topic Re: June is busting out all over in Community Chat

June is busting out all over

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 09:17:30 GMT

Happy birthday June babies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I-790dGx-o

Re: June is busting out all over

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 09:16:34 GMT

They say when you marry in June from 7 brides for 7 brothers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faQHDd1KEwg

Re: June is busting out allover

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 08:49:07 GMT

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?"
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Bed in Summer

"Long about knee-deep in June,
'Bout the time strewberries melts
On the vine."
- James Witcomb Riley

Re: June is busting out allover

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 08:49:53 GMT

June is a wonderful and busy month for those finishing up a school year. But it’s also a time when the weather can get quite warm. Here are some fun weather lore sayings about June.

Weather Lore Sayings For The Month of June:

• If June is sunny, the harvest will come early.

• In June, when there is no dew, it indicates rain.

• A cold and wet June spoils the rest of the year.

• June, damp and warm, does a farmer no harm.

• A good rain in June sets all in tune.

• The north wind in June blows in a good rye harvest.

• An early harvest is expected when the bramble blossoms early in June.

• When it is hottest in June, it will be coldest in the correlating days of the following February.

• A wet June makes a dry September.

• If on the 8th of June it rains, it foretells a wet harvest.

• If it rains on the feast of St. Medard (June 8th), it will rain forty days later; but if it rains on St. Prottis (June 19th), it will rain for the next forty days.

• Rain on St. Barnabas’ Day (June 11) is good for grapes.

• If St. Vitus’s Day (June 15) be rainy weather, it will rain for thirty days together.

• If Midsummer Day (June 24) be ever so little rainy, the hazel and walnut will be scarce; corn smitten in many places; but apples, pears, and plums will not be hurt.

• Cut your thistles before St. John (June 24), and you will have two instead of one.

• If it rains on June 27th, it will rain for seven weeks.

• If it rains on St. Peter’s Day (June 29), the bakers will have to carry double flour and single water; if dry, they will carry single flour and double water.

• Rain on Peter and Paul (June 29) will rot the roots of the rye.

• Calm weather in June sets corn in tune.

Re: June is busting out allover

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 08:50:34 GMT

The month of June derives its name from Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage. It was thought that couples who married in June would be blessed with prosperity and happiness.Jun 3, 201

In Ancient Rome, brides carried or wore flower garlands, believing that flowers signify new beginnings, fidelity and hope of fertility. In the Middle Ages, strong-smelling herbs and spices were thought to ward off and drive away evil spirits, bad luck, ill health and help mask the smell of body odour.

Getting Married in June

“Oh, they say when you marry in June you’re a bride all your life,
and the bridegroom who marries in June gets a sweet-heart for a wife.
Winter weddings can be gay like a Christmas holiday,
but the JUNE BRIDE hears the song of a spring that lasts all summer long.
By the light of the silvery moon, home you ride side by side
with the echo of Mendelssohn’s tune in your hearts as you ride.
For they say when you marry in June you will always be a bride.”
– “June Bride” from the movie “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”

Why is June the most traditional month for weddings?

Of course, it’s usually a beautiful month of year as the world turns green and flowers bloom. The weather tends to be lovely, schools are out, and hurricane season hasn’t swung into action yet.

However, the tradition of a June wedding dates back to Roman times. The origin of “June” derives its name from “Juno” who was the Roman goddess of love and marriage.

It was thought that couples who married in June would be blessed with prosperity and happiness.

Interestingly, the term ‘honeymoon’ referred to the first Moon after the summer solstice (June 21)! It’s also a traditional name for the Full Moon for June.

Now a honeymoon is still the sweet period of time following the wedding, even if the event doesn’t take place in June.

A June Wedding Theme

For a wedding in the sixth month of the year, you might consider a Sun theme as it’s the time of the summer solstice (June 21).

• For informal weddings, bridesmaids could wear sundresses and sun hats.

• Arrange yellow blossoms in vases and hang Sun mobiles, sun catchers, and other fun-in-the-sun decorations. Include glass, crystal, and prisms that will catch the light.

