Log Cabin Day

This interesting little holiday is celebrated on June 30 in Michigan where log cabins are commemorated with tours and open houses. Log cabins have always evoked a sense of coziness, as well as simplicity, humble and homespun goodness. It's amazing to reflect that this simple structure built of inter-linking logs could be built by a pioneer family providing them with protection and comfort. It's a beautiful symbol of independence and resourcefulness.

Log Cabin at Black Moshannon State Park, Pennsylvania by User: Ruhrfisch - Wikimedia Commons

Happy National Canoe Day, Canada!

By Elise Smith, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Who knew, it's National Canoe Day up in the Great White North? Of course, it's great for all of us in the Lower 48 to join them and paddle along! In 2007, the canoe was named one of Seven Wonders of Canada by over 1 million listeners of CBC Radio. Afterwards, the holiday was started in 2007 by the Canadian Canoe Museum, in an effort to increase participation in paddle sports. Happy paddling, eh?


Celebrating Canoe Day

Interior view of The Weston National Heritage Centre, Canadian Canoe Museum

May the 4th Be With You!

May 4th is Star Wars Day - May the 4th be with you!

It must be Star Wars Day, a day to celebrate all things Star Wars, naturally. And to go around greeting everyone with, "May the 4th be with you!" Star Wars Day is also observed on May 25th, in honor of the release of Star Wars on May 25, 1977. Neat Jedi mind trick, convincing us to honor them twice! Happy to oblige :)

National High Five Day

Nice, positive gesture! Celebrate with a high five and make someone smile :) 

National D.E.A.R Day - Drop Everything And Read Day

The Mouse and the Motorcycle
by Beverly Cleary - HarperCollins

This multi-organization sponsored* commemoration falls yearly on Beverly Cleary's birthday. Cleary, as any fan of Children's Lit knows, is the author of the Ralph S. Mouse, Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and other series of juvenile books. D.E.A.R Day promotes sustained silent reading on a voluntary basis to encourage the habit of regular reading. When children are encouraged to read this way, they learn that reading becomes a solace and source of growth which can be relied upon for life. Books truly are the one friend that will never let you down, whatever circumstance in which you may find yourself. There is nothing like the feeling of knowing you have a good book in hand which will envelope you in hours of rapt reading. A wondrous journey that essentially never ends. The beginning and end of each book marks a station break whereupon a new book picks up and resumes the journey in another direction. D.E.A.R. Day promotes this practice and provides children with a lifelong habit that will serve them better than any other on their life's journey.

*NEA, PTA, ALA, GFWC, NAA, among others.

International "Louie Louie" Day

This iconic rock'n'roll song has an interesting history and an apparently unjustified notorious reputation. The original version was written and recorded by Richard Berry in the 50's, but The Kingsmen covered it in the 60's when it became a huge hit. The lyrics, as recorded by The Kingsmen drew unwanted and ultimately unwarranted negative attention, even going so far as to be investigated by the FBI. The song today is a Rock 'n'Roll standard and rates 54 among Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs. It has also been covered by hundreds of artists, a true testament to its Rock classic stature.

April Fool's Hoaxes

The Museum of Hoaxes lists the top 100 April Fool's Day hoaxes of all time. A nice way to spend April Fool's Day is to peruse their gallery of unbelievable hoaxes, some of which must have taken considerable thought, effort, and even money to pull off!  And when you're through with that, take a look at Wikipedia's chronology of pretty much all of Google's April Fool's jokes. Google has been pulling off these jokes ever since 2000 when they invented their MentalPlex to make searching easier :p  Someday they really may invent this thing, whenever we're able to plug ourselves neurologically into the internet. For now, we'll have to settle for searching the old-fashioned way, using our current faculties.

What's Your Favorite Pi?

