Celebrate love ….Chinese style. Today is Chinese Valentine Day. It is also known as the Daughters Festival and several other names (see below). We celebrate this lovely holiday on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar.

This holiday is one of love. It’s romantic (and lovely) that this holiday evolved from an ancient love story from Chinese folklore. As a result of being handed down from generation to generation over thousands of years, there are several versions of the story.

The first Saturday in August is forever proclaimed to be Campfire Day and Night! Why, day and night, you might ask? It’s simply because a campfire can and should be enjoyed any time, any day or night. Plan your fire so you can cook a meal and/or a snack over it.

Most people start a campfire at or near dusk, to enjoy its warmth and light late into the evening, or even early morning hours. A campfire can be equally enjoyable, without the mosquitos, during daylight hours. Although in mid-summer, it might be too hot to enjoy the fire in the middle of the day. To properly enjoy this holiday, start your campfire around 4:00 in the afternoon. Then, keep it going late into the evening.   

This is a very special time to enjoy the relaxing calm and peacefulness of a campfire with family or friends. It can be enjoyed in your backyard, at a campout, by the shore, or just about anywhere that you can build a fire on the ground, or in a firepit. 

This holiday is designated for celebration on the first Saturday in August for a couple of reasons. It is celebrated on a Saturday, as most people are off work, and don’t have to work the next day. So, they can stay up late to really enjoy the fire. Early August was selected, as sunset is already beginning to be noticeably earlier. And, children in some states, will soon go back to school. We want the kids to enjoy and cherish the memories of a summer campfire, too.

Have a safe and happy Campfire Day and Night!

Are you an active reader? Reading teaches you and expands your knowledge. It takes you to fantastic places and on far-away adventures. And it makes you a super sleuth as you solve murder mysteries. Book Lovers Day encourages you to find a place in the shade to relax with a good book. Use this August 9 holiday to open up a new book in your favorite genre.

Book reading is a great hobby. This hobby looks great on your job resume. It’s an important one, too. Employers look for it on resumes. Reading is educational, informative, and relaxing. It makes us both smarter, and happier people.

Book Lovers Day is a great day to celebrate. Just grab an interesting book, find a quiet, cozy place, and crack open the cover. Celebrating Book Lovers Day in August is pleasurable on the deck, under a shady tree, poolside, or in a cozy hammock. If you fall asleep while reading, that’s okay. It’s all part of the relaxing benefits of being a book lover.  

Put on your halo and wings. Then, display angelic behavior. Today is Be an Angel Day. This August 22 holiday encourages us to do acts of kindness and to help others.

This special day has strong religious roots. Jayne Howard Feldman, the creator of this day, says she was inspired by angels to create this day on August 22.

The objective of this day is to be like an angel and do something good or kind for someone. It encourages us to be God’s servants in doing good things for others. It is intended to do something nice or kind for someone who needs help. The type of angelic help you can offer is not defined or limited. It can be physical, emotional, or spiritual.

Be an Angel Day is for both the giver and the receiver. If you are the receiver, make certain to express openly your appreciation. And, recognize the angel in your life as being sent from God.

Bad Poetry Day is a day to create some really bad verse. But, why you ask? Perhaps, the answer is simply “because you can”. Maybe this August 18 holiday exists to allow us to better appreciate good poetry. Or, perhaps it is to be written to irritate someone. If bad poetry just isn’t your thing, you can read some great poetry. For starters, may we suggest works by Emily Dickinson, one of America’s greatest poets.

According to Wellcat.com, the creators of this day, the intention is to gather a group of old high school friends, and write some really bad poetry together. Then, send the poetry to your old high school teacher. Wow! That sounds like a lot of fun.

Today’s Poem is dedicated to you, the reader:

So, you’re a poet
But you don’t know it.
Try writing some verse
But, don’t be terse.
After it’s writ,
It will read like……….

To celebrate this special holiday, it is not enough to just write some bad poetry. Rather you need to read it to someone or give it to someone to read.

Walt Whitman is probably turning in his grave today.

Happy Bad Poetry Day!

