"This is the day Judah. It's between us now."

"Yes, this is the day, Messala. this is the day."

Judah Ben Hur and Messala, just before the chariot race.

Well, this is the day. #2 Son will be having his solstice bonfire tonight. He has invited scads of his friends, and convinced his father and sisters to leave the premises. I am the token adult.

He has laid in supplies. Every Sunday, before church, he has gone through the grounds gathering and cutting the deadfall wood, hauling it home until he now has a sizable stack. He has the makings for s'mores, sodas, and folding chairs and an electrical cord borrowed from Sweetie's work.

The other guests are also supposed to bring supplies, including some of the equipment they want to plug in out there. After all, what is a bonfire without music and your favorite video games? (Insert eye roll here.)

So, we will see what happens. As long as the police don't show up, and i don't have to call the fire department. I just don't need that right now.


Today is:

Alban Arthuan -- Druid Festival, 4th Station

Divalia -- Roman Empire (part of Saturnalia, feast of Angerona)

Festival of Isis -- Ancient Egypt

First Day of Winter / Winter Solstice / Solar New Year (Shortest daylight hours of the year)

Forefather's Day -- New England (Sometimes called Pilgrim's Day or Pilgrim Landing Anniversary)

Full Cold Moon or Full Long Nights Moon

Humbug Day

Look At the Bright Side Day (And why not? After all, each day after this will have more sun!)

Mumping Day a/k/a Gooding Day (Traditional day on which beggars beg for, or "mump", good things for Christmas, always on the former St. Thomas' Day)

National French Fried Shrimp Day

National Flashlight Day

National Haiku Poetry Day

Pancha Ganapati -- India (Through the 25th, Hindu honoring of Lord Ganesha.)

Phileas Fogg Wins A Wager Day

St. Peter Canisius' Day (patron of Germany)

St. Thomas' Day, the Doubting Thomas (old date, now celebrated on June 3, but many of the superstitions related to it are still observed at this time)

Soyal -- Hopi and Zuni Native American solstice ceremony

Yalda continues -- Iran (To celebrate the longest night of the year, many stay up for the fight against dark and evil.)

yule Festivals begin -- various calendars, religions, countries and observances


Birthdays Today:

Jack Noseworthy, 1969
Kiefer Sutherland, 1966
Andy Dick, 1965
Florence Griffith Joyner, 1959
Ray Romano, 1957
Jane Kaczmarek, 1955
Chris Evert, 1954
Samuel L. Jackson, 1948
Frank Zappa, 1940
Jane Fonda, 1937
Phil Donahue, 1935
Joe Paterno, 1926
Paul Winchell, 1922
Joseph Stalin, 1879


Today in History:

A hurricane hits Holland/Friesland, destroying villages with widespread flooding, 1163
The Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche Native Americans, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile; all Spanish cities south of the Biobio river are eventually taken by the Mapuches, and all conquest of Mapuche territories by Europeans practically ceases, until the 1870s "Pacification of Araucania", 1598
William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1620
Hue Tay Son becomes emperor Quang Trung of Vietnam, 1788
The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement, 1844
The first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army are formed: The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, 1883
The first Word-Cross puzzle, which the printer mislabeled as a Cross-Word (the name that stuck), is published in the New York World, 1913
The first feature length color and sound cartoon, Disney's Snow White, premiers, 1937
Rondane National Park is established as Norway's first national park, 1962
Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew performs the first ever manned Trans Lunar Injection and become the first humans to leave Earth's gravity, 1968
The United Nations adopts the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1969
Mexican volcano Popocatepetl, dormant for 47 years, erupts gases and ash, 1994
The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control, 1995