Pi Pie baked at Delft University of Technology
Public domain - Wikimedia Commons

Let's hear it for Pi, for today is March 14! 3/14, 3-14 or whatever format, it's still 3.14 day. Pi Day is celebrated everywhere in honor of this important mathematical constant. Even Congress has approved the designation of a day to recognize Pi. The website www.piday.org is replete with everything you'd like to know about Pi, including some very odd places that Pi can be seen. The Random Facts site has a list of 50 interesting facts about Pi, including this item, "In the Greek alphabet, π (piwas) is the sixteenth letter. In the English alphabet, p is also the sixteenth letter." Today is also, fittingly enough, Albert Einstein's birthday, though he didn't live to see Pi celebrated on its own day. He probably would have appreciated it better than most people.   And of course, the best way to celebrate this day is to... eat pie!

Take Me to Your Leader!

Image assembled by theLibraryLander

It's Extraterrestrial Culture Day - at least in New Mexico, where it is an unofficial holiday actually recognized by the State Legislature. How cool is that? How many places on earth can claim to recognize and appreciate Martians? The Roswell UFO incident has given NM a certain spaciness, hence, House Bill 766, which was passed in 2003 by the New Mexico State Legislature. It proclaims,

"INTRODUCED  BY Daniel R. Foley -  AN ACT RELATING TO SPACE ALIENS; DESIGNATING EVERY SECOND THURSDAY IN FEBRUARY AS "EXTRATERRESTRIAL CULTURE DAY".

Section 1. EXTRATERRESTRIAL CULTURE DAY.--The second Thursday of February each year shall be designated "Extraterrestrial Culture Day" in recognition of the many visitations, sightings, unexplained mysteries, attributed technological advances, experimentations, expeditions, explorations, intrigues, provision of story lines for Hollywood epics and other accomplishments of alien beings from throughout the universe that have contributed to New Mexico's worldwide recognition as a unique and dynamic mosaic of cultural anomalies. The day should be observed to celebrate and honor all past, present and future extraterrestrial visitors in ways to enhance relationships among all the citizens of the cosmos, known and unknown."

Today is National Weatherperson's Day!

John Jeffries flew across
the English Channel - NOAA

Traditionally, weather forecasters have gotten a bad rap for less than accurate predictions, but today that reputation is completely unjustified. Technology has improved forecasting to such an extent that weather people predict almost to the minute when the first snowflake will fall for a snowstorm! Computer models show storm tracks using spaghetti plots which aid forecasters with possible weather events. Long range forecasting is still difficult (witness the inaccuracies found in the Farmer's Almanacs), but day-to-day and even weekly predictions are very reliable. Feb. 5 has been designated National Weatherperson's Day in honor of John Jeffries (American, Feb. 5, 1744 - Sep. 16,1819) who was among the very first people to keep daily weather records. He also conducted the first weather balloon observation over London in 1784. He took weather instruments to an altitude of 9,000 feet and recorded temperature and barometric pressure during the flight. Some people may find weather boring and only worthwhile as the subject of small talk, but for me, it can be a fulfilling pastime, especially as it can impact our lives quite dramatically. In particular, if one lives anywhere along the eastern seaboard, which sees more than its fair share of wild weather! And in honor of National Weatherperson's Day, I want to express my appreciation to one of our local weather persons, Sue Palka, who not only provides accurate weather information, but does so in a calm and reassuring manner. She provides the information without the hype, which is the way news should be delivered. Thanks, Sue!

Sue Palka, WTTG Weather Person

12/12/12 is Not Only a Cool Date, It's Also National Poinsettia Day

Poinsettias - photo by theLibraryLander

Poinsettia Day also happens to fall on the Day of the Virgin, which in Mexico is celebrated with Poinsettias, very fitting since Mexico was responsible for Americans' adopting the showy plant as a Christmas tradition. Joel Roberts Poinsett, a botanist and US Ambassador to Mexico, brought cuttings of  Euphorbia pulcherrima to the US in 1825. These and other facts about Poinsettias are detailed on the University of Illinois Extension page. 12/12/12 comes once a century, so NPR and AtlanticWire did some research to see how people are marking the day. Though, I think the really cool date occurred last year on November 11 (11/11/11) - how perfect was that! Still, today is significant because it'll be the last triple date that will occur in our lifetimes.

