Brrrr! Random Tuesday Shivers

And now, a bit of random news from around here, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked.  

In case anyone hasn’t noticed, it’s cold this winter.  In our area, overnight temperatures are dropping into the low 20s, which is just not normal swamp weather.   

#2 Son and Daughter-in-Law Becky have Pepe in their house, but their big dog, Tombstone, is not allowed in by her mom.  He’s considered by her as a farm dog and expected to stay outdoors at all times.  He’s sleeping in our library on these cold nights, much to the consternation of our cats.

Who could leave this sweet dog outdoors in the cold?  Not us.

There was also a dog adventure out on the highway today, when Sweetie saw a very friendly Doberman running loose.  It had gotten away from its owner, who was out looking for it.  Sweetie helped chase it back toward the townhouse complex where it lives, and when the owner came in sight the dog ran to him and we hope he stays put.  It’s too cold for the critters to be running outside.

It is supposed to stay this cold all week, and it makes me want to stay in bed with my heating pad.

Work is as usual, i started back yesterday with Dr. D.  She is a hoot and a half, always dropping ideas about economics and Neanderthals and why no flowers had an color before St. Francis started breeding color into them.  No, i don’t ask questions, i just listen and smile and do the dishes and mop the floor and try to help her sort her mountains of paperwork.

Paperwork reminds me that i should start gathering everything for taxes, but i have a great big case of the don’t wanna’s.  By a couple of weekends from now, i’m going to have to buckle down anyway.

Sweetie picked our new calendar for the year.  Most of the time, i get a large print wall calendar with big blocks.  He decided he liked this better.

At least it’s big enough is all i can say.

Keep warm everyone.  Unless you are in the Southern Hemisphere, then i hope you keep cool.

Today is:

Advent of Inanna -- Ancient Sumerian Calendar (date approximate; equivalent to Ishtar, Assur, Astarte, Isis, and others; a female warrior and fertility goddess)

Berchtoldstag -- Alsace; Liechtenstein; Switzerland (a celebration of the goddess Perchta, or Bertha, guardian of animals and member of the Wild Hunt) related observance

    St. Berchtolds' Day -- Liechtenstein Bank Holiday; Switzerland Regional Holiday (because of the close association of his name with Perchta,  Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen's founding of Bern, Switzerland, is commemorated today; while not an official saint of any church, his day has become a big festival for children)

Blacks and Whites Carnival -- Colombia (through the 7th; manic and messy tradition, includes people painting themselves black one day, white the next, with a Grand Parade at some point during the week)

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Day -- The Andrews Sisters recorded the song this day in 1941 (yes, before the US entered the war; it was for the movie "Buck Private" with Abbot and Costello)

Carnival Day/Last Lap -- Saint Kitts and Nevis

Dainichi-do Bugaku -- Kazuno, Japan (11 traditional bugaku dances at the shrine; dates back as far as 718)

Festival of Sleep Day -- begins this evening; celebrate by sleeping in tomorrow because it is assumed we could all use some extra z's after the holidays

Genshi-sai (First Beginning Ceremony) -- Imperial Palace and various shrines, Japan (a dance and musical art performed to round out the New Year's celebration)

Happy Mew Year for Cats Day -- because felines must have a day to celebrate the New Year, and they cannot share; sponsored on behalf of felines everywhere by Wellcat Holidays

Jour des Aieux -- Haiti (Founder's Day, sometimes translated Ancestry Day)

Kaapse Klopse -- Cape Town, South Africa (Minstrel Carnival; through January and most of February, but the main parade is today)

Kakizome -- Japan ("first writing", a day to do the first calligraphy written at the beginning of the New Year; often a resolution or poetry asking for a good year)

National Cream Puff Day

National Motivation and Inspiration Day -- US

National Science Fiction Day -- Asimov's birth anniversary

Ninth Day of Christmas

Nyilo -- Bhutan (Winter Solstice)

Positive Postcard Day -- some people now say you should fight the post-holiday let-down by sending someone an uplifting postcard; the original project said to mail positive postcards to yourself, with instructions here   

Run It Up the Flagpole and See if Anyone Salutes It Day -- try something new today, in the spirit of the new year

Second Day of New Year -- also a holiday in many countries

"Someday We'll Laugh About This" Week begins -- to remind us to keep our perspective; sponsored by The Humor Project

St. Adelard's Day (Patron of gardeners; against fever, typhoid)

St. Basil's Day/Basil the Great -- Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches (yes, the Eastern Churches celebrated him yesterday; Patron of hospital administrators, reformers; Cappadocia; Russia)

St. Macarius' Day (Patron of of confectioners, cooks, pastry chefs)

Takai Commision Holiday -- Niue

Anniversaries Today:

Georgia becomes the 4th US State, 1788

Birthdays Today:

Kate Bosworth, 1983

Taye Diggs, 1972

Christy Turlington, 1969

Cuba Gooding, Jr. 1968

Tia Carrere, 1967

Gabrielle Carteris, 1961

Alan Beckwith, 1952

Wendy Phillips, 1952

Christopher Durang, 1949

Dennis Hastert, 1942

Jim Bakker, 1939

Roger Miller, 1936

Isaac Asimov, 1920

Sally Rand, 1904

Barry Goldwater, 1902

Martha Carey Thomas, 1857

James Wolfe, 1727

Today in History:

The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire, 366

Emperor Joseph II orders Jews of Galicia Austria to adopt family names, 1235

Spain recaptures Granada from the Moors (Granada Day), 1492

The first American revolutionary flag is displayed, 1776

The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded, 1881

"The Liberator", and abolitionist newspaper, begins publishing in Boston, 1831

The British reestablish rule in the Falklands, 1833

The first US wire suspension bridge for general traffic opens in Pennsylvania, 1842

Because of anti-monopoly laws, Standard Oil is organized as a trust, 1882

Alice Sanger becomes the first female White House staffer, 1890

A record 19'2" alligator is shot in Louisiana by E. A. McIlhenny, 1890

Pres. T Roosevelt shuts down post office in Indianola Miss, for refusing to accept its appointed postmistress because she was black, 1903

The American anarcho-syndicalist union known as the Industrial Workers of the World forms, 1905

The Canadian branch of the Royal Mint opens in Ottawa, 1908

Lithuania gains independence, 1919

The US & Canada agree to preserve Niagara Falls, 1929

Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the U.S.S.R., 1959

Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth, 2004

Mauritius bans the use of plastic bags, 2013