April 7, 2015

Today we celebrate:

Tater Day – This is a day that began in 1843 in Kentucky when townspeople would gather to trade with sweet potato slips which are used to grow sweet potatoes. Nowadays it involves carnivals and games and rides and sweet potato related contests.

National Coffee Cake Day – This is a day to have some coffee cake with your friends.  If you have time, homemade coffee cake is best, if not, don’t worry because store bought coffee cake is pretty good too.

No Housework Day – This is my kind of day. Today you do not have to do any housework whatsoever. No vacuuming, dusting, washing dishes, washing clothes, anything! Yeah!  I was not able to learn how these things will get done if you don’t do them.  Clearly not vacuuming or dusting for the day won’t cause your house to descend into filth, but in my house the dishes pile up very quickly and I’m not willing to live with that.  Fortunately for me, I have children.

World Health Organization Day – On this day in 1948, the World Heath Organization was founded. Every year, a different health related theme is focused on. This year the theme is food safety.

International Beaver Day – Today is a day to learn all about beavers. Maybe even take a field trip to see a beaver dam.  We have long underestimated the importance of beavers to the preservation of our water systems and the prevention of pollution and erosion.  We need to encourage the beaver populations to increase in numbers before it’s too late.

International Snailpapers Day – Created by Dan Bloom, this day celebrates newspapers. Actual newspapers that are delivered to the bottom of your driveway every day or weekend or however often you get them. IF you get them, that is, because not that many people do anymore.  More and more people get their news from other sources like the internet these days.  It probably won’t be too long before you won’t be able to get newspapers any more so get them while you can.

Metric System Day – On this day in 1795, the metric system was legalized in France. France was the first country that legally recognized the validity of this method of measurement. A meter was defined as one ten millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the Equator going through Paris.

National Beer Day – Well, Prohibition didn’t work for anyone except for organized crime which made a fortune selling illegal alcohol.  So on this day in 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (which invalidated the 18th Amendment that created Prohibition) kicked in and made alcohol legal again.  People all over the country celebrated by drinking responsibly and never, ever drove vehicles while intoxicated.  At least that’s how I heard the story from my grandparents.  They wouldn’t lie to me, would they?

To celebrate today, read your morning newspaper article about food safety while you eat breakfast hash made with potatoes.  Then don’t you dare do any housework, instead eat coffee cake, drink beer and look at pictures of beavers on the internet while you attempt to explain the metric system to your children.  That will become harder the more beers you have, so be careful that you don’t totally confuse your children.