I have been blessed throughout my life with more than one “mother” to love and care for me.  By my measurements, that makes me a VERY rich man. 

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and the History Channel’s website has some great information that I’ll share with you throughout this issue.  Here’s a quick glance at what’s to come:

Mother’s Day is a holiday honoring motherhood that is observed in different forms throughout the world. The American incarnation of Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Jarvis would later denounce the holiday’s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar. While dates and celebrations vary, Mother’s Day most commonly falls on the second Sunday in May and traditionally involves presenting mothers with flowers, cards and other gifts.

So, that’s a good start to our Mother’s Day information, so that’s probably a good spot to get on with the important stuff like:

This squirrel must be related to the squirrels in my last place.  Teasing the hell out of these poor dogs.

HISTORY OF MOTHER’S DAY

Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, but the clearest modern precedent for Mother’s Day is the early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday.”

Once a major tradition in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, this celebration fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and was originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their “mother church”—the main church in the vicinity of their home—for a special service.

Over time the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with flowers and other tokens of appreciation. This custom eventually faded in popularity before merging with the American Mother’s Day in the 1930s and 1940s.

More phone calls are made on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year. These holiday chats with Mom often cause phone traffic to spike by as much as 37 percent.

Even dragons celebrate Mother’s Day.

 

Okay, so this next one is from my Dad, Papa Dragon Most Senior, sent this next one and I can tell you that it’s pretty accurate.  I learned that just from talking to dad.  lol.

You know you’re a Floridian if….
 
Socks are only for bowling.

You never use an umbrella because the rain will be over in five minutes.

A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.

Your winter coat is made of denim.

You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites.

You’re younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65.

Anything under 70 degrees is chilly.

You’ve driven through Yeehaw Junction.

You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.

Every other house in your neighborhood had blue roofs in 2004-2005.

You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn’t worth waking up for.

You dread love bug season.

You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren’t Hurricane Charley or Hurricane Frances. You know them as Andrew, Charley , Frances , Ivan, Jeanne, Wilma…Irene…Cheryl…Rita, Mary..Alison

You know what a snowbird is and when they’ll leave.

You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.

‘Down South’ means Key West.

Flip-flops are everyday wear. Shoes are for business meetings and church, but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before.

You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.

You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.

A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.

You know the four seasons really are: Hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season and summer.

You’ve hosted a hurricane party.
 
You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee , Withlacoochee , Thonotosassa and Micanopy.

You understand why it’s better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.

You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn’t swim.

You’ve worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas and New Years.

You recognize Miami-Dade as ‘ Northern Cuba .’

Ha! Ha!               Wait……………what!?

ANN REEVES JARVIS AND JULIA WARD HOWE

The origins of Mother’s Day as celebrated in the United States date back to the 19th century. In the years before the Civil War, Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia helped start “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” to teach local women how to properly care for their children.

These clubs later became a unifying force in a region of the country still divided over the Civil War. In 1868 Jarvis organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day,” at which mothers gathered with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation.

Another precursor to Mother’s Day came from the abolitionist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe. In 1870 Howe wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” a call to action that asked mothers to unite in promoting world peace. In 1873 Howe campaigned for a “Mother’s Peace Day” to be celebrated every June 2.

Other early Mother’s Day pioneers include Juliet Calhoun Blakely, a temperance activist who inspired a local Mother’s Day in Albion, Michigan, in the 1870s. The duo of Mary Towles Sasseen and Frank Hering, meanwhile, both worked to organize a Mothers’ Day in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some have even called Hering “the father of Mothers’ Day.”

I have always been really intrigued by stuff like this.  Hidden safes, hidden rooms in houses, stuff like that.  This is quite a good video and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Mermaids celebrate Mother’s Day, too.  One of our underwater security team with her daughter.

Ain’t THAT the truth!

Okay, so this next bit is from Ginny and it’s just plain cool.

Why it’s called Lake Superior .

Pretty amazing….. Did you realize how big this lake is?

LAKE SUPERIOR FACTS

�   Lake Superior contains ten percent of all the fresh water on the planet Earth.

�  It covers 82,000 square kilometers or 31,700 square miles.

�  The average depth is 147 meters or 483 feet.

�  There have been about 350 shipwrecks recorded in Lake Superior

�  Lake Superior is, by surface area, the largest lake in the world.

