Wordless Wednesday: Ode to Spring

Ode to Spring, In Pictures:

My pet geranium, that i haven't managed to kill yet, trying to bloom.

We have azaleas EveryWhere!

Pansies Ms. S had me transplant.  They survived!

Some can't wait, some can!

Purple wildflowers (Ms. S calls them "volunteers") peek from under last year's fallen leaves.

Miss Shy Camelia, hiding behind the leaves.

Orange and yellow, like the sunshine they worship.

View of flowers at our neighborhood entrance.

View from the other side.

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.

Today is:

Curlew Day -- Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge, OR, US (traditional date the long-billed curlew arrives, with up to 500 reported during their nesting season)

Day of the Book Smugglers -- Lithuania (recognizing the brave people who smuggled Lithuanian language books in the Latin alphabet into the country from 1866-1904, when the Russian Empire had banned such books)

Day After Dumbstruck Day -- Fairy Calendar

Dietician's Day -- Canada 

Elaphebolia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Artemis; date approximate)

Everything You Do is Right Day -- another internet generated holiday designed to get you into trouble if you aren't careful

Feast of Heru and His Companions -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of Bacchus / Bacchanalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (through tomorrow)

Festival of Houses and Gardens -- Charleston, SC, US (a rare opportunity to explore the private homes and gardens of historic Charleston; through Apr. 24)

Freedom of Information Day -- on the birthday of James Madison, Father of the US Constitution and an advocate for openness in government

Kids Kick Butts Day -- Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids www.tobaccofreekids.org and www.kickbuttsday.org/

Latvian Legion Day -- Latvia (no longer a formal national holiday, still celebrated by many in the region)

Lips Appreciation Day -- after all, where would you be without them, and how would you give kisses?  sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

National Artichoke Hearts Day

St. Heribert of Cologne's Day (Patron against drought)

St. Urho's Day -- Finnish communities in Canada and the US (a made up saint, the Finns answer to St. Patrick, who supposedly drove the grasshoppers out of Finland)

World Folk Tales and Fables Week -- encouraging all people to explore the cultural background and lessons learned from folk tales, fables, myths, and legends from around the world; originally sponsored by Language Lizard


Anniversary Today:

The United States Military Academy at West Point is established, 1802



Birthdays Today:

Judah Friedlander, 1969
Lauren Graham, 1969
Kevin Tod Smith, 1963
Isabel Huppert, 1955
Alice Hoffman, 1952
Kate Nelligan, 1951
Erik Estrada, 1949
Victor Garber, 1949
Chuck Woolery, 1942
Bernardo Bertolucci, 1940
Jerry Lewis, 1926
Mercedes McCambridge, 1916
Patricia Nixon, 1912
Henny Youngman, 1906
Rosa Bonheur, 1822
Georg Simon Ohm, 1787
James Madison, 1751
George Clymer, 1739


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Gumby Show"(TV), 1957
"1776"(Musical), 1969
"Der Unbestechliche"(Comedy), 1923
"In the South / Alassio"(Elgar, Op. 50), 1904
"Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen"(Mahler Song cycle), 1896
"Thaïs"(Opera), 1894
"Freedom's Journal"(first African American newspaper in the US, in New York), 1827


Today in History:

The Babylonians capture Jerusalem and replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king, BC597
Caligula becomes Roman Emperor after the death of his great uncle, Tiberius, 37
The Jews of York England commit mass suicide rather than submit to baptism, 1190
Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reaches Philippines, 1521
Samoset, a Mohegan, visits the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset," 1621
The US Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point, 1802
Prince Willem of the House of Orange-Nassau proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in The Netherlands, 1815
New York Stock Exchange slowest day ever (31 shares traded), 1830
Susan Hayhurst becomes the first woman to graduate from a pharmacollogy college, 1830
Edward Clark became Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who was evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy, 1861
Joseph Lister's article outlining the discovery of antiseptic surgery is published in The Lancet, 1867
Hiram R Revels makes the first official speech by an African American in the US Senate, 1869
The Barnum and Bailey Circus debuts, 1881
Sir Arthur Evans discovers the ancient city of Knossus, 1900
Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts, 1926
The Ford Motor Company produces its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird, averaging almost a million cars a year since the company's founding, 1958
Gemini 8 is launched, the 12th manned American space flight and first space docking with the Agena Target Vehicle, 1968
General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado, 1968
Demolition of the radio tower Ismaning, the last wooden radio tower in Germany, 1983
Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut; he will be held for 6 1/2 years, 1985
Pope John Paul II asks God for forgiveness for the inactivity and silence of some Roman Catholics during the Holocaust, 1998
Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control, 2005