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National Senior Citizen Day

8/21/2020

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Celebrate the Senior Citizen in your life today August 21st.  I love the Seniors in my life but sometimes they can get forgotten in the rush to keep up with our busy lives.  My Mom, 86 and her friends are a big part of my life.  I love to spend time with them.  They are so funny and have such great stories.  

Plus they need to get out.  So take them out.  Social distancing and masks of course.  But take them for a ride in the car, bring a picnic, walk around the mall or grab a bite at a cozy outside cafe.  Listen to their stories.  Ask them questions.  You will never regret taking the time to listen.

 -Monika

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World Humanitarian Day

8/19/2020

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World Humanitarian Day celebrates the people who champion and work for humanitarian causes - especially those who became ill or died as a result of their work. Honoring the true heroes today and always - health workers and those providing help to others in need.

​Make the world a better place by helping someone else. 🙃
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Black Cat Appreciation Day

8/17/2020

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Sending love to B.'s nephew, Thackery Binx  - and all the black kitties on National Black Cat Appreciation Day!   ♥️
​Binx Photo by his mom, Cynthia Dawn.😻❤️
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Celebrate Honey Bees!

8/17/2020

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National Honey Bee Day celebrates honey bees and recognizes their important contribution to the world. Celebrate the day by learning more about these amazing creatures and how they help sustain life. 🐝

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Happy National Rollers Coaster Day

8/16/2020

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Happy National Roller Coaster Day from the Holiday Chicks.

Every year on August 16th people flock to amusement parks to celebrate National Roller Coaster Day and ride and ride and ride the coasters. The screams, the heights, the speed, and the extreme fun all to celebrate the day that the first Roller Coaster was patented in 1893.  

I love Roller Coasters.  I have been on some crazy ones in my life.  Some really scary. Some just plain fun.  Once I was annoyed by this women screaming the whole ride till I came to find out it was me screaming.  Ha! That one was really scary.   So ride a coaster this summer if you dare.  Hold on tight!!!!!

​- Monika

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Happy International Left-Handers Day

8/13/2020

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​Happy International Lefthanders Day to all of our lefty friends and family out there, celebrated every year on August 13. The Holiday Chicks love Lefties.  Neither of us are lefthanded but we sure do have quite a few leftie characters in our families.

My favorite Southpaw is my Mom.  She is a proud lefty and if you make fun, she will zing you back with a long and quite impressive list of other famous Southpaws.  That list includes presidents, scientists and celebrities.  
 
I gave her, as a Christmas gift years ago, a ‘Left-handed facts of the day’ calendar.  She loved it and is now armed with an impressive list of left-hand facts.  

​Did you know that of the last seven U.S. presidents five were left-handed? My mom totally does and likes to remind us all!  Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George H W Bush, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan- Reagan wrote with his right hand, because he was taught to as a child.  Left handedness used to be frowned upon.  I’m sure that there are a lot more lefty presidents if you look back in history.  
 
Left handedness is called Sinistrality- Latin for “On the left”. Throughout history lefties were considered a bit evil.  But today they are considered quite normal and I think a bit extraordinary, having to live with all the inconveniences of a right-handed world. 
 
Lefties are about 10% of the world’s population.   In 1996 a study by Harvard Medical School found that there were more lefties working as artists, musicians, attorneys and architects.  Also, more then 20% of Apollo astronauts were lefties. 

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So now, in the 17th year of International Left-Handers Day, founded by the British Left Handers Club to honor lefty style- we say Happy Left Handers Day to all of our favorite Southpaws!  Y’all  certainly do have style.  

Some famous left-handed celebrities are Oprah, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, Julia Roberts, Babe Ruth and Sandy Koufax.  That is really an impressive list.  Let’s raise a glass (with our left hand of course) to left-handers everywhere. 

​According to CNN, when newly elected President Barack Obama signed his first three documents he stated “I’m a lefty. Get used to it.” Yes sir!  I understand.

​Having a lefty Mother I am quite used to it.  She eats European style, scares us when she cuts a tomato, and has a wicked left hook- don’t get her mad. Ha! 

 
If you want a great gift for a lefty, get them one of those fact a day calendars.  If your lefty is anything like my mom, they love to stock up on facts and then pull them out when they need to talk about how wonderful lefties are.  Let’s Celebrate them!

-Monika

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National Vinyl Day

8/12/2020

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Happy National Vinyl Record Day. Celebrated every year on August 12th. My Hubby has a huge vinyl collection. Somewhere around 500 albums. Its quite a collection and has been super fun helping him add to it over the years.

