Hols of the Day

Halfway through August and Ma has given nary a mention of anniversaries and noted celebrations.

Been busy !

Of course, one of the most notable occasions was yesterday, when Loren had his 56th birthday.

And then there is this Friday, when Kendra and I drive out Indiana-way to get her settled into her first semester of college.

But while these events deserve special attention, surely there are other days and weeks of August worth mentioning?

August is:

Peach Month
Romance Awareness Month....so...now it's a disease ?
Eye Exam Month
Catfish Month
Golf Month
Home Business Month
Inventors Month and let's not forget,
Foot Health Month....*yawn*...

Rather humdrum. Let's peruse the special weeks:

1st - Clown Week, Simplify Your Life Week
2nd - Smile Week, Elvis Week, and Apple Week.

It's the 14th, folks, so there's still time to eat an apple while smiling in front of a picture of Elvis.

3rd - Dance Week, Friendship Week and Air Conditioning Appreciation Week. (go and give your cooling appliance a real big hug)

4th - Be Kind to Humankind Week

I personally feel this last one a bit ambiguous, not to mention redundant. Are we talking about being nice only to people who are already kind? Being nice to entities that seem sorta human? Or is this some obscure Old English reference to giving preference toward living things that resemble both humans and cows?

I am really quite confused.

Nevertheless, August 14th is:
National Creamsicle Day
and
National Marshmallow Toasting Day

Oh yeah, like I'm gonna light a fire in August...

In History:

- Japan surrendered, ending World War II (V-J Day)
- Patent issued for the Whiffle Ball
- Liechtenstein's "Prince Franz-Joseph Day" (Liechtenstein is just SO fun to say...)
- Congress authorizes US citizens to own gold (1974)
- IBM releases MS-DOS version 3.0 (1984)

In Religious History (these two entries I copied and pasted):

1810 Birth of Samuel S. Wesley, grandson of Methodist hymn writer Charles Wesley. Himself a sacred composer, Samuel Wesley penned over 130 original hymn tunes. The best remembered of these today is AURELIA, to which is sung "The Church's One Foundation."

1814 During the American Revolution, American patriot Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) was held overnight as a British prisoner during their shelling of Fort McHenry in Baltimore. In the morning, Key penned what later became our national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Now, call me strange, but I don't "get" the last entry being part of religious history.

I did look up the four verses and while the final stanza does contain two references to God (the first being a tad oblique)...

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

...it would seem seem to accurately fall under the more general category of "history."

But before I get myself in trouble, let me direct you to this site where a little more of the song's history may be found...including a phrase that states Mr. Key penned the words on the 14th of September, and not August.

Reinforcing my recently acquired convictions that you can't trust anybody, or any site.

Ah well...at least tomorrow is National Relaxation Day.
 

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