) begins

St. Colman's Day (Patron of horned cattle, horses, and those who are to be hanged; Austria; against death by hanging and plague; a blessing of horses and cattle is still held at Melk on this day)

St. Edward the Confessor's Day (Patron of kings, those in difficult marriages, separated spouses; the English Royal Family)

Thanksgiving -- Canada (Interfaith)

Train Your Brain Day -- spread around the internet by no one knows whom, but today is a good day to commit to doing what you can to keep your brain young

Virgin Islands - Puerto Rico Friendship Day

World Rainforest Week begins -- International

Anniversaries Today:

Founding of Georgia Institute of Technology (Ga. Tech), 1885
Cornerstone of the White House laid, 1792
US Navy is authorized by the Continental Congress, 1775

Birthdays Today:

Ashanti, 1980
Sacha Baron Cohen, 1971
Nancy Kerrigan, 1969
Kate Walsh, 1967
Kelly Preston, 1962
Jerry Rice, 1962
Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers, 1961
Marie Osmond, 1959
Chris Carter, 1957
Sammy Hagar, 1947
Pamela Tiffin, 1942
Paul Simon, 1941
Melinda Dillon, 1939
Nan Mouskouri, 1934
Jesse Leroy Brown, 1926
Lenny Bruce, 1925
Margaret Thatcher, 1925
Nipsey Russell, 1924
Yves Montand, 1921
Cornel Wilde, 1915
L. L. Bean, 1872
Rudolf Virchow, 1821
Mary Hays "Molly Pitcher" McCauley, 1754

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"(Play), 1962
"Kukla, Fran and Ollie"(TV), 1947

Today in History:

Nero becomes emperor, 54
The Vandals and Alans cross the Pyrenees and appear in Hispania, 409
Rabbi Issac Abarbanel begins his exegesis on the Torah, 1483
Jonathan Swift publishes the last of Drapier's letters, 1724
Charles Messier discovers the Whirlpool Galaxy, 1773
First publication of the "Old Farmer's Almanac", 1792
George Washington lays the cornerstone of the "Executive Mansion" (White House), 1792
Founding of B'nai B'rith, 1843
The first arial photo taken in the US, from a balloon over Boston, 1860
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda & friends agree to use Hebrew exclusively in their conversations, which begins the revival of it as an active and growing language, 1881
Greenwich, in London, England, is established as Universal Time meridian of longitude, 1884
Edward Emerson Barnard discovers D/1892 T1, the first comet discovered by photographic means, on the night of October 13–14, 1892
Ankara replaces Istanbul as the capital of Turkey, 1923
Premier of "Kukla, Fran, & Ollie", 1947
Fiji joins the United Nations, 1970
The first electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle was obtained by Dr. F.A. Murphy, now at U.C. Davis, who was then working at the C.D.C, 1976
Ameritech Mobile Communications (now AT&T) launched the first US cellular network in Chicago, Illinois, 1983
End of the Lebanese Civil War, 1990
The 2010 Copiapó mining accident in Copiapó, Chile comes to an end as all 33 miners arrive at the surface after surviving a record 69 days underground awaiting rescue, 2010
In China, 23 elder members of the Communist Party of China call for ending the country's restrictions on free speech, 2010

It's not often that i write a book review, but in this case, i can't help myself.

Joe Potato's Real Life Recipes: Tall Tales and Short Stories by Meriwether O'Connor is one i'm going to keep on the shelf by the bed and reread and revisit. In fact, i can't help but do so, as i can't get some of these characters out of my mind.

O'Connor has a voice that speaks of real people (and animals and plants!), even if she made up the stories. You would expect to meet these characters in rural Appalachia, and to be served some of the recipes as well.

Some of the stories are dark and hard, but the characters are people i want to get to know. There's enough humor here for even me, as i love books to laugh over.

As for the recipes, well, it might be hard to come by crow, but i'm sure you could come up with "apartment rabbit" quite easily.

While i'm glad i have the paperback version, some people may want the Kindle edition instead.

Today is:

Be Bald and Be Free Day -- Wellcat Holidays wants everyone who is "shiny" to be proud of it!

Chisinau Day -- Chisinau, Moldova

Dessert Day -- another one?

