Volunteer? (Feline Friday), Friendly Fill-Ins and Nature 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's entrusting 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!

I caught The Charismatic Enigma SissyCat snoozing in her favorite spot at the top of the stairs (where the lighting for pictures is awful).  Yes, it's right where you have to step over her to get to the top of the stairs, or to start going down the stairs, risking stepping on her or tripping and getting hurt.  As she would ask, "What's your point?"

As i stepped over her to go to the bedroom, she woke up and i told her she had just volunteered for Feline Friday.

Her glare is the reminder yes, cats can give you a dirty look.

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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. I define success by _________.

2. _________ was an awkward moment.

3. I learned to _________ when I was _________ years old.

4. I can only _________ so much _________ before I _________.

1. I define success by   whether you touch people's lives in a positive manner. 

2. Waiting for the people who had accidentally turned off power to the organ when they dimmed the lights at our wedding to find the right switch and get it turned back on  was an awkward moment.   They never did figure it out, and as lights turned on and off all over the church, the organist gave up and walked to the piano to play instead, causing another awkward moment because she hadn't expected to be seen by the crowd out from behind the organ, so she has on a beautiful blouse so as to appear dressed for a wedding, with her old faded jeans and no shoes!  We still laugh about it.

3. I learned to   read  when I was   four  years old   because no one would teach me earlier although i begged and begged.

4. I can only   lie down  so much   without being able to fall asleep  before I   have to get up and do something.

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

Mr. BA lets his flowers grow, often without let and hindrance, and sometimes you have to wade past them to get to the front door.

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Today is:

Be Late For Something Day -- sponsored by the Procrastinators' Club of America, Inc. (if they can get around to mentioning it in their newsletter, of course)

Bring Your Manners To Work Day -- sad that we even have to have this one, isn't it?

Dri-jerbal -- Marshall Islands (Labor Day)

Genesia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (a day of the dead; date approximate)

Hassaku-sai -- Matsuo-taisha Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (rituals to ask the gods for mild weather, good harvests and safe homes)

International Day of Charity -- UN

Jupiter Stator Festival -- Ancient Roman Calendar (commemorates that Jupiter helped Romulus to stop the Sabine invasion under Titus Tatius)

Jury Rights Day -- marking the decision by a jury, in 1670, to not convict William Penn of laws which they considered unjust which would have prohibited him from the practice and preaching of his religion to a peaceably assembled congregation; this decision became the basis of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the US

Lazy Moms Day -- a day for mom to be lazy, and let the kids do the housework!

Mawlid an Nabi -- Islam/Muslim (Prophet's Birthday, began sunset yesterday; celebrated over the next several days, depending on which country)

National Cheese Pizza Day

St. Laurence Gustiani's Day (First Patriarch of Venice)

St. Teresa of Calcutta's Day (Mother Teresa); related:

     Dia e Lumturimit te Nene Terezes -- Albania

Sts. Zechariah and Elisabeth's Day -- Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches

Teacher's Day -- India

Anniversaries Today:

John Travolta marries Kelly Preston, 1991

Birthdays Today:

Kim Yu-Na, 1990

Rose McGowan, 1973

Dweezil Zappa, 1969

Kristian Alfonso, 1964

Cathy Guisewite, 1950

Dennis Dugan, 1946

Raquel Welch, 1940

William Devane, 1939

Carol Lawrence, 1934

Bob Newhart, 1929

Arthur C. Nielsen, 1923

John Cage, 1912

Arthur Koestler, 1905

Darryl F. Zanuck, 1902

Morris Carnovsky, 1897

Jesse James, 1847

Johann Christian Bach, 1735

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy"(TV), 1966

"No Mother To Guide Her"(Play), 1905

Today in History:

Peter the Great of Russia imposes a tax on beards, in an attempt to Westernize his people, 1698

The First Continental Congress is assembled in Philadelphia, 1774

The French National Convention initiates the Reign of Terror, 1793

Napoleon surrenders Malta to Great Britain, 1800

Sam Houston is elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas, 1836

The First Opium war begins in China, 1839

James Glaisher, pioneering meteorologist and Henry Tracey Coxwell break world record for altitude whilst collecting data in their balloon, 1862

