Neighborly Chat (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday, Solstice

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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!

Sometimes you just want to sit and chat.  Annie can do so for quite a while and get very animated.

She gets into her subject matter.

You can scratch your mosquito bite and talk at the same time.

Concentrating on what to talk about next.

Being a polite listener is important, too.

Make your points carefully...

...and when you are done...

...move on!

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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 Solstice.

a solstice party

to which you bring the in-laws

will be a long night

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Which of the holidays

is the most important to me?

I say equinoxes and solstices

and you'll ask how that can be.

While others have you feasting

and having fun gastronomically,

equinoxes and solstices are

more important astronomically!

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Future themes are:

Sept 21 Solstice (Today!)

Sept 28 Bonfire

Oct 5 Rocket

Oct 12 Contents of the Safe

Oct 19 X-ray Vision

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

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Today is:

Arbor Day -- Brazil

Eleven Days of Global Unity -- Day 11, Peace (to coincide with the International celebration; sponsored by We, the World) 

Fairtrade Fortnight begins -- UK (a chance to get involved in making sure farmers in developing countries have fair wages and good working conditions)   

Independence Day -- Armenia(1991); Belize(1981); Malta(1964)

International Day of Peace -- UN

International Love Your Files Week -- the week to make sure your filing system is working for you

International Women's Ecommerce Days -- supporting women's online business endeavours and buying power; through Friday

Kharisteria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate; feast of Aremis Agrotera[the huntress] that became a thanksgiving for the victory of the battle of Marathon)

Keiro no hi -- Japan (Respect for the Aged Day)

Kwama Nkrumah's Birthday/Founder's Day -- Ghana

Miniature Golf Day -- golf the fun way! (separate from National Miniature Golf Day in May)

National Pecan Cookie Day

Organ Donation Week begins -- UK (join the organ donor registry, when you don't need your parts any longer, someone else will!) 

St. Matthew the Evangelist's Day (Patron of accountants, bankers, bookkeepers, customs officers, financial officers, guards, money managers, security forces, security guards, stockbrokers, tax collectors; Salerno, Italy; Trier, Germany; Villa d'Ogna, Italy)

Student's Day and Spring Day -- Argentina

Throw Away Something Day -- you have the internet's permission to get rid of that hideous gift; if you can't bring yourself to throw it out, donate it

World Alzheimer's Day

World Gratitude Day

Yom Kippur -- Judaism (began sundown yesterday, ends nightfall today)

Birthdays Today:

Nicole Richie, 1981

Luke Wilson, 1971

Ricki Lake, 1968

Faith Hill, 1967

Darva Conger, 1965

Rob Morrow, 1962

Nancy Travis, 1961

David James Elliot, 1960

Dave Coulier, 1959

Ethan Boen, 1957

Bill Murray, 1950

Stephen King, 1947

Kay Ryan, 1945

Fannie Flagg, 1944

Bill Kurtis, 1940

Henry Gibson, 1935

Leonard Cohen, 1934

Larry Hagman, 1931

Chuck Jones, 1912

H.G. Wells, 1866

Maurice Barrymore, 1849 (family patriarch)

Francis Hopkinson, 1737

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"NYPD Blue"(TV), 1993

"Glengarry Glen Ross"(Play), 1983

"Monday Night Football"(TV), 1970*

"Perry Mason"(TV), 1957

"The Texaco Star Theater"(TV), 1948

My Weekly Reader(Magazine, first issue date), 1928

*Browns 31, Jets 21

Today in History:

Richard the Lionheart captured, 1192

Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa orders Jews of Holland to wear a badge, 1451

John and Nicolaas van der Heyden patent a fire extinguisher, 1677

Nathan Hale arrested for spying, 1776

The Pennsylvania Packet & Daily Advertiser becomes the first successful US daily newspaper, 1784

Joseph Smith, Jr. claims that the Angel Moroni gives him the gold plates from which he translates the Book of Mormon, 1827

The Duryea Motor Wagon Company becomes the first auto manufacturer, 1895

"Kit Carson", the first cowboy film, premiers in the US, 1903

Publication of Tolkien's "The Hobbit", 1937

Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations, 1971

Sandra Day O'Connor is unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female US Supreme Court justice, 1981

Brunei joins the United Nations, 1984

Deep Space 1 flies within 2,200 km of Comet Borrelly, 2001

The Galileo mission is terminated by sending the probe into Jupiter's atmosphere, 2003

Hurricane Rita becomes the third most intense storm hurricane (dropped to 4th on October 19, just a few weeks later), 2005

al-Shabaab Islamic militants attack the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing at least 67 people, 2013

Caltech scientists publish a study in the journal "Current Biology" showing that the jellyfish Cassiopeia is the first animal without a brain that is known to actually sleep, 2017

Scientists announce they’ve found the world’s oldest animal fossil at 558 million years old, a species called Dickinsonia, in the White Sea of Russia, 2018

Because their "Happy Meals" make it one of the largest toy distributors in the world, McDonald's announces plans by 2025 to "drastically" reduce the amount of plastic it distributes, 2021

King Charles III becomes the first British monarch to make a speech from France’s senate chamber, 2023

Microsoft signs a 20-year deal to buy power from the soon to reopen Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, 2024