Hard to believe we’re in the last full month of vacation My neighbor who lives upstairs is from New Mexico, land of enchantment, but low on lakes. She spends every spare minute with her two year old boy at American Lake or on the shores of Puget Sound. She can’t say enough about how wonderful it is here. We do get complacent sometimes about the beauty of all we have here. Don’t do that. Get out in the sun. Have some fun. Take me with you.
Don’t forget to celebrate
Shakespeare in the Lakewold Garden! On August 4 at 7:00 pm.This abridged version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is adapted by PLU Professor Tom Smith and directed by John Serembe. The production will feature actors playing multiple roles and youth fairy dancers, accompanied by a live piano adaptation of selections from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed by Lark Powers and Ricardo de la Torre. With the beautiful gardens as a backdrop, it will be a magical evening! Lots more to do at: https://www.southsoundtalk.com/tacoma-events-calendar/action~agenda/page_offset~3/request_format~json/
Now, here’s Dr. Patt:
Red Letter Days to Celebrate in August
By Dr. Patt Schwab
Author of Obscure Holidays eBooks
Each month bestows a different set of Birth Benefits upon those lucky enough to have been born in that month. Researchers tell us that those born in August have the Birth Benefits of being More Competent and Strong–willed than those than those born in other months.
Many holidays are tied to days of the week and the date varies from year to year. Even the weeks celebrated range from 3-7 days. None of this matters when you are just looking for an excuse to celebrate and, as always, the date creators want their dates popularized.
Here’s hoping you, your family, friends and co-workers find lots of reasons here to celebrate and to have fun.
AUGUST IS NATIONAL INVENTORS MONTH and BOOMERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE MONTH
August 1: Simplify Your Life Week begins
August 1: International Clown Week begins
August 1: Respect for Parents Day — Parents might want to draw their kids’ attention to this day.
August 1: DOGust Universal Birthday for Shelter Dogs
August 1: National Night Out — an annual community-building campaign that promotes strong police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie. This day is always held on the first Tuesday in August.
August 2: Exercise With Your Child Week begins
August 2: Take a Penny / Leave a Penny Day — Take one to round out your bill. Leave one for someone else.
August 2: National Coloring Book Day
August 3: National Watermelon Day — At 90% water, and lots of Vitamin A & C, this is the perfect summer fruit
August 3: Friendship Day – Make a Friend. Be a Friend.
August 3: Boom Box Parade Day — for all those Boomers who still have Boom Boxes.
August 3: Esther Day — To celebrate American author and Internet vlogger, Ester Grace Earl, and the value of friendship. She was born on this day in 1994 and died of thyroid cancer on August 25, 2010. Anticipating her early death, she had told her friends how she wanted to be remembered. Esther decided she wanted it to be a day to celebrate love for family and friends by telling those whom we are close to that we love them, even if it is sometimes difficult to say it out loud.
August 4: Hooray For Kids Day – Celebrate in ways that are fun for all!
August 4: National White Wine Day
August 4 : U.S. Coast Guard Birthday
August 5: National Underwear Day — Just think about it brief-ly — long enough to be sure it’s clean and comfortable.
August 5: Work Like a Dog Day — Not the kind of dog that just “works” to get fed or taken on walks. This expression harkens back to when dogs worked hard herding cattle or chasing down prey. It means you should be working hard like that — but just for today.
August 5: International Beer Day
August 6: National Smile Week begins – Smiles are catching like yawns – but far more fun to spread.
August 6: Twins Weekend begins – Toast them for having twice the fun!
August 6: Sisters Day — Celebrated the first Sunday in August every year. It’s a chance to right any wrongs and do many goods for your sister. (If you know my brother, please remind him of this day.)
August 6: National Root Beer Float Day – So you have something to look forward to, RB Float Day repeats on August 19.
August 7: Particularly Preposterous Packaging Day – Have fun with this one – especially if there’s a Birthday in the vicinity.
August 7: National Mustard Day — Mustard is a popular international condiment. It is believed to be about 5000 years old and was first grown in 3000 BC. in India.
August 7: Professional Speakers Day — Everyone else needs to be quiet, so as to admire the professionals and, with any luck, learn from their wisdom, or occasionally, from their lack of same.
August 7: Mata Hari, Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan, and wrongly identified WW1 spy, is born in 1876. She died in 1917.
