Digging In for the A to Z Challenge, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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Thankful day, and i am reminded that "It is easy to be heavy, hard to be light," as G.K. Chesterton said.  It is "D" day in the A to Z Challenge, so the thankful list is brought to you, as they say on Sesame Street, by the letter D.

Some are serious, some are silly, because, hey, it's time to smile and have joy, especially in making such a list.

One reason i try so hard to be light is that people need those of us who are.  Also, i am enamored with what John Piper called The Dangerous Duty of Delight.

No one can be unflaggingly, unfailingly joyful, cheerful, or in a great mood.  We can try, through gratitude, seeking joy, and setting out wanting to be pleased with things, to be as happy and joyful as we can be.

Today i am thankful for delight, and for being able to delight in things, to count it all joy and share that with others.

Doctors and other medical workers, i am thankful for you.  At this time more than ever.  My life has been saved more than once by modern medicine, and it is working to save us all again.

Daughters, i am thankful for you.  Bigger Girl, you never gave up and are following dreams the naysayers told me you would never have.  Little Girl, you are one of those military medical workers on a grueling schedule.  Thank you both for everything you've brought to my life.

Doormat, i am thankful for all of the dirt you trap so it does not get brought into the house.

Yes, as a janitor, i am even thankful for dirt.  If it wasn't there, i couldn't clean it and thus be employed, and the fact that it keeps coming back is my job security.

Delivery persons and truck drivers, i am thankful for you.  In this now very interdependent world, we can't live without you being there to bring the goods needed to the market.

Dressers in my room, thank you for holding our clothes, because otherwise they'd all get slept on by cats.

Docents and other volunteers, i am thankful for you.  No matter where you volunteer, you are giving, and that's a good, happy thing.

Dads who show up, work hard, stick around, love their children's mom, love the kids and work to raise them right, i am very, very thankful for you and wish i could find a way to put some of that in every male parent out there.

Daylight and blue skies, i am thankful for your cheering influence; dim light and clouds, i am grateful for the watering that keeps our swamps green and healthy.

Dessert, you can't be left off the list, not now, not ever!  You are the happy ending to our dining pleasure.

There we are, from my dingy little brain, a list of diminutive size and deep heart.  Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Kristi and her co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting.  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Today is:

Ballroom Dance Day -- dance with your sweetheart today in honor of the birth anniversary of Arthur Murray

Bonza Bottler Day™

Children's Day -- Taiwan

Every Day is Tag Day™ -- make sure your pet has an up to date tag or microchip, just in case! 

Historic Pendleton Spring Jubilee -- Pendleton, SC, US (through tomorrow)

Homogenized Milk Day -- a machine to homogenize milk was patented this day in 1892 by Auguste Gaulin

Hug a Newsman/Newswoman Day -- an internet holiday, and be careful, no more fiascos like the gropings in 2009; this year, a pleasant wave from a distance will do, or an email/text

Independence Day -- Senegal(1960)

International Carrot Day    

International Day for Mine Awareness & Assistance in Mine Action -- UN

International Pillow Fight Day -- yes, really; this year, start one at home   

Megalesia, a/k/a Festival of Magna Mater -- Ancient Roman Calendar (great mother festival for Cybele; through the 9th)

National Cordon Bleu Day

National Reading a Roadmap Day -- another internet holiday that some sites call "Learn to Read A Roadmap Day," but a good one to observe; you need to know how to read one when your GPS battery dies, after all

Peace Day -- Angola

Quing Ming Jie -- China; Hong Kong; Macau; North Korea; Taiwan (Tomb Sweeping Day, last day of the Quingming Festival)(a/k/a Festival of Clear Brightness, Festival for Tending Graves, Grave Sweeping Day, Chinese Memorial Day, Tomb Sweeping Day, Spring Remembrance, and All Souls Day (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic holiday of the same name); the festival includes kite flying and rituals to call the spring rains, as well as cleaning the graves of ancestors and offering them gifts.

Slow Art Day -- a global all-volunteer event with the simple mission of helping more people discover for themselves the joy of looking at and loving art  http://www.slowartday.com/

St. Benedict the African's Day (Patron of African missions; African-Americans; Palermo, Sicily, Italy)

St. Isidore of Seville's Day (Patron of computer technicians, computer users, computers, the Internet, schoolchildren, students)

Swedish-American Friendship Day

Tangible Karma™ Day -- set aside an hour today to become purposefully aware of the needs of someone around you, and to fulfill that need; because giving feels as good as receiving 

Tell a Lie Day -- an internet generated holiday; the only day it is acceptable! make sure, after today, to clear it up, trust me

Tsechu Festival -- Paro, Bhutan (religious celebration in honor of Padmasambhava, with colorfully dressed monks performing masked rituals; through the 8th)

Victims of Violence Day -- anniversary of the assasination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Vitamin C Day -- the vitamin was isolated on this day in 1932 by C.C, King at the University of Pittsburgh

Walk Around Things Day -- fun to do, it makes people look at you funny

World Rat Day -- pet rat lovers everywhere, unite and introduce your friends to your pet rats

ZAB Death Anniversary -- Pakistan (39th anniversary)

Anniversary Today:

Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft Corporation, 1975

Birthdays Today:

David Blaine, 1973

Dave Mirra, 1972

Jill Scott, 1972

Barry Pepper, 1970

Nancy McKeon, 1966

Robert Downey, Jr., 1965

David Gavurin, 1963

Gary Moore, 1952

Christine Lahti, 1950

Craig T. Nelson, 1946

Kitty Kelley, 1942

Angelo Bartlett "Bart" Giamatti, 1938

Michael Parks, 1938

Anthony Perkins, 1932

Maya Angelou, 1928

Muddy Waters, 1915

Frances Langford, 1914

Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, 1908

John Cameron Swayze, 1906

Arthur Murray, 1895

Isoroku Yamamoto, 1884

Linus Yale, Jr., 1821

Dorothea Dix, 1802

Today in History:

Francis Drake is knighted for completing a circumnavigation of the world, 1581

Sir Robert Walpole becomes First Lord of the Treasury of England, and is so influential in the Cabinet that he is considered the de facto first Prime Minister of England, 1721

Napoleon abdicates for the first time, 1814

Casparus van Wooden of Amsterdam patents chocolate milk powder, 1828

William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia becoming the first President of the United States to die in office and the one with the shortest term served, 1841

Bryant's Minstrels debut the song "Dixie" in a blackface minstrel show, 1859

Susanna Medora Salter is elected the first US woman mayor, in Argonia, KS, 1887

Cecil Rhodes scholarship fund is established, 1902

An earthquake in India's Kangra Valley kills 20,000, destroys most of three cities, 1905

Vitamin C was first isolated by C.C. King at the University of Pittsburgh, 1932

Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty, creating NATO, 1949

Martin Luther King, Jr., is assasinated, 1968

Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart (the patient survived for 65 hours), 1969

The World Trade Center in NYC is dedicated, 1973

Bill Gates and Paul Allen form Microsoft, 1975

Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space, 1983

Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark found Netscape Communications Corporation under the name "Mosaic Communications Corporation", 1994

Comet Hyakutake is imaged by the USA Asteroid Orbiter Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, 1996

The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War, 2002

15 British Royal Navy personnel held in Iran are released, 2007

The most distant supernova on record is found by the Hubble Space Telescope, 2013

The "Pink Star" diamond sells at an auction in Hong Kong for a record $71 million, 2017