Swim Team, 2015

Little Girl was on swim team again this year, and enjoyed it as much as ever.

The great thing about the neighborhood pool is that the same kids come year after year, and the members of the team grow close as friends as well as teammates.

They may start as young as 6, and swim until the summer after senior year of high school, so she has one more year to participate.

This year, she got some ribbons:

Her ribbons.

Because the ribbons were handed to parents at the pool party while the kids were swimming and eating, i got to take a picture of them.  Her medal i will probably not even see unless i go dig it out of her room.

By being sneaky, though, i did get a picture of her standing with the girls in her age group.

You have to get her picture from the back, she's in the black t-shirt.

It's a small team, the smallest in the league, so they partner us up with another small team, and together the teams came in 3rd place overall for the league!

We have great coaches, and kids who are dedicated to coming back year after year, who want to improve and swim better and get exercise and have fun and be with friends, and that's the best part of all.

Today is

Aphrodisia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (bathing festival of Aphrodite and Peitho [Persuasion]; date approximate)

Bonza Bottler Day™

Carnival Tuesday -- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Chocolate Day  -- no one knows why today, so why not?  Enjoy chocolate cereal with chocolate milk for breakfast, some chocolate covered raisins and nuts as a midmorning snack, chocolate milk with lunch, chocolate truffles as a midafternoon snack, chocolate liquer before dinner, chocolate cake for dessert, and sip chocolate coffee any time through the day!

Global Forgiveness Day -- encouraging "citizens of this global village" to forgive and be forgiven; sponsored by the CECA

Father-Daughter Take a Walk Together Day -- encouraging fathers to take some special time out with their girls today

Independence Day / National Day -- Solomon Islands(1978)

Macaroni Day -- it goes with more than just cheese!

National Strawberry Sundae Day

Nones of July -- Ancient Roman Calendar; celebrations on this day included:
     Festival of Feriae Ancillarum -- "Feast of the Serving Women", when female servants dressed up and "attacked" men of free birth with fig boughs; in honor of the serving women who helped free the city of Rome from the Gauls
     Nonae Caprotinae -- "Nones of the Wild Fig", honoring Juno Caprotina with a sacrifice under a wild fig tree
     Parilia -- festival for Pales, god of the herds

Saba Saba Day -- Tanzania (literally "Seven Seven" Day, a/k/a Peasants' Day or Workers' Day, and the biggest day of the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair)
     Maonyesho ya Saba Saba -- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam Trade Fair, through July 8)

St. Willibald's Day (Patron of Eichstatt, Germany)

Tanabata -- Japan (star festival, 7th day of 7th month; some areas go by lunar calendar, but most larger cities celebrate by the Gregorian Calendar now)

Tell The Truth Day -- a yearly challenge frm Kepa Freeman of Teens Express to go the whole day without telling a lie or saying or doing anything misleading or dishonest

Unity Day -- Zambia

Unity Factory Day -- Yemen (all workers are encouraged to play at work today, to build team and national unity)



Anniversaries Today

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr., marries Eleanor Rosalynn Smith, 1946


Birthdays Today

Michelle Kwan, 1980
Cree Summer, 1969
Jorga Fox, 1968
Billy Campbell, 1959
Shelley Duvall, 1949
Ringo Starr, 1940
Doc Severinsen, 1927
Pierre Cardin, 1922
Gian Carlo Menotti, 1911
Robert Heinlein, 1907
Satchel Paige, 1906
Marc Chagall, 1887


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Ryan's Hope"(TV), 1975
"All You Need is Love"(Single release), 1967
Waverly(Novel, publication date), 1814
"Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate"(Canticles, HWV 278 & 279), 1713


Today in History

A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death, 1456
Raid of the Redeswire, the last major battle between England and Scotland, 1575
United States begins first military draft; exemptions cost $300, 1863
An International Railway trolley with an extreme overload of 157 passengers crashes near Queenston, Ontario, killing 15, 1915
Sliced bread is sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri; it is described as “the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped", 1928
Alleged and disputed Roswell UFO incident, 1947
Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere, 1959
In Canada, the Official Languages Act is adopted making the French language equal to the English language throughout the Federal government, 1969
Sharia is instituted in Iran, 1980
Samantha Smith, a U.S. schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov, 1983
The Western Black Rhinoceros is declared extinct due to poaching, 2006
In efforts to avoid food shortages and political oppression, South Korea begins work on a new facility to house North Korean refugees, 2011

Am i the only one left...

