Shore Bird (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and 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!

This shore bird, i believe it is a heron of some kind, very nicely let me take some photos, which was an awww moment for me.

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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 semi-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 World Refugee Day.                         

We who have the comfort

of a stable family home

without a war or famine

to send us off to roam,

can we ever understand

the deep sadness and plight

of those who have to quit

their homeland and take flight?

For many this reality

is happening each day,

there has to be more we can do

to help them in some way;

just please don't sit around thinking

it's for someone else to do,

for those waiting around the world,

their "someone else" is you.

(There are people and organizations around the world helping, and they need support both volunteer and monetary.  If everyone helps a little, it adds up to a lot!)

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Today is:

American Eagle Day    

Cuckoo Warning Day -- if you hear the cuckoo today, it will be a wet summer, according to old European traditions

Day of the National Flag -- Argentina (Anniversary of General D. Manuel Belgrano's Death)

Day of the Purification of All Things -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Feast of the Great Spirit / Great Mystery -- various Native Americans (celebrations are around the time of the solstice)

     Cherokee call the spirit Asgaya Galun Lati

     Iroquois call the spirit Orenda

     Lakota call the spirit Wakan Tanka

     Zuni call the spirit Awonawilona

Festival for Summanus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (the god who threw thunderbolts at night)

Festival of the New Knee -- Fairy Calendar

Hogueras de San Juan -- Alicante, Spain ("Bonfires of St. John," through the 29th, with the night of the 24th being the most magical as the festival is for St. John, whose day that is)

Ice Cream Soda Day -- i guess because it's hot enough now for one

International Surfing Day -- The Surfrider Foundation and Surfing Magazine suggest contests, barbecues, film screenings, and organizing beach clean ups to celebrate 

Iron Skegge's Day -- Vikings (martyrdom of Iron Skegge, who died defending the temples of Maeri against Christians)

Martyr's Day -- Eritrea

Midsummer's Eve -- many and varying traditions, with some celebrating the day before the solstice, and some always tying it to June 23, St. John's Eve

     Night of the Fairy Goddesses Aine and Finnen -- Ireland (watch out for the antics of the little people on Midsummer's Eve, whichever day you celebrate it!)

National Heroes' Day -- Bermuda

National Vanilla Milkshake Day

New Identity Day -- an internet generated holiday, just have fun thinking about who you might want to be for a day

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

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

Scira/Skirophoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival for Demeter, organized by the women of Athens; date approximate)

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

St. Michelina of Pesaro's Day (Patron of mentally ill people, people with in-law problems, widows; against death of children, insanity and mental illness)

Takekiri Eshiki Matsuri -- Kuramadera, Kyoto, Japan (bamboo cutting festival; the bamboo represents snakes, so cutting it symbolizes victory over evil)

Take Your Cat To Work Day® -- Pet Sitters International®, the same people who started Take Your Dog to Work Day® (coming up on Friday) believes this #MeowMonday is the perfect kickoff to Take Your Pet To Work Week®

 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (through the 22nd)

World Productivity Day -- no central focus, just a day for suppliers of productivity tools and training to celebrate what they contribute to society

World Refugee Day -- UN

Anniversaries Today:

The University of Oxford receives its charter, 1214

West Virginia becomes the 35th US state, 1863

Birthdays Today:

Robert Rodriguez, 1968

Nicole Kidman, 1967

Michael Landon, Jr, 1964

Cyndi Lauper, 1953

John Goodman, 1952

Lionel Richie, 1949

Andre Watts, 1946

Bob Vila, 1946

Anne Murray, 1945

Brian Wilson, 1942

John Mahoney, 1940

Danny Aiello, 1933

James Tolkan, 1931

Martin Landau, 1931

Olympia Dukakis, 1931

Chet Atkins, 1924

Audie Murphy, 1924

Jean-Jacques Bertrand, 1916

Errol Flynn, 1909

Lillian Hellman, 1905

Charles W. Chesnutt, 1858

Scipio Africanus, BC236

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Jaws(Film), 1975

"The Ray Stevens Show"(TV), 1970

"The Ed Sullivan Show"(TV), 1948

Today in History:

Flavius Aetius' battles Attila the Hun; the battle was inconclusive, and Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory, 451

Jews are expelled from Brazil by order of regent Don Henrique, 1567

The Irish  village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian  pirates, 1631

A British garrison is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta, 1756

King Louis XVI of France and his immediate family begin the Flight to Varennes during The French Revolution, 1791

The U.S. vessel SS Savannah, the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, arrives at Liverpool, 1819

Queen Victoria succeeds to the British throne, 1837

Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph, 1840 

Alexander Graham Bell installs the world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 1877

Caroline Willard Baldwin becomes the first woman to earn a doctor of science degree, at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1895

A rare June hurricane struck Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence killing 35, 1959

The so-called "red telephone" is established between the Soviet Union and the United States following the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1963

The German parliament decides to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin, 1991

The Wikimedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida, 2003

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers grants private companies the right to create new website domain suffixes, 2011

Instagram offers users the ability to upload videos to their service, 2013

Dunedin and Christchurch, New Zealand, have roads cut off and flights cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, 2013

Rome elects its first female Mayor, Virginia Raggi, who is also its youngest ever, at age 37, 2016

The Hungarian government passes legislation that criminalizes aiding undocumented migrants, 2018

An historic dust cloud reaches the Caribbean Sea, making it the largest in a half century, 2020

A record high temperature is recorded within the Arctic Circle, 38C (100F) in Verkhoyansk, Siberia, 2020