Doburoku Matsuri -- Shirakawago, Japan (unrefined sake festival and harvest festival; through the 19th)

Festival for the Penates -- Ancient Roman Calendar (gods of the storeroom)

First Fiddle of the Month -- Fairy Calendar

Flag Day/Jour de la Proclamation de la Premiere Republique -- Madagascar (flag adopted this day in 1958)

Liberation Day -- Yemen

Mega Kenka Matsuri -- Hyogo, Japan (Roughhouse Festival, wrestling for a blessing; through tomorrow)

Mother's Day -- Belarus

Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Day -- Tanzania (climax of the Uhuru Torch Race)

National Chocolate Covered Insect Day -- i'll pass, sorry

National Education Day -- Poland

National Frump Day -- National FRUMPS of America (to honor the frugal, responsible, unpretentious, and mature people everywhere)

national lower case day -- someone wants us to not use all caps

Republic Day / October Revolution Day -- Yemen

St. Callistus' Day (Patron of cemetery workers)

St. Donatian of Rheims's Day (Patron of Bruges, Belgium; Rheims, France; West Flanders, Belgium)

St. Petca Paraskeva's Day (Patron of embroiderers, needle workers, spinners, weavers, and all who do needlework of any kind)related observance
Petkouden -- Bulgaria

Svetitskovloba/Living Pillar Cathedral -- Georgia (celebration of the first Christian church in Georgia)

The NILE (Northern International Livestock Exposition) -- MetraPark, Billings, MT, US (rodeo, trade show, horse clinics, and livestock sales; through Saturday)

Vinternatsblot, a/k/a Haustblót -- Asatru (to bid Winter welcome; at the approximate date of the start of winter in the Old European Calendar of the Norse

World Standards Day -- International

Youth Day -- Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Birthdays Today:

Usher, 1978
Natalie Maines, 1974
Greg Evigan, 1958
Harry Anderson, 1952
Sir Cliff Richard, 1940
Ralph Lauren, 1939
John Dean, 1938
Gary Graffman, 1928
Roger Moore, 1927
Charles Everett Koop, 1916
John Wooden, 1910
Eugene Fodor, 1905
e.e. cummings, 1894
Lillian Gish, 1893
Dwight Eisenhower, 1890
Eamon De Valera, 1882
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 1734
William Penn, 1644

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Rescue from Gilligan's Island(TV film), 1978 (the first TV film follow up of a TV series)
Winnie-The-Pooh(publication date), 1926

Today in History:

William the Conqueror wins England in the Battle of Hastings, 1066
Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's independence, 1322
Mary, Queen of Scots, goes on trial for conspiracy against Elizabeth I of England, 1586
Massachusetts enacts the first punitive legislation against the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), 1656
Rabbi Judah Hasid & Chayim Molocho arrive in Jerusalem, 1700
Henry Blair receives a patent for a corn planter, becoming the first black to obtain a US patent, 1834
The 15th and the last military Shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate resigns in Japan, returning his power to the Emperor of Japan and thence to the re-established civil government of Japan, 1867
George Eastman patents paper-strip photographic film, 1884
Theodore Roosevelt is shot while campaigning in Milwaukee on the "Bull Moose" ticket, 1912
The children's book Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne, is first published, 1926
Ethel Merman makes her Broadway debut in "Girl Crazy", 1930
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the Indian Untouchable caste leader, converts to Buddhism along with 385,000 of his followers, 1956
Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first Canadian Monarch to open up an annual session of the Canadian Parliament, presenting her Speech from the Throne in Ottawa, Canada, 1957
The Cuban Missile Crisis begins when a U.S. Air Force U2 Reconnaissance pilot takes pictures of Soviet missiles being installed in Cuba, 1962
The city of Montreal, Quebec, begins the operation of its underground Montreal Metro rapid-transit system, 1966
The first live telecast from any manned spacecraft, the Apollo 7, 1968
The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, The Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, and the Foreign Minister of Israel, Shimon Peres, receive the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in the establishment of the Oslo Accords , 1994
Indonesian rights groups applaud the end of a Suharto-era law that bans books deemed 'offensive' or a 'threat to public order,' 2010
A colony of stromatolites is discovered at the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, 2011

And i have had good and bad the last couple of days.

Because of Cicero's breakdown last week, i didn't get to work. The lady for whom i clean has 4 kids, so skipping a week means i come in to a disaster.

Indeed, it was, when i got there yesterday. It took me an hour just to gather and sort the laundry, and i still didn't get to the boys' bed linens. So i'm going back today to finish up. She really needs someone there like my parents had when we were growing up. My mom's housekeeper, who also cooked and yes, did windows, came for 4-5 hours a day, four days a week. Maybe someday they will want me to do that.

