News and views to inform or amuse
Sitting half in the shadows slumped on his shelf
The Writer House Bear smiles and thinks to himself
The things I have seen and the things I have heard
Make the life of these wannabes seem quite absurd
They think they’re original but their thoughts are just pelf*
*pelf-money, especially when gained in a dishonest or dishonorable way.
National Farmer’s Day used to be called Old Farm Day.
National Farmer’s Day on October 12th offers much-deserved praise to the hard-working farmers across the nation. In the midst of harvest-season, the day pays tribute to the men, women, and family who put food in the grocery stores and on our tables every day.
Since today is a Saturday, it would be a great day to visit a farmer’s market, check out a corn maze, visit a pumpkin patch, or take a ride in the country. In Virginia, it is also Wine month where Virginia has many farm wineries.
Additional products and areas that rely on agriculture include:
In honor of October is National Physical Therapy Month!
The first 2-1/2 months of my knee replacement were a painful torture. During that period, my physical therapist was one of my staunchest supporters to make my life as pain free as possible. Now that the worst of the pain has subsided we are resuming a more ambitious routine with weights, stretches, balancing exercises and a contraption called New Step which is a combination exercise bike with moving arms. Tara likes to do a stretch or a flexion until it “kisses the pain”, but does not cause injury or raise the pain level.
Is your physical therapist
Actually a physical terroist?
Does she say no pain, no gain
And give you a reason to complain?
When your pain is at 10
Does she smile with “Let’s begin!”
A good therapist will observe and ask
For signs of pain behind the mask
Of stoicism on your face
As you try your darndest to maintain the pace
When she makes you flex and stretch in vain
She only wants you to kiss the pain
When it hurts it is time to pause,
Is what you’re doing part of the cause?
Would it be better in another position
Less pain will improve your disposition.
Working together to make rehab better
Is like getting a check inside your letter
Fretful waves advance
Retreat with indecision
Then advance again
For those of us old enough to remember the CB radio craze of the 1970s, 10-4 was heard on the radio, Citizen Band radio, and in the hit song, Convoy.
10-4 means ok.
From the CB Chatter that precedes the lyrics:
[CB Radio Chatter]
Yeah, breaker one-nine
This here’s the Rubber Duck
You got a copy on me Pig Pen, c’mon?
Uh, yeah, Ten-Four Pig Pen, fer sure, fer sure
By golly it’s clean clear to Flag Town, c’mon
Yeah, its a big Ten-Four there, Pig Pen
Yeah, we definitely got the front door, Good Buddy
Mercy sakes alive, looks like we’ve got us a convoy
October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus c. 750 BC, October retained its name (from the Latin and Greek ôctō meaning “eight”) after January and February were inserted into the calendar that had originally been created by the Romans.
October is also a month full of celebrations including Breast Cancer Awareness month an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease.and Virginia Wine Month.
It is also Health Literacy Month.
We are celebrating 20 years! Health Literacy Month is a time for organizations and individuals to promote the importance of understandable health information. This annual, worldwide, awareness-raising event has been going strong ever since Helen Osborne founded it in 1999.
National Bullying Prevention Month is also celebrated. Stompout Bullying offers a few suggestions:
October 11 is National Coming Out Day.
National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is an annual LGBT awareness day observed on October 11.[1] Founded in the United States in 1988, the initial idea was grounded in the feminist and gay liberation spirit of the personal being political, and the emphasis on the most basic form of activism being coming out to family, friends and colleagues, and living life as an openly lesbian or gay person.[2] The foundational belief is that homophobia thrives in an atmosphere of silence and ignorance, and that once people know that they have loved ones who are lesbian or gay, they are far less likely to maintain homophobic or oppressive views
National Friends of Library Week celebrates it’s 14th anniversary October 20-26. 
Friends groups often provide support to libraries–it can be library advcoacy, funding for materials or programming beyond what the regular library budget can support, or community book sales of books, video and audio recordings.
The big one, Halloween, is October 31. It originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. It is also All Hallows Eve. All Hallows Day is celebrated on November 1. It is also called All Saint’s Day.
Tonight is the night
When dead leaves fly
Like witches on switches
Across the sky,
When elf and sprite
Flit through the night
On a moony sheen.
Tonight is the night
When leaves make a sound
Like a gnome in his home
Under the ground,
When spooks and trolls
Creep out of holes
Mossy and green.
Tonight is the night
When pumpkins stare
Through sheaves and leaves
Everywhere,
When ghouls and ghost
And goblin host
Dance round their queen.
It’s Halloween.
Trolls that are hateful
About things you are grateful?
Have you had a plate full
Of anonymous trolls?
They lurk in the dark
And think its a lark
To ignite a spark
On vitriolic rolls.
I found out that today was World Gratitude Day in an email advertisement from Hickory Farms. (We can learn things from the oddest sources.)
World Gratitude Day history:
The celebration started in 1965 in Hawaii when an international gathering decided that it would be a good idea to have one day per year to formally express gratitude and appreciation for the many wonderful things to be found in the world. Following the meeting in Hawaii, many attendees marked Gratitude Day on 21st September 1966 when back in their own countries. Ever since then, the number of people celebrating Gratitude Day across the world has grown and grown.
If gratitude
Is attitude
How high is yours?
Or would that be Altitude?
What do you express gratitude for? For me it’s a new guided meditation for pain relief and the support of many of you since my knee replacement surgery.
I had right knee replacement surgery two months ago today. What I wanted was increased functionality and decreased pain. What I got was a four inch red scar across my knee cap.
This sensitive posting was done by Natalia of Renegade7X. This was posted on September 3, 2019, 80 years and 2 days after WWII started, when Germany invaded Poland. To read this post click here.
