June 14th Chinese Dragon Boat Festival

Also known as the Duanu Fewstival or Tuen Ng Festival today celebrates patriotism and sacrifice in China. It is based around Qu Yuan, a poet who lived from 343 – 278 BC. The dates do change from year to year, obiously today is the day for 2021 but in 2022 it will be held on June 3rd. Chinese celebrations include the eating of a “Zongzi” dumpling, going on long walks, hanging Mugworts and Calmus (Whatever they are), drinking Realgar wine, writing spells and wearing perfume pouches. I’m sure we’ll all get right on that!

How to celebrate – Visit China. Build your own Chinese Dragon boat. Hang your Mugworts and Calmus. (Both are plants)

June 13th National Weed Your Garden Day

Weeds in your garden are an issue. The obvious answer is to pull them out! Pretty simple, huh! However do not be surprised if they seem to be back the next day, weeds grow fast! That said, not all weeds are bad. Dandelions and Purslane are edible so you can eat them as you pull them is you like, you might want to add a little salt though. And milkweed has medicinal uses as well as being a great pollinator. Still you do not want them in your garden as they grow quickly and damage your other plants. Today was created back in 2015 though apparently there is no record of who created it.

How to celebrate – Weed your garden. Harvest your garden’s weeds for other uses. Learn the difference in weeds and plants you want to grow. (If you are like me, I pull the plants I want to keep and leave the weeds!)

June 12th Red Rose Day

Red Roses say love. Remember that old song, “I’ve got some red roses for a blue lady”? Well, roses are designed to make someone happy, they are beautiful to look at and smell pretty too (although an increasing number of people seem to be allergic to them). But like anything concerning love, it does have its thorns as well. Also, make sure when sending roses to someone that you send the right color… red ones might get you into trouble! Roses mean even more when they come from bushes you have planted and cared for yourself!

How to celebrate – Plant some roses… if you intend to use them today you had better have done this several months ago! Study the different colors of roses to get your sentiments across the right way. Buy some fake roses with a rose scented candle.

June 11th National Corn On The Cob Day

There is nothing like that first corn on the cob of the summer. Butter dripping off it onto the plate, salt shining in the sunlight, those little thingys that you stick in the end of the ears to hold the corn with while eating. Well summers here! It’s time to enjoy that ear of corn just like the first Native Mexican did around 9,000 BC. The idea of eating corn on the cob is to get the sweetest corn you can and that only comes from the freshest corn picked. The longer that it takes to get to you once it is picked the less sweet it will be. It also is a tradition, of sorts, for summer and with June here, so is summer!

How to celebrate – Make some corn today! Have a cook out, corn is great grilled. Have a corn husking party.

June 10th Ball Point Pen Day

Before 1943 we used the fountain pen or the quill dipped in ink to write our ideas, thoughts and theories on paper. Both could be very messy and were a little difficult to carry around. Then came the “Birome”, invented by Laslo and Georg Biro in Argentina, the first working version of the ball point pen. It sold for $12.50 at Gimbel’s Department Store in New York and was considered pretty darn expensive… but worth every penny! Today, ball point pens are a dime a dozen with many meant to be thrown away after the ink in used up or given away as promotional items with a company name written on them.

How to celebrate – Use a ball point pen to write down your thoughts. “Ink” a deal! Try using a quill or fountain pen to see what you’ve been missing!

June 9th Donald Duck Day

Donald Fauntleroy Duck was born on June 9th, 1934. Walt Disney was his dad. Apparently Mickey Mouse needed a friend after being alone since 1928. Donna Duck came along in 1937 but her relationship with Donald was doomed to failure after Donald met Daisy in 1940. Donald and Mickey always seemed to have a love/hate relationship as no matter how hard he tried, Mickey always seemed to out shine Donald. Well, welcome to Walt Disney’s World of imagination, which is in Orlando.

How to celebrate – Watch Donald Duck on YouTube. Choose your favorite Walt Disney character. Learn how to speak like Donald Duck.

June 8th Best Friends Day

Who is your best friend? If you have to stop and think about it, they probably aren’t your best friend. Can you have more than one best friend? Well maybe, but then they really aren’t your very best friend because best friend identifies a individual, not a group. Now you might want to keep who is your best friend to yourself because you don’t want to hurt your other friends by not identifying them as your best friend. So in your heart, let yourself know who your best friend is but keep that information a secret, at least to everyone else.

How to celebrate – Determine who your very best friend is. Take all your best friends to lunch! Give your best friend a hug.

June 7th National Chocolate Ice Cream Day

So, what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? Actually, it doesn’t matter since today is National Chocolate Ice Cream Day. Did you know that in it’s natural state, chocolate is actually very bitter? When the Europeans were introduced to chocolate here in the America’s the first thing they did was take it back to Europe and add sugar to it. Well anyway, it’s a day to have some chocolate ice cream even if your favorite is strawberry or butter pecan. Why… no one knows that either as the creator of this day never took credit but I am thinking maybe they had something to do with the chocolate industry.

How to celebrate – Have some chocolate ice cream. Try white chocolate ice cream! (It’s still chocolate) If you do not have chocolate ice cream add some chocolate syrup to your vanilla ice cream.

June 6th D-Day, WW II

There are somethings we should never forget and D-Day is one of them. June 6th, 1944 was the beginning of the end or World War 2 when allied troops from American, Britain and Canada landed on 5 beaches in France. The US attacked Omaha and Utah beaches, UK Gold & Sword beaches and Canada Juno beach. 156,000 men gained a foothold in Europe against Germany though it cost some 4,000 their lives. The operation was a success to some degree because the Germans were fooled, knowing the invasion was coming but thinking it would fall elsewhere. Landings had already taken place in Italy but the final blow came in France on June 6th, 1944.

How to celebrate – Remember those who paid the supreme price to retake Europe. Visit the Normandy landing areas if you go to Europe. Read and the landings and sacrifice made by the Allied soldiers.

June 5th National Trails Day

There was a time when trails were like the major highways we travel on today. They got wider and wider as time went on and eventually became roads and highways. Probably the most famous here in America was the Oregon Trail, it was so famous they even made a video game out of it. Today trails are more for our leisure. We travel them when we want to explore nature or get some exercise. This holiday always falls on the first Saturday of June when thew weather is warmer and the sun is, generally, shining. Enjoy the trails and imagine you are a settler traveling over these paths for the first time ever.

How to celebrate – Plan a trip on a trail. Explore different trails in your area. Create new trails for other to explore.