Thread:61Storm/@comment-29709319-20190621035327/@comment-29709319-20190630235407

National Themes For July 1st: National Postal Worker Day, National U.S. Postage Stamp Day, National Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day, and National Gingersnap Day.

📫National Postal Worker Day is a day to appreciate and thank the numerous men and women who work consistently and diligently to deliver all of our mail and packages. These employees suffer some of the harshest working conditions, yet continue to persevere six days a week. Across the United States, postal workers walk an average of 4 to 8 miles carrying a full load of letters and packages and delivering them promptly to each of our doorsteps. There are approximately 490,000 postal workers across the United States. They work in all kinds of weather including extreme heat and cold, rain and sleet and blizzards, too. Besides severe weather, they have also dealt with unusual packages. In 1913 the postal service started delivering packages up to a maximum of 11 pounds. The most surprising package to arrive for delivery was a small child. Barely under the weight limit, James Beagle was mailed at a cost of 15 cents to his grandmother just a few miles away. This practice continued for just over a year until the postmaster general was able to put regulations in place prohibiting it. National Postal Worker Day was established in 1997 by a Seattle-area carrier who wanted to honor fellow employees.

📬National U.S. Postage Stamp Day recognizes the ease and simplicity with which we can send and receive mail. A stamp represents payment for the delivery of a letter or a package. The first postage stamp in the United States was issued on July 1, 1847. At that time, stamps were not required. A letter could be mailed without a stamp and delivery paid for by the recipient. In 1855, the postage stamp became mandatory. Philately is the study of stamps and postal history. Stamps often have a fascinating history. Everything from the inspiration and the artist to the postal rate in a given year affects the value of a stamp. Collectors look at quality and rarity as well. When we consider how few letters are mailed in this technological era, modern stamps may be the most collectible stamp of the future.

🍦National Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day is a day to sample or wonder about the awkward or just plain silly kinds of ice cream flavors. It is meant for more than the love of the traditional vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream. Mitchell’s Ice Cream in downtown Cleveland is known to mix up some seasonal flavors that to some might seem funky and to others are well worth the wait. Their salted butter sweet corn layers the flavors on your tongue making you wonder why you every bothered trying to pick the perfect cob in the first place. And their jalapeno strawberry has just the right combo of heat and sweet. Another great shop churning out wacky flavors is Ample Hills Creamery in New York City. With two locations plus season kiosks, they are sure to satisfy some flavor-seeking tastebuds. From the savory and smokey to the sweet and surprising, LICK Pure Cream in Seattle offers curiosity and thrill seekers a chance to test those boundaries, too. Flavors like pork-belly pecan.

🍪National Gingersnap Day! Gingersnaps are cookies typically made from molasses, cloves, ginger, cinnamon and brown sugar. They are a combination of sweet and spicy and have long been enjoyed for generations. Gingersnaps are a healthier alternative to other cookies since they are generally lower in calories than other cookies and have additional benefits. For example, ginger, cinnamon and clove all have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties and may help fight heart disease. Cinnamon is known to lower the amount of glucose in the bloodstream, ginger helps aid digestion and cloves also help prevent oral diseases and headaches. Around the world, gingersnaps come in different shapes and sizes. In America, it’s much like a sugar cookie but in Scandinavia, it’s more like a wafer.

My sister is a full time postal service worker and I have one niece that works part time (wanting full time). (My other niece did work part time for them, but she got a better job offer.) And no, my sister doesn't give me a discount on stamps, darn the luck. Hot fudge and nuts is as creative as it gets for me on ice cream. Yummy, gingersnap cookies.

I hope my nephew (Bixby) wasn't to bad about getting his bath. He probably feels better though after getting one, washing all that old medicine off. Give him a hug from me and I'm sending extra ice cream for him and Gilbert too.

We're under a server thunderstorm watch right now. And it's raining with all the noise and light show that goes with it. We hit 90° today with high humidity.

Big squishy hugs!💕🐶🐶🌞⛈