The Rest of the Way

After the Alabama welcome area, we were back on our way -- for a while.

The Tunnel. In Mobile, there is The Tunnel under the bay. It is always stopped. The big signs tell the speed limit is 55mph, and i don't know why because i have never gotten above 45mph going through there, and that was in the middle of the night. So we crawled through The Tunnel, listening to the nuts honking their horns, and crossed the rest of the bay to the exit where there was a seafood restaurant Sweetie wanted to try.

It was closed. The sign read "Short Sale", so permanently closed. We continued up the road, winding through Spanish Fort until we came to an oyster place. It was crowded and crazy, so it must be good, right?

Well, good is a relative term. It was air condidtioned, and we had to take Sweetie's guitar in with us as he cannot leave it in the heat. After a short wait for a table and quick scan of the choices, the only thing i found on the menu to my liking was the salad bar, so i made 3 trips. The others ordered different seafood choices, and all said they had enjoyed better back home. So much for scouting out new restaurants, we might as well stick to the Cracker Barrel as in years past. It's the truth about chains, they are all consistent.


Sweetie did get into a lively and friendly discussion with the manager about music, amps, and rock 'n' roll. He also got a call from the worship leader at the church where he was invited to sit in with the band the next morning. They wanted him there by 5pm so they could set up his gear and adjust their boards for it.

So, on to the Wal-Mart. It's another just over an hour, and by the time we got there, we tossed some extra stuff in Sweetie's car so we would have room for groceries and he took off to stop at the condo and get a parking pass, then go on to the church.

This time i handled the shopping a bit differently than before. Bigger Girl and Teresa took a cart and went after what they wanted. #2 Son and Little Girl did the same. They were to pick up breakfast items, snacks they wanted, drinks they wanted, and something to have for dinner. My job is to get bread and milk and toilet paper and make sure there is some nutritious food available.

Bigger Girl didn't get any drinks as she was holding out for organic milk from the health food store the next afternoon. The others came back with cases of Red Bull. Oy. Plus chips, pizza, hot dogs, Yoo-Hoo, Pop-Tarts, and cereal. Ice cream. Pudding snacks. Yes, coming on vacation is a kid's dream.

Out in the parking lot with two carts full of groceries to try to stuff into an already overstuffed van, i got a call from my brother asking if i was still at the store. Since i was, he asked me to get Dre a toothbrush, so i left the kids to load up (don't ask what happened to the bread) and i went back in for that and the mouthwash i had forgotten. Sometimes, serendipity kicks in, i wouldn't have remembered the mouthwash until Sweetie asked for it the next morning.

The children enjoyed pointing out landmarks to Teresa, and we did see eagles in the nest boxes by the highway. As always, i felt a bit drained when we pulled up to the front of the complex to check in, but that first breath of tangy salt air gives me courage.

Check in, get the code for the parking lot, key cards for everyone, pool passes, and the great news that they now have wi-fi. Park, grab two luggage carts and two shopping carts, and try not to mind the unloading snafus like dropping the laundry detergent and breaking the top so half of it spilled before they could pick it back up. What a mess. For the time being, we left the beach tent and a few other things, and hauled it all to the 11th floor.

Ah, paradise. That's what i always feel when walking around this particular complex. Teresa loved the room and working together we had it all unloaded rather quickly to the noise of the satellite tv tuned to play what passes for music for the kids these days. They even remembered to make sure the cold groceries got unloaded and put away first. It's only taken me how many years to get that into them?

Time to go to the unit next door and say hello to the rest of the family. Only two of them were there, but maybe this is the time to introduce the rest of the cast of characters on this years' adventure.

Doc -- the grandfather and clan leader. A retired physician who is almost as busy in retirement serving on boards and committees for free as he was when catching babies for pay. Never leaves the house without dressing to his position, but likes to hang around the house in old jeans and a wife beater shirt. Willing to take the kids fishing, babysit, run errands, and take Miss Prissy shopping as often as she wants to go.

Miss Prissy -- grandmother, artist, musician, and professional shopper. Believes that a hotel without room service is roughing it.

Uncle J -- the younger of my two brothers. Smart as a whip, and was one of those students whom teachers always tell that if they would spend half the time doing the work instead of figuring out how to avoid it, they would be in trouble less often. Part con artist, he can tell stories that you just don't want your kids to hear. The good thing about all he has done is that he is at least two steps ahead of his own kids, and will likely stay that way as they grow up.