Sioux Chief Crazy Horse is killed, 1877

The First Labor Day Parade is held in NYC, 1882

The first gasoline pump is delivered to a gasoline dealer in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, 1885

The first legal forward pass in American football is thrown by Bradbury Robinson of St. Louis University to teammate Jack Schneider in a 22–0 victory over Carroll College (Wisconsin), 1906

The French Upper Volta is broken apart between Ivory Coast, French Sudan, and Niger, 1932

The first conference of the Non Aligned Countries is held in Belgrade, 1961

A Palestinian terrorist group called "Black September" attack and take hostage 11 Israel athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. 2 die in the attack and 9 die the following day, 1972

Voyager 1 is launched after a brief delay, 1977

The St. Gotthard Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel, 1980

The current international treaty defending indigenous peoples, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989, came into force, 1991

Tuvalu joins the UN, 2000

For the first time, a browsable, analyzable overview of four million functional elements of the human genome discovered to date are made available to the public, 2012

The World Health Organization estimates that 1,900 people have died from the Ebola virus out of 3,500 infected in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, 2015

Erramatti Mangamma of Hyderabad, India, becomes the world's oldest living mother giving birth to twins at age 74, 2019

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake strikes the Chinese city of Chengdu while under lockdown, killing 65 people, 2022

An extratropical cyclone in Brazil's southern state of Rio Grande Sul claims at least 31 lives, as extensive flooding affects 60 cities, 2023

Kuini Ngawai Hono i te Po, age 27, is named the new Māori Monarch as her father, King Tuheitia, is buried at Tūrangawaewae Marae, New Zealand, 2024

Lace Them Up (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy's Poetry Day and Brian's Thankful Thursday

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In the grand, time honored tradition of eschewing the normal drudgeries of employment (or even of retirement, as in this case) for a while, the season has come for the annual migration of those people called tourists, which for the next 11 days shall include my friends, church prayer partners and clients, Mr. BA and Ms. GA.

Yes, they have flown the coop to take a AAA tour of amazing sites of the USA starting from the Grand Canyon and stretching to Yellowstone, bussing to a different destination each day -- if it's Friday, we must be in Utah, right?

Meanwhile, the care of Mr. BA's gardens, Ms. GA's indoor plants, and all of the cats, both indoor/outdoor -- Little Orphan Annie, Oliver Twist, Puddin', Missy, Obi Buddy, Ruth(less) --  and outdoor/semi-feral -- Sunshine, Bruiser -- has fallen to me.

This means a twice daily wending my way to their abode to distribute canned food to the ones which will come to me, which the longer Ms. GA is gone, the more of them will, put down dry food because there is always dry food available, freshen up the water bowls for both felines and wild avians, scoop litterboxes, count as many noses as will peek at me and try to make sure there's no one sick or injured, interspersed with watering everything green that doesn't move under its own steam.

All of this is done before and after my regular work, which makes for extra long days and much less time at home in the evenings for all the stuff which needs to be done at home, and all the stuff i simply want to do.

Time to lace up my running shoes and watch where i spend every minute, for the next couple of weeks there's going to be fewer of them to go around when the work is done.

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Lace.      

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While Good Fences Around the World seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird, i still enjoy looking for and posting interesting fences, so i will!

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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  This week's image and my poem:    

I'd stare at the fridge with longing

just a-wishin' and a-hopin',

but now I know the secret,

sneak behind and scare it open!

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Angel Brian's Family of Brian's Home - Forever hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  

Today i am thankful for rain, which we've had the last couple of days.  Every time it rains for the next 11 days, i don't have to water Mr. BA's garden, just the few porch plants the rain doesn't hit!

