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

***********************************

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!

***********************************

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.     

***********************************

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

*******

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!

*******

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.)

***********************************

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

A Cow? (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday, Northern Lights

***********************************

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!

Our little Annie is getting better about saying words properly, but she will still sometimes say something which leaves us scratching our heads.  The other day she asked me for what sounded like, "A cow."

A cow? i asked her.

"A cow!" she emphatically nodded.

Show me what you mean, i said and she led me to the fridge, which i opened, and pointed to a drawer from which, when also opened, she plucked and avocado.

"A cow!" she said with glee.

She then proceeded to devour two "acows" in short order.

***********************************

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.     

***********************************

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 Northern Lights.

I rather have some envy

of those who get to see

the Northern Lights above them

with some regularity.

I've visited many places,

from ruins to cathedrals to palace,

but never gotten up north to see

the aurora borealis.

So i'll put it on my bucket list

to try to get some views

when someday I hope to plan

a lovely Alaska cruise!

Future themes are:

June 29 Northern Lights (Today!)

July 5 Moody

July 12 Bonsai Tree

July 19 Telescope

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

***********************************

Today is:

Autonomy Day -- French Polynesia

Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul -- Christian

     St. Paul, Patron of Greece, Malta, rope makers, tentmakers, upholsterers

     St. Peter, Patron of clockmakers, fishermen, Russia; against fever, foot trouble, wolves

     a recognized holiday in Chile; Holy See; Italy; Malta[l-Imnarja]; Peru; GR and TI, Switzerland; Wallis and Fortuna

     Haro Wine Festival -- Haro, LaRioja, Spain (a festival that includes a Battle of Wines, where wine is thrown from buckets at opposing teams; on the feast day of the city's patron, San Pedro)

     Rat-Catcher's Day -- often cited because some of the earliest legends of the Pied Piper claim he took the children on the Feast Day of Sts. Peter and Paul

Full Strawberry Moon / Rose Moon; related observances

     Ancient Celtic month Equos (horse-time) begins

     Nayon Full Moon -- Mayanmar

     Poson Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka

Hug Holiday -- while the National Hug Holiday Week has been moved to the beginning of May, this is the original day, and was for quite a while, so go give someone a big hug!

Independence Day -- Seychelles

Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival -- Kirkpinar, Edirne, Turkey (since 1362, the oldest wrestling festival in the world as well as the oldest continually running, sanctioned sporting event in the world, in which men clad in leather britches and covered in olive oil wrestle; through Sunday)

National Almond Butter Crunch Day

National Camera Day -- internet generated, but a fun one to celebrate

Oharai/Grand Purification Festival -- Shinto

Runic Half-month Feoh (wealth) commences

St. Mary Salome's Day -- mother of John Mark, writer of the Gospel According to St. Mark, owner of the home where the Last Supper was held and the Apostles gathered after the Crucifixion

Thangka Unveiling at Tashihungpo -- Tibet (Buddha Exhibition Festival, in which the large Thangka with the image of Buddha on it is unfolded in public; also celebrated as Amitabha Buddha Day, or the birth anniversary of the Buddha) related observance

    Zamling Chisang -- Universal Prayer Day (to the Tibetan Deities, especially Samye Dolde)

Waffle Iron Day -- don't know why today, but it's a great gadget, and if you have one, pull it out and use it today

Birthdays Today:

Prince Aristide Stavros of Greece and Denmark, 2008

Amanda Donohoe, 1962

Sharon Lawrence, 1962

Fred Grandy, 1948

Richard Lewis, 1947

Gary Busey, 1944

Robert Evans, 1930

Ray Harryhausen, 1920

Slim Pickens, 1919

Bernard Herrmann, 1911

Nelson Eddy, 1901

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1900

James Van Der Zee, 1886

William James Mayo, 1863

George Washington Goethals, 1858

Julia Clifford Lathrop, 1858

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Moonraker(Film), 1979

Today in History:

An Irish monastic chronicler records a solar eclipse, 512

Jacques Cartier makes the European discovery of Prince Edward Island, 1534

The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground, 1613

Alexander Macdonell and over five hundred Roman Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario, 1786

Coal is discovered on Vancouver Island, 1850

Ninety-nine people are killed in Canada's worst railway disaster near St-Hilaire, Quebec, 1864

France annexes Tahiti, 1880

The first known recording of classical music, Handel's "Israel in Egypt", is made on a wax cylinder, 1888

Street railway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, commences operation, 1891

Doukhobors burn their weapons as a protest against conscription by the Tsarist Russian government, 1895

France grants 1 km² at Vimy Ridge "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes," 1922

Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Canada receives a patent for sprocket and track traction system used in snow vehicles, 1937

Isabel Perón is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina, 1974

The Seychelles  become independent from the United Kingdom, 1976

The space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir Space Station for the first time, 1995

Two car bombs are found at Piccadilly Circus, in the heart of London, 2007

News that European Union members agree on a deal to help some struggling Eurozone members causes world stock markets to soar, 2012

The Beijing Times reports that up to 30% of the Great Wall of China has disappeared, partly due to natural forces of decay and partly due to people stealing bricks, 2015

Iraqi forces retake the remains of the destroyed Great Mosque of al-Nuri from the Islamic State; it was the symbolic site where their leader had declared a "caliphate", 2017

Lytton, British Columbia, records Canada's highest-ever temperature of 49.6C (121.3F), before being destroyed by a wildfire the next day, 2021

Earth records its shortest day since scientists began using atomic clocks to measure its rotational speed, concluding one spin in 1.59 milliseconds less than the standard 24 hours, 2022

In a 6-3 ruling, the US Supreme Court finds race-based admissions programs used to  increase diversity are illegal under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, 2023