Leif Erikson Day, Columbus Day (Observed), October 9th

Today is the day of many celebrations... It is Leif Erikson Day, and Columbus Day (Observed), and Soccer Dad's birthday, so go wish him happy birthday. And if you have today off, I am really jealous of you.

So, why do we have a Leif Erikson Day and a Columbus Day, and why are they so darn close to each other?

Columbus Day commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World. (You know, "In Fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue...") Columbus Day was first celebrated primarily by Italian-Americans in New York City on October 12th beginning 1866. (But, some dispute his Italian heritage.) The celebrations spread across the United States to San Francisco by 1869. Yep, only three years. All this partying must have got out of hand because those who were in charge decided that it would be easier to make it a national holiday than to try to stop the partying. In 1937, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed October 12th to be Columbus Day, National Holiday. (Kinda makes you wonder what is going to happen to Talk Like A Pirate Day, huh!)

October 12th proved to be an inconvenient holiday for Americans, and, since it wasn't Christmas or the Fourth of July, when President Richard Nixon came along, he declared that Columbus Day was to be observed the second Monday of each October, which also is Thanksgiving Day for our Canadian friends. Which makes this holiday convienent for those with dual citizenship. Also, the three day weekend-ness gives Columbus Day so much more credibility as a holiday.

So, why do we have Leif Erikson Day?

Italian-Americans embraced the celebration of Columbus Day. But, not all Americans were happy about the celebration of Columbus's landing. Rasmus B. Anderson petitioned for Leif Erikson to be nationally recognized as the first European to set foot on the American continent. In 1929, Wisconsin was the first state to recognize a Leif Erikson Day.

Rasmus died in 1936, so he did not see Congress declare, by joint resolution, Leif Erikson Day in 1964. Congress authorized and requested President Lyndon B. Johnson to proclaim October 9th as "Leif Erikson Day" and requested that each successive president of the United States make the same declaration.

October 9th is not the day that Leif Erikson landed on the American continent. In fact, the date is not his birthday, nor his deathday, nor the day he got married, or anything else date-worthy in Leif's life. October 9, 1825 was the day the ship Restauration arrived in New York Harbor, which marked the start of the first organized immigration from Norway to the United States.

So, really, if you have the day off, you are just celebrating immigration today, Italian, Norwegian...

National Golf Day, 10-4

National Golf Day

Ten Four! It's National Golf Day!

Master Fob reminded me that there are only three months left to finish up those New Year's Resolutions.

My resolution for the last two years has been to become a golfer. I have played one game of golf in two years. I am pretty sure that does not qualify me as a golfer. Unless we have unseasonably warm weather over the next three months, I don't think that I am going to make it again this year.

Darn!

No, really, Darn! I did want to become better at it. I want to be a golfer to forward my career. And I like being outside. I am a sporty girl. I like to play football. And softball. And they both have grass like golf. I can pick up this sport really easily... I am sure. Next year.

December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day

It's interesting what sticks in our childhood memories. In 1980, Jimmy Carter was president. I remember the Scholastic News ran an article about him and peanuts. The article told us to go home and tell our parents to vote. I remember having a conversation with my mom about Reagan and Carter. I remember being sad when Reagan won because I thought that we wouldn't have peanut-butter anymore. That year my teacher had our class sing a patriotic song every morning before we recited the pledge of allegiance. She would pound out a jovial tune on the piano as we sang in our six-year-old voices.

On December 7th, my teacher gave us a different morning presentation. She told of Pearl Harbor. She played us a record (yes, a blogger old enough to remember records) of Franklin D. Roosevelt making his "Day of Infamy" speech. I can still hear the scratches on the recording as I was cognizant of that voice and speech for the first time in my life. I remember that I was wearing a red corduroy jumper and brown shoes, and as I looked down at my braids I had two different colored rubber bands wrapped around the ends.

I remember looking at the United States flag hanging next to the chalkboard in the front of the classroom and thinking that the red in my dress matched the red on the stripes of the flag. I knew this morning was different. We didn't sing, after her presentation about Pearl Harbor, we placed our hands on our hearts and said the pledge and took our seats.

Do we even think about Pearl Harbor Day anymore? PearlHarbor

I wonder about Patriot's Day, the memorial day of September 11th. Forty years from now will Patriot's Day just be something celebrated in first grade classrooms?

I don't believe that we should remember these days to promote war, or to promote hate. We should remember these days to honor those who died... in defense of their country, or innocently as civilians. These are sacred days. Days of reflection. Days when the American conscious changed. We should remember them as such.

Today is also Letter Writing Day. If you would like to write to your elected officials here is a link link

If you want a reason to write to your elected officials check this out OreoCookiePresentation