Taking Notice

Little Girl, sitting next to me in the car, was busily writing in her notebook.

"Mom, I've been keeping track," she said.  "For the past couple of days I've been watching the drivers as we pass them on the road to school and back, and you know what?  Earlier in the day, maybe about a third of them are on the phone or texting, and in the late afternoon, it's more than half of them!"

And the ones on the phone or texting are the worst drivers, aren't they? i asked.

"Yes, they are," she noted.  "They are very slow or very fast, or weaving around."

It's good that she has taken notice.  Especially since i read this story.

Savannah Nash was on her way to the grocery store, just out running an errand, so close to her own neighborhood that one neighbor heard the crash.  It was her very first time driving alone.  She was texting, perhaps about her first time going solo in the car.  She never made it to the store.  Savannah turned 16 last week, and didn't see the truck she was supposed to yield to.  She won't see 17.

Take notice, all of us.  No, i don't text behind the wheel.  If i get a call, i make one of the kids answer, or, if i'm alone, i ignore it and call back when i pull off the road.  Not that i am perfect, i just try.

Pass that link to people you know, it's time for all of us to take notice.


Today is

Aunt's Day -- you honored your mother last week, if you have an aunt who has been good to you and a good influence, call today and let her know

Boy's Club Day -- founding in 1906

Circus Day -- the four Ringling Brothers opened their first circus on this day in 1884

Dance to Mark the Third of January -- Fairy Calendar (Third of January is when the Founding Fairy Fathers and Mothers arrived in what is now called Fairyland [no one knows where they lived before, or what lived in Fairyland before], so it is one of their most important days; no one knows why it is celebrated in May, either)

Greek Genocide Remembrance Day -- Greece

ING Bay to Breakers 12k Race -- San Francisco, CA, US (the largest footrace in the world with 70,000+ runners, followed by a festival)

May Ray Day -- to celebrate being able to go out into the sun's rays as summer nears

Mifune Matsuri -- Kurumazaki Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (Boat Festival, with over 20 different kinds of traditional Japanese performing arts and costumes of the Heian Period)

National Devil's Food Cake Day

National Stationery Show -- NYC, NY, US (if you love beautiful paper, or quirky cards, or all forms of stationery, this is a show for you; through the 22nd)

Neighbor Day -- Rhode Island, US (a "Day of Special Observance"www.neighbordayworldwide.com here, and they encourage everyone, before summer starts, get to know your neighbors so you will have more people to enjoy the season with

New England's Dark Day*

Plant Something Day -- because it's fun, and summer is coming so you can!

Praia Municipal Day -- Praia, Cape Verde

Stepmothers' Day -- the too often overlooked and unsung heroines of families; if you have one, and she has been there for you, thank her today

St. Dunstan of Canterbury's Day (Patron of armourers, blacksmiths, blind people, gold workers and smiths, jewelers, lighthouse keepers, locksmiths, musicians, silver workers and smiths, swordsmiths; Charlottetown, PEI, Canada)

St. Peter Celestine's Day (Patron of bookbinders; Aquila, Italy)

Upper Canada Village -- Morrisburg, ON, Canada (through early October, various programs that let visitors and students enter the world of the 1860s)

Whit Sunday / Pentecost -- Christian
     Hvitasunnudagur -- Iceland (sleeping in on Whitsunday is detrimental to your health, but monsters are asleep through the day and can be taken by surprise)
     Romeria del Rocia -- Huelva, Spain (pilgrims transport an image of the Virgen del Rocio [Our Lady of the Dew] through Andalucia, with no motorized transport allowed, accompanied by Gypsy Caravans; when the image gets to the shrine, there is mass and a few days of fireworks and celebrating)

Youth and Sports Day / Commemoration of Atatürk -- North Cyprus; Turkey


Birthdays Today:

Rachel Appleton, 1992
Jordon Pruitt, 1991
Kevin Garnett, 1976
Kyle Eastwood, 1968
Grace Jones, 1952
Joey Ramone, 1951
Andre the Giant, 1946
Pete Townshend, 1945
Nora Ephron, 1941
James Fox, 1939
Malcolm X, 1925
Ho Chi Minh, 1890
Nancy Astor, 1879
Johns Hopkins, 1762


Today in History:

Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America, 1535
Anne Boleyn is beheaded, 1536
Queen Elizabeth I orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots, 1568
French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power, 1643
The Long Parliament declares England a Commonwealth, and England remains a republic for the next 11 years, 1649
King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River, 1749
*A combination of thick smoke and heavy cloud cover causes complete darkness to fall on Eastern Canada and the New England area of the United States at 10:30 A.M, 1780
Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Légion d'Honneur, 1802
Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the Mexican-American War and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for $15 million USD, 1848
Jan Matzeliger begins the first mechanized shoe production, 1885
Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol, 1897
White women win the right to vote in South Africa, 1930
Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind is published, 1936
Churchill and Roosevelt set May 1, 1944 as their goal date for D-Day (it had to be delayed over a month because of weather), 1943
The Soviet Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus, 1961
Croatians vote for independence, 1991
The Sierra Gorda Biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts, 1997