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To enjoy more blogs participating in the A to Z Challenge, click here.
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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee at Comedy Plus.
Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays. Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's it.
Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you. What better way to start the week than with a smile.
Because i was walking with Becca and Mr. Cal, i was not able to take as many pictures as i wanted or quite the angles i wanted, but i've made do.
As we walked, looking ahead i thought i saw, could it be, a turtle?
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He made it, but Becca was rushing ahead and Mr. Cal tugging at the leash, so i didn't get any photos of him making excellent progress in the grass toward the pond behind the houses.
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Sparks is the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, who wanted us to post something positive and uplifting at the start of the week. While she no longer blogs, i like to post an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.
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Our dear friend Diane is taking a break
accommodations we must make
we miss her poetry and wit
so carry on as Poetry Monday's a hit!
Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border. Charlotte/Mother Owl and i are keeping it going while she takes a blog break, we hope temporarily. Anyone else is welcome to join in the fun, just let us know!
This week the theme is Quiet. h
"I want a piece of quiet!"
she heard her daughter say,
and at first she simply chuckled,
at the child putting it this way.
Then she thought much further,
and saw it would be nice
if "quiet" were an actual item
and you could order up a slice.
She'd order quiet moments
with which to start the day
and then a few more in the evening
before time to hit the hay.
Instead of a crying baby,
get a slice of quiet giggle and coo,
instead of screaming toddler,
a quiet game of peek-a-boo.
For the endlessly arguing siblings
a quiet board game or three,
for teen and pre-teen drama,
a quiet talk to help them clearly see.
We all need a "piece of quiet"
to get us through our life,
let's strive for a "piece of quiet,"
to ease our daily strife.
Future themes are:
Apr. 29 quiet (today!)
May 6 chest
May 13 event
May 20 pizza
May 27 politics
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Today is:
Act of Self Determination Day -- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Arita Ceramic Fair -- Arita, Japan (finest porcelain in Japan; during Golden Week until May 5)
Cheng Cheng Kung Landing Day -- Taiwan (anniversary of the landing in Taiwan of Ming Dynasty loyalist Cheng Cheng Kung to oust the Dutch colonists)
Feast of the Secret Masters -- can't find any real info on this one, and why should i if it's such a secret, but it is fun to think about
Fish Cleaning Night -- sponsored by David Letterman (it's okay if you don't have an audience, or Mariel Hemingway)
International Dance Day -- International Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), a UNESCO partner
National Adult Public Skipping Day -- because somebody out there either wants you to feel like a kid again, or make a fool of you
National Shrimp Scampi Day
"Peace" Rose Day -- an explanation of this name for the Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland variety
Remembrance of Victims of Chemical Weapons -- on the day chemical weapons were outlawed in 1997
Ridvan, Ninth Day -- Baha'i (one of the festival days on which work and school should be suspended)
Runic Half Month of Lagu (water) begins
Showa No Hi -- Japan (Showa Day, the birth anniversary of Emperor Showa, begins the Golden Week holiday period of four major national days, through May 5)
Solar Alignment at Teotihuacan, City of the Gods -- Teotihuacan, Mexico (the ritual cave opening aligns to the sunset on Aug. 12 and Apr. 29, the same horizon position of the setting of the Pleiades)
St. Catherine of Siena's Day (Patron of fire prevention, firefighter, nurses, nursing services, people ridiculed for piety, sick people; Europe; Italy; Theta Phi Alpha Sorority; Allentown, PA, US; Siena, Italy; Verazze, Italy; against bodily ills/sickness, fire, miscarriages, sexual temptation)
World Wish Day -- from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, marking the date in 1980 that local police let seven-year-old leukemia patient Chris Grecicius be an officer for a day, sparking the idea of the Make-a-Wish Foundation
Zipper Day -- while i can't confirm it, the modern zipper was supposedly patented on this day in 1913
Anniversaries Today:
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, marries Catherine "Kate" Middleton, 2011
Mike Nichols marries Diane Sawyer, 1988
Princess Irene marries Prince Carel Hugo de Bourbon Parma, 1964
Birthdays Today:
Andre Agassi, 1970
Uma Thurman, 1970
Carnie Wilson, 1968
Eve Plumb, 1958
Michelle Pfeiffer, 1958
Daniel Day-Lewis, 1957
Kate Mulgrew, 1955
Jerry Seinfeld, 1954
Nora Dunn, 1952
Dale Earnhardt, 1951
Johnny Miller, 1947
Zubin Mehta, 1936
Lane Smith, 1936
Rod McKuen, 1933
Robert Gottlieb, 1931
Celeste Holm, 1919
Tom Ewell, 1909
Hirohito, 1901
Duke Ellington, 1899
William Randolph Hearst, 1863
Oliver Ellsworth, 1745
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"Hair"(Musical), 1968
"ABC's Wide World of Sports"(TV), 1961
"Young Dr. Malone"(Radio), 1940
"There Shall be No Night"(Play), 1940
Roget's Thesaurus(Publication date), 1852
Violin Sonata No. 32 in B-flat major(Mozart K. 454), 1784
Today in History:
The Moors arrive at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, 711
Joan of Arc arrives at Orleans to relieve the siege, 1492
Francis Drake leads a raid in the Bay of Cádiz, sinking at least 23 ships of the Spanish fleet, 1587
Eleven Dutch ships depart for the conquest of Peru, 1623
The Ming Dynasty occupies Taiwan, 1661
James Cook arrives at and names Botany Bay, Australia, 1770
The French Fleet prevents Britain from seizing the Cape of Good Hope, 1781
Peter Roget publishes the first edition of his Thesaurus, 1852
The "Elektromote" – forerunner of the trolleybus – is tested by Ernst Werner von Siemens in Berlin, 1882
Gideon Sundbach of Hoboken, NJ, receives a patent for the zipper, 1913
The North Sea floodgate at Ijmuiden, the biggest in world, officially opens, 1930
The telephone connection of England-Australia goes into service, 1930
The first U.S. experimental 3D-TV broadcast airs, and episode of "Space Patrol" shown over ABC affiliate KECA in Los Angeles, 1953
The first military nuclear power plant opens, in Ft. Belvoir 1957
A cyclone strikes the Chittagong district of southeastern Bangladesh with winds of around 155 mph, killing at least 138,000 people and leaving as many as 10 million homeless, 1991
Oldsmobile builds its final car ending 107 years of production, 2004
Syria completes withdrawal from Lebanon, ending 29 years of occupation, 2005
Economic losses mount and class action lawsuits are filed as the U.S. Coast Guard plans a controlled burn to remove spilled oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, 2010
The International Chemical Weapons Convention deadline for chemical weapon stockpiles comes into effect, 2012
German Measles is declared eradicated from North and South America, the first world regions to do so, 2015
The animated series “The Simpsons” surpasses "Gunsmoke"'s 635-episode count to have highest episode count of any series on TV, 2018
A mile-wide asteroid, 1998 OR2, passes within 3.9 million miles of Earth, 2020
The world's longest pedestrian bridge (516 metres / 1,700 feet) opens inside northern Portugal's Arouca Geopark, 2021
The Bach Long (White Dragon) bridge opens in Moc Chau Island mountain park and resort, Vietnam, becoming the world's longest glass-bottom bridge, 2022
