Every Day Is Special

April 26 – Happy Birthday, Eyvind Earle

Posted on April 26, 2015

One of my favorite artists from animated movies created what I consider a masterpiece way back in 1959.

I'm talking about the styling, backgrounds, and colors of Disney's Sleeping Beauty – and I'm talking about Eyvind Earle.

(It doesn't hurt that he shares my own last name! Alas, no relation!)

I always loved the backgrounds of Sleeping Beauty – those stylized trees, especially – but one day I went into an art gallery in Laguna Beach, California, and there were some of Earle's masterpieces, in huge format – large-scale stylized forests covering the gallery walls. I felt the love I had for Earle's style change into something bigger: fandom.

It is no surprise to me that Earle is not “just” an animator – that his works hang in such amazing museums as the Met in New York City and Rahr West Art Museum. He is also an author.

After having success with Disney, and also as a greeting card painter (he made more than 800 Christmas card designs for the American Artist Group), Earle returned to full-time painting in 1966. He used watercolor and oil paints, and he created drawings and sculptures, and he even dabbled in scratchboards and printmaking.

His wave has fractal elements to it! So cool...

A bit about his background...

Eyvind Earle was born on this date in 1914 in New York. His family moved to Hollywood when he was just a tiny tyke. Earle began painting at age 10, and he had his first solo show when he was just 14 years old. I would think that that first solo show would be close to home – somewhere in Southern California – but, actually, it was in France!

A bit about his backgrounds...

Earle was chosen to create the backgrounds for Sleeping Beauty partly because Walt Disney wanted Sleeping Beauty to have a different look than Snow White and Cinderella, which had been released in 1937 and 1950, respectively. Disney wanted the movie to look like a living illustration, and he asked his artists to be inspired by medieval art.

Earle's background paintings took seven to ten days to paint, compared to typical animation backgrounds of the time, which took only one day to complete.

Here is Eyvind Earle's official website, and here is a Pinterest page devoted to videos and pictures and websites about Earle.

Also on this date:

Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted's birthday

Richter Scale Day

Mother, Father Deaf Day

Naturalist and artist John Audubon's birthday

Anniversary of a major meteor shower

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April 25 – Anzac Day

Posted on April 25, 2015

ANZAC = Australian and New Zealand Army Corps

During World War I, ANZAC and also some Canadian soldiers fought in the British forces at Gallipoli against the Ottoman Empire. They landed on Gallipoli on this date in 1915.

Where is Gallipoli? And why were soldiers from as far as Australia, New Zealand, England, and Canada fighting there?

Gallipoli is a peninsula (a bit of land surrounded by water on three sides) that forms the northern part of the strait that provided a sea route to the Russian Empire. Russia, France, and Great Britain were Allies during World War I, and the latter two nations mounted an attack on the Ottoman Empire in order to control the peninsula.

At the time, Australia and New Zealand and Canada were all “dominions” of Great Britain, which means that they were self-ruling but only semi-independent; their close ties with Britain meant that the these and other dominions could be called on for soldiers and equipment.

The Gallipoli campaign, like the rest of the war, was long and bloody. There were many casualties on both sides, and after eight months, the Allied forces withdrew to Egypt. It was considered a great victory for the Ottoman Empire – but of course, eventually the Allies triumphed and the Ottoman Empire crumbled.

Anzac Day is a day of remembrance of the people who fought at Gallipoli, especially the people who were injured or killed in the campaign. This remembrance is observed in Australia, New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, and Tongo, and it used to be a national holiday in Papua New Guinea and Samoa, as well. Some people in Canada observe the holiday as well.

Anzac Day was celebrated the very next year
after that April 25, 1915, landing.

Nowadays, in Australia and New Zealand, all their nations' people who have served in the armed forces, and especially all of those who died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations, are celebrated on Anzac Day. It is an unusual national day in that two separate nations share the same remembrance day and also make reference to both countries in the holiday's name. Other shared days of remembrance tend to have more general names – such as “Armistice Day” and “VE Day” (Victory in Europe Day).

In order to celebrate this important day, there is a Dawn Service (because the ANZAC forces landed on Gallipoli at dawn), and there is a National Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial.

Also on this date:

Astronaut Frank De Winne's birthday

Peppercorn Day in Bermuda

World Penguin Day

Anniversary of the first seeing-eye dog in the U.S.

Eeyore's Birthday Party

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April 24 – Arbor Day in the U.S.A.

Posted on April 24, 2015

Today the Arbor Day Foundation urges us to celebrate trees.

Why trees?

