Adventures at Eagle's Aerie: Monday Blues

Blues because it was finally time to go home.

While i didn't wake quite as early as i wanted, too many late nights caught up to me, i did manage to be up and packing while it was still dark.

Westie, never an early riser, got up long enough to say good-bye and went back to sleep. Eagle and i had a great final conversation that was worth staying for, and she helped me load everything.

Since i hadn't written down the directions in reverse, i found myself on the side of the road a couple of times trying to sort out exactly which way to go. It was an adventure, with me singing along to the radio, again stopping where and when i wanted, sleeping in the car at a truck stop, enjoying the wi-fi at McDonald's when the fancy struck. It especially struck during rush hour Tuesday morning in Jackson, Mississippi. Much better to sip coffee and watch everyone else bog down on the interstate. After all, i was on my own clock.

A bit of a pang hit Monday evening around the time those who hadn't yet left the Quad Cities were getting together at the Smalltown Movie Theater. Monday is $5 tickets and $1 popcorn night -- bring your own bowl, of any size, they fill it for one buck. Smalltown. Gotta love it.

Gotta miss it, too.


Today is:

Battle of Boqueron Day -- Paraguay

Festival of Tezcatzonctl -- Ancient Aztec Calendar (chief god of intoxication; date approximate)

Great American Beer Festival -- Denver, CO, US (festival that holds the Guinness World Record for most beers tapped in one location)

Gwynn ap Nudd's Fest -- Celtic Calendar (god of the underworld; date approximate)

Inventors Day -- Argentina

National Coffee Day

National Day of Remembrance for Policemen Killed -- Australia (St. Michael, Patron of police officers)

National Mocha Day

Payment of Quit Rent by London Royal Courts of Justice

Rosh Hashanah -- Jewish (through sunset)

Sts. Gabriel and Raphael's Day

St. Michael's and All Angels Day (Michaelmas) (patron of bankers, the Basques, Brussels, Germany, grocers, Papua New Guinea, radiologists, paratroopers, policemen)

World Heart Day


Birthdays Today:

Bryant Gumbel, 1948
Lech Walesa, 1943
Madeline, Kahn, 1942
Jerry Lee Lewis, 1935
Anita Ekberg, 1931
Lizabeth Scott, 1922
Stanley Kramer, 1913
Greer Garson, 1908
Gene Autry, 1907
Enrico Fermi, 1901
Horatio Nelson, 1758
Miguel de Cervantes, 1547
Pompey the Great, BC106


Today in History:

Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumata, securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire, BC522
Battle of Salamis, at which the Greek fleet under Themistocles defeats the Persian fleet under Xerxes I, BC480
Pompey the Great Celebrates ending the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday, BC61
Saladin's army marches into Jerusalem, 1187
The First Congress of the US adjourns, 1789
"Scotland Yard", London's Metropolitan Police Force, goes on duty, 1829
The first practical public electric tramway ever opens in Blackpool, England, 1885
John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire, 1916
The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed, 1954
Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite, is launched, 1962
WGPR in Detroit, Michigan, becomes the world's first black-owned-and-operated television station, 1975
Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to set foot on Irish soil with his pastoral visit to the Republic of Ireland, 1979
The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth, 2004
The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history, 2008
An 8.0 magnitude earthquake near the Samoan Islands causes a tsunami, 2009