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19 06, 2025

Are you celebrating Juneteenth?

By |2025-06-18T10:07:22-05:00June 19th, 2025|Holidays|1 Comment

Today is Juneteenth, short for “June Nineteenth.” Also known as “Jubilee Day,” “Black Independence Day,” and “Freedom Day.

It may be new to you if you’ve never lived in Texas.

Here, the day has been celebrated since June 19, 1865 — two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, when 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and enforce the emancipation of all enslaved people. Learn more about the history HERE.

Since that date, community gatherings filled with food, music, and fellowship have been held in Texas.

On June 17, 2021, President Biden’s proclamation made Juneteenth a federal holiday. Most national banks, the United States Postal Service, and all nonessential federal, state, and city government offices will be closed. Plus, the stock market will also be closed for the holiday.

How will you be celebrating?

26 05, 2025

Thoughts for Memorial Day 2025

By |2025-05-26T09:18:26-05:00May 26th, 2025|Holidays|0 Comments

Today is Memorial Day, the day when we recognize all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy.

It is a three-day weekend to honor and mourn those U.S. military personnel who knew the risks, accepted the odds, and marched onward anyway.

Memorial Day also signals the unofficial start of summer. Along with the hot dogs, hamburgers, and swimming associated with our celebrations, let’s ponder these quotes.

Then pause for a moment of silence to remember their sacrifices and the families who live without them.

• “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.” — Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

• “Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

• “Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.” — Unknown

• “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter the words, but to live by them.” — John F. Kennedy

 

17 03, 2025

Time to Celebrate St. Patrick

By |2025-03-16T10:06:03-05:00March 17th, 2025|Holidays|0 Comments

SOURCE: https://creativecommons.org

There’ll be parades, dancing, special foods, and a whole lot of green here in the United States, whether you have an Irish heritage or not.

Historically, the day was mostly a religious celebration in Ireland.

You wore your homemade St. Patrick’s Day badge or muddy shamrock you dug and went to Mass to sing Hail Glorious St. Patrick. Believe it or not, the pubs were closed on March 17 until the 1970s.

Nowadays, small local villages have parades and festivals with traditional music, sean nós singing and dancing, and a bit of horse racing. Dublin, Cork, Galway, and Limerick have large parades.

One thing’s sure: you’d never ever hear the day called Patty’s Day or St. Pat’s Day in Ireland. It’s Paddy’s Day or St Patrick’s Day.

Did you know these other facts about the patron saint of Ireland?

He was not Irish but British.

Born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders as a teen. They took him to Ireland to work as a shepherd. He escaped and returned to Britain. He spent the next 15 or so years in a monastery, preparing for his missionary work. Pope Celestine I consecrated St. Patrick as Bishop of the Irish around 431.

He was never canonized by the Roman Catholic church.

During the Church’s first millennium, most saints received their title if they were martyrs or were counted to be extraordinarily holy. St. Patrick was the latter. He converted many from paganism and became known as the Apostle of Ireland and made the patron saint of the isle.

His familiarity with the Irish language and culture made the Irish receptive to his teachings because he took familiar Celtic symbols and Christianized them.

Many legends and symbols are attributed to St. Patrick.

He combined the Irish pagan symbol of the sun with the Christian cross, creating the Celtic cross, the icon of Ireland and Irish faith.

He explained the trinity to the Irish pagans with the shamrock’s three leaves. Though there’s no proof he ever did this, the shamrock metaphor remains strong in Irish Christianity.

Allegedly, when snakes attacked him during a 40-day fast, he chased them to the sea. Ireland doesn’t have snakes, so this is a total legend. More likely, he used snakes as a metaphor for the evil Druids and pagans.

He’s said to have climbed Croagh Patrick, County Mayo, and fasted at the summit for the forty days of Lent. True or not, thousands of pilgrims trek to Croagh Patrick’s top yearly.

I’ve climbed Croagh Patrick, but only to the statue, not the summit.

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig ort!

Happy St Patricks Day

13 02, 2025

Why Valentine’s Day?

By |2025-02-13T08:20:34-06:00February 13th, 2025|Holidays, Valentine's Day|3 Comments

February 14 is second only to Christmas for gift-giving and sweet treats. A day for romantic dinners and spending time with loved ones. Sending cards to those we love.

Where did the tradition begin? Historians can’t establish the exact origin but do trace how traditions have evolved over the years.

Earliest traditions

According to History.com, the holiday’s origin predates Christianity with the ancient pagan festival of Lupercalia, a Roman festival of feasting and pairing off in partners celebrated in the middle of February.

During Lupercalia, the hide of a sacrificed goat would be cut into strips, dipped in blood, and slapped around women in the belief the ritual would make the women more fertile in the coming year. That festival was outlawed in the 5th century when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine’s Day.

Who was Saint Valentine?

The most accepted account of St. Valentine says he was a priest arrested for defying a Roman decree that forbade soldiers from marrying and then executed for continuing to wed lovers in secret.

The problem is, according to NPR, Emperor Claudius II of Rome executed two different men named Valentine on February 14 in two different years.

History.com contends St. Valentine was an imprisoned priest who fell in love with one of his visitors and wrote letters to her signing off with “From your Valentine.”

