Kittens and Evacuation Orders and rEcess, a Random Tuesday Post

And now, a bit of random news from around here, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked.  

Dumpling, the kitten we got from Dr. Bea, has been accepted by the shelter as part of their program, as long as i am willing to foster her.  She is sucking up canned food and occasionally licks the bottle, but won't actually suck on it.  She also tries to nurse on my shirt:

It's hard to get a picture at this angle, and you can see the ringworm medicine on her ears.

This week of house sitting and cat sitting has been made much more complicated by the addition of a kitten and the rain.

Speaking of rain, several people here in our area are already gathering supplies to go help in Texas, and the "Cajun Navy" is out rescuing people.  They have actually set themselves up with squad commanders in certain areas, and if you want to volunteer you take your boat and go to the commander of the area where you are assigned.  This way they are making sure every area is being searched, no one place is oversaturated with rescuers while another languishes waiting for help.

The people fussing about lack of evacuation orders need to remember that this situation was similar to the situation in Louisiana last year.  No one ever could have seen this coming or guessed exactly where the rain would end up, how it would impact one place so badly.  It's so easy to yell and cast blame in retrospect.  When looking forward, there's no foolproof way to predict, so please cut some slack to those in charge.  They made the best decisions they could with the information they had.

Which reminds me that there was talk of ordering an evacuation of NOLA because of this.  The pumps down there are not all working or all working at capacity.  If this storm had ended up sending more rain that direction, NOLA would have had trouble.

Therein lies the problem.  They were watching to see if they needed to evacuate people.  Often, by the time you actually realize how much damage is being done, it's too late to call for an evacuation.  Call for it too soon and end up with no need for it, then next time no one will heed it.  Call for it when you are certain you need it, and you may not be able to get everyone out fast enough.

These leaders walk a fine line, and i don't cast blame on any unless they willingly ignore obvious indicators.  That didn't happen here last year, and it didn't happen in Texas.

If you want to donate to a charity that will use the money only in the storm impacted areas, and that will stay around for the long term rebuilding, Convoy of Hope is a good choice.  They have an excellent Charity Navigator rating, too.    

There's not a lot going on here besides the usual, kids learning the hard way you don't put the bacon grease into the jar until it is cool (do you know how hard it is to clean that much bacon grease off of the floor?  you don't want to know), cats getting into anything they can possibly get into, and all of us wanting the rain to go move up to drought stricken areas and leave us alone for a while.

And rEcess is this Friday night.  Time for me to cook red beans.

Today is:

According to Hoyle Day -- death anniversary of Edmond Hoyle

Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Touch a Heart Tuesday 

Birthday of Hathor -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Chop Suey Day

Day of Loose Talk -- Fairy Calendar

Esala Perahera (Festival of Buddha's Tooth) -- Sri Lanka (two week festival honoring a relic held in one temple that is supposed to have a tooth of Buddha brought to Sri Lanka in the 3rd Century; one of Sri Lanka's most elaborate festivals)

Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist (Patron of baptism, bird dealers, converts, convulsive children, cutters, epileptics, farmers, French Canadians, lambs, monastic life, motorways, printers, tailors; over 70 cities and countries around the world; against convulsions, epilepsy, hail and hailstorms, spasms)

     Head Day -- Iceland (a weather omen day; whatever today's weather, it will stay the same for at least 3 weeks)

Individual Rights Day -- on the birth anniversary of John Locke, the first philosopher to argue that a human being has basic rights based on his status as a sovereign human being, and that people are not slaves of their government, but their human rights should be protected by government

International Day Against Nuclear Testing -- UN

Judgment Day -- according to "The Terminator"

Lemon Juice Day

More Herbs, Less Salt Day

National Sarcoidosis Awareness Day -- US (by presidential proclamation in 1991)

Runic Half-Month Rad begins (Motion)

Slovak National Uprising Anniversary -- Slovakia

St. Medericus' Day (also called Saint-Merri or St. Merry, acclaimed as the Patron of the Right Bank of the Seine River in Paris)

Tvimanuor -- Traditional Icelandic Calendar (the name means "Double Month", and the origin is uncertain; perhaps because winter is coming and it's time to double up on the preparations)

Birthdays Today:

