Progidy

What do you need help to do? i asked my Sunday school class.

Timmy took the lead in answering, as usual, from his favorite place in the classroom -- upside down in a headstand on the cushion against the wall.

"Oh, I do lots of stuff by myself!" he answered.

We all talked a while about who needs help.  Everyone agreed that they would need help building a house, for example, but can all write their names by themselves.

"I could write my name when I was just a year old!" Timmy proclaimed.

You must have been some kind of a prodigy, i grinned at him, but the irony of my statement was lost on him.  He seemed to love the word, and brought himself right side up to run around yelling, "I'm a progidy!  I'm a progidy!"

We discussed asking G-d for help, and things we can do to help others, but the word "progidy" was never far away from his mind, and he certainly seemed to be one when we went outside to swing and blow bubbled later.  He caught more bubbles, without breaking them, than any of the others.

They often don't learn exactly what you expect, do they?

In other news, all of us who love American football as played in south Louisiana, even those of us who are not Tulane fans, are praying for the recovery of Devon Walker.  He was  the team's safety, who broke his neck in the game against the Tulsa, Oklahoma Golden Hurricanes team Saturday.  They were playing in Tulsa, and we won't know for certain how bad the injury is for a few days.  Anyone who wants to pray or send good thoughts his way, i know it is appreciated.


Today is

Abbots Bromley Horn Dance -- Abbots Bromley, UK (a/k/a Antler Dance or Ceremony of the Deermen; uses deer horns from the 11th Century, and a traditional dance, tune, and circuit around the neighboring farms, and includes a fair)

Dia del Nino -- Honduras (Children's Day)

Harvest Home Nibbling Contest  -- Fairy Calendar (Gremlins)

National Boss/Employee Exchange Day -- US (or anyone else who wants to foster understanding between bosses and employees)

National Day -- Gibraltar

Peddler's Village Scarecrow Competition -- Lahaska, PA (through Oct. 28)

Pennsylvania RV & Camping Show -- Hershey, PA, US (the largest RV and Camper show in the world; through Saturday)

Saint George's Caye Day -- Belize (National Day)

Sewing Machine Day -- date of issuance of an early sewing machine patent

Swap Ideas Day -- Robert L. Birch of Puns Corp wants people to explore ways in which their ideas can be put to work to benefit all humanity and develop incentives to encourage using our creative imaginations

St. Finian's Day (Patron of Ulster, Irland)

St. Nicholas of Tolentino's Day (Patron of animals, baby, dying people, mariners/sailors, sick animals; Albi, Italy; Cabanatuan, Philippines; Guimbai, Philippines; Lambuna, Philippines; Mati, Philippines; Tandag, Philippines; Toentino, Italy)

Teacher's Day -- China

TV Dinner Day

Wakes Monday

World Suicide Prevention Day


Birthdays Today:

Amy Irving, 1953
Joe Perry, 1950
Jose Feliciano, 1945
Charles Kuralt, 1934
Roger Maris, 1934
Arnold Palmer, 1929
Rin Tin Tin, 1918
Fay Wray, 1907
Adele Astaire, 1896
Elsa Schiaparelli, 1890
Ian Fleming, 1888
Isaac Kauffman Funk, 1839
Marie Laveau, 1801


Today in History:

The Battle of Marathon takes places between the forces of the Persian Empire and those of Athens, BC490*
An earthquake known as "The Lesser Judgment Day" hits Istanbul, 1509
John Smith is elected president of Jamestown, Va., Colony Council, 1608
Nathan Hale answers the call of George Washington for a volunteer spy, 1776
Simón Bolívar is named President of Peru, 1823
Elias Howe is granted a patent for the sewing machine, 1846
George Mary Searle discovers the asteroid 55 Pandora, 1858
Lincoln Highway, the first paved coast-to-coast road in the US, opens, 1913
Austria and the Allies sign the Treaty of Saint-Germain recognizing the independence of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, 1919
20 African-American students enter public schools in Alabama, 1963
Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by guillotine in France, 1977
Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, joins the United Nations, 2002
The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in history is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland, 2008

*actual date disputed, but it was the 9th day of the 9th moon on their calendar