Silly Sunday: Tee Boudreaux and the Preacher

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee at Comedy Plus.  It's easy to link up and laugh up!

Today is Palm Sunday.  Our church usually has multiple services, but today is different.  We all gather for one service.   Before it begins, Amos the Donkey leads us around the block in front of the church, and then we file in.  After the service, we gather again outside where the children hunt eggs and play in the "bouncy houses" or whatever those things are actually called, and we have a big picnic lunch.  It's a nice time, and we all look forward to it every year.

Thinking about church has reminded me about Tee Boudreaux and the preacher.

Like mos' Cajuns, de Boudreaux's is Cat'lic(Catholic).  But when dere frien' from up dere in Shrevepo't died, dey went to de service, even though de frien' was a non-denomination Christian.

Well, it were an ol' church, and de equipment weren't de newest, and de preacher carried a mic dat had a cord, not one of dem new cordless ones.  An' dis preacher, let me done tole you, when he get to preachin', he start pacing back and forth, and turnin' dis way and dat, and he get hisself all worked up.  He keep preachin'. and movin' aroun' dat stage, an' de cord from dat dere mic end up wrap aroun' him a bit, an' he kick it out de way, but it keep doin' dat as he gets more and more worked up.

After a while, he jes' ignore dat cord, and keep stridin' up an' down and it gets aroun' him, and he's 'bout hollering, an' Tee, who ain't never seen nothin' like dis in a church, well, his eyes dey be as big as saucers.

Fin'ly, Tee lean back against his mamere, Clothile, an he ax, "Mais!  If he come loose from dat rope, is we gonna be safe?"


Today is

All Ireland Dance Championships -- London, England (the world championships of Irish Dance; through next Sunday)

Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis -- Holy See (Vatican City)

Day to Give Thanks for Fish/Seafood -- anniversary of the US Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1976

Environmental Protection Day -- anniversary of the 1962 publication of Silent Spring

Feast of Rotten Endings -- because some stories just don't end well

Global Day to End Child Sexual Abuse -- sponsored by The Innocence Revolution

Huguenot Day -- Huguenot Society of the US (anniversary of the 1598 Edict of Nantes, in which King Henry IV promoted peace between Catholics and Protestants)

Ides of April -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also
     Festival of Libertas -- personification of freedom and political liberty
     Festival of Jupiter Libertas
     Festival of Jupiter Victor

International Plant Appreciation Day -- unsponsored by any but those who love plants

London Marathon -- Greenwich to The Mall, London, England

Mahavir Jayanti -- Jain (local dates may vary)

National Library Week begins -- US (sponsored by the ALA, this year's theme is "Lives change @ your library.")

National Peach Cobbler Day

Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday -- Christian/Orthodox Christian

Poshui Jie -- Jinghong, China (Water Splashing Festival; a 3 to four day festival around this time)

Scrabble Day -- anniversary of the 1899 birth of its inventor, Alfred Mosher Butts

Semana Santa -- Holy Week in Spain and Spanish speaking areas; special celebrations:
     Mexico -- through the country, but especially in Chiapas, with processions, costumes, and even fireworks, music, dance, and syncretic rituals
     Seville, Spain -- with hundreds of shuffling penitents in their hoods making the torch lit processions through the town; through Easter)

Songkran Festival / Chiang Mai Songkran / Tamil New Year / Bangla New Year / Bisket Jatra -- Bangladesh; Cambodia; India; Laos; Myanmar; Nepal; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Thailand (New Year festivals, celebrated over the next few days, as the sun enters the zodiac sign of Aries)

Squashing of Moonhopper Day -- Fairy Calendar

St. Hermengild's Day (Patron of converts; against drought, flood, and thunderstorms)

Thingyan -- Myanmar (Water Festival; through the 16th)

Thomas Jefferson Day -- US

U.S. Elephant Day -- marking the arrival of the first elephant in the US in 1796

World Youth Day -- sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church; this 29th celebration is themed "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3) and Pope Francis message to young people for this day is here

Yayoi Matsuri -- Nikko, Japan (five day spring festival)



Birthdays Today:

Jonathan Brandis, 1976
Rick Schroder, 1970
Garry Kasparov, 1963
Saundra Santiago, 1957
Max Weinberg, 1951
Peabo Bryson, 1951
Ron Pearlman, 1950
Al Green, 1946
Tony Dow, 1945
Lowell George, 1945
Jack Casady, 1944
Bill Conti, 1942
Paul Sorvino, 1939
Lyle Waggoner, 1935
Don Adams, 1926
Howard Keel, 1919
Eudora Welty, 1909
Samuel Beckett, 1906
Butch Cassidy, 1866
F.W. Woolworth, 1852
Thomas Jefferson, 1743
Guy Fawkes, 1570


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Arcadia"(Play), 1993
Casino Royale(Film), 1967
Silent Spring(Publication date), 1962
"El Capitan"(Operetta), 1896
"Messiah"(Oratorio, HWV 56), 1742


Today in History:

The Seventh Crusade is defeated in Egypt with the capture of Louis IX of France, 1250
Henry IV of France signs the Edict of Nantes, granting freedom of religion and political rights to Huguenots (French Protestants), 1598
John Dryden, age 36, becomes the first English Poet Laureate, 1668
George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland, 1742
The first elephant seen in the Western Hemisphere arrives from India, 1796
The British Parliament grants religious freedom to Roman Catholics, 1829
Hungary becomes a republic, 1849
The first US Pony Express run is completed, 1860
George Westinghouse patents a steam powered brake, 1869
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded, 1870
J.C. (James Cash) Penney opens his first store, 1902
British troops fire on unarmed demonstrators in Amritsar, India, killing at least 379 and wounding over 1,200 more, 1919
Helen Hamilton becomes the first woman US Civil Service Commissioner, 1920
Lord Clydesdale makes the first flight over Mt. Everest, 1933
The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated on the 200th anniversary of his birth, in Washington, D.C., 1943
Van Cliburn becomes the first American to win the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, 1958
Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American male to win the Best Actor Oscar for Lilies of the Field, 1963
An oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 explodes, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the spacecraft while en route to the Moon, 1970
The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan, 1972
Western Union (in cooperation with NASA and Hughes Aircraft) launches the United States' first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, Westar 1, 1974
Portugal and the People's Republic of China sign an agreement in which Macau would be returned to China in 1999, 1987
Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament, 1997
Former President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak and sons, Alaa and Gamal, are detained for 15 days of questioning regarding charges of corruption and abuse of power, 2011
The People's Republic of China and the U.S. agree to work towards eliminating nuclear weapons in the Korean Peninsula, 2013