Bitty Boos (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!

These tinies had to be taken from their sick mama, but they're learning to eat like little champions.

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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.     

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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 Field Trips.                         

The field trip i'll always remember

didn't happen when i was a child,

no the kids are the stars of the story

on a day that was temperate and mild.

In the spring after 9/11

our state's children wanted to aid

in buying New York a new firetruck

they'd been trying and inroads were made.

The preschool where attended my littles

and where i was lunch lady each day

had happily raised a donation

to take the Governor straightaway.

The day came and we saw the Governor,

at his mansion, welcomed with a smile,

he was gracious and kind and we all saw

that our Governor does live in style!

As we left, we were all offered cookies

by a staffer with a great big plate,

my kids thought that was the greatest,

it would their sweet tooth quite sate.

Bigger Girl took her first bite and told me,

"Mom look! These have pecans, too!"

My eyes opened wide, asked a friend,

"Watch my kids, there's something i gotta do!"

Taking off at a run i did get there,

Chris and Kevin were right at the door,

"Don't let them have cookies!" i called out,

which rooted them all to the floor.

"The cookies have nuts!" i exclaimed,

"They're allergic," i said to the staff.

The backpacks were all at the school,

with their epi-pens, oh, what a gaffe!

As much as we enjoyed the field trip

Bigger Girl was the star of the show,

since i hadn't taken a cookie

her comment was what let me know.

The lesson is easy to see here,

when on a field trip you go,

don't forget if a child has a medi-kit,

take it, 'cause you never know!

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Today is:

Bureflux -- Discordian Calendar

Canterbury South Provincial Anniversary Day -- Canterbury South, New Zealand

Cobweb Pie Making Day -- Fairy Calendar

Dia de la Bandera Nacional -- Ecuador (Day of the National Flag)

Dominion Day -- New Zealand

European Day of Languages -- European Union

Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children(TM) -- US (sponsored by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, encouraging everyone to have a meal with the family, because all the studies show it's good for you!) 

Festival of Venus Genetrix -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Ghatasthapana Dashain Festival-- Nepal (start of a nine-day Hindu festival, the longest and most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar)

International Tool Day -- internet generated, now gladly embraced by toolmakers

Johnny Appleseed Day -- birth anniversary of John Chapman

Love Note Day -- take pen and paper and send that special someone a love note today, the idea of Leona Hamel of QC, Canada

Mesothelioma Awareness Day -- bringing to light this cancer caused by asbestos exposure 

National Pancake Day

Navaratri Dussehra -- Hindu (nine-day Festival of Durga, wife of Shiva; local dates of observance may vary)

Old Holy Rood Day -- OS calendar (the day blackberries become unsafe for picking) related observance

     Mid-Autumn Day -- Scottish Highlands (traditional; considered the day harts begin to mate and a weather prognostication day)

Queen's Birthday Holiday -- WA, Australia

Rosh Hashanah -- Judaism (began last night at sundown, through tomorrow at sundown)

Search for Your Baseball Cards Again Day -- on lots of trivia sites; recommended because you never know

September Revolution Day -- Yemen (a/k/a First Revolution Day)

Stanislav Petrov Day -- remembering the day in 1983 when Comrade Petrov was given the order to return nuclear fire due to a faulty alarm system; he defied the order for hours, refusing to return fire believing it was a false alarm, which indeed was correct, and his disobedience saved the world!

Sts. Cosmas and Damian's Day (Patrons of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, barbers, blind people, chemical industry/manufacturers, doctors/physicians/surgeons, hairdressers, midwives, people with hernias; Alberobello, Italy; Ossimo, Italy; against blindness and pestilence) related observance:

     Begin now to lay in supplies for your Michaelmas supper on the 29th

United States Postal Service Day -- US (the first postmaster general under the current constitution, Samuel Osgood, was appointed this day in 1789)

World Contraception Day -- International

Birthdays Today:

Serena Williams, 1981

Lawrence Leritz, 1962

Melissa Sue Anderson, 1962

Linda Hamilton, 1956

Jane Smiley, 1949

Mary Beth Hurt, 1948

Olivia Newton-John, 1948

Lynn Anderson, 1947

Brian Ferry, 1945

Anne Robinson, 1944

Kent McCord, 1942

Julie London, 1926

Jack LaLanne, 1914

George Gershwin, 1898

T.S. Eliot, 1888

Edmund Gwenn, 1877

John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman, 1774

St. Francis of Assisi, 1181

Debuting/Premiering Today:

George(Magazine), 1995

"Knight Rider"(TV), 1982

"The Brady Bunch"(TV), 1969

"Hawaii Five-O"(TV), 1968

"Gilligan's Island"(TV), 1964

"The Beverly Hillbillies"(TV), 1962

"West Side Story"(Musical), 1957

"Lucia di Lammermoor"(Opera), 1835

"The Gladiator"(Play), 1831

Today in History:

In keeping a vow he made at the Battle of Pharsalus, Julius Caesar dedicates a temple to his mythical ancestor Venus Genetrix, BC 46

Sir Francis Drake returns to England with Spanish treasure, 1580

In a battle between Venetians and Turks in Athens, the Parthenon and Acropolis are seriously damaged, 1687

New Jersey passes a bill requiring a license to practice medicine, 1772

Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first Secretary of State of the US, 1789

Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson proved tomatoes weren't poisonous by eating several on the steps of the courthouse in Salem, New Jersey, 1820

The Diamond Match Company patents book matches, 1892

New Zealand and Newfoundland each become dominions within the British Empire, 1907

Indonesia is admitted to the United Nations, 1950

Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time, 1973

The United Kingdom agrees to the handover of Hong Kong, 1984

An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse, 1997

Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy becomes first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel, 2008

Georgia changes its second language from Russian to English, 2010

Saudi Arabia announces it is overturning its ban on women driving, the last country in the world to do so, 2017

108 pilot whales survive out of a total of 458 in Australia's largest mass stranding at Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania, 2020