Both accounts have romantic undertones unfortunately neither can be officially verified.

Add in the fact that the Catholic Church recognizes multiple priests named Valentine, and all we can say with confidence is Valentine’s Day was named for a martyred priest.

From honoring a priest to current traditions

Jack B. Oruch, an English professor, says our modern-day traditions are thanks to the 14th-century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who first associated St Valentine with romantic love.  Oruch concluded that before Chaucer’s “The Parlement of Foules” and “The Complaint of Mars” there was no significant written record linking romantic tradition to St. Valentine’s Day.

By the mid-18th century, giving small tokens and handmade notes to friends and lovers on Valentine’s Day became common practice.

The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century enabled printed Valentine’s Day cards. Then in 1913, Hallmark Cards began mass-producing Valentines, and the rest is history.

National Retail Federation predicts a record $27.5 billion will be spent on Valentine’s Day this year. The amount is up from last year’s $25.8 billion. Astonishing, isn’t it?

No fancy retail for our Valentine’s celebration around my house. A hug and an “I love you” say Happy Valentine’s Day the best.

What are your plans?

25 12, 2024

Happy Holiday!

By |2024-12-23T16:44:22-06:00December 25th, 2024|Christmas, Holidays|2 Comments

Popping in with our favorite Irish Christmas Blessing. Whatever you celebrate, Solstice, Hanukkah, or Christmas, Chicken Wrangler Sara and I hope you have a happy one!

Look for us back on a limited basis in the new year.

30 08, 2024

Boys and Toys Part 2

By |2024-08-29T20:05:10-05:00August 30th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


Theo is just like his brother, Alex, in his love of all things with wheels. They have trains, trucks, tractors, and cars of all sizes to roll through their house.

Theo is different than Alex in his love of soft things. At his house, he has many stuffed animals to love. At Grandma’s house, he heads straight for the stuffed squirrel that belongs to the dogs.

He gently carries it around as he plays with all the other Grandma toys. Fortunately, the dogs do not mind sharing.

Over the summer we took the boys to swim at my sister’s house. She has a giant flamingo float that stars in her Instagram posts.

I sent a picture to the boys, and they were very excited to meet Florence the Flamingo.

My mother found some stuffed flamingos for the boys. Theo was immediately in love.

He doesn’t care that it is also a dog toy. I’ll never tell.

26 08, 2024

It’s Time for a Hiatus

By |2024-08-26T06:01:14-05:00August 26th, 2024|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Years ago, I read an editorial by Stephen Orr in the 2018 August Better Homes & Garden magazine. His thoughts stuck with me then and seem even more applicable today.

Orr said, (and I paraphrase) “Imagine reading without the spaces between words. It would be indecipherable.”

Our “Head Space” is being sucked away without any periods or pauses.

Everywhere you look people are on their smartphones, laptops, or iPads. Not just in public places, it happens in our homes, at school, and at our places of worship.

Orr points out that those “tiny glass pocket computers” are putting us on information overload and stealing head space we need to think and process. Everything he said was true then and now. And, it’s sad.

As we move into the final months of this election year, the influx of information to process will only increase.

Orr suggests putting phones down, pausing, and giving our heads room to think. He says, “Real thoughts—your own thoughts—will start seeping back in.”

Chicken Wrangler Sara and I agreed our headspace is overloaded and not just from cell phone usage. Life is busy and moving fast. We’ve decided that Stephen Orr’s advice seemed like an effective way to recharge.

After twelve years of blogging, we’re taking a blog hiatus starting September 1 to clear our head space.

As the Von Trapp Family sang, “so long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, goodbye.”

The website will still be here. You’ll be able to find years of reading material in the archives. Simply scroll down the column on the left and use the site’s search option.

We are grateful for every one of you, our wonderful readers. You have made this blog a success.

23 08, 2024

Boys and Toys Part 1

By |2024-08-21T15:38:29-05:00August 23rd, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


Shortly after our second grandson was born, a friend asked if I needed any “Grandma” toys. Being new to this role, I said “Sure” whereupon she brought a large bag and box of Playschool toys that her grandchildren had outgrown.

Alex, who was two at the time, was thrilled. These were toys he did not have at his house, so they were a hit.

When we were cleaning out Brian’s father’s house, we found an older version of the Playschool family and schoolhouse. We added it to the “Grandma” toys.

All the pieces were in remarkable shape considering their age.

Alex thoroughly enjoyed putting them all in the “right” spot – the table with the chairs around it, the stove and refrigerator in the kitchen, the toilet and tub in the bathroom, etc.

Back in May, there was a terrible storm in North Texas. A tornado went through the town where Alex’s other grandparents live.

The whole family helped with the cleanup, and it made a huge impression on Alex. He frequently re-enacts the storm with his toys. I think it just gives him a reason to make a big mess.

I happened to notice during this visit that one of the playschool chairs was broken.

I asked Alex about it, and he said, “I broke it on accident in the big storm.”

While I was not at all upset or even surprised by this, it did occur to me that these toys had survived the entire childhood of Aunt Jennifer yet the second time the boys played with them, something got broken.

Another difference between boys and girls!

Next week I’ll tell you about Theo’s favorite toys. (Hint:  they are not made by Playschool.)

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