Some Little Quackers (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!

A few weeks ago, i posted about this mama duck on her nest.

The babies hatched when i was not at the shelter (which i expected, as i'm only there 2x per week).

Mama took the babies straight to the pond, and i'm sure they are much bigger now, but another mama from the nearby pond came with hers.

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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

so 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 Candid.                       

"Be candid," she said to her mother.

"I love you like no other."

"Be candid," she said to her friend.

"You're true blue to the end."

"Be candid," she said to her boss,

"You never leave us at a loss!"

"Be candid," she said to her hubby.

"You're my precious lovey-dovey."

"Be candid," she said to the looking-glass.

"To keep me whole, I'll take a pass!"

Future themes are:

July 8 candid (Today!)

July 15 growth

July 22 conclusion

July 29 holiday

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Today is:

Celtic Tree Month Tinne begins (Holly)

Feast of St. Sunniva (Ancient Norse solar maiden Sunna's worship around this time of year was merged with the story of this medieval saint; Patron of Bergen, Norway and the Norwegian west coast)

Hijra -- Islam (New Year, began last night at the first viewing of the new moon crescent)

International Town Criers Day

Math 2.0 Day -- celebrating the intermingling of math with technology

Nagoya Sumo Tournament -- Nagoya, Japan (one of the 6 major tournaments; through the 22nd)

National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day

Old Crafts Day -- it's listed in a few places, but i can't find the history; Old time crafts, or old crafts you've had sitting around the house and never gotten done? If you have the latter, do them or toss them!

Olive Branch Petition Day -- the final attempt, by the 13 Colonies, to avoid a complete break with England in 1775

SCUD Day (Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama) -- a good habit, on every day

Sempach Battle Commemoration -- Lucerne, Switzerland (remembrance of the battle in 1386 includes a solemn procession to the battlefield and services in the chapel)

Soapy Smith Wake -- held simultaneously in 5 locations from this evening through noon tomorrow, local time: 1.) Eagles Hall, Skagway, AK, US; 2.) Magic Castle, Hollywood, CA, US; 3.) The Tivoli Club (a reproduction of Soapy's Saloon in Denver, Colorado), Whitehorse Ranch movie lot, Landers, California; 4.) The Wizard's Club, Chicago, IL, US; 5.) The Lumber Baron Inn, Denver, CO, US (held by Soapy Smith Preservation Trust and Friends of Bad Man Soapy Smith, preserving the memory of one of the Wild West and Alaskan Gold Rush's most notorious con men, killed in a gunfight this day in 1898)*   

Sts. Aquila and Prisca's Day

St. Kilian's Day (Patron of people with gout or rheumatism, whitewashers; Bavaria, Germany; Paderborn, Germany; Tuosist, Ireland; Wurzburg,Germany)

Video Games Day -- do they really need a day?

Vitulatio -- Ancient Roman Calendar (when Vitula was given the first fruits of the earth)

Ziegfeld Follies Day -- his first "Follies of 1907" opened on this day

*If you cannot make it to the Soapy Smith Wake in one of these locations, please at 9:15pm, your local time, have a glass of something grown-up and offer the traditional toast: "Relatives and friends, raise your glass.  Here's to Soapy's Ghost!"

Anniversary Today:

Prince Richard of Gloucester marries Birgitte Eva van Deurs, 1972

Birthdays Today

Jaden Smith, 1998

Sophia Bush, 1982

Milo Ventimiglia, 1977

Kathleen Robertson, 1973

Beck Hansen, 1970

Billy Crudup, 1968

Toby Keith, 1961

Kevin Bacon, 1958

Christopher G. Moore, 1952

Marianne Williamson, 1952

Anjelica Huston, 1951

Wolfgang Puck, 1949

Kim Darby, 1948

Raffi, 1948

Cynthia Gregory, 1946

Jeffrey Tambor, 1944

Steve Lawrence, 1935

Marty Feldman, 1933

Roone Arledge, 1931

Billy Eckstine, 1914

Nelson Rockefeller, 1908

Louis Thomas Jordan, 1908

Philip Cortelyou Johnson, 1906

Alfred Binet, 1857

John D. Rockefeller, 1839

Ferdinand von Zeppelin, 1838

Etienne De Silhouette, 1709

Today in History

Vasco da Gama sets sail on first direct European voyage to India, 1497

Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island, 1663

Battle of Restigouche – British defeat French forces in last naval battle in New France, 1760

The Olive Branch Petition is drafted by the Second Continental Congress as the Congress' last attempt to get King George III of Great Britain to reason with them, 1775

The Declaration of Independence has its first public reading, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Liberty Bell is rung, 1776

Chippewas turn over huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom, 1822

Commodore Perry sails into Tokyo Bay, 1853

The initial force of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin their March West, 1874

The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published, 1889

St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, bottoming out at 41.22, 1932

The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF), 1948

Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American Self-Determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination Act, 1970

The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe creates the office of High Commissioner on National Minorities, 1992

NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance, membership to become effective in two years, 1997

The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program, 2011

Pope Francis condemns the 'global indifference' to the plight of immigrants who have drowned trying to reach Europe, 2013

The mission of the NASA Curiosity Mars rover begins, 2013

UNESCO declares Asmara, capital of Eritrea, a world heritage site for its Art Deco buildings, 2017

Eritrea and Ethiopia announce the re-establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries after almost 20 years, 2018

According to new genomic study in "Nature", people from eastern Polynesia had DNA from indigenous Colombia, showing Americans and Polynesians made contact around 1200 A.D., 2020

Japan says the Olympics will be held without spectators as Tokyo announces state of emergency due to a surge in COVID-19, 2021