Curses, Foiled Again

As in, i had an idea for a blog post earlier that would have been fun to write and at least kept me entertained. Since i didn't write it down immediately, i lost it, of course, in that never to be retrieved section of my subconscious that devours more and more such things as i grow older.

Thus i'm left standing here grasping straws. Not nice, pretty, multicolored drinking straws, either. Nor yet the permanent plastic ones, like the purple one i have that i like so much. No, these are nasty, brown, old broom straws that have swept the dirt out of numerous corners and show the wear and tear of the years, frayed at the bottom and covered with heaven knows what.

Indeed, in this house, only heaven would know what would end up on the business end of a broom. With the years of cats and kids and foster kittens (all 3 of which are doing very well right now, thank you for asking) and everything else that has tramped through this house, i do not believe even a molecular biologist who specialized in looking for such things would want to know or be able to figure it all out.

Now, where was i? Oh, yes, straws. No, blog thoughts, which are becoming as scarce as hen's teeth. If they were as plentiful as grass, i guess everyone would have a blog. Wait, everyone does. Or almost everyone. Scratch that.

Speaking of scratching, i hear the tell-tale scratching around in the large pink bucket that serves us as a bottle-feed kitten nursery, which tells me that 3 little somebodies are getting hungry again and it's time to make more formula. They are tearing through the first can like nobody's business, but it is my business, as i will have to get more before we run out.

Actually, i am amazed by these three. Usually newborn orphaned kittens are very fussy a good bit of the time, squealing and squirming to be fed several times before they settle back down into sleep. These eat, maybe have a little go at seconds, and are right back down to snuggling and dozing. Easiest newborns i've ever taken care of.

Wonder if this means they have something nefarious up their sleeves -- uh, behind their claws? -- that i won't like later. Maybe, they are cats, after all. Always plotting. In our house, it's Badlands Blackie who is always plotting. Plotting a way to either get in my room and wet my bed, or get into a position to sneak attack The Cissy Cat, who seems to have become a permanent boarder here while her owner, who also lives here sometimes, finds a place to stay.

Why do half or more of the stray kids i take in end up bringing stray animals with them? Don't the cat rescue groups hand me enough of those?

Hm, i think that's enough meandering for today. If you followed any of it, thank you. If not, that's okay, as i lose more of my marbles i have a hard time following them, too.


Today is:

Crane Watch Festival -- Kearney, NE, US (80% of the world's sandhill cranes congregate on the Platte River during March and April; what better reason to throw a 10 day party?)

Dandelion Dance -- Fairy Calendar

Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship -- Hungary and Poland

Day of the Sea -- Bolivia (Dia del Mar)

Festival of Isis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Liberty Day -- today in 1775, Patrick Henry said, “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.”

Lieldienas -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (Big Days, four day celebration of spring, each day devoted to a different deity)

National Chip and Dip Day

National Day of Unplugging -- take a tech detox day, go unplugged from sundown this evening through sundown tomorrow; sponsored by sabbathmanifesto.org

National Health Day -- Kiribati

National Melba Toast Day

National Puppy Day -- encouraging you to adopt a shelter pup today

Near Miss Day -- commemorates the mountain sized asteroid that was a near miss on this day in 1989

New Year -- Hindu
Nyepi Day -- Bali, Indonesia (Day of Silence; as part of the New Year ceremony, 24 hours of total silence, with everything closed including the international airport)

Ougadi -- Mauritius (the Telugu New Year)

Ramayana -- Hindu (through April 1)

Rally for Decency Day -- Commemorates the first Rally for Decency, prompted on this day in 1969 by Jim Morrison

Republic Day -- Pakistan

Schmeckfest -- Freeman, SD, US (through tomorrow and next Fri-Sat; a "tasting festival" celebrating the German/Russian/Mennonite heritage of the area)

St. Turibius de Mongrovejo's Day (Patron of Latin American bishops)

Toast Day -- supposedly for the invention of Melba toast; a recent article says it takes 6 steps to toast bread "right"; i say if you can't put bread in the toaster and butter it when it comes out and need long sets of instructions, you shouldn't be let loose in society!

Tubilustrium -- Ancient Roman Calendar (ceremony to purify the trumpets used in sacred ceremonies)

World Meteorological Day


Anniversaries Today:

The University of California is founded in Oakland, California, 1868


Birthdays Today:

Michelle Monaghan, 1976
Keri Russell, 1976
Chaka Khan, 1953
Roger Bannister, 1929
Wernher Von Braun, 1912
Akira Kurosawa, 1910
Joan Crawford, 1905


Today in History:

Eighteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. 1066
The first dated edition of Maimonides "Mishna Torah" published, 1490
George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" premieres in London, 1743
Patrick Henry delivers his famous speech – "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" – at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, 1775
After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their "Corps of Discovery" begin their arduous journey home, 1806
Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City, 1857
The Boers and Britain sign a peace accord that ends the First Boer War, 1881
President Benjamin Harrison opens Oklahoma to white settlement starting on April 22, starting a Land Run, 1889
The Wright Brothers apply for a patent on their invention of one of the first successful airplanes, 1903
Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world, 1956
NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young), 1965
Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans, 1980
Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President, 1996
The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji, 2001