A to Z: O is for Odd

Before i get to today's letter, O is for odd, i thought i would explain the note about the snake i showed yesterday for those who might want to know or who didn't read about it when it first happened last year.

#2 Son likes snakes.  When he was young, he would come in and tell me how many snakes he had caught at the creek.  He kept a pet snake for years.  No, this doesn't bother me, i had pet snakes as a kid, i like the critters.

On this occasion, though, i walked outdoors to find him with a poisonous snake, a cottonmouth, in a bucket in the yard.  He cheerfully said, "Hey, mom, guess what!  I caught a cottonmouth!  Oh, and I carried it home tied up in my jacket, so will you wash the jacket for me?"

Yes, i told him, and i added, i want that snake returned to the creek early enough for it to get to its hole, it's going to freeze tonight so it can't stay outdoors.  He agreed.

The next morning, i came down to find the note telling me the snake was still in the house, closed off in the big room downstairs, warning me not to let cats into that room or disturb the bucket.

The snake was returned to the creek that day, and he has learned it's not good to bring a viper to the house, it makes mom cranky.

Now, on to the letter of the day.

The kids around here are inventive, and come up with odd things.  Sometimes i'll see something and not know what i am looking at.

For example, this odd contraption:

A rather odd-loooking contraption.

Odd contraption set on its side.

Red-headed Alec came up with it.  You use it like this:

Uses odds and ends!

It makes a rather cheap set of speakers for your phone when you want to listen to music!


Today is 

American Academy of Arts and Letters Charter Day

Bat Appreciation Day -- sponsored by Bat Conservation International, at the time of year when bats begin awakening from hibernation

Blah, Blah, Blah Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Ellis Island Family History Day -- US (by proclamation of the nations governors and in conjunction with the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, a day to celebrate the achievements and contribution of the immigrants and their descendants who came through Ellis Island; on the anniversary of the day, in 1907, when 11,747 immigrants were processed through the island, the most in one day)

Equality Day -- Canada (the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into force on April 17, 1985, guaranteeing equality without regard to race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability)

Feria Nacional de San Marcos -- Palenque, Mexico (through May 10; feast of San Marcos, with rodeos, bull fights, folk dancing, parades, mariachi and muchos mas)

Flag Day -- American Samoa

Ford Mustang Day -- International (on the "birthday" of the vehicle)

Global Youth Service Day -- annual campaign to mobilize children and youth to make a difference (through Sunday)

Independence Day / Evacuation Day -- Syria

International Day of Peasants Struggle

Main Street BBQ & Bluesfest -- Washington, MO, US (professional BBQ competition, plus music and fun; through Sunday)

Make a Quilt Day -- obviously begun by someone who has no idea how long the process really takes!

Mennonite Relief Sale -- Hutchinson, Kansas, US (Mennonite, Bretheren in Christ, and Amish congregations from all across the area auction quilts, grandfather clocks, furniture, tools and crafts to raise money for hunger relief worldwide, through tomorrow)

Natchitoches Jazz Festival -- Natchitoches, LA, US (what Louisiana is known for, food, music, and passing a good time! through tomorrow)

National Cheeseball Day

National Haiku Poetry Day -- US (sponsored by The Haiku Foundation)

New Year -- Myanmar (celebrated through the 21st)

Nimble Fairies' Scattering -- Fairy Calendar

Nosy Neighbor Appreciation Day -- to be celebrated, if you dare, by greeting and thanking your neighbor for being nosy

Nothing Like A Dame Day -- a day to pay homage to the unique wit, wisdom, style and strength of dames past and present, and to cultivate the dame in you or in your life

St. Kateri Tekakwitha's Day (Patron of ecologists, ecology, environment, environmentalism, environmentalists, exiles, people who have lost their parents, people ridiculed for their piety)

St. Stephen Harding's Day (Co-founder of Cistercian Order)

Thargelia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (two day festival for the birthday of Apollon and Artemis; date approximate)

Toothbrush Appreciation Day -- think of what it would be like without one!

Verrazano Day -- New York, US (Celebrates discovery of New York harbor by Giovanni Verrazano, Florentine navigator)

Women's Day -- Gabon

World Hemophilia Day


Birthdays Today:

Victoria Beckham, 1974
Jennifer Garner, 1972
Liz Phair, 1967
Lela Rochon, 1966
Norman Julius “Boomer” Esiason, 1961
Sean Bean, 1958
Olivia Hussey, 1951
Don Kirshner, 1934
Cynthia Ozick, 1928
Harry Reasoner, 1923
William Holden, 1918
Thornton Wilder, 1897
Nikita Krushchev, 1894
Adrian Constantine “Cap” Anson, 1852
J.P. Morgan, 1837
Samuel Chase, 1741


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Caveman(Film), 1981
"McCartney"(Album), 1970 (first solo album)
"No Time for Comedy"(Play), 1939


Today in History:

Geoffrey Chaucer tells his Canterbury Tales for the first time, at the court of Richard II, ten years to the day after the pilgrimage actually began, 1397
Christopher Columbus signs his contract with Spain to find the Indes, 1492
Martin Luther stands firm and refuses to recant before the Diet of Worms, 1521
Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in America, 1797
The first Sino-Japanese War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, 1895
A one day record 11,747 immigrants are processed at Ellis Island, 1907
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios is formed by the merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Company, 1924
Cartoon characters Daffy Duck, Elmer J Fudd & Petunia Pig, debut, 1937
At midnight, 26 Irish counties officially break with the British Commonwealth and form the Republic of Ireland, 1949
The Bay of Pigs Invasion fiasco begins, 1961
Ford Motor Company unveils the Mustang, 1964
Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air, 1964
The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely, 1970
Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, 1982
The Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly ends, 1986
NJ Devil Martin Brodeur becomes the 2nd NHL goalie to score in a playoff game, 1997
The 5th Summit of the Americas takes place in Port of Spain; Trinidad, thirty-four heads of government attend, 2005
An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, causes 15 deaths and major damage to nearby buildings, residences, a nursing home and middle school, 2013