Clowder Friends (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Tur...tles (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!

While catsitting this past week, i got to see the last 3 remaining ferals of the outdoor clowder being sweet with each other.  They really are good friends, rubbing against each other and purring while waiting to be fed, all about 11-14 years old.

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Sparks is the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, who wanted us to post something positive and uplifting at the start of the week.  While she no longer blogs, i like to post an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.     

source

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Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border.  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey is on a blog poetry break and her poetry is sorely missed, we hope she comes back soon.   Charlotte/Mother Owl participates, and now Karen at Baking in a Tornado is jumping in at least once a month, too.  Anyone else is welcome to join in the fun, just let Diane know!

This week the theme is Turtles.                         

(First, a haiku.  The spacing is so you will read it at the correct pace, slowly.)

Hi,

   my

      name

         is

            Tom

I

   am

      a

         tur...

                 tle

                    work-

                           ing

For

       the

             Post

                    Off-

                          ice

*******

(With apologies in advance, i couldn't help myself, nor did i want to.)

Sam the Clam and Tom Turtle were

the very best of friends,

though they were very different

and they came to different ends.

They spent much time together,

Tom was slow and Sam was quick,

that really didn't matter to these

friends through thin and thick.

One day, well it happened

before anything he could do,

Sam was run over by a dune buggy,

poor Tom left alone and blue.

A turtle's life is long, you know

but even their life goes by,

and one day old Tom woke up

with the Pearly Gates right nigh.

He got up to the portal just

as quickly as he could go,

and yelled to St. Pete, "Where's 

my friend Sam!" with nary a hello.

St. Peter looked at Tom and

with sadness in his eyes,

said, "Tom, I hate to tell you this,

though it should be no surprise.

"Your best friend Sam was a fast one

in all ways, both good and bad,

he didn't make it up here,

it makes all of us sad."

Tom stood there quietly as

he got halo, harp and wings,

then St. Peter told him news

to make his heart just sing.

"Tom there's an elevator

that goes from here down there,

you can go and visit, but

 you really must beware.

"The last elevator back here

starts up exactly at five,

don't get caught down there at night,

to be prompt you must strive!"

Tom turned to the elevator and

without any hesitation

tried his wings and bumped around

getting used to the gyrations.

He practiced a bit of flying while

in the elevator going down,

he didn't become an expert but he

didn't feel like such a clown.

Once he got to the nether world,

he garnered plenty of looks,

but he was determined to find

his friend no matter what it took.

He asked a group there standing,

"Is my friend Sam the Clam around here?"

They began to snicker and then to laugh,

they guffawed and started to cheer.

"Just fly down that road there,"

one said when he was able,

Tom simply flew they way they said,

their other words uninterpretable.

As he went he asked others,

"Do you know where Sam I can find?"

They all just laughed, pointing down the road,

Tom so intent, their laughs he didn't mind.

Then suddenly around a curve he came,

he couldn't believe what he saw,

a huge sign on big building,

"Sam Clam's Disco!" the place's biggest draw!

Tom flew right in as fast as

those wings could him now carry,

he called, "Is my friend Sam in here?"

despite the doorkeepers scary.

An office door burst open,

Sam came out in a stew,

"Who's making all that racket?"

Then, "Tom! Is it really you?"

The friends they hugged a good while,

then sat down to a meal and a chat,

Tom told what happened since 

Sam had gone, tales of this and that.

They'd been having such a good time

reminiscing, catching up, it was great

then Sam suddenly looked at the clock

and said, "Tom, you're gonna be late!"

Tom jumped up from the table,

Sam said, "Come visit tomorrow,

but don't you get caught here at night,

or it will be to your sorrow!"

Tom went flying back down

the road as quick as he could,

got through the door right before it closed,

just like they said he should.

When he got back up, the doors opened

and he saw St. Peter waiting there,

The saint breathed a huge sigh,

"Tom, you gave me quite a scare!

"I thought you'd lost track of time

and wouldn't be there for five sharp.

It's great to see you made it, but

Tom, where is your harp?"

Tom looked dazed for a moment,

then he burst into song,

and if you know the tune then

you all can sing along:

I Left My Harp In Sam Clam's Disco!

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Today is:

Ancient Roman Festivities today:

     Festival for Vulcan -- god of fire, volcanos, and smiths

     Rosalia -- rose festival

     Tubilustrium -- ceremony to purify the trumpet used in sacred rituals

Bluebell Day -- Fairy Calendar

Declaration of the Bab -- Baha'i

Go For A Walk in Your Swim Fins Day -- no, i don't know who comes up with this stuff, and i don't want to

Linnaeus Day -- Stenbrohult, Sweden (birth anniversary of Carolus Linnaeus on the OS calendar)

Lucky Penny Day -- just a fun one, see if you find a penny today

National Labour Day -- Jamaica

National Taffy Day

Sacrifices to Leto, Pythian Apollon, Zeus, Hermes and the Dioscuri in the deme of Erchia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk's Day (Patron of Belarus)

Students' Day -- Mexico

St. William of Rochester's Day (Patron of adopted children)

Victoria Day -- Canada

World Crohn's and Colitis Day

World Turtle Day -- sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue    

Anniversaries Today:

South Carolina becomes the 8th US state, 1788

Birthdays Today:

Kelly Monaco, 1976

Ken Jennings, 1974

Jewel, 1974

Mitch Albom, 1958

Drew Carey, 1958

“Marvelous” Marvin Hagler, 1954

Charles Kimbrough, 1936

Robert Moog, 1934

Joan Collins, 1933

Barbara Barrie, 1931

Rosemary Clooney, 1928

Helen O'Connell, 1920

Scatman Crothers, 1910

Artie Shaw, 1910

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., 1883

Belle Aurelia Babb Mansfield, 1846

Margaret Fuller, 1810

Franz Mesmer, 1734

Carolus Linnaeus, 1707

Emperor Qinzong of China, 1100

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Tommy"(Album), 1969

"Shuffle Along"(Musical comedy revue), 1921

"Il bugiardo / The Liar"(Comedy), 1750

Today in History:

Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne, 1430

The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void, 1533

The Netherlands declare their independence  from Spain, 1568

The Second Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years' War, 1618

After being convicted of piracy and of murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd is hanged in London, 1701

Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals, 1785

Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned King of Italy, 1805

South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, 1813

The Báb announces his revelation, founding Bábism (the Baha'i Faith), 1844

Organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan, 1863

The Canadian  Parliament establishes the North West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 1873

The fist transcontinental train arrives in Vancouver, BC, 1887

The first talking cartoon of Mickey Mouse, "The Karnival Kid", is released, 1929

American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Black Lake, Louisiana, 1934

Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with the People's Republic of China, 1951

Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion announces that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann had been captured, 1960

The first version of the Java programming language is released, 1995

The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with 75% voting yes, 1998

The fastest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka, opens at Six Flags Great Adventure, 2005

Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts, 2006

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute, 2008

Fifteen months after President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in Egypt by a revolution, voters go to the polls for a presidential election, 2012

Chinese archaeologists announce findings of earliest use of barley in China to make beer, in Shaanxi province from about 3400 BC to 2900 BC, 2016

Hamburg, Germany, becomes the first city to ban diesel cars on some roads, 2018 

The prototype of new high-speed train that will float above the track is unveiled by Chinese Railway Rolling Stock Corporation in Qingdao, 2019