ANIMAL BLESSINGS!
OVER A THOUSAND OCCASIONS TO CELEBRATE
& 25 KEYS TO SUCCESS
FREE!
No purchase; no personal info - absolutely FREE!
Amazing new comprehensive 320 page E-Book!
Dont' care to read more? Fine. Here's the .pdf file link: Animal Blessings 2012 Edition ENJOY!
(The E-Book's foreword is written by celebrity Pet Lifestyle Expert Colleen Paige of the Animal Miracle Foundation and Network.)
Colleen Paige
'...Dr. Hively’s book “Animal Blessings” is such a valuable resource for not only all of the truly wonderful celebrations created in honor of animals, but it’s also a great companion to Dr. Hively’s book “Pets and Heaven: What the Bible Says About Our Animal Friends (God's word of Holy comfort for all creation) (2010)...' (Colleen Paige, November 15, 2011)
Part One - "Over a Thousand Occasions to Celebrate."
Animal Blessings has over 1700 distinct potential events for 2012!
Such as:
There are over 700 different critters indexed from Aardvark: (2nd week in March - National Aardvark Week) to Zebra: (April 1- Happy Zebra Day) - and almost every other critter name of the alphabet in-between.
2 - "Year of..." observances by the U.N. - (2012 is the International Year of the Bat [U.N.])
108 month-long celebrations and observances - (April is Adopt a Greyhound Month.)
67 week-long celebrations - (1st week in June is Pet Appreciation Week.)
15 ecological - habitat observances - (April is World Habitat Awareness Month.)
14 observances with a vegetarian theme - (October 1 is World Vegetarian Day.)
122 officially sanctioned state-wide, national or international events - (1st Monday in October is World Habitat Day, [U.N., 1985]); 3rd Saturday in March is Save the Florida Panther Day; (Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.)
280 events for dogs - (June 24 - Take Your Dog to Work Day.)
67 celebrations for cats - (January 2 - Happy Mew Year for Cats.)
265 potential listings for various birds - (September 26 – Nene Goose Awareness Day)
49 calendar events for animal cartoon characters; 97 whimsical events; 48 dates with an animal literary theme:
Below are what actual listings looks like: color coded: here the RED date is the color key for a whimsical / cartoon character event; then the host organization; originating year; and the frequency of the celebration date. Underlined BLUE is the embedded web link that goes to the host website for additional detail! Try the links - but hurry back. The link should open up a new browser page, if that's how your browser is set up. Otherwise hit the "back" tab to return here.
49 events related to Church Saints; 53 associated with professional sports' mascots:
August 16 - Saint Rocca - (Patron Saint of dogs.) [..and other saint days for cats, all animals, horses, veterinarians...and more.]
April 6 - Oriole Bird Day; ("The Bird" is the mascot of the Baltimore Orioles; hatched on this date, 1979. Event initiated by the author, 2011.)
31 National Church Social Statements related to habitat, ecology and care of all creation:
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Social Statement – Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice (1993); http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues/Social-Statements/Environment.aspx for text of the social statement.
160+ host - sponsoring humane agencies are detailed: here's just one -
13 "anytime" Biblical themed occasions, such as -
GENESIS 1:21-25 – "FIFTH DAY OF CREATION;" (An occasion to celebrate all living things: aquatic, air-borne; mammals; reptiles; amphibian; insects – all God’s good creation, and fellow inhabitants of God’s good earth detailed as the culmination of God’s fifth “day” of creation; an author initiated occasion, 2011.)
49 fabulous quotes related to our animal companions:
Quote: "Many years ago when an adored dog died, a great friend, a Bishop, said to me, 'You must remember that, as far as the Bible is concerned, God only threw the humans out of Paradise.'" (Bruce Foyle)
For those in the Animal / Pet industry; Veterinarians, hardware, food and pet stores - for your valued patrons - how about a daily entryway calendar display - such as:
March 3, 2012 –
Today's pet celebration is:
What If Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs Day
Part Two - "25 Keys to Success."
For an animal lover, any day is a good day to celebrate our fellow creatures. "25 Keys to Success" details the very best "tried-and-true" strategies to plan, organize and celebrate a Blessing of the Animals event, either for a church or secular setting. A complete Blessing of the Animals program is included, with multiple options and great ideas. Each of the 25 "keys" is honed from real experience - and are all real money and time savers!
Animal Blessings is available only as a 320 page E-Book
Here's the .pdf file link again: Animal Blessings 2012 Edition
Donations are welcome via PAYPAL -
Kindle E-book from Amazon.com - HERE (a commercial sale site, not free)
Animal Blessings is lavishly illustrated:
Over 130 gorgeous pictures!
You will definitely be the center of attention with your family, friends, office or neighborhood when you start a conversation, "Did you know that today is "Don't Step in the Dog Poop Day!" Here's that listing direct from the book:
- April 25 – Don’t Step in the Dog Poop Day; (Whimsical; Deb Levy of St. Louis, MO, owner and founder of Yucko’s Poop Scoop'n Service, since 1990.) [Author's note - their website is a hilarious riot with lots of poop puns and related frivolity! "Their business is picking up." Pet droppings are apparently very serious business.]
