This is a tale of love, obsession, madness, candy, and carnations.
It is the story of Mother’s Day.
The holiday was passionately promoted by single-minded spinster Anna Jarvis (1864-1948), described by Michael Farquhar as “… a woman of fierce loyalty and tireless enterprise and a total raving lunatic.”
Miss Jarvis worshipped her mother’s memory, and no wonder. Her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis (1832 – 1905), was truly a saint. Daughter of a clergyman, Ann Maria Reeves married merchant and minister Granville E. Jarvis and gave birth to 11 children, only four of whom survived into adulthood. In 1851, Mrs. Jarvis, a Sunday School teacher, founded Mothers Day Work Clubs in West Virginia. These met in local churches, but were no parish sewing circles. The clubs dealt with health care, disability, infant mortality, poverty, employment, worker safety, food safety, and sanitation issues. Mrs. Jarvis’ brother, James E. Reeves, MD, a public health authority, was a club lecturer and supporter.
Last night, the 5th of May, millions of people commemorated the Mexican victory at the Battle of Puebla (1862) with volleys of shots — of tequila — bravura barrages of beer, and murderous margaritas. Unsurprisingly, this morning finds heads held hostage and stomachs seared from nacho napalm. Today’s Spanish vocabulary lesson: crudomeans ” hangover.”
If you celebrated Cinco de Mayo with cerveza, celebrate Seis de Mayo this morning with el desayuno de los campeones, the Breakfast of Champions. The traditional Mexican hangover cure ismenudo – tripe soup or stew.
The District of Columbia Council voted today to recognize same-sex marriages conducted in U.S. states that permit them.
Councilman Marion Barry voted for the measure on the first ballot, against it on the second. Perhaps that puzzling action indicates approval of marriages between bisexuals.
Same-sex marriage is currently legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Four more states (Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York) are expected to permit same-sex marriages within the next year. Several more states recognize cetain legal aspects of same-sex unions.
Image (The Wedding Couple, after Abbott Handerson Thayer and Richard E. Miller) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Today commemorates the invention of the margarita cocktail the defeat of French expeditionary forces led by Charles Ferdinand Latrille, Comte de Lorencez, by outnumbered Mexican forces under Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Mexico owed Napoleon III money, so the French invaded Vera Cruz and unsuccessfully tried to foreclose on the city of La Puebla de Los Ángeles.
May 5th is not an official holiday in Mexico because people there know that the French went on to capture Mexico City, install Austrian Archduke Maximilian as Emperor, and inflict the polka on their helpless conquered nation. Many U.S. citizens celebrate Cinco de Mayo, though, perhaps because General Zaragoza was born in Texas.
Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?
Matthew 8:26 (King James Version)
This was a weekend to try parishioners’ souls. U.S. faith communities were a bit less communal at worship. Fellowship or flu? Communion chalices or Dixie Cups™?
Traditions differ, but doubt is nondenominational, especially with the deafening drumbeat of Swine Flu fear mongering in the media. Given flu fears, is communal worship a testament of faith or a sin of pride?
Bakersfield, CA: “Is nothing sacred? Flu forces changes at churches.”
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length. All Talking, All Singing, All Dancing. Support the NRA. Buy War Bonds. Children’s Section, Matron On Duty. Smoking in Balcony Only. Come On In, It’s Cool Inside.
While NotionsCapital has tried to innoculate readers against the tsunami of Swine Flu hysteria, our avatar (above) has succumbed to the prevailing panic.
The chief symptoms of this outbreak of Influenza A(H1N1) appear to be Congestion of the News Hole and Inflammation of the Blogosphere.
She’s Back! Ace DC political reporter Jonetta Rose Barras broadcasts on radio again starting Tuesday, May 5th (11 AM to Noon) on WPFW-FM. Her first guests: DC Attorney General Peter Nickles and activist Phil Pannell.
Jonetta Rose Barras publishes the Barras Reportand writes a column for the Washington Examiner. An experienced reporter, analyst and commentator, she has written for the Washington City Paper,the Washington Times, and other publications, and appeared on WAMU-FM for several years.
Flu Facts Public Health Posts. Seventh and last in the series. A public service of NotionsCapital.com
Disclaimer:This blog post is not intended to substitute for the advice of qualified physicians, animators, pharmacists, cinematographers, licensed health-care professionals, or kwazy wabbits. Contact your health care provider if you suspect you have a medical problem. Th-th-that’s a-a-a-all, folks!
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Flu Facts Public Health Posts. Sixth in a series. A public service of NotionsCapital.com
Disclaimer:This blog post is not intended to substitute for the advice of qualified physicians, custom butchers, pharmacists, charcuitiers, health-care practitioners, and culinary professionals. Contact your health care provider if you suspect you have a medical problem, and eat a bit less meat and more veggies in any case.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
