Hopeful Waiting (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday, Coconuts

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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!

Jack is ever hopeful for snacks.  Here, he's waiting for Grandma to drop crackers, which she was eating in bed, and he dives under to get them!

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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 Coconuts.                       

It has been noted the British

are coconuts sometimes,

hard outside but once cracked,

are soft and sweet inside betimes.

It's also true in another way

as both are often found

rather full of alcohol and

with an umbrella crowned!

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do not buy any

coconut shampoo unless

you have coconuts

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His sweet wife had brought home some kale

because she had found it on sale

her mate said, "Don't boil,

use coconut oil,

makes it slide fast to the garbage pail!"

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Future themes are:

December 15 Coconuts (Today!)

December 22 Fungi

December 29 Sitting on Old Chairs

(All themes are from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and Other Arts Facebook group.)

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Today is:

Alcyone -- Ancient Greek Calendar (kingfisher goddess; date approximate, but during the Halcyon Days)

Bill of Rights Day -- US

Cat Herders Day -- for those whose job or life is like trying to herd cats; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Consualia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Festival for Consus, god of graineries, with games and races in the Circus Maximus in his honor)

Coonskin Cap Day -- debut of "Davy Crocket" on TV's "Disneyland" in 1954 (and the original Davy Crockett hated the things, by the way)

Hanukkah -- Judaism (began sundown yesterday; through nightfall Jan. 2)

Homecoming Day -- Alderney, UK

Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Pvorusleikier -- Spoon-licker, who tries to steal all the wooden spoons he can find

Kasuga Wakamiya on-Matsuri -- Nara Prefecture, Japan (dates to the 12th century, to pray against plague and for a good harvest; through the 18th)

Koninkrijksdag -- Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba; Sint Maarten (Kingdom Day)

National Lemon Cupcake Day

National Regifting Day -- be careful here!

Navidades begin -- Puerto Rico (traditional Christmas celebrations that last through Three Kings Day)

Setagaya no Bori Ichi -- Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan (a two day flea market that dates back to 1578)

St. Nino's Day (Patron of Georgia)

Thorn Cutting Ceremony -- Glastonbury, Somerset, England (a sprig from the tree supposedly planted by Joseph of Arimathea is cut, with great ceremony by the eldest child of St John’s Infant School, and sent to the King, to decorate his table on Christmas Day)

Trivial Pursuit Day -- honoring Canadians Chris Haney and Scott Abbott, who created the game on this date in 1979

Zamenhof Day -- International Esperanto Community

Anniversary Today:

Sylvester Stallone marries Brigitte Nielson, 1985

Birthdays Today:

Adam Brody, 1979

Garrett Wang, 1968

Helen Slater, 1963

Nick Beggs, 1961

Don Johnson, 1949

Dave Clark, 1942

Tim Conway, 1933

Edna O'Brien, 1931

Friedensreich Hundertwasser, 1928

Uziel "Uzi" Gal, 1923

Jeff Chandler, 1918

Stan Kenton, 1911

J. Paul Getty, 1892

Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof, 1859

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel,1832

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Gone With the Wind(Film), 1939 (Atlanta only, general release Jan. 1, 1940)

"Song of the Forests"(Shostakovich Op. 81), 1949

"Charlie Girl"(Musical), 1965

Today in History:

Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Ticameron, 533

Hulagu Khan captures and destroys the Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut in present-day Iran as part of the Mongol offensive on Islamic southwest Asia, 1265

Bartholomeus Diaz returns to Portugal after sailing round Cape of Good Hope, 1488

The State of Holland grants patent on a windmill with crankshaft, 1593

The first US law school is established at University of Pennsylvania, 1791

The first Irish magazine in US, Shamrock, is published, 1810

The first street-cleaning machine in US is used in Philadelphia, 1854

The King of Hawaii becomes the first reigning king to visit the Us, and is received by President Grant, 1874

The London Underground's Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway opens, 1906

Bandleader, Major Glenn Miller, is lost over English Channel, 1944

Gemini 6A, crewed by Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford, is launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida; four orbits later, it achieves the first space rendezvous, with Gemini 7, 1965

Samoa becomes a member of the United Nations, 1976

U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will recognize the People's Republic of China and cut off all relations with Taiwan, 1978

The 3rd reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is shut down, 2000

The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 to fortify it, without fixing its famous lean, 2001

Boeing's new Boeing 787 Dreamliner makes its maiden flight from Seattle, Washington, 2009

The Mayor of Flint, Michigan declares state of emergency over contaminated water supplies amid calls for a criminal investigation, 2015

Egyptian Archaeologists announce the discovery of a 4,400-year-old tomb of Fifth Dynasty priest in the Saqqara pyramid complex near Cairo, 2018

Protests erupt across India against the new citizenship law that excludes Muslims, 2019

Tens of thousands of nurses go on strike in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the largest strike in NHS history, 2022