A to Z: Night Guard (Awww Monday) and Nice (Sparks!)

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

Little Girl, who is in the Army National Guard, had a training weekend, so she spent her nights here.  She brought Coda the German shepherd, and the dog slept on the cot with her.  When i had to sneak down in the middle of the night, Coda jumped up in protection mode, a faithful night guard: 

Halt!  Who goes there?

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The wonderful Annie of McGuffy's Reader has started the blog hop called Sparks as a way to put more positive energy into the world.  Join her in combating the often negative influence of social media by adding your own Spark!

I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. If we allow our light to shine, we can see where we are going. It is then that we can begin to truly see each other clearly. Together, we can light up the entire world! ~ McGuffy Ann Morris

My "Spark" for the day

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To enjoy more blogs participating in the A to Z Challenge, click here.

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Today is:

Boston Marathon -- Boston, MA, US (121st running)

Day of Mushroom Encouragement -- Fairy Calendar

Dronningens Fodselsdag -- Denmark (Birthday of Queen Margrethe II)

Emancipation Day -- Washington, D.C., US

Holiday of Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Jim Thorpe Day -- US (by Presidential Proclamation in 1973)

Jose de Diego's Birthday -- Puerto Rico (Father of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement, a/k/a Dia de Reafirmacion del Idioma Espanol)

National Eggs Benedict Day

National Healthcare Decision Week begins -- US (to inspire, educate & empower the public & providers about the importance of advance care planning; "It always seems to early, until it's too late.")    

Offering to Demeter Khloe -- Ancient Greek Calendar (honoring Demeter as goddess of green shoots; date approximate)

Patriot's Day -- US (in observance of the first battles of the Revolutionary War)

Sechselauten -- Zurich, Switzerland (Six Ringing Festival, traditional driving out of winter through the symolic destruction of the Boog - Old Man Winter - in the form of a snowman)

St. Bernadette of Lourdes' Day (Patron of people ridiculed for their piety, poor people, shepherdesses, shepherds, sick people; Lourdes, France; against bodily ills, poverty, sickness)

St. Padarn's Day (Celtic peoples traditionally begin weeding crops on this saint's day)

World Entrepreneurship Day

World Voice Day -- if you've ever had laryngitis, you know how important it is to protect your voice    

Anniversaries Today:

Harry Connick, Jr. marries Jill Goodare, 1994

Founding of the University of Queensland, 1910

Birthdays Today:

Lilliana Mumy, 1994

Lucas Haas, 1976

Selena Quintanilla, 1971

Martin Lawrence, 1965

Jon Cryer, 1965

Ellen Barkin, 1955

Jay O. Sanders, 1953

Kareem Adbud-Jabbar, 1947

Dusty Springfield, 1939

Bobby Vinton, 1935

Herbie Mann, 1930

Edie Adams, 1929

Pope Benedict XVI, 1927

Henry Mancini, 1924

Kingsley Amis, 1922

Peter Ustinov, 1921

Barry Nelson, 1920

Merce Cunningham, 1919

Charlie Chaplin, 1889

John Millington Synge, 1871

Wilbur Wright, 1867

Jose De Diego, 1866

Anatole France, 1844

John Franklin, 1786

Hans Sloane, 1660

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Brown Sugar"(Rolling Stones single release), 1971

"Fibber McGee and Molly"(Radio), 1935

"Mazeppa"(Symphonic poem, Liszt' S 100), 1854

"The Contrast"(Comedy), 1787 (First play by an American author, Royall Tyler, to be professionally produced on stage)

Today in History:

Calculated date of the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War, BC1178

The Jewish fortress of Masada falls to the Roman Army, ending the Jewish revolt, 73

Martin Luther is called before the Diet of Worms, 1521

Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina, 1582

The United States Senate ratified the Rush-Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada, 1880

The first passenger rail opens in India, 1853

Ebenezer Bassett, the first African-American diplomat, begins his service in Haiti, 1869

US Marshal Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle, in Dodge City, 1881

Harriet Quimby becomes the first female pilot to cross the English Channel, 1912

Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Amritsar Massacre by the British, 1919

Annie Oakley shoots a record 100 clay targets in a row, 1922

Dr. Albert Hofmann first ingests LSD, thus discovering its effects, 1943

Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, 1947

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation, 1963

The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean, 1992

The Queen Mary II embarks on her first transatlantic voyage, 2004

President of Côte d'Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo declares the First Ivorian Civil War to be over, 2007

For the first time since 1977 no Pulitzer Prize is awarded for fiction, 2012

The Vatican ends a five-year investigation into a key organization of U.S. nuns two years ahead of schedule and recommends no major changes; the group was under scrutiny for practices considered out of line with Catholic Church teaching, 2015