International Mountain Day

Mt. Everest North Face toward Base Camp, Tibet - Luca Galuzzi
Wikimedia Commons

Today is International Mountain Day, which is more than just a celebration of mountains, but of the people and cultures that depend on them. Ten Years ago, during the International Year of Mountains, the UN resolved that December 11 would be set aside as International Mountain Day. This day is intended to spotlight the way of life of mountain people as well as educate the world on their plight, since they are among the poorest in the world. Mountain life is often marked by danger and a lack of basic necessities for sustainable life. However majestic mountains may be, living on them requires a lot more than appreciation of their beauty.



Sandia Mountains, Albuquerque, NM - G. Thomas, Wikimedia Commons

UN Photo - Kibae Park

Zero-Tasking Day

A fine example of zero-tasking. 
(photo by theLibraryLander Family)

A refreshing idea for what to do with the extra hour we gain when Daylight Savings Time ends today - basically, nothing! It's a small gift we can give ourselves to help us breathe a little and not think of what all we must get done. Zero-Tasking Day is the brainchild of self-help coach Nancy Christie and is mentioned in Chase's Calendar of Events. She urges us to "stop doing and just be, an opportunity to relax, refresh and de-load yourself." How can anyone argue with that?

 

National Squirrel Awareness Month

Eastern Grey Squirrel, melanistic form
William Sutherland, Wikimedia Commons

It's a little hard not to be aware of these critters this time of year since they're all scurrying around storing food for the winter. They can be pesky at times, but  always full of charm. Sarah Jessica Parker noted,"A squirrel is just a rat with a cuter outfit!" Ralph Waldo Emerson, however, had a more poetic observation,"A squirrel leaping from bough to bough and making the Wood but one wide tree for his pleasure, fills the eye not less than a lion, --is beautiful, self-sufficing, and stands then and there for nature."
Today, October 4, is also the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi; it is fitting that his reflections on nature also included the squirrel: "I once spoke to my friend, an old squirrel, about the sacraments - he got so excited and ran into a hollow in his tree and came back holding some acorns, an owl feather and a ribbon he found. And I just smiled and said, ''Yes, dear, you understand everything imparts His grace.'"



Eastern Grey Squirrel, standard form
photo by Diliff, Wikimedia Commons

Hug a Vegetarian Day!

Two Happy Cows (Wikimedia Commons)

What do Ed Asner, Nelly, and Mr. Spock have in common? Well, according to the Happy Cow website, they're all vegetarian! See their webpage for a comprehensive and very interesting list of famous historical and contemporary vegetarians. And while today is Hug a Vegetarian Day, World Vegetarian Day falls on October 1. Also check out Wikipedia's well-written article on vegetarianism and its history.
Btw, Snoopy's observing the holiday by hugging his favorite vegetarian!

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The Irony Mark

 No, I'm not swearing! It just happens to be National Punctuation Day. It's a fairly new holiday, created in 2004 by Jeffrey Rubin, who wanted to encourage the proper usage of punctuation. And to the end, the New Yorker Magazine promotes a contest to see who can create the best new punctuation mark. See if you agree with their assessment of the winner. Also, in honor of this year's election, the National Punctuation Day website is holding its own election to see who can create the most highly punctuated paragraph. The contest also requires entrants to persuade the judges which punctuation mark should be the official punctuation mark of the President of the United States. Personally, my vote goes to the Irony Mark, probably the most appropriate mark of politics!

And Now, Something for Bibliophiles...

Super Bowl winner and Honorary Chair of Library Card Sign-up Month Troy Polamalu

...and sports fans alike. September is also Library Card Sign-up Month. If you don't have one, run, don't walk to your nearest library and sign up! It's the best value around - figure it out for yourself.  Pittsburgh Steelers All-World safety Troy Polamalu is a strong promoter of education having recently returned to college to complete his degree in history.

Mycophiles Rejoice!

 

September is National Mushroom Month and time to indulge in one's favorite fungi.  According to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture, "Pennsylvania leads the United States in mushroom production, with an annual production of more than 425 million pounds, valuing more than $330.7 million per year."  Here's a highly rated mushroom recipe by chef Michael Chiarello, which has only a few ingredients, but is very flavorful. September becomes more savory for mushroom fans of the world!

Illustration at right is Plate 305 from James Sowerby's Coloured Figures of English Fungi or Mushrooms.