Being Neighborly

Hello, Mr. Massen! i said to our neighbor when i saw him outside while taking clothes to the line.

"Hello!  How are you?" he asked.

Doing well, i replied.  How is your family?

"We are doing well, but night before last my wife woke up from a sound outside, after midnight, and she thought it was a dream.  Then, the next morning, i found the door to my tool shed open."

Did they take anything? i inquired.

"No, and you know you and your kids are welcome to get into there and borrow a tool if you need to, but do you think maybe one of your kids went in that late?"

Well, i'm going to find out, because they better not!  That would be taking advantage of a neighbor's generosity unless it was an extreme emergency.

"Yes, you see, the reason I ask is because they didn't take anything, not even the generator!  You know those are valuable around here, so why would someone break in and not take the only valuable thing in there?  So I thought maybe one of your kids might have been out late."

It might have been someone who got scared off by the noise he made, convinced he would be caught.  But if it was one of mine, they are in deep trouble, that's for sure; i'll be certain they know they can borrow tools but only if they ask first, and only during the day.

"Thank you!  And you are right, the person made so much noise, maybe he changed his mind and ran so he wouldn't be caught."

About 10 minutes later, #2 Son wandered into the kitchen.

Son, Mrs. Massen was awakened night before last by someone getting into their tool shed after midnight.  Do you know anything about that?

"No, mom, I don't, but that was the night I saw some strange guy wandering around the field pretty late, wearing nothing but his boxers and talking to himself!  Yesterday, I told the Deputy Sheriff who came through on patrol.  Maybe I should tell him about this, too."

Good idea.  Because good neighbors watch out for each other, and we have great neighbors.


Today is:

Apple Butter Makin' Days -- Mt. Vernon, MO, US (making apple butter on the courthouse lawn, and lots of other fun; through Sunday)

Ayathrem -- Zoroastrianism (feast of bringing the herds and flocks home, a five day feast, dates approximate)

Child Rambunctiousness Appreciation Day -- remembering back to when we didn't say every kid with ants in his/her pants needed drugs

Children's Day / Feast of Our Lady of Aparecida -- Brazil

Cloud-Stamping Pentathlon -- Fairy Calendar

Confucius' Birthday -- China

Cookbook Launch Day -- someone started this one just because s/he likes cookbooks is my guess

Day of Fortuna Redux -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of successful journeys and lucky homecomings, favored by travelers and soldiers)

Day of Giving the Black Land to Horus and the Red Land to Set -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

"Discovery" of America by Columbus observances:
     Columbus Day -- US (trad.)
     Descubrimiento de América -- Mexico
     Día de la Hispanidad or Fiesta Nacional de España -- Spain
     Dia de la Raza -- Latin America and especially Guatemala (Day of the Race, or Day of the Natives)
     Día de la Resistencia Indígena -- Venezuela (Day of Indigenous Resistance)
     Dia de las Americas/Descubrimiento de America -- Uruguay
     Dia de las Culturas -- Costa Rica (Day of the Cultures)
     Discovery Day -- Bahamas

Fort Ligonier Days -- Ligonier, PA, US (commemoration of the Battle of Ligonier with reenactments, parade, entertainment, etc.; through Sunday)

Freethought Day -- celebration by Freethinkers of the effective ending date of the Salem witch trials

Independence Day -- Equatorial Guinea(1968)

International Moment of Frustration Scream Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, who want you to go outside at 1200GMT and scream for 30 seconds so we can all get it out of our systems

Medford Jazz Festival -- Medford, OR, US (over 100 jazz performances, many by nationally known bands, plus food and celebration; through Sunday)

Mississinewa1812 -- Mississinewa, IN, US (the largest War of 1812 living history and reenactment event; through Sunday)

Natchitoches Historic Pilgrimage -- Natchitoches, LA, US (National Historic Landmark District homes, plantations, and the sites where the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed are featured on this fabulous tour; through Sunday)

National Gumbo Day

Native American's Day -- often celebrated on both the observed and the traditional Columbus Day; a day to mourn Native American victims of conquest and oppression, make peace, and celebrate the empowerment of Native Americans

Royal National (Gaelic) Mod -- Dunoon, Scotland (Gaelic Language Festival; through the 20th)

Sawara Festival -- Chiba, Japan (also called the Grand Festival of Sarawa; through the 14th)

Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word -- Nashville, TN, US (through Sunday)

Starman Family Gathering -- El Segundo, CA, US ("family reunion" of those who created and those who appreciate the TV series "Starman;" through Sunday)

St. Edwin of Northumbria's Day (Patron of converts, hoboes/tramps, homeless people, kings, parents of large families)

St. Wilfred of York's Day (Patron of Middlesbrough, England; Ripon, England)

Tennessee Fall Homecoming -- Museum of Appalachia, Clinton, TN, US (celebrating the culture and heritage of Appalachia; through Sunday)

Victorian Theatre by Candlelight presents "Haunted DC" by James Trofatter -- Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, Indianapolis, IN, US (learn about the Patriotic spirits that haunt the capital; this weekend and next)

World Egg Day

World Rainforest Week begins -- International


Anniversary Today:

Day of Six Billion, 1999 (marking the world population reaching that number)



Birthdays Today:

Kirk Cameron, 1970
Hugh Jackman, 1968
Carlos Bernard, 1962
Susan Anton, 1950
Chris Wallace, 1947
Luciano Pavarotti, 1935
Dick Gregory, 1932


Today in History:


The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon, BC539
King John of England loses his crown jewels in The Wash, 1216
Nichiren, Japans Buddhist monk who founded Nichiren Buddhism, inscribes the Dai-Gohonzon, 1279
Christopher Columbus' expedition makes landfall in the Bahamas, 1492
Massachusetts discontinues all witch trials, 1692
America's first asylum for "Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds" opens in Virginia, 1773
Bavarian royalty invites the citizens of Munich to join the celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen; this celebration becomes the founding of the first Oktoberfest, 1810
Charles Macintosh, of Scotland, sells the first raincoat, 1821
Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) is enacted by British rule in India, which named over 160 local communities 'Criminal Tribes', i.e. hereditary criminals, 1871*
President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House, 1901
An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston, 1928
The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits, 1964
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams is published, 1979
The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip, 1979
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China, 1986
NASA loses radio contact with the Magellan spacecraft as the probe descends into the thick atmosphere of Venus, 1994
The proclaimed 6 billionth living human in the world is born, 1999
The second Chinese human spaceflight Shenzhou 6 is launched, 2005

*Not repealed until India's independence in 1949