~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
January 8, 2014

★~ Today’s Quote: “Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” ― Marianne Williamson

★~ Bubble Bath Day:

The warm water and steam open your pores, clean your skin, and loosen up that knot in your neck. I enjoy a bubble bath with a piece of cake…other people enjoy reading a book, and still others like to close their eyes and let the cares of the world drift far, far away. Don’t forget to roll up a towel to put behind your neck, and make sure you have something comfy and cozy to put on when you emerge from bubbles and bath.

If you are truly a shower person and refuse to soak your bones in a bubble bath, at least treat yourself to a new bath product today.

★~ Joy Germ Day:

Today, we go forth and spread January Joy. To keep inspired, Joy germs have their own “rap”….

“Men, women, and children on fire with the desire to conspire and inspire, who elect to collect, infect and direct those ‘down in the dumpsters’ to develop resilience to rally round the rigors of reality by hugging, smiling, laughing, grinning, and winning victoriously over regression and depression.”

Smile, Spread Joy.

★~ Male Watcher Day:

Ladies, Feel free to gawk, but please don’t grab.

★~ English Toffee Day:

Toffee became popular in England, in the latter part of the 1800s. The best way to celebrate English Toffee is to enjoy a piece. Making it is surprisingly  easy and takes very few ingredients. Here is a recipe by Paula Deen and a very easy recipe from Recipe Shoebox.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1856 – Borax (hydrated sodium borate) was discovered by Dr. John Veatch near Red Bluff, California. It became a multiuse product that was popularized during the era of TV’s Death Valley Days. Remember 20 Mule Team Borax?

♥~ 1955 – After 130 home basketball wins, the University of Kentucky lost — at home — to Georgia Tech, 59-58. It was the first Kentucky loss at home since January 2, 1943.

♥~ 2001 – A Japanese man choking on a sticky rice cake was saved when his daughter sucked the glob out with a vacuum cleaner. Family members first tried to remove the food with their fingers. Then the man’s 46-year-old daughter grabbed a vacuum cleaner, took out his dentures and stuck the hose into his mouth with the switch turned to high. The 70-year-old man had fully recovered by the time paramedics arrived.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1935 – Elvis (Aron) Presley singer: That’s All Right, Mama, Mystery Train, All Shook Up, Love Me Tender, Suspicious Minds; 90 top-20 hits; actor: Jailhouse Rock, G.I. Blues,Blue Hawaii; over 30 films; died Aug 16, 1977

♥~ 1942 – Stephen Hawking author: A Brief History of Time

♥~ 1947 – David Bowie (Jones) singer: Space Oddity, Fame, Changes, Ziggy Stardust, Peace on Earth-Little Drummer Boy [w/Bing Crosby]; actor: The Man Who Fell to Earth, Just a Gigolo, The Last Temptation of Christ At the revamped website for David Bowie, At the revamped website for  David Bowie, it was  announced today that he is releasing  “The Next Day,” his first album in ten years (pre-order). The first single from the new album, “Where Are We Now?,” is available now and the song’s video can be seen at Bowie’s site.

★~ Good to Know: My Sweet mom shared this with me…I’m pretty sure this is how the weather is forecast.

Late fall and the Indians on a remote reservation in North Dakota asked their new chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild.

Since he was a chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky, he couldn’t tell what the winter was going to be like.

Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared.

But, being a practical leader, after several days, he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, ‘Is the coming winter going to be cold?’

‘It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold,’ the meteorologist at the weather service responded.

So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared.

A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. ‘Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?’

‘Yes,’ the man at National Weather Service again replied, ‘it’s going to be a very cold winter.’

The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find.

Two weeks later, the chief called the National Weather Service again. ‘Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?’

‘Absolutely,’ the man replied. ‘It’s looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters we’ve ever seen.’

‘How can you be so sure?’ the chief asked.

The weatherman replied, ‘The Indians are collecting a ton of firewood’

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The picture at the top of the post is from a collection of Chicago Polar Vortex pictures. Chicago has been renamed Chiberia! Cutesy but fun (thank you Beth Ann for being the first to share this with me)  What a Polar Vortex: Science writer Andrew Freedman, gave this analogy

“This is air that is circulating the Arctic,” Freedman said. “In the last couple of days, it’s sort of become lopsided — sort of like a figure skater that has extended their arms and then tripped.

“You know, when a figure skater pulls their arms in, they spin tighter and tighter and faster and faster. But when they put their arms out, they are a little bit slower and a little bit more wobbly and more prone to fall or stop skating at the end of their routine.

“What’s happening now is that a piece of it is down on the other side of the globe, but a piece of it kind of got lopsided and came down on top of us.”

Today, we said goodbye to the Chicago Polar Vortex.  In years to come, it will be fun to reminisce about Chicago’s 15 below temperatures-wind chill factor of 47. By god, it was so cold the Chicago Public School closed!  I suspect winter is going to stick around for a few more months. This weekend it’s suppose to hit 30, and rising temps usually bring snow. I’ll post an updated icicle picture tomorrow.  I’m sure, I SHOULD knock them down, but I won’t. I like how they surround my house like a fortress.

El Morno, turned into El Nighto.  Hope everyone had a wonderful day. And feel free to bubble, spread joy, gawk, and eat toffee tomorrow.

Odd Loves Company!