12/12/12

Today is 12/12/12!

For that reason alone,

I knew I had to blog today!

When I saw

it was Poinsettia Day,

I figured there must be

some strange reason

(other than Christmas)

 for this flower to get a day.

Sure, it’s a lovely plant…

and, Very Christmasy!

But, is there anything else?

So, off to google I went.

My search instantly landed me

 on the Poinsettia Day webpage.

(I know I’m on to something

special if it has its own webpage!)

I learned that today

 is the anniversary

of the death of botanist,

Joel Roberts Poinsett. 

He was also a physician

and a minister to Mexico.

Working in Mexico,

he saw the poinsettia plant

 and loved it enough,

he took clippings

and sent them to his home

 in Southern California.

It was 1828. 

Paul Ecke discovered a way

 to cause the seedlings

to branch.

(I’m not absolutely sure

what this means,

but it’s significant… because…)

 in 2002, the

House of Representatives

 created Poinsettia Day,

to honour Paul Ecke.

(That gives the day

a bit more serious-ness!) 

Paul Ecke the third

still runs their

poinsettia farm today!

Have a guess how much money

 poinsettias make for the

American economy each year…

Go on, have a guess.

How much did you say?

Want me to let you know?

(I will anyway!)

Each year, poinsettias contribute

 $250,000,000

to the economy!

That’s a lot of flowers!

 

Hearing that, it probably

 comes as no surprise

that these are the most popular

potted plant sold

in the US and Canada.

In Mexico, the poinsettia

has been used as a

Christmas plant

since the 1600s!     

 Photo

There's a House With a Roof

Roof Over Your Head Day

Today is a day for appreciating

what you have, r

ather than looking around you

 and wishing for more.

I think living in rural Thailand

as a teenager has helped me

to know how lucky I am.

I’ve seen people living in boxes…

 in homes built from cardboard,

scrap metal and pieces of board.

 I’ve talked and played with kids,

living in slums,

and been surprised by their smiles.

I’ve seen people

huddled against vents,

 in the snow,

trying to stay warm

on wet pavements.

Now, years and years later,

I hear the wind whistling

around my house,

beating at the windows

and fighting against the

branches of the trees…

and I think I’m lucky.

When the rain is beating down

and I’m rugged up inside,

warm and dry,

I often imagine how awful

it would be to be sleeping outside.

(Writing this, I realise

I should probably do more

 to try to help…)

on any given night in Australia,

 105,000 people

are sleeping outside,

fighting the elements.

 Nearly half of this number

is made up of people

under the age of 25.

Most of these people

fall in the category of

secondary homelessness,

which means they move

from shelter to shelter to shelter

 to boarding home to shelter…

Imagine having to carry

everything you own…

never knowing whether you’d be

 warm enough at night or

whether you’d be in a bed…

imagine finding a shower

you could use,

in order to clean yourself…

and then, there’s food.

Without money,

where does it come from?

 How do you cook it

without a home?

Today is Roof Over Your Head Day.

It’s the day to be

ever so grateful to be

lucky enough

to have the things you need.

(It might even be a good day

 to clean out the cupboards

and donate

your unwanted stuff

to charities…

or, you could donate money

to one of the many charities

 which help get people

 back on their feet.)

Truck Convoy

Almost 700 motorbikes…

Almost 700 trucks…

crowds of kids

and a family fun day…

all to raise money for Camp Quality

and kids with cancer

in the Illawarra.

The Truck Convoy is impressive.

You can’t help but feel

the love and generosity

of thousands of people,

as they line the streets

and cheer as truck after truck

after truck rolls through the streets.

 Horns blast, sirens shriek

and people wave.

This is the 8^th i98 Convoy.

Since the convoys began,

almost 2.18 million dollars

have been raised.

This year, on November 18^th,

the trucks will move

through the streets again.

Rehearsals have taken place,

so volunteers know

how to park the (almost)

700 trucks at Croome Road.

Bands will play, people will sing…

food and drink will be sold

and money

will be thrown into buckets.

People come all the way

from Queensland

to enter the convoy!

Each truck pays

to enter the convoy.

The truck which pays the

highest amount

will lead the convoy.

This will be decided very soon.

Trucks are currently bidding

at $1800…

A very clever idea,

formed by some locals,

is to enter a People’s Truck…

a truck for the people.

Anyone can pay

to have their name,

business name, logo or website

 put on the truck.

Last year, adding names

 lead to a donation

of over $43,000!

These will stay on the truck

 until the 2013 convoy.

As the truck moves around NSW

 and around the other states,

businesses will be advertised…

the People’s Truck

is sure a wonderful sight –

with lists and lists and lists

of names printed on the sides.

I know some names

on the truck this year.

I’ve had a chance to learn

 a little more about

the truck “owners”.

I’m proud of their creativity

and the incredible money

they will raise again this year.

This Sunday,

bring a hat and a drink.

Bring every coin

from behind the lounge,

the floor of the car

or from your dad’s little stash…

 bring a cheering voice

(and maybe, some earplugs!).

 Bring a smile and watch

as the trucks roll by,

each one expressing

their generosity and love

for kids with cancer.

 (I’m not sure what

Crazy Day today is,

but it is Convoy Week -

and that’s sure special!)

Happy Day

McHappy Day

$3.66 million…

That’s this year’s Mchappy Day target!

For 30 years,

families have been lucky enough

to have their accommodation arranged

while they have

very sick children in hospital.

Australia has 13

Ronald McDonald

Homes Charity (RMHC).

 More than 100,000 families

have been helped by RMHC.

Sadly, 1 in 8 Aussies

have either stayed

in one of the houses or

knows someone who has.

These houses were first created

 in memory of McDonalds’ creator,

Ray Kroc.

He wanted to give something back

to the community.

McDonalds covers the costs

of administration and management.

The RMCH closest to me,

is at Randwick.

The Randwick House has 28 bedrooms.

There’s a communal kitchen

 and dining room –

with a pantry of staples.

There’s a toy room for the kids

 and a brand new teenager’s room.

A team of staff run the House.

Many of the things that are done

around the House,

are done by volunteers.

Today is McHappy Day.

Today, Big Macs

are being sold everywhere…

and, two dollars from each Big Mac

sold today will go to the

Ronald McDonald House Charities!

 If you never eat McDonalds,

today is the day to have a Big Mac!

If you really don’t like Big Macs,

you can buy a Helping Hand.

All money raised from the

purchase of Helping Hands

will go to the Houses!

Can’t get to a McDonalds?

Easy!

You can buy a Helping Hand on-line.

I’m “one in eight”.

I know someone who is sleeping

 in a Ronald McDonald House tonight!

I don’t eat McDonalds…

but, today…

I will have a Big Mac

and buy a Helping Hand.

Last year, we did this…

never realising how much

we were helping our future selves.

Today is an easy, easy way

 to make a huge difference!

RMHC Randwick

Facebook

Rays Unknown

 

 

What IS that?

That was my first thought

on seeing this picture.

A curious imagination

thought aliens must have finally

 been proved to exist!

But, no....

Today is X-Ray Day

More history, by the sounds of that.

 1895.

Germany.

Wilhelm Roentgen

accidentally discovered a “new” ray.

 Not knowing what it was,

he named it “X” ray…

which is the name

we still use today.

After discovering the ray

and figuring he knew

what it would do,

he asked his wife

to be the first person

to be x-rayed.

I guess she was pretty brave!

The world’s first x-ray

was of her hand

and her huge wedding ring.

Imagine a world without x-rays!