Song of the day:
Wayback Wednesday
Thinking of my friend Beth who lost her dad over the weekend. This was a happier time when we saw Matt Nathanson in Chicago a number of years ago.
Black History Month / Meet Rebecca Lee Crumpler
When Rebecca Lee Crumpler graduated from the New England Female Medical College in 1864, she became the first Black female physician in the United States. That same year, she opened a medical practice in Boston. Before she attended college, Dr. Crumpler had worked as a nurse. She wrote in her Book of Medical Discourses, published in 1883, that she “sought every opportunity to relieve the suffering of others.” The book was one of the first publications about medicine written by an African American. (Source: Everyday Health)
Lunar New Year / Dragons
Asian dragons do not breathe fire! Asian dragons are water animals. They live in oceans, lakes, and rivers, and they bring good luck and spring rains so that farmers can begin to plant rice. (Only European dragons are malevolent and breathe fire, right?) (Source: NBC News)
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day was first celebrated on February 2, 1887 at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. It’s been celebrated in that same location every year since. The weather-predicting day has its roots in the ancient Christian tradition of Candlemas, when clergy would bless and distribute candles needed for winter. The candles represented how long and cold the winter would be. Germans expanded on this concept by selecting an animal—the hedgehog—as a means of predicting weather. Once they came to America, German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, but switched to groundhogs, which were plentiful in the area. In 1887, a newspaper editor belonging to a group of groundhog hunters from Punxsutawney declared that Phil, the Punxsutawney groundhog, was America’s only true weather-forecasting groundhog. (Source: History.com)
And always remember…”Don’t drive angry!” —Bill Murray, Groundhog Day
Video of the day:
I love these two and their video reactions…watching them react to a video from well before they were born is always fun. I love how much they love this. Also, I legit forgot how good this song is and how many people were involved. Heartbreaking to realize how many of them we’ve lost.