Good Morning and welcome to the Almanac for Tuesday, February 20, 2018.
Today is Love Your Pet Day, National Cherry Pie Day, Northern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day, and World Day for Social Justice. I recommend not trying to celebrate all these events with just one cake, especially not a cupcake!
My pet is a little Chihuahua named Luv. “He is a whiny, mean, and annoying little guy.” It is okay though…Luv says he loves me anyway. Here are some famous quotes about pets (not like Luv’s quote above about me)
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
― Anatole France
“A dog reflects the family life. Whoever saw a frisky dog in a gloomy family, or a sad dog in a happy one? Snarling people have snarling dogs, dangerous people have dangerous ones.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (quote has been discredited by a grouchy Chihuahua)
“Dogs have important jobs, like barking when the doorbell rings, but cats have no function in a house whatsoever.”
― W. Bruce Cameron, A Dog's Purpose
For the cat people (I am sure they exist): “Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.”
― James Herriot, James Herriot's Cat Stories
And finally, for those who enjoy pet fish:
"There is a natural hootchy-kootchy motion to a goldfish."
- Walt Disney
and
“It is really hard to find interesting quotes about pet fish.”
-John Bouchard
You can quote me on that one.
Hoodie Hoo Day is a day dedicated to shaking off the winter blues and getting ready for spring. In Wannaska, it is the first day of the year for local residents to walk around outside wearing a halter top…under a sweater…under a jacket. Seriously though…spring is coming…spring is coming…spring is coming.
Some important people were born on February 20th. They include:
1726 – William Prescott, American Revolutionary War colonel (Battle of Bunker Hill)
1924 – Gloria Vanderbilt, American socialite and clothing designer
1927 – Sidney Poitier, American actor (Lilies of the Field, To Sir With Love)
1929 – Amanda Blake, American actress (she starred in the TV series Gunsmoke, a show that was based on the fictitious town of Dodge City, Kansas)
1934 – Bobby Unser, American racing driver
1946 – J. Geils, American guitarist (The J. Geils Band)
1963 – Charles Barkley, American basketball player
1966 – Cindy Crawford, American model
All these people are older than me, or have passed away already. I, however, was not born of February 20th, so they have that on me.
Some notable events that happened on February 20th are:
1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clashed in the Battle of Parabiago.
1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark.
1547 – Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
1685 – René-Robert Cavelier establishes Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington.
1872 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.
1962 – Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in four hours, 55 minutes.
2005 – Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
As you can see from above, something important happened every century starting in the 1300’s. One can only assume that nothing important happened before that. Not even in Wannaska.
I could go on, but I know you have love your pet day celebrations to get to. Email me your comments at ffefreekshow@hotmail.com Without your support my junk mail folder will cease to exist.
By John L. Bouchard
Today is Love Your Pet Day, National Cherry Pie Day, Northern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day, and World Day for Social Justice. I recommend not trying to celebrate all these events with just one cake, especially not a cupcake!
My pet is a little Chihuahua named Luv. “He is a whiny, mean, and annoying little guy.” It is okay though…Luv says he loves me anyway. Here are some famous quotes about pets (not like Luv’s quote above about me)
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
― Anatole France
“A dog reflects the family life. Whoever saw a frisky dog in a gloomy family, or a sad dog in a happy one? Snarling people have snarling dogs, dangerous people have dangerous ones.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (quote has been discredited by a grouchy Chihuahua)
“Dogs have important jobs, like barking when the doorbell rings, but cats have no function in a house whatsoever.”
― W. Bruce Cameron, A Dog's Purpose
For the cat people (I am sure they exist): “Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.”
― James Herriot, James Herriot's Cat Stories
And finally, for those who enjoy pet fish:
"There is a natural hootchy-kootchy motion to a goldfish."
- Walt Disney
and
“It is really hard to find interesting quotes about pet fish.”
-John Bouchard
You can quote me on that one.
