Suits Me Fine

Each morning has been cloudy, but it's a particular kind of cloudy.  There are no clouds directly above when i stand on the beach.  Instead, they surround the horizon on all sides, ranging from thin wisps to cotton ball puffs to large banks, and the sun comes up behind them so you can see it coloring the whole rim of the sky around you in pinks and oranges.

Tuesday ended up being Foley day, the day everyone goes to the big outlet center a couple of towns over.  As soon as we could get Bryn out of bed (she is a notoriously difficult person to wake up), we trooped out there in 3 vehicles and did the "shop 'til you drop" gig.  School clothes, kitchen gadgets, sunglasses, and more.

And suits.  We couldn't forget suits.  Doc is going to be having a big soiree in October, and it's a black tie optional thing, so we all have to be dressed to the nines.  Bigger Girl found the shoes and scarf and just the right undergarments, but will search for the dress at a shop she loves nearer to home.  Sweetie will wear his formal suit, i have a dress, but my two youngest never dress up if they can possibly help it, and for this, they can't help it.

So, they went for matching suits.  Yes, #2 Son and Little Girl will be wearing black pants that are almost the same cut, black shirts, black jackets, and dark gray ties.  They will be buying matching Fedoras, too.  They figure if they have to dress up, they may as well look like something out of a mafia movie.  It will be formal enough, though.  And this way they will have something decent to wear year round -- their initial idea was to rent matching tuxedos.

Back at the condo, it was spaghetti night, and the evening was spent in going up and down to the pool, to the beach, back to the pool, and, eventually, to the beach after dark to hunt ghost crabs, catch and release style.  The crabs range from tiny, about the size of a coin, up to average eating crab size, although the big ones are rare and they aren't edible.  They are the color of the sand, so they blend in and you can hardly see them except when they are moving.

Children (and big kids) love to go to the beach with flashlights, buckets, and sometimes nets and catch them.  When there are several in a bucket, you turn it over and watch all the crabs scurry away.

The kids don't realize it's just as much fun for the adults to watch the kids doing the chasing as it is to watch the crabs!  It's a good way to get them tired for bed, too.


Today is

15th Khordad National Uprising -- Iran (1963)

Apple II Day -- the Apple II first went on sale today in 1977
     note that some historians say it went on sale June 10, others say the first models were shipped out that day

Arbor Day -- New Zealand

Clean Air Day -- Canada

Festival of Popular Delusions Day -- just another person's desire for a bizarre holiday to celebrate

Grunklovsdag -- Denmark and the Faroe Island (Constitution Day)

Indian Arrival Day -- Suriname (marking the arrival of indentured laborers from the Indian subcontinent)

Judgement Day -- Fairy Calendar (Nosegays)

Liberation Day -- Seychelles

Natalicio de Oblang Nguema Mbasogo -- Equatorial Guinea (President's Day)

National Attitude Day -- if this is really a day to celebrate, try to have a positive one

National Gingerbread Day

National Running Day -- details here

Nones of June -- Ancient Roman Calendar; related observance
     Festival of Semo Sancus -- god of loyalty, honesty and oaths (one of the oldest Roman cults, probably Etruscan or Oscan originally)

Old Fort Days and Billy the Kid Tombstone Race -- Fort Sumner, NM, US (fun for all, including a rodeo, dance, demonstrations by Native Americans, and, on Saturday, the finale, a race through an obstacle course carrying an 80lb tombstone!)

Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival -- Sedalia, MO, US (with a variety of free and paid venues, it's a good time for all; through Saturday)

St. Boniface's Day (Patron of brewers, file cutters, tailors; Fulda, Germany; Germamy; Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, Canada)

Tailors Day -- the first Wednesday of June is noted on many sites as the day to thank your tailor

The National Tournament -- Spruce Meadows, Calgary, AB, Canada (features the Spruce Meadows Show Jumping Championship and the Nexen Cup, with live entertainment and activities daily; through Sunday)

World Environment Day -- UN


Birthdays Today:

Mark Wahlberg, 1971
Brian McKnight, 1969
Kenny G, 1956
Jill Biden, 1951
Suze Orman, 1951
Ken Follett, 1949
Spalding Gray, 1941
Bill Moyers, 1934
Tony Richardson, 1928
Panco Villa, 1878
Thomas Chippendale, 1718
Pu Songling, 1640


Today in History:

Traditional date for the sinking of Atlantis, 8498BC
Titus and his Roman legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem  in the Siege of Jerusalem, 70
Kraków, Poland  receives city  rights, 1257
The first Great Lakes steamer, the Frontenac, is launched, 1817
Houston, Texas is incorporated by the Republic of Texas, 1837
Denmark  becomes a constitutional monarchy, 1849
Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery serial, Uncle Tom's Cabin or, Life Among the Lowly starts a ten-month run in the National Era abolitionist newspaper, 1851
Denmark  amends its constitution to allow women's suffrage, 1915
Elvis Presley introduces his new single, "Hound Dog", on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements, 1956
The first government of the State of Singapore is sworn in, 1959
The Apple II, the first practical personal computer, goes on sale, 1977
Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi orders an attack on the Golden Temple, the holiest site of the Sikh religion, 1984
A severe heat wave across Pakistan  and India  reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50°C (122°F) in the region, 2003