~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
March 16, 2014 

★~ Today’s Quote:  The road from Chicago to Ireland is marked in green. From the Chicago River to the Illinois River, then to the Mississippi, up the Gulf Stream and across the Atlantic you can see the beautiful green enter the Irish Sea, clearly marking the way from Chicago to Ireland.  Stephen Bailey

★~Chicago River Green: 

A modern day miracle occurs each year as part of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade celebration when the Chicago River turns an incredible shade of Irish green. This spectacular transformation ranks right up there with the parting of the sea by Moses and the Pyramids of Egypt. . .read below for the story of how and why the Chicago River is turned green

★~ Everything You Do Is Right Today:

There is no wrong way to celebrate—just enjoy the day!

★~ Curlew Day:

The long-billed curlew is the largest North American shorebird. The Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon is expecting the curlews to arrive around March 16 to begin their spectacular courtship flight. The refuge is “an important migration and wintering area for waterfowl and other birds in the Columbia River Basin, with up to 150,000 ducks and 30,000 Canada geese resting and feeding on its marshes and ponds in the fall, winter, and spring.”

★~ Artichoke Day:

My family is a big fan of Artichokes! Truthfully, I think we’re a big fan of anything you can dip in butter!

Fun fact:  The town of Castroville, California crowned its first “Artichoke Queen” in 1947? The winner was a young actress named Norma Jean Mortenson who later changed her name to Marilyn Monroe!

★~ Today in History:

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♥~ 1850 – The novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was published. Other novels by Mr. Hawthorne included The House of Seven Gables, The Marble Faun, Twice-Told Tales, Tanglewood Tales and The Wonder Book.

♥~ 1926 – Robert H. Goddard  tested his first liquid-fuel rocket. The rocket traveled for 2 1/2 seconds and covered 184 feet at a speed of 60 mph. It attained a maximum height of 41 feet. (*The Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD is name for him.)

♥~ 1955 – The Ballad of Davy Crockett, by Bill Hayes, reached the number one spot on the pop music charts and stayed for five weeks. The smash hit song sold more than 7,000,000 records on more than 20 different labels. Everyone seemed to be singing the song that saluted the frontier hero who was “Born on a mountain top in Tennessee…” Coonskin caps were seen everywhere as the Crockett craze spread like a frontier fire.

♥~ 1957 – Gumby show premiered. This kids’ show was a spin-off from “Howdy Doody,” where the character of Gumby was first introduced in 1956. Gumby and his horse, Pokey, were clay figures whose adventures were filmed using the process of “claymation.” “The Gumby Show,” created by Art Clokey, was first hosted by Bobby Nicholson and later by Pinky Lee

♥~ 1963 – Peter, Paul and Mary released the single, Puff The Magic Dragon. Through the years, controversy continually surrounded the song. It was banned by several radio stations whose management figured that the song was about the illicit joys of smoking marijuana. The group denied this startling assumption. “It’s about a magic dragon named Puff,” they said. So there.

♥~ 1998 – Sweepstakes company American Family Publishers reached an agreement with 32 states to change the way it promotes its contests. It agreed to reserve use of the term ‘winner’ for contestants who have actually won

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1822 – Rosa Bonheur French painter and sculptor: Rosa Bonheur was the first woman awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion d’Honeur, She is  best known for her realistic depictions of animals.

♥~ 1926 – Jerry Lewis (Joseph Levitch) comedian, actor

♥~ 1932 – Betty Johnson singer: I Dreamed, Little White Lies, The Little Blue Man, Dream

♥~ 1949 – Erik Estrada actor: C.H.I.P.S., Twisted Justice, Night of the Wilding, Caged Fury, The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission

♥~ 1967 – 1967 – Lauren Graham actress: Caroline in the City, Good Company, Townies, Gilmore Girls, Chasing Destiny

♥~ 1969 – Judah Friedlander actor: 30 Rock

★~ Good to Know: The Story Behind Dyeing the River

For the past 43 years the Chicago River turns green for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade celebration. One would ask how this is different from the rest of the year when the river is always a murky shade of green. The difference is both significant and breathtaking because the color green is identical to the greens of Ireland from where it got its name “The Emerald Isle.”

In 1961 Stephen Bailey was approached by a plumber who was wearing some white coveralls, they knew this only because they could see some of the original color. These coveralls had been mostly stained or dyed a perfect shade of green, an Irish green to better describe it. It was when Stephen Bailey asked how the coveralls got this way, that they discovered that the dye used to detect leaks into the river turned green, not just any color green, but the perfect color green. “A tradition is born”

Today this miracle belongs to Mike Butler and his crew, which he claims to always have a little help from a leprechaun who seems to just appear at this time each year.

If you were watching this for the first time you would think this is a mistake or a bad joke. You see the dye is orange and its initial color on the surface of the river is orange and you would think to yourself what heathen would do something like this. After a moment or two you then see the true color magically appear.

Two miracles appear that day, the river turns a perfect shade of green something that many other cities have tried but have not been successful at doing, and the second miracle by starting with the color orange giving the impression that river will be orange only to convert the river to that true Irish green. Chicagoan’s  believe that is where the leprechaun comes in.

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The big question remains—will Chicago break yet another winter record?

“In 130 years of snowfall records dating from 1884, the snow season of 1978-79 reigns supreme as Chicago’s snowiest; 89.7 inches of snow buried the city then. This winter’s cumulative snow totals are nearly as impressive. As recorded officially at O’Hare International Airport, the season’s snow tally now stands at 79.1 inches — and that is 10.7 inches shy of a new record. But Chicago’s snow season still has a few weeks to run. What is the chance that this snow season will establish a new snowfall record? Nine percent. Twelve seasons of the last 129 — nine percent of the seasons — brought at least 10.7 inches of snow after March 13.”  Meteorologist Richard Koeneman

Naturally, I am cheering for spring and I certainly don’t relish in the  prospect of 10.7 more inches of snow (less, since it did snow last night)—however, we are so close…sigh…let it snow. I want to break the record and then I want to close the books on this winter forever more. Or at least until next year. Because one thing we are certain about in Chicago is “next year” will come . . .

This is fun. If you haven’t seen it—watch for a Sunday morno giggle.

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I am thinking corn beef and artichokes for dinner tonight! We will add the traditional cabbage tomorrow.

Odd Loves Company!