...who hasn't taken a selfie?  (Besides the picture i took of my swollen hand after the hornet bite.  Since it was an awful picture and was only of my hand, i don't think it can be considered a real selfie.  And yes, the ring is repaired and back on my now back to normal hand.)

It seems to be so popular these days that even elephants are doing it!

And in other critter news, there is a movement now in the US to allow military dogs, when they are retired, to be adopted by the handlers with whom they worked overseas.

This sounds like something that should have happened many years ago.  Animals, no matter what the military says, are not weapons.  They may be considered property, but they are living property and deserve consideration beyond what you would give a mere physical, non-living item.

Around here, summer has finally started.  It's swim team time, they start practice today.  That makes it official.

Little Girl is looking forward to it.

Today is

Bob Day -- an internet holiday i couldn't confirm, but if your name is Bob, you deserve a special day just for having that name!

Crown Prince's Birthday -- Denmark

Dracula Day -- Bram Stoker's Dracula went on sale this day in 1897

Dzien Matkl -- Poland (Mother's Day)

Festival of the Valley -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (celebration of the movement of Amun from the East Bank of Thebes to the West Bank; it involved giving flowers and sharing food with the dead)

Goblin Races -- Fairy Calendar

Holiday of the Receiving of Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Independence Day -- Georgia(1918); Guyana(1966)

National Blueberry Cheesecake Day

National Cherry Dessert Day

National Day of Healing -- Australia (formerly called National Sorry Day; to express regret for the ill treatment of Aboriginal Peoples of Australia)

National Paper Airplane Day -- not an official holiday, but go make one, and have a blast; some people even organize contests

Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day -- Hawai'i

Sally Ride Day -- US (birth anniversary of America's first woman in space)

St. Augustine of Canterbury's Day (First Archbishop of Canterbury and Patron of England; feast day in the Anglican Communion and most Eastern Churches)

St. Philip Neri's Day (Patron of Gravina, Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo, and Rome, Italy; the United States Army Special Forces)

Thargelia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (birthday festival of Apollo and Artemis; through tomorrow, date approximate)

World Lindy Hop Day -- Frankie Manning's birth anniversary



Anniversaries Today:

Boston University is founded by the Massachusetts legislature, 1869


Birthdays Today:

Helena Bonham Carter, 1966
Lenny Kravitz, 1964
Genie Francis, 1962
Sally Ride, 1951
Pam Grier, 1949
Philip Michael Thomas, 1949
Hank Williams, Jr., 1949
Stevie Nicks, 1948
Brent Musburger, 1939
Miles Davis, 1926
James Arness, 1923
Peggy Lee, 1920
Jay Silverheels, 1919
Frankie Manning, 1914
Peter Cushing, 1913
Robert Morley, 1908
John Wayne, 1907
Dorothea Lange, 1895
Al Jolson, 1886


Today in History:

Armenian rebels battle the Sassanid empire and win the right to openly practice Christianity, 451
An earthquake  strikes Kamakura, Japan, killing about 30,000, 1293
Geneva  expels John Calvin and his followers from the city, 1538
Alse Young becomes the first person executed as a witch in the American colonies, 1647
Lewis and Clark first see the Rocky Mountains, 1805
The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress, 1830
Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners, 1857
The impeachment trial of U.S. President Andrew Johnson ends with Johnson being found not guilty by one vote, 1868
Nicholas II becomes Tsar of Russia, 1894
Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 1896
The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made, 1908
The world's longest-lasting tornado, lasting for over 7 hours and traveling 293 miles, strikes Mattoon, Illinois, 1917
British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana, 1966
Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing, 1969
The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2, 1970
Willandra National Park is established in Australia, 1972
George Willig climbs the South Tower of New York City's World Trade Center, 1977
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Japan, triggering a tsunami that kills at least 104 people, injures thousands. Many people go missing and thousands of buildings are destroyed, 1983
The European Community adopts the European flag, 1986
Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era, 1991
The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York, 1998
Sherpa Lakpa Gelu climbs Mount Everest in 10 hours 56 minutes, 2003
The New York Times publishes an admission of journalistic failings, claiming that its flawed reporting and lack of skepticism towards sources during the build-up to the 2003 war in Iraq helped promote the belief that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, 2004
The May 2006 Java earthquake kills over 6,600 people, leaves 200,000 homeless, 2006*