Bryn -- Uncle J's oldest. She is almost 11, and has grown past all the whining she used to do and gotten to where she can be friends with my kids without them feeling like they have a baby tagging along.

Dre -- Uncle J's youngest. He has just turned 5, and loves to go on adventures. Much of our time is spent keeping him occupied or distracting him from things he shouldn't or can't have, as he tends to be sullen when he doesn't get his way.

Over the course of the evening Sweetie came back and turned the A/C down to arctic blast, sending me back to the van for my sweater. We found out that my laptop and Doc's won't connect to the wi-fi system here, though Miss Prissy's and Uncle J's will. When we were hungry, everyone ate what they wanted when they wanted, and Miss Prissy had to be taken back to the store as she had accidentally bought whole coffee beans instead of ground coffee.

Yes, i went to bed tired.





Today is


Daniel Boone Day -- Kentucky, US


Fleur-de-Lis Day


Journalist Day -- Argentina


National Chocolate Ice Cream Day


Sette Giugno -- Malta (Seventh June, remembrance of peaceful protestors killed in 1919)


Shavuot -- Jewish (begins at sundown)


St. Willibald's Day


Union Dissolution Day -- Norway


VCR Day (holding on to the past?)


Vestalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival for Vesta, goddess of the hearth), through the 15th


Vivien Kellems Memorial Day (born 1896)




Birthdays Today:


Michael Cera, 1988
Anna Kournikova, 1981
Larisa Oleynik, 1981
Allen Iverson, 1975
Karl Urban, 1972
Prince, 1958
Liam Neeson, 1952
Jenny Jones, 1946
Tom Jones, 1940
Gwendolyn Brooks, 1917
Dean Martin, 1917
Jessica Tandy, 1909
Virginia Apgar, 1909
Paul Gauguin, 1848
George Bryan "Beau" Brummell, 1778




Today in History:


The first Crusaders begin their Siege of Jerusalem, 1099
Port Royal, Jamaica, is devastated by an earthquake, 1692
David Thompson reaches the mouth of the Saskatchewan River in Manitoba, 1800
Asian cholera reaches Quebec, brought by Irish immigrants, and kills about 6,000 people in Lower Canada, 1832
1,800 Fenian raiders are repelled back to the United States after they loot and plunder around Saint-Armand and Frelighsburg, Quebec, 1866
Tolbert Lanston receives patents for monotype typesetting machines, 1887
Benjamin Harrison becomes the first President of the United States to attend a baseball game, 1892
Norway's parliament dissolves its union with Sweden, 1905
The Supreme Court of the United States hands down its decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, effectively legalizing the use of contraception by married couples, 1965
Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder for sale to the public, 1975
Priscilla Presley opens Graceland to the public, 1982
The volcano Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, explodes generating an ash column 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) high, 1991

Getting There

Getting away from the house was the usual madness, and then some.


As usual when we travel, i was up before the alarm went off, and didn't try to get back to sleep. It's always more trouble than it's worth to try, and if i do doze, i wake up groggier. Because i get up so early, the rest of the family snoozed while i got dressed and cleaned up after the midnight snackers in peace the way i usually do.


One thing i didn't have to do was make the milk for the kittens. They are all in other foster homes, and so i just made sure i cleaned out their bowls well and put them away, then tossed their disposable litter boxes.


The first to get up after me was Sweetie. He came barreling through, already up and dressed a half hour before i expected him, muttering under his breath about making sure his guitar case had all of the picks he wanted in it. Never get in the way of a rocker who wants his guitar picks, just leave him be.


As i wandered through the final details, the clomp clomping of teenage feet that has replaced the pitter patter of previous years began to echo as one after another of the kids made an appearance.


"Mom, are we near ready yet?" #2 Son began at 7am, more than an hour before we could even think of going. "I want to get on the road!"


Son, i reminded him, the condo isn't ready until after 3pm, so its no use leaving this early. All the cold groceries would melt in the car while we wait.


"Mom, where're my goggles?" Little Girl was plaintively wailing and digging under chairs in the library.


"Mom, when we shop, I need a new toothbrush," Bigger Girl informed me.


And on it went like that, all of us getting in each other's way, searching, making sure last minute items weren't forgotten.


Then, "Mom, dad's already putting his stuff in the car!" #2 Son was aggrieved, as we usually wait until we have everything assembled, and then fit it all in, jigsaw puzzle fashion. So off i went to take care of this latest disaster in the making, and it turned out he wanted his guitar either in the car with the A/C on or in the house. Since warming the planet further with extra emissions from running his car for no reason is not one of my long term goals, he hauled the gear back in.


