FEBRUARY

My hubby says the reason February is short is because we can only take 28 dreary and grey days.  As if 28 days is not enough, every four years February is blessed with an extra day.  Gee thanks. 

Even the special days in February are a bit unusual.  We all know Groundhog Day, President’s Day and Valentine’s Day, but what about these:

       9th         Toothache Day

     16th         Do A Grouch A Favor Day

     18th         Battery Day

Those are a stretch even for my imagination.  Then I saw February 26 – Tell A Fairy Tale Day

Who does not like a story that begins Once upon a time…?  Those words bring up images of a princess and a charming prince.  Seven dwarfs.  Three bears.  Giants.  And a slow turtle.

How will you do on this quiz?

1. ____________ stole from the rich to give to the poor.
2. The miller’s daughter spun ____________ into gold.
3. Paul Bunyan was the greatest ____________?
4. Henny Penny told everyone the ____________ was falling.
5. When ____________ lied, his nose grew longer.

But if you really like to tell stories, get your imagination going and begin with “Did you hear about….

• the people who shouted the walls of Jericho down?  Just picture the priests leading a whole lot of people and the people in Jericho laughing at them.  Where is Jericho?  In a land far, far away…

• Daniel?  With all the royal food he could eat, he only wanted vegetables and water.  I know!  How crazy is that…or…was it….

• the woman who turned into a pillar of salt?  They were escaping and her husband, Lot, told her not to look back…Why were they escaping?...What would a pillar of salt look like?  Let’s find out.  Google Lot’s Wife and pillar of salt….

• the fish that was so large it could swallow a man?...Yes, a man!!!...Why was the man in the water?...Well, the crew threw him overboard…….

Fairy tales are fun and good for the imagination, but if you want to tell a really, really good story..if you want to get really, really excited telling that story…if you want those little ears to hear about heroes and villains and good and evil…dig into the Bible…and find a windstorm coming out of the north – an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light.  The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures.  (Are those little eyes getting bigger?)  (Continue reading very animated and quickly.)  In appearance their form was that of a man, but each of them had four faces…YES, FOUR FACES…and four wings…….I saw that from the waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.  YES, ALL AROUND HIM…(Now finish slowly and quietly, until you are almost whispering.)  Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.  This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.  (From Ezekiel)

THAT MY FRIENDS WILL BEAT A FAIRY TALE ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!

Answers in case you have not heard or read a fairy tale in a very long, long time: 

Robin Hood, Straw, Lumberjack, Sky, and Pinocchio