The Rain Rain Rain...

...came down, down, down, to quote a Disney song.

All the live long day, to quote another song, but not from Disney.

It was not really that bad right where we are. A quick moving line of bad storms, and then just drips and drizzles interspersed with the occasional good soaking.

Prairieville was not so lucky, a tornado did touch down there. Several homes damaged, a few destroyed, and the Middle School had to dismiss early as they were left without power. Lightning also struck one house and toppled its chimney.

Flooding is still expected, although, as i said, our creek isn't that high. We got much less than i expected.

The rain did one thing the kids are glad about -- they had to take their individual pictures today, but the photographer said they will reschedule the class shots unless some of the parents want to shell out for a new camera for him. Since all of them would have looked like drowned rats, the rain being at its worst during the time he was working, there were no takers.

The next few days are supposed to be increasingly clear, which will allow me to catch up on the laundry. The problem with my energy efficient clothes line dryer is that it is useless when wet. Laundry has to be scheduled to coincide with the ability to get the stuff out there.

So my life has come to this? Scheduling laundry and bottle feeding kittens? We have 3 right now, by the way. The kids have named them Anomaly, Perplexity, and Conundrum. That about sums us cats, doesn't it? Except for Enigma. That name will have to be saved for later.


Today is:

As Young As You Feel Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, which encourages you to stop acting your chronological age and go act peppy!

Banned in Boston Day -- see history for 1630 for explanation of why today

Coq Au Vin Day

Día de la Abolición de la Esclavitud (Emancipation Day) -- Puerto Rico

International Goof-off Day -- sponsored by Monica A. Dufour and A.C. Vierow, who think everyone needs a special day each year to goof off.

International Day of the Seal -- drawing attention to a beautiful species

National Bavarian Crepes Day

National Letting Go of Stuff Day -- see lettinggocafe.com for details

National Sing-Out Day -- begun by an anonymous person who must love singing; and yes, i promise, i won't sing where anyone has to listen to me

St. Catherine of Sweden's Day

Thunder Ceremony -- Iroquois Native Americans (through the 25th; in thanks for rain from Awenhal/Sky Woman giving birth to the twins Thahonhiawakn/Order and Tawiskaron/Chaos)

World Day for Water -- International


Birthdays Today:

Reese Witherspoon, 1976
Elvis Stojko, 1972
Matthew Modine, 1959
Stephanie Mills, 1957
Lena Olin, 1955
Bob Costas, 1952
Andrew Lloyd Webber, 1948
James Patterson, 1947
George Benson, 1943
Marvin Yagoda, 1938
J.P. McCarthy, 1933
William Shatner, 1931
Stephen Sondheim, 1930
Marcel Marceau, 1923
Karl Malden, 1912
Louis L'Amour, 1908
Chico Marx, 1887


Today in History:

Hugo de Groot escapes imprisonment in Loevenstein Castle in a book case, 1621
The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags, 1621
Algonquian Indians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony's population, 1622
Massachusetts Bay Colony outlaws the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables, 1630
Joseph Priestly invents carbonated water (seltzer), 1733
The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Stamp Act, which introduced a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies, 1765
The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current place in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand, 1784
The three protecting powers (Britain, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece, 1829
Cornstarch is patented by Orlando Jones, 1841
Slavery is abolished in Puerto Rico, 1873
The Edmunds Act adopted by US to suppress polygamy in the territories (especially aimed at the Mormons), 1882
August and Louis Lumiere privately screen the first "motion picture" ever made, of workers leaving their factory three days earlier, 1895
World's first airline, St Petersburg Tampa Airboat Line, begins, 1914
The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt, 1945
Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser, 1960
Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1978
The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips, 1993
Cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov returns after setting a record for 438 days in space, 1995
The Comet Hale-Bopp has its closest approach to earth, 1997
Tara Lipinski, age 14 years and 10 months, becomes the youngest women's World Figure Skating Champion, 1997
ETA, the armed Basque separatist group, declares a permanent ceasefire, 2006
Mount Redoubt, a volcano in Alaska began erupting after a prolonged period of unrest, 2009