~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
September 7, 2011

★~ Today’s Quote:  Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be. ~Grandma Moses

★~ Neither Rain Nor Snow Day:

Neither Rain Nor Snow Day celebrates the opening of the New York Post Office building on this day in 1914. The following inscription was inscribed on the building:

“Neither snow nor rain not heat nor gloom of night ,stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

Neither Rain Nor Snow Day  is the perfect day to to show your appreciation to your postal delivery people, especially those who walk their routes.

★~ Acorn Squash Day: 

As summer draws to a close many of us are ready to pull on our soft hoodies and fix soups and stews and and acorn squash! Today is the day to enjoy this sturdy, little tasty gourde. One way to make acorn squash,is to simply cut the squash in half, remove the seeds, drizzle with some oil, salt and pepper and roast until tender. Season with dried spices, fresh herbs, flavored oils, or even sweeteners like honey or maple syrup for extra flavor.

★~ Today is Salami Day!

The exact origin of salami is unknown, however there is evidence that fermented sausage has been made in the Mediterranean region for more than 2,000 years. Both the Romans and Greeks cured their meat because the final product could be stored at room temperature for up to ten years without going bad. To celebrate Salami Day, enjoy some delicious salami on a sandwich after all it is the day Dagwood Bumstead made his first appearance with the lovely Blondie Boopadoop  in 1930 and began his long history of sandwich making.

★~ Today in History:

♥~1888 – Edith Eleanor McLean was the first baby to be placed in an incubator. She weighed 2 pounds, 7 ounces. Originally, the incubator was called a hatching cradle.

♥~ 1921 – The first Miss America Pageant was held at Atlantic City, New Jersey. This first contest was a promotion to keep tourists in the resort town after the Labor Day holiday (the unofficial end of summer). Miss Washington, D.C. won the contest and received a golden statue of a mermaid as her prize! She was 16-year-old Margaret Gorman. Miss Gorman was 5’1″ with blonde hair, blue eyes, weighing 108 pounds and her vital statistics were 30-25-32! Diminutive compared to the more recent and rather statuesque Miss Americas.

♥~ 1967 – “The Flying Nun” took off from a convent in Puerto Rico. The popular TV series starred Sally Field as Sister Bertrillle.

♥~1972 – Curtis Mayfield earned a gold record for his Superfly album, from the movie of the same name.

♥~ 1998 – Google Founded: Sergey Brin and Larry Page incorporated the Internet search engine company Google on this date at Menlo Park, CA. Although still in beta, Google.com was receiving 10,000 queries a day at that time. Within a year, the company was doing 3 million searches a day. Before long, google entered the pop culture zeitgeist by becoming a verb meaning “Internet searching.”

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1860 – Grandma Moses (Anna Mary Robertson) artist: modern, primitive work: The Old Oaken Bucket, Christmas at Home, The Quilting Bee; first painted at age 78; died Dec 13, 1961

♥~ 1908 – Michael Debakey – Heart and vascular surgery pioneer, medical ambassador and inventor, born in Lake Charles, LA. DeBakey invented the roller pump, which helped make open-heart surgery a possibility, and he made the first connection between smoking and cancer. Performed more than 60,000 operations, and cited by the American Journal of Medicine as perhaps “the greatest surgeon ever.” DeBakey died July 11, 2008

♥~1923 – Peter (Sidney Ernest Aylen) Lawford actor: Rosebud, Ocean’s 11, Mrs. Miniver, The Longest Day, Exodus, The Oscar, Harlow; member: Rat Pack; died Dec 24, 1984

♥~ 1923 – Peter (Sidney Ernest Aylen) Lawford actor: Rosebud, Ocean’s 11, Mrs. Miniver, The Longest Day, Exodus, The Oscar, Harlow; member: Rat Pack; died Dec 24, 1984

♥~ 1949 – Gloria Gaynor singer: I Will Survive, Never Can Say Goodbye

♥~ 1950 – Julie Kavner Emmy Award-winning actress: Rhoda [1977-78], The Simpson’s: voice of Marge Simpson [1991-92]; The Tracy Ullman Show, This is My Life, Radio Days, I’ll Do Anything,Hannah and Her Sisters

♥~ 1970 – Tom Everett Scott actor: Grace Under Fire, That Thing You Do!, An American Werewolf in Paris, The Love Letter

♥~1987 – Evan Rachael Wood actress: Profiler, Search for Grace, Practical Magic, Once and Again

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ The United States Post office handles more than 43% of the world’s mail. It’s nearest competitor is Japan with only 6%.

♥~ Depends exclusively on postage and fees rather than tax payer revenue for it’s operations.

♥~ The lowest ZIP Code is 00501, a unique ZIP Code for the Internal Revenue Service in Holtsville, NY

♥~ The highest ZIP Code is 99950 in Ketchikan, AK.

♥~ 584 million — average number of mail pieces processed and delivered per day

♥~ 10,000 — number of letter carriers who deliver mail entirely on foot per day

♥~ 4.1 million — number of miles driven by letter carriers and truck drivers per day.

♥~ The top five most common street names in the country are Main, Maple, 2nd, Oak and Park.

♥~ Most Unusual Delivery Method — mule trains in Arizona. Each mule carries about 130 pounds of mail, food, supplies and furniture down the 8-mile trail to the Havasupai Indians at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, averaging 41,000 pounds per week.

♥~ The Postal Service moves mail using planes, trains, trucks, cars, boats, ferries, helicopters, subways, float planes, hovercrafts, T-3s, street cars, mules, snowmobiles, bicycles and feet.

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Today is Cole first day school; the beginning of his Sophomore year of High School.  On the first day of school each year, the Chicago Waldorf  has a tradition called the Rose Ceremony. The whole school joins together in welcoming the 1st graders, new students and returning students back to school. Each first grader will receive a rose from a 12th grader. Then at the final assembly of the year, the 1st graders say goodbye to each graduating senior by handing a rose to them. Our rose ceremony brings the year full circle. I still have the rose Cole received in first grade and hope to have another one when he graduates in three years.

Have a wonderful Wednesday and I will be back to muse in a bit!

♥
Kb