Besides the Usual 4th of July Rain

If you had been hanging at our house, you would have heard the following:

"Wow, I wonder where all the online people I usually hear from on this site are today?  Oh, yeah, it's the Fourth, they are probably outside doing fireworks and having fun.  How come I'm not outside doing fireworks?"  Bigger Girl's stream of consciousness chatter was the background as i cooked burgers and made slaw.

"That's where I come in," #2 Son said, entering the kitchen with #1 Son, who had driven him to the fireworks place to stock up.

"Here, have a blast!" he said to her as he tossed her the sparklers she had asked for.  Yes, the pun was intended, his grin said it all.

"Ooh, I have sparklers!  I have sparklers!"  Then reading, "'Caution: Flammable.'  Glad they told me.  'Use only under adult supervision.  For outdoor use only.  Do not touch hot wood, hold in hand with arm extended away from body.  Keep burning end or sparks away from wearing apparel or other flammable material.  Hold and light only one sparkler at a time.  After use, place wood in water.'  Well, now I can't sue them, they've warned me.  Mom," turning to me, "if I get hurt, I'm suing you for letting me use these, okay?"

Sorry, kid, you are over 18, you're on your own.

"Oh, yeah."

"And anyway," #2 Son added, "do you really think I would let you jeopardize my perfect safety record?  I've got a reputation to keep up!"  

The little pyromaniac is right, too.  He's never hurt anyone but himself in his escapades, or damaged any property, through the mercy of the Good Lord and the fact that it always rains on New Year's Eve and Independence Day, and the grace of having a huge concrete area in back where he Barbecues.

Well, i hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday, whether you celebrated anything or not.  And no unwanted fires or injuries if you did celebrate.


Today is

Alice in Wonderland Day -- on July 5, 1862, Dodgson began writing the adventure story he had told Alice Liddel and her sisters the day before

Bikini Day -- the skimpy suit made its debut on this day in Paris in 1946

Constitution Day -- Armenia

Independence Day -- Algeria(1962); Cape Verde(1965); Venezuela(1811)

International Carthage Festival -- Tunis, Tunisia (the country's biggest arts event and music festival, through Aug. 15)

Earth at Aphelion -- @04 UT (Earth at its furthest distance from the sun)

Feast of Anubis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

National Apple Turnover Day

National Work-a-holics Day -- we will know it's you if you are all "back to business" after a holiday

Ommegang Pageant -- Grand-Palace, Brussels, Belgium (recreation of the medieval entertainment at the court of Charles V)

Poplifulgia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a ceremony to commemorate the "Flight of the People" when they had to flee enemies)

Savonlinna Opera Festival -- Savonlinna, Finland (through Aug. 4)

Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Matsuri -- Shounan City, Kanagawa Prefecture (one of Japan's largest Tanabata festivals; through the 8th)

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day -- Roman Catholics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Apostles to the Slavs, created the Glagolithic alphabet and translated the Bible into the Slavonic language)

Sts. Grace and Probus' Day (married co-Patrons of Probus, Cornwall, England)

Tynwald Day -- Isle of Man (Manx National Day; assembling of the year's session of the High Court of Tynwald, as their Parliament is called, to read the laws to the citizens; oldest continual parliament in existence)

Worshipful Company of Vintners (Winemakers) of the City of London Annual Procession


Birthdays Today

Dolly the Sheep, 1996 (first cloned mammal)
Huey Lewis, 1951
Warren Oates, 1928
Georges Pompidou, 1911
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., 1902
Jean Cocteau, 1889
Cecil Rhodes, 1853
P.T. Barnum, 1810


Today in History

Scotland and France form the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England, 1295
John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland, 1610
Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, 1687
The Salvation Army is founded in the East End of London, England, 1865
Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco, on Bloody Thursday, 1934
Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation, 1937
Highest recorded temperature in Canada, at Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan: 45°C (113°F), 1937
Larry Doby signs a contract with the Cleveland Indians baseball team, becoming the first black player in the American League, 1947
National Health Service Acts created the national public health systems in the United Kingdom, 1948
The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel, 1950
William Shockley invents the junction transistor, 1951
The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin, 1954
Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title, 1975
Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation, 1998
The SARS virus is declared to be contained by the WHO, 2003
Indonesia holds its first presidential election, 2004
Roger Federer wins a record 15th Grand Slam title in tennis, winning a five set match against Andy Roddick at Wimbledon, 2009
The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England, 2009