Today is Sunday, October 7 and there are only 79 days until Christmas. If you have not already started listening to Christmas music, you should at least have started putting together play lists. Today we remember the birthdays of William Billings, Leon Trotsky and Desmond Tutu. On this day in 1780 the British were defeated by the American militia near Kings Mountain, SC, in 1816 the first double decked steamboat, the “Washington” arrived in New Orleans and in 1957 “American Bandstand” premiered.  In Libya it is Evacuation Day and in the US it is National LED Light Day and National Frappe Day.

Since it is the first post in October, I wanted to give you October information, but there was not much available. Here is what I was able to glean – it is the tenth month of the year and the sixth of seven months with 31 days, the birthstones are tourmaline and opal and the birth flower is the calendula. In addition I found that October is National Caramel Month, National Dessert Month and National Pasta Month. I guess this is all part of getting your winter weight up for hibernation. I hope that will satisfy your need for information.

As you are aware, tomorrow is Columbus Day. The official day was the 12^th, but it has been set as the second Monday in October to facilitate the need for three-day weekends. Unfortunately, I don’t think very many people get the day off or understand the significance of the day. This is a day that celebrates a man who sailed off with three ships, headed for a destination that would provide him with wonderful riches. He was headed for the East Indies, but didn’t quite make it. This is a holiday that celebrates a man who had a destination in mind, no real idea how to get there and never made it to his original objective.

A more interesting fact is that he did not actually discover America. He never even set foot in North America! He landed on various Caribbean islands that are now the Bahamas as well as the island later called Hispaniola. He ended up making a total of four trips to not the East Indies. So now we celebrate his day each year. Fast forward to present day. A man, let’s call him Kenny, gets his friends to finance a trip and he leaves from Maine to drive to Florida. He does not use a map or GPS or ask for directions. After all, he is a man. He knows where he is going. After being gone for almost two weeks, he arrives back home with souvenirs of his trip. He has a t shirt from the Football Hall of Fame and one from Mt Rushmore.

People are quick to point out that those places are not in Florida. A few weeks later, after getting more funding, he sets off again, confident that he will hit Florida this time. Several weeks later, he comes back with stuff from the Grand Canyon. He is again ridiculed for not getting to his destination. He counters that while that is so, look at the wonderful things he brought back from where he did get to. He tries again and this time returns with items from The Grand Ole Opry and a bottle of bourbon from Kentucky. Everyone enjoyed the bourbon, but pointed out that, once again, he had not made it to Florida. He spends some time putting together what he is sure will be a successful trip. His friends reluctantly fund him and off he goes. He returns several weeks later with tales of Mardi Gras, beads that he collected and stories about a new and different style of cooking.

Everyone is sort of interested, but must point out, once more, that he did not get to Florida. They decide that they will no longer fund Kenny and his wanderings. He goes off to live by himself, disappointed that he was unable to find Florida. Several years after his death, stories of his trips are told and become somewhat exaggerated, due to faded memories. Kenny is praised as an intrepid adventurer and each August, the second Monday is celebrated as Kenny Day. Each year they hold a parade in his honor. The parade starts in the same place, but takes a different route each time and never goes by the reviewing stand. A little crazy, I know, but it is basically what happened with Columbus Day, except for the parade.

I do not have much else this week. We had some medical things to take care of and were not able to get out and about too much. Next week I should have some new things to talk about.

This week our fact tells us that in North Dakota it is illegal to keep an elk in a sandbox in your back yard. Can you keep him in a sandbox in the front yard? Can you keep him in the back yard as long as he stays out of the sandbox? Just another one of those things that make you say, “Huh?”