Crepe-Crazy (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Overdue (Poetry Monday)

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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!

Today's photos are a little different.  Yesterday, i noticed my neighbor's crepe myrtle tree and one branch that stuck out and was abloom at the very end.  It charmed me, i thought it was aww-some, and i hope you do, too.

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

KeepInspiring

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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 participates, and now Karen at Baking in a Tornado is jumping in at least once a month, too.  

This week the theme is Tell a Joke (and yes, it's a Cajun joke, i don't know any other kind).                          

Clothile done did her bes’

When de enfants were small

To teach de love o' books

An' libraries an' all.

Aline done took to readin'

As de cochon like de mud,

A lifelong love of learnin'

In dat petit fille did bud.

Now Tee be a diff'ernt matter

He don' like it nohow,

When Clothile take him to libraries

He wrinkle up hims brow.

Many year had passed by

Clothile be wit' de grands,

Dem petit enfants enchant her

She hold dey little hands,

She read to dem ver' of'en,

She scour out ever' nook,

An' lookin' fo' mo' to read dem,

She foun' a library book!

It be a chil'ren's book an',

When she look in de back,

She see dat Tee done check it out,

An' she have de agita attack!

'Cause Tee done got dat book

Back when he be in grade two,

An' now he be growed an' marry,

What was Clothile to do?

She done call dat Tee boy,

She say, "Guess what I done foun'?

You done check out dis years ago,

It be time to bring it back 'roun'."

An' Tee say, "Sorry, I cain't do dat,

Tho' you don' need to fret,

I'll get to it ver' soon,

But I's not done readin' it yet!"

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Today is:

Baba Au Rhum Day / National Rum Day -- of course, on rum day, bake some cake with the stuff!

Bratwurst Day

Children's Day -- Paraguay

Daimonji Bonfire -- Mt. Nyoigadake, Kyoto, Japan (spectacular bonfires in the shapes of word pictures on the mountains surrounding the city)

Elvis Presley Day -- can you believe he's been gone 36 years?

Festival of the Minstrels -- Tutbury Castle, UK (middle ages; celebrated with great pomp, as the Duke of Lancaster had decreed that they each year elect a new king of the minstrels)

Fete de l'Independance -- Gabon (National Day)

Harmonic Convergence Day -- modern followers of Maya and Aztec calendars

Joe Miller's Joke Day -- anniversary of the death of English comic actor Joseph Miller in 1738

Madonna del Voto Day -- Siena, Italy (a/k/a Palio dell'Assunta, 2nd of the traditional yearly horse races)

National Airborne Day -- US (honors all Airborne Military)

National Tell a Joke Day -- seems internet generated, but probably related to Joe Miller Joke Day

Remember What Your Spouse Wore the First Time You Met Day -- internet generated and dangerous!

Restoration of the Republic -- Dominican Republic

Roller Coaster Day -- the first one was patented this day in 1898

Shahenshahi -- DD, DN, GJ, MH, India (Parsi New Year)

Stay at Home With Your Kids Day -- begun by Work at Home Moms ezine in 1999, to encourage and support parents who work from home

St. Roch's Day (Patron of bachelors, dogs, falsely accused people, invalids, surgeons, tile makers; of over 20 cities in Italy as well as Istanbul, Turkey; for relief from pestilence; against cholera, diseased cattle, epidemics, knee problems, plague [Black Death], skin diseases and rashes) 

St. Stephen of Hungary's Day (Patron of bricklayers, kings, masons, stonecutters; Hungary; against the death of children)

Surveillance Day -- formerly Wave at the Surveillance Cameras Day, go ahead and make the lives of those monitoring your every move a little less boring and more pleasant by giving a little wave when you know you are being watched   

Xicolatada -- Palau-de-Cerdagne, France (hot chocolate festival)*

Yukon Discovery Day -- YT, Canada

Anniversary Today:

Sean Penn marries Madonna, 1985

Paul Simon marries Carrie Fisher, 1983

Gioachino Antonio Rossini marries Olympe Pélissier, 1846

Birthdays Today:

Seth Peterson, 1970

Steve Carell, 1963

Laura Innes, 1960

Timothy Hutton, 1960

Angela Bassett, 1958

Madonna, 1958

Jeff Perry, 1955

James Cameron, 1954

Kathie Lee Gifford, 1953

Reginald VelJohnson, 1952

Leslie Ann Warren, 1946

Julie Newmar, 1935

Eydie Gorme, 1932

Frank Gifford, 1930

Ann Blyth, 1928

Fess Parker, 1925

Menachem Begin, 1913

George Meany, 1894

T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia), 1888

Bernarr Macfadden, 1868

Amos Alonzo Stagg, 1862

Hongxi Emperor of China, 1378

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Siegfried"(Opera, WWV 86C), 1876

Today in History:

Henry VIII defeats the French at the Battle of Guinegate/Battle of the Spurs, forcing the French to retreat, 1513

Jack Broughton formulates the earliest code of rules for boxing, 1743

Chang and Eng Bunker, the original "Siamese" twins, arrive in Boston to be exhibited, 1829

U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurates the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1858

Arica, Peru (now Chile) is devastated by a tsunami which followed a magnitude 8.5 earthquake, 1868

Gold is discovered in the Klondike, at Bonanza Creek, 1896

Edwin Prescott patents the roller coaster, 1898

In Valparaiso, Chile, an 8.6 earthquake followed by fire destroys the city and kills 20,000, 1906

The first color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks, is made by Ub Iwerks, 1930

Democrats nominate Adlai E. Stevenson as presidential candidate, 1956

Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that still stand today: High-altitude jump, free-fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft, 1960

A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market, 1989

For only 2nd time Stanley Cup leaves North America (heads to Russia), 1997

In England, two men who created a Facebook site to incite violence during the riots are sentenced to four years imprisonment, 2011

The world's first floating dairy farm opens in Merwehaven Harbour, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with 40 cows milked by robots, 2018

*Yes, they celebrate a hot chocolate festival in the summer.  It all started when the 15th of August was a feast day on which the locals always drank a bit much, and the chocolatier of the town claimed his brew was a good remedy the day after.  The original festival on the 15th has ceased, but the hot chocolate is brewed to this day, served at 11am promptly.