Perspective

The other day, i got home from work and Sweetie handed me the mail and a blue door hanger tag that had been left by the water company.

It said that one of the water lines in our neighborhood had broken that day and been repaired.  It went on to say that though they had flushed the lines and were sure it was okay, until the actual lab reports came back confirming the water was clean, we were under a boil advisory.

A part of me wanted to complain.  After all, i had worked two jobs that day and was tired, and now i couldn't put water in the cats bowls and refill the water filter we keep in the fridge or even just grab a quick cup of water or brush my teeth.

As i filled a couple of pots to boil, however, i knew it was silly to do that.  Here i was pouring water out of a tap, not traipsing down to the well, or a stream, with a bucket and faced with carrying the heavy water back again.  

Boiling it was as easy as turning on a burner, i didn't have to chop wood and bring it in and build a fire.

Waiting for it to cool off wasn't convenient, but a lot more convenient than the lives of millions of people around the world.

Also, i knew the boil advisory was temporary, probably just a few hours until we got an all clear, not a lifetime of living where running water is not even something anyone has.

No, i didn't complain, i took a deep breath and was grateful.  The temporary boil advisory reminded me of how precious it is to have clean, healthy water that i don't have to worry will kill my family coming right out of a tap right there in my house.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of water.

Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Bangladesh

False Confessions Day -- internet generated, and not for the faint of heart

Family Volunteer Day -- to get families working together to better their communities and the world; info here

Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin -- Eastern and Roman Catholic Christian (those following the Gregorian Calendar)

Festival of Madonna della Salute -- Venice, Italy

Furniture Memory Day -- an internet generated test of your memory; see if you remember where you got each piece of furniture you own, how much it cost, and how its most precious scratch came to be; you are also encouraged to dust if you want to

General Framework Agreement Day -- RS, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Gerard d'Aboville Day -- marking the day, in 1991, he arrived in Ilwaco, WA, US, after departing Japan 4 months earlier in a rowboat!

Gingerbread Day

Holidays in the City Grand Illumination Parade -- Norfolk, VA, US (to kick off Thanksgiving and the upcoming holidays)

International Games Day @ Your Library -- libraries in many countries are sponsoring a local Games Day, check with yours!

International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day -- www.survivorday.org
     National Survivors of Suicide Day -- US (by Congressional designation since 1999, and now an international movement; remembering those who have lost loved ones to suicide, especially as Thanksgiving and the holidays are coming)


Mother Goose Parade Day -- El Cajon, CA, US (kicking off the holiday season with good, family fun)

Natchitoches Festival of Lights -- Natchitoches, LA, US (over 350,000 lights go on every night from now until Jan, 6, with carolers on Friday and Saturday evenings downtown, festivals and events every weekend; come celebrate the season in the Oldest Settlement in the Louisiana Purchase)

National Adoption Day -- US (encouraging us to find a home for every child; many courts finalize thousands of adoptions of children from foster care on this day each year) 

National Stuffing Day -- various dates given on many sites, so if you enjoy stuffing, celebrate them all

No Music Day -- www.nomusicday.com for the explanation

Nordic Yulefest -- Nordic Museum, Seattle, WA, US (a Scandinavian holiday extravaganza; through tomorrow)

PCS Day and Homeplace Festival -- Waretown, NJ, US (a family affair with country, bluegrass, and traditional music)

St. Gelasius' Day

Surin Elephant Round-Up -- Surin, Thailand (includes elephant football, elephant tugs-of-war, and parades; through Sunday)

Ugly Day -- Fairy Calendar

World Hello Day -- recognizing the importance of communication in world peace, say hello to people you don't usually greet today 

World Television Day -- UN

World's Champion Duck-Calling Contest and Festival -- Stuttgart, AR, US (pageants for Queen Mallard and Junior Queen Mallard, carnival, and the best duck calling possible; through Nov. 30)


Anniversaries Today:

South Carolina becomes the 12 US State, 1789


Birthdays Today:

Tasha Schwikert, 1984
Ken Griffey, Jr., 1969
Troy Aikman, 1966
Bjork, 1965
Nicollette Sheridan, 1963
Cherry Jones, 1956
Cynthia Rhodes, 1956
Lorna Luft, 1952
Goldie Hawn, 1945
Harold Ramis, 1944
Marcy Carsey, 1944
Tweety Bird, 1942
Juliet Mills, 1941
Marlo Thomas, 1938
James DePreist, 1936
Laurence Luckinbill, 1934
Joseph Campanella, 1927
Stan Musial, 1920
Coleman Hawkins, 1904
Rene Magritte, 1898
Hetty Green, 1834
William Beaumont, 1785
Josiah Bartlett, 1729
Voltaire, 1694


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"(Single release), 1968
"A Tale of Two Kitties"(Warner cartoon, debut of Tweety Bird), 1942
"The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger"(Vanbrugh play), 1696


Today in History:

Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restores the Temple in Jerusalem; this is the event commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah, BC164
The Pilgrims, aboard the Mayflower, reach what is now called Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts, and sign the Mayflower Compact, 1620
Richard Johnson, a free black, is granted 550 acres in Virginia, 1654
In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, Marquis d'Arlandes, make the first untethered hot air balloon flight, 1783
Colonel Napoléon Bonaparte is promoted to full general and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the French Republic, 1791
First Jewish Reform congregation in US forms, Charleston, SC, 1824
Moses F Gale patents a cigar lighter, 1871
Tom Edison announces his "talking machine" invention (phonograph), 1877
Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator, 1922
First commercial crossing of Pacific by plane (China Clipper), 1935
The Alcan Highway is completed, 1942*
The British Natural History Museum announces that the "Piltdown Man" skull is a hoax, 1953
The first permanent ARPANET link is established between UCLA and SRI, 1969
Gerard d'Aboville completes his four-month solo journey to row across the Pacific Ocean, 1991
The Dayton Peace Agreement is initialed at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1995
NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members, 2002
Iran's President Ahmadinejad rejects the country's successful family planning program and tells Iranian girls they should marry at 16, 2010
The three most senior surviving members of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime are charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, 2011
For the second time in four months, New Zealand's Mount Tongariro volcano, on the North Island, erupts, 2012


*Not opened to general vehicular traffic until the next year