Grab some albums and give them a listen. Lay on the floor next to the speakers while gazing at the album cover and reading the lyrics. That’s how we used to do it. So much fun. You could while away the hours in your bedroom all by yourself listening to your favorite bands. I really miss that.

National Vinyl Record Day is just the day to try it out and see. So have at it. Spin some Beatles, Dylan, Hendrix or maybe a little Mozart. So great! Have fun.

- Monika

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Happy Janmashtami!

8/11/2020

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Krishna Janmashtami aka Janmashtami is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Krishna, one of the most respected and admired Indian divinities. Krishna is the eighth incarnation (avatar) of the Hindu god Vishnu (the highest avatar).

​This two day celebration is filled with fasting, praying, and a series of lively and colorful events.

Happy Janmashtami!  Enjoy the Janmashtami Special Bollywood Songs from Audio Jukebox.
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National Book Lovers Day

8/9/2020

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 Bibliophiles rejoice - it’s National Book Lovers Day!

This annual celebration pays tribute to book lovers and collectors. It also promotes reading and literature. Revisit an old friend on your bookshelf for a re-read, or grab something new with a visit to a library, bookshop (we ♥️ Indie bookstores), or swap, and settle down for a good read.

Wishing you many happy reads - from the Holiday Chicks!  🙃
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National Lighthouse Day

8/7/2020

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Nashrulloh Huda
Mysterious, romantic, lonely, perhaps a bit eerie, and always fascinating, these beautiful beacons of light stood as guardians of the sea for centuries.  In the United States, National Lighthouse Day is celebrated annually on August 7.  It was established by Congress to support and acknowledge the importance of lighthouses, beacons, buoys, and public piers.  

​The USA leads the world as the country with the greatest number of lighthouses nationwide, and Michigan tops the list of states with the most lighthouses.  But Massachusetts takes the honor of having the first lighthouse in America, built in Boston in 1716 on Little Brewster Island.  That lighthouse, Boston Light, was burned down by the British during the American Revolutionary War, then reconstructed in 1784.  Little Brewster Island and its lighthouse are said to be haunted by the ghosts of the first two lighthouse keepers, who died within months of taking on their jobs.  Currently, Boston Light is the only official lighthouse with a keeper. 

Although many lighthouses remain in operation, advanced navigation technology has been the preferred means of maritime navigation and safety.   

Fun Fact

From 1886 to 1901 the Statue of Liberty operated as a lighthouse after President Grover Cleveland announced it would do so under the Lighthouse Board.   The Statue of Liberty was released from the Lighthouse Board's jurisdiction and deactivated after President Theodore Roosevelt ordered its transfer to the US War Department .

Early Lighthouses

The Pharos of Alexandria, Egypt (a/k/a the Lighthouse of Alexandria) was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - and the first known lighthouse.  Alexandria was a great metropolis on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.  Its low, flat topography made it dangerous for ships coming into port if visibility was poor.  To help ships enter safely, the King of Egypt, Ptolemy I, and his son Ptolemy II, were responsible for the construction of the massive lighthouse, designed by Greek architect Sostratus of Cnidus and completed some time around 280 B.C.

Torre de Hércules (Tower of Hercules) is the oldest existing lighthouse in the world.  Located on a peninsula at the entrance of the La Coruña harbor in Spain, it was built in the 2nd century and renovated in 1791.  Its Roman structure is based on the Lighthouse of Alexandria.   The Tower of Hercules, which is still in use today, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.

Celebrate

Visit a lighthouse!  If you are able, visit a lighthouse in person (note: check restrictions during this time).   If that's not possible, take a virtual tour (this one features the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest lightest in the US).  Also take look at our other  NC Lighthouses.   Do a search for virtual tours of lighthouses in your location.

Read up on lighthouse facts from the United States Lighthouse Society.  Learn about America's lighthouses and keepers (one of the first government jobs available to women in the 19th century). 
​Also check out Lighthouse Facts for Kids.

Watch a film that features a lighthouse or lighthouse keeper.  Check out this IMDb list of Lighthouse films 
Like a good scare?  Check out this documentary about a haunted lighthouse.

Cook up a batch of yummy Lighthouse Keeper's Seagull Soup from Elinor DeWire's Author Blog.

Join us as we celebrate the beauty of lighthouses!

- Barbara 🙃
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