Lea Michele, 1986

Rebecca De Mornay, 1962

Mark Morris, 1956

Michael Jackson, 1958

`Richard Gere, 1949

Robin Leach, 1941

William Friedkin, 1939

Elliot Gould, 1938

John McCain, 1936

Richard Attenborough, 1923

Charlie "Bird" Parker, 1920

Isabel Sanford, 1917

Ingrid Bergman, 1915

Preston Sturges, 1898

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., 1809

John Locke, 1632

Today in History

Era of Diocletian (Martyrs), the last major time of persecution for the early Christian churches, begins with Gen. Gaius Aurelius V Diocletianus Jovius becoming emperor of Rome, 284

Japan mints its first copper coins, 708

The last Incan King of Peru, Atahualpa, is executed by order of Francisco Pizarro, 1533

The first Indian "reservation" is formed by the New Jersey Legislature, 1758

Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction, 1831

The United Kingdom legislates the abolition of slavery in its empire, 1833

Treaty of Nanking signing ends the First Opium War, 1842

The first motorcycle is patented in Germany by Gottlieb Daimler, 1885

The chef of a visiting Chinese Ambassador invents "chop suey" in NYC, 1896

The Goodyear tire company is founded, 1898

The Quebec Bridge collapses during construction, killing 75 workers, 1907

Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California, 1911

The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, 1949

Speedy Gonzales makes his debut, 1953

The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, 1966

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party, 1991

Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast, 2005

Sumatra's Sinabung volcano erupts for the first time in 400 years, killing one and causing Indonesia to evacuate thousands of people, 2010

London holds the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, 2012

Austrian researchers announce they successfully grew 'cerebral organoids' or mini-brains, containing several distinct regions of the brain; the mini-brains will help scientists understand how brains develop, and what causes schizophrenia and autism, 2013

Wordless and Sometimes Speechless Wednesday

The view from Ms. V's house after the water had receded a bit:

The water had come up to the roots of these bushes.

There were smiles even in the tough times:

Somebody knew how to have fun in the floodwater!

This left me speechless:

Yes, the sprinklers are on a timer, could someone think to turn them off after a flood?

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.



Today is:

#2 Pencil Day -- internet generated, but since a pencil can draw a line 35 miles long, write under water, in zero gravity, or upside down, what's not to celebrate!

Black Cat Appreciation Day -- they deserve a day! black cats even have a Facebook page   

Chung Yuan Festival -- China (Festival of Hungry Ghosts; according to legend, during this 7th lunar month the souls of the dead are released from Purgatory to wander the Earth, and so today is the day to appease those spirits with joss stick burning, prayers and food, "ghost money", and other offerings; dates of this vary in other countries)

Day of Rituals in the Temples of Ra, Horus, and Osiris -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Drink Coffee at the Office from A Sippy Cup Day -- begun by someone with a sense of humor, who wants you to see how long it takes people to notice

Festival of Diana -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Jari Kemerdekaan RI -- Indonesia (Independence Day)(1945)

Mae West Birthday Gala -- New York, NY, US 

Meaning of "Is" Day -- thank you, Clinton!

National Medical Dosimetrist's Day -- American Association of Medical Dosimetrists (medical radiation safety experts)

National Thrift Shop/Thrift Store Day -- no history on it, probably started by a thrift store having a summer sale; still a good idea

National Vanilla Custard Day

Odin's Ordeal begins -- based on the Ancient Norse legend, Modern Odinists and some Asatru practice silence for nine days, through the 25th

Portunalia -- Roman Empire (honoring the god of locks, keys, ports, and harbors)

Prekmurje Union Day -- Slovenia (celebrates the Slovenes in Prekmurje being Incorporated into the Mother Nation)

San Martin Day -- Argentina (death anniversary of General Jose de San Martin, liberator of Argentina, chile, and Peru)

St. Hyacinth's Day (Patron of Camalaniugan, Philippines; Ermita de Piedra de San Jacinto, Philippines; Kradow, Poland; Lithuania; Poland; against drowning)


Birthdays Today:

Mark Salling, 1982
Donnie Wahlberg, 1969
Sean Penn, 1960
Jonathan Franzen, 1959
Belinda Carlisle, 1958
Guillermo Vilas, 1952
Robert Joy, 1951
Robert DeNiro, 1943
Francis Gary Powers, 1929
Maureen O'Hara, 1920
Harrison V. Chase, 1913
Mae West, 1892
charles I, last emperor of Austria-Hungary, 1887
Samuel Goldwyn, 1882
Davy Crockett, 1786


