Underdog Day, National Maple Syrup Day, December 17th

Under Dog Day. National Maple Syrup Day. I guess we should be watching sporting events, cheering for the losing team, and eating pancakes with LOTS of Maple Syrup today. That's not really going to happen. Unless I have pancakes for dinner.

Some of the favorite meals of my childhood were when my mom made pancakes for dinner. I reveled in the topsy-turvyness of eating breakfast for dinner. It was my first experience with challenging social norms. As a child, eating breakfast for dinner was weird, special, important. I loved sitting at the table with my family, eating fresh blueberry pancakes, pancakes thick and lumpy with blueberries that popped and tingled in my mouth and sausage drizzled in the sweetness of syrup, knowing that my neighbors on either side were eating dry roast and overcooked broccoli.

Pancakes for dinner. Maybe. I have traveled into my childhood a few too many times this week. It might be dangerous for me to tiptoe down that road again. I might find myself in England, hiding in a wardrobe.

I have found a new favorite author. His name is J. Patrick Lewis. I read two of his books today, and purchased one. Apparently, he has over forty published. How have I missed him all these years? He is enchanting. I think that I am going to have to create an athenaeum in honor of his belles-lettres. I wonder how one goes about to create an athenaeum?

Words of the Day:

HIPPOGRIFF, n. An animal (now extinct) which was half horse and half griffin. The griffin was itself a compound creature, half lion and half eagle. The hippogriff was actually, therefore, a one-quarter eagle, which is two dollars and fifty cents in gold. The study of zoology is full of surprises. (Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary US author & satirist) (1842 - 1914)

PORTUGUESE, n.pl. A species of geese indigenous to Portugal. They are mostly without feathers and imperfectly edible, even when stuffed with garlic. (Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, US author & satirist)(1842 - 1914)

Quote of the Day:

In a real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read. It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish. -- S. I. Hayakawa