Small Kindnesses

A couple of days ago, i was reminded how a smile or small gesture of kindness can make someone's day.

Bigger Girl's summer job is out on a highway in what some people would call the sticks. So of course if we get turtles crossing the road around here because of the creek and the nearby swamp, you are even more likely to see them out there.

What possesses a turtle to try to cross a busy highway, anyway? Well, whatever it is, i ended up passing one just as it began the journey, and pulled to the shoulder of the road as fast as i could. Then i backed up, carefully and slowly, watching in the rear view mirror as vehicle after vehicle swerved or straddled him. It looked like everyone else felt the way i did, that the poor guy needed all the help he could get.

As for him, he would stick his nose out a bit, maybe take one step, and the traffic would come by again. When i finally pulled even with him and got out, he was firmly in shell, possibly waiting for his demise, not wanting to even risk looking around.

So i waited for the traffic on my side to pass, went to the center of the lane and picked him up. He was slimy. That's what i got for the trouble, slime. Still, i hoisted him and waited for the cars in the other lane to pass so i could take him to the side of the road he obviously was willing to risk his life to reach.

As those 4 cars passed, i caught the eye of the person in the last one, a lady driving a small SUV. She looked at me, smiled, flashed a thumbs up, and continued driving.

Just a little gesture, but it made me smile also, and started the day off right. Later, i found myself smiling at people, too, passing on a bit of cheer.

Remember the small kindnesses, and pass them around.


Today is

Asalha Puja Day -- Buddhist

Birthday of Set -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar

Elderly Men Day -- Kiribati

Feast of Rowana/Rauni -- Druid/Cornish/Flemish (rowan tree goddess)

Festival of Castor and Pullox -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Festival of Santa Rosalia -- Palermo; Sicily

Full Buck Moon a/k/a Full Thunder Moon or Full Hay Moon

Gorestnici -- Bulgaria (fire festival of 3 days duration)

Gummi Worm Day

Hakata Gion Yamagasa -- Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (festival of floats, dates back to the 13th century, includes dousing teams carrying one ton floats with water as they race!)

Hundadagar -- Icelandic tradition, the "dog days" of summer begin, through Aug. 23

Ides of July -- Ancient Roman Calendar

I Love Horses Day

Lailat al Bara'ah -- Islam

Northwestern State University Folk Festival and the Louisiana State Fiddle Championship -- Prather Coliseum, NSU, Natchitoches, LA, US (through the 16th, only traditional Louisiana folk art and music are featured)

National Tapioca Pudding Day

No-Hitter Day -- George Bradley of the St. Louis Brown Stockings pitched the first officially recognized no-hitter in MLB against the Hartford Dark Blues on this date in 1876

Petal-Hopping for Beginners Day -- Fairy Calendar

Respect Canada Day

Sherwood Robin Hood Festival -- Sherwood, OR, US (through the 16th, a Renaissance festival, includes an archery contest)

St. Bonaventure's Day

St. Swithin's Day -- Saint Swithin's Society Annual Celebration in Toronto, ON, Canada

St. Vladimir of Kiev's Day

Sultan's Birthday -- Brunei Darussalam

Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival -- Dorset, England; through the 17th

Vancouver Folk Music Festival -- Jericho Beach, Vancouver, BC, Canada (through the 17th)



Birthdays Today

Tanner Maguire, 1998
Emily Roeske, 1991
Brian Austin Green, 1973
Beth Stern, 1972
Forest Whitaker, 1961
Kim Alexis, 1960
Jesse Ventura, 1951
Linda Ronstadt, 1946
Jan-Michael Vincent, 1944
Alex Karras, 1935
Clive Cussler, 1931
Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, 1850
Thomas Bulfinch, 1796
Clement Clarke Moore, 1779
Rembrandt Van Rijn, 1606


Today in History

Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final assault of a difficult siege, 1099
John Ball, a leader in the Peasants' Revolt, is hanged, 1381
Alexei Chirikov sights land and sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska, 1741
The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign, 1799
Zebulon Pike begins an expedition from Fort Belle Fountaine to explore the west, 1806
Napoléon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon, 1815
A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, 1823
Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union, 1870
The stratovolcano Mount Bandai, Japan, erupts killing approximately 500 people, 1888
In Seattle, Washington, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt incorporate Pacific Aero Products (later renamed Boeing), 1916
Eighteen Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by thirty-four others, 1955
AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape Communications Corporation; the Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day, 2003