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Today is:

Ambarvalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (purification festival to Ceres, date approximate)

Ascension Day -- Orthodox and Western Christian; related observances

     Procession of the Holy Blood -- Belgium (religious historical procession recalling the adventurous crusaders, especially Count Thierry of Alsace, who was supposed to have carried back relics of the Holy Blood)

Ascension of Baha'u'llah -- Baha'i

Castleton Garland Celebration -- Derbyshire, England (a Garland King and Lady ride the bounds of the parish on white horses, after which the garland the King wore is placed on the church tower; possibly dating back to Oak Apple Celebrations)

Democracy Day -- Nigeria

End of the Middle Ages Day -- considered such by many historians because of the fall of Constantinople on this day in 1453

Feast of Mars -- Ancient Roman Calendar

International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers -- UN

Learn About Composting Day -- can't find a sponsor for this day, but there is a week sponsored each year here; and you can learn about composting here, too 

Mount Everest Day -- Nepal (declared on the anniversary of first ascent in 1953)

National Coq Au Vin Day

Oak Apple Day / Royal Oak Day -- England (celebration of the restoration of the monarchy; no longer officially recognized, but many localities have traditions that have grown up around this date which are still celebrated)

Pink Flamingo Day -- Don Feathersone created the first plastic one on this day in 1957

Put a Pillow on Your Fridge Day -- supposedly dating back, in Europe and the Americas, to the days when you put a piece of cloth in your larder for good luck; why it became a pillow no one knows

Runic Half-Month of Odal (home, possessions) commences

Squoosh an Ice Cream Sandwich Day -- rules say you must squoosh, not squish or squash!

St. Bona of Pisa's Day (Patron of couriers, flight attendants, guides, pilgrims, travelers; Pisa, Italy)

Anniversaries Today:

Rhode Island becomes the 13th US State, 1790

Wisconsin becomes the 30th US State, 1848

Birthdays Today:

Noel Gallagher, 1967

Lisa Whelchel, 1963

Melissa Etheridge, 1961

Adrian Paul, 1959

Rupert Everett,1959

Annette Bening, 1958

LaToya Jackson, 1956

Danny Elfman, 1953

Anthony Geary, 1947

Kevin Conway, 1942

Al Unser, Sr., 1939

Francis Thomas "Fay" Vincent, Jr, 1938

Paul Erlich, 1932

John F. Kennedy, 1917

Tenzing Norgay, 1914

T.H. White, 1906

Bob Hope, 1903

Oswald Spengler, 1880

G.K. Chesterton, 1874

Patrick Henry, 1736

Today in History:

Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire, 1453

Charles II (on his birthday) is restored to the throne of Great Britain, 1660

Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Natives, 1677

The right of Canadians to keep Indian slaves is upheld at Quebec City, 1733

In Patrick Henry's historic speech against the Stamp Act, he answers a cry of "Treason!" with, "If this be treason, make the most of it!" 1765

Present constitution of Switzerland takes effect, 1874

Chemist John Pemberton places his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, the ad appearing in the Atlanta Journal, 1886

Igor Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring receives its premiere performance in Paris, provoking a riot, 1913

Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the loss of 1,024 lives, 1914

Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra record Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", the best-selling Christmas single in history, for Decca Records in Los Angeles, 1942

Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 1953

First of the annual Bilderberg conferences, 1954

Amputee  Steve Fonyo completes cross-Canada marathon at Victoria, British Columbia, after 14 months, 1985

Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station, 1999

Olusegun Obasanjo takes office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule, 1999

A WWII Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., US, 2004

Scientists describe the 160-million year-old fossil of Aurornis xui as the most basal species of Avialae, possibly shifting the evolutionary position of the Archaeopteryx as the oldest known bird, 2013

A heatwave in Karachi, Pakistan, kills 65 as temperatures soar above 110 degrees Fahrenheit, 2018

The world's smallest surviving baby, a girl, is discharged from Sharp March Birch Hospital in San Diego after being born at 23 weeks weighing 8.6 ounces (245 grams), 2019

A man disguised as an elderly disabled woman throws cake at the Mona Lisa in an unsuccessful vandalism attempt (it is behind protective glass), 2022

For the first time since apartheid ended 30 years prior, the ANC loses its majority in Parliamentary Elections in South Africa, 2024