November 9, 2015

Today we celebrate:

Carl Sagan Day - On this day in 1934, Carl Sagan was born. Dr. Sagan was a Professor of Astronomy and Space Science and the Director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University.  But you may know him better for being the Pulitzer Prize winning author of the book The Dragons of Eden: Speculations of the Evolution of Human Intelligence. He wrote many other books as well.  He is also well known for being the creator of the television show COSMOS, a show on PBS that I used to watch when it first began in 1980.

Go To An Art Museum Today Day - This is the perfect day to go to an art museum.  I’m sure there must be one near you somewhere.  It doesn’t have to be a big one, it just needs to have art that makes you think and feel inspired.

National Scrapple Day - Yes, I mean Scrapple, the food, not Scrabble, the game.  It is a combination of scraps of pork, cornmeal and spices that is formed into a loaf, almost like meatloaf, then sliced and fried in a pan before eating.  Apparently it was created by Dutch colonists more than 200 years ago and is usually eaten for breakfast with either syrup or ketchup.

Kristallnacht – This year is the 77th anniversary of the beginning of Hitler's Final Solution, Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of the Broken Glass. On this terrifying night, Nazi soldiers, Hitler's Youth, and the German police destroyed thousands of Jewish homes, synagogues and shops. Thirty thousand Jews were taken from their homes and nearly a hundred were killed that very night. Many more thousands saw what happened and did nothing either out of fear of repercussions from the Nazi's or Hitler-inspired hatred against the Jews. The really sad thing is that the world apparently didn't learn from history as the Nazi party is rising and gaining power in Europe again, particularly in Greece.

Chaos Never Dies Day – This day brings out into the open the fact that almost everyone has a chaotic lifestyle that the upcoming holiday season will escalate to sometimes unbearable levels. This day is about stress, whether it's from work, school, homework, chores, activities, deadlines or endless lists of things that “have to be done”.

World Orphans Day – Celebrated on the second Monday in November, this is a day to raise awareness of the issues that orphans and displaced children around the world face. Having no one to love and take care of you is a terrible and very scary situation for a kid to be in.

World Freedom Day - On this day in 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. For those of you too young to remember, the Berlin Wall was erected by the Soviets after WWII, dividing Berlin, Germany, in half. Whoever was one one side of the wall when it was put up had to stay on that side.  So people who lived and worked on different sides had to stay where they were when the wall was finished.  They were not allowed to cross over to return to work. On one street in particular, the street was in the West but the houses in the East.  So they built the wall right across the front doors of the houses.  Families were divided and the Soviets didn’t care. This lasted until the wall came down and Berlin was reunited.

To celebrate today, tell your children about orphans, the chaos and pain suffered during Kristallnacht, and what it was like the day Wall came down when there was dancing in the streets and families being reunited. then teach them some tongue twisters to practice while you eat scrapple and watch COSMOS.  Spend the rest of the day exploring art museums.

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