Distracting a Pumpkin (Feline Friday), Friendly Fill-Ins, Nature Friday, and Flashback Friday

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Feline Friday was originally started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude (may he rest in peace), and i'm going to believe it's because he liked cats.

He handed hosting duties off to Sandee at Comedy Plus, and now she has entrusted it to me.

Feline Friday is simple to join.  All you have to do is: Post a picture, drawing, cartoon or video of a cat (they may be silly or cute).  Then add your link!

One thing for sure is this is a fun and easy meme to do.  So come and join us in Feline Friday.

What better way to start the weekend than with a feline!

Pumpkin is the cat who bit me a couple of weeks ago when i was doing caretaking.  He's not bad, just jumpy and easily overstimulated, even if all you are doing is giving him food and he's in another part of his very large cage.

He has a treat dispenser.  I now fill it up before tending him, and it generally keeps him distracted long enough for me to get everything done.

I dare not open his cage to get a better picture, he would try to get out and it's very hard to get him back in.

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Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by Lorianne The Menagerie Mom of Four-Legged Furballs. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts!      

Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

1. The longest I have been without electricity is ______________________.

2. I am so tired of waiting for _____________________.

3. I can’t believe I still remember _________.

4. I wish I could go back and experience _________ for the first time again.

1. The longest I have been without electricity is   about six weeks, between hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

2. I am so tired of waiting for _____________________.   Right now i can't think of anything.  Almost everything seems instant these days.

3. I can’t believe I still remember   old phone numbers and addresses from my childhood. 

4. I wish I could go back and experience   going to Europe   for the first time again.

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Nature Friday is hosted by LLB in Our Backyard.  Simply post a picture of the natural world, and link up!   

We're seeing more bees!

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Flashback Friday is hosted by FiveSibes.  Come hop along memory lane with us!  

Abigail was taking a bath as Ruth(less) walked past.

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It's the Equinox!  It occurs at 14:46 UTC, and is the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the Autumn Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.

Here are some festivals associated with the equinox around the world:

     Akitu Festival begins -- Ancient Sumerian Calendar

     Chunfen -- China

     Festival of Dumuzi -- Ancient Sumerian Calendar (return of the god of life and death to be with the goddess of life and bring the spring)

     Festival of Iduna -- Ancient Norse Calendar (goddess of spring, keeper of the apples of youth for the gods)

     Haru-no-Higan -- Japanese Buddhist

     Harvest Festival and Coming Forth of the Great Ones from the House of Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar

     Jare -- Old Slavic Calendar

     Kukulcan Snake God in Chichen Itza -- Yucatan (the snake shadow appears only at the equinox, and celebrations are held before and after)

     Maslenitsa -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar

     Ostara/Mabon -- Wicca/Pagan, Ancient Norse Calendar, Old Anglo-Teutonic Calendar

     Pacha Pucuy -- Ancient Inca Calendar ("Earth Ripening")

     Shunbun no Hi -- Japan

     Snowman Burning Day  -- Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie, MI, US (celebration of the start of spring)

     Taoist festival of Shen -- Deities of water, East, and Spring

Thanks to Barb Kowalik and The Cat Blogosphere for the event badge.         

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Today is:

Big Bird Day -- it's his birthday, and he's still only 6 years old!  (wish i could figure out that trick)

Bockbier/Bock Beer Day -- bock is the German word for strong, so a day to honor very strong, very dark, sweet, heavy beer

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Day -- birth anniversary of children's author Bill Martin

Eid al Fitr -- Islam (celebration of the end of Ramadan; began sundown yesterday, runs through sundown on the third day, although local dating and official government observances may vary)

Extraterrestrial Abductions Day -- another silly made up one, but try telling that to the people who believe in it!

Feast of Tou Tei -- Macau (earth god; celebrated on the second day of the second lunar month, so if i've mixed up the date in Gregorian, i'm sorry, i tried)

Great American Meat Out Day -- go vegetarian today!    

