Mother’s Day was begun by Ms. Anna Jarvis (b.1864). Her intention was to honor the influence of Mothers both in the home and the nation. The first Mother’s Day was celebrated in 1908.
Hard to believe Ms. Jarvis was not actually a Rhino, but We applaud her work just the same. Credit where credit is due.
Fittingly, today is also National Apple Pie Day.
Rhinos are endowed with lots and lots of Marbles. This is a good thing, because We lose our Marbles all the time. Luckily, We get lots of spares as replacement parts.
We do wonder where our lost Marbles get off to. There are so many of them, and so many Rhinos have lost them, there should be a Marble coating on the planet of considerable depth. Why aren’t We wading through them on a daily basis?
Maybe they evaporate?
Turkey is a very busy country, dealing with scads of influences both historic and geographic. It has entertained Alexander the Great, the Persians, and was the center of the Ottoman Empire. It is surrounded by Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. It also faces three big seas. All in all a lot to keep track of.
What We Rhinos are most unclear about is how Turkey can be in both Europe and Asia at the same time. Officially. A Great Mystery, if you ask Us.
It keeps Us up nights.
Well, it may not have actually come true, but We Rhinos are always campaigning for Radish Recognition. It seems to Us that We are Natural promoters for the Radish Industry. We adore them, so why not spread the good word?
We would start our movement modestly, perhaps with seeds (as shown). Then move on to more aggressive sales techniques, once We figure out how.
It will be a stiff learning curve, but We are (probably) equal to it.
In the better-late-than-never department, Mr. Sergei Prokofiev was born yesterday, April 23, 1891. A famous Soviet composer, he is probably best known for his “Peter and the Wolf”. He also composed the music for the ballet of “Romeo and Juliet”, and a fine job he did of that. Very punchy.
It is based on William Shakespeare’s play of the same name, all about young love in old Verona.
In a twisted version of things, Mr. Shakespeare was born in 1564, but died on April 23, 1616. There might be a mystical connection there, but We Rhinos are jiggered if We can figure it out.
Today We note the 1880 birthday of M. Michel Fokine. He was the first dance director of the Russian Ballet Russe, working under Serge Diaghilev with composers like Igor Stravinsky and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Much landmark collaborative artistic output from one and all.
He created the piece PETRUSHKA, 1911, about a clown puppet who suffers for love. As with much “high art”, the story ends unhappily.
M. Fokine’s work made strides in adding natural physical expression to ballet’s more formal technical tradition. Rhinos call that Progress.
Edmond Halley ‘s comet shot by when he was 2 years old, in 1658. He arrived at many interesting conclusions about it (later), most of which confuse Us Rhinos. He said it would show up about every 75 years.
That said, this same comet was dropping by long before Mr. Halley tagged it. One such visitation was on April 19, 607 AD.
Impressive then too, just the same as if We understood it better. Pretty.
In 1633 Mr. Thomas Johnson, a botanist, introduced the Banana to London, England. He ran an Apothecary Shoppe, featuring plants and herbs with healthful virtues. He authored and co-authored many books of longterm interest. Mr. Johnson is the “Father of British Field Botany”.
Still, he did not find those Bananas in a British field, that’s certain. The popular guess is they came from Bermuda.
You may also wonder how long it took for the public to see the potential humor in Banana peels. Not long, We imagine.
Here We see a Reenactment of Ponce de Leon’s discovery of the Fountain of Youth back in 1513. He was busy claiming Florida for the Spanish crown, who were happy to have it. As was often the case, the folk who already lived there knew nothing about these developments.
YIR enjoys bringing you Readers these historic moments. Often We get to don false beards, which is the zenith of humor, let’s face it. Hooray for imaginative dress-up.
We also wish Ponce de Leon ‘Happy Birthday’, which he celebrated in 1460. The first time.
A Rhino Favorite, Hr. Hans Christian Andersen, b.1805, wrote the familiar tale of Thumbelina, so named because the heroine was Fingersized. She had various Danish adventures, but never grew much.
This story is unusually intriguing to Rhino Tots, whose daily goal is getting Bigger, as soon as possible. For Us, being perpetually wee confounds the Imagination.
Hr. Andersen’s story does not include a discussion with Thumbelina herself, detailing her point of view. Frankly, it seems like an oversight.
Your Inner Rhino 