*Occurred 22:54 GMT May 26, 05:54 Local Time May 27, so some sources date it today, some tomorrow 

In Great Spirits

The Swim Team had their end of the year party, and as usual, it was almost as much fun as just swimming.

The rain was supposed to be over by 5pm, which was our scheduled start time.  When i got over there a bit after 5, it poured as one more cloud decided it would like to add to the fun.  The kids didn't care, and swam in the rain, since there was no lightning.  It didn't last long.

The dinner menu was what you usually feed a passel of kids and younger siblings and the attendant parents and grandparents who show up -- hot dogs, sloppy joes, chips, a couple of fruit plates to pretend we are worried about nutrition, and enough sugary cakes, cupcakes, cookies and sugary drinks to make a fly die of happiness to see.

This included the home made cake baked and decorated just for the occasion.

Candy decorated cake.

 When the food was served, the children swarmed out of the pool like land sharks, devouring much but we had so much everyone got plenty.  My favorite part at this point is watching the youngest children, just walking and toddling, milling around.  They go up to mom, who hands them a cookie to keep them quiet while making a plate.  Then they go up to dad, who absently hands them something from his plate, usually a couple of chips or a small bite off of his sloppy joe.  To an older sibling, who gives them a juice pouch or a bite of cake.  Walking unsteadily with their booty, they mill around nibbling wherever they can get a bite, and my favorite thing is to shadow a couple of them and watch them do it.  It's hilarious when you aren't the mom and don't have to try to get them to go home and go to bed after all that!

When we thought the eating was over and no one thought they could hold any more, one family brought out a snow cone maker, and the swarm started again!

When every cone was slopping juicy syrup over a sticky hand, it was time to sit and give out the awards.  Everyone gets a medal, and a specially decorated cup with more sugary treats in it (as if they needed it by now, but many kids dive right in anyway).  Then there are the Senior awards, for the 18-year-olds who won't be back on the team next year, unless they come as junior coaches (which many do).

There are trophies for the girl with the most points for the season, the boy with the most points for the season (team ranking is based on the points earned by every member of the team, we came in 4th in the league this year, and we are about half the size of most teams).

The ten and under group also have one girl and one boy who win a trophy for their spirit of dedication to the team, for being always willing to do an extra lap, or not mind that s/he gives up a turn to another, or just generally having a spirit of good cooperation with the coach.

Elevens and up get a trophy, too, called a Spirit Trophy.  In their case, the criterion are a bit more stringent.  It's the girl and boy who not only cooperated, but who gave up their time to help tutor younger swimmers, who jumped up and ran to help, who never balked at being asked to do something for the good of the team.

Little Girl was the girl Spirit Trophy winner for the eleven and up group.  Since she hides every time she sees me with a camera, a friend got pics of her, but for privacy, i'll just post a picture of the trophy.

Little Girl's Trophy

The evening ended with the favorite activity of all:  the slippery watermelon contest among the older team members

Coach at the end of the diving board, holding a watermelon

A watermelon is coated in sun screen -- they used to use vaseline, but it gums up the pool pumps -- and the coach drops it from the diving board.  As the watermelon floats mid-pool, two teams line up, the whistle blows, and hilarity ensues as they jump in and each team tries to get it to their side of the pool and toss it up on the side.

There's an watermelon in there somewhere!

