★~♥~♥~★~ El Nighto! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
May 14, 2012

Good news: there’s still time to dance like a chicken today. We missed leaping like frogs yesterday but we will NOT be denied dancing like a chicken! I listened to the oom-pah “dance like a chicken” song for the first time last year when we celebrated Dance Like a Chicken Day, but I’m sad to report that I still have not attended an event that included the Chicken Dance. Oh well, there is always next year.

Happy birthday to George Lucas (1944), film producer, director of the Star Wars series, Indiana Jones series, and American Graffiti, and also to Mark Zuckerberg (1984), American internet entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Facebook. Mark turns 28 with about 17.5 billion dollars net worth. Of course, don’t forget taxes…

Cole is studying the Constitution in school. He did not have to take a Constitution test in grade school. We went to Italy in the summer of 2009, following Cole’s completion of 7th grade and almost year-long study of the Italian Renaissance. My son is an avid history and art buff and surprised many of our guides not only with his knowledge of art and Roman history but his interest in the subject. At the end of one of one of our tours, one of the guides looked at Cole and said “blah blah blah, like your first American President______” and waited for Cole to fill in the blank. Cole looked confused and finally the guide said “George Washington?” I immediately countered with “well, really some consider it to be John Hanson.” Cole went on to tell the guide that at his school they don’t teach American history until 8th grade. I’m pretty sure the guide has since told the story of the American kid who, while well-versed in Italian history, had no idea who America’s first president was. When I mentioned this fact to Cole’s teacher (Kids that attend Waldorf schools often have the same main teacher for 8 years) she waved her hand and said, “Oh, we’ll study American history this year.” Okay. Anyway, after studying the Constitution for two weeks, Cole has told me that he plans to be a United States senator. My son the senator has a nice ring to it.

Speaking of politics…Chicago is hosting the NATO Summit from May 20-21this year. This will be the first time that an American city other than Washington has hosted a summit. I would like to be excited but it’s turning our city into a zoo and I have a boy to get to the airport on Monday the 21st. It is all about me, right? Downtown we be practically closed and residents in some areas have been told they are not allowed to close their blinds or shades for four days. We are being sold on the idea that we are part of history in the making as we witness world leaders working together to address global challenges. So far, all we have seen is a list of road closings and inconveniences.

I read that today was Carlsbad Caverns 82nd birthday. The park was established in Carlsbad, New Mexico in 1930. If you’ve never been to the Caverns, it’s worth the trip. It’s about 150 miles from El Paso, Texas. I loved going when I was a kid and Cole loved it when he went with his grandparents a few years ago. The caves are fascinating but of course Cole was particularly enthralled with the bats that fly out of the caves after sundown. You would never know that there are about 400,000 Brazilian (more commonly called Mexican) free-tail bats hanging around as you tour the caves, but at night they fly out of the cave en masse to eat several tons of bugs.

If you would like to read This Day in History or Celebrity Birthdays in its entirety, click here El Morno May 14, 2011.

My future senator just told me that he plans to be a Republican senator but a loose one…he is also giving the thumbs up for gay marriage. He can’t figure out why anyone would want to keep anyone else from getting married. He wondered if I knew and I said that no, I really didn’t.

Tell me about your day or comment on mine! Odd Loves Company!