April Holidays And Bizarre Celebrations

New Year Glass

So what do you know about the month of April? It´s a very interesting month.April is the month we celebrate Earth Day. April 22nd this year. This is ourchance to try to give back to Mother Nature that which we have so cravenly andcallously taken away from her. Ideally, Earth Day should be celebrated everyday. You can do this on your own. You don´t need a national day to be kind toyour Mother. Here are some tips to help you be kinder to our Mother. She needsus as much as we need her.

  • Plant trees. Plants give off carbon dioxide which gives us oxygen. Treeshelp cut down on erosion and of course give the birds and squirrels and alltree-dwellers a place to live.
  • Walk or ride your bike - If you don´t have a long distance to travel, tryriding your bike or walking instead of getting in your gas guzzling car. Try tohelp reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
  • Save electricity - turn off the lights when you leave a room, also the TVand radio. Our former President Lyndon Johnson was notorious for turning off thelights in the white house, so much so that he was nicknamed Light bulbJohnson.
  • A biggie is to turn that faucet off while brushing your teeth. You can savean average of 9 gallons of water by doing this. Keeping in mind the poor peoplein Africa who quite often don´t have any potable water, is one way to help youto do this. Guilt works every time. Turn that faucet off.
  • Whatever you can do will be a help. Look around you and determine what youcan do to Be Kind To Your Mother!
  • Remember the three R´s - Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

It´s been estimated that the American people make about 1,500 pounds of trasheach year. Where does this trash go? We throw it "away." Where is away? Away isanywhere not near you. Remember NIMBY - Not in my back yard! But "away" is insomebody else´s back yard. It is in Mother Earth´s backyard. So let´s keep itclean. The next time you´re tempted to throw your cigarette out of your carwindow, keep in mind how long it will take for those filters to degrade, not tomention how ugly it makes our roads look, and more importantly, the possibilityof starting wildfires.

There are so many ways in which you can help our Mother. Be proactive. Teachthis lesson to your children. You can leave a good legacy. You don´t have to bewealthy to leave a good legacy. Just by doing the right thing will help us andhelp future generations.

April not only has Earth Day and Easter, but the month of April is a veryinteresting month filled with unusual celebrations, most of which are unknown tomost people.

Without listing all of the unusual holidays in April, for that would be aformidable task, let´s just take a look at some of the really bizarre ones. Ifyou like to have an excuse to open up a bottle of bubbly, April will give youplenty of them. Here, then are some of the more entertaining ones that Ifound.

April 1st - April Fool´s Day - "The first of April is the day we rememberwhat we are the other 364 days of the year." - Mark Twain

April 3rd - Don´t go to work unless it´s fun day. Sounds good to me.

April 4th - Tell a lie day. Please limit yourself to just this one day.

April 6th - Sorry Charlie Day. This, I discovered is for those who have beenrejected and lived through it.

April 7th - No housework day. This is one I´d like to see celebrated 365 daysa year.

April 9th - Winston Churchill and Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis Day. What? How canthere be a national day for yours truly? Because this day is also Name YourselfDay. So it can be Suzy Smith´s Day or John Doe´s day too. So this is your day,celebrate it and hoist a few for me too because it´s also my day.

April 11th - Eight Track Tape Day. Really? Really! Does anyone really haveany eight track tapes in their possession? Hmmmm, might be something to sell onEbay.

April 13th -Blame somebody else day. I can wrap my mind around this one.Although truth be known I don´t think I limit this day to just the 13th!

April 20th - Look alike day. Ok I want to look like Angelina Jolie. Pleasesomebody give me instructions on how to accomplish this one.

April 22nd - Earth Day - turn it into a year long celebration.

April 23rd - World Laboratory Animal Day - not a day to celebrate, but shouldbe a day of mourning. Why not a Rescue a Lab Rat Day?

April 27th - Tell a story day - a good one for all good little AC writers.Lift your glass to this one.

April 28th - Kiss your mate day - Gee, only one day set aside for this? Nowonder the national divorce rate is over 60%.

April 30th - National Honesty Day. Here is your chance to make up for April4th.

April is also International Guitar Month. So get out your guitar and do yourbest Jimi Hendrix impression.

Another monthly celebration for April is Keep America Beautiful Month - Ivote for this to be extended to all 12 months, not just April.

A rather bizarre celebration for April is National Anxiety Month. Now doesthis mean that we should all be anxious during April? Why? Ahh, I get it. Aprilis when we pay our Income Taxes. Of course, it makes sense now. But April beinga strange little month, it not only is National Anxiety Month but also NationalHumor Month! So we get to laugh at our anxiety-ridden friends?

What is it with April? I always thought it was a nice little month that camealong to soothe our frazzled nerves after a dreary winter and to portend theglorious days of spring lying just around the corner. As it turns out, April isquite a capricious little month.

Enjoy your April days. Be Kind to your Mother and keep in mind that April isalso Uh-Huh Month. Whatever that is!

Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis is the author of the book "I Am Your Disease (TheMany Faces of Addiction)" published by Outskirts Press. You can read about, andpurchase the book at http://www.iamyourdisease.com

I am a retired medical transcriptionist and radio DJ who also did voiceoversfor TV. Married, with one living son, having lost my youngest son Scott, who wasa paramedic and an RN to the disease of addiction. Happily married for 40 yearsto Jack, 8th grade science teacher. My oldest son Dale is soon to be a graduatestudent in Ecology and Environmental Biology.

We live in Palm Bay, Florida. I am originally from Brisbane, Queensland,Australia and am a citizen of both Australia and the US. We are owned by one dogand two cats!