Happy, Healthy Family (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday

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To enjoy more blogs participating in the A to Z Challenge, click here.     

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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!

On a walk with Becca, we were blessed to see this happy, healthy family.

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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 Golf.                         

Golf is not a game I play,

to torque my back wouldn't make my day.

However, I can plainly see

why it attracts people, but just not me.

It takes a great deal of finesse

getting a ball in the hole in that wide greenness.

The game is physical and is mental,

becoming a big winner is never accidental.

It takes lots of practice and plenty of skill,

and some would almost for a low score almost kill.

Some say it's name really should be "flog,"

and why else would the 19th Hole be famous for its "grog?"

To say golf's a good walk spoiled is mistaken,

let's agree it's called golf 'cause other four-letter words were taken!

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Today is:

ASPCA Day/Humane Day -- anniversary of founding in 1866

Birthday of Cybele -- Ancient Roman Calendar (great mother goddess)

Commodore Perry Day

Dust the Ceiling Fan Day -- before it gets hot outside and you have to turn it on and find out you forgot how dusty it gets up there the hard way

Easter Monday -- Christian; related observances

     Dyngus Day

     Egg Races -- Rural Northwestern Switzerland (traditional Easter Monday races with competitors carrying large numbers of eggs from village to village)

     Emaishen -- Luxembourg (traditional market)

     Family Day -- South Africa

     Hallaton Hare Pie Scramble & Bottle Kicking -- Hallaton, Leicestershire, England (traditional celebrations dating back at least 600 years)

     Memorial Day -- Republic of Georgia

     Seu Harvest Parade -- Curacao

     Sham el-Nessim -- Egypt (Smell the Breezes Day, a spring celebration for all religions; celebrated by getting outside, greeting neighbors, enjoying spring, and eating salty raw fish)

Encourage a Young Writer Day -- can't find out who started this, but it sounds like a great idea

Feast of Bau -- Ancient Babylonian Calendar (date approximate, around the same time of year the Romans honored Cybele)

Feast of Ezekiel the Prophet -- Roman Catholic 

Feast of the Rivers and Seas -- Ancient Sumerian Calendar (mother of Ea[Earth]; date approximate, around the same time of year the Romans honored Cybele)

Founder's Day -- Salvation Army (birth anniversary of the founder, William Booth)

Frances Perkins Day -- US (birth anniversary of the first woman appointed to a Presidential Cabinet position)

Golfer's Day -- anniversary of founding of the Professional Golfers' Association of America in 1916

Iroquois Thunder Ceremony -- Iroquois Native Americans (week-long ceremonial thanksgiving for the rain, which brings new growth in spring; date approximate, but most tribes celebrate in mid-April)

National Cinnamon Crescent Day

National Farm Animals Day -- US   

National Siblings Day -- US   

Safety Pin Day -- patented this day in 1849 by Walter Hunt

St. Macarius of Antioch's Day (Patron of plague victims; Ghent, Belgium)

Birthdays Today:

Haley Joel Osment, 1988

Mandy Moore, 1984

Ryan Merriman, 1983

Liz McClarnon, 1981

Shemekia Copeland, 1979

Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, 1957

Peter MacNicol, 1954

Steven Seagal, 1952

Paul Edward Theroux, 1941

Joe Don Meredith, 1938

John Madden, 1936

Omar Sharif, 1932

Dolores Huerta, 1930

Max Von Sydow, 1929

Chuck Connors, 1921

Robert Burns Woodward, 1917

Harry Morgan, 1915

Frances Perkins, 1880

Joseph Pulitzer, 1847

William Booth, 1829

James Bowie, 1796

Commodore Matthew Perry, 1794

Hugo Grotius, 1583(O.S. date)

Cybele, Roman goddess (traditional, year unknown)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Entertainer"(Play), 1957

House of Wax(Film), 1951 Note:  first full color 3D film from a major studio

The Great Gatsby(Publication), 1925

Ein deutsches Requiem, nach Worten der heiligen Schrift/A German Requiem, To Words of the Holy Scriptures, Op. 45(Brahms' Requiem), 1868

Today in History:

Halley's Comet and Earth experienced their closest approach to one another when their separating distance equaled 0.0342 AU (3.2 million miles), 837

the lama Deshin Shekpa visits the Ming Dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded with the title Great Treasure Prince of Dharma, 1407

The Charter of the Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America, 1606

The first law regulating copyright is issued in Great Britain, 1710

The Mount Tambora volcano in Indonesia begins its peak eruption period that lasts until July 15, 1815

The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town Messolonghi start leaving the town after a year's siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive, 1826

The NY "Tribune" begins publishing under editor Horace Greeley, 1841

The safety pin is patented by Walter Hunt of NYC, who sells the rights for only $100, 1849

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh, 1866

The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska, 1874

The Titanic leaves Southampton, England, 1912

Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos, 1919

Warner Brothers debuts the first 3-D movie, "House of Wax," 1953

Adolf Eichmann is put on trial as a war criminal in Israel, 1961

In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, the People's Republic of China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a weeklong visit, 1971

A 7.0 earthquake kills 1/5 of population of Iranian province of Fars, 1972

H J Heinz, Van Camp Seafood & Bumble Bee Seafood say they would not buy tuna caught in nets that also trap dolphins, 1989

A rare tropical storm develops in the Southern Hemisphere near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites, 1991

President of Fiji Ratu Josefa Iloilo announces he will suspend the constitution and assume all governance in the country, creating a constitutional crisis, 2009

Apple, Inc., claims a value of $600 billion making it the largest company by market capitalization in the world, 2012

The Council of Europe suspends Russia's right to vote, 2014

The Hong Kong pro-democracy political party Demosistō is established by activists Nathan Law, Joshua Wong, and Agnes Chow, 2016

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg begins testifying before US Congress about data use and security, 2018

Scientists announce they have the first photo of a black hole ever taken; it is in galaxy M87, 55 million light-years away, and is 6.5 billion times the mass of Earth, 2019

The first drone home delivery service in Canberra, Australia is begun by Wing, part of Google's Alphabet company, 2019