My Kentucky Adventure: Do i have to come back?

The family had kept up a steady stream of calls the whole time i was gone, so on my way back Friday i did dawdle a bit.

Sitting with Dayeanu a while, i did laundry and enjoyed one of her very delicious smoothies.  Then on the drive, i stopped a couple of times more than i needed to, getting unsweetened tea and decaf coffee and stretching my legs and enjoying the slow drives down the back roads from the middle of Arkansas through Natchez, Mississippi and into Louisiana.

Once back in town, at only just after 3pm, i was reminded of another reason i love to get away -- the interstate was at a dead stop.  Yes, i know Friday evening's rush hour starts on Thursday morning.  That's when i decided to not take the interstate the last few miles and just stuck to the surface streets.

At home, i was hit with good news -- the girls had already done my Friday shift at the cat shelter!  They knew i would come in tired, so they went and did it for me.

Also, this time, there weren't any dirty dishes waiting for me!  There was dead food in the fridge, but no one had starved (although the cats want me to think they did -- drama queens).

Sweetie was so happy to have me back, he was beside himself.  Next year, i'm going to send him on his own trip while i'm gone, or bring him along, rent him his own car, and tell him to go have fun.  It would certainly be better than having him mope for a week like he has always done when i'm away.

Anyway, this was a good trip away for me, i enjoyed it, and i hope next year's sanity retreat can be somewhere on the West Coast.  There are a lot of people i wouldn't mind stopping to see on the way.





Today is:

Apple Butter Festival -- Berkeley Springs, WV, US (simmering spicy apple butter in copper kettles in the town square, plus lots more; through tomorrow)

Armed Forces Day -- Abkhazia

Catoctin Colorfest -- Thurmont, MD, US (juried art festival, live music, food, and more; through tomorrow)

Cephalopod Awareness Days:  Myths and Legends Day -- celebrating the most intelligent invertebrates in the world; for all the cephalopods of legend, literature and movies

Chowder Days/Chowderfest -- Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT, US (a beautiful, and delicious, riverfront festival featuring seven kinds of New England Chowders; through Monday)

General Pulaski Memorial Day -- US (celebrating Casimir Pulaski, "the father of American cavalry")

Harvest Celebration -- Billings Farm, Woodstock, VT, US ('tis the season, especially for apple cider and lots of pumpkins; through tomorrow)

It's My Party Day -- so go have one!

Jack-O-Launch/Punkin Chunkin Colorado -- DeLaney Farm, Aurora, CO, US (with the official Punkin Chunkin Contest, divisions include trebuchet, compressed air cannon, catapult, human power, and youth; a free festival for the whole family)

Louisiana Art & Folk Festival -- Columbia, LA, US (celebrating the rich folklore and music arts of Louisiana)

Meditrinalia/Vinalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (tasting of the year's new wine; in honor of Meditrina, goddess of health/medicine, longevity, and wine, and Bacchus, god of wine)

Monster Myths by Moonlight -- Milford, KS, US (wear your costume and take a nature walk to learn the truth about such Halloween "monsters" as bats, snakes, spiders, vultures, etc.)

Mountain Glory Festival -- Marion, NC, US (celebrating the mountain heritage)

National Sausage Pizza Day

Old Michaelmas Day -- Celtic Calendar

Oyster Festival -- Chincoteague Island, VA, US (oysters served almost every way imaginable, all you can eat!)

Pine Barrens Jamboree -- Waretown, NJ, US (celebration of New Jersey Pinelands, with canoeing, nature walks, music, kids' activities, and more; free!)

Prater's Mill Country Fair -- Dalton, GA, US (a Southern festival of quality artists, craftsmen, music, and food; through tomorrow)

Qatar Prix L'arc de Triomphe -- Longchamp Race-course, Paris, France (one of the world's greatest horse races, first run in 1920; celebrations and events through tomorrow)

Revolution Day/Uprising Against Fascism Day -- Republic of Macedonia

Scenic Drive Festival -- Van Buren County, IA, US (includes flea markets, an arts festival, and historic architecture; through tomorrow)

Sedona Arts Festival -- Sedona, AZ, US (celebration of visual, performing, and culinary arts, with proceeds going to student art programs and scholarships; through tomorrow)

Shaker Village Harvest Festival -- Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, New Gloucester, ME, US (with free demonstrations and paid workshops and events)

St. Gomar's Day (Patron of childless people, courtiers, cowherds, glove makers, people in difficult marriages, separated spouses, woodcutters; Lier, Belgium; against hernias)

Sunbeam Sliding Sunday -- Fairy Calendar (only occasionally on a Sunday)

#Universal Music Day -- celebrate music as our universal language; this year's theme is "Dreams Really Do Come True"

Vermont Apple Festival -- Springfield, VT, US (family fun, farm animals, food, farmer's market, crafts, and apples; a true family oriented event held at Riverside Middle School)

"You Go Girl!" Day -- in honor of Kathy Sullivan, first American woman to walk in space


Anniversary Today:

William Jefferson Clinton marries Hillary Rodham, 1975


Birthdays Today:

Emily Deschanel, 1976
Stephen Moyer, 1969
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, 1969
Jane Krakowski, 1968
Luke Perry, 1966
Joan Cusack, 1962
Steve Young, 1961
Dawn French, 1957
David Morse, 1953
Daryl Hall, 1948
Robert Gale, 1945
Ron Liebman, 1937
Dottie West, 1932
Roscoe Robinson, Jr., 1928
Elmore Leonard, 1925
Art Blakey, 1919
Jerome Robbins, 1918
Charles Revson, 1906
Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884
Harlan Fiske Stone, 1872
Henry John Heinz, 1844
George Williams, 1821 (founder, YMCA)
Mason Locke "Parson" Weems, 1759


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"(Play), 1984
"Saturday Night Live"(TV), 1975
"Imagine"(Lennon single release), 1971
"Allegro"(Musical), 1947
"The Silver Tassie"(Play), 1929
The Comptometer (the first adding machine known to be accurate at all times, patented by Dorr Eugene Felt), 1887


Today in History:

Massive earthquake strikes Aleppo, Syria, 1138
Columbus' ship sites land on the horizon (the Bahamas), 1492
Huldrych Zwingli is killed in battle with the Roman Catholic cantons of Switzerland, 1531
Peter the Great becomes tsar of Russia, 1689
Explorer Meriwether Lewis dies under mysterious circumstances along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee at the Grinder's Stand Inn, 1809
The first steam powered ferryboat, the Juliana, begins operation, 1811
Australia's oldest university, University of Sidney, is inaugurated, 1852
The Great Chicago Fire is finally extinguished, 1871
David Houston patents roll film for cameras, 1881
First female FBI "special investigator", Alaska Davidson, appointed, 1922
With the opening of store # 1252, in Milford, Delaware, J.C. Penney becomes a nationwide company, with stores in all 48 states, 1929
CBS's mechanical color system is the first to be licensed for broadcast by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, 1950
Pope John XXIII convenes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years, Vatican II, 1962
NASA launches Apollo 7, the first successful manned Apollo mission, 1968
The NBC sketch comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live debuts with George Carlin as the host and Andy Kaufman, Janis Ian and Billy Preston as guests, 1975
The Mary Rose, a Tudor carrack which sank on July 19 1545, is salvaged from the sea bed of the Solent, off Portsmouth, 1982
The record high of the Dow Jones Industrial Average occurs at 14,198.10 points, 2007
A ban on fracking is upheld by the Constitutional Council of France, 2013