Amid cries of "no tickling!" and "get it! grab it!" they wrestle, pull, push, and generally spend about ten minutes tugging and yanking and trying to get it away from each other.  It is bedlam and it is fun and they obey the rule that you cannot actually hurt anyone or hold anyone under water.  They know that doing such a thing will get the game banned, and this is their favorite game.

It all ends when the watermelon is out of the pool and cut and consumed, and everyone helps clean up.

As they used to say in the society papers, a good time was had by all.



Today is

Air Conditioner Day -- the first modern electrical air conditioning unit, invented by William Carrier, began working on this day in 1902

Bregenzer Festspiele (Bregenz Festival) -- Bregenz, Austria (an amazing performing arts festival, through August 18)

Constitution Day -- South Korea

Feast of St. Kenelm -- saint mentioned in "The Nun's Priest's Tale" of The Canterbury Takes

Feast of the Clockless NowEver -- can't find any confirmation on what this one is, but it sounds like fun if i don't have to bother with a clock or schedule

Festival for Victoria and Virtus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of victory and god of bravery in warfare)

Folkmoot USA -- Waynesville, NC, US (festival of international folk dance; through the 28th)

Gion Matsuri -- Yakasa Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (one of the largest and best Gion festivals)

King Letsie III's Birthday -- Lesotho

National Baby Food Festival -- Fremont, MI, US (in the hometown of Gerber Products, adults have a baby food eating contest and tots have crawling races, among other fun things; through Saturday)

National Peach Ice Cream Day

Petal-Hopping for Hopeless Cases -- Fairy Calendar

St. Alexius Day (Patron of Alexians, beggars, belt makers, nurses, pilgrims, travellers)

Wear Crazy Socks to Work Day -- at your own risk

World Day for International Justice

Wrong Way Corrigan Day -- anniversary of the flight of Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, who was supposedly heading for California from New York and ended up in Ireland instead

Yellow Pig Day -- mathmatics festivals at various universities, celebrating the number 17 and the yellow pig with 17 eyelashes, created by mathematicians Michael Spivak and David C. Kelly


Birthdays Today

Tash Hamilton, 1982
Mark Burnett, 1960
J. Michael Straczynski, 1954
David Hasselhoff, 1952
Phoebe Snow, 1952
Camilla Parker Bowles, 1947
Diahann Carroll, 1935
Donald Sutherland, 1934
Phyllis Diller, 1917
Art Linkletter, 1912
James Cagney, 1899
Erle Stanley Gardner, 1889
John Jacob Astor, 1763
Isaac Watts, 1674


Today in History

Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians, the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world, 180
Zhu Di, better known by his era name as the Yongle Emperor, assumes the throne over the Ming Dynasty of China, 1402
Catherine II (the Great) becomes tsar of Russia upon the murder of Peter III of Russia, 1762
Londoner Thomas Saint patented the first sewing machine, 1790
The first issue of Punch magazine was published, England, 1841
The Harvard School of Dental Medicine is established in Boston as the first dental school in the U.S, 1867
On the orders of the Bolshevik Party carried out by Cheka, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his immediate family and retainers are murdered at the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, Russia, 1918
The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic, is sunk off Ireland by the German SM U-55; 5 lives are lost, 1918
An Armed Forces rebellion against the recently-elected leftist Popular Front government of Spain begins the Spanish Civil War, 1936
After being denied permission to make a transatlantic crossing, Douglas Corrigan takes off from Brooklyn to fly the "wrong way" to Ireland and becomes known as "Wrong Way" Corrigan, 1928
Disneyland televises its grand opening in Anaheim, California, 1955
An American Apollo and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock with each other in orbit marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the two nations, 1975
The opening of the Summer Olympics in Montreal is marred by 25 African teams boycotting the New Zealand team, 1976
The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business, 1997
A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake destroys 10 villages in Papua New Guinea killing an estimated 3,183, leaving 2,000 more unaccounted for and thousands more homeless, 1998
A diplomatic conference adopts the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, establishing a permanent international court to prosecute individuals for genocide, crime against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression, 1998
South Korea develops a long range cruise missile, 2010

So, what do you write about...