Independence Day -- Tunisia

International Day of the Francophonie /  Journée internationale de la Francophonie

International Day of Happiness -- UN

International Earth Day -- the traditional date, still observed in many countries

Jumatul Bidah/Wida -- Bangladesh; JK, LA, India

Kiss Your Fiancé Day -- do you really need to be reminded to do this? a wedding planner thinks so, that you should stop today and focus on each other, not the wedding

Lajos Kossuth Day -- Hungary

Martyrdom of Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi -- Pakistan

National Cherry Blossom Festival -- Washington, DC, US (through April 14; Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival and parade on April 13)

National Native American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day  

National Jump Out! Day -- sponsored by Discovery Girls Magazine and Fundex Games; encouraging kids to get out and get active

National Ravioli Day

Nowruz/Nauruz/Novruz Bairam/Norooz (begins at sunset) -- Iranian diaspora, Kurdish diaspora, Zoroastrians; Afghanistan; Azerbaijan; Georgia; Iran (Persian New Year); Iraq; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Tajikistan; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan

     celebrations go on for up to seven days or more

     Naw Ruz -- Baha'i (New Year, and an end of the time of fasting; begins sunset)

Proposal Day® -- a day for singles to propose to their true love; on the equinox, equal night and day symbolizing equal commitment 

Shunki-Korei-Sai -- Shinto (rite to honor ancestral spirits, around the vernal equinox)

Smile Rejuvenation Day -- another one from the ecard companies, make someone smile today

St. Cuthbert of Lindisfane's Day (Patron of boatmen/mariners/sailors, shepherds; England; Durham, England; Lancaster, England; Northumbria, England; against plague and plague epidemics)

Won't You Be My Neighbor Day -- in honor of Mr. Rogers' birth anniversary

World Frog Day -- an initiative, on the first day of spring, to remind people of our fragile ecosystems and the disappearance of our amphibian friends   

World Storytelling Day -- to celebrate the tradition of oral storytelling

Zhonghe/Longtaitou -- China (Double Second Festival and Blue Dragon Festival, the time to wake the dragons that control the rains; celebrate the 2nd day of the 2nd lunar month the modern way now by cleaning the house, getting a hair cut, and eating popcorn, pancakes, and noodles)

Zipper Day -- the 'Separable Fastener' by Gideon Sundback was patented this day in 1917

Birthdays Today:

Louis "Louie" Vito, 1988

Fernando Torres, 1984

Kathy Ireland, 1963

David Thewlis, 1963

Holly Hunter, 1958

Spike Lee, 1957

Theresa Russel, 1957

Jimmie Vaughan, 1951

William Hurt, 1950

Bobby Orr, 1948

Pat Riley, 1945

Paul Junger Witt, 1943

Brian Mulroney, 1939

Lois Lowry, 1937

Hal Linden, 1931

Fred "Mr." Rogers, 1928

Carl Reiner, 1922

Marian McPartland, 1920

Bill Martin, Jr., 1916

Ozzie Nelson, 1906

B.F. Skinner, 1904

Frederick Winslow Taylor, 1856

Henrik Ibsen, 1828

Ovid, BC43

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Uncle Tom's Cabin"(Publication date), 1852

Today in History:

Sixth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, 141

Maximus Thrax, who never set foot in Rome, becomes the first of the Foreign or Barracks Emperors of the Roman Empire, 235

A Saturn/Jupiter/Mars-conjunction is thought to be the "cause of plague epidemic," 1345

Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment, 1616

France and Spain sign an accord for fighting protestantism, 1627

Nadir Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne, 1739

The Great Fire of Boston destroys 349 buildings, 1760

After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule, 1815

US and Siam sign commercial treaty, 1833

Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is published in Boston, 1852

An earthquake completely destroys Mendoza, Argentina, 1861

The first AC power plant in the US begins commercial operation, in Massachusetts, 1886

In the first known intercollegiate basketball game, Yale beats Penn 32-10, 1897

The first international figure skating championship takes place, in New Haven, Connecticut, 1914

Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity, 1916

The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso's first United States showing, 1923

A test of a practical radar apparatus is made by Rudolf Kuhnold in Germany, 1934

The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organization) is established, 1964

Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, 1985

Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering, 1990

Stephen Harper wins the leadership of the newly created Conservative Party of Canada, becoming the party's first leader, 2004

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits Fukuoka, Japan, its first major quake in over 100 years, 2005

Cyclone Larry makes landfall in eastern Australia, destroying most of the country's banana crop, 2006

In Morocco, thousands rally to demand and end to corruption and more civil rights for the Moroccan people, 2011

The Indian rivers Yamuna and Ganges are declared to be "living entities" by a court in the state of Uttarakhand, 2017

Finland is the world's happiest country, South Sudan is world's least happy, according to annual World Happiness Report, 2019

Japanese organizers of the Tokyo Summer Olympics confirm that overseas spectators will not be allowed because of the pandemic, 2021

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says world has less than a decade to stop catastrophic warming, 2023

Former swimmer Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe is the first woman and the first African to be elected president of the International Olympic Committee, 2025