Author: Lisa Mungovan

Police officers in Kent Washington, had to chase farm animals, to clear a traffic jam. Chickens, pigs, and piglets escaped from their pens, and ran into the road. The police department joked that they’d hoped the pigs would recognize them as friendlies, but might have bonked their heads and had hamnesia.

Today is Bluebird Of Happiness Day. The cheerful blue birds, have been associated with happiness for centuries. Build nesting boxes to attract them to your yard. They like to eat insects and berries, so you probably won’t see them at a birdfeeder unless it has mealworms or fruit in it!

Today is an exciting day. It’s Punctuation Day! Try to write a story that uses all the punctuation marks, but use them correctly. Just because a word ends in “s”, doesn’t mean it needs an apostrophe! It’s also Cherries Jubilee Day, which is a fun dessert because the cherries are set on fire!

Deputies in Florida lassoed a large alligator, from the front porch of a woman’s house yesterday. Alligators are common in Florida, but a man recently spotted a 4-foot long gator sunning itself in Washington DC! After it slipped into the Washington Channel, he caught it with a net, so it could be rehomed.

Going to the doctor to get a flu vaccine, is an important way to stay healthy. A nasal spray called FluMist, is another option for people who hate shots. FluMist is available at pharmacies, but you can even have it delivered to your home, and give the flu vaccine to yourself.

Today is the International Day Of Sign Languages. The roughly 72,000,000 deaf people around the world, use more than 300 versions of sign language. There is also a simpler international sign language, used to communicate with people in other countries. Learning to sign the alphabet, is a great place to start.

It’s Dogs In Politics Day, originally called Checkers Day, after President Nixon’s dog. US Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush Junior, Obama, and Biden also had dogs in their First Families! Make your dog President for today, then have a family checkers tournament. Don’t cheat, because President Poochie won’t pardon you!

Every year, Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska has a “fattest bear” competition. Fat Bear Week features different bears each day, and you can see the contestants at explore.org. The chubby cubby appetizer, Fat Bear Junior, took place last week. Bear 128, nicknamed Biggie, was the winning cub. The yearling weighs 200 pounds!

Today is World Rhino Day, and Elephant Appreciation Day. Both animals are endangered. Poachers hunt rhinoceroses for their horns, and elephants for their tusks. Their habitats are also disappearing. The white rhino is the largest rhino species, averaging about 5000 pounds and 6 feet tall, while the largest African elephant was 13 feet tall and 24,000 pounds!

It’s Hobbit Day, in honor of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins’s birthday. Hobbits eat breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and supper, so there’s plenty of time to celebrate White Chocolate Day and Ice Cream Cone Day. It’s also Centenarian Day, celebrating people who have lived 100 years. That’s a hobbit’s average lifespan!