Another Decade

Cheers to another lap around the sun!

As I enter a new decade in my life, I can’t help but reflect on the past ten years (and beyond). If you don’t know or really want to know which decade, ask my children or ask my older friends welcoming me to this club. I plan on answering that I’m 36 years old again. 😉

The previous decade flew by! People always warn you how fast the time with your children goes and these last 10 years really did go fast! Our children are both double digits now with one entering high school and the other only has one more year of elementary school left. I blinked and it flew by! I’m pretty proud of our two kiddos and the adults they’re becoming!

When I think back over these last 10 years, I really think about a time of growth as a family and adventures together.  I even wrote and published a children’s book! 😊

I feel very lucky! Over the last ten years, I made a number of new friendships; watch older friendships grow; reconnected with past ones; and said good bye to those whom we lost.

In these last ten years, I have seen three very, very, very different men get elected and serve as Presidents. Kamala Harris became the first woman, first African American, and first Asian American to be Vice President. The United States legalized same-sex marriage across all 50 states. The #MeToo movement went viral. Fidget spinners were a craze. The Paris Agreement, an international treaty, was created to focus on climate change. We experienced a total eclipse. Space-X launched astronauts to the space station.  The Black Lives Matter movement started. Astronomers were able to capture the first-ever image of a black hole. The U.S. established June 19th as Juneteenth National Independence Day, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. COVID-19 spread around the world. And of course, the Chicago Cubs broke the curse and won the World Series in 2016!

While I enter this next decade with some angst, I also welcome the next ten years of adventures and life. In fact, I feel very, very grateful!

“This a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.” Maya Angelou

Madeleine L’Engle

Happy birthday to Madeleine L’Engle born on this day in 1918 in New York.

Madeleine L’Engle was an American writer of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry including such great works as A Wrinkle in Time.

Did you know that publishers rejected A Wrinkle in Time at least 26 times for being “too different” and for “dealing with the problem of evil”? It’s hard imagine this unique book not being published! To celebrate her birthday, read of her great pieces of work.

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” ~ Madeleine L’Engle

Happy birthday also to my better half today also celebrating this day! 😉

Happy 100th!

Happy 100th birthday to Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin!

Ranger Soskin works with the National Park Service (NPS) assigned to the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California. She is the oldest National Park Ranger serving the United States and celebrating her birthday today!

According to the NPS, some of Betty’s other numerous accomplishments and accolades include:

  • In 1995, Betty was named “Woman of the Year” by the California State Legislature.
  • In 2005, she was named one of the nation’s ten outstanding women “Builders of communities and dreams” by the National Women’s History Project at ceremonies in both Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
  • In 2016, Betty received the Silver Medallion Award at the World War II Museum in New Orleans. There are only two women among 30 past recipients, the other is Elizabeth Dole. Later that year Betty received the Sierra Club’s prestigious Trailblazer Award, for a lifetime of service and barrier-breaking. A few weeks later, she attended the grand opening ceremony of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture, as Interior Secretary Jewell’s guest.
  • In 2018, Betty was an honoree at the Makers Conference in Hollywood where feminists from across the nation gather annually to recognize “Makers.” Later that year she published her book, Sign My Name to Freedom, based on the blog she had been writing for the previous 10 years. The book recounts her experiences from childhood to the present.
  • In early 2019 a film produced by the Rosie the Riveter Trust, “No Time To Waste: The Urgent Mission of Betty Reid Soskin” was released. This documentary tells the story of her involvement with Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park and the influence she has had on the NPS in telling untold stories, and in sharing her history in ways that inspire and challenge current social norms.

To celebrate her birthday and contributions, enjoy this video abut her reflections. Click here to see the video.

Happy birthday, Ranger Betty Reid Soskin!

America’s 1st

Happy 148th birthday to America’s first national park, Yellowstone National Park!

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“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” – Saint Augustine

Check out some of my previous posts about Yellowstone by clicking here and here.  There are more blog posts about Yellowstone on here that you can find by just searching my blog by Yellowstone if you’re itching to read more!

To celebrate, take a minute and mark a visit to this amazing national park on your calendars. Check it off your bucket lists as it is a must vacation in your life!

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Cheers to 148 years!

Charles Dickens

Happy birthday to Charles Dickens! This great novelist was born today in 1812.

He brought us with some of the most memorable fictional characters of all times and known as one of the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era.

My personal favorite Dickens classics is A Tale of Two Cities. I remember vividly reading this book in high school (many years ago) and struck by his use of the language and words. In particular, I love his opening! The images, the pace, the words just ring magic.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

To celebrate his birthday, pick up one his classics and enjoy it! Maybe enjoy it with a cup a tea!

 

103!

Check out who’s turning 103 years old! The National Park Service!

President Woodrow Wilson created the national park service (NPS) back on August 25, 1916.

The act stated that the NPS “is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

Pick a park to visit and celebrate this important birthday of these amazing treasures!

Peter Pan Day

Happy Peter Pan Day or really, J.M. Barrie’s birthday!

“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

J. M. Barrie authored “Peter Pan” as a play first in 1904 and then as a novel in 1911.  Cheers to this Scottish author and playwright for creating such a memorable set of characters and story!

To celebrate, make some pixie dust, go on an adventure, tell a good story, battle a pirate, and act like a kid! Or pick up the original book and read it today!

Happy Peter Pan Day!

“To live will be an awfully big adventure.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Winnie the Pooh Day 🍯

“A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside.” ~ Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh Day was created to celebrate the creator’s birthday, A.A. Milne. Milne was born on this day in 1882 in London, England. Milne brought this adorable, honey-loving, bear to life in his writings in a collection of books first published in 1926.

Milne’s lovable Pooh Bear is a fictional bear inspired by a black bear named Winnie who lived at the London Zoo during World War I. The author’s son, Christopher Robin, would visit the bear often at the zoo and named his own teddy bear after her.

Milne created other characters in these books, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, and Roo, after his son’s other stuffed animals.

I so remember enjoying Winne the Pooh as a young girl and love seeing my own children enjoy these lovable characters.

Winnie the Pooh continues today to inspire and entertain many fans throughout the world.

To celebrate this fun day, go and enjoy a Winne the Pooh book, enjoy some honey, snuggle one of your stuffed animals, host a picnic, draw your house in the woods, or even bounce around the room a bit. 😉

“It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine.” ~ Winnie the Pooh ☀️

😍❤️🍯

Happy Birthday, Jane Austen!

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in England.  She authored six books and these books continue to be revered today. Her books include Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park.

Jane’s father encouraged her writing back then and even bought her expensive paper and pencils even when the family needed the extra money. She used her father’s library frequently by reading lots of books.

I distinctly remember reading Pride and Prejudice many, many years ago. I loved that book! I dreamt about meeting my own Mr. Darcy some day. But, I also remember Jane’s great sense of wit and wisdom in her writing throughout her novels.

Enjoy a few quotes from Jane Austen’s works:

“It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.”
Sense and Sensibility

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! — When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”
Pride and Prejudice

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”
Northanger Abbey 

“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”
Pride and Prejudice

To celebrate her birthday, go out and read (or reread) one of her great books!

 

Happy Dictionary Day!

Happy Dictionary Day!

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Today celebrates the birthday of Noah Webster born on today in 1758. Noah Webster is considered to be the Father of the American Dictionary. The objective of this day is to emphasize the importance of dictionary skills and to improve vocabulary.

To honor this fun day, pick up a dictionary and find a new word or two to learn today!

Happy reading and learning!