"Mom, could you come pick me up?" #2 Son asked. No other intro, of course, just the request.

Where are you?

"At the creek, and I think I broke my leg, so I can't walk h0me."

He was surprisingly calm. So i went across the neighborhood to the path he usually takes in. He was standing on one leg, looking almost serene, and wearing his Bob Marley hat.

"Thanks," he said as he climbed in.

So it's broken? We need to get you to the after hours clinic.

"Nah, I don't need to go to the clinic."

Son, if it's broken, it needs to be set in a cast.

"Well, I fell onto a boulder, and another big rock dropped down on me. So I sat there and couldn't move because it hurt so bad, probably for about ten minutes. Then I hopped out and called you. But I don't think I need to see a doctor."

Back at the house, he showed me the cut and the bruises. The main area of pain was over the femur, which is very, very difficult to break, and, when broken, can't be walked on.

So i explained to him that, though he was hurt, it couldn't be broken. He hopped off to take a shower.

Half an hour later, he was back. "Mom, can my friend drive us for pizza?"

So much for broken. Don't you want the chili i made for dinner?

"Well, it still hurts bad, and I'll also have some chili later. Pizza is the appetizer!"

Go ahead, i shook my head as the bean pole limped out to join his friend.

Apparently, nothing breaks his appetite.


Today is

Aizen Festival -- Shoman-in Temple, Osaka, Japan (celebration of Aizen Myo-oh, greatest of the 8 Buddhist guardian gods)

Armed Forces Day -- Guatemala

Crab Races -- Fairy Calendar (pixies, Elves, and some fairies)

Day of Aestas -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Dixon Petunia Festival: The Pink. The Proud. The Petunias. through July 4

First Martyrs of the Church of Rome Day

Independence Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire)

Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival -- Edime, Turkey (648th annual, the oldest wrestling festival in the world, through July 6)

Lajkoniki (Lajkonik Festival) -- Kraków, Poland

Leap Second Time Adjustment Day -- if one is needed

Meteor Day -- because of the Tuskunga Event

National Bomb Pop Day

National Corvette Day

National Handshake Day -- nobody likes a fishy one, and no bone crushers needed! Practice a bit today, make sure your first impression is a good one.

Pridie Kalendas July (Day Before the Kalends of July) -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a day when dies comitiales -- citizen committees -- voted on political and criminal matters)

Revolution Day -- Sudan

Smithsonian Folklife Festival -- through July 4, then again July 7-11; a model of research-based presentations of contemporary living cultural traditions of people around the world

St. Theobald of Provin's day (patron of charcoal burners)


Birthdays Today:

Michael Phelps, 1985
Fantasia Barrino, 1984
Ralf Schumacher, 1975
Leonard Whiting, 1950
Harry Blackstone, Jr., 1934
Susan Hayward, 1919
Lena Horne, 1917



Today in History:

Jews are expelled from Berne Switzerland, 1294
The Spaniards are expelled from Tenochtitlan, 1520
Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery, Ohio, 1794
French acrobat Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope, 1859
The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place, 1860
The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal; it arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4, 1886
Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", in which he introduces special relativity, 1905
The Tunguska event, probably caused by a meteor or comet fragment, occurs in remote Siberia, 1908
The Regina Cyclone hits Regina, Saskatchewan, killing 28; it remains Canada's deadliest tornado event, 1912
Congo gains independence from Belgium, 1960
The first leap second is added to the UTC time system, 1972
The Royal Canadian Mint introduces the $1 coin, known as the Loonie, 1987
East Germany and West Germany merge their economies, 1990
The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, 1997