Happy Birthday, Ben Kleppinger! At his birth (forty years ago) we were glad that he "waited" until 12:27 a.m. to appear, so that he would have his own special day apart from Martin Luther King, Jr. Ben is the Community Engagement Coordinator at CASA of Lexington. He asked me to wear my Dalí Time Warp tie, and I'm happy to think of the years melting away. We are very proud of our son!
The official holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is on Monday, 19 January 2026. My tie today celebrates his birthday on 15 January 1929. The tie came from the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It shows photos from his life and statements about many events, including the "I have a dream" passage from his speech at the Lincoln Memorial, 28 August 1963.
When you have a rubber ducky bow tie you must celebrate National Rubber Ducky Day on 13 January. As usual, Beth helped me with the bow-tieing! And my shirt is adorned with a plenitude of bow ties.
My tie shows a repeating image of Maine's Portland Head Light, on Cape Elizabeth, which was first lit on 10 January 1791. It is the oldest lighthouse in Maine. "In 1787, the General Court of Massachusetts (the Massachusetts legislature) provided $750 to begin construction of a lighthouse. In 1790, when the United States Government took over the responsibility of all lighthouses, Congress appropriated $1,500 for its completion. The original tower measured 72' from base to lantern deck and was lit with 16 whale oil lamps. It was first lit on January 10, 1791."
I needed a tie to wear to our usual Friday morning donuts. The Campbell's Soup brand was trademarked on 9 January 1906. My favorite for the last few years has been tomato bisque, prepared with milk and enhanced with several tablespoons of salsa.
Happy Birthday, Carter Rae Beatty! Carter and Matt Lang (my nephew) live in Asheville, NC, where they survived the monthslong disaster in 2025 following massive flooding. Carter works at Southern Highland Craft Guild, on the Blue Ridge Parkway. She asked me to wear my constellations tie!
I wore a tie every day in December for National Tie Month, Advent and Christmas. January is my Happy-Birthday-est month of the year, and I've started off with six on seven days!
My tie today shows children dressed for games. It was given to me by my Mom and Dad thirty years ago. Today (6 January, Epiphany) my mother Ethel Howland (York) Kleppinger would be 110 years old! As shown in the photo from ~1959 (when she was 43 and I was about 5) we got along quite well.
Today (5 January) is the Twelfth Day of Christmas! According to PNC, the total cost for all twelve gifts is $51,476.12. But that figure counts each gift just once, not the hefty accumulation you might expect over the twelve days. My very long tie shows all of the gifts!
My tie bar says "Walkabout Expert," anticipating the outdoor walk I will take with my grandchildren this afternoon!
Today's bright paisley tie was selected by brother Mark Wollenweber, to help celebrate his birthday (yesterday). He said "This reminds me of my first paisley tie wayway back when I was a teenager and my knees didn’t hurt."
By special request (at my suggestion) I'm wearing this tie to help celebrate the 16th anniversary of the marriage of Jonathan and Courtney Kleppinger! We remember (very happily) a cold and snowy day in Hyden, Kentucky. We love them and their five children!
My first post in 2026 celebrates TWO YEARS of retirement! It's been fun and never boring.
Today's tie -- which completes my celebration of National Tie Month -- honors the patenting of the Monopoly game on 31 December 1935. My official Monopoly® tie has vanished from my tie racks, but the play money on this tie matches up quite well with the "real" game currency.
To see all 31 moments in National Tie Month you can scroll through my Facebook page or visit my tie blog!
It's the penultimate day of National Tie Month! (I received a notification that "penultimate" is the Word of the Day for 30 December.) It's staying very cold in central Kentucky, so the snowmen on my red tie are very happy, and so are their red and yellow bird companions!
The brief flurries of tiny snowflakes this morning fully justify wearing my absurd snowpeople tie! The pictures include an alien with slanted eyes, an urban model covered with dirt and graffiti, a "bloated" figure with a huge body, a "middle-aged" snowman with a bulging gut, a snow-deer (with antlers) and a triplet of "snow clones," along with a plain old snowman.
On the Fourth Day of Christmas (which is also the 28th day of National Tie Month) I'm wearing a gifty tie that came to me from Rachel and David Haskins eleven years ago! Today we heard many scores of calling birds near our house, many more than four.
