~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
July 29th

★~ Today’s Quote: The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.  ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

★~ Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day:

What the heck are we supposed to do with Cheese Purchase Sacrifice Day,’ I wondered. I did some research and found this poem:

If you wish to catch some mice,
First, some cheese you must sacrifice.
So, purchase the cheese
upon this day,
And a mouse-free house
is here to stay!

My food-of-the-day-for-a-year partner Emily made a very good point—mice much prefer peanut butter over cheese, so let’s just sacrifice a little extra money on some really good cheese. If you are so inclined, you could add the cheese to a lasagna recipe, since it is also Lasagna Day, but in my opinion, lasagna and July just aren’t good partners. I think a better bet is to enjoy the cheese of your choice on a cracker or in a salad . . . or perhaps make a gooey grilled cheese sandwiches!

★~ Rain Day:

Sit a spell. Take your shoes off. Come and listen to a story about a farmer born in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania on a rainy July 29, 1874. One day, this farmer told Byron Daly, the owner of the drug store, that tomorrow he should expect rain. The farmer made this guess because it always rained on his birthday, July 29. When the farmer’s prediction proved true, Mr. Daly made an annual game of it, betting store patrons and townspeople that they could expect rain on July 29. The typical wager for this bet? A hat. Every year it rained, and every year Mr. Daly won himself a new hat. Over the years, Daly and his son amassed a huge collection of hats, which were donated to raise money for charity. So, next time it rains on Rain Day, just think, somebody out there is winning a hat. And somebody’s bare head is getting soaking wet.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1773 – The first schoolhouse to be located west of the Allegheny Mountains was built in Schoenbrunn, OH.

♥~ 1914 – The first transcontinental telephone service was inaugurated when two people held a conversation between New York and San Francisco.

♥~ 1931 – Helen Wills Moody mentioned that she favored short skirts and no stockings when she played tennis. And she said that shorts would never be popular with top women tennis players. By gosh, she was right.

♥~ 1950 – RKO pictures released the Walt Disney adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson literary classic, Treasure Island.

♥~ 1981 – Millions of people around the world watched on television as England’s Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer took center stage amidst the pomp and splendor of their royal wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

♥~ 2005 – Scientists reported a tenth planet, bigger than Pluto, to be the farthest-known object in the solar system. Later named Eris, the planet was 9 billion miles — or about three times Pluto’s distance — from the Sun. Eris orbits the Sun once every 560 Earth years.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1966 – Martina McBride country singer: The Time Has Come, The Way I Am, Wild Angels, Evolution, Live from the Crazy Horse [Radio Show]

♥~ 1972 – Wil Wheaton actor: Stand by Me, Toy Soldiers, Star Trek: the Next Generation, The Liar’s Club

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ Rain drops can fall at speeds of about 22 miles an hour.

♥~ Hawaii is the wettest state in the U.S, with 63.7  annual precipitation. New Orleans, Louisiana is the wettest city in the U.S. 64.2 annual precipitation.

♥~ The world’s heaviest average rain fall (about 430 inches) occurs in Cherrapunji, India, where as much as 87 feet of rain has fallen in one year.

♥~ Mt. Waialeale in Kauai, Hawaii, has up to 350 rainy days every year.

♥~ Big, heavy raindrops can fall at speeds up to 22 miles per hour!

♥~ Every year, the Earth experiences an average of 25 million lightning strikes during some 100,000 thunderstorms. That’s more than a hundred lightning bolts per second.

♥~ Your chances of being struck by lightning are estimated to be 1 in 600,000,

♥~  It has been estimated that are nearly 16 million thunderstorms annually all over the globe. In the United States, Florida ranks first with a 100 thunderstorms days annually. Across the globe, Kampala, Uganda holds the record of about 240 thunderstorm days annually.

★~Today’s Giggle: 

There was a communist named Rudolph. One day he looked out the window and said, “It looks like a storm is coming.” “No it isn t,” said his wife. “Besides, how would you know?” “Because,” he responded, “Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear.”

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Tra ra ra BOOM de ay! It is lightening, thundering, and raining. Chicago and the surrounding areas have experienced strong thunder storms the last couple of nights. Lots of flooding and power outages. Our basement has stayed dry, and our power has stayed on, but my campers have been unusually anxious . . . perhaps they are wondering if they will make it onto the Ark. I just keep reassuring them that my Ark is their Ark.

Cousin Carla is heading back to Florida today — I’m sure she will tell everyone what sissies we are about storms, and I will have to remind her how she immediately goes in search of winter wear when the Florida temperature drops below 70.

Not sure how we will celebrate Cheese Sacrifice Day, but Rain Day is not going to be a problem. Hope you will leave a comment if you have a morno moment — Odd Loves Company!

♥
Kb