Four Dog Day (Awwww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Going Bare (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!

Uncle J is in NOLA and has brought Jack and Braden to see Lulu, so when i brought Coda, they had a ball.  It was difficult to get pictures of them all playing, as every time i'd try, they'd move and i was left with a photo of empty space where dogs had just been, or only a tail could be seen disappearing in a blur.

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

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

Source

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

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 Shoes.                      

When my kids were little,

They were allowed to run

Out and about without any shoes

Their bare toes in the sun.

They had a grand old high time

Playing in and out

Their feet were simply unfettered,

They'd run and sing and shout.

Of course when Sunday came,

Or to Grandma's house we'd go,

We'd run to the closet and find the shoes

We're not barbarians, you know.

Then came the time at last,

That Grandma came over here,

She saw all those little feet unshod,

And she called out, "See here!

"When my babies were little,

They always wore their shoes!

Experts said 'twas better,

Surely that's not old news!"

When i teach them to use their fingers,

Said i with great aplomb,

There are no mittens on their hands

You agree to that with no qualm.

So when i'm teaching children's

Little feet pedal dexterity,

Why would i put shoes on those

What would cause that disparity?

And Grandma with a grin replied,

"Pedal dexterity! Oh, such words!

Did I teach you to talk that way?

I guess I raised word nerds!"

(When my babies were little Grandma fussed about them not wearing shoes until i pointed out that i didn't teach them manual dexterity by putting mittens on their hands, why would i teach pedal dexterity by putting shoes on their feet.  She laughingly fussed at me for using such language, and conceded.)

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

Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Sao Tome and Principe

Defense Day -- Pakistan

Dia de Santiago Iglesias Pantin -- Puerto Rico

Ear and Trumpter Contests for Mice -- Fairy Calendar

Festa Della Rificolona -- Florence, Italy (one of Florences oldest and most colorful celebrations; through tomorrow)

Fight Procrastination Day/National Do It Day

Flag Day -- Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles

Labor Day/Labour Day -- Bermuda; Canada; Palau; U.S. and Territories

Luxembourg City Kermesse -- Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (the capital city gets a day off to enjoy the country's biggest fun festival)

National Coffee Ice Cream Day -- Sweetie swears the best ever was at Howard Johnson Restaurants back in the day

Read A Book Day -- can't find the history on it, but enjoy!

Rettir -- Iceland (around this time of year; a traditional sheep round up celebrated in Iceland during September and into October, actual round up dates may vary from region to region)

Rosh Hashanah -- Judaism (begins this evening; through the evening of the 8th)

Sacrifice to Hera Thelchinia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

Somhlolo Day -- Swaziland (Independence Day)

St. Magnus of Fussen's Day (Patron of crops; against caterpillars, hail, lightning, reptiles, vermin)

Stillbirth Remembrance Day -- Canada (some Provinces); US

Unification Day -- Bulgaria

Wakes Monday -- Abbots Bromley, England; related festival

    Abbots Bromley Horn Dance -- Abbots Bromley, UK (a/k/a Antler Dance or Ceremony of the Deermen; uses deer horns from the 11th Century, and a traditional dance, tune, and circuit around the neighboring farms, and includes a fair)

Birthdays Today:

Justin Whalin, 1974

Sarah Strange, 1974

Rosie Perez, 1964

Elizabeth Vargas, 1962

Jeff Foxworthy, 1958

Jane Curtin, 1947

Swoosie Kurtz, 1944

Jo Anne Worley, 1937

Billy Rose, 1899

Joseph P. Kennedy, 1888

Jane Addams, 1860

Catharine Esther Beecher, 1800

John Dalton, 1766

Marquis de Lafayette, 1757

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, 1711

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp"(TV), 1955

Jack Dempsey/Billy Miske Boxing Match(First match broadcast on radio), 1920

"La clemenza di Tito/The Clemency of Titus"(Opera, Mozart K. 621), 1791

Today in History:

The Victoria, the only surviving ship of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition, returns to Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate the world, 1522

The Spanish "Silver Fleet" disappears off the Florida Keys, 1622

Founding of Salem, Massachussetts, 1628

The first US lighthouse is built in Boston, 1716

Hurricane hits Martinique and Guadalupe, hundreds of ships sink and thousands die on land and at sea, 1776

Thomas Blanchard patents the lathe, 1819

Oberlin Collegiate Institute of Ohio becomes co-ed, with 4 women and 30 men in attendance, 1837

Louisa Ann Swain of Laramie, Wyoming becomes the first woman in the United States to cast a vote legally after 1807, 1870

Juliana becomes Queen of the Netherlands, 1948

Canada's first television station, CBFT-TV, opens in Montreal, 1952

Nine Israeli athletes are killed during a rescue attempt after being kidnapped at the Munich Olympic Games; two had died during the kidnapping the day before, 1972

The Soviet Union recognizes the independence of the Baltic states: 

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and restores the name St. Petersburg to Russia's second largest city, 1991

Cal Ripken Jr of the Baltimore Orioles plays in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking a record that stood for 56 years, 1995

Diana, Princess of Wales is laid to rest in front of a television audience of more than 2.5 billion, 1997

China launches an investigation into its commercial pilots upon learning that more than 200 of them had falsified their resumes, 2010

Central Australia reports the first sighting since 1960 of a Central rock rat, 2013

Catalonia's parliament passes a law to allow a referendum on independence from Spain, 2017

Scientists announce that Conan the Bacterium, an extremely hardy strain of bacteria, has survived 3 years attached to the outside of the International Space Station, 2020