Both the readers of this blog know about Emily — I periodically talk about her here and often mention some of her many talents. She keeps adding to those talents all the time. Her latest venture is into learning to play the guitar.
The guitar she’s learning on in the picture came from us and it’s probably close to sixty years old. She’ll not only have to master the instrument, she’ll probably have to teach it some new songs.
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Besides being Patriot’s Day, yesterday was also National Grandparents Day. I didn’t want to write about grandparents on September 11 — that day deserves to stand alone…. its importance can’t be stressed enough.
So today, let’s talk about grandparents — and their day. Grandparents Day always lands on the Sunday after Labor Day.
The official statute says the purpose of Grandparents Day is, “to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children, and to help children become aware of strength, information, and guidance older people can offer.”
I’ve mentioned it before, but the idea of a Grandparents Day was hatched right here in West Virginia — by Marian McQuade, a mother of fifteen children. Marian had a lifelong mission of supporting senior citizens. She began her campaign for a day to honor grandparents in 1970. All her effort paid off in 1973 when the first Grandparents Day was held in West Virginia. Five years later, it was nationally recognized — President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation in 1978. Other countries around the world have established their own Grandparents Days. Poland led the way, holding their first Grandparents Day in 1965. Since then, twelve other countries have followed.
Grandparents Day in the US even has its own official flower — the Forget-Me-Not, and an official song, A Song for Grandma and Grandpa, by Johnny Prill.
There are over 70 million grandparents in the United States today.
2.7 million grandparents are the main caregivers to their grandchildren and 7.3 million children under 18 live with their grandparents.
69% of grandparents live within 50 miles of their grandchildren.
58% of grandparents say they talk to their grandchildren at least once a week.
Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey were raised by their grandparents.
More than half of all grandparents are on social media sites and share photos online.
Slightly more than 10% of grandparents have tattoos. If you’re still reading this blog when our children become grandparents, I’ll bet that number will be a lot higher.
A survey I saw said the majority of grandparents say they think being a grandparent is the single most important and satisfying thing in their life. I guess I pretty much have to agree with that….
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Today is September 11 – a date that is etched in all adults minds — and — a date and event that we’ll never forget. Today we commemorate the September 11 attacks, also called 9/11 attacks — a series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks committed in 2001 by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda against targets in the United States. The deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil in U.S. history. The attacks against New York City and Washington, D.C. caused extensive death and destruction and triggered an enormous U.S. effort to combat terrorism. 2,750 people were killed in New York, 184 at the Pentagon and 40 in Pennsylvania. All 19 terrorists died.
9/11 was not the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center — a bombing in February of 1993 killed six people.
After the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, the rescue and recovery clean-up of the 1.8 million tons of wreckage from the site took 9 months.
Video accounts of the WTC attack aired immediately, but no video footage of the Pentagon attack was publicly released until 2006.
(Only) 18 people were rescued alive from the rubble of the World Trade Center.
The September 11 plot demonstrated that al-Qaeda was an organization of global reach. The plot played out across the globe with planning meetings in Malaysia, operatives taking flight lessons in the United States, coordination by plot leaders based in Hamburg, Germany, money transfers from Dubai, and recruitment of suicide operatives from countries around the Middle East — all activities that were ultimately overseen by al-Qaeda’s leaders in Afghanistan.
If this operation didn’t convince American leaders that the United States can’t operate alone or totally put “America first,” I don’t know what it would take. Just remember today as the political campaign picks up steam — and — never forget!
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If you’re like me, today kind of slipped up on you — but, today is the 15th day of the 8th month (on the Chinese calendar.) The significance of today is that it’s the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Mooncake Festival or Moon Festival, and probably some other names. No matter what you call it, it’s one of China’s biggest holidays.
This year the Moon Festival falls on September 10 and it’s also a popular observance in many other Asian countries like Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore — but those countries have different names for the celebration. The festival date, however, is the same as in China — this year, that’s today. On the Chinese mainland, people usually have a three-day public holiday for the festival. In Hong Kong and Macau, the day after the festival is a public holiday rather than the festival day itself because many celebration events are held at night.
On the Chinese lunar calendar, the four seasons each have three lunar months — day 15 of month 8 is “the middle of autumn” — thus, it’s name. The date of the festival is a full moon, and that’s why it is also called the Moon Festival. (On the 15th of each lunar calendar month, the moon is at its roundest and brightest, symbolizing togetherness and reunion in Chinese culture.)