...on the second Monday in July?

Right now, i have no clue.  Thus i am just rambling.

Misha and Collins, the two bottle kittens, are growing and eating more, and both use a litter box now.

#2 Son's cat, Dansig, is limping and we have no clue why.  He's going to the vet later today.

#1 Son has decided he is moving back to this area.  He's going to be rooming with some friends who have a rental house just a few blocks from the cat shelter.  In the next few days he will be going back to Kansas to pick up the rest of his stuff.  This was a big surprise in some ways, and in others not so much.  He didn't seem happy up there to me.

The week is shaping up to be the typical swamp weather week, hot, with a bit of rain in the afternoon or not as the clouds and humidity see fit.  There will be days with thunderous "frog stranglers," and days with clouds looking like they could wash away the world, and yet not producing a drop.  Some days will have no rain at all except in very limited areas from a few stray dark clouds.  The other day, there was no rain on the radar at all, and the sun was beautiful as one dark cloud moved in and started raining in our front yard.  We watched it move, eventually bringing rain to the back, and continuing on its merry way until it was no longer over us.

It's something i've come to expect, having to watch like a hawk for rain so i can go get clothes off the line and put them back as needed.  Sometimes you only have to take them down for 10 minutes, it's like playing cat and mouse with the sun.

Swim league is done, so Little Girl is preparing for City Meet, and spent the weekend helping a friend and her mother get ready for the older daughter to move back to the area.  Older daughter and her husband will live with them for about 2 weeks while they apartment hunt and he gets used to his new job.  It ought to be interesting as they still have the four younger kids (of their eight) living at home and it's not a big house.  Son-in-law may well be in for some culture shock, i understand he's an only child.

The morning caretaker for Mondays at the shelter is out of town, so i'm filling in this morning.  The new Friday lady did better last week -- she brought her mother to help.  If she continues to do that, it may work out quite well to have her, as she is very thorough.

The news this weekend about the railway accident in Ontario has hurt my heart.  Like other such disasters, there is so much more than the news can show, lives taken, lives disrupted so much that the person feels there is nothing much left.  Living in a hurricane zone and having gone through them makes it easy to put yourself in their places.

Finally, to wrap up this meander through my abnormal brain, a wonderful idea that comes from Brunete, Spain, which is near Madrid.  It seems that they have seen a radical drop in the amount of unscooped poop from dogs by using volunteers to get the name of the offending dogs off their tags, match them with the town dog registration records, and send the dog's business in the mail to said owner, deeming it "lost property."

It's fun to think about implementing that, at least.  Now if only we could take pollutants and mail them to factory owners or board members and CEOs.  That would be something.

 


Today is


Buxton Wells Dressing -- Buxton, Derbyshire, England (preserving the 650+ years of traditional "dressing" wells in foliage to thank the patron saint of that well for blessings, now with parades and carnivals; through next Sunday)

Celtic Tree Month Tinne begins (Holly)

Feast of St. Sunniva (Ancient Norse solar maiden Sunna's worship around this time of year was merged with the story of this medieval saint; Patron of Bergen, Norway and the Norwegian west coast)

Gospel Day -- Kiribati

International Town Criers Day

Kaustinen Folk Music Festival -- Kaustined, Finland (the largest international music festival in the Nordic countries; through Sunday)

King Tupou VI's Birthday -- Tonga (obs.)

Nagoya Sumo Tournament -- Nagoya, Japan (one of the 6 major tournaments; through the 22nd)

National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day

Old Crafts Day -- it's listed in a few places, but i can't find the history; Old time crafts, or old crafts you've had sitting around the house and never gotten done? If you have the latter, do them or toss them!

