~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
March 20, 2014

★~ Today’s Quote:  Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’ ~ Robin Williams

★~ Spring: 

Spring! Time for My Favorite Waldorf Spring Song!

This year in the Northern Hemisphere, the Spring Equinox happens on March 20 at 11:02 UTC. People around the world will celebration the passing of winter and the coming spring.  Many of these celebrations go back to ancient times.  The Norse celebration of spring was called Summer Finding.  In Poland spring is celebrated on Marzenna.  Ancient Romans celebrated Hilaria, an observation of spring and of the goddess Cybele.  Buddhists and Hindus honor spring at Holi. Many Pagans will be celebrating the beginning of spring, under the name “Ostara”. Ostara comes to us from German tradition and is said to be named after the German goddess Eostre.

Our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, will be enjoying the Fall Equinox, or Mabon. Mabon is a time of thanksgiving for the bounty of the earth and the bounty in our lives.

★~ Bockbier Day:

Centuries ago, German monks adopted this hearty dark brew as “liquid bread” to provide them with carbohydrates and calories as they fasted during Lent. Some believe the name bock came from the shortening of einbeck and thus beck to bock. Others believe it is more of a pagan or old-world influence that the beer was only to be brewed during the sign of the Capricorn goat, and that bockmeans goat in German. In Europe, pictures of knights fighting in wars or goats ready to ram would portray the strength of the beer. Before Prohibition in America, many of the breweries turned out colorful poster art showing beer-drinking goats doing everything from bellying up to the bar to floating in a hot air balloon. Basically, this beer was a symbol of better times to come and moving away from winter. Sounds like a good way to toast the start of spring to me!!

★~ Ravioli Day:

Take one tasty food—pasta—and fill it with another tasty food—cheese, or meat, or mushrooms—and you’ve got the wondrous little yum pillows we call ravioli, wonton, or kreplach. Stuffed pasta is thought to date back to medieval times and contained cheese, nuts, and spices. “In European/Christian cultures they were often served with cheese during Lent and on other meat-abstaining days, The earliest mention of ravioli appears in the writings of Francesco di Marco, a merchant of Prato in the 14th century. 

Recipe: Spring vegetables in Parmesan broth with goat cheese ravioli

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1967 – Fashion model, Twiggy, arrived in the United States for a one-week stay. She quickly became the most sought-after subject of photographers due to her terrifically skinny-yet-wholesome good looks and the shortest dresses ever seen (to that time).

♥~ 1980 – After 303 weeks on the Billboard album chart, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon became the longest-charting rock album of all time. It stayed on the chart for over eight more years, finally dropping off after 741 weeks.

♥~ 1985 – CBS-TV presented The Romance of Betty Boop. The special starred Desiree Goyette as the ‘Boop-Boop-Be-Doop’ cartoon cutie from the Max Fleisher one-reel films in the 1930s. There were 112 Betty Boop shorts produced. Only two other cartoon characters have surpassed Betty in animation fame. They are: Felix the Cat and (of course) Mickey Mouse. Most people thought Betty Boop was fashioned after the actress, Clara Bow, the ‘it’ girl.

♥~ 1996 –  A 21-year-old Muppet fan claiming to have a bomb took over a radio station in Wanganui, New Zealand, and demanded that “Rainbow Connection” by Kermit the Frog be played non-stop for 12 hours. Police evacuated the area, decided the bomb was a fake, stormed the station, and arrested the listener. No one was hurt.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1928 – Fred Rogers TV host: Mr. Rogers Neighborhood; Celebrate Mr Rogers birthday by putting on your favorite spring sweater and promoting neighborliness in your neighborhood.

♥~ 1957 – Spike Lee director: She’s Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers

♥~ 1950 – William Hurt actor: Broadcast News, The Accidental Tourist, Altered States, The Big Chill, Trial by Jury, Children of a Lesser God

♥~ 1958 – Holly Hunter Academy Award-winning actress: The Piano [1993]; Broadcast News, The Firm, Raising Arizona

★~ Good to Know:.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/35uXO7DpT2U[/youtube]

♥~ William Wordsworth was inspired to write the poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, also known as Daffodils in 1804.

♥~ Daffodils, Narcissus, jonquils, March blooms, these terms all refer to the flower that comes back every spring on roadsides, hills, and flower gardens over a large part of the Northern Hemisphere. They are a part of the Amaryllis family, and many types grow wild.

♥~ According to the American Daffodil Association, there are 13 different divisions of daffodils, each with a different look. They come in all sizes, shapes, and colors, which serious growers raise for competition, and casual gardeners try out for something new and different.

♥~ The flower Narcissus was named for the Greek god who fell in love with his own reflection. The bell of the flower tilts downward, like someone gazing at his reflection in the water. But the word also resembles the Greek word narke, or narcotic. Daffodils are toxic, especially the bulb. The main poison is lycorine, although other toxins are present in smaller amounts.

♥~ In 2009, students at Gorseland Primary School in Suffolk, England were poisoned when a cooking project went wrong. The students were using ingredients from the school’s garden, and a daffodil bulb was mistaken for an onion. Twelve children were taken to the hospital, but quick intervention saved them from permanent harm.  Moral: Always sniff for the onion smell when using garden onions.

♥~ The daffodil is the national flower of Wales, and is traditionally worn on March 1st, St. David’s Day. St. David was a monk in 5th century Wales who worked hard, never drank alcohol, founded many monasteries, and eventually became archbishop. He is the patron saint of Wales. St. David’s symbol is the leek, so the wearing of daffodils on his feast day is more of a patriotic custom than a religious gesture.

♥~ In England, daffodils are sometimes referred to as Lent Lilies. A poem by A. E. Houseman tells how the daffodil blooms at the beginning of Lent and is gone by Easter. It says, in part:

And there’s the windflower chilly
With all the winds at play,
And there’s the Lenten lily
That has not long to stay
And dies on Easter day.

♥~ An old tale from China links the daffodil with prosperity. A farmer left land to two sons, but one grabbed the lion’s share, leaving the other with only an acre of rocks -but there was water on that acre. A fairy granted him some narcissus bulbs, which grew and impressed people so much they bought them and made him a wealthy man. His greedy and jealous brother also planted narcissus bulbs, but they did not grow because his land, though vast, had no water supply. Even today, the legend goes, if a daffodil blooms by the date of the Chinese New Year, it is a symbol of good luck and prosperity for the coming year. In northern latitudes, this means growing them indoors and forcing the blooms.

♥~  The daffodil is associated with love and fertility — place fresh ones in your home to bring about abundance. Wear the flower close to your heart to draw love and luck.

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SPRING!  I do love winter. But it is time to boot  say goodbye to Dear Father Winter and Welcome Spring! We are having a Spring Fling on Facebook but for those of you not on Facebook I brought you a few spring treats: Scones, mimosa, and some daffodils. Please help yourself!

And some music! Because I feel Groovy! And I hope you do too!

[youtube]http://youtu.be/TJBhdKrwTOc[/youtube]

Today is my 1035 El Morno Post. I start posting El Morno on Odd (for real) on March 20, 2011. Those early posts make me cringe but I love them all. Especially the part where I get to visit with you! Because as ya’ll know….ODD LOVES COMPANY.

♥~