Wacky Wednesday: September 30

Welcome to the last Wacky Wednesday of September. It’s another fun filled day of strange words and strange holidays. First up we have an adjective coming from the mid-1800s with Greek and New Latin origins. Ulotrichous means belonging to a group of people having woolly or crispy curly hair. Our next word is both a noun and an adjective, Valetudinarian is a person who is unduly anxious about their health or someone who suffers from poor health. This is similar to the term hypochondriac. It stems from the early 18th century and has Latin origins.

We’ll start things off with our usual food related holidays. Today is National Chewing Gum Day and National Hot Mulled Cider Day. Hot mulled cider is a homemade beverage that involves boiling cider and mixing in cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and many other spices. Today also has some self-care observances. National Mud Pack Day celebrates the therapeutic clay mixtures used for stress release. The last Wednesday of September is National Women’s Health and Fitness Day. Finally, today is National Love People Day. This might be hard for some people. Lift up and motivate others. That’s all you need to do.

National Coffee Day

I wanted to take a quick moment to recognize National Coffee Day. I enjoy a great cup of coffee and I work part-time as a barista. I know a thing or two about coffee. I want to encourage everyone to try a new coffee experience today. Maybe that means going to a different coffee shop. Or instead of regular black coffee, try an Americano or a Latte. Try something outside of your comfort zone. It’s never a bad idea to try something new once in a while. 

Here are a couple fun facts about coffee. Coffee beans come from coffee trees that grow cherries. The beans come from the inside of these cherries and are picked and roasted to make coffee. The world’s coffee trees are grown in almost every country located in the Tropics. Some of my personal favorite coffee beans come from Ethiopia and Guatemala. The French Press is the preferred method of brewing coffee by all the smarty-pants experts. Celebrate National Coffee Day however you see fit. Buy a friend a coffee today. Maybe they’ll buy your next coffee too.

Tuesday Poetry: When no one Wants you in Their Life

I cut out the social media
The emails, the notifications
I had a few chats about work
But no one else talked to me
Contacted me, acknowledged my existence
I’d been lonely so long
But I never noticed
Just like no one noticed me
To be seen, heard, recognized
I’d have to go to where the people are
I didn’t want to be around anyone
I have work and I have cats
I struggle in crowds
How do I go where the people are
If I can’t be around people

From the poetry collection Cats, Coffee, Catharsis.