By Charles Layton
It’s another slow news day here at Blogfinger. Here’s the hottest piece of information I’ve got; it’s something I picked up from Ocean Grove’s own Sherry Sotnikoff:
Today (Monday) is official “wiggle your toes day.”
Yep, Sherry is one of those people who keeps up with bizarre holidays, of which there are more than you could possibly imagine.
Several websites track these things. You have your standard federal holidays, of course, which are predictable and boring. Then you have the so-called “Hallmark holidays” — Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Boss’s Day, Secretary’s Day and all that. Another major category is food holidays, usually promoted by some powerful culinary interest group (you know, like the National Spaghetti Growers Association).
But the best ones – the ones Sherry and I like – are the off-the-beaten-path ones. There’s Sea Serpent Day, Bad Poetry Day, Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day, Kiss-And-Make-Up Day, Blame Someone Else Day and Presidential Joke Day.
Coming up soon – on August 8 – we’ll all be celebrating Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day. (I hope Smuggler’s Cove has cards for this.)
Where do these things come from?, you ask. Well, according to one source I consulted, this Sneak Some Zucchini observance was begun by a Pennsylvania couple, Tom and Ruth Roy. The idea is that around this time of year home gardeners throughout our great land come to the realization that – once again, dammit! – they have planted way more zucchini than they can possibly use. Zucchini are like those terrible pods in the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers; they proliferate beyond human control and threaten to take over the planet. (They’re like okra in that respect.)
So what these desperate gardeners are forced to do is give away their excess zucchini. But since most people don’t want their excess zucchini, they have to give it away surreptitiously.
So, OK, what about Wiggle Your Toes Day?
This one is a total mystery. A high school student in Hiawatha, Kansas has compiled a whole bunch of these special days on a website, but she doesn’t seem to know the origin of this one, and neither do any of the other sources I’ve checked. If you have the answer, give me a shout.
Meanwhile, as we contemplate toes, let’s listen to this funny and very sexy song by Diana Krall.
My Maine relatives relate the story that in some small rural towns there, the only time people lock their back doors is during zucchini season, because if you don’t there will be bags of them left in your kitchen.