Meanwhile, one of the good things that happen in life, a comment from a child, came my way yesterday. The youngest boy in the family, who just turned 7, told me, "I like it when you come, cause then I can find stuff!"

Now that, friends, is a compliment!

Then i came home to a washing machine that is giving me trouble, not wanting to fill correctly, and to some bad news from Little Girl.

"Mom," she said as soon as she saw me come in from work, "you might want to be praying for our school. One of the kids died last night!"

Well, i pray for your school anyway, i said, but what happened?

"Drive by shooting," she answered. "I knew him, but not well, he was a cool kid. And he wasn't the target."

Will they bring in grief counselors? i asked.

"Yeah, I think they will," she answered. "A lot of the kids were very upset, and one girl in my class broke down."

Oh, sweetheart, i'm so sorry that happened! i told her as i gave her a hug.

Real life is good and bad, and it can all happen in the same day.

Today is:

Cayenne Festival -- French Guiana (celebration of the capital city)

Circleville Pumpkin Show -- Circleville, OH, US (celebrating with over 100,000lbs of pumpkins, squash, and gourds; through Saturday)

Day of Homage for the late King Father -- Cambodia (Norodom Sihanouk)

Dine with TV Dinners on the Floor Night -- probably started by someone who wanted to see how many websites would be crazy enough to even list this

East Texas Yamboree -- Gilmer, TX, US (yam it up with the family at the carnival, watch them crown the Yamboree Queen, enjoy the livestock show, and more; through Saturday)

Election Day -- Mozambique

Feast of the Three Noble Ladies -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (female pharoahs; date approximate)

Fete Nationale de l'Evacuation -- Tunisia (Evacuation Day, celebrates the day all foreign military finally and fully left)

Global Handwashing Day -- International (scrub up! prevent the spread of germs)

Guangzhou Autumn Trade Fair -- Guangzhou, China (through Nov. 15)

Hagfish Day -- a day to celebrate the uniqueness and necessity of even the ugliest of sea creatures, like the hagfish

Ides of October -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also on this date
     Harvest Festival of Mars
     Ludi Capitolini (games in honor of Jupiter)
     Winter's Day

Mahakiki -- Hawai'ian New Year Season (a four month season where warfare is forbidden and many ceremonies take place; begins around the time of the first sighting of the Pleiades in the Northern Hemisphere)

Mertz of All Possible Mertzes -- internet generated and on the day "I Love Lucy" premiered; i guess Fred and Ethel were the definition of what a Mertz should be!

National Cake Decorating Day -- again, because every website gives a different date

National Chicken Cacciatore Day

National Fossil Day -- US (National Park Service information)

National Grouch Day -- sponsored by Alan Miller, chairman of the board of NAG (National Association of Grouches)

National Latino AIDS Awareness Day -- AIDS.gov

National Mushroom Day

National Roast Pheasant Day

National Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce Day

National Take Your Parents To Lunch Day -- somebody out there wants you to honor your parents, if you still have them

National Tree Planting Day -- Sri Lanka

Newspaper Week -- Japan

Poetry Day -- birth anniversary of the Roman poet Virgil

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day -- Canada; NSW, Australia; UK; US (information here)

Rectification Day -- Burkina Faso

Rainbow Pickling Day -- Fairy Calendar

Sewing Lovers' Day -- internet generated, as those who love to sew deserve a day to celebrate

Shemini Azteret -- Judaism (Jewish completion of the annual cycle of reading of the Torah; begins at sunset, through sunset tomorrow)

St. Teresa of Avila's Day (Founder of the Reformation of the Discalces[Barefoot] Carmelites; Patron of lace makers/workers, people in need of grace, people in religious orders, people ridiculed for their piety, sick people; Amos, Canada; Berzano di Tortona, Italy; Pozega, Croatia; Spain; against bodily ills, headaches, sickness, the death of parents)

Teacher's Day -- Brazil

White Cane Safety Day -- US (celebrating the achievements of the blind/visually impared, and recognizing the white cane as the symbol of their independence)

Wishbones for Pets begins -- US program asking professional pet sitters to gather pet supplies and donations for homeless pets through Thanksgiving

World Rural Women's Day/International Day of Rural Women -- UN; related observance
     Mother's Day -- Malawi

Birthdays Today:

