June Celebrations

                June has always been one of my favorite months. The Stanley Cup is fought for and awarded. The baseball season is in full swing. The fishing is good, and the lakes and parks aren’t yet overcrowded, as they tend to be in July and August. So, while there is still a good portion of this Heavenly month left, let’s celebrate it…by examining what is celebrated in the month of June.

                June is African-American Music Appreciation Month. It is also, however, National Accordion Month, which is a strange juxtaposition, as never-the-twain shall meet. Can any of you honestly picture Beyoncé, Kanye West, or P. Diddy riffing on a large squeezebox or concertina ala The Chmielewski Fun-time Band or Whoopee John Wilfahrt? No, you can’t.

                June is National Audiobooks Month and National Bathroom Reading Month. (Hmmm. I’m not sure about listening to an audiobook in the bathroom).

June is also Great Outdoors Month. And Fireworks Safety Month. This makes sense. If you are going to shoot off fireworks, the outdoors is a good place to do it. Additionally, practicing doing so in June will likely lead to greater competency—and safety-- come July 4^th, when it really matters.

The month also celebrates shelter-cat adoption and aquariums. This seems somewhat problematic to me. Save a cat, imperil a goldfish? Whatever.

June is Children’s Awareness Month, Student Safety Month, and Potty-Training Awareness Month, all of which appear to go together nicely. However, it is also Celibacy Awareness Month. Go figure. June is Gay and Lesbian Pride Month, too, which would seem utterly incompatible with both Children’s Awareness Month and Celibacy Awareness Month.

June is both National Women’s Golf Month and National Safety Month, which seems a bit oxymoronic. Just kidding, women! Just kidding! Put that five-iron down, honey!

Finally, June is Smiling Appreciation Month…and Effective Communications Month. These two are perfectly paired.

Here’s to those creative writers who, whether through elegance of thought and presentation, or great good humor, give us the present of pleasure, the gift of a grin.

Here’s to June.