If you’re looking for silly activities after your Thanksgiving meal, why not play Thanksgiving Trivia? Category 1: How did Thanksgiving get started? Before Thanksgiving meant too much food, football games, and the Macy’s Day Parade, it was a day to thank God for, in the case of Pilgrims, sustenance itself. The first Pilgrims to America
Articles Categorized Holidays
JACK-O’-LANTERNS & STINGY JACK
Jack-o’-Lanterns carved from orange pumpkins are a Halloween staple. Traditionally the pumpkin is cleaned out, it’s shell carved into a scary face, and a candle placed inside. As simple or as elaborate as the artist decides. But why do we call them Jack-o’-Lanterns? Why not Carved Pumpkins or Scary Faces in an Orange Vegetable? There
The Chicken Dance Comes to America
This is a picture of 30,000 participants following former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson in the Chicken Dance at the 2015 Oktoberfest Zinzinnati. The popular Chicken Dance has an unusual history, as many dances do. Werner Thomas, a Swiss musician who played the accordion at Swiss holiday resorts, said he came up with the tune about
Durga Puja 2017
Durga Puja, the annual festival in honor of Goddess Durga, begins tomorrow, September 26 and continues until Saturday, September 30. It’s a moveable festival with dates coinciding with the sixth through tenth day of the bright lunar fortnight in the Hindu month of Ashvin. For five days revelers in Kolkata engage in pandal hopping,
Qixi – Chinese Festival for Lovers
Today, August 28, 2017, marks the Qixi Festival, a tribute to love often called Chinese Valentine’s Day. The Festival originated during the Han Dynasty to commemorate the Tale of the Cowherd and the Weaver. There are several versions of the story which goes like this. The Queen of Heaven had seven daughters who were bored
MEMORIAL DAY & PUNCHBOWL CEMETERY
The first official Decoration Day was on May 30, 1868 at Arlington Cemetery. General James Garfield gave a speech, and 5,000 participants decorated the 20,000+ Union and Confederate graves. Local observances soon took place throughout the country as a time to remember and a time to enjoy ceremonies, parades, and speeches. After World War I,
HAPPY ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONALS’ WEEK
Once upon a time, perhaps around 1955, there were four career paths for women. In alphabetical order women could become nurses, secretaries, teachers, or wives. Wives, of course, didn’t work. [Note the fictional aspect here. Of course wives worked, and there were lots of jobs done by women. But technically a job isn’t a career.
EMANCIPATION DAY IN D. C. BUMPS TAX DAY
Riddle: If April 15 is the deadline for filing Federal Income Tax, why is this year’s deadline extended to April 18? Normally, if the 15th falls on a weekend or a holiday, the deadline is extended to the next work day. This year April 15 was on Saturday, so you might think the due date
IRISH IMMIGRANTS & ST. PATRICK’S DAY
This Friday is St. Patrick’s Day. There will be quantities of green beer, lots of people wearing green, parades, consumption of corned beef & cabbage, and festivities for young and old. The day is so much a part of American culture that it’s easy to forget the Irish were once unwanted immigrants. Between 1820 and
ART, HISTORY, POLITICS, & DOLLS
You know it’s March when cherry trees prepare to bloom. It’s also a month of female-oriented events. In the U.S. the entire month carries the label “Women’s History Month.” Go to any library or school campus, and you’ll probably see displays of notable women. Visibility in a good thing, but is it enough? Wednesday, March 8
POINSETTIAS & CHRISTMAS
Poinsettia plants appear every December in plant stores, florists, grocery stores, fund raising inventories, and even back yards. They come in a variety of colors. Red remains the most popular, but there are whites, pink and whites, purple, yellow, orange and salmon. This year I chose red, but I’ve also had pinks and whites.
FINDING TRANQUILITY AT PUAKO, HAWAI`I
Did you feast on Thanksgiving excess? I did. Did you dash out for Black Friday Shopping? I didn’t – a possible mistake given the bargains I’ve undoubtedly missed. But I needed something else. I needed to metaphorically sail away into a Sea of Tranquility Everyone who looks can find their own favorite place to
DURGA PUJA – THE GODDESS RETURNS
Durga Puja occurs in every autumn, immediately before Diwali, and is the largest festival in Calcutta. This year’s festival dates were October 7 through 11. Happily I was in the city a week before the event, and so was able to see the final stages of preparation. Durga Puja is celebrated throughout India, but
GODDESS DURGA SLAYS THE DEMON
One of the great things about the way I write historical fiction is the necessity of research travel. My current project took me first to London and Edinburgh to investigate written records [See blogs from July]. But a visit to the site of events in the story took me back to India, this time
FRANKENSTEIN & THE CREATION OF A HALLOWEEN MONSTER
Today is Halloween – a day of Spooktacular parties, costumes, ghost stories, and watching scary movies. And let us not forget the annual showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show. Halloween is a day when, potentially, nothing is as it seems to be. For instance, who would have thought a young woman in pre-Victorian England
DIWALI – A FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
Diwali is a Hindu festival occurring between mid-October and mid-November. This year the celebration takes place from October 29 until November 1. Although there are variations in how the festival is celebrated, its purpose commemorates the victory of good over evil and light over darkness. It’s a time of family and friends dedicated to