The festival is always brightly lit with Chinese lanterns and people reunite with their families and friends, check out the lanterns, visit temples and attend various celebration events — and — buy and exchange mooncakes. In ancient times, mooncakes were a kind of offering to the moon. Over the centuries, these special cakes have become the most popular food of the festival.
Mooncakes typically measure 2 to 4 inches across and up to 2 inches deep. Most mooncakes have a pastry skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling. They are usually eaten in small wedges during the festival, and shared by family members. They are generally served with Chinese tea, and, very rarely, mooncakes are served steamed or fried.
In Chinese culture, roundness symbolizes completeness and togetherness. A full moon symbolizes prosperity and reunion for the whole family. Round mooncakes complement the harvest moon in the night sky during the Mid-Autumn/Moon Festival.
The mooncake isn’t just a food, it’s a profound cultural tradition deep in Chinese people’s hearts, symbolizing a spiritual feeling. At the festival people eat mooncakes together with family, or present mooncakes to relatives or friends, to express love and best wishes.
Seems like kind of a cool thing to do….
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A lot of places I’ve been in the world have their own “local” beer. A lot of them I’d never heard of before and many were only available near the location where they were brewed. One beer that we usually have in our house is Yuengling. It bills itself as America’s oldest brewery. A couple of the guys that I play golf with have remarked that when they first heard of it, they thought Yuengling was a Chinese beer. I guess that’s kind of understandable, because one of the world’s most popular beers is Yanjing — a Chinese beer created in 1980. Since then, it’s become the third-best selling beer in the world.
Well, anyhow, that got me to thinking about beer….
The first barley beer was most likely born in the Middle East, where good evidence of beer production dates back about 5,000 years to the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia.
Beer is the world’s most widely consumed, and probably the oldest, alcoholic beverage. It’s the third most popular drink, period (after water and tea.)
There are about 195 countries in the world and beer is produced in about 160 of them — some do not produce beer, because alcohol is banned. Some of the beers I remember from various countries are: Ghana – Club Premium Lager, Indonesia – Bintang, Ireland – Guinness Draught, Kenya – Tusker Lager, Laos – Beerlao, Philippines – San Miguel, Russia – Bajihka, Saudia Arabia – Moussy, Singapore – Tiger Beer, Taiwan – Taiwan Beer, Vietnam – 333, Brazil – Skol, Cambodia – Angkor Beer, China – Tsingtao, Ethiopia – St. George Beer, Greece – Mythos, India – Kingfisher, Jamaica – Red Stripe, Thailand – Singha.
I mentioned Skol — the only place I’ve had Skol was in Brazil, even though it was supposedly created by a combination of British, Canadian, Swedish and Belgian breweries and intended to be an international lager.
Yuengling claims to be America’s oldest brewery, but the Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan claims to be the oldest operating brewery in the world. It’s located on the site of the former Weihenstephan Abbey in Freising, Bavaria. That may be one reason a lot of people think beer was invented in Germany.
And I should mention the the word “beer” comes from the Latin word “bibere.” meaning to drink.
Cheers!!
In recent years, people seem to have decided that summer begins on Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day. It’s just hard for some people to leave things alone — seems to me the calendar runs pretty good all by itself. So even though some people consider Labor Day the official end of summer, don’t worry — the real official end of summer is September 21st.
Labor Day always falls on the first Monday in September — this year, that’s today, September 5. Actually, the very first Labor Day, in 1882, took place on a Tuesday — it was switched to a Monday once it was adopted by the states. Now employees can enjoy a three-day weekend.
Labor Day probably started in Canada — On March 25, 1872 the Toronto Typographical Union went on strike in favor of a shorter workweek…. later that year Parliament legalized unions. (Canada then celebrated their first “Labour Day” in 1894 and spelled it their way.)
No one is really sure who actually started Labor Day here in the United States. Some say it was Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. Others say it was Matthew Maguire, a member of the International Association of Machinists. That controversy still continues with no declared winner. But regardless of who started it, President Grover Cleveland signed it into law in 1895. It’s interesting that Labor Day came along more than two decades before the US Department of Labor existed.
According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, thousands of moms will go into labor on Labor Day and about 10,829 babies will be born. And according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (really!) Labor Day is considered the end of hot dog season.
And if you’re anywhere near my age, you remember the “no white after Labor Day” rule. Even before I was born, the upper crust of society created this unofficial rule. Today most people think the rule was made by insiders trying to keep other people out and outsiders trying to climb in by proving they knew the rules. But today, people mostly disregard the old rule. So if you see someone wearing white pants in October, and you even notice, you’re probably officially old.