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Life of Brian(Film), 1979
"Symphonie Liturgique"(Honegger's Third Symphony), 1946
Animal Farm(Publication date), 1945
"Gotterdammerung/Twilight of the Gods"(Opera WWV 86D), 1876


Today in History:

The Peace of Bergerac gives political rights to the Huguenots, 1577
John White returns to Roanoke, Virginia, to find no trace of the colonists he had left there 3 years earlier, 1590
Robert Fulton's steamboat Clermont begins its first trip up the Hudson River, 1807
Solymon Merrick patents the wrench, 1835
The first bank in Hawaii opens, 1858
A patent is granted for an electric self starter for automobiles, 1891
Pike Place Market, the longest continuously-running public farmers market in the US, opens in Seattle, 1907
Fantasmagorie by Émile Cohl, the first animated cartoon, is shown in Paris, 1908
First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous in Southern California, 1953
Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude 7.5 1959 Yellowstone earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana, 1958
East German border guards kill 18-year-old Peter Fechter as he attempts to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin becoming one of the first victims of the wall, 1962
Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi coast, killing 248 people and causing $1.5 billion in damage, 1969
Venera 7 launched. It will later become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus), 1970
Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine, 1978
The first Compact Discs are released to the public in Germany, 1982
The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of the Israel unilateral disengagement plan, starts, 2005
Afghan archeologists discover the remains of a Buddhist site located south of Kabul, 2010
Trogloraptor marchingtoni, an unusual spider discovered in 2010 is determined to be a new family of spiders previously unknown in the world of science; the new spider family has been named Trogloraptor, meaning 'cave robber', 2012

Of a Tuesday

The helicopters are still flying overhead with disturbing regularity, in part disturbing because even i almost don't notice them any more.  They are surveying where the water is rising and falling, i think.

This morning i will not be going to my usual Tuesday client.  Ms. A and her daughter are in NOLA with her brother.  They watched the car float away and had to be rescued by boat, and spent two days in a shelter until her brother could make it up here to get them.  They are worried about the cats, as they had to leave all 7 of them on the second floor of the house and hope for the best.  As soon as the water recedes enough for me to get to their house, i will "break" in (with their permission) and try to see to the cats.

Speaking of cats, there is one very fat, sassy, and happy cat because of all of this, and that is the bakery owner's cat, EmmyLou.

The bakery owner and her husband are out of town, and i was caring for EmmyLou and cleaning the house while they are gone.  The house is clean, well, except that EmmyLou sheds so much i need to sweep again, but Ms. E got concerned that i wouldn't be able to check up on EmmyLou each day because of the water and weather and asked her neighbor to come in also.

The neighbor came in, and i came in, and we've both been feeding EmmyLou, and i think we've both been giving her the spoonful of tuna she is supposed to get only once a day, and i think she's now trained to believe that she should get tuna every time someone opens the door!  Sweet, spoiled cat.

Ms. V lives in the neighborhood just around the corner from Ms. E (and we all go to church together, so everybody knows everybody!), and her house did not get water, but all the houses across the street did.  Because she and her husband are also out of town, they are letting some of the flooded out neighbors stay in the house.   It will get a good cleaning this coming Saturday by me and Sweetie, right before they get back.

One of Ms. V's neighbors who is staying there is such a sweet lady, and i felt so awful for her when i went to check on the house.  She was so wanting a hot shower, and when we reminded her that even with the electricity out because the area was flooded, the gas lines work and the gas hot water heater would supply just what she needed, she was so speechlessly happy.  The fact that i had done laundry when i cleaned last week and there were fresh, clean towels available was the icing on the cake.

When you are standing in your neighbor's yard, looking across the street at your house with 3 feet of water in it, every little thing can be a big thing.


Today is:

American Quilter's Society Quilt Exposition -- Grand Rapids, MI, US (their largest show; through Saturday)

Baba Au Rhum Day -- of course, on rum day, bake some cake with the stuff!

Bratwurst Day

Children's Day -- Paraguay

Daimonji Bonfire -- Mt. Nyoigadake, Kyoto, Japan (spectacular bonfires in the shapes of word pictures on the mountains surrounding the city)

Elvis Presley Day -- can you believe he's been gone 39 years?