• Serve yellow foods such as Lemonade, Chicken Piccata and Corn Bread with sliced pineapple, yellow squash, and rice with yellow peppers.

• Offer cupcakes decorated to look like sunflowers. You might also place sundials in various locations to add to the festive atmosphere.

June is for Roses

Of course, the flower of June is the rose. See more about June’s Birth Flowers.

And we all know that red roses symbolize love. See the Meaning of Flowers.

So, a roses theme is a perfectly lovely and traditional idea. One popular tradition today is to throw rose petals at the bride and groom as they leave the church!

Re: June is busting out allover

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 08:52:23 GMT

Pearls are associated with purity, honesty, and calmness. If you dream of a pearl ring, expect romance.

Rhyme Time

Ah, happy day, refuse to go!
Hang in the heavens forever so!
Forever in midafternoon,
Ah, happy day of happy June!

–Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford, American writer (1835–1921)

June’s traditional birthstone is the pearl. With their natural beauty, pearls have been beloved for centuries. Learn more about the pearl, which is associated with purity, honesty, and calm.

June Birthstone Color

Iridescent pearls come in soft colors that complement and flatter most complexions, and they are a popular wardrobe accessory for this reason. You’ll find pearls in a spectrum of neutrals ranging from creamy white to black to an assortment of beautiful hues including pink, yellow, brown, green, purple, blue, silver, and black.

High-quality pearls have a reflective luster, making them appear creamy white with an iridescent sheen that casts many colorful hues.

They don’t need any polishing to reveal their natural luster.

Image: MSLightbox/Getty

How Pearls Are Made

Unlike other gems, true pearls develop naturally in the wild and are made by living creatures!

Mollusks, such as clams, oysters, and mussels, create pearls in response to irritants that get inside their shells. When this happens, a mollusk coats the substance with conchiolin (which acts like a glue) and layers of crystallized calcium carbonate, called nacre or mother-of-pearl.

Only a few mollusks create pearls that are of high enough quality to use as jewelry. Natural pearls, found in the wild, can be various shapes; it is rare to find a perfectly smooth, round specimen.

Meaning of Pearls

Pearls are associated with purity, honesty, and calmness. If you dream of a pearl ring, expect romance.The ancient Greeks believed that pearls were the hardened tears of joy from Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

Other cultures associated pearls with the moon, calling them “teardrops of the moon.” Hindu folklore explained that dewdrops fell from the moon into the sea, and Krishna picked one for his daughter on her

wedding day.

English philosopher Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) is believed to have eaten a paste of ground pearls and lemon juice to cure illness.

More Facts About Pearls

• Most pearls available on the market are not wild; they are “cultured,” meaning that the mollusks are farmed and implanted with nuclei to start pearl development.

• Pearls are very soft compared to other gems. They’ll even dissolve in vinegar so take care of your pearls!

• Alternate birthstones for June include alexandrite (an extremely rare gem that turns from bluish green in daylight to purplish red in incandescent light) and moonstone (a gem that shimmers like moonlight; the clearer the stone and the bluer its sheen, the more valuable).

June Birth Month Flower: The Rose

There’s a reason that roses have inspired poets and painters for centuries. And if you only know about “grocery store” roses, think again.

There are roses for every imaginable taste from climbing roses and shrubs to long-stemmed roses.

Symbolically, the rose has more meanings than one can count!

• A pink rose means perfect happiness, while a red rose means “I love you.”

• A white rose signifies innocence, purity, and new beginnings.

• A yellow rose conveys jealousy!

A bouquet of roses means sincere gratitude, whereas a single rose amplifies the meaning of the color (a single red rose means “I REALLY love you”).

June Birth Month Flower: The Honeysuckle

The other June flower is honeysuckle, which is a strong symbol for the everlasting bonds of love.

Honeysuckle flowers are magnets for hummingbirds! There are shrub forms of honeysuckle (L. fragrantissima) which make great hedges and there are vining forms such as the trumpet honeysuckle (L. sempervirens).

