Unusual Holidays by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 

I was on Pinterest the other day and I found a link listing unusual holidays. 114 FunnyHolidays To Celebrate With Your Kids - Love and Marriage(loveandmarriageblog.com)

This list is intriguing, and I think it would be fun to add some of these unusual celebrations to a novel sometime. Just coming up in the next few weeks are:

·        Mar 5 – Learn What Your Name Means Day

·        Mar 10 – Mario Day

·        Mar 13 – Napping Day

·        Mar 14 – Pi Day

·        Mar 16 – Absolutely Incredible Kid Day

·        Mar 18 – Awkward Moments Day

·        Mar 20 – World Storytelling Day

·        Mar 22 – International Goof Off Day

·        Mar 23 – Puppy Day

·        Mar 25 – Waffle Day

·        Mar 26 – Make Up Your Own Holiday Day

·        Mar 28 – Something on a Stick Day

·        Mar 30 – Take a Walk in the Park Day

And that doesn’t include “World Compliment Day” which was on March 1^st, nor does it include things like St. Patrick’s Day, on the 17^th. Actually, this list has none of the usual holidays, but then that does go with the title of being “unusual.”

Though I have heard of Pi Day. It is mentioned on Facebook frequently, and I might just celebrate it this year, after all, I do know how to bake a pie. 😊

Then there is also “National Storytelling Day” on the 20^th and “Take a Walk in the Park Day” on the 30^th. But the rest of the year has some interesting days too. Some of which you may have already heard of, like “Star Wars Day” on May 4^th or “Siblings Day” on April 10^th, or “Cousins Day” on July 24^th.

August has “Book Lovers Day” on the 9^th and “Left-Handers Day” on the 13^th, which several members of my family could celebrate being as they are lefties.

But I missed “Science Fiction Day” on Jan. 2^nd, which would have been fun since I do love science fiction. I could spend the day binging on all my sci-fi movies or read my sci-fi novels, or work on my sci-fi! I’ll have to wait until next January to celebrate that though. Too bad.

There are other fun-sounding days on this list. Maybe one or two will appeal to you. And the best part is, you can choose which ones you celebrate and which ones you don’t but adding some of these to a story or making up some of your own for a story would certainly be fun too.

Another one I wish I’d known about sooner was “Random Acts of Kindness Day” back on February 17^th. Though to be honest, I think it should be celebrated every day.

However, I’m not sure how anyone would celebrate “Learn What Your Name Means Day”, especially when, like me, they already know what their name means.

And believe me, I know.

I grew up with people singing “My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean” and “Bonny, Bonny, Banks of Loch Loman” to me many times, making it hard not to learn what “Bonnie” means.

 Though I must admit, I have had to tell people what my name means. But both times it had to do with translating my name into another language, namely ASL and French when I took classes in those languages in college.

Which also makes it easy to translate my name into any language. They are names like Belle in French and Bonita in Spanish. And I’m not sure what else. I haven’t looked them up. (By the way, my name in ASL is a combo of the sign for the letter “B” and the sign for beautiful.)

Konnie doesn’t need to look up the meaning of her name either, because both our names come from the same source, Galick. She just has a harder time translating it, because, unlike with my name, not many people go by the name “maiden.”

Konnie took German in high school, and she had to pick a German name for the class. At the time it was because the teacher didn’t know a translation for Konnie, but that was before we learned what Konnie means. And it wouldn’t have helped because Mädchen means “maiden”  and is the German form of Miss which isn’t exactly a first name.

Another one on this list I don’t think I’ll be doing is “Take a Walk in the Park Day” mostly because I doubt the weather will be nice enough for that by the end of March since the month came in like a lamb. I much prefer when it comes in like a lion, but there you have it.

So, what holiday would you be celebrating? And have you ever made up a holiday for your story? If so, what is the holiday? And how is it celebrated?

Right now, I’m considering making up a holiday for my sci-fi.

Anyway, happy writing everyone!