Thread:61Storm/@comment-29709319-20181110010804/@comment-29709319-20190321023349

National Theme Day March 21: National Common Courtesy Day, National Countdown Day, National Single Parents Day, National Fragrance Day, National California Strawberry Day, National French Bread Day, and National Farm Rescuer Day.

🤝National Common Courtesy Day! This day brings awareness to how important common courtesy is in our lives. In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, courtesy is described as a: behavior marked by polished manners or respect for others: courteous behavior b: a courteous and respectful act or expression. Common courtesy can be as simple as saying “please” and “thank you” when asking for and receiving a service, gift or assistance. Kindness and courtesy do go a long way and are noticed by others even if you do not realize it. Letting someone in front of you in traffic is easy. Hold open a door for someone or give a person a hand with his groceries. Give up your seat on the bus to someone who might need it. Introduce yourself to the new employee or kid at school and take the time to introduce her to the rest of the crew. These are just a few examples of small things that make a difference to someone else. They are momentary deeds of being courteous.

🔢National Countdown Day ticks down the minutes, seconds or days to events big and small. 3…2…1…July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 launches into the atmosphere carrying the crew for the first moon landing. 3…2…1…Y2K, everyone partied like it was 1999 until the new millennium arrived. 3…2…1…January 19, 2013, Marlo Anderson quietly launched a website called National Day Calendar. 3…2…1…it’s 5 o’clock somewhere! On National Countdown Day, we can start a countdown to just about anything. Recently parts of the United States counted down to August 21, 2017, to a total solar eclipse. The event created road trip opportunities for those within driving distance and science party lessons on rooftops in the path of the eclipse. It was a memorable countdown, indeed. Start your countdown for April 8, 2024. This solar eclipse will cover parts of Mexico, Central and Northeastern United States and just a bit of Canada.

👩‍👧‍👦National Single Parent Day. This day was created to honor and recognize the hard work, devotion and sacrifices of single parenting. Raising children can be challenging. An article was written by Janice Moglen in 1984, with the hope that Single Parent Day may one day gain the recognition many associate with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. She collaborated with the organization, Parents Without Partners, and began to petition to have states declare recognition of Single Parent Day. It is the belief that the day, March 21, was chosen to coincide with the inception of Parents Without Partners, which began on March 21, 1957. Proclamation 5166 was presented to, and signed, by President Ronald Reagan declaring March 21st, 1984 as National Single Parent Day.

🌼National Fragrance Day! Have you ever been transported back in time simply by catching the scent of loved one’s perfume? Or perhaps it was the smell of baby powder on a newborn that sent you reeling back to the days when your child was an infant. Maybe it was a combination of ginger and molasses, and suddenly you were in your grandmother’s kitchen. Whatever the fragrance, scents and memory are powerfully linked. We associate summer with the smell of freshly cut grass, thunderstorms with the smell of the damp air and the acrid scent of sulfur when lightning has struck. We often connect memories of winter holidays with warm spiced pies and cookies. The brain is an amazing thing, and science finds out more about it every day. Simply put, the olfactory bulb which is responsible for processing all those smells we take in is next to the hippocampus deep inside the brain. Neuroscientists have discovered that one of the responsibilities of the hippocampus is creating new memories. With the olfactory bulb and the hippocampus immediately adjacent, research suggests smell and memory are nearly related. Our memories are most closely linked to those we have loved. Your first love may have worn a unique botanical fragrance, or perhaps the uncle who taught you to tie intricate knots smelled of cedar as he told war stories. While we may often take a trip down memory lane by looking at a scrapbook, perhaps this time remembering our favorite fragrances will stir up memories that were long forgotten or maybe we will make some new ones.

🍓National California Strawberry Day is part of National Nutrition Month! Remember as you celebrate that along with the delicious taste of summer, strawberries are also good sources of potassium, fiber, folic acid and vitamin C. They are also low in calories, with no fat and no cholesterol. For more information and recipes regarding California strawberries, go to http://www.californiastrawberries.com/about_strawberries.

🥖National French Bread Day! French bread, also known as a baguette, is a long thin loaf made from basic lean dough. It is defined by its length and its crisp crust. Over time, French law has established what is and what is not a baguette. Beginning in 1920 a labor law prevented bakers from starting their day before 4 a.m. Bakers adjusted by shaping their loaves of bread, so they baked more quickly and evenly. As a result, the long, narrow loaves were found to be convenient for slicing and storing. The French are known for their high standards where culinary arts are concerned. To preserve quality in their bread, laws were passed requiring minimum quantities of certain quality ingredients in each loaf of bread.

🚜National Farm Rescuer Day dedicates this day to those who support farmers in need. When crisis strikes in the form of illness, injury or natural disaster, Farm Rescuers throughout the heartland get the jobs done. Whether hay needs to be baled or crops need to be harvested, these men and women plant the fields and feed the souls of the farm family when times take a turn for the worse. What was once a community tradition is now a non-profit called Farm Rescue. Founded in 2005, Farm Rescue and its volunteers have assisted more than 400 farm and ranch families throughout the region. National Farm Rescuer Day encourages you to join the community that lends a hand when crisis strikes. Whether a Farm Rescuer volunteers their time, talents or financial resources, their commitment is valuable. Keeping a farm running is hard work. When the unexpected happens, many hands make the work manageable. There are several ways to get involved with Farm Rescue and make a difference on National Farm Rescuer Day. Farm Rescue founded National Farm Rescuer Day to recognize all the amazing men and women who help get the crops in the ground or to the market from all around the country. Founded by Bill Gross in 2005, Farm Rescue has helped over 400 families across the region. In 2008, People Magazine named Farm Rescue’s Founder and President, Bill Gross, the original Farm Rescuer. Like Gross, many Rescuers have a deep appreciation for the land and the strong community spirit found in farming and ranching. But, Rescuers come from all walks of life, from coast to coast and often generations removed from the family farm.

Tomorrow is a state day and I'm dedicating it to MD, putting a smile on her face with waterfalls.

Sending warm hugs!