Pitter Patter (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday, Mole's Eye View

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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!

It's fun to once again hear the pitter patter of little feet in this house where my children grew up.

And toys everywhere, again, it's been a while.

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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 Mole's Eye View.                       

(Note:  even though the smallest toddler child has a higher view than would an actual mole, i compared the little one's view to being mole-like, looking up at the world and seeing things differently.)

Get down on the ground

and take in the mole's eye view

when you have to look up

because you're less than two.

See how things are different

when you're so close to the ground,

every item on every table

is a treasure to be found.

Those electric sockets so close,

they look like they might be fun,

and everything you see,

you go after at a run.

It's amazing what you'll find

if you get down on the floor,

look at the crumbs and cat food

waiting for a little to explore!

Look how high the counter

where await many tasty delights,

the wait until supper is served,

it's too long to be right.

Then there is the crib

it's side to very high,

you have to be lifted down

before you can start your day.

We grown-ups need to look

at life from mole's eye view,

it's how our very littles

look at me and you!

Future themes are:

December 1 Mole's Eye View (Today!)

December 8 Peace

December 15 Coconuts

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:

A Colonial Christmas -- Jamestown Settlement, Williamsburg, VA, US (through Dec. 31; enjoy 17th- and 18th-century Christmas traditions, comparing those of England and the Colonies)

Antarctica Day -- celebrating the Continent of Peace and Science     

Barbes Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (celebrates the fertility of sheep)

Basketball Day -- commonly seen as the day Dr. James Naismith invented the game; while we know it was early in December, 1891, i cannot find any credible source that says it was on this date

Becky Thatcher Day -- birthday of Laura Hawkins, in 1836, who inspired the character in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Bifocals at the Monitor Liberation Day -- if you can't see, feel free! sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Carnival of Celendonia -- Fairy Calendar (Celendonia is the Fairy City all Fairies want to retire to, by the way.)

Chia Pet Hunting Season begins

Christmas in Old Appalachia -- Clinton, TN, US (an old fashioned country Christmas; through Christmas Eve)

Christmas New Orleans Style -- New Orleans, LA, US (a full month of Christmas celebrations as only NOLA can do it)

Cider Monday -- celebrating the drink of the season, hot, spiced apple cider

Civil Air Patrol Day -- US (date of establishment in 1941; the US Coast Guard rescues you from peril on the water, the CAP on land)

Cookie Cutter Week begins -- sponsored by the Cookie Cutter Collectors Club

Crossing of the Cattle at Diafarabe -- Mali (celebrated through the month)

Cyber Monday -- another excuse to buy stuff, the traditional beginning of the online shopping season

Damrong Rajanubhab Day -- Thailand (anniversary of the prince's death)

Day of the First President -- Kazakhstan

Dia de la Abolicion del Ejercito -- Costa Rica (Miliary Abolition Day; yes, really, they abolished the military after the 1948 revolution, are one of Central America's oldest democracies, and has only the Police Guard forces)

Eat A Red Apple Day

Freedom and Democracy Day -- Chad

Fullveldisdagurinn Islendinga -- Iceland (Self-governance Day)

     University Students' Celebration Day

International Prisoners for Peace Day -- a day to remember imprisoned conscientious objectors

Kalends of December -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also observed

     Festival for Neptune -- promiscuous god of the sea

     Festival for Pietas -- goddess of devotion, duty, and honor

Mindfulness Day -- Zen Buddhism (a day to mindfully see and act with compassion toward the poor and oppressed)

My Husband's Strung the Christmas Lights and Now I Can't Open the Garage Door Day -- commemorating an alleged real event, be glad this isn't your husband

National Pie Day

National Stress-Free Family Holidays Month -- sponsored by Parenting Without Pressure

National Transit Tribute to Rosa Parks Day -- American Public Transportation Association, on the anniversary of her arrest

Operation Santa Paws -- toy/treat/care drive to help local animal shelters, until the 21st; sponsored by Haute Dogs

Proclamation of the Republic -- Central African Republic

Provincial Anniversary Day -- Chatham Islands, New Zealand

Provincial Anniversary Day -- Westland, New Zealand

Restoration of Independence -- Portugal(1640)