A knock at the door told us Teresa had arrived, and it was sweet relief. We had been concerned, up to the last minute, that her mom would change her mind and not let her come. First i told her not to knock next time, that she is family, to just come on in, then i sent the kids to help her get the rest of her bags.


She was very fashionably dressed as usual, more for show than comfort it seemed to me. Her parents won't let her out of the house, or even out of her bedroom, until she is dressed to their satisfaction, even to having matching shoes and purse picked out for the day! She informed me that her mother had taken away her one piece swim suit and given her a skirtini, whatever that is, and told her to tell me that i was to tattle if she wore anything else! In response, i told her that we would buy her a decent swim suit, and that my only words to her mom would be that she was beautifully behaved and impeccably dressed the whole time. She smiled with relief.


At promptly 8am we had the whole crew and all luggage assembled in the driveway. Now came the fun part.


Mayhem ensued as we crammed, shoved, climbed over, and just generally smooshed everything in somehow. The ice chests, one of which had my breakfast in it, ended up on the bottom, of course, so when the time came for me to dig out my bananas and sunflower seeds, i had to tilt Sweetie's box fan at an odd angle and try to keep it from falling with one hip, and lean over with a very hard something in someone's bag jammed into my abdomen. The hanging clothes got moved twice, the music stand 3 times, half of my Vita-Mix was in one vehicle and the other part in the other, and we almost left the computer case sitting in the driveway.


One last check of the house. Make sure the water to the leaky toilet is turned off, and a clean towel behind it to soak up any tiny drips. Cover all the beds in plastic to make sure the cats don't tell us how much they miss us in their usual stinky way. Key to man cave on fridge so #1 Son can get in there to the fuse box if needed. Money for him to get more milk and bread if he needs it, a list of things to remember that i forgot to write everything on, lock all the doors, and we are off. Well, i'm always off, but in this case down the road.


Little Girl rode with Sweetie in the Honda, so Bigger Girl and Teresa sat in the middle seats of the van and #2 Son in the back. They put in a DVD and i was treated to some of their crazy music as we went all the way to...the traffic jam between us and the next small town, where we would stop for coffee and breakfast.


Yes, traffic jam. On Saturday morning. There is construction, you see. No lanes closed, no accidents, no breakdowns. But someone freaks and slows too much, so the people behind have to slow, also. Then those behind that. Finally, you end up at a complete stop on the interstate. It happened 3 times between where we live and the state line. What should be a one hour and 10 minute drive took a good two hours.


Ah, the breakfast stop. No, i didn't want to make it. Sweetie did. The kids are always up for eating, especially at McDonald's. So coffee and juice and biscuits and everything else, and back we went into the fray.


The Mississippi Welcome Center is where my bladder always calls a halt. I'm not sure if it's because by that time i've been up since before the crack of dawn and it catches up to me that i've had two cups of coffee and my water bottle is empty, or if it is a Pavlovian response to seeing the highway signs. Either way, we have to stop and stretch.


That welcome center is a treat. It's large and looks rather like an old southern home from the inside, like you are sitting in someone's living room, with old rockers and couches, lots of tasteful pictures, even the brochure areas manage to be small and neat and look refined in that setting. The rest rooms are as clean as they can keep them with the number of people who come through there, and if we had time, there are picnic areas and places to walk under shady trees.


As usual, there's no time, at least by the kid's clocks. Back to it, with music i'm not all that thrilled to listen to, and later a movie that was nothing but explosions for #2 Son. Ignoring it as best i could, we drove on to Alabama under sunny skies that boded well for the rest of the journey.




Today is


Bonza Bottler Day


D-Day


Dragon Boat Festival -- China (commemorates ancient hero Qu Yuan)


Memorial Day -- South Korea


National Gardening Exercise Day -- Get out and exercise with your plants.