National Aviation Day, an August 19 holiday, is in honor of the birthday of aviator Orville Wright. The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, were pioneer aviators in the United States. Orville was the first person to successfully fly an airplane. His first flight was December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. This inaugural flight was soon to change the skies forever.

It’s heavier than air, and it flies! National Aviation Day honors the accomplishments of Orville and Wilbur Wright. It is sometimes called Wright Brother’s Day. To a lesser degree, National Aviation Day sometimes honors other early aviation and space pioneers. This day was selected, as it is Orville Wright’s birthday. (August 19, 1871)

Friendship Day is a day to nurture relationships, new and old. Spend the day and night with any or all of your friends doing the things you like to do. That makes it a really easy and fun day to celebrate.

Start the day by getting in touch with some old friends. Start early. Chances are that your friends know it’s Friendship Day. You want to beat them to the punch and contact them first. Phone calls, emails, and Ecards are great tools.  See if you can make plans for lunch with a friend today, or some other day (soon).

Then, catch up with some of your current pals and buddies. Make sure to do some interesting things with them before the day is through. As you go through the day, be ever-vigilant to spot an opportunity to make a new friend. Finding new friends today is a real feather in your cap.

One thing is for certain…… if you put your all into the spirit of Friendship Day, you will have a great, great day.

Happy Friendship Day to all of my friends and to people all over the world!  

Today is a pearl of a day. That’s because today is National Oyster Day is today, an August 5 holiday. What a perfect day to learn about this delicious mollusk, and to enjoy an oyster recipe, or two, or three, or……

There are five varieties of oysters, and over 100 species. Many of these bivalve mollusks are edible. Are you hoping to find a lucky pearl in the oysters you are eating!? don’t hold your breath, as the varieties that produce pearls, are not the edible ones you find on your plate.

Have it your way. People either love oysters or hate them. There’s no in-between. If you are one of the lucky ones who love them, there are countless ways to eat them. Recipes abound. You can eat them raw or cooked. Try them in stews, chowders, soups, grilled, broiled, or baked. Oysters are even popular in Thanksgiving recipes.  One of the favorites is raw oysters on the half shell, served with champagne or absinthe. And, don’t forget Oysters Rockefeller….yum!  

Did You Know? Oysters taste better when they come from cold water in the winter months.

Are you a gardener? Then, don’t throw away the oyster shells. They are high in calcium which is beneficial for plant and soil health. Smash or crush them, and work them into the soil or mix them into your compost pile for later use.

Don’t let another minute go by without celebrating National Oysters Day with a plate of oysters any way you want them. 

More Herbs, Less Salt Day is today. This holiday promotes the use of healthy herbs over salts. Salt enhances the flavor of the food we eat. An, we all know that salt is not good for our health. Yet, Americans are addicted to it. This August 29 holiday encourages us to eat healthier with less salt.

Late August is a very appropriate time to celebrate this special day. The harvest of garden herbs is at a peak. There’s nothing better than fresh garden herbs to spice up your favorite recipes. And, we all should have less salt in our diets.

Wellcat.com, the creators of this day, offer little information about this day, other than the fact that herbs are better for your health than salt……….. How true.

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day is today. On this August 4 holiday, it may be blisteringly hot outdoors. But, put on your apron and fire up the oven, for this is a day to bake dozens and dozens of chocolate chip cookies. And, then eat them, of course!

It’s real easy to celebrate this sweet day. Eat lots and lots of Chocolate chip cookies.  Store-bought or homemade chocolate chip cookies are all okay. If you are a baker, celebrate this day, by pulling out your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes (yes, I said “recipes”). Bake as many cookies as you can. If this day falls on a workday, it is perfectly fine to bake the cookies the night before, as long as you bring some in to work for your fellow workers.

To celebrate this day, bakeries and grocery stores often offer a free chocolate chip cookie to patrons. Some offer discounts on the purchase of them.

Did You Know? In 1997, Massachusetts voted the chocolate chip cookie as the state cookie.

The chocolate chip cookie was invented by Ruth Graves Wakefield from Massachusetts, in 1938. Her husband ran the Toll House Inn, resulting in her cookies being called “Toll House “cookies. Nestlé’s bought the rights to the name, and the rest is history!