Happy Labor Day, 2022.
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If you’re a long time reader and remember back to last year about this time, I talked about something we always did on Labor Day weekend when I was living at home with my parents. Back in those days, the Jerry Lewis telethon was Labor Day. I think it was really the Muscular Dystrophy telethon, but most people knew it as the Jerry Lewis telethon.
Jerry Lewis was the first host of the telethon, which first aired in 1956as a Thanksgiving Party. That year, he co-hosted the event with Dean Martin – it was held at Carnegie Hall. Lewis later became the organization’s National chairman — for 55 years. The telethon was moved to Labor Day Weekend and it would begin airing on Sunday and would run overnight, ending on Monday (Labor Day.)
Lewis and the Muscular Dystrophy Association cut ties in 2010 and it’s still not clear why the organization dropped him, but his departure was referred to as “sudden.” Lewis was later asked why he left, but he refused to talk about it.
Jerry Lewis hosted his last Muscular Dystrophy Telethon in 2010 — Lewis died in 2017.
When the telethon’s last broadcast was announced in 2015, MDA president and CEO Steven Derks noted the move was influenced by “the new realities of television viewing and philanthropic giving.”
There have been several attempts to revive the telethon on local stations and social media, but none have proven very successful.
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Today is a particularly special day — for Emily, it’s the big one-two! Every birthday is special and exciting, but being on the edge of tweendom only happens once and that’s a lot to celebrate. Of course, for Kelly and Chris, this is kind of the end of an era — they have about 365 more days before they’re officially the parents of a teenager.
I’m not sure any age is easy, but 12 has got to be a transition age and one of the tougher ones — not quite yet the inevitable moody monster teen, but not a little kid either. Of course, this year, Emily gets the best of both worlds….
Twelve years ago today, I wrote that Emily was no ordinary baby — that proved to be true… she’s growing up to be her own person, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.
So Happy Birthday to the best 12-year-old I know. Enjoy your final year of being a kid before you officially become a teenager.
Love you lots!!!
Poppi
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I’m continuing my recent tradition of talking about each upcoming month, so today’s blog is about, you guessed it, September.
I’ve mentioned it before, but September was originally the seventh month of the ancient Roman calendar — thus, its name…. Septem, which translates into “the seventh month.” Of course the addition of the month of January and February changed things for all the months. September used to have only 29 days, but thanks to Julius Caesar’s reform of the Roman calendar, it got an extra day.
The Romans usually associated different months with different gods. The month of September is associated with Vulcan, the Roman god of fire — probably because it was a fiery hot month (when it was the seventh month of the year.)
September is the month that fall officially begins — on the September equinox that occurs between the 21st and 23rd of the month.
A number of significant events occur, or have occurred, in September….. on September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland. September 11, 2001 changed all of us — and the world. It’s now know as Patriot’s Day. September 17th has always been an important day, but today it’s more important than ever — it’s Constitution Day. The U.S. Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787. And of course, September 19th is Talk Like A Pirate Day!! September was the month former President Gerald Ford gave a pardon to former President Richard M. Nixon after Watergate. September is the most active month for hurricanes in the Atlantic and, on average, more babies are born in September than any other month.
September begins on the same day of the week of just one other month — December, but the month does not end on the same day of the week as any other month. And it’s the only month with the same number of letters its number and name — September is the ninth month and has nine letters in its name.
September’s full Harvest Moon will reach its peak in the morning hours of September 10 — it will appear just after sunset on Friday (9th) and reach peak illumination at 5:58 A.M. on Saturday (10th.)
The first full Moon that happens nearest to the fall equinox (Sept. 22 or 23) always takes on the name “Harvest Moon. If October’s full Moon happens to occur closer to the equinox than September’s, it takes on the name “Harvest Moon” instead. If that happens, September’s full Moon is referred to as the Corn Moon.
So happy September and all the things it brings — like football, and I can hardly wait for the 19th to “Talk Like A Pirate.”
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Well, when you wake up tomorrow, it will no longer be August.
We’ve made it trough 243 days of 2022 — there are122 left. It’s the 36th week of summer and just 22 days before fall.
Today the sun rose at 6:40 am and it will set at 7:46 pm, making today 13 hours and 5 minutes long. And let us not forget that on this day in 1897, Thomas Edison patented the Kinetoscope — the first movie projector, and 100 years later in 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales died in a car crash in Paris.
As someone once said, may the wind of August lift you up, elevate you and blow you in the right direction.
Goodbye August…..
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