Today is World Ranger Day. World Ranger Day is celebrated worldwide on July 31st to commemorate Rangers killed or injured in the line of duty and to celebrate the work Rangers do to protect the planet’s natural treasures and cultural heritage. Their diverse roles span from wildlife protection, law enforcement, environmental education, and community engagement to fire management, disease prevention, and sustainable resource use. These functions are fundamental to the effective management of Protected and Conserved Areas—whether carried out by state, community, Indigenous, or voluntary rangers. Let’s pause for a moment to reflect on the courage and sacrifice that Rangers make; by honoring Fallen Rangers and standing with Rangers who bravely undertake their role on the frontline.
Uh oh…
BUMPer
Today is the birthday, in 1953, of Hugh McDowell, English cellist with Wizzard and Electric Light Orchestra who had the 1979 UK No.3 & US No.4 single ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’ plus 26 other Top 40 hits. ELO have sold over 50 million records worldwide. McDowell died of cancer on 6 November 2018 aged 65. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9nkzaOPP6g
Today is the anniversary of the passage, in 1729, by the Maryland General Assembly of an act establishing the Town of Baltimore. The city is named after Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, an English politician and lawyer who was a founding proprietor of the Province of Maryland. The Calverts took the title Barons Baltimore from Baltimore Manor, an estate they were granted by the Crown in County Longford as part of the plantations of Ireland. Baltimore is an anglicization of Baile an Tí Mhóir, meaning “town of the big house” in Irish.
Baltimore grew swiftly in the 18th century, its plantations producing grain and tobacco for sugar-producing colonies in the Caribbean. The profit from sugar encouraged the cultivation of cane in the Caribbean and the importation of food by planters there. Baltimore established its public market system in 1763. Lexington Market, founded in 1782, is one of the oldest continuously operating public markets in the United States today.
In 1774, Baltimore established the first post office system in what became the United States, and the first water company chartered in the newly independent nation, Baltimore Water Company, 1792. The British bombardment of Baltimore in 1814 inspired the U.S. national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”, and the construction of the Battle Monument, which became the city’s official emblem.
Baltimore pioneered the use of gas lighting in 1816. The construction of the federally funded National Road, which later became part of U.S. Route 40, and the private Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B. & O.) made Baltimore a major shipping and manufacturing center by linking the city with major markets in the Midwest. the city created the world’s first dental college, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, in 1840, and shared in the world’s first telegraph line, between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., in 1844.
Between the Civil War and the start of World War I—approximately 1.2 million Eastern European immigrants streamed into the South Baltimore peninsula, making Baltimore the second or third busiest U.S. port of entry (depending on the year) for new arrivals and the busiest south of New York. The Locust Point immigration pier was privately funded and built by B & O Railroad, the first common-carrier railroad company in the U.S, and by the 1890s, an estimated 90 percent of immigrants arriving at Locust Point traveled directly to a destination further west. The rest, often the poorest of the immigrant groups, remained in Baltimore, heading into the city’s burgeoning canning, steel, garment, shipbuilding, railroad, and manufacturing industries.
A panoramic view of Baltimore in September 2016, including the Inner and Outer Harbors at dusk
Helping with the housework…
Beautiful Pole…
Today is the birthday, in 1944, of Jamaican ska and reggae musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer Jimmy Cliff who had the 1969 UK No.6 & US No.25 single ‘Wonderful World Beautiful People’, and the 1970 UK No.8 hit with his version of Cat Stevens’ ‘Wild World’. He starred in the film The Harder They Come, which helped popularize reggae across the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrHxhQPOO2c
Today is St. Olaf’s Day. Saint Olaf (c. 995 – 29 July 1030), also called Olaf the Holy, Olaf II, Olaf Haraldsson, and Olaf the Stout or “Large” was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was killed in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030.
Olaf got around. n 1008, Olaf landed on the Estonian island of Saaremaa (Osilia). The Osilians, taken by surprise, had at first agreed to Olaf’s demands, but then gathered an army during the negotiations and attacked the Norwegians. Olaf nevertheless won the battle. Olaf participated alongside fellow Viking Thorkell the Tall in the siege of Canterbury in 1011. Olaf sailed to the southern coast of Finland sometime in 1008. The journey resulted in the Battle at Herdaler. He led a successful seaborne attack that took down London Bridge.