Olive Branch Petition Day -- the final attempt, by the 13 Colonies, to avoid a complete break with England in 1775

SCUD Day (Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama) -- a good habit, on every day

Soapy Smith Wake -- held simultaneously in 4 locations: Skagway, AK, US; Hollywood, CA, US; Denver, CO, US; Chicago, IL, US (held by Soapy Smith Preservation Trust and Friends of Bad Man Soapy Smith, preserving the memory of one of the Wild West and Alaskan Gold Rush's most notorious con men, killed in a gunfight this day in 1898)

#Sempach Battle Commemoration -- Lucerne, Switzerland (remembrance of the battle in 1386 includes a solemn procession to the battlefield and services in the chapel)

Sts. Aquila and Prisca's Day

St. Kilian's Day (Patron of people with gout or rheumatism, whitewashers; Bavaria, Germany; Paderborn, Germany; Tuosist, Ireland; Wurzburg,Germany)

Video Games Day -- do they really need a day?

Vitulatio -- Ancient Roman Calendar (when Vitula was given the first fruits of the earth)

Ziegfeld Follies Day -- the first "Follies of 1907" opened on this day



Birthdays Today

Jaden Smith, 1998
Sophia Bush, 1982
Kathleen Robertson, 1973
Beck Hansen, 1970
Toby Keith, 1961
Kevin Bacon, 1958
Christopher G. Moore, 1952
Marianne Williamson, 1952
Anjelica Huston, 1951
Wolfgang Puck, 1949
Raffi, 1948
Steve Lawrence, 1935
Marty Feldman, 1933
Roone Arledge, 1931
Billy Eckstine, 1914
Nelson Rockefeller, 1908
Alfred Binet, 1857
John D. Rockefeller, 1839
Ferdinand von Zeppelin, 1838
Etienne De Silhouette, 1709


Today in History

Vasco da Gama sets sail on first direct European voyage to India, 1497
Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island, 1663
Battle of Restigouche – British defeat French forces in last naval battle in New France, 1760
The Olive Branch Petition is drafted by the Second Continental Congress as the Congress' last attempt to get King George III of Great Britain to reason with them, 1775
The Declaration of Independence has its first public reading, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Liberty Bell is rung, 1776
Chippewas turn over huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom, 1822
Commodore Perry sails into Tokyo Bay, 1853
The initial force of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin their March West, 1874
The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published, 1889
St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892
The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, bottoming out at 41.22, 1932
The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF), 1948
Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American Self-Determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination Act, 1970
The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe creates the office of High Commissioner on National Minorities, 1992
NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance, membership to become effective in two years, 1997
The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program, 2011

Improve Your Times

"Oh, five hours, lots of races, I'm tired!"

Little Girl came in from her swim meet wet and weary.

How was it? besides tiring? i asked her.

"Well, I only came in second in all of my races.  But I improved all my times."

That's good, and you should expect this to happen when you move up, shouldn't you?

"Yeah, last year I was the oldest in my age bracket, and this year I'm the youngest, and those 18-year-olds I swim against are big!"

Keep focusing on improving your times, though, and you'll be fine.

"I know, like Linus."

Exactly.

For those not familiar with the story of Linus, he's a young man who was in group piano lessons with Little Girl several years ago.  He was also on a swim team, and loved it, even though he always came in dead last in ever single race.

Then, at one meet, his race was called, and in his particular heat it was only him against one other swimmer.  The other swimmer was apparently distracted, and he began the race by himself.

Finally, his mother thought, he's going to win a race.  She was excitedly cheering him on, and he had gone the length of the pool and was part way back when the other child realized he was supposed to be racing.  He took off running, dove off of his board, and managed to cross the length of the pool and actually win the race by a hair.

Linus, with victory just snatched from him, jumped out of the pool, looked at the clock, and yelled, "Yes!  I just made my best time ever!"  It didn't even really register to him that he had once again lost, he was a winner in his mind as long as he was improving.

This is Little Girl's summer for winning by improving as she competes with the oldest swimmers in the league, and she's content to do that.


Today is

America's Kids Day -- founded to encourage parents to teach their children the value of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

Anubis Ceremony -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Dandruff Dance -- Fairy Calendar (Goblins and Gnomes)

Father's Day -- Nicaragua; Poland

Festival of the Purple Void -- only one internet reference, and not explained there, either, but since purple is my favorite color, and a Purple Void sound like something fun to celebrate, i'm including it!