(Avoid the non-native, invasive types including Japanese honeysuckle.)

Re: June is busting out allover

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 08:54:07 GMT

Gemini Zodiac Sign Gemini Horoscope

Element: Air

Quality: Mutable

Color: Light-Green, Yellow

Day: Wednesday

Ruler: Mercury

Greatest Overall Compatibility: Sagittarius, Aquarius

Lucky Numbers: 5, 7, 14, 23

Date range: May 21 - June 20

Gemini traits

Strengths: Gentle, affectionate, curious, adaptable, ability to learn quickly and exchange ideas

Weaknesses: Nervous, inconsistent, indecisive

Gemini likes: Music, books, magazines, chats with nearly anyone, short trips around the town

Gemini dislikes: Being alone, being confined, repetition and routine

Expressive and quick-witted, Gemini represents two different personalities in one and you will never be sure which one you will face. They are sociable, communicative and ready for fun, with a tendency to suddenly get serious, thoughtful and restless. They are fascinated with the world itself, extremely curious, with a constant feeling that there is not enough time to experience everything they want to see.

The sign of Gemini belongs to the element of Air, accompanying Libra and Aquarius, and this connects it to all aspects of the mind. It is ruled by Mercury, the planet that represents communication, writing, and movement. People born under this Sun sign often have a feeling that their other half is missing, so they are forever seeking new friends, mentors, colleagues and people to talk to.

Gemini's changeable and open mind makes them excellent artists, especially writers and journalists, and their skills and flexibility make them shine in trade, driving and team sports. This is a versatile, inquisitive, fun loving sign, born with a wish to experience everything there is out there, in the world. This makes their character inspiring, and never boring.

Gemini - the Caring Twins There is so much childish innocence in the nature of Gemini, telling their tale of brotherhood, love between best friends and relatives who are entirely different by character, circumstances, physical appearance or upbringing. They are in this world to mend differences and make them feel right, ready to give their life for a brother or a friend. Gemini Love and Sex Fun and always ready for an intellectual challenge, Gemini sees love first through communication and verbal contact, and find it as important as physical contact with their partner. When these two combine, obstacles all seem to fade. Inquisitive and always ready to flirt, a Gemini could spend a lot of time with different lovers until they find the right one who is able to match their intellect and energy. They need excitement, variety and passion, and when they find the right person, a lover, a friend and someone to talk to combined into one, they will be faithful and determined to always treasure their heart.

Re: June is busting out allover

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 09:02:47 GMT

The sunset has been making its way north, as illustrated in this 2016 photo composite by Abhijit Juvekar.

The June solstice – your signal to celebrate summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere – is today, June 21, 2019, at 15:54 UTC. That’s 10:54 a.m. CDT in North America on June 21. Translate UTC to your time. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, this solstice marks the longest day of the year. Early dawns. Long days. Late sunsets. Short nights. The sun at its height each day, as it crosses the sky. Meanwhile, south of the equator, winter begins.

Waiting for dawn to arrive at Stonehenge, summer solstice 2005. Image via Andrew Dunn/Wikimedia Commons. Read more about summer solstice at Stonehenge.

What is a solstice? Ancient cultures knew that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of the sunrise and sunset all shifted in a regular way throughout the year.

They built monuments, such as Stonehenge, to follow the sun’s yearly progress.

Today, we know that the solstice is an astronomical event, caused by Earth’s tilt on its axis and its motion in orbit around the sun.

It’s because Earth doesn’t orbit upright. Instead, our world is tilted on its axis by 23 1/2 degrees. Earth’s Northern and Southern Hemispheres trade places in receiving the sun’s light and warmth most directly.

At the June solstice, Earth is positioned in its orbit so that our world’s North Pole is leaning most toward the sun. As seen from Earth, the sun is directly overhead at noon 23 1/2 degrees north of the equator, at an imaginary line encircling the globe known as the Tropic of Cancer – named after the constellation Cancer the Crab. This is as far north as the sun ever gets.