� A Jesuit priest in 1668 named it Lac Tracy , but that name was never officially adopted.

�  It contains as much water as all the other Great Lakes combined, plus three extra Lake Erie’s!!

�  There is a small outflow from the lake at St. Mary’s River (Sault Ste Marie) into Lake Huron , but it takes almost two centuries for the water to be completely replaced.

�  There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover all of North and South America with water one foot deep.

�  Lake Superior was formed during the last glacial retreat, making it one of the earth’s youngest major features at only about 10,000 years old.

�  The deepest point in the lake is 405 meters or 1,333 feet.

�  There are 78 different species of fish that call the big lake home.

�  The maximum wave ever recorded on Lake Superior was 9.45 meters or 31 feet high.

�  If you stretched the shoreline of Lake Superior out to a straight  line, it would be long enough to reach from Duluth to the Bahamas.

�  Over 300 streams and rivers empty into Lake Superior with the largest source being the Nipigon River

�  The average underwater visibility of Lake Superior is about 8 meters or 27 feet, making it the cleanest and clearest of the Great Lakes .  Underwater visibility in some spots reaches 30 meters.

�  In the summer, the sun sets more than 35 minutes later on the western shore of Lake Superior than at its southeastern edge.

�  Some of the world’s oldest rocks, formed about 2.7 billion years ago, can be found on the Ontario shore of Lake Superior.

�  It very rarely freezes over completely, and then usually just for a few
hours.  Complete freezing occurred in 1962, 1979, 2003 and 2009.

Pretty cool stuff!  Thanks Ginny!

ANNA JARVIS

The official Mother’s Day holiday arose in the 1900s as a result of the efforts of Anna Jarvis, daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis. Following her mother’s 1905 death, Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother’s Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children.

After gaining financial backing from a Philadelphia department store owner named John Wanamaker, in May 1908 she organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia. That same day also saw thousands of people attend a Mother’s Day event at one of Wanamaker’s retail stores in Philadelphia.

Following the success of her first Mother’s Day, Jarvis—who remained unmarried and childless her whole life—resolved to see her holiday added to the national calendar. Arguing that American holidays were biased toward male achievements, she started a massive letter writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians urging the adoption of a special day honoring motherhood.

By 1912 many states, towns and churches had adopted Mother’s Day as an annual holiday, and Jarvis had established the Mother’s Day International Association to help promote her cause. Her persistence paid off in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

JARVIS DECRIES COMMERCIALIZED MOTHER’S DAY

Anna Jarvis had originally conceived of Mother’s Day as a day of personal celebration between mothers and families. Her version of the day involved wearing a white carnation as a badge and visiting one’s mother or attending church services. But once Mother’s Day became a national holiday, it was not long before florists, card companies and other merchants capitalized on its popularity.

While Jarvis had initially worked with the floral industry to help raise Mother’s Day’s profile, by 1920 she had become disgusted with how the holiday had been commercialized. She outwardly denounced the transformation and urged people to stop buying Mother’s Day flowers, cards and candies.

Jarvis eventually resorted to an open campaign against Mother’s Day profiteers, speaking out against confectioners, florists and even charities. She also launched countless lawsuits against groups that had used the name “Mother’s Day,” eventually spending most of her personal wealth in legal fees. By the time of her death in 1948 Jarvis had disowned the holiday altogether, and even actively lobbied the government to see it removed from the American calendar.

So that is definitely the way I felt when The West Wing ended!  And also when Fire Fly never made it out of it’s first season!  I’ve got the entire West Wing series on CD and have watched it complete several times.  I’ve also got the whole 9 or so episodes of Fire Fly and have watched them more times than I can count.

So tell me in the comments, which series did you feel that way about when it ended?

And that, my fellow campers, is how my rifle went missing.  I told you the squirrels are teasing the hell out of my poor dogs.

MOTHER’S DAY AROUND THE WORLD

While versions of Mother’s Day are celebrated worldwide, traditions vary depending on the country. In Thailand, for example, Mother’s Day is always celebrated in August on the birthday of the current queen, Sirikit.

Another alternate observance of Mother’s Day can be found in Ethiopia, where families gather each fall to sing songs and eat a large feast as part of Antrosht, a multi-day celebration honoring motherhood.

