Big Boy Blue

Because i can't term #1 Son, who turns 22 today, a Little Boy Blue any more.

Has it really been 22 years?  It says so on his birth certificate.

Twenty-eight years ago was the wedding.  Around five years after that, we were pretty much told we could go through a couple of more rounds of medication, but after that, stop trying to have kids.

Now i'm baking a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for a party for a kid who, at 6' tall, towers over me, and i can bake it for him because he has moved back into town.  He only has one more run to make back up to Kansas to get a few last things, tie up loose ends.

He's settled into a house with two roommates, both of whom have been his friends for years, so they have no trouble getting along.

He's job searching and considering going back to school.  He's not sure, since he's so good at restaurant management and does so well in it, that he really wants to do that now.  Perhaps concentrate on career and go get further education if he ever needs it to move up.

All of that is for the future, though.  Today, i'm remembering the baby-that-was, his giggle, his love of trying to wear his dad's cowboy boots, how he at one time decided to be Garfield the Cat and decided he would only eat, sleep, and do the things that Garfield does.  All these memories bound up in one when i look in the eyes of a grown man who, at 22, still doesn't know how much growing he has to do.

None of us really know that, though, do we?

Happy Birthday, #1 Son.  It's a good day.


Today is

Alpenfest -- Gaylord, MI, US (a Swiss inspired festival for the whole family that includes "The World's Largest Coffee Break"; through Saturday)

Atomic Bomb Day -- the first experimental bomb was set off today in 1945

Closet Space Appreciation Day -- if you have some, enjoy (we have tiny closets!)

Crown Prince's Birthday Observed -- Tonga

Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel; related observances (many noting her relationship to Carmen, ancient goddess of healing and midwifery)
     Fiesta of the Virgin of Carmen -- Santurtzi, Basque Region, Spain
     Lady of Carmen Day -- Chile
     La Madonna della Carmine -- Naples, Italy (all of Italy, actually, but especially here)
     Virgen Del Carmen -- Cetano, Puerto Rico

Fresh Spinach Day -- yippee!

Ice Cream Cone Day -- this is one of the many days people say the confection was invented, so why not?

LaPaz Day -- Bolivia

Manu'a Cession Day -- American Samoa

National Corn Fritters Day

National Personal Chef Day -- some websites say Feb. 24, but since i'm not going to have one, you may celebrate it whichever you choose

Parking Meter Day -- the first parking meter was installed on this day in 1935 in Okalahoma City, OK

Petal-Hopping for Non-Starters Day -- Fairy Calendar

Snake River Stampede -- Nampa, ID (the 92nd year of one of the top 15 professional rodeo events in the nation; through Saturday)

St. Eustathius' Day

Talk to a Telemarketer Day -- only if i can mess with his/her mind in some way!

Tish'a B'Av -- Judaism (began sunset yesterday, through sunset today)



Birthdays Today

Corey Feldman, 1971
Larry Sanger, 1968
Barry Sanders, 1968
Will Ferrell, 1967
Michael Flatley, 1958
Ginger Rogers, 1911
"Miss Frances" Horwich, 1907
Barbara Stanwyck, 1907
Orville Reddenbacker, 1907
Roald Amundsen, 1872
Ida B. Wells, 1862
Mary Baker Eddy, 1821


Today in History

The Islamic Calendar begins, 622
East-West Schism between the Eastern and Western Christian churches begin, 1054
The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco, 1661
Manchu Qing Dynasty naval forces under traitorous commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands, 1683
Father Junipero Serra founds California's first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego, 1769
First performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, 1782
The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown, 1809
Emily Stowe becomes the first female physician licensed to practice medicine in Canada, 1880
The world's first parking meter is installed in the Oklahoma capital, Oklahoma City, 1935
The world's first nuclear weapon, the "atom bomb," is detonated in New Mexico, 1945
The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane, 1948
J.D. Salinger novel The Catcher in the Rye published by Little, Brown and Company, 1951
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes its very last "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, due to changing economics all subsequent circus shows will be held in arenas, 1956
USS George Washington (SSBN-598) a modified Skipjack class submarine successfully test fires the first Ballistic missile while submerged, 1960
The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens, 1965
Apollo 11, the first manned space mission to land on the Moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, 1969
Mahathir bin Mohamad becomes Malaysia's 4th Prime Minister; he will be in office 22 years, Asia's longest-serving political leader, 1981
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collides with Jupiter (impacts continue until July 22), 1994
John F. Kennedy, Jr., piloting a Piper Saratoga aircraft, dies in a plane mishap over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, along with his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette, 1999
Chicago's Millenium Park is opened to the public, 2004