A to Z: Let Us Be Thankful (Ten Things of Thankful)

(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.)

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

***********************************

It's Thankfuls day during the month of the A to Z challenge, so i'm sure you all know the drill, thankful things that start with the letter L.

Life is first, both in the big way (actually existence, without which i would not be having this discussion) and my life (which is not easy but is blessed beyond measure anyway).

Love, of The Lord, family, friends, and pets.  Bigger Girl once asked me, when she was a very small child, if we were poor, and i told her we are rich in love.  Indeed we are.

Loyalty, which we don't think about much until it is not there.

Lemons, because you can't make lemonade without them, and Lettuce, among other edibles.  Life needs lemonade and salad, although not necessarily at the same time.

Luck, which is really just another name for The Lord's providence.

Lunceford the Land Yacht, our car that is, providentially, holding up.  He got an oil change and his tires rotated yesterday.  They threw in the rotation for free!  (Yes, i would list excellent mechanics, like Kevin and Lenny, if mechanic started with an L.  That's okay, i am thankful for them anyway, but on the side and we'll pretend i didn't break with my theme and call them licensed auto repair technicians.)

Literature, because if it weren't for great literature, i wouldn't have anything to read, and that would be a tragedy.  Also Learning, which we should never, ever stop doing.

In the above vein, Libraries and Librarians.

Light, both natural and artificial, and especially LED lightbulbs, which i think are the best thing since Edison's original.

Ladders, because i am short (call it what it is, i'm not vain enough to call it vertically challenged).

Law and Lawyers (yes, really), because without the rule of law, and a justice system, this life would not be what it is in this country.

L, as can be seen by this list, is a very important letter!

Please join us and our gracious and wonderful hostess Kristi from ThankfulMe, write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful.    

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

***********************************

Today is:

Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis -- Holy See (Vatican City)

Baby Massage Day

Cimarron Territory Celebration and World Cow Chip–throwing® Championship Contest -- Beaver, OK, US ("a highly specialized organic sporting event", as well as poker fun, food, crafts, and a parade; through next Saturday)

Day to Give Thanks for Fish/Seafood -- anniversary of the US Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1976

Environmental Protection Day -- anniversary of the 1962 publication of Silent Spring

Feast of Rotten Endings -- because some stories just don't end well

Georgia Renaissance Spring Festival -- Atlanta, GA, US (weekends through June 2)

Hindu New Year -- Hindu (local custom/date may vary)

    Hari Raya Nyepi Tahun Baru -- Indonesia (New Year in the Balinese Saka calendar)

    Nyepi Day -- Bali, Indonesia (Day of Silence, Balinese New Year/Saka New Year celebration on which everything is closed, even the international airport)

    Ougadi -- Mauritius and some regions of India (the Telugu New Year)

Huguenot Day -- Huguenot Society of the US (anniversary of the 1598 Edict of Nantes, in which King Henry IV promoted peace between Catholics and Protestants)

Ides of April -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also

    Festival of Libertas -- personification of freedom and political liberty

    Festival of Jupiter Libertas

    Festival of Jupiter Victor

International Plant Appreciation Day -- unsponsored by any but those who love plants

John Wilkes Booth Escape Route Tours -- Surrat House Museum, Clinton, MD, US (for Civil War history buffs, a 12 hour bus tour over the route used by Lincoln's assassin; every Saturday through Apr. 27)

Kentucky Derby Festival -- Louisville, KY, US (the warm-up celebration for the big race, much of which is free; through May 4)

Laotian New Year's Eve -- Laos (celebrations of Pi Mai, the new year, last through the 15th and sometimes beyond; at the start of the monsoon season)

National Peach Cobbler Day

Poshui Jie -- Jinghong, China (Water Splashing Festival; a 3 to four day festival around this time)

Record Store Day -- celebrated by independent record stores everywhere, find one near you     

Scottsdale Culinary Festival -- Scottsdale, AZ, US (40 restaurants, 30 craft breweries, 20 bands, chef demos, teen chef challenge and more, all to raise money for arts education in the community; through tomorrow)

Scrabble Day -- anniversary of the 1899 birth of its inventor, Alfred Mosher Butts

Songkran Festival / Chiang Mai Songkran / Tamil New Year / Bangla New Year / Bisket Jatra -- Bangladesh; Cambodia; India; Laos; Myanmar; Nepal; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Thailand (New Year festivals, celebrated over the next few days, as the sun enters the zodiac sign of Aries)

Squashing of Moonhopper Day -- Fairy Calendar

St. Hermengild's Day (Patron of converts; against drought, flood, and thunderstorms)

Taro Festival -- East Maui, Hawaii, US (celebration of Hawai'ian culture; through tomorrow)

Thingyan Eve -- Myanmar (Water Festival Eve; through the 16th)

Thomas Jefferson Day -- US

U.S. Elephant Day -- marking the arrival of the first elephant in the US in 1796

Yasurai Matsuri -- Imamiya Jinja, Kyoto, Japan (festival to prevent ill health)

Yayoi Matsuri -- Nikko, Japan (five day spring festival)

Birthdays Today:

Jonathan Brandis, 1976

Rick Schroder, 1970

Garry Kasparov, 1963

Saundra Santiago, 1957

Max Weinberg, 1951

Peabo Bryson, 1951

Ron Pearlman, 1950

Al Green, 1946

Tony Dow, 1945

Lowell George, 1945

Jack Casady, 1944

Bill Conti, 1942

Paul Sorvino, 1939

Lyle Waggoner, 1935

Don Adams, 1926

Howard Keel, 1919

Eudora Welty, 1909

Samuel Beckett, 1906

Butch Cassidy, 1866

F.W. Woolworth, 1852

Thomas Jefferson, 1743

Guy Fawkes, 1570

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Arcadia"(Play), 1993

Casino Royale(Film), 1967

Silent Spring(Publication date), 1962

"El Capitan"(Operetta), 1896

"Messiah"(Oratorio, HWV 56), 1742

Today in History:

The Seventh Crusade is defeated in Egypt with the capture of Louis IX of France, 1250

Henry IV of France signs the Edict of Nantes, granting freedom of religion and political rights to Huguenots (French Protestants), 1598

John Dryden, age 36, becomes the first English Poet Laureate, 1668

George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland, 1742

The first elephant seen in the Western Hemisphere arrives from India, 1796

The British Parliament grants religious freedom to Roman Catholics, 1829

Hungary becomes a republic, 1849

The first US Pony Express run is completed, 1860

George Westinghouse patents a steam powered brake, 1869

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded, 1870

J.C. (James Cash) Penney opens his first store, 1902

British troops fire on unarmed demonstrators in Amritsar, India, killing at least 379 and wounding over 1,200 more, 1919

Helen Hamilton becomes the first woman US Civil Service Commissioner, 1920

Lord Clydesdale makes the first flight over Mt. Everest, 1933

The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated on the 200th anniversary of his birth, in Washington, D.C., 1943

Van Cliburn becomes the first American to win the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, 1958 

Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American male to win the Best Actor Oscar for Lilies of the Field, 1963

An oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 explodes, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the spacecraft while en route to the Moon, 1970

The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan, 1972

Western Union (in cooperation with NASA and Hughes Aircraft) launches the United States' first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, Westar 1, 1974

Portugal and the People's Republic of China sign an agreement in which Macau would be returned to China in 1999, 1987

Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament, 1997

Former President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak and sons, Alaa and Gamal, are detained for 15 days of questioning regarding charges of corruption and abuse of power, 2011

The People's Republic of China and the U.S. agree to work towards eliminating nuclear weapons in the Korean Peninsula, 2013