Relax, you are at the beach!

On Tuesday i took my usual early morning beach walk to pray and see the sun rise.

Sunrise from the beach.

Is it just me, or does that cloud to the left look like a dinosaur?

These walks take me onto the state beach property, so on my first walk on Sunday, i stop and go to the park entrance to pay my fee for the week.  The rangers here mark the turtle nests and set up the ropes to keep people away from the birds nests.

Sea turtle nest -- do not disturb!

One smaller bird has decided he doesn't like my morning walk, so he strafes me!

These walks have me in the company of the larger birds, some type of heron or stork, and the little ghost crabs.

There are a lot of these birds around.

Ghost crabs are difficult to see, they blend with the sand.

Behind me the roar of the waves mixed with the thunder from the storm rolling in.

So i took one last look at the sunrise, and went in.

It was a quick morning shower that rolled in and out fast.

We are as crowded as clams in a good chowder, but as long as the younger set are content to keep sleeping late and then falling into the water at regular intervals, all is well.

Flowers are blooming everywhere.

Just don't step on a jellyfish!

Today is

Broken Dolls Day -- Japan (all broken dolls are taken by their children to monks for burial)

Callynteria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (a service of atonement and cleaning Athena's temple; date approximate)

Chimborazo Day -- to publicize that while Mt. Everest may be the highest, the top of Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is the furthest from the center of the earth

Dr. Charles Drew Day -- honoring the man who made blood transfusions possible

Festival to Bellona -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of war)

Impersonate Authority Day -- at your own risk, i will not bail you out just because i noted an internet holiday and you decided to celebrate it ;)

Jack Jouett Day -- Virginia (the "Paul Revere" of his day and place, rode to warn Governor Thomas Jefferson that the British were coming, 1781)

June Bug Days -- Baldwin, WI, US (music, tractor pull, free outdoor movie night, and more; through Sunday)

Mabo Day -- Australia

Martyr's Day -- Uganda

National Chocolate Macaroon Day

National Egg Day

National Running Day -- runningday.org

Opium Suppression Movement Day -- Taiwan

Pull Your Pants Up Day -- internet generated, various dates given, and some are trying to make it a national movement; to encourage young men to pull up their pants for 24 hours and see if they enjoy having both hands free

Repeat Day -- i said, "repeat day" (no, i don't know who comes up with this stuff, sometimes; if i do, i try to place the blame appropriately)

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. Clotilde's Day (Patron of adopted children, brides, disappointing children, exiles, parenthood, parents of large families, queens, widows; against the death of children)

St. Kevin of Glendaulough's Day (Patron of blackbirds; Dublin, Ireland; Glendaulough, Ireland; Ireland)

Tailor's 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)

Turtle Races -- Nisswa, MN, US (Wednesdays through August 19th, go race a turtle, it's only $4 to adopt a turtle for the race and get a participation racing button!)

Worst Day in the Fairy Year -- Fairy Calendar (must be nice to know when your worst day will be)


Anniversaries Today:

U.S. Air Force Academy first graduating class, 1959
The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson, 1937
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo founded, 1770


Birthdays Today:

Lalaine, 1987
Rafael Nadal, 1986
Anderson Cooper, 1967
Charles Hart, 1961
Scott Valentine, 1958
Deniece Williams, 1951
Suzi Quatro, 1950
Curtis Mayfield, 1942
Larry McMurtry, 1936
Norman Brinker, 1931
Raul Castro, 1931
Chuck Barris, 1929
Colleen Dewhurst, 1926
Allen Ginsberg, 1926
Tony Curtis, 1925
Leo Gorcey, 1917
Josephine Baker, 1906
Dr. Charles Drew, 1904
Ransom E. Olds, 1864
Jefferson Davis, 1808


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Dragnet"(Radio), 1951
“Casey at the Bat”(Publication date), 1888


Today in History:

French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy, 1140
Hernando De Soto claims Florida for Spain, 1539 
Construction of the oldest stone church in French North America, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, begins at Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, 1620
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo is founded in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, 1770
President John Adams moves to Washington, D.C., to live in a tavern (the White House wasn't ready), 1800
In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kg of opium confiscated from British merchants, which prompts the First Opium War, 1839
In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, Cree leader Big Bear escapes the North West Mounted Police, 1885
The poem "Casey at the Bat", by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, is published in the San Francisco Examiner, 1888
The coast to coast Canadian Pacific Railway is completed, 1889
One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, British Columbia, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa, Ontario, 1935
Launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew, which included the first space walk by an American, 1965
A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill ever recorded, 1979
SkyDome is officially opened in Toronto, Ontario, 1989
Aboriginal Land Rights are granted in Australia in Mabo v Queensland (1988), a case brought by Eddie Mabo, 1992
USS Carter Hall engages pirates after they board the Danish ship Danica White off the coast of Somalia, 2007
A pageant on London's River Thames marks the highpoint of a series of events celebrating The Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II, 2012
Three of the most extremely well-preserved and most complete triceratops specimens ever found are unearthed in Wyoming, 2013