The original World War II D-Day occurred on June 6, 1944, On this historic day Allied troops invaded the beaches of Normandy, France. It is the largest amphibious assault in world history. This massive, bloody battle was the turning point of the war in the European theater.  

On this day, 156,000 troops from the United States, Great Britain, and Canada stormed five beaches. American troops landed on Omaha and Utah beaches. At the same time, British troops landed on Gold and Sword Beach. And, Canadian forces landed on Juno Beach. 4,000 Allied troops died on these beaches on D-Day, and 2,000 of them were American.

Please take a moment of silence today, and thank the many soldiers who fought and died for our country on D-Day.

The 1970s were a crazy time in the history of the world. A lot was wrong with the world and the country. But, something good came out of these tumultuous times. People became aware of the harm being done by humans to our environment. And so, the United Nations created World Environment Day. This June 5 holiday seeks government and political action to change our environment for the good. One could argue that not a lot of progress has been made. On the contrary, positive steps are occurring. It’s just not as much or as quickly as we desire.

World Environment Day focuses attention on important environmental issues. It is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.”

The United Nations selects a different theme every year. Each year, a different city is selected to host World Environment Day celebrations.

World Rainforest Day is a recently new holiday. This June 22 holiday was created in 2017 to raise awareness of the importance of rainforests around the world for the health of the Earth, and ultimately for your health, too.  Rainforests are just 6% of the land mass of our planet. And they are decreasing at an alarming rate. It is time to pay attention to this vital asset and reverse the trend of shrinking rainforest areas.

Tropical rainforests do many good things for the Earth and its inhabitants. 20% of the oxygen we breathe, comes from rainforests. They offer many other benefits, including the absorption of harmful carbon dioxide, and stabilizing climates. About half the plant and animal species on the planet call rainforests their home. The diversity, and potential of these areas is nothing short of astonishing.

Tropical rainforests exist all over the world. We all know the biggest, the Amazon located in South America. Most of us know of the tropical rainforests in Southeast Asia, too. However, there are many rainforests around the world. Some of them are in places you would never think of. There are rainforests in the United States, including Hawaii, the Appalachians, and even Alaska. There is a rainforest on Vancouver Island in Canada, too.  

Did you know? While we think of rainforests in tropical areas, not all rainforests are in the tropics. 

Oceans are immensely important and vital to humans. It feeds us, producing vast amounts of fish and seafood. We sail it, to bring people and cargo to and from places around the world. There’s recreational boating, too. We swim in it. Oceans are so important to us, that it is only fitting that a day… today… is World Ocean Day.  On this global June 8 holiday, we celebrate our oceans and work towards maintaining and improving their health and cleanliness. As the health of our oceans goes, so goes the health of the entire planet.

Oceans comprise about 71% of the surface of the earth. With their immense size, you would think it is very hard to pollute our oceans. Well, we happen to be doing a pretty good job polluting them.

As if global warming (man-made) was damaging our oceans enough, we humans are exacting a terrible toll on the health of oceans, adding immeasurable amounts of pollutants each and every year.

Use this special day, to become more knowledgeable about how we are polluting the oceans with litter of all kinds, from just about any source you can imagine. Tsunamis devastate coastal areas and drag pollutants into the sea. A Tsunami in Japan resulted in tons of trash washing up on U.S. west coast beaches. Oil is leaked from oil rigs, ships, and boats. Plastics, which take many years to break down, of all kinds, find their way into our seas. Plastics, in particular, can have a devastating effect on marine life.

A clean and healthy ocean translates to healthy marine life. This results in safe and healthy seafood that you and I consume.

What can you do on World Ocean Day, to improve the health of our oceans?

Waffle Iron Day, a June 29 holiday, celebrates this great kitchen gadget that makes tasty waffles. Waffles are cooked between two metal plates. A waffle iron is powered by electricity to heat the plates and create light waffles ready for you to top with syrup, and/or your favorite fruits.

By all means, waffles are not just for breakfast. They are good for lunch or dinner, too.  Belgian waffles are popular for dinner. You can load them up with lots of fruits, whipped cream, nuts, and syrups. 

The origin of the waffle:  The waffle dates back to the 1300s in Greece. Greeks cooked flat cakes between two metal pans. At the time, they topped it with cheeses and herbs. Sorry, pancake syrup wasn’t around back then.

You do know how to celebrate this day…….don’t you!? If you don’t have a waffle iron, today is a good day to go out and buy one. There are also waffle and mini-waffle makers to choose from. If you are too busy to make waffles yourself, buy some frozen in your grocery store, or order them out at a restaurant.

Back in the 1980s and 1990’s, video cassette recorders were “the” home recording and playback format. The VCR cassette contained magnetic tape, which you could record on and erase over and over again. Just about everyone had a VCR player. You could tape TV shows and movies for playback later. The marketplace offered VCR cassettes with recent movies. VCR Day, a June 7 holiday, celebrates the VCR tape cassette players.

While VCR usage peaked in the 1980s and 1990s, the very first VCR available for commercial sale was released in 1956, by Ampex Corporation in the United States. It did not come into widespread use until the late 1970s. For a short period, the VCR format competed against the Betamax (Beta) tape format. Near the turn of the century, compact discs and DVDs arrived with better quality and longer storage. They quickly replaced VCRs in the marketplace.

During its heyday, VCR cassettes also were used in recording movies in home video cameras. They largely replaced long popular 8mm and Super 8mm movie films, for the average amateur user.

If you are a younger reader, ask Mom and Dad, or Grandpa and Grandma about VCRs. Chances are they have a VCR recorder, and some cassette tapes buried somewhere in their basement. You may even find that you are on some of those cassettes, recording a childhood birthday, dance recital, or graduation.

Like so many other formats, it became outdated as new, better formats are invented. As time goes by, fewer and fewer people are celebrating Video Cassette Day, as this outdated technology fades from memory. Kids growing up today, have no idea what it is. For at least a few more years, those of us old enough to remember the popular VCR will continue to celebrate this day.

Today is Take a Road Trip Day. There isn’t a better time to get away from it all. Summer is here. The weather is sunny and warm. The kids are out of school. The summer vacation season has arrived. It’s time for you to hit the road. So, gather the family, hop in the car, and go!! Where to? Your destination is unknown, as it should be.

The road awaits you. Today is the perfect day to declare yourself a day off and just get away. This special event is on a Friday, so you can call in to work to use a vacation day and make a long weekend of it. While you can plan this day in advance, today will be the most fun by making it an unplanned trip. Be adventuresome. Go with the flow. Some of the best vacation memories come from a spur-of-the-moment trip, with no prior planning or thought.

You can take a simple day trip, or you can pack an overnight bag and extend the road trip into the weekend ..my favorite choice. If you opt for the overnighter, remember this is an unplanned trip, so pack your bag at the last minute.

For those of you who can’t hit the open road without a planned route and destination, it’s okay. Just keep in the spirit of an unplanned rise as best you can.

Songs for Today:

• “Hit the Road Jack” (1961) – Ray Charles
• “The Long and Winding Road”(1970)  – The Beatles