Live this moment
Feel this day this sun this breath
I loved those things too.
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Archive for the ‘Holidays’ Category
Graveyard Poem
Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, death is inevitable but so is beauty, haiku, writing on October 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »
That Halloween Thing
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, candy, Halloween, new experience, social contracts, statistics, Thoughts on October 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I recently received an emergency request from a friend for a critical mission: Could I please run over to the old Toys ‘R Us and check for a certain costume for their toddler?
That’s right, I was asked to visit Spirit Halloween.
Sure, I said, no problem. I’ve never been to a Spirit Halloween before, it’s bound to be interesting.
And it was. I’m not a big Halloween person (I believe I’ve mentioned my childhood scars from The Amityville Horror; thanks, Dad! and also thanks for not moving into that house that looked a lot like That House when we were kids).
My last real costume was a ghost (although I did attend one party as Trinity from The Matrix which was fun; still have the leather trench coat), so it’s been a while since I really celebrated.
I do remember that there were very definite differences between good candy and not-so-good candy.
As many of us prepare to do That Halloween Thing, I thought I’d share this highly scientific analysis of candy preferences:
The Ultimate Halloween Candy Power Ranking.
The social contract of Halloween is simple: Provide adequate treats to costumed masses, or be prepared for late-night tricks from those dissatisfied with your offer. To help you avoid that type of vengeance, and to help you make good decisions at the supermarket this weekend, we wanted to figure out what Halloween candy people most prefer. So we devised an experiment: Pit dozens of fun-sized candy varietals against one another, and let the wisdom of the crowd decide which one was best.
Or just buy what you like and share it with the neighborhood. Either way, have fun!
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To Dream As You Will
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, independence day, Thoughts on July 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Happy Fourth of July!
“I believe in Liberty for all men: the space to stretch their arms and their souls, the right to breathe and the right to vote, the freedom to choose their friends, enjoy the sunshine, and ride on the railroads, uncursed by color; thinking, dreaming, working as they will in a kingdom of beauty and love.”
— W.E.B. DuBois
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This Beautiful Country
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, quotes on July 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Happy Canada Day!
Our hopes are high. Our faith in the people is great. Our courage is strong. And our dreams for this beautiful country will never die.
— Pierre Trudeau
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Happy to Be in the North
Posted in Holidays, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, solstice on June 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Today the sun will reach its northernmost latitude. It will sit above the Tropic of Cancer, which means that today is the longest day in the northern hemisphere, and the shortest day in the southern hemisphere.
On this Summer Solstice, will you have one longest day or two? – The Weather Network
This marks the start of astronomical summer for the northern hemisphere for this year.
And in parts of Canada, we have a bit of added fun.
The entire country will experience the longest day of the year on Friday the 20th.
However, if you live anywhere from northern and eastern Ontario to the Atlantic coast, Saturday the 21st will be the exact same length as the 20th, down to the second. This includes Timmins, North Bay, Ottawa, and Bainsville in Ontario, plus everywhere to the east — all of Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Check out the rest of the article for more on the astronomy of it all, where the name comes from, and what a solargraphy is (pretty, that’s what).
I hope you enjoy the solstice, no matter where you are. And if you (like me) get two, even better!
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Happy Holiday!
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025 on June 19, 2025| 1 Comment »
Happy Juneteenth, everyone! Today’s holiday marks the day Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger entered Galveston, Texas in 1865 and issued General Order No. 3. In essence, it said “The war’s over, and the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery is the law of the land.”
I’ve written about the holiday before:
Our Newest Federal Holiday (and my Confederate great great grandfather)
As Dr. Shane Bolles Wash said, “It immediately changed the game for 250,000 people.”
“You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him.”
― Booker T. Washington
Here’s to freedom, for us all.
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Things My Father Taught Us
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, Father's Day, inspiration, thanks Dad, Thoughts on June 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Just some of the things my father passed on:
- be kind
- listen to others’ opinions, even if you don’t always agree
- money is a useful thing, but not the most important thing
- read to your children
- a warm kitchen makes a home
- a good chef’s knife is important
- a good library is critical, and
- you can always do more than you think you can.
To the man who introduced me to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, good food, good music, and good writing, Happy Father’s Day!
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The Good That Remains
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, Thoughts on May 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Today is Memorial Day in the US, and I’m thinking of those who served and died. I’m thinking of Boalsburg, one of the first homes of Memorial Day celebrations. And I’m thinking of the ways in which we remember those we’ve lost, as sorrow highlights the good that remains.
Memorial Day by Amos Russel Wells
The Day of Memories!—Remembering what?
The cannon’s roar, the hissing of the shot?
The weary hospital, the prison pen?
The widow’s tears, the groans of stalwart men?
The bitterness of fratricidal strife?
The pangs of death, the sharper pangs of life?
Nay, let us quite forget the whole of these
Upon our sacred Day of Memories.
The Day of Memories!—Remembering what?
The honored dust in every hallowed spot;
The honored names of all our heroes dead;
The glorious land for which they fought and bled;
Our nation’s hopes; the kindly, common good;
The universal bond of brotherhood;
These we remember gladly, all of these,
Upon our sacred Day of Memories.
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A Deluge of Palindromes
Posted in Holidays, Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, calendar fun, not exactly a holiday but, Thoughts on May 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Good news, people who enjoy fun trivia and temporally specific facts, today is a palindrome day. That’s when the date (as written American style, at least) reads the same forwards as well as backwards.
I’ve mentioned this before in A Minor Mystery, but this week, we’re actually in the middle of what I’m going to call a Deluge of Palindromes, because all dates between 5/21/25 and 5/29/25 qualify.
Fun, right?
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Happy Mother’s Day, Mothers!
Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, Mother's Day, mothers, Thoughts on May 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Here’s to moms, those all-too-often-unsung heroines out there doing motherhood every day.
Unsung Heroes of Motherhood by Wendi Aarons and Johanna Gohmann
… Amanda Hill, who took her rage at trying to reenter the workplace as an older mom and being told they “just aren’t hiring women in your stage of life right now” and funneled it into a brightly colored, expletive-laden cross-stitch project.
Happy Mother’s Day!
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