Festival of the Minstrels -- Tutbury Castle, UK (middle ages; celebrated with great pomp, as the Duke of Lancaster had decreed that they each year elect a new king of the minstrels)

Fete de l'Independance -- Gabon (National Day)

Harmonic Convergence Day -- modern followers of Maya and Aztec calendars

Joe Miller's Joke Day -- anniversary of the death of English comic actor Joseph Miller in 1738

Madonna del Voto Day -- Siena, Italy (a/k/a Palio dell'Assunta, 2nd of the traditional yearly horse races)

National Airborne Day -- US (honors all Airborne Military)

National Tell a Joke Day -- seems internet generated, but probably related to Joe Miller Joke Day

National Rum Day

Remember What Your Spouse Wore the First Time You Met Day -- internet generated and dangerous!

Restoration of the Republic -- Dominican Republic

Roller Coaster Day -- the first one was patented this day in 1898

St. Roch's Day (Patron of bachelors, dogs, falsely accused people, invalids, surgeons, tile makers; of over 20 cities in Italy as well as Istanbul, Turkey; for relief from pestilence; against cholera, diseased cattle, epidemics, knee problems, plague [Black Death], skin diseases and rashes) 

St. Stephen of Hungary's Day (Patron of bricklayers, kings, masons, stonecutters; Hungary; against the death of children)

Xicolatada -- Palau-de-Cerdagne, France (hot chocolate festival)*


Anniversary Today:

Sean Penn marries Madonna, 1985
Paul Simon marries Carrie Fisher, 1983
Gioachino Antonio Rossini marries Olympe Pélissier, 1846


Birthdays Today:

Seth Peterson, 1970
Steve Carell, 1963
Laura Innes, 1960
Timothy Hutton, 1960
Angela Bassett, 1958
Madonna, 1958
Jeff Perry, 1955
James Cameron, 1954
Kathie Lee Gifford, 1953
Reginald VelJohnson, 1952
Leslie Ann Warren, 1946
Julie Newmar, 1935
Eydie Gorme, 1932
Frank Gifford, 1930
Ann Blyth, 1928
Fess Parker, 1925
Menachem Begin, 1913
George Meany, 1894
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia), 1888
Bernarr Macfadden, 1868
Amos Alonzo Stagg, 1862
Hongxi Emperor of China, 1378


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Siegfried"(Opera, WWV 86C), 1876


Today in History:

Henry VIII defeats the French at the Battle of Guinegate/Battle of the Spurs, forcing the French to retreat, 1513
Jack Broughton formulates the earliest code of rules for boxing, 1743
Chang and Eng Bunker, the original "Siamese" twins, arrive in Boston to be exhibited, 1829
U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurates the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1858
Arica, Peru (now Chile) is devastated by a tsunami which followed a magnitude 8.5 earthquake, 1868
Gold is discovered in the Klondike, at Bonanza Creek, 1896
Edwin Prescott patents the roller coaster, 1898
In Valparaiso, Chile, an 8.6 earthquake followed by fire destroys the city and kills 20,000, 1906
The first color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks, is made by Ub Iwerks, 1930
Democrats nominate Adlai E. Stevenson as presidential candidate, 1956
Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that still stand today: High-altitude jump, free-fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft, 1960
A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market, 1989
For only 2nd time Stanley Cup leaves North America (heads to Russia), 1997
In England, two men who created a Facebook site to incite violence during the riots are sentenced to four years imprisonment, 2011


*Yes, they celebrate a hot chocolate festival in the summer.  It all started when the 15th of August was a feast day on which the locals always drank a bit much, and the chocolatier of the town claimed his brew was a good remedy the day after.  The original festival on the 15th has ceased, but the hot chocolate is brewed to this day, served at 11am promptly.

Well, i wanted to do...

...an Awww Monday post, but circumstances have deemed otherwise.

If you don't want the news, don't read any further. 

First, we are blessed.  #2 Son and Red-headed Alec have figured out how to keep the water in our house to a minimum.  It sure beats my old method, which was to have an alarm wake me every 15 minutes around the clock to use the shop vac.  Having to do that for days and days at a time in the past is what led me to have panic attacks, especially with rain.

As noted, The Big Boss had water in his house and lost the vehicles.

There are several areas flooded where they are evacuating people in boats.

Bigger Girl is agitated because she cannot get to her friend Vera, who is in a flooded area.

