Reasons to Celebrate

Rejoice-Rejoice-Rejoice today there are many reasons to celebrate. 
Early this morning Daylight Savings Time crept in without a sound and little fanfare.  Who cares if a bit of sleep was missed to usher in such noteworthy event. Now we all have more daylight hours to enjoy and be outside.  And today certainly was one of them in my area. Everyone went "a little bit crazy" being out enjoying all those activities missed during winter months. The temperatures soared to almost 70 which is rare in mid March. In fact a first for me riding my bike this time of the year.  While I'd like to think we are all in clear for wintry weather we have been fooled before by Mother Nature.
Not to be overlooked today is Ezra Jack Keats, award winning children's author and illustrator's birthday.

  Happy Birthday

March 11, 1916-May 6, 1983

Keats was one of the first children's book authors to introduce multiculturalism into mainstream children's books using an urban setting. His stories primarily are about the experiences of inner city black children, their family life and simple pleasures of daily routine.
His first book Snowy Day won him a Caldecott award. Keats developed the use of collage as medium for illustrations in all his books. He illustrated 33 books and wrote 22 of them. Perhaps some of these book pictures below are ones you have read and enjoyed growing up or shared with children in your life. 

A bit of Keats trivia: 

• There is skating rink named after him in Japan which commemorates one of his books  Skates.  
• PS 253, a school in Brooklyn, is named after him 
• He was the first children's author to illustrate greeting cards for UNICEF 
• There is an Ezra Jack Keats Foundation that creates many programs that support children and educators. This link gives more informationhttp://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/introduction/

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Celebrate the day with an Irish toast: and Irish Coffee 

May your glass be ever full. May the roof over your head be always strong. And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.

For this recipe you should warm the whiskey. Pour the coffee in a cup, then use a spoon turned upside down and pour the warmed Irish whiskey over it so it flows down gently. Then, using the upside down spoon, add the Irish Cream (Bailey's is the best.) Top it all with the whipped cream. 

How much better can the day be:)