Rosa Parks Day -- anniversary of her arrest in 1955

St. Eligius' Day (Patron of agricultural workers/farmers, blacksmiths/ horseshoe makers, boilermakers, cab drivers/taxi drivers, carriage makers, cartwrights, clock makers/watch makers, coin collectors/numismatists, craftsmen, cutlers, farriers, garage workers and gas station workers -- because most of us don't use horses any more, gilders, goldsmiths, harness makers, horses/sick horses, jewelers, jockeys, knife makers, laborers, locksmiths, metal collectors/precious metal collectors, metalsmiths, miners, minters, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, saddle makers, tool makers, veterinarians, wheelwrights)

Surf Life Saving Summer Appeal -- New Zealand (Formerly National Jandal Day, now a three month campaign to raise money to support the Surf Lifeguards who keep you safe) 

Teachers' Day -- Panama

Throw Out Your Leftovers Day -- if you've had it since Thanksgiving, and haven't frozen it or eaten it yet, get rid of it

World AIDS Day -- WHO; related observance

     Day With(OUT) Art -- annual remembrance of the impact of AIDS on the visual arts, sponsored by Visual AIDS

Ziua Unirii -- Romania (National Day)

Anniversaries Today:

Yukon Order of Pioneers founded, 1894

US National Weather Service established, 1870

Napoleon marries Josephine, 1804

Birthdays Today:

Nestor Carbonell, 1967

Reggie Sanders, 1967

Carol Alt, 1960

Treat Williams, 1952

Bette Midler, 1945

John Densmore, 1944

Richard Pryor, 1940

Lee Trevino, 1939

Woody Allen, 1935

Lou Rawls, 1933

David Doyle, 1925

Mary Martin, 1913

Charles Finney, 1905

Robert Welch, 1899

Cyril Ritchard, 1897

Rex Stout, 1886

Julia A. Davis Moore, 1847

Anna Maria Grosholtz Tussaud (Madame Tussaud), 1761

Oliver Wolcott, 1726

Louis VI of France, 1081

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Happy XMas(War is Over)"(Single release), 1971

"Promises, Promises"(Musical), 1969

"Flower Drum Song"(Musical), 1958

"Candide"(Operetta), 1956

The Great Train Robbery(First Western film), 1903

Sherlock Holmes, in "A Study in Scarlet"(Published in Beeton's Christmas Annual), 1887

Dr. Pepper, 1885 (recognition by US Patent Office of first day of sale)

Today in History:

Henry V of England enters Paris, 1420

Pasha Muhammad ibn Farukh, governor, driven out of Jerusalem, 1626

Portugal regains independence from Spain, 1640

Massachusetts becomes first colony to give Statutory recognition to slavery, 1641

The first American school to offer manual training courses opens in Maryland, 1750

Charles and M.N. Roberts ascend 2,000' in a hydrogen balloon, 1783

Erie Canal closes for a month due to cold weather, 1831

Hans Christian Andersen publishes his first book of fairy tales, 1835

The first chartered mutual life insurance company opens, 1843

The first certified public accountants receive their certificates in New York, 1896

The first Israeli kibbutz is founded, Deganya Alef, 1909

Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line, 1913

The first drive-up gasoline station opens in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 1913

Lady Nancy Astor is sworn in as the first female member of the British Parliament, 1919

The New York Daily News reports the news of Christine Jorgenson, the first notable case of sexual reassignment surgery, 1952

Opening date for signature of the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent, 1959

Malawi, Malta and Zambia join the United Nations, 1964

Lambda Theta Phi is established as the first Latino fraternity, in New Jersey, 1975

Angola joins the United Nations, 1976

The AIDS virus is officially recognized, 1981

At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart, 1982

Channel Tunnel sections started from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 metres beneath the seabed, 1990

Representatives from more than 150 countries gather at a global warming summit in Kyoto, Japan, and over the course of the next ten days forge an agreement to control the emission of greenhouse gases, 1997

The Treaty of Lisbon comes into effect,  which amends the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, which together comprise the constitutional basis of European Union, 2009

In ceremonies held at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, the USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is officially inactivated after a 51-year career, 2012

Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn is declared King of Thailand, succeeding his father King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 2016

Japanese broadcaster NHK launches the world's first super-high definition 8K television channel, 2018

Syrian shadow puppetry is added to the UN's list of cultural activities in urgent need of saving, 2019

The Chinese robotic spacecraft Chang’e-5 lands on the Moon as part of two-day mission to retrieve rock samples, 2020

Tel Aviv is named the world's most expensive city for the first time, ahead of Singapore and Paris, with Damascus being the cheapest, 2021

The US House of Representatives votes 311-114 to immediately expel indicted member George Santos (R-New York), after his indictment on federal charges of wire fraud, identity theft, and making false statements, 2023