Relaxing (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Fathers (Poetry Monday)

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

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee at 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!

The last time i was at Ms. RW's house, Jake was just relaxing in the carport:

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

 Sparks, the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, is on hiatus, so here's an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.     

ScrollDroll

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

Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border.  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey is on a blog break and is sorely missed.   Charlotte/Mother Owl always participates, and now Karen at Baking in a Tornado is jumping in at least once a month, too.  Spike's Best Mate often leaves a wonderful poem in the comments on one of our blogs.

This week the theme is Father's Day.                        

How do you salute a father?

How many words suffice?

Is there any way to thank him

For all his good advice?

Can you ever really tell him

How much he means to you?

To pay him back for all he's done,

Just how much can you do?

The only way i know to start

To give him due veneration

Is make sure you pass his values

To the next generation!

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

Today is:

Baby Boomer Recognition Day 

Father's Day -- Egypt; Jordan; Lebanon; Palestine; Syria; Uganda (always June 21 in these countries)

Go Skateboarding Day -- and break something?  leaving this to the young; sponsored by the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC)   

June Holiday -- NL, Canada (formerly Discovery Day)

Martyr's Day -- Togo

National Aboriginal Day / First Nations Day -- NT, Canada

National ASK Day -- prevent gun violence and accidental deaths, ASK if there is an unlocked gun anywhere that your child plays, because Asking Saves Kids! 

National Heroes' Day -- Bermuda

National Peaches & Cream Day

Organic Act Day -- US Virgin Islands (commemorates the organization of how the islands are governed)

Reaping Machine Day -- Cyrus McCormick was granted a patent for his mechanical reaper this day in 1834

Ride to Work Day -- ride your motorcycle or scooter!  if you don't have one, watch out for those who do   

Sólmánuðr -- Icelandic calendar, Sun Month, with the midnight sun dominating the time of year

Solstice -- 03:32 UTC/11:32pm EDT (June 20); related observances:

     Aimless Wandering Day -- use the extra daylight to wander someplace with nothing particular to do

     Anne and Samantha Day -- remembrance for Anne Frank and Samantha Smith, and their contributions to our world

     Daylight Appreciation Day -- celebrating the benefits of sunshine  

     Finally Summer Day/Finally Winter Day

     Hump Day -- Tasmania (because it is the shortest in the year, Taswegians today feel they are over the "hump" of winter.)

     Inti Raymi -- Inca (festival of the sun god Inti, ongoing);Sacsayhuamán Andes Mountain Natives (winter solstice and New Year festival)

     Litha / Yule -- Wicca/Pagan (northern hemisphere / southern hemisphere)

     Midnight Sun Baseball Game -- Fairbanks, AK, US (begins promptly at 10:35pm local time, and played without any artificial lights allowed)

     Midsomarsblog -- Norse Viking celebrations (time of fishing, trading, and raiding)

     Midsummer -- Midsummer Festivals begin -- Juhannus Day in Finland and Midsommar in Denmark and Norway, celebrated over the next several days in many Scandinavian traditions; often this time is also associated with betrayal, as the sunlight begins to decrease, this is when Baldur was betrayed, as well as Sigurd. 

     Midsummer -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan

     Midsummer Baal -- Ancient Celtic Calendar

     Polar Bear Swim -- Nome, AK, US (if they can break through the ice!)

     Solsticio de Invierno / Ano Nuevo Aymara -- Bolivia (Winter Solstice / Aymara Indiginous People's New Year)

     We Tripantu -- Chile (Mapuche natives winter solstice festival)

     Wadjet Summer Solstice Ceremony -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate, it may have been a multi-day ceremony that began on Midsummer's Eve)

St. Alban's Day (Patron of epileptics, people with hernias; against epilepsy, hernias, kidney stones)

St. Aloysius Gonzanga's Day (Protector of young students, young men; Patron of AIDS care-givers and patients; for relief from pestilence; Castiglione delle Stiviere, Italy; Valmonte, Italy; against sore eyes)

Tiger-Get-By's Third Birthday -- Fairy Calendar

Ulloortuneq -- Greenland (National Day)

World Handshake Day -- no one likes them fishy, and it's not a contest; practice a firm grip and a smile! not to be confused with National Handshake Day, today's sponsor is here     

World Music Day -- begun in the UK, now celebrated everywhere     

Anniversaries Today:

New Hampshire becomes the 9th US State, 1788

Birthdays Today:

Kris Allen, 1985

Prince William (William Arthur Philip Louis), 1982

Juliette Lewis, 1973

Larry Wachowski, 1965

Sammi Davis-Voss, 1964

Doug Savant, 1964

Berkeley Breathed, 1957

Rick Sutcliffe, 1956

Benazir Bhutto, 1953

Nils Lofgren, 1951

Meredith Baxter, 1947

Michael Gross, 1947

Ray Davies, 1944

Mariette Hartley, 1940

Joe Flaherty, 1940

Bernie Kopell, 1933

Maureen Stapleton, 1925

Jane Russell, 1921

Jean-Paul Sartre, 1905

Al Hirschfeld, 1903

Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892

Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1859

Daniel Carter Beard, 1850

Daniel D. Tompkins, 1774

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, 1731

Increase Mather, 1639

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Evita"(Musical), 1978

"Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg"(Wagner opera), 1868

Today in History:

Jews are expelled from Nurenberg Bavaria by Emperor Maximillian, 1498

The Incident at Honno-ji takes place in Kyoto, Japan, 1582

In Montreal in New France, a slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique is put to death, having been convicted of the arson that destroyed much of the city, 1734

Halifax, Nova Scotia, is founded, 1749

The first Victoria Cross is awarded during the bombardment of Bomarsund in the Åland Islands, 1854

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police fire a volley into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two, during the Winnipeg General Strike, 1919

The first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage begins at Vancouver, British Columbia, 1940

Columbia Records introduces the long-playing record album in a public demonstration at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, 1948

Ellen Louks Fairclough is sworn in as Canada's first woman Cabinet Minister, 1957

In handing down the decision in Miller v. California 413 US 15, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller Test for obscenity in U.S. law, 1973

SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight, 2004

Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially named Nix & Hydra, 2006

Greenland assumes self-rule, 2009

The U.S. officially charges Edward Snowden with espionnage, 2013

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden becomes the second world leader to give birth in office, to a daughter, 2018

Archaeologists announce the discovery near Stonehenge of a large circle of shafts surrounding a village founded around 2500BC, deeming it the largest surviving prehistoric structure in Britain found to date, 2020