Author: Lisa Mungovan

Today is Black Cat Appreciation Day. Black cats are least likely to be adopted. One ridiculous reason, is that they’re not as photogenic! Consider giving a black kitty a good home. It’s also Thrift Shop Day. Be good to the Earth, and reuse what other people no longer need. Plus, it’s a bargain!

Basketball legend Michael Jordan shattered a glass backboard, doing a slam dunk during a game in Italy, in 1985. A shard of glass was embedded in his shoe, which he later autographed. That pair of Nike Air Jordan 1 High sneakers, just sold for $615,000 at an auction! That’s a big, expensive, pair of shoes to fill!

The Walla Walla Public Library in Washington state, has a fantastic mystery section. It even contains a real-life mystery! While doing renovations, employees discovered a stash of Hamm’s beer and Godzilla Heads gum, behind a panel in the mystery bookshelves. They’d been hidden over 30 years ago. I wonder if anyone will confess.

The side of a 5-story building in Warsaw Poland, is painted with a beautiful mural of happy flowers. The artwork was commissioned by Converse, the sportswear company, as part of their City Forests campaign. The paint attracts air pollution, and works with the sun to clean it. It cleans as much air as 720 trees!

Did you plant any sunflowers this year? The giant flowers have been known to grow 30 feet tall, but often have just one bloom-per-stalk. Barry Boynton was shocked to go into his garden in England, and find a sunflower with 27 heads! The record is over 100, but 27 is still impressive, especially since he didn’t plant it!

Knock knock. Who’s there? Interrupting duck. Interrupting duh-Quack-quack-quack-quack-quack! Ha ha ha! It’s Tell A Joke Day! You can ask me to tell you a joke, so you can learn some good ones! It’s also Rollercoaster Day! Are you brave enough to ride the Steel Vengeance? It has a 90 degree drop. That’s straight down!

Some extra rainfall in Kenya, along with a drop in travel, have helped the country’s elephant population grow. Amboseli National Park is having a baby boom, with 140 elephants born so far this season. They even had a rare pair of twins! It’s great news for Kenya’s endangered elephants.

If you’ve watched the movie, “The Princess Bride,” you know about R-O-U-S’s. Slightly smaller Rodents Of Unusual Size, have been growing in numbers, in Texas, Louisiana, and California. Giant swamp rats, also known as nutria, are semi-aquatic rodents. They weigh up to 35 pounds, are about 3 feet long, and eat 25% of their bodyweight every day.

How do you like to relax? Floating in a pool? Swinging in a hammock? Reading a good book? It’s Relaxation Day, so find the thing that relieves your stress, and do it! If it involves eating pie, even better, since it’s Lemon Meringue Pie Day. I’ll be eating mine outside, while listening to birds!

Do you do the same thing every day? Even if it’s something you love, like playing video games, your brain would like to try something new for Break The Monotony Day. Start with something new for breakfast. Next, how about a treasure hunt, for Geocaching Day? Check out Geocaching.com, to get started. Good luck!