July 29, 2014

Today we celebrate:

Rain Day – The history of Rain Day is too involved for me to get into here so I will post a site where you can read all about it. I will say that it began with Byron Daly in 1874 in the Daly & Spraggs Drug Store in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, and involves rain, betting, hats, lots of celebrities and a Rain Day Prophet.  Fascinating! http://www.raindayfestival.com/history.html

Make your bets. Then, if you live in the Hudson Valley of New York, check in with my favorite weather people, Alex and Bill of Hudson Valley Weather to see if it will rain here today. http://hudsonvalleyweather.com/  If you live elsewhere, I hope you have some people who are just as reliable that you can check in with.

National Chicken Wing Day – Proclaimed in 1977 by Mayor Stan Makowski of Buffalo, NY, this day has been celebrated with enthusiasm every year since. Apparently the people in Buffalo REALLY love their chicken wings and eat thousands of them every week. That is why they are sometimes called Buffalo wings.

Eid-Al Fitr – This day is an important Muslim holiday that marks the end of the fasting of Ramadan. This is a day for the Muslims around the world to be united. This day does vary in different localities based on local religious authorities but most celebrate it today. Muslims celebrate with special ceremonies and prayers.

National Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day – It looks like your goal today is to catch some mice so you need to sacrifice some cheese for bait. I don't have an mouse to catch, thank goodness. If you do, better get some good cheese so they are very tempted.

Anniversary of the Army Chaplain Corps – Celebrating it's 239th year of supporting the faith of the armed forces with an incredibly diverse group of Chaplains. There are a little less than 3,000 chaplains from about 130 different faith groups including a Hindu chaplain and two Buddhist chaplains who signed on a few years ago. I had no idea they supported that many different faiths. They also have Muslims, Orthodox, Jewish, as well as the standard Catholic and Christian denominations.

National Lasagna Day – Delicious layers of pasta and cheese and whatever else you like to put in your lasagna. I prefer a meat filled lasagna but vegetables are good too.

To celebrate everything in one day, find someone and bet a hat that it will rain today, then call up your local Army base and wish the Chaplains a Happy Anniversary while you set up a cheesy trap for your resident mice.  Then it’s a chicken wing lasagna feast for dinner tonight.  Yum?