Today's tie is simply children playing games. I'm wearing it (briefly) because we are hosting our Richmond grandchildren (as usual) to play at our home in Berea! My lanyard announces that I am Papa Seeds, Full Service Grandfather. Historical trivium: On this date in 1439, kissing was banned in England (to stop the spread of the Black Death).
Eight years ago (for my August birthday) Ben and Amanda gave me this tie, challenging me to find occasions to wear it! Today's Wimbledon final round gives me the advantage to score my sixth chance to show it. I am not a tennis fan but I'm happy to celebrate great moments. We have a few tennis balls that serve as toys for our cats and dog.
It was on July 11, 1914 that "Babe" Ruth first appeared in major league baseball, pitching for the Boston Red Sox. He went on to fame primarily as a hitter, holding the record for career home runs from 1935 until 1974. Charlie Brown was famous in Peanuts® as the pitcher who was always tumbled over by flying baseballs. Snoopy could hit, but he was also a great fielder who caught balls in his mouth.
On this date in 2013 I became a grandfather! When they were teenagers my sons gave me the nickname "Seeds," and so it was determined that my grandchildren would call me Papa Seeds. This tie celebrates the birth of Mallie, featuring an image of me holding my newborn granddaughter.
Today we're celebrating granddaughter Mallie's birthday, a few days early. She is the O.G. (Original Grandchild) for us! She asked me to wear this bright pink tie, and of course I agreed. I'm clipping it in place with this unique bar that's crafted with a square cut from a silver medallion engraved with her initials. Beth, Mallie and six other family members have jewelry showing the other portions of the medallion, and we like to think about connecting those pieces on special occasions!
I'm not particularly patriotic. I'm wearing this baseball-glove-and-stars-and-stripes tie because I'm remembering some great 4th of July times with my parents -- family picnics and watching fireworks in Bethlehem, PA --and they gave me this tie some 30 years ago!
Today's second tie (very peculiar!) celebrates the birthday of Indiana Jones! According to authoritative legendary sources, famed archaeologist-explorer Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr. was born on 1 July 1899. I'm taking this opportunity to display this treasure of a tie featuring images from the "Temple of Doom" and other movies in the Indiana Jones series! It was originally in the wardrobe of Dr. Richard Day, comrade at Eastern Kentucky University.
Today's tie symbolizes retirement. Yesterday Eastern Kentucky University ended 26 years using the course management software Blackboard. I shepherded that system for EKU from December 1999 through my own retirement at the end of 2023. In 2020 the Blackboard company added a user-help feature named Assist, identified with a clever logo starring a spacewalking astronaut and a canine assistant (“Space Dog”). Three years later, the company retired the Space Dog logo. When Lisa Clark and others in Blackboard/Anthology Product Development learned that I was retiring from EKU they decided that I needed a Space Dog tie! EKU is now painting its future with the Canvas software.
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Happy Birthday, Pamela Corley! Pamela is a good friend who works at Silver Creek Animal Hospital. More significantly to us, she is the "godmother" for our housecats! She helped Esther and Andrew find us, and she has also seen Portia and Muffin (and our dog Pepper) at the animal hospital. When I found out that today (30 June) is her birthday, I offered to wear my cats tie for her, and she quickly approved!
A few days ago I wore giraffes. Today it's elephants! I'm making up for missing the International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos, scheduled annually on 8 June. When I was growing up, one regular summer activity for our family was visiting the zoo in Philadelphia, PA, where we watched elephants in an outdoor concrete yard, chained in place with iron shackles around their feet. Things have changed enormously since then! Elephants in most (?) zoos now are given open green spaces to roam freely, and in many cases they can get some privacy (away from prying human eyes) if they desire it. But there is growing action worldwide to reduce the harboring of elephants (and other animals) for human entertainment. It's not realistic to return them to their Asian and African homes, but many options have been created to care for "retired" elephants from circuses and zoos.
It's National Sunglasses Day! "It's a day to raise awareness about the importance of wearing sunglasses to protect your eyes from harmful UV rays. The Vision Council founded this day to encourage people to share pictures of themselves in sunglasses on social media using the hashtag #NationalSunglassesDay." My giraffes are practicing safe sunwatching, and my tie clip looks appropriate on the black part of my tie.
My O.N. (Original Nephew) C. Nolan Huizenga is celebrating his birthday today! He is the pastor at Highland Presbyterian Church in Louisville. I met him when he was a few days old (and I was a young teenager). He loves astronomy and chose this tie because "On my birthday I celebrate the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory and all the discoveries that it will make possible. Hope we humans keep working to understand the universe, as well as each other." I've been wearing a tie to honor his special day almost every year since 2008.
As soon as I heard that the United States military had bombed Iranian nuclear development sites (on 21-22 June) I decided that I had to use my Sunday tie to proclaim a message of peace. This "peace cross" unites the images of the peace sign and the Christian cross, with a reference to Romans 5:1: "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." And Jesus commanded his followers to spread that peace throughout their world.
Happy Birthday, Gary Kuhnhenn! Gary is a donuts comrade and geology professor at Eastern Kentucky University. Besides serving in the geology/geography/physics/astronomy department, he has served many roles in other areas of the university, including the Honors Program and Enrollment Management. Gary and I are both now retired but we see each other almost every Friday morning.
Two years ago Gary gave me several ties from his collection, including this one featuring the art of Edward Gorey, as presented on Masterpiece Mystery! on PBS.
Recently Beth and I were very happy to help Gary and his wife adopt a tiny orange kitten who showed up in our neighborhood in Berea. At first they called him Orange Crush, but he quickly became "CRASH" due to his boisterous exploits in their house in Winchester.