Paige Davis, 1969
Sarah Ferguson, 1959
Emeril Lagasse,1959
Tanya Roberts, 1955
Tito Jackson, 1953
Richard Carpenter, 1946
Victor Banerjee, 1946
Jim Palmer, 1945
Penny Marshall, 1942
Linda Lavin, 1937
Lee Iacocca, 1924
Mario Puzo, 1920
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., 1917
John Kenneth Galbraith, 1908
Marty Mann, 1904
P.G. Wodehouse, 1881
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, 1872
John L. Sullivan, 1858
Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844
Publius Vergilius Maro / Virgil, 70BCE

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Untouchables"(TV), 1959
"I Love Lucy"(TV), 1951
"Abe Lincoln in Illinois"(Play), 1938
To Have and Have Not(Publication date), 1937
"La Mer/The Sea"(Debussy orchestral composition), 1905

Today in History:

Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Vandals, 533
Commissioned by Catherine De Medici, the 1st ballet "Ballet Comique de la Reine," is staged in Paris, 1581
Asser Levy is granted a butcher's license for kosher meat in New Amsterdam, 1660
The Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon marks the first human ascent, by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, (tethered balloon), 1783
George Washington takes the first formal presidential tour, of New England, 1789
Napoleon Bonaparte is exiled to the Island of St. Helena, 1815
Child labor law takes 12 year olds out of the work force, 1874
Edison Electric Light Company is incorporated, 1878
Koln cathedral is completed, 633 years after it was begun, 1880
The German dirigible "Graf Zeppelin' lands in Lakehurst, NJ, 1928
LaGuardia Airport opens, 1939
Fortran, the first modern computer language, is shared with the coding community for the first time, 1946
The start of the 2500-year celebration of Iran, celebrating the birth of Persia, 1971
The Great Storm of 1987 hits France and England, 1987
Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL, 1989
Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 1990
The first supersonic land speed record is set by Andy Green in ThrustSSC (United Kingdom), exactly 50 years and 1 day after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in the Earth's atmosphere, 1997
The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn, 1997
NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io, 2001
China launches Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission, 2003
The final breakthrough occurs on the east bore of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in the Swiss Alps, now the world's longest railway tunnel, 2010

"Did you know your son went shopping?" Sweetie asked as i walked in from work.

Well, since i was at work, no, i didn't know, i told him. And which son? i added.

"#2 Son. He said there's no 'real' food in the house, and went shopping!"

And by that i'm sure he meant...

"Yes, that's what he meant. There's ice cream and pie in the freezer, and a pizza in the fridge. What he really meant is 'food that mom doesn't buy!'" Sweetie said, laughing.

Indeed, there was all that, as well as the rapidly disappearing grapes, the salad that gets devoured each night, and a chicken with rice and gravy that has nothing left but a couple of bones to be boiled for stock.

He may eat junk, but he eats good stuff, too. He knows what the "real" food truly is, even if he sometimes eschews it for those teen boy favorites.

On another note, to any who are worried about safety at Little Girl's school: The young student who was shot was at his home after school, in a different neighborhood from where the school is located. By that i mean, unfortunately, a more run-down area, with many people living at or below the poverty level.

The school itself is in a solidly middle class area, right next to the neighborhood pool and a Lutheran Church and one of the community parks. It's as "safe" as any area can be these days, because really, there is no place that is totally safe. It's an illusion to think so.

If i thought she were in danger at school, i would keep her home, but the school is in an area that is almost identical to our neighborhood. The young man was safer at school than at home, in this case. That's part of what makes it all so sad, too.

Today is:

Belfast Festival At Queen's -- Queen's University, Belfast, Ireland (International arts festival; through Nov. 1)

Biketoberfest -- Daytona Beach, FL, US (last chance to ride before winter, and enjoy concerts and shows, too; through Sunday)

Boss's Day -- either celebrate, or roll your eyes, both are acceptable responses (begun by Patricia Bays Haroski in 1958 in honor of her boss, who was also her father; this date was his birthday)

Chrysanthemum Festival -- Japan ("The Festival of Happiness", various shrines; through Nov. 15)

Clean Your Bug Zapper Day -- internet generated, and we're getting a bit overboard here, aren't we?

Conflict Resolution Day -- the group that started it no longer has the specific date listed, but you can learn more about conflict resolution from them here

Day of Pope John Paul II -- Poland

Dictionary Day / Learn a Word Day -- Noah Webster's birth anniversary

Dress Like A Dork Day -- does someone have it out for us with these "holidays"?

