April 30, 2016

Today we celebrate one of the busiest days we have had to date with another one coming tomorrow:


Bob Wills Day - Bob Wills was an American Western swing musician but he was much more than that. He wrote songs, and was a bandleader as well.  He was knows as the King of Western Swing back in the 1930s. He was born in 1905 and died in 1975. I’m not sure why this day was chosen to honor him, but since it was, this is a day to play some American Western swing music in his honor. Now, I don’t exactly know what that was, you’ll have to google it if you don’t know. It was a little bit before my time and maybe yours too.

National Animal Advocacy Day - Animals cannot talk. They can’t complain when the people who are supposed to love and care for them are being abusive or neglectful instead. We must be their voice for them. This is a day to speak up to your legislators and ask for tougher animal abuse laws.

National Mr. Potato Head Day - This is a day to honor one of America’s favorite foods, the potato.  Potatoes can be transformed into an amazing array of different dishes from everyone’s favorite….French Fries, to mashed, sliced, twice baked, au gratin, and many, many more.

National Oatmeal Cookie Day – Oatmeal is healthy, or so I’ve heard…..repeatedly…..from my husband, so that means that these cookies must also be healthy, right?  I’m not a person who can sit down and eat a bowl of oatmeal, no matter what you put in it to hide the taste, but I can certainly sit down and eat a bowl full of oatmeal cookies.

National Go Birding Day - My husband loves birds. Most people do, I suppose. I like them too, but not so much that I have binoculars on the window sill and keep a list of all the birds I see in the yard. I like to watch them at the feeders, but I forget to fill the feeders when my husband is not home. So, I am glad that he loves them so and takes care of them because it brings them to our house and I can’t imagine what life would be like without birds flying around the world.

Hairstyle Appreciation Day – Celebrated on the last day of April, this is a day to appreciate your hair style and the Hairstylist who created it for you.  When you look great, you feel great, and a fabulous hairstyle goes a long way to making you look great.  Have some mirrors around so you can appreciate how wonderful you look today.

National Honesty Day – This day was created by M. Hirsh Goldberg in the early 1990's to celebrate honesty. He chose the last day in April for this day because the first day in April celebrates falsehoods. The idea is that if anyone asks you a question today, you must answer it truthfully. And if YOU ask someone a question today, they must answer it truthfully (as long as you make sure they know what day it is today).

Bugs Bunny Day – On this day in 1938, Bugs Bunny debuted in the cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt. Bugs looked and sounded very different then, but that was definitely him.

International Jazz Day – Created by the United Nations, this is a day to celebrate Jazz all day long, all over the world.  There will be a global webcast that you can access in the link. Look for special events in your area. This year the host city is Washington, D.C.

Dia De Los Ninos/ Dia De Los Libros Day – Begun in 1997, this is a literary day that is all about connecting children (ninos) with books (libros).  Check with your local library because many of them will have special events today.  

Spank Out Day – This is a day for spreading the word that spanking is not the best disciplinary option. This is considered a fact for some, and an opinion for others. I see some of their points, but I'm not completely sold on it as I've seen lots of people who I feel really could benefit from a good whack on the rump.

Walpurgis Night – A traditional spring festival celebrated on this day or May 1st in large parts of Central and Northern Europe. It is celebrated with bonfires and dancing in honor of Saint Walpurga, an English missionary who lived in Germany in the 700's. She was canonized as a saint on May 1st a hundred years after her death so this day celebrates the eve of that event.  For reasons I do not know, she is the patron saint of those suffering from rabies.

National Raisin Day - Also known as dehydrated grapes, these make a great snack especially when they are mixed with other things like nuts and chocolate.

National Adopt A Shelter Pet Day - This is a day to save an animal by adopting it from a shelter today.  So before you drop hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a pet store animal, stop by your local shelter and take a look at the beautiful animals just waiting for the right person to save them.

World Veterinary Day - Celebrated on the last Saturday of April, this is a day to appreciate your Veterinarian.  Those of us who have pets or farm animals depend upon our Veterinarians to keep our animals healthy and to help them when they are injured.  The theme for this year’s celebration is “Continuing Education with a one Health Focus.”

Eeyore's Birthday Day – Always celebrated on the last Saturday in April, this is Eeyore's birthday! The idea came from one of A.A. Milne's stories where Eeyore thinks everyone forgot his birthday only to find out that they had been planning a party all along. Ever since 1963, Austin, TX has had a huge all day festival to celebrate this day with live bands, food, drinks, family oriented games and arts and crafts.  Which is kind of crazy since I lived in the Austin area for two Aprils and don’t remember hearing about this.

Save The Frogs Day – The frog population is dwindling. You wouldn’t know it necessarily if you aren’t in the amphibian conservation business because who else goes around counting frogs? But, for the last six years, Save the Frogs has been working to fix this problem. This day is celebrated on the last Saturday in April.

Sense Of Smell Day – Today is a day to celebrate your sense of smell. The world would be a pretty bland place without the ability to smell. Granted, when we smell stinky things, we're not so pleased about it, but the good generally outweighs the bad. In fact, I think that a smelling app has even been invented for one of the latest idevices.  We celebrate this day on the last Saturday of April every year.

National Rebuilding Day – The non-profit organization, Rebuilding Together, works hard to rebuild and repair homes and community centers for low-income families. This day is always celebrated on the last Saturday in April and the goal is to bring attention to the organization's mission and the sad plight of the low-income population of this country. They have been working at this for over 25 years and have rebuilt more than 150,000 homes so far.

World Healing Day – Always on the last Saturday in April, this day is focused on healing in all forms. There are many different kinds of health oriented celebration days associated with this day. Some of which I have listed below but I have no doubt that there are many more. All Healing Day activities begin at 10am local time to form a global wave of healing.

World Tai Chi & Qigong Day – Celebrated in 60 countries around the world since 1999, this is a day to spread awareness of the two related disciplines. The goals of today are to educate the world about the health benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong and to encourage people to embrace wisdom from all countries and cultures of the world.

World Native Aboriginal Sacred Ceremony & Dance Day – This is a day to embrace the ceremonies and special dances of the natives and aboriginals in the world.

World Yoga Day – Yoga is excellent exercise. Some of my favorite stretches came from yoga techniques and I do them every day. And you might be surprised to know that yoga, not lamaze, helped me to get through my second and third childbirth experiences since the first showed me that pain medication was not an option for me.

World Reiki Day – On this day, Reiki groups around the world will be teaching Reiki meditations and holding participatory exhibitions.

World Prayer Day – This is a day to pray for healing for yourself, your neighbors, your city, your state, your country and your world. If you participate at 10am, you can be part of a global wave of prayer.

World Thespian Day - Dramatic artists around the world are invited to be part of the Healing intent of the day by performing visions of healing for the public. Film makers may wish to produce films that encourage world healing and tolerance.

World Activism Day - All worldwide human rights and activist groups of all kinds are invited to hold events with a healing theme.

World Music Healing Day - Musicians around the world are invited to add their musical vibrations to the global wave of healing.

World Art Day - Artists are invited to produce visions of healing to share with the world.

World Sufi Dance Day - Sufism events used to be combined with the World Tai Chi and Qigong events but now it has been decided that they deserve their own category.  I’m not sure what Sufi dance is yet but Sufi groups, who presumably know what they are doing, are invited to hold Sufi Dance meditations and exhibitions as part of the global wave of healing.

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