In the United States, Mother’s Day continues to be celebrated by presenting mothers and other women with gifts and flowers, and it has become one of the biggest holidays for consumer spending. Families also celebrate by giving mothers a day off from activities like cooking or other household chores.

At times, Mother’s Day has also been a date for launching political or feminist causes. In 1968 Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., used Mother’s Day to host a march in support of underprivileged women and children. In the 1970s women’s groups also used the holiday as a time to highlight the need for equal rights and access to childcare.

Well, that’s the end of our Mother’s Day information, but by no means the end of our love for mothers.  For my own mom, she knows of my love and my deep admiration for all that she’s done and all that she means to me.  For all the rest of you Mothers out there, know that you are appreciated and loved.

 

I know there are some of you out there who are on Facebook….a lot.  And some of you may even be buying stuff on Facebook, I know this is something that Mrs. Dragon has done once or twice, but it’s not as safe as it used to be.

I read this article on Komando.com and I think it’s important enough to not only tell Mrs. Dragon about, but all of you as well.  I’ll start it here, but then give you the link at the end to finish the article.  If you’re one who is on Facebook, even a little, you need to read this.

5 online advertisements to stay away from (No. 4 is the worst)

You won’t believe this new Facebook scam. People just like you are being tricked out of their money and it’s easy to understand why.

They see ads by reputable-looking companies for beautiful dresses, swimsuits, coats and shoes. The ads offer low prices and FREE shipping. Who wouldn’t get lured in?

Unfortunately, this is a new scam that is tricking people like you, who know better than to fall for Facebook scams. The problem is these ads are so realistic it’s very easy to get fooled.

You click on the ad, pay for the dress and then the trouble starts. It sometimes takes weeks for the product to show up if it does. Then you open the box, all excited to try on your new dress, only to find it’s a bad knockoff of the dress in the ad. They’re sometimes made out of plastic. And the worst part about this scam is that one of China’s wealthiest companies is getting rich off of it. (Keep reading for photos!)

Tip within a Tip: Do a little detective work before buying on Facebook. Here’s how: Copy and paste the photo by putting your cursor over it >> Save Image As >> save it to your photos folder >> go to Google.com >> select Images in the upper-right corner >> click on the camera icon >> Upload an Image >> Browse >> find your photo and open it. You will see where the image originally appeared.

Bonus: Keep reading for one simple tip to protect yourself from this scam!

Fake Facebook ads

These days it’s really easy to create a realistic-looking ad. You can do it yourself, even if you’re not a computer whiz or skilled with software like PhotoShop.

Try this: Right click on a photo from any website and hit Copy. Open a free program like Paint (on Windows 10, type in Paint where it says Type Here to Search). Click on Paste to insert the photo. Add text, phone numbers and more details about your “company.” In about 10 minutes, you’ll have a realistic ad.

Here are five fake Facebook ads to avoid:

1. Zaful

Like a lot of fake Facebook ads, Zaful posts images of beautiful clothes. The problem is, you won’t receive anything beautiful. When it arrives it’ll be a cheap knockoff.

Note: Talk about a hassle. Have you ever tried to return a dress or swimsuit to a company in China? It could take weeks to get your money back if you ever do.

2. RoseGal

This site posts incredibly beautiful fashions, like the dress on the left (below). The scam is the company sends a bad, cheap knockoff like the one on the right.

From here you’ll have to go to the website to see the picture referenced above and to read the rest of the article.  Like she says, though, #4 is the WORST!

Here’s the link: http://www.komando.com/tips/400073/5-online-advertisements-to-stay-away-from-no-4-is-the-worst/all

It wouldn’t be an issue of Dragon Laffs without our motivational posters and although the desire to find strictly Mother’s Day posters in strong, I think at this point in MY week, I need something to seriously laugh about, so…

Truly one of the greatest movies of all time!  “What movie?”, you ask.  I can’t believe I have to say this but, Princess Bride!  If you haven’t seen it, stop reading this immediately and go to NetFlix or Hulu or Amazon Prime or SOMEWHERE and watch it now!  Go ahead, I’ll still be here when you get back.

Well, I had more content and I had more to write, but since I just spent the last hour getting this back, due to a computer crash, I’m going to go ahead and post this and call it an issue.

I hope you all have a great weekend and well meet again next week.

Cheers!