Elephantine Festival -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (several such celebrations of elephants were held around this time of year in Egypt)

Ether Day (first demonstrated use, see History)

Feast of 'Ilm (Knowledge) -- Baha'i

Get Smart About Credit Day -- sponsored by the American Bankers Association

Get to Know Your Customers Day -- third Thursday of every quarter

International Credit Union Day -- World Council of Credit Unions

National Feral Cat Day -- US (sponsored by Alley Cat Allies. with information here also)

National Liqueur Day

Niihama Drum Festival -- Niihama, Japan (three day festival with two ton drum floats)

Preaching of the Lion Sermon -- St. Katherine Cree Church, London, England (Sermon dating back to the 1640's in commemoration of a gift for the poor made by Sir John Gayer, who was delivered from a lion while in Turkey)

Simchat Torah -- Judaism (day to celebrate the reading of the Law; begins at sunset, through sunset tomorrow)

Sennin Musha Gyoretsu -- Tochigi, Japan (procession of 1,000 warriors; through tomorrow)

St. Hedwig's Day (Patron of brides, duchesses, difficult marriages, widows; Bavaria; Berlin, Germany; Gorlitz, Germany; Silesia; against the death of children, jealousy)

Teachers' Day -- Chile

#Toronto Ski, Snowboard, and Travel Show -- Toronto, ON, Canada (Canada's largest show of this type; through Sunday)

World Food Day -- UN

Anniversaries Today:

The first birth control clinic in the US is opened, 1916
Brigham Young University is founded in Provo, Utah, 1875
Girton College, Cambridge is founded, becoming England's first residential college for women, 1869
Zion's Co-Operative Mercantile Institution, America's first department store, opens, 1868
The Collegiate School is established(forerunner of Yale University), 1701, Old Style Date

Birthdays Today:

John Mayer, 1977
Kellie Martin, 1975
Flea, 1962
Tim Robbins, 1958
Melissa Louise Belote, 1956
Barry Corbin, 1940
Bob Weir, 1947
Suzanne Somers, 1946
Gunter Grass, 1927
Angela Lansbury, 1925
William Orville Douglas, 1898
Eugene O'Neill, 1888
David Ben-Gurion, 1886
Oscar Wilde, 1854
Noah Webster, 1758

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Red Mill"(Musical), 1945
"Billy the Kid"(Ballet), 1938
Jane Eyre(Publication date), 1847

Today in History:

Jadwiga (yes, a she) is crowned King of Poland, 1384
Olivier van Noorts' ships reach the Philippines, 1600
George Washington takes Yorktown, 1781
Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, is guillotined, 1793
Sir William Rowan Hamilton comes up with the idea of quaternions, a non-commutative extension of complex numbers, 1843
Dentist William T. Morton demonstrates the effectiveness of ether, 1846
Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" is published, 1847
John Brown leads a raid on Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, 1859
The Cardiff Giant, one of the most famous American hoaxes, is "discovered", 1869
John Harwood takes out a patent on a self-winding watch, 1923
The Disney Company is founded, 1923
Benjamin O. Davis Sr. is named the first African American general in the United States Army, 1940
Fidel Castro is sentenced in Havana to 15 years in prison, 1953
The People's Republic of China detonates its first nuclear weapon, 1964
In response to the October Crisis terrorist kidnapping, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada invokes the War Measures Act, 1970
Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 1973
Pope John Paul II is elected after the October 1978 Papal conclave, 1978
Wanda Rutkiewicz is the first Pole and the first European woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 1978
Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 1984
Reinhold Messner becomes the first person to summit all 14 Eight-thousanders, 1986
Bibliotheca Alexandrina in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria that was lost in antiquity, is officially inaugurated, 2002
A 1,255lb. portion of the Chelyabinsk meteor is recovered by divers in Russia, 2013

Ah -- Oh!

Silly Sunday: Begorra!

Awww Monday: Getting Big

Getting Close

On the road again..

My Kentucky Adventure: Getting there is half the fun.

My Kentucky Adventure: Settling in.

My Kentucky Adventure: All Together Now

My Kentucky Adventure: Downs and Falls

My Kentucky Adventure: "Lazy" Sunday

My Kentucky Adventure: Underground

My Kentucky Adventure: Lexington

My Kentucky Adventure: Uh-Oh!

My Kentucky Adventure: Detour to Arkansas

My Kentucky Adventure: Do i have to come back?

Silly Sunday: In Honor of Mr. Eddie

Channeling the inner Garfield

Have a Joe Potato

Real Life is Good and Bad

Teen Boy All Over