With the start of the new month it is once again time to look closer and learn a few things you may not know about our eighth month of the year. August is one of those months where there in not a lot going on, as far as big US holidays go. There is one event, however that is the big event for the month, and if I had to guess I’d guess that most parents consider it one of the best holidays of the year. Of course, I’m talking about back to school day. The summer kids running amok and treating every day as if it is Saturday, is something that I imagine is quite exhausting. Having them go back to school, is probably a grand holiday for any parents that stay at home, or have to deal with day care.
Apart from the parental joy of having their kids leaving the house to learn a few things for a few hours each day, I was curious to learn more about some of the other holidays in the month of August. Here’s what I found out, August is also:
- Admit You’re Happy Month – I’m not sure on this, but if you happen not to be happy this month, I think it’s okay to lie and just admit that you are.
- Family Fun Month – I recommend going on a picnic.
- National Catfish Month – I’m sure that Animal Planet already has a very special Hillbilly Handfishin’ episode all ready to air in honor of this month.
- National Eye Exam Month – I see no point in this . . . sorry (/hangs head in shame).
- National Golf Month – Also known as Curse like a Sailor for No Good Reason At All Month.
- Peach Month – Which reminds me, I have a peach tree in my back yard. I should probably go check on it.
- Romance Awareness Month – All I ask is that people refrain from doing anything in public that brings attention to your romance. I promise, most people just don’t want to see that.
- Water Quality Month – Does this mean that the rest of the year we are just supposed to ignore the quality of our water?
- National Picnic Month – Woah! What are the odds!
When it comes to week long celebrations apparently the first week in August (so this past week) is National Simplify your Life Week. And by skipping a week that encourages people to simplify their life, I did, in fact, simplify my life. Hooray me! Week two just so happens to be National Smile Week, which is the perfect segue for me to encourage you to share my blog and Facebook (Authors) page with all your friends that you feel could benefit from a daily dose of smiles. You can even continue to encourage your friends to check out my work thanks to week three’s Friendship Week. Introduce your friends (everyone you know) to your other friends (me) in an act of friends becoming friends. Okay, okay, the shameless self-promotion is now over. Week four is Be Kind to Humankind Week, which, in the event we ever get invaded by aliens, is the week I hope they decide to invade.
As for special days in the month of August, I managed to find 40+ different day celebrations. Today happens to be Left Hander’s Day, which is rather serendipitous, since I am left handed! I even wrote a Smirk on the subject. As for the rest of the days, for the sake of avoiding a ridiculously long list, I’ll highlight just a few of my favorites:
- August 6 – Wiggle Your Toes Day – Okay so how many of you started wiggling your toes the second you read that? I sure did.
- August 8 – Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day – I’ll tell you, in Utah this is almost a pandemic, and is more like a month long cruel joke under the guise of ‘good intentions’.
- August 9 – Book Lover’s Day – If you missed it, go out and buy a real book, one you can touch, and smell and place on your shelf as a trophy proclaiming your literacy. Just remember, it’s okay to love your books, just don’t ‘love’ your books.
- August 15 – Relaxation Day – I wonder if I could get away with working from home this day, and by working from home I mean waking up at noon, checking my email once, and then spending the afternoon in a hammock, swinging gently as I bask in the shade of a tree.
- August 16 – National Tell a Joke Day – This one is kind of a freebie since I try to do this every day with my ‘Thought of the Day’ posts I do. Still, if you know any good jokes I’d love to hear one.
- August 18 – Bad Poetry Day – I have so much bad poetry I could share with the world! Hmm, that is a Smirk just waiting to be written . . . truth be told, most of it is already written, all I need to do now is to find some of my poetry notebooks from high school.
- August 27 – Just Because Day – I figure the main motivation for this celebration was, you know, in the title of the holiday, and is also the reason I put this on the list.
- August 30 – Frankenstein Day – I think I’m going to have to watch Young Frankenstein on the 30th to commemorate this day, which as long as eat a sandwich while watching it, is a perfect way to wrap up National Picnic Month and Admit You’re Happy Month, because, I promise, every time I watch Young Frankenstein, I openly admit to being happy.
Well, that’s it for my highlight of a few August Holidays. I hope you found a smirk getting a little more awareness about this month, and I truly do how you can all admit to finding yourself happy this month. Cheers, and a Happy August to you all.
Image Sources:
Google Images, keywords: August, admit you’re happy month, group of people smiling, wiggle your toes, and Young Frankenstein.
Copyright © 2012 Richard Timothy