Oh, Mama! (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!

Not far from the cat shelter is a very large pond with Muskogee ducks.  They moved there and quickly found the feral colony we used to have, and decided leftover cat food is delicious.  We still don't throw away old food, if a bowl is emptied it's put in a bucket, and the leftovers thrown to the ducks.

One mama has built her nest already, near her favorite food source, us.  We built her a shelter from the cold, and put food and water near for this time of freezing temps.

Mama was off the nest eating when one of our people was out, and she peeped over and counted 16 eggs!  If we are blessed, watch for a future Awww...Monday post with ducklings.

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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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Our dear friend Diane is taking a break

accommodations we must make

we miss her poetry and wit

but carry on as Poetry Monday's a hit!

Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border.  Charlotte/Mother Owl and i are keeping it going while she takes a blog break, we hope temporarily.  Anyone else is welcome to join in the fun, just let us know!

This week the theme is Teacher.                      

Great teachers point us

in the direction of dreams

give us wings to fly

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"What's the most common answer

to questions teachers ask?"

was the query of a teacher

as her class went from task to task.

Finally a student raised his hand,

"I don't know," is what he did say.

To which the teacher did reply,

"You got it right today!"

*******

The literature teacher was giving

a pop quiz out of the blue,

"It's on the poem we read yesterday,

and 'metaphors be with you!'"

*******

The past, the present and the future,

acting like they had no sense,

walked into the teacher's lounge,

talk about things getting tense!

*******

"If yesterday I had a dollar,"

a teacher once did say,

"and asked your dad for another,

how many would I have today?"

"You'd have one," was the answer

that came from the little lad,

"You should know this math" said the teacher,

his response, "You don't know my dad!"

*******

Future themes are:

1/22 teacher (today!)

1/29 flight

2/5   basket

2/12 toes

2/19 spice

2/26 ants

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Today is:

Answer Your Cat's Questions Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays; meditate on what your cat's question might be, then answer it

Bubble Wrap® Appreciation Day

Clean Out Your Email Inbox Week -- cure your email e-ddiction, get rid of the old stuff clogging up your inbox; see InboxDetox for details 

Celebration of Life Day

Come in From the Cold Day -- somebody at an ecard company decided today would be a good day to do that 

Day of Unity and Liberty of Ukraine -- Ukraine

Dia de la Fundacion del Estado Pluinacional de Bolivia -- Bolivia

Elementary School Teacher Day

National Blonde Brownie Day -- i thought these were just called "blondies."

National Heroes' Day -- Cayman Islands

Polka Dot Day -- looking up why they are called "polka dots" gives lots of stories, but no concrete evidence; they were probably named after the dance craze that became fashionable around the same time the pattern appeared

St. Vincent of Zaragoza's Day (Spanish martyr and Patron of vine dressers, vinegar makers, vintners; Lisbon, Portugal; Portugal; 

3#Ramadan -- Islam (began sunset yesterday, through April 21) Vicenza, Italy; Vila Malla, Catalonia, Spain)

     a sunny day today indicates a good wine crop next season

Wellington Provincial Anniversary Day -- Wellington, New Zealand (obs.; trad. date 22nd)

Birthdays Today:

Christopher Masterson, 1980

Balthazar Getty, 1975

Olivia D'Abo, 1967

Steven Adler, 1965

Diane Lane, 1965

Michael Kelland Hutchence, 1960

Linda Blair, 1959

Steve Perry, 1949

John Hurt, 1940

Joseph Wambaugh, 1937

Seymour Cassel, 1937

Sam Cooke, 1935

Bill Bixby, 1934

Piper Laurie, 1932

Ann Sothern, 1909

Robert E. Howard, 1906

George Balanchine, 1904

Rosa Melba Ponselle, 1897

D.W. Griffith, 1875

Grigori Rasputin, 1869

August Strindberg, 1849

Richard Upjohn, 1802

Nat Turner, 1800

Lord Byron, 1788

Andre Ampère, 1775

Sir Francis Bacon, 1561

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Emergency!"(TV), 1972

"Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In"(TV), 1968

"The Crucible"(Miller play), 1953

"Our Town"(Wilder play), 1938

"Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District"(Opera; Shostakovich Op.29), 1934

Today in History:

The first contingent of Swiss Guards arrive at the Vatican, 1506

Postal service between NYC and Boston is inaugurated, 1673

The Native American Iroquois tribes renew their allegiance to the British against the French, 1690

Spain ceded the Falkland Islands to Britain, 1771

A severe earthquake in southern Syria kills thousands, 1837

The Zulus attack the British Army camp in Isandhlwana, South Africa, 1879

The Ancient Egyptian obelisk "Cleopatra's Needle" is erected in Central Park, 1881

After 63 years, England stops the sale of Queen Victoria postage stamps series and begins King Edward VII series, 1901

First live radio commentary of a football match anywhere in the world, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United at Highbury, 1927

KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood, California, 1947

Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space, 1968

The Boeing 747, the world's first "jumbo jet", enters commercial service, 1970

The Singapore Declaration, one of the two most important documents to the uncodified constitution of the Commonwealth of Nations, is issued, 1971

The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, is introduced during Super Bowl XVIII with its famous "1984" television commercial, 1984

Robert Tappan Morris, Jr. is convicted of releasing the 1988 Internet Computer worm, 1990

Kmart becomes the largest retailer in United States history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, 2002

Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country's first indigenous president, 2006

Water vapour is detected on the dwarf planet Ceres, 2014

Winter storm conditions strand 500 motorists for 24 hours on the New Jersey turnpike in Pennsylvania, 2016

Netflix becomes the largest digital media and entertainment company in the world worth $100 billion, 2018

Australian surfer Laura Enever sets the world record riding the largest-ever wave by a woman at 43.6ft (13.3m) on Oahu's North Shore, Hawaii, 2023