September 26, 2014

Today we celebrate:

Johnny Appleseed Day – Born on this day in 1774, this is a day to celebrate John Chapman who was known by many as Johnny Appleseed. He was responsible for introducing apple trees to parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, West Virginia and Indiana. He became a legend in this country, even before he died in 1845, mostly because of his conservation skills and his kind and generous way of life.

National Pancake Day – This is not the IHOP Pancake Day that we celebrated back in February, and it is not associated with the “pancake race” that is held every year in England (check back in April for more on this fascinating tradition). This is simply a food holiday that just happens to fall on this day. Have some pancakes for breakfast today.

International Hug A Vegetarian Day – Celebrated on the last Friday in September, this is a day to support the vegetarians in the world.  People have a variety of reason for choosing to become vegetarian.  Sometimes those reasons are personal preference and sometimes health concerns so be supportive of others right to choose what goes into their bodies and give the vegetarians in your life a hug.  If you are a vegetarian, tell everyone you know about this day and maybe you’ll get lots of hugs today.

Save The Koala Day – Created by the Australian Koala Foundation and celebrated on the last Friday in September, this is a day to raise money for the Foundation which has made great strides in protecting the habitat of the Koalas in Australia. The goal, of course, is to save this adorable animal from the inevitable extinction that will occur if we do not do something now.

Love Note Day - This is a day to get out the paper and pen and write a love note to the one you love.  No texting, emailing or tweeting.  That will just not count today.  Paper and pen is the only way to go, but it doesn’t have to be long in order to be heartfelt.  I promise you that your loved one will absolutely love to receive this from you.

Shamu the Whale Day - Shamu is the trademarked name given to various orca whales that perform at several of the SeaWorld parks.  There is a lot of controversy right now regarding the captivity of these whales and several trainers have been injured or killed because the whales are wild creatures who cannot always be controlled the way the SeaWorld people would like them to be.

Native American Day - Celebrated on the fourth Friday in September, this is a state holiday in California which was created in 1968 for the purpose of honoring all the different Native American cultures and their very important contributions to the country.

To celebrate today, make some apple pancakes and write love notes to Shamu the Whale before you do your best to help save koalas by hugging vegetarians while you encourage them to share their koala-free recipes with the Native Americans.  Before I am inundated with hate mail, let me assure you that I am well aware that Native Americans do not eat koalas, because koalas, sensing a possible problem in that area, were crafty enough to decide to live on a different continent.  We won’t talk about the Aboriginals they had to avoid instead.