All locations north of the equator have days longer than 12 hours at the June solstice. Meanwhile, all locations south of the equator have days shorter than 12 hours.

The red line shows the Tropic of Cancer. As seen from this line of latitude, the sun appears overhead at noon on the June solstice. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

When is the solstice where I live? The solstice takes place place on June 21, 2019 at 15:54 UTC. That’s 10:54 a.m. CDT in North America on June 21.

A solstice happens at the same instant for all of us, everywhere on Earth. To find the time of the solstice in your location, you have to translate to your time zone.

Here’s an example of how to do that. In the central United States, for those of us using Central Daylight Time, we subtract five hours from Universal Time. That’s how we get 10:54 a.m. CDT as the time of the 2019 June solstice (15:54 UTC on June 21 minus 5 equals 10:54 a.m. CDT on June 21).

Want to know the time in your location? Check out EarthSky’s article How to translate UTC to your time. And just remember: you’re translating from 15:54 UTC, June 21.

Sunset via EarthSky Facebook friend Lucy Bee in Dallas, Texas.

Where should I look to see signs of the solstice in nature? Everywhere. For all of Earth’s creatures, nothing is so fundamental as the length of the day. After all, the sun is the ultimate source of almost all light and warmth on Earth’s surface.

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you might notice the early dawns and late sunsets, and the high arc of the sun across the sky each day. You might see how high the sun appears in the sky at local noon. And be sure to look at your noontime shadow. Around the time of the solstice, it’s your shortest noontime shadow of the year.

If you’re a person who’s tuned in to the out-of-doors, you know the peaceful, comforting feeling that accompanies these signs and signals of the year’s longest day.

Watching the solstice sunrise. Photo via Sarah Little-Knitwitz, Glastonbury Tor, Somerset, U.K.

Is the solstice the first day of summer? No world body has designated an official day to start each new season, and different schools of thought or traditions define the seasons in different ways.

In meteorology, for example, summer begins on June 1. And every school child knows that summer starts when the last school bell of the year rings.

Yet today is perhaps the most widely recognized day upon which summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere and upon which winter begins on the southern half of Earth’s globe. There’s nothing official about it, but it’s such a long-held tradition that we all recognize it to be so.

Worldwide map via the U.S. Naval Observatory shows the day and night sides of Earth at the instant of the June solstice (June 21, 2019, at 15:54 UTC).

It has been universal among humans to treasure this time of warmth and light.

For us in the modern world, the solstice is a time to recall the reverence and understanding that early people had for the sky. Some 5,000 years ago, people placed huge stones in a circle on a broad plain in what’s now England and aligned them with the June solstice sunrise.

We may never comprehend the full significance of Stonehenge. But we do know that knowledge of this sort wasn’t limited to just one part of the world. Around the same time Stonehenge was being constructed in England, two great pyramids and then the Sphinx were built on Egyptian sands. If you stood at the Sphinx on the summer solstice and gazed toward the two pyramids, you’d see the sun set exactly between them.

Image via Flickr user Ludwig Simbajon.

How does it end up hotter later in the summer, if June has the longest day? People often ask:

If the June solstice brings the longest day, why do we experience the hottest weather in late July and August?

This effect is called the lag of the seasons. It’s the same reason it’s hotter in mid-afternoon than at noontime. Earth just takes a while to warm up after a long winter. Even in June, ice and snow still blanket the ground in some places. The sun has to melt the ice – and warm the oceans – and then we feel the most sweltering summer heat.

Ice and snow have been melting since spring began. Meltwater and rainwater have been percolating down through snow on tops of glaciers.

But the runoff from glaciers isn’t as great now as it’ll be in another month, even though sunlight is striking the northern hemisphere most directly around now.

So wait another month for the hottest weather. It’ll come when the days are already beginning to shorten again, as Earth continues to move in orbit around the sun, bringing us closer to another winter.

And so the cycle continues.

Hello summer solstice!

Bottom line: The 2019 June happens on June 21 at 15:54 UTC. That’s 10:54 a.m. CDT in North America. This solstice – which marks the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere – marks the sun’s most northerly point in Earth’s sky. It’s an event celebrated by people throughout the ages.

