April 17 is Haiku Poetry Day. The unofficial holiday honors the short poetry form that originated in Japan.

Haiku is a type of short poetry that is usually three sentences long. First popularized in Japan in the 17th century, Haiku as a poetry genre has been adopted by many languages around the world. In English, the genre first became mainstream in the early 20th century.

In its Japanese avatar, haikus traditionally have three lines with 17 syllables. The first and last sentences have 5 syllables and the second line has 7 syllables. The syllable rule, however, is not always set in stone. Compared to Japanese, many English words have longer syllables. Because of this, English haikus can often have anywhere from 10 to 14 syllables. Unlike a lot of other forms of poetry, words in a haiku poem do not need to rhyme.

Haikus tend to give an interesting insight about something trivial, usually some aspect of nature or the seasons.

Haiku Poetry Day is also sometimes known as National Haiku Poetry Day and International Haiku Poetry Day.

How to Celebrate?

• Learn how to write your own haikus.
• Pick up an anthology of haiku poetry and spend some time reading haikus.
• Learn more about the history of haiku.

Did You Know…

…that a monoku is an even shorter version of the haiku? Instead of the traditional 3 sentences, a monoku only has one line.

have you ever had on of those weeks? Welll I have for the last 2 weeks hoping this week we’ll be better. Between work being stressful and so tiring that you crash. Then computer ran slow had to have my son get it up and going. So I can get caught up.

Date When Celebrated : This holiday is always April 16

Elephants are the largest mammal to roam the earth today. Their numbers are dwindling, and their very survival is at risk. That makes Save the Elephant Day an extremely important day. Also called World Elephant Day,  this very special day was created to call attention to the plight of our beloved Pachyderms.

Young and old, we all love elephants, They are the most popular animal in the zoo. Unfortunately, in their native environment their very survival as a species is at risk, due to shrinking habitat and poaching. Poaching is taking a very serious toll, as their tusks made of ivory is prized. While the sale of ivory is banned around the world, it commands a huge price on the black market.

On Save the Elephant Day, visit the elephants at your local zoo. Find out more about groups that are working to save their habitat, as well as those fighting poachers, who kill elephant for their ivory tusks. Support them with a donation, if you can.

History and Origin of “World Elephant Day”:

Save the Elephant Day was founded in 2012. It was created by the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand, working in conjunction with Canadian film maker Patricia Sims. Their goal is to raise the awareness of the threat to survival caused by loss of habitat and poaching.

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Date When Celebrated: This holiday event is always held on April 15

In case you haven’t guessed, today is Take a Wild Guess Day. Today is all about trusting your gut and your instinct. Today, factual or empirical data are useless and unnecessary, before opening your mouth. Does the thought of taking a wild guess without any information to back you up, take you out of your comfort zone? …..Good, very good.

Taking a wild guess is like taking a stab in the dark. Often you don’t have any information or facts, but you feel compelled to take a wild guess at a perplexing question or issue. If you are expected to know the answer, taking a wild guess is at the risk of embarrassment and ridicule, if you guess wrong.

The lucky ones among us, are those that have a good intuition, a feeling, or a kind of sixth sense. Many of us don’t possess these traits. You could say providing the correct response is pure luck. Perhaps, perhaps not.

Take a Wild Guess Day encourages us to throw away the inhibitions that are holding us back. Throw caution to the wind, step out of your comfort zone and take a chance that you’ll know the right answer or thing to say.

When it comes to guessing, perhaps Mae West said it best: “Don’t keep a man guessing too long – he’s sure to find the answer somewhere else.”

Today’s Play on Words: Turning Vegan would be a big missed steak.

On this day, you are encouraged to take a guess, at every opportunity you get. Creating and playing a guessing game, is another good way to participate in this holiday. 

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History and Origin of “Take a Wild Guess Day”

This holiday event was created in 2010 by Jim Barber, a professional public speaker and instructor. According to Barber, he recognized that this was the day when Federal taxes were due. And, he noticed that many people guessed on their tax form inputs. Wow, that’s wild. 

This holiday event was originally called “Take a Wild Guess Day“. It wasn’t until around 2017, that a few websites began to call it “National Take a Wild Guess Day“. We do not believe this was initiated by the author.

Date When Celebrated : This holiday is always April 14

National Pecan Day is a rather nutty day. Its a day to celebrate and enjoy popular, tasty pecans.

