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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee at Comedy Plus.
Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays. Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's it.
Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you. What better way to start the week than with a smile!
Jack has a trick of looking back at you almost sadly when he's heading back into the house from the yard, as if asking, "Aren't you coming, too?"
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Sparks is the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, who wanted us to post something positive and uplifting at the start of the week. While she no longer blogs, i like to post an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.
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Our dear friend Diane is taking a break
accommodations we must make
we miss her poetry and wit
so carry on as Poetry Monday's a hit!
Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border. Charlotte/Mother Owl and i are keeping it going while she takes a blog break, we hope temporarily. Anyone else is welcome to join in the fun, just let us know!
This week the theme is Never Say Never, or Christmas, or Hanukkah. I am posting a new poem for the first topic, and older poems i've posted before for the other two.
Never say never 'cause that's when you'll find
you're doing the "never" 'cause you're in a bind.
The universe has to challenge your word,
so if you say, "never," the universe heard!
*******
A shepherd gets so little sleep,
in the fields his flocks to keep,
as predators are just out of sight
stalking animals all the night.
This night would be different, though,
as soon there would be quite a show,
angels would light up their sky,
with an anthem from on high.
The angel came with this to say,
Unto you is born this day,
in David's Bethlehem the King,
into the world His light to bring.
The shepherds left the herds alone,
to Bethlehem they got them gone,
and in a manger found the light
sent to shatter humanity's night.
The Light of the World our heavenly Bread
in a feeding trough did lay His head
to give us hope that there could be
Peace on Earth for you and me.
*******
About Hanukkah i have learned
It's about the oil that burned,
One day's worth eight days and nights,
That's why it's a Festival of Lights.
Pagans had suppressed the Jews again
(And will such bigotry never end?!?)
Leaving their Temple a terrible mess,
For the holy lamp one day's oil, no more, no less.
It would take a whole week to purify
More oil, it's enough to make you cry.
You finally get your Temple back,
Waiting longer's like a torture rack.
They decided not to wait!
Light it up and celebrate!
Even if it's just one day,
We'll be glad more's on the way.
But then a miracle, hear them shout!
The one day's oil did not run out,
Until they'd purified another batch,
Which takes a week to start from scratch!
That's why Jews celebrate with oil,
Fried Hanukkah foods, not baked or broiled,
Celebrate for eight full days
All of G-d's miraculous ways.
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Future themes are:
Dec. 23 Never Say Never and/or Christmas/Hanukkah (Today!)
Dec. 30 All Done
Jan. 6 Seed and/or Epiphany
Jan. 13 Fiction
Jan. 20 Sheep
Jan. 27 Silver
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Today is:
Birthday of the Queen Silvia -- Sweden (an official flag day)
Children's Day -- South Sudan; Sudan
Day of Acca Larentia -- Ancient Rome, Republic and Empire (earth goddess and protectress who raised Romulus and Remus)
Festivus -- For the Rest of Us! (The holiday introduced on the episode of Seinfeld that aired 12/18/97; have some meatloaf, decorate with an unadorned aluminum pole, have a "Feats of Strength" contest and an "Airing of Grievances"!)
Humanlight Celebration -- celebration of tolerance, compassion, empathy, honesty, free inquiry, reason, and rationality secularseasons.org
Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Ketkrokur -- Meat-hook, who will lower a hook down the chimney and snatch a bit of meat if he can, especially if you are cooking lamb for St. Porlakur(Thorlac)
Igler Bergweihnacht -- Igls, Austria (charming nativity parade starring the children of this small town near Innsbruck)
Learn Metric Day -- US (passage of the Metric Conversion Act of 1875)
National Pfefferneusse Day -- don't forget the Puderzucker!
Noche de Rabanos (Night of the Radishes) -- Oaxaca, Mexico (part of the lead up to Christmas, bring out your best carved radish!)
Popcorn Popping Day -- so you can string it on the tree, of course
Porlaksmessa, Feast of St. Thorlaker/Thorlac -- Iceland (Patron saint, though never officially recognized by the Holy See)
Roots Day -- as you gather with family during the season, don't forget to sit with elder relatives and learn about your family's past
Secret of the Unhewn Stone -- Celtic Calendar (Only day on their calendar not governed by a tree month)
St. John of Kanti's Day (Patron of Lithuania, Poland)
St. Servulus' Day (Patron of the disabled/physically challenged; against paralysis)
St. Victoria's Day (Patron of Anticoli Corrado, Italy)
Two Days To Go Day
Victory Day -- Egypt (a/k/a Suez Victory Day)
Anniversary Today:
Establishment of the US Federal Reserve System, 1913
Birthdays Today:
Corey Haim, 1971
Carla Bruni, 1967
Eddie Vedder, 1964
Carol Ann Duffy, 1955
Susan Lucci, 1946
Harry Shearer, 1943
Akihito, 1933
Robert Bly, 1926
Gerald O'Loughlin, 1921
Jose Greco, 1918
Madame C.J. Walker, 1867
Connie Mack, 1862
Harriet Monroe, 1860
Joseph Smith, Jr., 1805
Debuting/Premiering Today:
Hoffmeyer's Legacy(Film; 1st with Keystone Kops), 1912
Today in History:
Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city of Aleppo, recovering the tattered tunic of John the Baptist, 962
St Philip of Moscow martyred by Ivan the Terrible, 1569
Giovanni Cassini discovers Rhea, a satellite of Saturn, 1672
John Flamsteed observes Uranus without realizing it's undiscovered, 1690
The Continental Congress negotiates a war loan of $181,500 from France, 1776
Benedict Arnold court-martialed for improper conduct, 1779
"A Visit from St Nicholas" by C. Clement Moore is published in the Troy (NY) Sentinel (Now usually titled " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas"), 1823
The opera Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed, 1893
The first all-steel passenger railroad coach completed, in Altoona, Pa, 1907
The first hospital ship built to move wounded naval personnel is launched, 1919
Alice H Parker patents gas heating furnace, 1919
Discovery of the first modern coelacanth in South Africa, 1938
The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories, 1947
Dedication of Tokyo Tower, the world's highest self-supporting iron tower, 1958
The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City is topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world, 1970
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes the Nicaraguan capital of Managua killing more than 10,000, 1972
The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having survived by cannibalism, 1972
Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling, 1986
In a referendum, 88% of Slovenia's population vote for independence from Yugoslavia, 1990
An 8.1 magnitude earthquake hits Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean, 2004
Volcanic activity alerts are issued in Chile and Argentina, in areas near the Copahue volcano, after it started to spew ash, 2012
The United Nations Security Council adopts a landmark resolution demanding a halt to all Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, 2016
The top leadership of the Miss America Organization resigned amid a scandal over emails in which pageant officials had ridiculed past winners, 2018
Zambia abolishes the death penalty, effective immediately, 2022
