Just in case you haven’t checked the calendar, today is March 8th. It’s also Change the Clocks Day, which seems like a royal rip off because it means you get an hour less to celebrate your birthday.
On the other hand, since we’ve been celebrating for several days, I’m willing to bet you’ve gotten a fairly good dose of Happily Celebration.
So for you (and anyone else celebrating today) and for our Happy Birthday Bunny (and anyone else) celebrating tomorrow
I’m a little concerned that you are missing a critical part of your education.
I’m not sure you know to say “Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit” on the first day of every month. And tomorrow is the first day of the month.
Not everyone agrees that you’re supposed to say “rabbit, rabbit, rabbit.” Some people think you’re supposed to say “White Rabbit.” Some people think one “rabbit” is sufficient. Everyone agrees that the capital letters are optional.
There are many other variations of rabbit-ness. Some people say you have to say it up the chimney (no word on what happens if you live in a fireplace-free abode). Some people say you have to say “Brown Rabbit” the night before (right before bed) and then “Rabbit, Rabbit” when you wake up.
According to My Friend the Internet, the tradition of saying something lapin on the first day of the month goes back to the 13th century. This of course is before anyone you know was born, so we don’t really have an ear-witness account. But if MFtI says it’s so, who am I to argue?
The tradition apparently started in England, so it might help if you say it with a British accent.
Most of the “experts” on the internet seem to feel that the reason for saying “rabbit, rabbit” (remember? the capitals are optional) is so that you will get a present before the end of the month. This tends to be most effective when you choose to say “rabbit, rabbit” the first day of your birthday or anniversary month. Or December.
Some people say that you’ll have good luck (and perhaps monetary fortune) if you say “rabbit, rabbit, rabbit” first thing on the first day of the month.
I believe that you won’t get the plague if you say it (I, personally, have never gotten the plague, so it must be true).
Some children say you’re supposed to wear pajamas inside out and say “rabbit, rabbit, rabbit” right before going to bed to ensure a snow day the next day. Those children generally had school they next day so I wouldn’t rely on it as a get-out-of-studying technique.
Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit (I like the capitals).
Once upon a time there was a river. It was a nice river except is was crazy polluted. And it had been working very hard for a very long time. While the river didn’t want to retire, it rather hoped someone would take care of it a little better.
The river was called Glug by close friends and the Ohio River by everyone else. The river had been given its name by the Iroquois one birthday (Ohi:yó means Good River which it was at that point in its life). It was 981 miles tall long and carried a lot of tributaries (piggy back style).
The river was the friendly type and snuggled up to six states while keeping in touch with several more in its drainage basin.
The first Europeans to see the river arrived in 1669. They didn’t even bring a thanks-for-letting-us-visit present.
Eventually, lots of people moved in and – wham! dams, pollution, big mess.
For a long time, the river ran from the problem (get it? river running? of course you do) and then along came a Very Nice Man (VNM).
The VNM spent a lot of time with the river, cleaning it up, sprucing up its shores, helping people enjoy it, and educating kids about taking care of it (called “Being Environmental Stewards”). He created a Foundation to help take care of the whole watershed and to teach students about the importance of taking care of our resources. He named the Foundation after river, which the river thought was very nice.
The river knew not everything would change overnight, but it had been around for a long time and it was willing to wait and work with the VNM.
Please LIKE Ohio River Foundation and make a donation to ORF as a birthday present for the Very Nice Man.
Don’t forget to call (as in your real voice–not just a text) Dad today to say Happy Birthday.
It is that time of year when college announce that there are celebrations beyond major league football and that Diversity Is To Be Respected.
Not a terrible reminder, but too bad it’s a necessary reminder.
Ohio University even sent a link to a webpage that lists Every Holiday One Should Reasonably Be Aware Of. I find it somewhat amusing that the webpage in question is produced at the University of Missouri. But it’s a great resource and even lists major Wiccan holidays which I don’t believe I’ve seen on other sites.
So yay for Major Holidays and Events.
And September 23rd is a great day for Major Events.
Most importantly, it is your Grandmother’s Birthday! I’m sure you’ve already called, but just in case…
It’s also the Autumn Equinox which means Happy Fall. I’m sure you’ve already sent Fall a text, but just in case…
The Equinox is the point at which there are exactly (and by “exactly” I actually mean “exactly”) the same number of daylight and nightlight hours. Hmm… perhaps light and dark? That sounds like something out of Genesis. Anyway, day and night hours are even. If you live at the equator. If you don’t live at the equator (and I happen to be quite sure you don’t) then it’s uneven.
No matter where you live, tomorrow there will be more dark than there is today. Which is sad (at least for me). This will continue until the Winter Solstice which is the shortest day of the year and marks the beginning of winter.
I think winter would be much better if it weren’t accompanied by so much darkness and snowness. But that’s a discussion for another day.
Being the kind of mother I am, I checked (very carefully) and I can find no precedent for claiming that the Autumn Equinox is a day you should be allowed to skip class. I was equally unable to find any indication that it being Grandma’s birthday should be a reasonable diversity holiday cause for class skippage. There was even a footnote on one site that said (and I quote) “And if it be a math class, thou shalt doubly get thee to class and calleth thy grandmother at a different time.”
I checked, really I did.
So enjoy classes, and the Equinox, and have a piece of birthday cake in honor of Those Celebrating Birthdays.
Happy Birthday, Mom–and many, many more!
Yesterday, Pi and I went to Louisville. She didn’t have school and it was BFF-from-Louisville’s birthday so we decided to make a day of it.
Pi drove down over (the Ohio) river and through the (back) woods and if we weren’t laughing all the way, we laughed for a good bit of it.
First we went to Flame Run where they were making beer glasses with a divider down the middle (for specialty drinks like black and tans).
When our rumbling tummies told us it was time to get on with lunch, we drove over to the baseball stadium and had lunch at the first establishment we saw which was a micro-brewery. We did not partake of the brewery, but we had a lovely lunch and a silly photo session with the oversized mitt.
Then we wandered around NuLu which is a revived part of Louisville. There were lots of little stores to stop in (so we did) and we found the Speed Gallery. The Speed Gallery is an art gallery. At the moment it’s undergoing extensive renovations (I’m not sure if we were in the permanent location that’s being renovated or the temporary one while construction continues elsewhere. We did a quick tour of the gallery and then found the kids section. Since we’re both kids, we had a marvelous time. Pi beat me at a game of concentration (so what else is new) and then we put together a puzzle. It was a Chagall piece and pretty tricky, but eventually (and with much silliness) we got it.
Wandering back toward the car we found a great place call Ghyslain. My new favorite place in Louisville. It is primarily a chocolate and pastry shop, but they serve all sorts of yummies. We sat outside in the sun and had gelato and the best cup of coffee I’ve had in a while. Happy, happy us.
Eventually, we made our way over to one of the high schools where BFFFL (BFF-from-Louisville) was playing lacrosse. We got to see the end of the game (our heroes lost) and then came the best part. BFFFL’s mom and dad knew we were coming, but BFFFL did not. As she came off the field, Pi hid behind her dad and then popped out. Shock. Stunned happiness. Teenage overwhelmed-ness. It was lovely. (I don’t have a photo of it, but her dad does, so I’m working on getting one.)
We joined the family for a lovely birthday dinner and made it home by midnight.
A lovely day was had by all.
Hope today is full of great surprises!
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