Festivals of Het-Hert and Bast, and Great Feast of the Southern Heavens -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

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

Grand Duke's Birthday & National Day -- Luxembourg

Kupala -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (Summer Solstice celebration, always on St. John's Eve, as the pagans hid their celebration by naming it "Ivan Kupala", their name for John the Baptist)

Let It Go Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays; whatever you are holding on to, just let it go and the day will get better

National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism -- Canada

National Pecan Sandy Day

National Pink Day -- the color or the flower, your choice, because the creator didn't leave a trail explaining it

Pink Flamingo Day -- honoring Don Featherstone, creator of the original pink plastic flamingo lawn ornament; decorate your lawn with at least four pink flamingos, and send in a picture so that the Lawn Greetings Association can record this as a world record day for pink flamigoshttp://www.lawn-greetings.com/pink-flamingo-day

Poop Out Early Day -- act pooped out, see if you can cut out early; your success at pooping out early may vary

Public Service Day -- UN

SAT Math Day -- birth anniversary of Alan Turing

Singing on the Mountain -- Grandfather Mountain, Linville, NC, US (traditional and modern gospel music, with local and nationally known artists and speakers)

St. Agrippina (Patron against bacterial diseases and infections, evil spirits, leprosy, storms and thunder; of Mineo, Italy)

St. Ethelreda's Day (Patron of those with neck and throat ailments, widows; University of Cambridge)

St. John's Eve -- start or culmination of many midsummer festivals, including:
     Dragaica Fair -- Buzau, Romania
     Golowan Festival -- Cornwall
     Jaaniohtu -- Estonia  
     Kupala Days begin -- Belarus; Poland; Russia; Ukraine
     Ligo / Lani -- Latvia (pagan midsummer celebration originally dedicated to the god Janis
     Midsummer Eve -- Denmark; Sweden
     Midsummer Festival -- Portugal

St. Joseph Cafasso's Day (Patron of captives, prisoners, prisons, and prison chaplains)

Thangka unveiling Tashilungpo -- Tibet (Buddha Exhibition Festival) related observance
     Zamling Chisang -- Universal Prayer Day (to the Tibetan Deities, especially Samye Dolde)

Typewriter Day -- patented this day in 1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes

Victory Day -- Estonia

Whitsunday/Pentecost -- Orthodox Christians on the Julian Calendar


Birthdays Today:

Jason Mraz, 1977
Selma Blair, 1972
Frances McDormand, 1957
Clarence Thomas, 1948
June Carter Cash, 1929
Bob Fosse, 1927
Alan Turing, 1912
Edward VIII, King of England, 1894
Alfred Kinsey, 1894
Johannes Gutenberg, 1400 (estimated)
Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar, BC47 (Son of Cleopatra VII and Julius Caesar)


Today in History:

The world's oldest parliament, the Icelandic Althing, is established, 930
First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan, 1180
First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn, south of Stirling, begins, 1314
The mutinous crew of Henry Hudson's fourth voyage sets Henry, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in an open boat in what is now Hudson Bay; they are never heard from again, 1611
The French residents of Acadia are given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia, Canada, 1713
Empress Catherine II of Russia grants Jews permission to settle in Kiev, 1794
Christopher Latham Sholes receives a patent for Type-Writer, 1868
The Rocky Mountains Park Act becomes law in Canada, creating the nation's first national park, Banff National Park, 1887
The International Olympic Committee  is founded at the Sorbonne, Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, 1894
The College Board administers the first SAT exam, 1926
Wiley Post and Harold Gatty take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in an attempt to circumnavigate the world in a single-engine plane, 1931
The 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake strikes Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, 1946
The Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent, comes into force, 1961
Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funds, 1972
Himmy, a pet cat in Australia, weighs in at domestic cat record 20.7 kg (45 lb) , 1982
Nintendo 64 goes on sale in Japan, 1996
Japan's Iwate prefecture experiences a 6.7 magnitude earthquake, 2011