Olaf saw it as his calling to unite Norway into one kingdom, as Harald Fairhair had largely succeeded in doing. On the way home he wintered with Duke Richard II of Normandy. Marauding Vikings had conquered this region in 881. Richard was himself an ardent Christian, and the Normans had also previously converted to Christianity. Before leaving, Olaf was baptised in Rouen in the pre-Romanesque Notre-Dame Cathedral by Richard’s brother Robert the Dane, archbishop of Normandy.
St. Olaf’s Day is celebrated in Norway and the Faroe Islands.
Medieval depictions of Saint Olaf adopted features from Thor. This wooden statue is from Sankt Olofs kyrka in Scania, southern Sweden.
So sweet!!!
22 MPH over the speed limit…
Uh oh!
BADA BING!
I’d socialize more, but it gets in the way of me staying home doing whatever I want.
If a bee is bothering you, don’t swat it or run away, just stare at it. Because seeing is bee leaving.
I said to the doctor, “That hemorrhoid cream you prescribed for me is causing some unpleasant reactions”. He said “Where are you applying it?” I said, “On the bus”.
My wife asked me if she could have some peace and quiet while she fixed dinner. So I took the battery out of the smoke detector.
Imagine calling yourself the most popular president ever and yet being scared shitless of late-night comedians and public broadcasting.
Doctor to Patient: It seems your weight is perfect. You just happen to be eleven feet too short.
My high school was so small we had sex education and drivers education in the same car.
Apparently there is a necrophiliac on the loose. Look alive people!
The wedding was so emotional even the cake was in tiers. Target has a Starbucks inside. It’s time Home Depot gets a Waffle House.
A police officer came to my house and asked me where I was between 5 and 6. He seemed irritated when I answered “kindergarten.”
Did you know there are over 45,000 Christian denominations worldwide? Bickering over minutia is one of the commonalities they seem to have.
That feelin you get when someone says, “You got all that?” and you haven’t heard a thing they said.
Make sure to type “thank you” to ChatGPT so it spares your life during the apocalypse.
Houston, I’m starting to think I might be the problem.
Why did they name it parmesan cheese and not spaghetti confetti? It’s like we’re not even trying anymore.
I love being outside. Just not when it’s too hot, or too cold, or windy, or if there are bugs.
Shout out to the days when you said you were at a sleepover but you were actually lying in a field dying of alcohol poisoning.
Internet friend: “I’m in your city!” Me: “Okay, have fun.”
Why would I bother to take the high road when I can take the psychopath?
I’ve been putting off a chore for 6 months. I did it today. It took me 4 minutes. I will not learn from this.
Whenever I see chocolate, I hear two voices in my head. One of them says, “Eat the chocolate”. The other one says, “You heard her, eat the chocolate!”.
I can’t watch a movie where a dog dies but will watch a serial killer documentary where 27 people are murdered to relax at night.
Do people that run marathons know they don’t have to?
When someone tells you to do something that you were going to do already and you think ‘well now I’m not going to do it’.
All I’m saying is that the first reporter who yells out “What the f**k are you talking about” deserves a Pulitzer Prize.
A man got on the bus with both of his front trouser pockets full of golf balls and sat down next to a blonde. The puzzled blonde kept looking at him and his bulging pockets. Finally, after many glances from her, he said, “It’s golf balls.” The blonde continued to look at him for a very long time, thinking deeply about what he had said. Finally, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, she asked, “Does it hurt as much as tennis elbow?”
There was a guy who would introduce himself like this, “Hi, I’m Bill Spaulding. Perhaps you’ve played with my balls”.
Today is hte birthday, in 1931, of American musician, and singer-songwriter Randy Sparks. He was the founder of The New Christy Minstrels and The Back Porch Majority. The New Christy Minstrels 1962 debut album, Presenting the New Christy Minstrels, won a Grammy Award and remained on the Billboard 200 albums chart for two years. Sparks also wrote ‘Saturday Night in Toledo, Ohio’, which was recorded and made famous by John Denver. He died in San Diego on 11 February 2024 at the age of 90. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfxgbsXeTdE
Today is the birthday, in 1866. of Beatrix Potter. She was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children’s books featuring animals, such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit, which was her first commercially published work in 1902. Her books, including The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck and The Tale of Tom Kitten, have sold more than 250 million copies. An entrepreneur, Potter was a pioneer of character merchandising. In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy, making him the oldest licensed character.
Potter wrote over sixty books, with the best known being her twenty-three children’s tales. In 1905, using the proceeds from her books and a legacy from an aunt, Potter bought Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey, a village in the Lake District. Over the following decades, she purchased additional farms to preserve the unique hill country landscape. Potter died of pneumonia and heart disease on 22 December 1943 at her home in Near Sawrey at the age of 77, leaving almost all her property to the National Trust. She is credited with preserving much of the land that now constitutes the Lake District National Park.
Peter Rabbit feasts in Mr. McGregor’s forbidden garden
Have to have the right bait, though…
The original ‘Karen’, 1939…
Soil test???
I believe I rode in this exact model…
Shakespeare was ahead of his time…
Trump supporter???
Stairway to Elements Bar in Torreblanca, Spain
“empowerment . . . with each step”
Today is the birthday, in 1943, of American guitarist Mike Bloomfield who was a member of the Paul Butterfield band and Electric Flag. He played on Bob Dylan’s album Highway 61 Revisited. Bloomfield’s Telecaster guitar licks were featured on Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, and he appeared onstage with Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan used Bloomfield and the Butterfield Band which marked Dylan’s first use of an electric band in a live performance. Bloomfield was found dead in his car in San Francisco from an accidental heroin overdose on 15 February 1981 aged 37. This was one of my favorite songs when I was young… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWkMMXgQohc
Today is St. James Day. James the Greater was an Apostle, brother of St. John and son of Zebedee and Salome. Salome was a sister of Mary, mother of Jesus, which made James a cousin of Jesus.
According to the legends surrounding his life, it is said that James preached the gospel in Hispania as well as in the Holy Land. After his martyrdom at the hands of Herod Agrippa, his followers transported his body by sea to Galicia, where they landed at Iria Flavia, and then carried his remains to Santiago de Compostela for burial. The location of the grave was lost to memory, and was believed to be rediscovered by bishop Theodemir of Iria on July 25, 812, during the reign of Alfonso II.
A traditional pilgrimage called the Way of St James (Camino de Santiago) is held that day, bringing people to the town of Santiago de Compostela and the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. It is the town’s largest annual festival, with processions and fireworks.
Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, arthritis sufferers, blacksmiths, equestrians and horsemen, furriers, knights, laborers, pilgrims, soldiers, tanners, veterinarians; Altopascio, Lucca, Italy; Antigua, Guatemala; Bangued, Philippines; Brentino Belluno, Italy; Caltagirone, Italy; Cassine, Italy; Chile; Cicala, Catanzaro, Italy; Comitini, Italy; Compostela, Spain; Galicia, Spain; Gavi, Italy; Guatemala; Hettstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; Jemez Indian Pueblo; Loiza, Puerto Rico; Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Montreal, Canada; Nicaragua; Pistoia, Italy; Rivarolo Canavese, Italy; Sahuayo, Mexico; Seattle, Washington; Spain; Tesuque Indian Pueblo; against arthritis and rheumatism; sometimes called Jacob, the Latinized version of his name, also Iago and Jaques in Romance languages) related observances.
Peter Paul Rubens – St James the Apostle
Interesting concept…
Cats…
Helpful hints for homemakers…
❧ Layers of dirt on windows and screens provide a helpful filter against harmful rays from the sun. Consider it an SPF and leave it alone.
❧ Cobwebs draped over lampshades reduce glare from the bulb, thereby creating a romantic atmosphere. If your husband suggests that the light fixtures need dusting, say, “What? And spoil the mood?”
❧ Explain the mounds of pet hair by saying you are collecting it to use for stuffing hand-sewn toys for underprivileged children.
❧ If company is coming, shove everything unsightly into one room and close the door. As you show your guests through your house, say, “I’d show you the den, but Fluffy hates to be disturbed, and the shots are so expensive.”
❧ If dust is really out of control, place a fancy urn on the coffee table and say, “This is where Grandma wanted us to scatter her ashes.”
❧ Mix 1/4 cup pine-scented household cleaner with three cups of water in a spray bottle. Mist the air lightly. Leave dampened rags in conspicuous locations. Throw yourself on the couch and sigh, “I clean and I clean, and I still don’t get anywhere.”
❧ Keep several get well cards on the mantelpiece. If unexpected guests arrive, say you’ve been sick and unable to clean.
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