National Huntington's Disease Awareness Day


National Yo-Yo Day


Samantha Smith Day -- Maine, US


Sjómannadagurinn, Iceland (Seaman's Day, first Sunday in June)


St. Claude's Day


St. Martha's Day


Svenska Flaggaans Dag / National Day -- Sweden


Teacher's Day -- Bolivia


Queen's Birthday -- Niue


Queensland Day -- Queensland, Australia


YMCA Founder's Day




Birthdays Today:


Staci Keanan, 1975
Max Casella, 1967
Ena, 1966
Bjorn Borg, 1956
Sandra Bernhard, 1955
Harvey Fierstein, 1952
Robert Englund, 1947
Gary U.S. Bonds, 1939
Thomas Mann, 1875
Nathan Hale, 1755




Today in History:


Twenty-four wagonloads of Talmudic books are burned in Paris, 1242
The Qing Dynasty Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor capture Beijing during the collapse of the Ming Dynasty; the Manchus would rule China until 1912 when the Republic of China is established, 1644
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world's first university museum, 1683
A devastating fire destroys one-third of Moscow, including 18,000 homes, 1752
Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte is crowned King of Spain, 1808
The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London, 1844
More than 100,000 inhabitants of Bombay are killed as a cyclone in the Arabian Sea pushes huge waves into the harbour, 1882
The Great Seattle Fire destroys the entirety of downtown Seattle, Washington, 1889
The Chicago El begins operation, 1892
The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins, the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, 1912
The Chrysler Corporation is founded by Walter Percy Chrysler, 1925
The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey, United States, 1933
A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy, 1974
Mongolia holds its first direct presidential elections, 1993
A near-Earth asteroid estimated at 10 metres diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya. The resulting explosion is estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb, 2002
Tamil is established as a Classical language by the President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in a joint sitting of the two houses of the Indian Parliament, 2004

What (Re)Possessed Him?

"Hey, mom, guess what I did last night!" #2 Son looked bleary eyed but cheerful as usual.

Do i really want to know?

"No, you really don't, but you've got to hear this. I didn't get to bed 'til 3am because I went with Jake to Mississippi to repossess a car!"

What!!!

"Yeah, Jake repos cars for a living, and he had to go to Mississippi last night. We drove to this small town, and the lady met us at the gas station and gave us the keys, and the other guy drove it back, and it was awesome!"

Son, don't you know people have been shot trying to repossess cars?

"No, mom, it was cool. Jake said she was going to meet us with the keys, and that if she didn't we would go steal the car, but she met us, so it was okay. And Jake makes a good living doing that, maybe I should repo cars when I'm in college so I don't have to get a regular job."

Anybody want a slightly used 15 year boy? Most likely, i'd let you call it a repo and throw in a 3 year supply of his favorite chicken noodle soup.

Today is

Agata Matsuri -- Uji, Agata Shrine, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Apple II Day

Arbor Day -- New Zealand

Constitution Day -- Denmark; Faroe Islands

Dame Lois Browne-Evans Day -- Bermuda

Day of the Rice God -- Chiyoda, Japan (rice planting festival and ceremony)

Father's Day -- Denmark

Festival of Popular Delusions Day -- day before D-Day, to remind us to watch out for popular delusional leaders; this was the last day the Nazi's could hold on to the delusion of world domination

Gioco Del Ponte -- Pisa, Italy (Battle of the Bridge, a medieval parade and contest for the bridge)

Indian Arrival Day -- Suriname

Liberation Day -- Seychelles

National Cancer Survivors Day

National Gingerbread Day

President's Day -- Equatorial Guinea

St. Boniface's Day

St. Gobnatt's Day

St, James Salomonelli's Day (patron against cancer)

Wedding of the Sea -- Venice, Italy

World Environment Day -- International

Birthdays Today:

Mark Wahlberg, 1971

Brian McKnight, 1969

Kenny G, 1956

Jill Biden, 1951

Suze Orman, 1951

Ken Follett, 1949

Spalding Gray, 1941

Bill Moyers, 1934

Tony Richardson, 1928

Panco Villa, 1878

Thomas Chippendale, 1718

Pu Songling, 1640

Today in History:

Titus and his Roman legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem, 70

Kraków, Poland receives city rights, 1257

The first Great Lakes steamer, the Frontenac, is launched, 1817

Houston, Texas is incorporated by the Republic of Texas, 1837

Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy, 1849

Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery serial, Uncle Tom's Cabin or, Life Among the Lowly starts a ten-month run in the National Era abolitionist newspaper, 1851

Denmark amends its constitution to allow women's suffrage, 1915

Elvis Presley introduces his new single, "Hound Dog", on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements, 1956

The first government of the State of Singapore is sworn in, 1959

U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California by Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan, 1968

The Apple II, the first practical personal computer, goes on sale, 1977

The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that five people in Los Angeles, California have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems, in what turns out to be the first recognized cases of AIDS, 1981

Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi orders an attack on the Golden Temple, the holiest site of the Sikh religion, 1984

A severe heat wave across Pakistan and India reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50°C (122°F) in the region, 2003

On the Road Again

Just can't wait to get on the road again...

