Treading Lightly

"Yes, Boo, I know what kind of tablet you want."  #2 Son was sitting at the computer here at the house, between work shifts at the restaurant, and talking on the phone to his wife, DIL Becky.

"Don't get me one of those cheap, trashy things," she told him.

Did i mention they were on speakerphone?

"I promise I won't get you a cheap one.  I know just what kind of computer you want," he told her.

Red-headed Alec's take on it is, "She's a great friend, and I like chillin' with her, but she's the complete opposite of your son, and me for that matter, and I don't know how they even got together!  I know I could never have even dated her."

Did i mention that, as the non-interfering mother-in-law, i kept my mouth shut?  That's what i do a lot, just give hugs and love and keep my mouth closed.  If they ask for advice, i'll gently give it, but i want to keep that "non-interfering" in my title.

One thing i did not tell Red-headed Alec is that opposites attract but likes endure.  If they are enough alike to keep them together, and i hope they are, and have enough differences to keep things interesting, which they do, all will be well.

There are some things you don't say unless you are asked.

Today is:

Special PSA -- Daylight Saving Time begins for many of us at 2am tomorrow, so "spring forward" one hour before you go to bed tonight

Alfred Hitchcock Day -- some internet sources say March 8, and no one knows who picked either day, but he is worth celebrating

Arbor Day -- China; Taiwan

Birthday of Wenchang Wang, the God of Literature -- China

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Saturday:  Geneology Day, begin or continue the journey to learn about your family

Daylight Saving Time begins tomorrow -- Bermuda; Canada (most regions); Cuba; Haiti; Mexico (some areas); Saint Pierre and Miquelon; The Bahamas; Turks and Caicos Islands; US (most areas)

Donkey Appreciation Day -- formerly celebrated, but the lowly donkey is no longer as indespensible as he was; if you share my fondness for beasts of burden, celebrate it anyway

Girl Scouts Birthday -- US

Girl Scout Sabbath -- US (encouraging Girl Scouts to wear their uniforms to synagogue services and represent their troop to their congregations; the final day of Girl Scout Week in the US)

Highland County Maple Festival -- Highland County, VA, US (this weekend and next)

Huddling of Fairies of the Third Flight -- Fairy Calendar

International Fanny Pack Day -- started by someone who really likes the things (although i do admit they come in handy for keeping your money with you at all times when you have a garage sale)

Kronprinsessans Namnsdag -- Sweden (Name Day of HRH Crown Princess Victoria, the Heir Apparent; an official flag day)

Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (three day festival, dates approximate; celebrates the marriage of Kore and Dionysos)

Martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria -- in 415, she was murdered for the three crimes of being intelligent, female, and pagan

National Baked Scallops Day

National Day -- Mauritius (anniversary of independence in 1968)

Plant a Flower Day -- sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation; now's a good time to give wildlife friendly perrenials a head start, starting them indoors if you have to 

Saint Patrick's Day Parades -- various cities around the English speaking world hold their celebrations on the Saturday or Sunday nearest the Saint's day

St. Gregory the Great's Day (Patron of choir boys, educators, masons, musicians, popes, schoolchildren, singers, stonemasons, stone cutters, students, and teachers; England; Kercem, Malta; Legazpi, Philippines; Montone, Italy; San Gregorio nelle Alpi, Italy; West Indies; against gout and plague)
     note that Pope St. Gregory is also celebrated on Sept. 3, the date he was elected pope
     Graekarismessa (Mass of St. Gregory) -- Torshavn, Faroe Islands (traditional day on which the oystercatcher, their symbolic national bird, returns)
     Gregoru Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (Gregory's Day, similar to groundhog day for weather prediction)

St. Seraphina's Day (Patron of the disabled and handicapped, and of spinners)

World Day Against Cyber Censorship -- sponsored by Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International

Youth Day -- Zambia


Anniversaries Today:

Mick Jagger marries Bianca Perez Morena de Macias, 1971
Paul McCartney marries Linda Louise Eastman, 1969


Birthdays Today:

Frank Catalano, 1978
Aaron Eckhart, 1968
David Daniels, 1966
Darryl Strawberry, 1962
Marlon Jackson, 1957
Rob Cohen, 1949
James Taylor, 1948
Liza Minnelli, 1946
Al Jarreau, 1940
Barbara Feldon, 1933
Andrew Young, 1932
Edward Albee, 1928
Wally Schirra, 1923
Jack Kerouac, 1922
Gordon MacRae, 1921
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1881
Simon Newcomb, 1835
Charles Cunningham Boycott, 1832
Clement Studebaker, 1821

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Moses und Aaron"(Opera), 1954
"Fervaal"(Opera; d'Indy Op. 40), 1897
"Simon Boccanegra"(Opera), 1857


Today in History:

Martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria, philosopher, 415
Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius, 538
Orvieto, Italy, rules it will behead and burn Jewish-Christian couples, 1350
Jews are expelled from Syria, 1496
New Jersey becomes an English colony, 1664
The first steam engine in America installed, to pump water from a mine, 1755
Andrew Watson makes his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain, 1881
In Vicksburg, Mississippi, Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time, 1894
The first main line electric train in UK, from Liverpool to Southport, begins running, 1904
The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States, by Juliette Gordon Lowe, 1912
The foundation stone of the new Australian capital in Canberra is laid, 1913
Mohandas Gandhi begins 200m (300km) march protesting British salt tax, 1930
The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism, 1947
The Church of England ordains its first female priests, 1994
Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO, 1999
Financier Bernard Madoff plead guilty in New York to scamming $18 billion, the largest in Wall Street history, 2009
The U.S. Census Bureau reports the world now has 7 billion people, 2012