Thread:61Storm/@comment-29709319-20181110010804/@comment-29709319-20190303024019

March 3: National Anthem Day, National I Want You to be Happy Day, National Cold Cuts Day, National Mulled Wine Day, Soup It Forward Day, and Finisher’s Medal Day.

🇺🇸National Anthem Day commemorates the day our nation adopted “The Star Spangled Banner” as our National Anthem. While an attorney, Francis Scott Key was serving in the Georgetown Light Field Artillery during the War of 1812. In 1814 his negotiation skills as a lawyer were called upon to release Dr. William Beane who was a prisoner on the British naval ship, Tonnant. Early in September Key traveled to Baltimore in the company of Colonel John Skinner to begin negotiations. They secured Beane's release but were unable to return to Georgetown due to the British attacking Baltimore. The British navy abandoned Baltimore and turned their full attention on Fort McHenry. As the 190-pound shells began to shake the fort, mother nature brought a storm of her own. Thunder and rain pelted the shore along with the bombs and shells. At sea, Key had a similar night. Being a religious man, one who believed the war could have been avoided, he watched the bombs bursting in air over the water and steadily pummeling Fort McHenry. For 25 hours the fort endured over 1,500 cannon shots. In the early morning of September 14th, after Major George Armistead’s troops stopped the British landing party, the major ordered the oversized American flag raised in all its glory over Fort McHenry. Sewn a few months before by Mary Pickersgill and her daughter, the enormous banner replaced the storm flag which had flown during battle. As Key waited at sea for dawn to break and smoke to clear, imagine the inspiring sight in the silence of the morning to see his country’s flag fully unfurled against the breaking of the day and the fort standing firm. Key was so moved by the experience he immediately began penning the lyrics to a song which were later published by his brother-in-law as a poem titled “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” Nearly 117 years passed after Key penned “Defence of Fort M’Henry” before it became the national anthem of the United States of America. “Hail Columbia” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” held honorary places as patriotic songs. But, the United States didn’t have an officially declared anthem until a congressional resolution, signed by President Herbert Hoover, until “The Star Spangled Banner” became the national anthem of the United States of America on March 3rd, 1931.

😊National I Want You To Be Happy Day was created as a day encouraging us to do something to make others happy. Putting a smile on someone’s face tends to put one on ours, too. Ways to make someone happy: A flower, a silly knock-knock joke, buy the person’s coffee standing in line behind you, remind your kids how much you love them,  leave a sticky note for a co-worker telling them to have a spectacular day, a happy day, draw a happy face in the snow for a stranger to come across later, or maybe give someone a hug.

🍞National Cold Cuts Day. Call them lunch meats, deli meats, sandwich meats or cold cuts. Some like them thick, while others stack them mile high. Others still just like them with cheese and crackers. However you like them, National Cold Cuts Day was made for sandwich and snack makers. There are the deli staples like the humble turkey and ham. Then there are the culinary delights like salami and prosciutto and flavors that require a more acquired taste like head cheese and braunschweiger. Every nationality has a flavor all their own when it comes to seasoning, curing and aging a variety of meats. The taste is altered by spices, smoking and time. When the animal is butchered, temperature and air circulation affect the flavor, too. Or, it’s simply a piece of meat meant to make a meal. Breaking bread with friends sounds so much more delightful, though. Bologna is one of the most popular cold cuts in the United States due to a famous commercial. Named after the Italian city of the same name, bologna is similar to an Italian sausage called Mortadella. Other popular cuts are chicken, roast beef, pastrami, corned beef and pepperoni.

🍷National Mulled Wine Day! Mulled spirits are wine and liquors that have been heated and spiced. Mulled wine is usually made with red wine with various spices, fruits and sometimes slightly sweetened with honey. Popular blends include cinnamon, nutmeg, citrus, vanilla, anise, cloves, raisins or pears. Wine was first recorded as spiced and heated in First Century Rome. The combination of the heated spirits and spices are a warm welcome on a cold winter’s day and have long been considered a balm against illness during this time of year. (Remember always drink responsibly and never to drink and drive).