Okay, i'll quit singing, i promise.

We are going to be on the road again. The 18th Annual Family Trek to the Beach for a Week.

#1 Son is staying home as he has to work. The freezer is stocked with not too terribly unhealthy frozen meals and lots of frozen veggies he can add to the meals. The fridge is full of bananas and oranges and apples and cucumbers and tomatoes and milk and eggs, so he has some fresh things to add, as he is the one most likely to grab breakfast on the way out the door to work and it will be two bananas and a half a cucumber. Really.

Our side of the family is going in two separate vehicles this time, as there is no way to cram 6 people and all of our luggage, and Sweetie's guitars and amp, into a minivan that has one seat lying down that we can't afford to have fixed so it will come back up.

From our side, the cast of characters on this (mis)adventure are:

Sweetie -- a 50-something rocker who has managed to figure out a way to sit in on a jam session with a local church down in Florida, thus the need for his guitars and an amp. He has a degree in archaeology, but his soul is in his tone.

Bigger Girl -- 18, emotional, philosophical, and planning to spend her summer doing experiments on plants and working at a reproductive biology center. Loves to help around the house and calls Dickens "light reading".

#2 Son -- 15 and can do anything, or thinks he can. His favorite line is "Mom, guess what I did!" followed by something that only a 15 year boy can dream up, like catching baby water moccasins.

Little Girl -- 13, has been PMSing since she was 2. A good swimmer, brilliant writer, perfect pitch when singing, very good artist. Doesn't like compliments and tries to hide all her abilities behind an I-don't-care attitude.

Teresa -- over 20. and the only non-relative going with us this year. A friend of Bigger Girl, rather hard to get to know, but a nice all around person. She was home schooled and her parents won't let her go to college, won't let her learn to drive (i've been teaching her), ruin every job she has ever tried to hold because they want her to live at home and work with them only, and won't let her have a key to the house, any unsupervised computer access, or a phone that will make outgoing calls to any number they haven't approved. This week away is going to be a blast for her, i'm going to see to it.

mimi -- the dumpy, middle-aged housewife, chief cook and bottle washer, kitten feeder, errand runner, lifeguard at the pool and on the beach. It's not a bad life if you can get it.

Today is

Applesauce Cake Day

Audacity to Hope Day -- for all those who have the audacity to keep their hope, no matter what

Bhagat Puran Singh's Birthday -- Sikhism

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim's Birthday -- Finland (official flag day)

Chicken and Egg Festival -- Prescott, Arkansas, US (enjoy the cackling and crowing contests, and all the other fun events, through tomorrow)

Derby Day -- Epsom Downs, Surrey, England

Do-Dah Parade -- Kalamazoo, Michigan, US (a "Salute to Silliness" with offbeat paraders and fun for the whole family)

Drawing Day (a/k/a Pencil Day) -- drop everything and draw! express yourself through art

Eel Festival -- Jyllinge, Denmark

Elfreth's Alley Day (Fete Day) -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (one of the oldest continuously inhabited streets in the country)

Emancipation Day -- Tonga

Enshu Hamakita Hiryu Matsuri -- Hamamatsu City, Japan (honors the river god Ryujin)

Festival for Hercules Custos -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Head of State's Official Birthday -- Maylaysia

Horseradish Festival -- Collinsville, Illinois (horseradish capital of the world, build a race car of roots, enjoy the food and fun, through tomorrow)

Hug Your Cat Day -- given various dates on different websites; as a cat lover, i'll observe it on every one mentioned.

International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

Jarila's Day -- Ancient Slavic Calendar (Festival of Jarila, god of the sun and fertility)

National Cognac Day

National Frozen Yogurt Day

National Trails Day -- to remember our wilderness trails, wherever they are, and thank those who maintain them

National Unity Day -- Hungary

Old Maid Day -- begun after WWII, dances and socials were held to bring the ladies whose GI's were not returning and the men who were unattached together

Pink Tomato Festival -- Warren, Arkansas (through the 11th)

Revolution Day -- Ghana

St. Optatus' Day

St. Petroc's Day (favourite saint of Cornwall, England, for banishing monsters)

Yobuko Otsunahiki -- Higashi Matsuura, Saga prefecture, Japan (Tug of War between the land team and the sea team; if the land wins, there will be good crops, if the sea, good fishing)

Birthdays Today:

Russell Brand, 1975

Angelina Jolie, 1975

Noah Wyle, 1971

Sam Harris, 1961

George Noory, 1950

Michelle Phillips, 1944

Joyce Meyer, 1943

Bruce Dern, 1936

John Drew Barrymore, 1932

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, 1928

Dennis Weaver, 1924

Robert Merrill, 1919

Rosalind Russell, 1907

Today in History:

Chinese astronomers make the first recording of a solar eclipse, BC781

Sir Walter Raleigh establishes the first English colony on Roanoke Island, old Virginia (now North Carolina), 1584

Forces under the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan, 1615

New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada taken from the Acadians, 1760

A transit of Venus is followed five hours later by a total solar eclipse, the shortest such interval in history, 1769

The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon), 1783

Marie Thible, of Lyons, France, accompanied by a pilot (Monsieur Fleurant), became the first woman in history to fly in a free balloon. She drifted across Lyons in a balloon named Le Gustave (for King Gustav III of Sweden, who was watching the ascent); a year after the first flight by a man, 1784

Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for the Kingdom of Great Britain, 1792

The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title, 1878

Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run, 1896

Massachusetts becomes the first state of the United States to set a minimum wage, 1912

The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first Pulitzer for biography (for Julia Ward Howe). Jean Jules Jusserand receives the first Pulitzer for history for his work With Americans of Past and Present Days. Herbert B. Swope receives the first Pulitzer for journalism for his work for the New York World, 1917

A patent for the ATM is granted to Donald Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain, 1973

The Tiananmen Square protests are violently ended in Beijing by the People's Liberation Army, 1989

Solidarity's victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, 1989

Cymotrichous

The winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee has been crowned for 2011.

Cymotrichous was the winning word, and yes my spell check is going nuts over not recognizing it, either.

It has to do with wavy hair, so it's one i should memorize myself. All of us but Little Girl have naturally wavy or almost kinky curly hair.

Well, congratulations to the winner of that one, Sukanya Roy, from Pennsylvania. She was in 12th place last year, and this was her last year to compete.

That is one smart bunch of kids, though, and they ought to all be proud of their hard work and accomplishments.


Today is

Arrephoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (Athens, festival to honor Pallas Athena, date approximate)

Broken Dolls Day -- Japan (all broken dolls are taken by their children to monks for burial)

Buffal Days Celebration -- Luverne, Minnesota, US (enjoy the festivities, including a buffalo chip throwing contest! through the 5th)

Chimborazo Day

Donut Day -- sponsored by the Salvation Army

Economist Day -- Argentina

English Riviera Dance Festival -- Torquay, Devon, England (through the 10th)

Festival to Bellona -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of war)

Fez Festival of World Sacred Music -- Fez, Morocco (through the 11th)

Harvard Milk Days Festival -- Harvard, Illinois, US

Impersonate Authority Day (at your own risk!)

Jack Jouett Day -- Virginia (the "Paul Revere" of his day, rode to warn Governor Thomas Jefferson that the British were coming, 1781)

Labor Day -- Bahamas

Mabo Day -- Australia

Martyr's Day -- Uganda

National Chocolate Macaroon Day

Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival -- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (more than 100 tribes meet to pow wow and celebrate their heritage, through the 5th)

Repeat Day (I said "Repeat Day")

Route 66 Summerfest -- Rolla, Missouri, US (through tomorrow)

St. Clotilde's Day

St. Kevin's Day (patron of Ireland)

Worst Day in the Fairy Year -- Fairy Calendar (must be nice to know when your worst day will be)


Anniversaries Today:

The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson, 1937


Birthdays Today:

Lalaine, 1987
Rafael Nadal, 1986
Anderson Cooper, 1967
Deniece Williams, 1951
Suzi Quatro, 1950
Curtis Mayfield, 1942
Colleen Dewhurst, 1926
Allen Ginsberg, 1926
Tony Curtis, 1925
Leo Gorcey, 1917
Josephine Baker, 1906
Dr. Charles Drew, 1904
Ransom E. Olds, 1864
Jefferson Davis, 1808


Today in History:

French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy, 1140
Hernando De Soto claims Florida for Spain, 1539
Construction of the oldest stone church in French North America, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, begins at Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, 1620
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo is founded in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, 1770
President John Adams moves to Washington, D.C., to live in a tavern (the White House wasn't ready), 1800
In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kg of opium confiscated from British merchants, which prompts the First Opium War, 1839
In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, Cree leader Big Bear escapes the North West Mounted Police, 1885
The poem "Casey at the Bat", by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, is published in the San Francisco Examiner, 1888
The coast to coast Canadian Pacific Railway is completed, 1889
One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, British Columbia, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa, Ontario, 1935
Launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew, 1965
A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill ever recorded, 1979
SkyDome is officially opened in Toronto, Ontario, 1989
Aboriginal Land Rights are granted in Australia in Mabo v Queensland (1988), a case brought by Eddie Mabo, 1992
USS Carter Hall engages pirates after they board the Danish ship Danica White off the coast of Somalia, 2007

Shifts in Shifts

Way back when we were having other work done, it was noted that #1 Son's vehicle needed more work. Because of the budget, it was decided to delay until around the first of June.

Well, it has come, and after checking with #1 Son and duly confirming he didn't need to go into work early, the part was ordered for the work to be done today.

We all know what this means, of course. A shift in shifts. When i reminded him to leave me the key so i could take it in, he said he couldn't. His schedule changed at the last minute, making it possible the car won't be finished before he goes to work.

That, of course, would require that we make a choice. We could either delay the work, not a good idea when you ordered the part, and don't want to be seen as a flake, and we want this done before vacation. The other choice is to trade vehicles, which is not to my liking at all when i have about 17 -- more or less -- errands to run and some of them involve taking boxes that won't fit in the car. Add the fact that his car is a trash pit, and i just don't want to take it because of that.

So, the crew at my local tire and minor repair place against the clock. We'll see who wins this round.


Today is

Ascension of Christ Jesus -- Christians

Coronation Day -- Bhutan; United Kingdom

Fardagar -- Iceland (Moving Days, through Sunday, the traditional time of year for workers to move to other farms, debts to be settled, and it used to start the fiscal year.)

Festa della Repubblica -- Italy

Festival of Light and Dark Spots -- Fairy Calendar

Festival of Utter Confusion -- an internet declared holiday, and this is the one for me!

Hristo Botev Day -- Bulgaria

Isabel Province Day -- Isabel Province, Solomon Islands

National Bubba Day

National Leave the Office Early Day -- when you work hard, it's okay to do this once a year

National Rocky Road Day

Portland Rose Festival -- Portland, OR, US (through the 12th)

Procession of the Golden Chariot -- Mons, Belgium (celebrates the delivery of Mons from the plague in 1349)

Shelburne County Lobster Festival -- Shelburne County, NS, Canada (through the 5th)

St. Blandina's Day (patron of girls)

St. Elmo's Day (a/k/a St. Erasmus; patron of sailors, childbirth; against seasickness, stomachaches)

St. Nicephorus' Day

St. Pothinus' Day

Yell "Fudge" at the Cobras in North America Day -- just because you can!


Anniversaries Today:

U.S. President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom, 1886 (only president to wed in the executive mansion)
Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories & Head of the Commonwealth, 1953 (the first major international event to be televised)


Birthdays Today:

Justin Long, 1978
Zachary Quinto, 1977
Queen 'Masenate Mohato Seeiso, Queen consort of Lesotho, 1976
Wayne Brady, 1972
Joel Tobeck, 1971
Dana Carvey, 1955
Dennis Haysbert, 1954
Cornel West, 1953
Jerry Mathers, 1948
Marvin Hamlisch, 1944
Stacy Keach, 1941
Charlie Watts, 1941
Sally Kellerman, 1937
Johnny Weissmuller, 1904
Hedda Hopper, 1890
Sir Edward Elgar, 1857
Thomas Hardy, 1840
Marquis de Sade, 1740
Martha Dandridge Custiss Washington, 1731


Today in History:

The Vandals enter Rome and begin 2 weeks of plundering, 455
The First Siege of Antioch ends when Crusader forces take the city, 1098
The first Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France, 1615
Bridget Bishop is the first person to go to trial in the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692
The Derby horserace is held for the first time in Epsom, England, 1780
P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States, 1835
The Slavic congress in Prague begins, 1848
Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his early radio device, 1896
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act, making Native American Indians withing US territories and states US citizens, 1924
Lou Gehrig begins his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played, 1925
In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic, and exile their king, Umberto II di Savoia, 1946
The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations, 1955
Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft land on another world, 1966
Pope John Paul II visits his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country, 1979
The Bhutan Broadcasting Service brings television transmissions to the Kingdom for the first time, 1999
Europe launches its first probe to voyage to another planet, Mars, 2003

Whittling Down

We are whittling down.

