Ruts

Today is one of those dull, drizzly, wet days that suck the joy out of life. Tomorrow's forecast is for more of the same.

Maybe Amos Bronson Alcott was right, "The less routine, the more life."

Not that all routine is bad. Some of it provides structure, so you can be sure your bases are covered (and your restrooms stay clean). Too much routine becomes a rut, and these gray winter days feel like very deep ruts.

This is the time of year that I want to move to Tahiti. A winter home in Tahiti, a summer home someplace where it doesn't get too hot, and spending the mildest times of the year in Cajun country -- well, who knows, even that might become a rut after a while. I would still love to be able to give it a try.


Today is:

Enlightenment Day

Independence Day, Ivory Coast, Lebanon

International Civil Aviation Day

Letter Writing Day

National Cotton Candy Day

National Day, Central African Republic

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Quema del Diablo, Guatemala (burning of the devil)

St. Ambrose's Day


Anniversaries Today:

Delaware becomes the first US State, 1787


Birthdays Today:

Aaron Carter, 1987
Tino Martinez, 1967
C. Thomas Howell, 1966
Edd Hall, 1958
Larry Bird, 1956
Tom Waits, 1949
Johnny Bench, 1947
Harry Chapin, 1942
Ellen Burstyn, 1932
Ted Knight, 1923
Eli Wallach, 1915
Louis Prima, 1910
Willa Cather, 1873


Today in History:

Marcus Tullius Cicero is assassinated, BC43
Chinese Emperor Lo-Yang makes notation of a supernova (MSH15-52), 185
Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways in the US, is completed to Trumbull, 1696
The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London, 1732
The New York Philharmonic plays its first concert, 1842
Leo Baekeland of Yonkers patents the first thermosetting plastic, Bakelite, 1911
The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, 1941