Re: June is busting out allover

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 09:04:03 GMT

June has the Summer Solstice, the day with the longest daylight of the year, typically on June 21st, which is also National Nude day.
June is often considered a "summer month", whereas September is not. This is despite the fact that September has twice as many summer days as June.
June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and one of the four months with a length of 30 days. June is the month with the longest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. June in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to December in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. In the Northern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological summer is June 1st. In the Southern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological winter is June 1st.
The month of June is probably named after Juno, the wife of Jupiter, and queen of the gods [Hera in Greek mythology]. It was held sacred to her, and was thought by the Romans to be the luckiest month for marriage, since Juno was the Goddess of Marriage. Wherever the goddess went she was attended by her messenger Iris (the Rainbow), who journeyed so quickly through the air that she was seldom seen, but after she had passed there was often left in the sky the radiant trail of her highly-coloured robe.

Juno is always represented as a tall, beautiful woman, wearing a crown and bearing a sceptre in her hand, and often she is shown with a peacock at her side, since that bird was sacred to her. A story is told of one of her servants, Argus, who had a hundred eyes, only a few of which he closed at a time. Juno set him to watch over a cow which Jupiter wished to steal, for it was really a beautiful girl named Io, whom Jupiter had transformed.

Mercury was sent by Jupiter to carry off Io, and by telling long and wearisome stories to Argus at last succeeded in lulling him into so deep a sleep that he closed all his eyes. The god then seized Argus's own sword and cut off his head. Juno was very sad at the loss of her servant, and gathering up his hundred eyes scattered them over the tail of the peacock, her favourite bird."

The Latin name for June is Junius. Ovid offers multiple etymologies for the name in the Fasti, a poem about the Roman calendar. The first is that the month is named after the Roman goddess Juno, the goddess of marriage and the wife of the supreme deity Jupiter; the second is that the name comes from the Latin word iuniores, meaning "younger ones", as opposed to maiores ("elders") for which the preceding month May (Maius) may be named.

In ancient Rome, the period from mid-May through mid-June was considered inauspicious for marriage. Ovid says that he consulted the Flaminica Dialis, the high priestess of Jupiter, about setting a date for his daughter's wedding, and was advised to wait till after June 15.
June Quotes

Summer makes me drowsy. Autumn makes me sing. Winter's pretty lousy, but I hate Spring.
- Dorothy Parker

Re: June is busting out allover

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 09:05:01 GMT

• June is the month with the longest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

• June’s birthstone is the pearl, the Moonstone and the Alexandrite.

• The June birth flower is the Rose (Rosa) and the Honeysuckle (Lonicera).

• In 2009 June was the 662 most popular name for girls in the USA.

• Anglo-Saxons gave the June the name Sera monath (Dry month)

• June is derived from either Juno goddess of marriage or from iumiores (young people)

• In both common and leap years, no other month begins on the same day of the week as June.

• June is international men’s month.

• June has the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.

Re: June is busting out allover

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 09:15:09 GMT

Midsummer is the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, and more specifically the northern European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice or take place on a day between June 19 and June 25 and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different cultures. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr St John the Baptist, and the observance of St John's Day begins the evening before, known as St John's Eve.

These are commemorated by many Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, and Anglican Communion.[1][7] In Sweden the Midsummer is such an important festivity that there have been serious discussions to make the Midsummer's Eve into the National Day of Sweden, instead of June 6. It may also be referred to as St. Hans Day.[8]

Re: June is busting out all over

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 09:28:48 GMT

The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of German-occupied France (and later Europe) from Nazi control, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.

Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on D-Day was far from ideal and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable. Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and of developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an Allied invasion.

The amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 US, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06:30. The target 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha. The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach-clearing teams difficult and dangerous. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled, using specialised tanks.

The Allies failed to achieve any of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads were not connected until 12 June; however, the operation gained a foothold which the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months. German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead.

Museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area now host many visitors each year.