Some important people were born on February 20th. They include:
1726 – William Prescott, American Revolutionary War colonel (Battle of Bunker Hill)
1924 – Gloria Vanderbilt, American socialite and clothing designer
1927 – Sidney Poitier, American actor (Lilies of the Field, To Sir With Love)
1929 – Amanda Blake, American actress (she starred in the TV series Gunsmoke, a show that was based on the fictitious town of Dodge City, Kansas)
1934 – Bobby Unser, American racing driver
1946 – J. Geils, American guitarist (The J. Geils Band)
1963 – Charles Barkley, American basketball player
1966 – Cindy Crawford, American model
All these people are older than me, or have passed away already. I, however, was not born of February 20th, so they have that on me.
Some notable events that happened on February 20th are:
1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clashed in the Battle of Parabiago.
1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark.
1547 – Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
1685 – René-Robert Cavelier establishes Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington.
1872 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.
1962 – Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in four hours, 55 minutes.
2005 – Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
As you can see from above, something important happened every century starting in the 1300’s. One can only assume that nothing important happened before that. Not even in Wannaska.
I could go on, but I know you have love your pet day celebrations to get to. Email me your comments at ffefreekshow@hotmail.com Without your support my junk mail folder will cease to exist.
By John L. Bouchard
We really just didn't realize the diversity of planetary types in our solar system. Pluto looked like a misfit because it was the only one we saw. And just as a Chihuahua is still a dog, these ice dwarfs are still planetary bodies. They're large enough to make themselves round by self gravity, and they surely pass the test of planethood.
ReplyDeleteAlan Stern, engineer and planetary scientist.
Dear John - and not in the sense of a "Dear John" letter of dismissal. This post is one of your very best! But then, I am biased, being a six-sigma dog mom. Before I moved my Almanac entries from long, researched subjects to poetry, I was going to write a lengthy tome called "The Ubiquitous Canine." Alas, it was not to be -- at least not at this time. Currently, I am reading a book by a Ph.D. in animal behavior, particularly canines. It's called "The Other End of the Leash." Of course, it's more about human behavior with dogs than the reverse. Excellent advice. Don't remember if I've mentioned it in any of my posts: I have a service dog, a German Shepherd, my fifth of the breed, and second working dog in my life. Oh, I'm getting scattered and too lengthy. Just wanted to say how much I appreciate the attention you've given to our furry friends. CS
ReplyDeletehmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
DeleteI was at the grocery store the other day. Just as I stopped my car, I became aware of a loud, boisterous, quite-annoying barking from a big new 4x4 pickup, in whose front bumper shadow I had inadvertently parked my car. This unseen beast was yowling and barking like it was ripping through the undercarriage of the vehicle it was left in, and I swear I could see large chunks of upholstery and vinyl heave up toward the savaged headliner that received its first realization, that the pickup's driver, perhaps this beast's owner/trainer/handler/shock collar operator, had left it/her/him/ there, by itself--had gone into anywhere without him/her/it cradled in his/her/its arms as though a child, a small monkey, a bottle of very expensive priceless, invaluable, irreplaceable, hootch the person dared not break for whatever reason (feel free to make one up) and left it there alone, to interminably wait until it presumably died and whereupon, then and only then, safely removed from said vehicle and deposited in the nearest garbage can--which would be the ones on either side of the grocery store doors. It's not so far off, unreasonable, it could be done. For this particular beast was no bigger than a 16-ounce can of beer and probably weighed less, with its bulgy little head and its scrawny skeletal-like body, its protruding fidgety eye balls constantly straining to escape their eye sockets, its bowed-for-traction little legs and squirrel-clawed feet, its erect rigid little tail no bigger 'round than a No. 2 pencil . . . It could be easily compressed even further--and poked into that garbage can with no more thought than "Hmmm, only 31 or 32 more of those would've made a pound, I should've recycled instead.." "Dogs are okay. Outdoor cats are low maintenance"--WannaskaWriter
ReplyDeleteDid you check to see if this dog was John's little Chihuahua? Did the truck have Kansas plates? This may have been a case of dognapping. John, do you know where Luv is? Or maybe you're just sending Luv on a little sabbatical, so never mind.
Deleteoh hi
ReplyDeletehi
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