One thing i have always loved is reading. Really, i can't remember to back before i could read, at least a little. So i've always had lots of books around. Tons. One thing i've never understood, in homes where people don't have a library, is what they read.

We had collected, between all of us, around 5,000 books.

Well, it was time. We have whittled our collection down to about half that number.

The next job is to reorganize them.

Also, we are whittling down possessions. Four give away boxes are ready, and there is still stuff to go through. It is starting to feel lighter in the house.

Finally, bittersweetly, we are whittling down kittens. Jayden and Rosalie have been sent to their new home. Hannah has been spayed, and will start going to adoption events. The lady who brought us Tara's litter has been contacted, and she wants to go ahead and adopt her. The paperwork for preadoption will be filled out today.

By the end of the week, we will have no more kittens in the house, and it will be time to go to Florida.

It's going to be nice to be there again.

Today is

Arrival of the Swiss at the Port-Noir -- Switzerland

Early Bird Day -- an internet derived day that reminds us the early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese

Feast of Carna -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of the heart and other organs)

Feast of St. Justin Martyr

Fei Fei Day -- Vancouver, BC, Canada

Festival of Non-Linearity -- another one you find on the internet, no meaning or rhyme to it, but if you like to think in non-linear ways, enjoy today!

Flip a Coin Day

Gawai Dayak -- Sarawak, Malaysia

Heimlich Maneuver Day

Helen Keller Day -- Lions Clubs

Independence Day -- Samoa

International Children's Day

Iroquois Strawberry Ceremony -- Iroquois Native Americans; through the 4th

Jubilee -- Peru

Kaiko Kinenbi -- Yokahama, Japan (Yokahama Port Opening Festival, through tomorrow)

Madaraka Day -- Kenya (self-rule/responsibility day)

Mint Julip Day -- Oxford, Mississippi

Mothers' and Children's Day -- Mongolia

National Day Against Homophobia -- Canada

National Go Barefoot Day

National Hazelnut Cake Day

National Running Day

National Tailors' Day

National Tree Planting Day -- Cambodia

President's Day -- Palau

Say Something Nice Day

Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival -- Sedalia, MO, US (through the 5th)

Stand for Children Day

Yom Yerushalayim -- Israel (Jerusalem Day)


Anniversaries Today:

Kentucky becomes the 15th US state, 1792
Tennessee becomes the 16th US state, 1796
Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, is founded as the first US land-grant
university, 1808


Birthdays Today:

Alanis Morissette, 1974
Heidi Klum, 1973
Ron Wood, 1947
Robert Powell, 1944
Rene Auberjonois, 1940
Morgan Freeman, 1937
Colleen McCullough, 1937
Pat Boone, 1934
Edward Woodward, 1930
Bob Monkhouse, 1928
Andy Griffith, 1926
Marilyn Monroe, 1926
Nelson Riddle, 1921
Brigham Young, 1801


Today in History:

Hugh Capet is elected King of France, 987
Beijing, then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Beijing, 1215
Friar John Cor records the first known batch of scotch whisky, 1495
Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England, 1533
Mary Dyer is hanged for defying a law banning Quakers from the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1660
The battle of the Glorious First of June is fought, the first naval engagement between Britain and France during the French Revolutionary Wars, 1794
U.S. President James Madison asks the Congress to declare war on the United Kingdom, 1812
James Lawrence, the mortally-wounded commander of the USS Chesapeake, gives his final order: "Don't give up the ship!" 1813
James Clark Ross discovers the North Magnetic Pole, 1831
American adventurer William Walker conquers Nicaragua, 1855
Treaty of Bosque Redondo is signed allowing the Navajos to return to their lands in Arizona and New Mexico, 1868
Thomas Edison receives a patent for his electric voting machine, 1869
Napoleon Eugene, the last dynastic Bonaparte, is killed in the Anglo-Zulu War, 1879
The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine to count census returns, 1890
Louis D. Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court, 1916
The First Conference of the Communist Parties of Latin America is held in Buenos Aires, 1929
Charles de Gaulle comes out of retirement to lead France by decree for six months, 1958
New Zealand's first official television broadcast commences at 7.30pm from Auckland, 1960
Kenya gains internal self-rule (Madaraka Day), 1963
The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine, 1974
The first black-led government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 90 years takes power, 1979
CNN begins broadcasting, 1980
Air France Flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil, Killing all 228 passengers and crew, 2009
General Motors files for chapter 11 bankruptcy, 2009