Background

After the German Army invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing his new allies for the creation of a second front in western Europe.[11] In late May 1942 the Soviet Union and the United States made a joint announcement that a "... full understanding was reached with regard to the urgent tasks of creating a second front in Europe in 1942."[12] However, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill persuaded US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to postpone the promised invasion as, even with US help, the Allies did not have adequate forces for such an activity.[13]

Instead of an immediate return to France, the western Allies staged offensives in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations, where British troops were already stationed. By mid-1943 the campaign in North Africa had been won. The Allies then launched the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and subsequently invaded the Italian mainland in September the same year. By then, Soviet forces were on the offensive and had won a major victory at the Battle of Stalingrad. The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion within the next year was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943.[14] Initial planning was constrained by the number of available landing craft, most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean and Pacific.[15] At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill promised Stalin that they would open the long-delayed second front in May 1944.[16]

Meeting of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), 1 February 1944. Front row: Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder; General Dwight D. Eisenhower; General Bernard Montgomery. Back row: Lieutenant General Omar Bradley; Admiral Bertram Ramsay; Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory; Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith.

Four sites were considered for the landings: Brittany, the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, and the Pas-de-Calais. As Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, it would have been possible for the Germans to cut off the Allied advance at a relatively narrow isthmus, so these sites were rejected.[17] With the Pas-de-Calais being the closest point in continental Europe to Britain, the Germans considered it to be the most likely initial landing zone, so it was the most heavily fortified region.[18] But it offered few opportunities for expansion, as the area is bounded by numerous rivers and canals,[19] whereas landings on a broad front in Normandy would permit simultaneous threats against the port of Cherbourg, coastal ports further west in Brittany, and an overland attack towards Paris and eventually into Germany. Normandy was hence chosen as the landing site.[20] The most serious drawback of the Normandy coast—the lack of port facilities—would be overcome through the development of artificial Mulberry harbours.[21] A series of modified tanks, nicknamed Hobart's Funnies, dealt with specific requirements expected for the Normandy Campaign such as mine clearing, demolishing bunkers, and mobile bridging.[22]

The Allies planned to launch the invasion on 1 May 1944.[19] The initial draft of the plan was accepted at the Quebec Conference in August 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF).[23] General Bernard Montgomery was named as commander of the 21st Army Group, which comprised all land forces involved in the invasion.[24] On 31 December 1943 Eisenhower and Montgomery first saw the plan, which proposed amphibious landings by three divisions with two more divisions in support. The two generals immediately insisted that the scale of the initial invasion be expanded to five divisions, with airborne descents by three additional divisions, to allow operations on a wider front and to speed the capture of Cherbourg.[25] The need to acquire or produce extra landing craft for the expanded operation meant that the invasion had to be delayed to June.[25] Eventually, thirty-nine Allied divisions would be committed to the Battle of Normandy: twenty-two US, twelve British, three Canadian, one Polish, and one French, totalling over a million troops[26] all under overall British command.[27]

Operations

Operation Overlord was the name assigned to the establishment of a large-scale lodgement on the Continent. The first phase, the amphibious invasion and establishment of a secure foothold, was codenamed Operation Neptune.[21] To gain the air superiority needed to ensure a successful invasion, the Allies undertook a bombing campaign (codenamed Operation Pointblank) that targeted German aircraft production, fuel supplies, and airfields.[21] Elaborate deceptions, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, were undertaken in the months leading up to the invasion to prevent the Germans from learning the timing and location of the invasion.[28]

The landings were to be preceded by airborne operations near Caen on the eastern flank to secure the Orne River bridges and north of Carentan on the western flank. The Americans, assigned to land at Utah Beach and Omaha Beach, were to attempt to capture Carentan and St. Lô the first day, then cut off the Cotentin Peninsula and eventually capture the port facilities at Cherbourg. The British at Sword and Gold Beaches and Canadians at Juno Beach would protect the US flank and attempt to establish airfields near Caen on the first day. A secure lodgement would be established with all invading forces linked together, and an attempt made to hold all territory north of the Avranches-Falaise line within the first three weeks.[29][30] Montgomery envisaged a ninety-day battle, lasting until all Allied forces reached the River Seine.[31]