Trees combat climate change and global warming, because they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. In just one year, an acre of mature trees absorbs the amount of CO2 produced by an ordinary gas-burning car traveling 26,000 miles.

Trees also clean the air, keep cities and property shaded and cool, and protect from wind and sound pollution.

Trees save water by shading thirsty lawns and transpire moisture into the air. The prevent soil erosion and even help prevent water pollution.

Of course, trees provide habitats to many animals and even other plants, and they provide wood, nuts and seeds, and fruits that we and other animals use.

There are many other positive aspects of trees – including their beauty of course! No doubt about it, healthy, well-maintained trees provide a great diversity of benefits to the environment and to people!

A day for trees – especially for planting trees – occurs in many different nations. In the U.S., Arbor Day is held on the last Friday of April, but many states hold Arobor Days on other dates as well. I've already talked about Arbor Days in a few other nations - Israel, Honduras, and Uganda - so check out those earlier posts for more on trees.

A brief history of Arbor Day

The first known Arbor Day in the world was held in a small village in Spain, in Villanueva de la Sierra, way back in 1805. The local priest led the efforts to hold a tree-planting holiday, but the entire town joined in.

The first American Arbor Day was held in Nebraska City, Nebraska, in 1872. It is estimated that more than a million trees were planted in Nebraska on that day!

A newspaper editor was the fellow who launched that Nebraskan Arbor Day. A couple of decades later, a conservationist from DuBois, Pennsylvania, convinced President F.D. Roosevelt to make a proclamation about the importance of trees to the children of the nation.

Celebrate!

Find out which tree you should be for Arbor Day!

Find out which tree you should plant for Arbor Day.

Check out a tree activities Pinterest board.

Drink in the beauty of Bored Panda's “most beautiful trees” list.

Build a treehouse!

Also on this date:

Demography pioneer John Graunt's birthday

First Day of Summer in Iceland

Poetry and the Creative Mind Day

Pay It Forward

Concord Day in Niger

Anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope

Anniversary of the publishing of America's first newspaper

Anniversary of the opening of the Woolworth Building

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April 23 – National Picnic Day

Posted on April 23, 2015

I think it's pretty great that National Picnic Day is on a Thursday – because for years (more than a decade!), my family ate picnics almost every Thursday! That was the day that our homeschool support group got together for park days, theme days, field trips, and even parties. One or more cooler was almost always involved – and sometimes we even had cookouts in the evening after having a picnic lunch!

Of course, National Picnic Day isn't on a Thursday every year – the days is hooked to the date, April 23. It falls on weekend days, too – probably more likely picnic days for most people!

The most important two parts of a picnic are the people and the setting. The weather can be important, of course – how many times have we heard about a picnic being spoiled by rain? The least important part may be the thing most people talk about so much – the food! I have done many a picnic with a crusty fresh baguette and a hunk of cheese and a single piece of ripe fruit. That simple fare can seem amazing sitting at an overlook of a European castle, or basking on a sunny beach, or crouched down in a niche made from boulders, out of the breeze, near an alpine lake.

However, some people take their picnic food very seriously. Naturally, we want our food to be safe – so make sure that food is stored and carried with that in mind! Here is Food-dot-com's page with links for mayo-free potato salad, corn and zucchini salad, and rustic onion and cheese picnic pie!

By the way...

“Picnic” is a fairly cutesy word, given that it has a rhyme built in. It comes from the French word piquenique - but etymologists aren't sure where that word came from! The first time piquenique appeared in print was in the late 1600s; the word was rarely used in English before 1800.

Eating out of doors of course has been happening all through history!

Even when it finally came into use in England, spelled “picnic” rather than with those French Qs and silent Us and Es, it meant what we now use the word by the word “pot-luck.” A picnic, back then, meant an informal meal to which every guest contributed a dish. These casual meals could be eaten indoors or outdoors – it was the “many cooks” aspect that was important.

Now, of course, we can have potlucks at an outdoor picnic, but a picnic basket can be created by a single cook, too, and many times it is just two people doing the eating – it is the meal being eaten outside somewhere that makes it a picnic.

Unless you want to picnic inside!

If you are suffering from an overly-long winter of constant snow and rain, then you may certainly picnic indoors. Spread a blanket on the floor, plop down a well-stocked picnic basket, and eat your sandwiches and chips while sitting crosslegged with paper plates balanced precariously in your lap!

Also on this date:

Impossible Astronaut Day

St. George's Day in the U.K.

Physicist Max Planck's birthday

The Day of the Rose and the Day of the Book in Spain

Playwright and poet William Shakespeare's birthday (?)

AND Talk Like Shakespeare Day!!!

English Language Day at the U.N.

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