🍲National Soup It Forward Day encourages us to deliver love and kindness by the bowlful! Just as the recipes grow and provide a nourishing warmth, so can National Soup it Forward Day. When making one of your favorite soups at home, Soup it Forward. Deliver a healing pot of your delicious chicken noodle or split pea to a family or friend you know is in need. Perhaps they have been ill or down on their luck. Whatever the situation, a little of your home cooking and visit will be a nice change. Soup Sisters founded National Soup it Forward Day to encourage everyone to make a difference in each other’s lives through the warm, healing kindness of sharing a bowl of soup. Soup Sisters is an award-winning National non-profit organization Founded March 3, 2009. Since that time more than 1 million servings of nurturing and nourishing soup made by community people has been delivered monthly to 40 emergency shelters in North America for women and children fleeing family violence and domestic abuse. The organization’s Founder, Sharon Hapton launched Soup Sisters by celebrating a milestone birthday with a soup-making birthday party that provided the first delivery of soup to the Calgary Women’s Emergency shelter. That is the simplicity of Sharon’s vision: to give people a way to give back to their community by doing something tangible – getting into the kitchen, spending a night with friends, rolling up their sleeves and creating something heartwarming, heartfelt and with it a message of support to women and kids in crisis. Now operating in over 25 cities Soup Sisters and Broth Brothers deliver the gift of soup by providing a much needed ‘Hug in a Bowl’. Soup it forward with the universal comfort food and for added inspiration, you can find over 300 soup recipes in the Soup Sisters trilogy of cookbooks.

🥇Finisher’s Medal Day recognizes the long hours, days, weeks and even months of training thousands of men and women across the country have put in to achieve their goals of completing a race. Every year, cities around the United States and the world hold half and full marathons, triathlons, and other endurance races. Most of the competitors are everyday working people who train before or after work, after caring for their families and keeping their other commitments. They remain on a schedule despite rain, snow, wind and sometimes injury. Some have been athletes all their lives. Others are just starting out and want to see if they can do it. Many are amputees and are regaining some of what was taken from them. There are those who train as a team and those for whom this challenge is a one person mission. Finisher’s Medal Day recognizes each of them who crosses the line. Whether they cross it once or many times, earning that medal is a lifetime achievement. Marathon History: 🍁In 490 B.C., the Greek soldier Pheidippides was sent from the battlefield near Marathon, Greece to Athens to tell of the victory over the Persians. The distance was approximately 25 miles, and he ran the entire way. Once he arrived and delivered the message, the not quite fit soldier collapsed and died. Pheidippides earned a Finisher’s Medal. 🍁His feat was revived over the years, and initially, the marathon race was 25 miles long. In 1896, the Olympics in Greece set the distance at 40 kilometers. There were varying distances along the way, always somewhere near but usually 25 miles. In 1904, for example, the Boston Marathon measured 25 miles. Michael Spring won the race in two hours thirty-eight minutes four and two fifth seconds. He earned his Finisher’s Medal. 🍁At the 1908 London Olympics, the story goes that the route for the start and finish of the marathon was designed to pass beneath the royal nursery so the princess’s children could watch and the Queen and princess could participate in the ceremony of it all. This adjustment brought the distance to 26.2 miles. Everyone earned a Finisher’s Medal that day. The official distance for the Olympic marathon became 26.2 miles in 1921. 🍁K.V. Switzer ran the Boston marathon in 1967 and completed the race in four hours forty-four minutes thirty-one seconds. Not an impressive pace, but Switzer finished. An official also tried to remove Switzer from the run. Why? Because Switzer was a woman and at the time the Boston marathon was still a men’s only race. However, she was allowed to complete the race and crossed the finish line. Kathrine Switzer earned her Finisher’s Medal. The Little Rock Marathon founded Finisher’s Medal Day to celebrate endurance athletes and their competitive spirit. They encourage all finishers, whether you are a runner or a walker, to celebrate Finisher’s Medal Day, too!

I would like to see the disappearing waterfall, Devil's Kettle. And a few other places.

Sorry but I over slept. Comments will have to be later.

Sending hugs!🐶🐶💕❄️☃️❄️💕