Young Jacob's grandmother was refusing to leave her home, which had water in it.  She was afraid she would be robbed while she was gone.  (Robbers in boats, i guess, in search of soggy sellables.)  They had to send the authorities to drag her out, and her daughter is driving in from Houston to get her and take her back to Texas until things settle down and they can arrange repairs.

#1 Son's friend Darcy was stranded at her mother's house with her own two-year-old and the two-month-old.  They couldn't drive out of the neighborhood, and the water was rising.  They had to wait for one of those huge military-style transport trucks to come through and get them.

Some friends of the family who just had their first baby 3 weeks ago and moved into their first house last week posted on Facebook that at least now they have the waterfront property and indoor pool they always wanted.  They are trying to laugh, like the rest of us, to keep from crying.

The husband of our church's music minister was kayaking through the neighborhood behind his on Saturday, helping with evacuations.  There's a rather nice area back there that has a lot of widows who didn't know to evacuate and had no one else to help them.  The creek that flooded that area is also what got The Big Boss' house.

The Wildlife and Fisheries Department with the State has just built a new facility.  It's taking on water before they could even move in, and our church friend who is second in command at that Department had to spend yesterday looking over the damage.

Last night was supposed to be the first meeting of people from our church with a church across town that is a different demographic, to try to foster understanding and friendships.  The other church flooded, and everything has been postponed.  On the good side, our church has already told them to let us know when we can bring work crews in to help.

Several members of the church had water in their homes, some a foot or two, some up to the roof lines.  There are lists at church of who needs help, who has room to house people for a while, and who can help in other ways.

  

Speaking of churches and helping, a local church opened as a shelter for evacuees, and then turned away any people who needed shelter but were not from their church!  They got slammed for it so badly on Facebook that they had to delete their account, and they deserved it.

One of my prayer partners at church left for work Saturday at the hospital and was told to bring clothing and plan to stay.  She did, and now cannot get back to her house.  She knows there's water in the house and that she does not have flood insurance because they are not in a traditional flood plain, but does not know what happened to her disabled husband and her daughter and the pets.

Why does she not know?  Because AT&T had a call switching station (or something like that) take on water, so no one with an AT&T mobile phone has any service in this whole region.  She, and we, cannot make calls or texts.  So there are people in flooded areas who need help and gave up their land lines and only have mobile phones and can't use them.  It's scary.

What's also sad about that is Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and all of the other carriers are working just fine, thankyouverymuch.  People are able to use their AT&T internet and U-verse to get online, and if they have a late-model iPhone can make calls over their wifi.  Those of us not so blessed with updated equipment are stuck, and AT&T is being very closed mouthed about what they are doing to fix the problem or how long it will take.  In fact, they were refusing to give answers to anyone until the State of Louisiana demanded to know what's up, and then the State broadcast the info about the water in the equipment.  Somehow i think there's going to be a big backlash about this, not just because of the outage but because of the refusal to keep people informed.

(On a related note, AT&T has a navigation feature on their phones that is free the first 30 days, then $10/month thereafter.  When he had misplaced his phone, #1 Son used our extra phone for the day, and turned on the navigation feature, intending to turn it off when he was done.  Turns out they make it impossible to turn the app off without calling them, in hopes that you will forget and leave it on.  As soon as we get service again, i have to call and get it turned off so i don't get charged for it.  We are not too happy with AT&T right now.)

If we can just dry out for a few days, i will be feeling much better.  And i am grateful no matter what, things could have been a lot worse. 



Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Poland

Asuncion Foundation Day -- Paraguay

Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary -- Catholic Christian Holy Day of Obligation
     Related Observances
          Coeur d'Alene Indian Pilgrimage -- Coeur d'Alene's Old Mission State Park, Cataldo, ID, US
          Dormition of the Theotokos -- Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Christian
          Ferragosto -- Italy (During the Roman Empire, a festival to Diana and a fertility and ripening celebration)
          Mother's Day -- Antwerp; Costa Rica
          National Acadians Day -- Acadians
          Virgin of Candelaria, patron of the Canary Islands -- Tenrife, Spain
          Irmandade da Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte Fiesta -- Bahia, Brazil (Festival of the Order of Our Lady of the Good Death)
          Festival of the Outremeuse -- Liege, Belgium
          Public Holiday or Publicly Observed -- Andorra; Austria; Belgium; Benin; Bosnia; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Central African Republic; Chile; Colombia; Côte d'Ivoire; Croatia; Cyprus; East Timor; France; French Guiana; French Polynesia; Gabon; Gambia; Germany; Greece; Guadelupe; Guatemala; Guinea; Holy See; Hungary; Italy; Lebanon; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia; Madagascar; Malta; Martinique; Mauritius; Mayotte; Monaco; New Caledonia; Paraguay; Poland; Portugal; Reunion; Romania; Rwanda; Saint Barthelemy; Saint Martin; Saint Pierre et Miquelon; San Marino; Senegal; Seychelles; Slovenia; Spain; Switzerland; Togo; Vanuatu; Wallis and Fortuna     