August 8: Sneak a Zucchini Night— Leave one on your neighbor’s porch.
August 8: Happiness Happens Day —Take advantage of the happy moments in your life.
August 8: Wear Your Mother’s Jewelry Day
August 9: National Garage Sale Day
August 9: National Hand Holding Day
August 9: Book Lovers Day —Put away your smartphone and every possible technological distraction and pick up a book to read. You’ll be a better person for it.
August 10: Resurrect Romance Weekbegins
August 10: Spoil Your Dog Day
August 10: National Coleslaw Day
August 10: Duran Duran Appreciation Day
August 11: Elvis Week — Annual highlights include an anniversary concert celebrating Elvis’ Nashville recording sessions, aBlue Hawaii Luau, the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest, exclusive tours, and more, all at Graceland, on Elvis Presley Blvd. in Memphis, TN.
August 11: End of The Dog Days of Summer (The hottest days of the year.)
August 11: International Coworking Day
August 11: World Calligraphy Day
August 12: FRAN Day (Friends Responding to Adventurous Networking). These are the friends, often bilingual, with Study Abroad or Peace Corps roots, who love traveling the world and enjoy having others join them. As it turns out, I have a friend, ironically named Fran, who was born on this day, and who totally fits the above description. If you want to travel internationally, I urge you to get such a friend.
August 19: RB Float Day — I told you so! The real day was August 6. This is just in case you missed it — or really like RBFs.
August 19: Orville Wright’s Birthday, 1871 — From an early age, Orville and older brother Wilbur loved tinkering.This was sparked in part by a mother who proudly made custom toys for her five children, and a father whobrought home a tiny 50 cent French toy that passed as a rudimentary helicopter. The Wright’s success came from having two different but compatible skill sets and ways of thinking and lots of persistence. Orville completed the first flight of a heavier-than-air machine on December 17,1903. He enjoyed his success for many years, dying on January 30, 1948.
August 19: National Sandcastle and Sculpture Day —Sandcastle Day was created to help us remember just how much fun a little sand, water, and sunshine can bring us. Case in point: The world’s tallestsandcastle was built on South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach during the 2007 Sun Fun Festival.It was nearly 50 feet high and took 10 days to construct, using 300 truckloads of sand. NOTE: August also boasts a movable Sandcastle Day on the first Saturday of the month, but the one today is the one you can count on always being there for you on this date.
August 20: Centre County Grange Fair in Pennsylvania begins —They advertise that we will get to: “Experience the wonder and excitement that comes with a 147-year history. The fair is a home-away-from-home to families in 1,000 tents and 1,500 RVs. It is the only remaining tenting fair in the nation.”
August 21: Poets Day — Apparently this is for the“Good” ones since the “Bad” ones already had their day on the 18th
August 21: Statehood Day in Hawaii (1959)
August 22: National Tooth Fairy Day — She also shows up on February 28, since some folks need her to call more than once a year.
August 22: Raksha Bandhan — an important Hindu Holiday celebrating the relationship between brothers and sisters and the promise of mutual protection.
August 23: World Internaut Day—The day that Tim Berners-Lee opened the Web up to everybody back in 1991, and changed the world by making it infinitely more connected. FYI: The word internaut” was developed as a mixture of “internet” and “nauta” (the Greek word for “traveler”).
August 23: Valentino Day — commemorates the death of Rudolph Valentino a film Heartthrob of the 1920s (1895-1926). Feel free to treat today like a second Valentine’s Day.
August 24: National Waffle Day
August 25: Kiss and Make Up Day
August 26: National Dog Appreciation Day
August 26: National Toilet Paper Day —The first time toilet paper was sold as a roll was on this day in 1871.
August 27: Slow Art Day — Go to a museum and look slowly at the art so you can appreciate it and the skill and mindset it took to create it.
August 28: Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day — A day to remember pets who have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge and wait for us on the other side.
August 29: The Beatles play their final tour date, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. (1966) AND, because sometimes we all have to brag: It was a wonderful show on a beautiful day. I know. I was there.
August 30: Bring Back the Slinky Toy Day
August 31: National Trail Mix Day — A holiday in honor of a snack food that’s eaten as a quick source of energy by hikers. It’s also a food that millions of people all over the world snack on — without hiking anywhere.
That’s All For Now, Folks!
See you next month!
Dr. Patt Schwab’s Obscure Holiday eBooks are available from Amazon.
