5 June 25

My niece Kirsten (Huizenga) Caminiti celebrates her birthday every year on 5 June! This time she asked me to wear this Zambia animals tie. It features a lion, a secretary bird, some elephants and a nyala (spiral-horned antelope). She chose this design "out of my affection for animals, fascination with sun/clouds, and in honor of Zambians and other people of color around the world." Happy Birthday, Kirsten!

20 August 23

On this date in 1949, Robert Wollenweber married Wilma Lange! Beth's parents eventually celebrated 67 years of "wedded bliss" together. (I first met them in 1972, while Beth and I were at Houghton College.) Today we enjoyed a good lunch with Mom and her Kentucky families, and we continue to remember Dad(dy) with lots of loving memories. Mom and Dad gave me this tie in 2000, following a short-term mission in Zambia for the Wesleyan Church. It features a lion, a secretary bird, some elephants and a nyala (spiral-horned antelope).

22 April 22

Today is Earth Day. I'm celebrating the wild animals of the world with my tie showing animals from Zambia -- lions, secretary birds, elephants and nyala (spiral-horned antelope). The giant paper clip is green for Earth Day, but its primary significance is the 155th anniversary of the patenting of the twisted wire clip on 23 April (1867).

16 November 20

 Today in my Beginning Ethics class we're starting our second-last unit, studying issues in animal ethics. My tie shows animals native to Zambia, including lions, secretary birds, elephants and nyala (spiral-horned antelope).

14 September 19

It's a rare Saturday for me to wear a tie. Today we are having a very special party to celebrate Mom's (Wilma Wollenweber's) 90th birthday! The true date is 16 September but this was the best possible chance to gather family and friends. She knows that "something" will happen at 2 p.m., but she does not know that we are expecting about 80 people to greet her, and we've gathered about 100 cards and email messages for a surprise. The story for my tie is that she and Dad brought it to me from Zambia in 2000, at the end of their short-term missions trip for the Wesleyan Church.

24 October 18

My tie features wildlife in Zambia -- lions, secretary birds, elephants and nyala (spiral-horned antelope). The tie's label says that Zambia is "THE REAL AFRICA." Beth's parents brought it back to me from a short-term mission trip in 2000. Today is Zambia's 54th anniversary of Independence Day!

7 August 17

Happy Birthday to our Zambian "sister"/"daughter" Steriah Mwiinga! Beth's Mom and Dad met Steriah in 2000 during a short-term mission assignment. We have formed a strong Internet friendship since then, enjoying news about Steriah and her two daughters. She chose this tie for me to wear today; I would like to get to Zambia some day to see Steriah and (possibly) the native animals!

18 July 16

This is International Zookeepers' Week! My tie (from Zambia) has two elephants, a secretary bird, and a lion. When I was growing up, we took an annual trip to the Philadelphia Zoo, which at that time stored many of the animals in narrow walled enclosures and concrete-lined pits. Happily for the animals and their visitors, well managed zoos now provide carefully designed natural habitats for their animals, focusing strongly on the animals' welfare and security, and recognizing their needs for community and privacy.

22 September 15

Today is one of several annual "Elephant Appreciation Days," but this date is special because it is also the birthday of both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. Frodo's friend Samwise Gamgee was very excited to see some "Oliphaunts" on their travels near Ithilien. My tie shows elephants and other African animals that could easily have close relatives in Middle Earth.

10 August 14

Today is World Lion Day!

22 May 14

May 22 is the International Day for Biological Diversity. So I'm wearing my tie with the most diverse set of animals!

22 July 13

July 22, or 22/7, and March 14, or 3.14, are both "Pi Approximation Days" every year. But I wore my cherry pie tie approximately two weeks ago, so today's tie continues the celebration of National Zookeepers Week!

26 November 12

296 years ago on this date (in 1716), exhibitors showed off the first lion brought to the "New World," in Boston. The lion pictured on this tie from Zambia is of more recent origin.

16 July 12

This is National Zookeepers' Week -- always the third week in July -- so I'm wearing my tie featuring animals from Zambia. Our daughter Amanda Wheeler is off to Costa Rica to study local animal habitats for the next ten days, as part of her graduate work in zoology!

29 November 10

C. S. Lewis was born on this date in 1898. My tie features animals of Zambia, including a great lion who is probably more tame than Aslan.

1 March 10

March comes in like a lion . . .

23 September 09

Today is reckoned as Caesar Augustus' birthday, in 63 BCE. My tie is related instead to a holiday I missed yesterday, Elephant Appreciation Day. They deserve appreciation because they're so large and lovable. It's been celebrated on Sept. 22 since 1996. One of the elephants we appreciate is Kwabena, who came to us from Habitat for Humanity. His right front hoof and neck medallion display the flag of Ghana, so we know where he actually grew up.

22 March 09

Beth's parents are visiting with us these days, and I asked Dad to select one of the ties they brought to me from their mission trip to Zambia in 2004. He chose the "animals" tie, and that's especially appropriate to wear on the weekend when Amanda Wheeler got the news that she has a summer internship at the Cincinnati Zoo.

25 November 08

I have found very few tie-related occasions in late November. But tomorrow, Nov. 26, marks two special events: it is the birthday of cartoonist Charles Schulz in 1922, and it is also the date when, in 1716, the first lion was exhibited in America. I have been unable to discover any details about that event except that it was "in Boston" and that it is the first recorded visit by an "exotic" animal. A second lion was brought in 1717, and the first camel four years after that. The first elephant was displayed in 1796. My tie for today comes from Zambia and it displays a lion at the top, a large bird (perhaps the African Fish-Eagle), a pair of elephants (invisible in this picture, and the bright African sun.