Folks will think you're brilliant - or extremely well-read when you declare, "Today is Oscar the Grouch Day!"
- June 1 – Oscar the Grouch Day; (Whimsical; Sesame Street character; Oscar’s birthday.)
Imagine calling in to your favorite morning radio talk show and asking, "Do you know what today is? Aside from their mundane reply, "Today is Wednesday," you can steal the show with "Today is National Answer Your Cat's Questions Day."
-
January 22 – National Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day; (Health related and serious; PetCentric.)
For those in the media, with some 1700 potential events to celebrate - there are several years of potential critter-related daily/ week-long/ month-long themes without having to do any of the time-intensive research. The embedded hyperlinks take you directly to the original listing, hosting group - or an informational website.
Do you write or edit a column, newsletter, website or blog? This can be the inspiration for a daily / weekly / monthly feature.
THE MEDIA SCOOP OF THE YEAR! Animal Blessings has a hidden gem! Did you know that the U.S.A. finally has an officially sanctioned day to celebrate our national symbol - the American Eagle? At last - FINALLY - since 2010, it's official. The details are in the book. There is now an official national American Eagle Day to celebrate!
Animal Blessings details a total of nine (9) different calendar occasions to celebrate the American Eagle. Which one is the official one? Without a publication like Animal Blessings no one would know. And - the reason it's not widely known is to be found on page 8. Curiously - that occasion is not found on any other pet celebration or calendar list as an annual national "official" event with the citations' link. The 2012 World Almanac doesn't have it. Chases's List for 2012 doesn't list it, either!
Do want to stir things up a bit in your home state?
Except for Delaware and Hawaii, the other 48 states DO NOT have any official dates to celebrate their state animals.
Scandal! Why not?
Animal Blessings has a complete listing of U.S. states' official animals; worldwide countries' national animals and official legislative 'animal / bird / critter' days. It may be the most thorough and complete listing of states' animals anywhere, in print or on the web.
Every state has at least one officially designated critter, but without an officially designated date to honor, educate or celebrate - what real difference does that designation make? Animal Blessings has taken great pains to research the "founding legislative dates" of each state official animal, bird, mammal, amphibian, insect and reptile.
You might start a campaign to have your governor or state legislature establish an annual day during the year as your state animals' official "celebration day." Here are two representative examples from the book -
Hawaii - State bird: "Nene" Hawaiian Goose - official state celebration date: September 26; Mammal: Monk Seal - official state celebration date: April 19; Aquatic mammal - Humpback Whale - official state celebration date February 18.
Delaware - State bird: Blue Hen Chicken - official state celebration date: April 14.
Honeybee - Eighteen U. S. states have declared the honeybee to be their official state insect: Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. None of these states have an officially designated day on which to educate and celebrate their honored state insect.
If insects don't get you excited - how about animals?
WHITE TAILED DEER -
Eleven
U.S. States
have declared the
White Tailed
Deer
to be their
designated official animal:
Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wisconsin.
None of these states
have officially designated dates to educated and
celebrate the White Tailed Deer.
Animal Blessings has a state-by-state listing of every state's official dog, cat, bird, insect, game bird, game animal, mammal, amphibian and reptile - with legislative originating dates (where those dates are available.)
Two BIG calendar animal controversies to ponder -
Did you know on February 2 - there are FIVE (5) very different animals that vie for annual weather prognostication prominence - and a groundhog is only one? So, what are the other four very different animal types? Think about it. One more media feature segment on the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil - or one of the several dozen other regional celebrity groundhogs - wears a little thin after a few years. This five-way race would make for a very creative TV or radio feature segment. See the five various animal listings in Animal Blessings for February 2, pages 31 & 32. One of those animals is even an official state critter!
Another calendar Battle Royale has two diametrically opposed animal philosophy occasions facing off over the same weekend every September. It's a true ethical and metaphorical "life or death issue!" Check out the fourth Saturday in September, page 87. This is a dust-up that is not likely to go away. Few can remain neutral on these two issues.
Animal Blessings! Over a Thousand Occasions to Celebrate & 25 Keys to Success; read only E-Book; ISBN 978-0-9827308-3-6, high definition color illustrations; 8.5 by 11 inch format; 320 pages; fully indexed, Neal Otto Hively, Copyright 2011.
New Animal celebration calendar submissions for the 2013 edition
of Animal Blessings are now being accepted. Deadline - July 15, 2012. No fees are required for new annual calendar animal event submissions. Page 10 of the Animal Blessings E-Book gives submission criteria and contact information. New submissions accepted only via that process.AND
- Another great pet related book by Dr. Hively -
- a sensitive and thoughtful gift, particularly for someone who has just experienced pet loss -
Dedicated website for Pets and Heaven:
