My Pic of the Week

Actually I didn’t take this picture. My husband was taking pictures while I was sleeping. I think he really did a great job catching this picture?

Taking a walk and enjoying the warm sunny weather.

Weekly Photo Challenge – ROY G. BIV #2

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “ROY G. BIV.”

My Pic of the Week

I love to watch the squirrels in our back yard.

Weekly Photo Challenge – ROY G. BIV

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “ROY G. BIV.”

Happy Father’s Day near and far.

Happy Father’s Day

Father’s Day in USA is celebrated with great enthusiasm and lot of fanfare on third Sunday of June. Observing the day, people reflect on the invaluable role played by fathers in building the character of children and in the development of the nation. On Father’s Day people honor their father and express gratitude for his love and affection. As a Father’s Day tradition, people in US also pay tribute to grandfather, stepfather, foster father, uncle or any other men who are like father.

History of Father’s Day in USA
Father’s Day festival as we celebrate today traces its history to United States of America. The idea of observing a day in honor of father was conceptualized by Ms Sonora Smart Dodd, a loving daughter from Spokane. It so happened that Sonora attended a Mother’s Day Sermon in 1909 and she was struck with the noble idea that society must observe a day to honor the important contribution made by father in the raising of children. Encouraged by the love of her father, William Smart, a civil war veteran who single-handedly raised her along with her five siblings after the death of her mother, Sonora worked hard to make her concept a reality. The noble idea of celebrating Father’s Day soon spread across the nation. Father’s Day was recognized by a Joint Resolution of Congress in 1956. Finally, in 1972 President Nixon established Father’s Day as a permanent national day of observance on the third Sunday of June.

Fathers Day Celebrations in USA
Fathers Day celebrations in USA takes place with lot of gaiety and enthusiasm. The day is observed as a time for family reunion in families, as children who are staying away from families take time out to celebrate the day with their father. Indulging daddy with breakfast in bed and gifts like cards, flowers, chocolates and neckties is the traditional way of celebrating Father Day in USA.

Fun Facts about the Month of June

Besides the fact that my sisters name is June….and named after my Aunt June who was born in the month of June.

June, named after Juno, the goddess of marriage, is the sixth month of the year, and is one of the four months with a length of 30 days. Just like the month of May, no other month begins on the same day as June. This is also the month with the longest daylight hours of the year.

June’s birthstones are the Alexandrite, the Moonstone, and the Pearl. Alexandrite represents health and longevity. Moonstones represents change, new beginnings and the shifting tides of emotion and can help a wearer to alleviate stress, especially due to sudden changes in life.

Its birth flowers are the honeysuckle and the rose. Honeysuckle traditionally stands for bonds of devotion, love, fidelity and generosity. Few flowers have as many meanings attributed to them as the rose. Depending on the type of rose, roses can indicate romantic love, secrecy, desire, gratitude, mourning, impossible hopes, modesty, joy, love at first sight, innocence, sacrifice and much more. In the traditional language of flowers, roses are among the most important flowers.

Gemini and Cancer are the astrological signs for June. Birthdays from June 1 through the 20 fall under the sign of Gemini while June 21 through the 30 birthdays fall under the sign of Cancer.

A Bug Named June?

The June Bug, also known as June beetle, is the name for several large beetles seen in the United States during May and June.

June Holidays

• 6 D Day, WWII
• 14 Flag Day
• 15 Father’s Day – third Sunday
• 21 Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year.

Here are a few interesting things and the month of June along with some events that fall during this month:

• De Soto claimed Florida for Spain, June 3, 1539.
• U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot by an assassin on June 5, 1968 and he died the following day.
• The Continental Congress adopted the Flag of the United States on June 14, 1777.
• The Magna Carta was granted by King John on June 15, 1215.
• Charles Goodyear was granted a patent for rubber vulcanization, June 15, 1844.
• The Ford Motor Company was founded on June 16, 1903.
• Congress adopted the design for the Great Seal of the United States on June 20, 1782.
• Eli Whitney applied for a patent on the cotton gin, June 20, 1793.
• President Andrew Johnson announced the purchase of Alaska from Russia, June 20, 1867.

A Black bear is found in the middle of our downtown area in a tree

ALPENA – Downtown Alpena had an unexpected guest Wednesday morning and one that probably won’t be back any time soon. Article Photos News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Michigan, State Police Trooper Jamie Bullis and Alpena Fire Department Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal Bob Adrian help to rescue a black bear from a tree. The bear needed to be tranquillized before being gently lowered to the ground. A juvenile black bear wandered downtown and took a swim in the Thunder Bay River before being rescued by police from a large tree near the Riverview Apartments and the construction site of the new Holiday Inn Express. After being safely removed from the tree, the bear was released into the woods near Atlanta awake and healthy.

At about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday officers responded to a call claiming a bear was running loose near the post office on Second Avenue. The bear was located and officers were joined by the Department of Natural Resources, troopers from the Michigan State Police Alpena Post and Alpena Fire Department personnel who tried to take control of the situation. The panicked bear made that difficult. The bear ran down Oldfield Street and climbed a tree in the yard of a resident for a brief time, but climbed back down and lumbered to the back of the former Fletcher Paper plant where it jumped into the river and swam to the other side. Police were able to corral it near the bi-path and forced it into the tree. Lt. Eric Hamp said during his 12 years on the force he has never encountered a bear in the city limits and he is unsure when the bear wandered into town, or why. “This is extremely unusual. We don’t know if it was looking for food in garbage or feeding out of birdfeeders or what,” Hamp said. “It was a public safety issue and we wanted to get it under control before someone got hurt. It isn’t something we were ever trained for, so hats off to the officers who responded quickly and took control of the situation.” The police reached out to local veterinarians for advice and Bruce Anschuetz, who provided a traquilizer gun. Pesky Paws also provided equipment for first responders to use to try to contain and rescue the animal. Once the bear was asleep Trooper Jamie Bullis and Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal Bob Adrian climbed into the tree, fastened a rope around the animal and, with the help of a large tree branch for support, they lowered it onto a tarp that also was secured by first responders. Bullis, while in the tree attending to the bear, said he had never been so close to a live bear and the smell of it was not pleasant. After the bear was returned to the ground safely the crowd of about 100 people who had gathered to watch the event unfold, cheered, clapped, whistled and complimented police and fire personnel for how they handled the matter. “It is something I will surely never forget,” Hamp said. “It is something I don’t think any of us will forget.” – To see more on Youtube

Juneteenth – The day Slaves learned they were free

19th of June is known as Juneteenth, an African-American holiday begun at the end of slavery days. Its origins are Texan, not Louisianan, but Juneteenth has long had strong roots in the South and has since spread all over the country as a time for African-Americans to commemorate their freedom and accomplishments.

President Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, which granted freedom to slaves in Confederate states, on New Year’s Day in 1863. Word didn’t reach the African-American slaves of Galveston, Texas, until June 19, 1865, when a force of two-thousand Union soldiers arrived and informed them of their freedom. Although news indeed did travel slowly in those days, two and a half years is a long time; historians suspect Texas slaveholders knew of the proclamation and chose not to free their slaves until they were forced to.

The African-Americans of Galveston began an annual observance of Juneteenth which over the years spread to other areas and grew in popularity. Early Juneteenth celebrations were picnics at churches and in rural areas with barbecues, horseback riding, fishing, and more. The early 20th century saw a weakening of the holiday’s observance due to African-American migration to urban centers, the national celebration of Independence Day just a few weeks later, and the preference of white historians to emphasize the Emancipation Proclamation over Juneteenth as a date to mark the end of slavery. Although some activists objected that holiday’s associations with slavery were too backward-looking, Juneteenth’s visibility rose again during the Civil Rights Era of the 1950s and 60s, and its resurgence continues all over the country