Pecans are a very yummy healthy snack!!

Pecan trees are native to North America. Commercial growers of are very proud to be growing “America’s Nut Tree”.  Native Americans have cultivated the trees for its flavorful and nutritious nuts for over a thousand years. Even early European settlers first harvested pecan nuts by foraging for them in the woods. By the 1770s,  they were cultivated in gardens and orchards. Thomas Jefferson brought some pecan trees from the southern U.S. and planted them at his estate in Monticello. He gifted a tree to George Washington who planted it at his Mount Vernon estate on March 25, 1775. Over the next two hundred years or so, pecan tress have been planted on every continent except Antarctica.  

A Little Pecan Trivia:

• Pecans belong to the hickory family.
• There are over 1,000 varieties of pecans.
•  Pecans aren’t technically nuts. From a technical standing they are a fruit!
• Mature trees produce nuts every other year.
• Mature plants produce nuts for 50-60 years.
• The trees live up to 300 years and grow up to 150 feet tall.
• 90% of worldwide production of pecan s come from the United States.

We don’t have to tell you how to enjoy National Nut Day. Grab some pecans and chow down. Have a big piece of pecan pie. Praline candy anyone!?

Today’s Quote: “The worst part of online shopping is having to get up and get your credit card.” – – Author Unknown

Date When Celebrated : This holiday is always  held on April 13

You may not have known it when you awoke this morning, but today is National Peach Cobbler Day. How sweet it is!

Peaches are one of America’s favorite fruits. When you put it into a cobbler recipe, you’ve got a treat, of which people will be asking for seconds.

Peach Cobbler is a deep dish fruit pie, made with peaches and biscuit (or it’s equivalent). While it is best to served hot, it is still delicious consumed cold, too.

Back in the 1800’s, American settlers travelling to the west, did not have the ingredients to make a then popular suet pudding. They used peaches and dough to cobble together this tasty fruit pie.

For the record! The largest Peach Cobbler ever made, was baked at the Georgia Peach Festival in 2007. It measured 11′ X 5′ and 8″ deep.

Today’s Quote: ” Some see the glass half empty. Others see the glass half full. I see a glass twice as big as it needs to be.” – – George Carlin

Date When Celebrated : This holiday is always held on April 12

Walk on Your Wild Side Day encourages us to take a chance. It’s a call to the inner strength within you, to do something out of your comfort zone. Do something wild and crazy, and perhaps a little daring.

To participate in this special day, you don’t have to do something dangerous, like hang gliding, parachuting, or riding a zip line. And, please don’t do something dangerous or illegal. Rather, think of something that the normal and usual, “you” would not do. Then, kick your shoes off and go do it……. just go wild. After you have performed this wild and crazy thing, don’t forget that you have Facebook bragging rights. 

Today’s Quote: “Ability is what you’re capable of. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” – – Lou Holtz

Do you remember listening to Eight Tracks??

Date When Celebrated : This holiday event is always held April 11

Eight Track Tape Day brings back fond memories of the sixties and seventies. During this era, eight track tapes ruled the music world. America’s love of the automobile, was a driving force in creating the demand for musical cassette formats. For those who grew up in this era, an eight track tape player in your home and your car was an essential. It was eventually replaced by cassette and other formats for storing music.

Eight Track Tape Day is a day to bring back fond memories of the sixties and seventies. If you still have tapes and a player, by all means enjoy the day listening to some great music. If not, just spend a few minutes looking back in time to when you loved your eight track tapes!

If you are under 50 or 60 years old, this holiday likely means little to nothing to you. We suspect this holiday may eventually fade away as time passes.

Did you know? Eight track tapes were created by the jet maker William Lear.

Today’s Chuckle: “I feel sorry for short people. When it rains, they are the last to know.” – – Rodney Dangerfield.

Date When Celebrated : This holiday is always held on April 10

National Sibling Day is a day to appreciate and cherish your brothers and sisters. Siblings are truly a special blessing that we probably all too often take for granted. They are often our best friends and supporters through life. Another reason to celebrate is that not everyone is lucky enough to have siblings. Their lives are significantly different growing up, and throughout  life.

Celebrate National Sibling Day in a variety of ways. It’s a great time to be thankful for your sibling. But, most importantly get in touch with your siblings. Visit them if they live nearby. Call them, if they live far away. Send them a card, a letter, gifts, or flowers.