The American holiday is not celebrated in Ireland. Likely as not, my Irish forefathers never heard of an attitude of gratitude. All the same so many Irish blessings and quotations show a deep awareness of the importance of showing appreciation for our blessings.This is one of my favorites:
“Hem your blessings with thankfulness,
So they don’t unravel.”
Chicken Wrangler Sara and I will be gathering with our family this week to count our blessings. See you next week.
Veterans Day is the day set aside to honor all those who have served our country in war or peace — dead or alive — although it’s largely intended to thank living veterans for their sacrifices.
Pause a moment this Veterans Day to say “thank you” to a friend, relative, or co-worker who is a U.S. military veteran or actively serving.
Spectators and veterans hold up “Thank You” signs during the 2012 Fayetteville Veterans Day parade, Nov. 10, 2012 in Fayetteville, N.C.
A little synchronicity going on with blogs this Halloween.
Chicken Wrangler Sara’s post for last Friday about crayon costumes she’d made for her children arrived for me to schedule as I was searching through my stash of pictures for a Halloween costume photo to use for my blog today. As I told her, great minds think alike.
My search for the photo of her brother and sister in their costumes turned into more of a search than I wanted. I discovered two things:
#1 The albums I used back in the 1970s were disintegrating. The pictures were fine the photo holders not so much.
Not a big problem. Now I know there’s an issue. I’ll switch all those photos to albums like the other years before cell phone photography and cloud storage.
#2 Daughter #2 (the one in the picture) had the photograph.
That proved to be more of an issue. After texting Daughter #2, I learned she did have the photo I wanted for sure along with several others. All taken with permission. However, she couldn’t find the photo of her and her brother in Halloween costumes.
Thus began the great Halloween picture search at our family gathering to watch the opening game of the World Series. She brought a huge pile of pictures for us to search through as we sipped craft beer and cheered the Astros.
No luck that night so her search continued.
No luck the next day or the next. “No worries,” I said through my disappointment.
Then I got a text late Sunday afternoon: “I never did find the original but suddenly remembered that I had scanned it in on my old phone!!” The photo we’d been searching for was included. I had to laugh at the full circle…snapshot to jpg. Computers to the rescue.
Here’s the picture. Our son is in a devil costume I made and daughter #2 is one of the three blind mice. (Back then Halloweens were kinder and gentler.)
After that buildup, you’ll probably find the photo anti-climactic, but don’t miss the paper decorations in the windows.
A day to honor Noah Webster’s birthday on October 16, 1758. You probably recognize the name.
Webster is the “Father of American Scholarship and Education,” and author of the Blue-Backed Speller which taught generations of American school children to read and spell.
Because he disliked the complexity of English spelling rules, he streamlined our American way of spelling certain words like “color” instead of the English spelling of “colour.” His first dictionary was published in 1806.
A year later he began work on a more comprehensive dictionary, which took him twenty-seven years to finish. He learned twenty-six languages to evaluate the etymology of the seventy thousand words included in the work.
As a child, I spent hours poring through the pages of my grandmother’s eight-inch thick copy of Webster’s New International Dictionary (of the English Language).
The fifteen-pound book had leather alphabet tabs cut into the pages. The illustrations were detailed and the maps gorgeous. There were diagrams, charts, and thousands of words. It was a fertile resource for a blossoming logophile or wordsmith as I prefer to call myself.
Wonderful magical stuff can happen when you use a print dictionary. You discover word origins and its root which can give a deeper understanding of meaning. You also find synonyms and antonyms that provide possibilities for rewriting or a totally new idea.
Sure, you can get all that in a nanosecond online. But do you scroll down to discover all that? Probably not. Even if you do, you miss all those other words your finger glides over as it scrolls down the printed page. Words that you might never have seen.
As an author, I keep a print copy of Webster’s Dictionary closeby, and I use it often along with the online versions.
Authors and anyone who publishes also have another reason to appreciate Noah Webster. He played a role in forming the Copyright Act of 1831, which extended copyrights from fourteen to twenty-eight years with an option of renewal for another fourteen years. That changed with even greater protections under The Copyright Act of 1976, but Noah Webster started the copyright ball rolling.
Thank you, Mr. Webster, for your hard work. You do deserve a national day of recognition.
Every year in the United States July 4th celebrates the day the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
Technically, independence was declared on July 2 and the Declaration of Independence wasn’t fully signed until July 19. But who cares?
July 4th is the federal holiday where we traditionally celebrate our freedom. Fourth of July gatherings or events to celebrate the birth of our nation will vary across the country, but parades, fireworks, and outdoor fun are sure to be found.
Fun facts and trivia to share at your backyard celebration.
Prefer statistics?
Not only will pets suffer on this holiday, but many PTSD veterans will also be cringing with every blast of those fireworks set off in your driveway. Consider attending a fireworks display or watching one on the television instead.
Statistic Sources:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/4th-july-numbers-look-american-holiday
https://www.tastingtable.com/909299/this-is-how-many-hot-dogs-are-actually-eaten-on-the-4th-of-july
This month Father’s Day and Juneteenth fell on the same day–June 19. Lots of social media about the Father’s Day holiday.
Not so much about Juneteenth. It may be new to you if you’ve never lived in Texas.
Also known as “Jubilee Day,” “Black Independence Day,” and “Freedom Day, June 19 only became a national holiday last year.
Read President Biden’s proclamation HERE.
Emancipation of slaves at the end of the Civil War took effect in 1863 with President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation, sadly, however, slaves in Texas would not be freed until two years later on June 19, 1865. On that day, 2,000 troops arrived in Galveston Bay and announced the freedom of enslaved Black people by executive decree.
“Juneteenth” has been celebrated in Texas ever since then with community gatherings filled with food, music, and fellowship. Now it’s a national day to celebrate freedom.
Learn more about the history of Juneteenth HERE.
If you didn’t celebrate Freedom Day yesterday, no worries. Mark your calendar for next year.
We also honored our fathers—a birth father, a stepfather, a relative or friend, whoever served in a father role. My father is gone now so the day is always a bit sad for me, but old pictures and memories bring a smile.
On Memorial Day, I’m reminded of my days living on military bases and hearing TAPS played from the base speaker at the day’s end. We stopped what we were doing and stood at attention. The day had ended.
Hearing TAPS at military funerals always brings a tear to my eyes. I agree with Master Sergeant Jari A Villanueva, USAF:
“There is something singularly beautiful and appropriate in the music of this wonderful call. Its strains are melancholy, yet full of rest and peace. Its echoes linger in the heart long after its tones have ceased to vibrate in the air.”
There are no “official” words to Taps. These are the most popular and the ones that run through my head when the bugler plays.
Day is done,
gone the sun,
From the hills,
from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well,
safely rest,
God is nigh.
Go to sleep,
peaceful sleep,
May the soldier
or sailor,
God keep.
On the land
or the deep,
Safe in sleep.
Love, good night,
Must thou go,
When the day,
And the night
Need thee so?
All is well.
Speedeth all
To their rest.
Fades the light;
And afar
Goeth day,
And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well;
Day has gone,
Night is on.
Thanks and praise,
For our days,
‘Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
‘Neath the sky,
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh.
Today, along with the hot dogs, hamburgers, and swimming we associate with Memorial Day, let’s honor and remember those who have gone before.
