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Today's Calendar

Friday, March 14, 2025

Ember Days

Ember Days happen four times a year at the start of each season. Traditionally observed by some Christian denominations, each set of Ember Days is three days, kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. 

These three days are set apart for fasting, abstinence, and prayer. The first of these four times comes in winter, after the Feast of St. Lucia, December 13; the second set comes with the First Sunday in Lent; the third set comes after Whitsunday/Pentecost Sunday; the four and last set comes after the Feast of the Holy Cross. Their dates can be remembered by this old mnemonic:

“Sant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia Ut sit in angaria quarta sequens feria.”

Which means:

“Holy Cross, Lucy, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost, are when the quarter holidays follow.”

In Latin, Ember Days are known as the quattuor anni tempora (the “four seasons of the year”). Folklore has it that the weather on each of the three days foretells the weather for three successive months. 

As with much folklore, this is grounded in some common sense since the beginning of the four seasons cue the changes in weather as well as a shift in how we keep harmony with the Earth and respect our stewardship of the Earth, our “garden of Eden.”“

Full Worm Moon

March’s full Moon goes by the name Worm Moon, which was originally thought to refer to the earthworms that appear as the soil warms in spring. This invites robins and other birds to feed—a true sign of spring! An alternative explanation for this name comes from Captain Jonathan Carver, an 18th-century explorer, who wrote that this Moon name refers to a different sort of “worm”—beetle larvae—which begin to emerge from the thawing bark of trees and other winter hideouts at this time.

Question of the Day

I have a cereus cactus that has never bloomed. It just keeps sending out shoots, getting long and leggy. How can I make it bloom?
Cereus cacti have spectacular, fragrant blossoms, but they aren’t known for blooming very often. We don’t think the legginess has anything to do with your plant’s inability to bloom, but perhaps you can trim some of the excess growth back and root the cuttings. To get your cactus to bloom annually, give it a mixture of equal parts water and 20-20-20 fertilizer monthly during the spring and summer. Don’t feed it at all during the fall and winter, and let the plant go a bit dry between waterings. Since this plant prefers to be root-bound, don’t repot it too often.

Advice of the Day

Bleach a pastry board or rolling pin with an occasional rubbing of fresh lemon.

Home Hint of the Day

Once an old metal file has grown too dull for further use, use an electric grinding wheel to grind down the end and make it into a chisel. You can make a handle out of a 6-inch length of broomstick.

Word of the Day

Plough Monday
The first Monday after Epiphany and Plough Sunday was so called because it was the day that men returned to their plough, or daily work, at the end of the Christmas holiday. It was customary for farm laborers to draw a plough through the village, soliciting money for a “plough-light,” which was kept burning in the parish church all year. In some areas, the custom of blessing the plough is maintained.

Puzzle of the Day

Why is a dog dressed more warmly in summer than he is in winter?
Because in winter he wears a fur coat, and in summer he wears a fur coat and pants.

Born

  • Johann Strauss, the Elder (composer) –
  • Lucy Hobbs Taylor (first U.S. woman dentist) –
  • John Luther "Casey" Jones (railroad engineer) –
  • Albert Einstein (physicist) –
  • Lester Brown (bandleader) –
  • Max Shulman (novelist) –
  • Hank Ketcham (cartoonist, creator of Dennis the Menace) –
  • Frank Borman (astronaut) –
  • Michael Caine (actor) –
  • Quincy Jones ( musician and producer) –
  • Billy Crystal (actor) –
  • Kirby Puckett (baseball player) –
  • Steph Curry (basketball player) –
  • Simone Biles (Olympic gymnast) –

Died

  • Emile Erckmann (novelist) –
  • Henry Woods (federal judge) –
  • Thomas Winship (editor of the Boston Globe from 1965-1984, Pulitzer Prize winner) –
  • Peter Graves (actor) –
  • Stephen Hawking (physicist) –

Events

  • Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin –
  • U.S. Congress adopted the gold standard –
  • Pelican Island (Fla.) became first National Wildlife Refuge in the United States –
  • Women granted the right to vote in Saskatchewan –
  • Germany began retreat to Hindenburg Line (WWI) –
  • First U.S. concrete seagoing ship, S.S. Faith, launched, Redwood City, California –
  • U.S. President Warren G. Harding became the first chief executive to file an income tax report –
  • Shirley Temple left her footprints and handprints in the wet cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood –
  • The U.S. Army Air Corp began bombing Osaka, Japan (WWII) –
  • Possible UFO sighted in Healdsburg, California –
  • Gordie Howe second player in NHL history to score 500 career goals –
  • Jack Ruby was found guilty in Dallas of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy –
  • Batman, starring Adam West and Burt Ward, aired its last episode –
  • OPEC agreed to lower the benchmark price for crude oil by 15%. It marked the first price cut since the group’s formation in 1960 –
  • Marc Garneau chosen as first Canadian astronaut to go into space –
  • Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge founded in Manteo, North Carolina –
  • Lebanese hijacker, Fawaz Younis, brought to U.S. to stand trial, found guilty of air piracy in 1985 hijacking –
  • The Soviet Congress elected Mikhail Gorbachev to the country’s presidency, one day after clearing the post –
  • Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Darlene Love, Tom Waits, Jac Holzman, Art Rupe, and Leon Russell were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame –

Weather

  • Red snow and hail fell in parts of Italy and present-day Slovenia –
  • A tornado swept through Nashville, Tennessee –
  • At the end of a four-day storm, a record for the state of Iowa was set in Iowa City, 27.2 inches of snowfall –

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