Best Friend's Day -- sponsored by Thema Martin

Bon/Obon Festival -- Japan (biggest day of the festival in most parts of Japan)

Chauvin Day -- observed on Napoleon's birthday because his is unknown, the day is named for Nicholas Chauvin, whose blind devotion to Napoleon was immortalized in his name's use for absurdly intense attachments to any cause

Check the Chip Day -- the American Veterinary Medical Association reminds you to check your pet's microchip and make sure it is still working correctly and that the registration information is up to date https://www.avma.org/Events/pethealth/Pages/Check-the-Chip-Day.aspx

Dia de la Ley Fundamental -- Equatorial Guinea (Constitution Day)

Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (through the 18th, dates approximate)

Elwood Glass Festival -- Elwood, IN, US (glass factory tours and so much more; through Sunday)

Fathers' Day -- Samoa; Tokelau (a public holiday in both countries)

Festival of Vesta -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of the hearth)

Fete Nationale -- Republic of the Congo (National Day/Independence Day)

Fool's Dance -- Japan (part of the Awa Dance Festival; "it's a food that dances and a fool that watches, so if you are going to watch, you might as well dance!")

Independence Day -- India(1947)

Liberation Day -- both Koreas
     Gwangbokjeol -- South Korea
     Jogukhaebangui nal -- North Korea

Maras Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (celebration of the goddess Mara, cognate of Mary)

Melon Day -- Turkmenistan (the country that really loves its muskmelons


National Day -- Lichtenstein (a/k/a Liberation Day [1945])

National Failures Day -- some websites say the 16th, and may i suggest a book called "Fail Better", a small quotations book about how failure is just the beginning.

National Lemon Meringue Pie Day

National Mourning Day -- Bangladesh

National Relaxation Day -- sponsored by Sean Moeller of Clio, Michigan; if you call in sick to stay home and relax, blame him

Panama La Vieja Day -- Panama (Founding of Panama City)

RSPCA Cupcake Day -- a fun and delicious way to raise funds to stop animal cruelty http://www.rspcacupcakeday.com.au/

Shoro Nagashi Nagasaki -- Nagasaki, Japan (floating lanterns are released into the harbor in honor of the ancestors)

Sproshinki -- Slavic Pagan Calendar (end of the hay harvest festival)

Stay at Home With Your Kids Day -- begun by Work at Home Moms ezine in 1999, to encourage and support parents who work from home

St. Tarcisius' Day (Patron of altar servers, first communicants)

Tuva Republic Day -- Tos-Bulak fields south of Kyzuk, Tuva, Russia (celebration of the Tuva Republic, a Naadam festival of Mongolian wrestling, horse racing, and archery; held by the Tuva people, the closest genetic relatives to the North and South American Native Peoples)

Wafaa El-Nil -- Egypt and Coptic Church ("Fidelity of the Nile", celebration of the annual of Flooding of the Nile)

Weird Contest Week -- Ocean City, NJ, US (contests through the week include salt water taffy sculpting, wet t-shirt throwing, ear wiggling, french fry sculpting, chewing an artwork out of a huge cookie or TastyKake Pie, making a work of art from paper clips, a Little Miss and Little Mr. Chaos contest, and Mr. and Miss Miscellaneous contest for those who have always wanted to compete in a talent contest but maybe missed the bus or got stuck at a rugby game; through Friday)

Yukon Discovery Day -- YT, Canada


Anniversaries Today:

Woodstock, 1969
Buddy Holly marries Maria Elena Santiago, 1958
Panama Canal opens, 1914
Transcontinental US railway is completed at Promontory Point, UT, US, 1870


Birthdays Today:

Joe Jonas, 1989
Kerri Walsh, 1978
Ben Affleck, 1972
Debra Messing, 1968
Melinda Gates, 1964
Zeljko Ivanek, 1957
Princess Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, 1950
Jimmy Webb, 1946
Kathryn Whitmire, 1946
Linda Ellerbee, 1944
Stephen G. Breyer, 1938
Vernon Jordan, Jr, 1935
Phyllis Stewart Schlafly, 1924
Mike Connors, 1925
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, 1925
Rose Marie, 1925
Huntz Hall, 1919
Oscar Romero, 1917
Julia Child, 1912
Elizabeth Bolden, American Supercentenarian, 1890 (d. 2006)
Edna Ferber, 1885
Ethel Barrymore, 1879
Charles Albert "The Old Roman" Comiskey, 1859
E. Nesbit, 1858
Sir Walter Scott, 1771
Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Mainz Psalter(Publication date; first book with the publication date printed on the colophon), 1457


Today in History:

Battle of Roncevaux Pass, the Basques defeat Charles the Great (Charlemagne) and Roland is killed, 778
Macbeth defeats his cousin and rival King Duncan I, who is killed in the battle, and becomes king of Scotland, 1040
Battle of Lumphanan, in which King Macbeth is killed by the forces of Mael Coluim MacDonnchada, 1057
The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia, 1185
The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of 
the Three Wise Men, is laid, 1248*
The "Mainz Psalter" is completed, the earliest dated book, 1457
Founding of Panama City, 1519
Jesuit priest St. Francis Xaverius land in Kagoshima, Japan, 1549
Joseph Haydn departs England, never to return, 1795
Country of Liberia is founded by freed American former slaves, 1824
Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1842
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawai'i, is dedicated; it is the oldest continuously used Roman Catholic Cathedral in the US, 1843
San Sebastian Church in Manila, the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed, 1891
A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, 1914
The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship Ancon, 1914
Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed in a plane crash, 1935
The birth of stadium rock:  The Beatles play Shae Stadium, 1965
President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard, 1971
The "Wow! signal":  The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space, 1977
An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090, 2007
The olinguito becomes the first mammal to be discovered in the past 35 years, 2013


*Yes, we just noted the other day the date of completion in 1880!

The best thing about traveling without the family for the first time ever will be getting away from it all.

The worst will be coming back to it all, after I haven't been here to at least try to keep a lid on things for a few days.

I keep reminding them that if they don't do something, whether feed the cats or refill the water pitcher or whatever it is, that it will not get done.

I'm trying not to let my imagination go with what I'm going to find when I get back.

Meanwhile, the flooding in our neighboring states is tearing my heart up. We have had hurricanes and flooding around here, and we know the devastation. One friend of mine on the board lives where a creek that averages 2-3 feet deep is right now at 30 feet and rising. The creek in our neighborhood has flooded, but never that badly. That would even reach our house.

May this end soon for them.


Today is

Alban Elfed (a/k/a Mabon) -- Celtic Winter Finding

Checkers Day

Dogs in Politics Day (Okay, I'm tempted but this one is too easy.)

Feast of Carman (Celtic goddess of poetry)

Feast of Carpo (Celtic goddess of autumn)

Feast of Chukem, Columbia (deity of footraces)

Festival of Papa, wife of Rangi -- Maori

Frontier Day, Wyoming

Proposal Day

St. Adaman's Day

St. Cadoc's Day

Unification Day, Saudi Arabia


Birthdays Today:

Jason Alexander, 1959
Bruce Springsteen, 1949
Mary Kay Place, 1947
Paul Petersen, 1945
Julio Iglesias, 1943
Tom Lester, 1938
Ray Charles, 1930
John Coltrane, 1926
Mickey Rooney, 1920
Walter Pigeon, 1897
William H. McGuffey, 1800
Kublai Khan, 1215
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, BC63
Euripides, BC480


Today in History:

Concord of Worms, 1122
The first major battle of the Wars of the Roses, at Blore Heath if Staffordshire, 1459
First commencement exercises of Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass., 1642
Liechtenstein declares its independence from the German Empire, 1719
John Paul Jones' "Bon Homme Richard" defeats the HMS Serepis, 1779
Lewis and Clark arrive back in St. Louis from their explorations, 1806
Nintendo Koppai, later known as Nintendo Company, Limited, is founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi; it produces and markets the playing card game Hanafuda, 1889