Overheard on the Way to the Shelter

 As we went to the shelter last night to feed the cats:

From Bigger Girl came, "Mom, I just love coffee.  Do you ever get the feeling that the cup should have a nipple on it?"

Not quite.

From Little Girl came, "Ow!"

What's wrong?

"Tying your hair back with rubber bands hurts when you take them off!"

Well, i have some hair bands, or i can buy more just for you.

"Don't do that!"

Why not?

"Because I have rubber bands!."

From Bigger Girl again, "Mom, I like your socks."

These?  You told me, when i got them as a Christmas gift, that they look like Old Lady socks.

"Oh, well, I was wrong.  They look good on you.  They aren't granny socks.  And you aren't a granny, and hopefully you won't be any time soon.  At least for 10 years.  Then you'll be almost 60, that's a good time to be a granny.  You'll still be young enough to play basketball."

Um, i'm all of 5 foot zero, i don't play basketball.

"I know, but at 60, you'd still be young enough to, if you wanted, with the grandchildren."

By the way, for any who want to know, the shelter is down to only two cats with ringworm, only one upper respiratory contagious room, and we had 60+ adoptions over December as well as 3 so far this year.


Today is:

Apple Howling Day -- Henfield, West Sussex (Held at Gill Orchard, always on Epiphany Eve, horn blowing and howling at the trees is said to wake them up and yield a good crop.)

Armenian Christmas Eve -- Armenia (Old Chrismas Day in the West)

Epiphany Fair -- Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy (toys, sweets, and presents among the beautiful Bernini Fountains)

Get on the Computer Day -- obviously dates back to a time when people didn't have to check email daily or get inundated

Guru Gobindh Singh birthday -- Sikh

Harbin Ice Festival -- Harbin, China (illuminated ice sculptures, ice sports, and fun through Chinese New Year and beyond)

Joma Shinji Festival -- Kamakura, Japan (ceremony and festival to keep evil spirits away)

Mungday -- Discordianism (festival of St. Hung Mung)

National Bird Day -- US (National Association of Audubon Societies incorporated today in 1905)

National Whipped Cream Day

Nones of January -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also
     Festival of Vica Pota (ancient goddess of victory)

Pennsylvania Farm Show -- Harrisburg, PA, US (the largest indoor agricultural show in the US, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture; through the 12th)

Perchtenlauf -- Austria (A festival with scary masks and music to frighten away winter.)

Review Your Wrestling Holds Day -- internet generated, and weird

St. Gerlac of Valkenberg's Day (Patron of domestic animals)

St. Simeon Stylites' Day (The original and most maniacal of the "Pillar Saints")

Take the Cake Day -- a day to do something, anything, over the top, just because

Trettondagsafton -- Sweden (Epiphany Eve)

Turn Up the Heat Day -- all over the internet, but no one explains it

Twelfth Day of Christmas -- and thus, Twelfth Night (Although by some reckonings, this is actually only the 11th day of Christmas, and thus Twelfth Night Eve.  Take your pick.)


Anniversaries Today:

George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis, 1759


Birthdays Today:

Pamela Sue Martin, 1953
Diane Keaton, 1946
Juan Carlos I, King of Spain, 1938
Alvin Ailey, 1931
Robert Duvall, 1931
Walter Mondale, 1928
George Reeves, 1914
George Dolenz, 1908
King Camp Gillette, 1855
Constanze Mozart, 1762 (wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
Pietro Filippo Scarlotti, 1679
Shah Jahal, 1592 (Mughal emperor of India, built the Taj Mahal)


Today in History:

Edward the Confessor dies with no heir, leading to a succession crisis that ends with the Norman Conquest, 1066
Felix Manz, a leader of the Anabaptist congregation in Zürich, is executed by drowning, 1527
Pope Clemens VII forbids English king Henry VIII to re-marry, 1531
A petition in Recife, Brazil leads to closing of their 2 synagogues, 1638
The first Swedenborgian temple in the US holds its first service, in Baltimore, 1800
The Ohio legislature passes the first laws restricting the movement of free blacks, 1804
Davy Crockett arrives in Texas, just in time for the Alamo, 1836
The US House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the UK, 1846
The first US school of librarianship opens at Columbia University, 1887
An Austrian newspaper makes the first public report on Wilhelm Roentgen's discovery of x-rays, 1896
The National Association of Audubon Society incorporates, 1905
Colombia recognizes Panama's independence, 1909
The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor, 1914
British premier Lloyd George issues a demand for a unified peace, 1918
Nellie Taylor Ross is sworn in as governor of Wyoming, the first woman governor of a US state, 1925
Mao Tse-tung writes "A Single Spark Can Start A Prairie Fire," 1930
FM radio is demonstrated to the Federal Communications Commission for the first time, 1940
The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper, 1944
Warmest reliably measured temperature in Antarctica of +59°F (+15°C) recorded at Vanda Station, 1974
Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system, is discovered, 2005