The Heat is On

And the A/C is running almost non stop.

There are "don't go outside" warnings both because of the heat, and because the stifling heat keeps the air quality poor.  Poor to the point where it's not safe to be outside for long periods of time.

We joke about the heat, about how you know you are from south Louisiana if you find 100°F "a little warm."  That our four seasons are almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas.  Some day we only actually have two, wet and hurricane, with hurricane being just a bit hotter.

A cold snap is under 70°F, and we call that "gumbo weather."

Some people leave their cars running in the parking lot while they are in the store.  Otherwise you will brand yourself with the metal part of the seat belt buckle.

Pot holders from the kitchen come out to the car with you so you don't burn your hands on the steering wheel, and you learn young to either wear long pants or bring a towel if you have vinyl seats and don't want to scorch your legs.

How important is our air conditioning?

Well, there was an awful boating accident out on the Atchafalaya, and a few dozen Cajuns ended up at the Pearly Gates at once.  St. Peter had some awful news for them.

"I'm so sorry," he said, "but your accommodations aren't ready yet!  We don't have everything quite up to spec, yet.  But I've got good news.  The devil has agreed to put you up down there temporarily until we get it all set up."

Well, the Cajuns were amenable to that, and headed down.

A month later the devil called St. Peter. "You know them Cajuns you got down here?  Got 'em out!"

"What?" St. Peter asked, and the devil answered, "Got 'em out!  Right now!"

"Well, we aren't quite ready," St. Peter started to protest, "are you having any trouble with them?

"Trouble!  Mais, ah, tell you trouble.  Since you sent this whole group down here, they done held 3 bingos, 4 bazaars, 2 jambalaya dinners, and a crawfish boil, and if they raise another $500 they gonna air condition the whole place!"


Today is

Constitution day -- Ukraine

Festival of Terrible Poetry -- according to The Daily Bleed, and since there is some hilarious, if terrible, poetry out there, go find some, and bust a gut

Insurance Awareness Day -- now who do you think invented that!?!

Maonyesho ya Saba Saba -- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam Trade Fair)

Mnarja / L-Imnarja Festival begins -- Buskett Gardens, Malta (folk festival for Sts. Peter and Paul, begins this evening and continues through the 29th)

National Bomb Pop Day -- Thursday before US Independence Day, to kick off the celebration with the original red, white, and blue bomb pops

National Handshake Day --it's been over a week since World Handshake Day, so you should have had some practice by now


National Tapioca Day

Paul Bunyan Day -- the tall tale hero of the lumberjacks; celebrated at different times in some parts of the country, but most sites cite this date

Ra goes forth to propitiate the Nun -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Soviet Occupation Day -- Moldova

Stonewall Rebellion Day -- now seen as the start of the gay liberation movement in 1969

St. Irenaeus' Day (Patron of Mobile, Alabama)

St. Paul's Feast -- Kato Paphos, Cyprus

St. Peter's Eve -- English Christian tradition, night of bonfires and continuation of midsummer celebrations

Thanksgiving for Useful Fairies -- Fairy Calendar

Vidovdan (Festival for St. Vitus) -- Eastern Orthodox Christian


Anniversaries Today:

Harry S. Truman marries Bess Wallace, 1919


Birthdays Today:

Kellie Pickler, 1986
Steve Burton, 1970
John Cusack, 1966
John Elway, 1960
Kathy Bates, 1948
Gilda Radner, 1946
Turkan Soray, 1945
Pat Morita, 1932
Mel Brooks, 1926
Richard Rodgers, 1902
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712
John Wesley, 1703
Peter Paul Rubens, 1577
Henry VIII, King of England, 1491


Today in History:

Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul, 1098
Ottomans defeat Serbian army in the bloody Battle of Kosovo, opening the way for the Ottoman conquest of Southeastern Europe, 1389
Guadeloupe becomes a French colony, 1635
The coronation of Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1838
The Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris premieres the ballet Giselle, 1841
The first conformation dog show is held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, 1859
Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo by young Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, the casus belli of World War I, 1914
The Treaty of Versailles is signed in Paris, formally ending World War I, 1919
The Irish Civil War begins with the shelling of the Four Courts in Dublin by Free State forces, 1922
Israel annexes East Jerusalem, 1967
COMECON, as part of the last vestige of the Soviet Bloc, is formally disbanded, followed by the Warsaw pact 3 days later, 1991
Slobodan Milosevic is deported to ICTY to stand trial, 2001
The Republic of Montenegro is admitted as the 192nd Member of the United Nations, 2006