July 18, 2017

Today we celebrate:

Perfect Family Day - I don’t know that the “perfect” family exists. I think we all have some level of what we would consider disfunction, or at least have one or two family members who fit that word. But that’s ok because we can celebrate the not so perfect families too. All you have to do is have a family fun activity today such as watching a movie, playing a board game, or go for a walk, hike or bike ride together.

World Listening Day - This is a day for exercising your ears. Listen to the sounds that are around you all the time. We don’t usually pay attention to the little sounds we hear and are used to. Close your eyes and really focus on hearing everything, birds, wind, water, animals, music, children, bugs, whatever is in your environment. The theme this year is “Sounds Lost and Found.” So we are also called upon to try to remember the sounds we heard when we were kid and observe how things have changed over the years since then. What sounds do we not hear anymore and how can you help to “find” them again.

National Caviar Day – This is a very expensive, seafood delicacy. Caviar is the fancy word for fish eggs which does not sound nearly as good. It is true that caviar is not just any fish's eggs, but only comes from sturgeon captured in the Caspian or Black Sea. It is so expensive because there are bans on fishing for this type of fish because of a dwindling supply. I say let the fish keep their eggs and live their lives. I can think of a whole lot of things that are more appetizing to eat. I think people mostly eat it just so they can say that they did.

Nelson Mandela International Day – This is Nelson Mandela's birthday and was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2009 for the purpose of calling people all over the world to take 67 minutes of time to help others in their community. If enough people take that time to help others we will succeed in changing the world, one community at a time. The 67 minutes comes from the 67 years that Nelson Mandela spent devoting his life to helping people  “as a human rights lawyer, a prisoner of conscience, an international peacemaker and the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa.”