Deception plans

Shoulder patches were designed for units of the fictitious First United States Army Group under George Patton

Under the overall umbrella of Operation Bodyguard, the Allies conducted several subsidiary operations designed to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the Allied landings.[32] Operation Fortitude included Fortitude North, a misinformation campaign using fake radio traffic to lead the Germans into expecting an attack on Norway,[33] and Fortitude South, a major deception involving the creation of a fictitious First United States Army Group under Lieutenant General George S. Patton, supposedly located in Kent and Sussex. Fortitude South was intended to deceive the Germans into believing that the main attack would take place at Calais.[28][34] Genuine radio messages from 21st Army Group were first routed to Kent via landline and then broadcast, to give the Germans the impression that most of the Allied troops were stationed there.[35] Patton was stationed in England until 6 July, thus continuing to deceive the Germans into believing a second attack would take place at Calais.[36]

Many of the German radar stations on the French coast were destroyed in preparation for the landings.[37] In addition, on the night before the invasion, a small group of Special Air Service (SAS) operators deployed dummy paratroopers over Le Havre and Isigny. These dummies led the Germans to believe that an additional airborne landing had occurred. On that same night, in Operation Taxable, No. 617 Squadron RAF dropped strips of "window", metal foil that caused a radar return which was mistakenly interpreted by German radar operators as a naval convoy near Le Havre. The illusion was bolstered by a group of small vessels towing barrage balloons. A similar deception was undertaken near Boulogne-sur-Mer in the Pas de Calais area by No. 218 Squadron RAF in Operation Glimmer.[38][2]

Weather

The invasion planners determined a set of conditions involving the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that would be satisfactory on only a few days in each month. A full moon was desirable, as it would provide illumination for aircraft pilots and have the highest tides. The Allies wanted to schedule the landings for shortly before dawn, midway between low and high tide, with the tide coming in. This would improve the visibility of obstacles on the beach, while minimising the amount of time the men would be exposed in the open.[39] Eisenhower had tentatively selected 5 June as the date for the assault. However, on 4 June, conditions were unsuitable for a landing: high winds and heavy seas made it impossible to launch landing craft, and low clouds would prevent aircraft from finding their targets.[40]

Surface weather analysis map showing weather fronts on 5 June

Group Captain James Stagg of the Royal Air Force (RAF) met Eisenhower on the evening of 4 June. He and his meteorological team predicted that the weather would improve enough for the invasion to proceed on 6 June.[41] The next available dates with the required tidal conditions (but without the desirable full moon) would be two weeks later, from 18 to 20 June. Postponement of the invasion would have required recalling men and ships already in position to cross the Channel, and would have increased the chance that the invasion plans would be detected.[42] After much discussion with the other senior commanders, Eisenhower decided that the invasion should go ahead on the 6th.[43] A major storm battered the Normandy coast from 19 to 22 June, which would have made the beach landings impossible.[40]

Allied control of the Atlantic meant German meteorologists had less information than the Allies on incoming weather patterns.[37] As the Luftwaffe meteorological centre in Paris was predicting two weeks of stormy weather, many Wehrmacht commanders left their posts to attend war games in Rennes, and men in many units were given leave.[44] Field Marshal Erwin Rommel returned to Germany for his wife's birthday and to meet with Hitler to try to obtain more Panzers.[45]

Re: June is busting out all over

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 10:30:17 GMT

The Longest Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpaTwpWt8BQ

Re: June is busting out all over

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 10:34:45 GMT

Graduation is getting a diploma or academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated with it, in which students become graduates. The date of graduation is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony itself is also called commencement, convocation or invocation.

Normally, the ceremony and name apply to university level and above (Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees), however, in the USA, completing mandatory schooling is also referred to as 'graduating', even though it is substantially below degree level. Graduations for elementary school and Kindergarten, and even for passing from one school year to the next, have been a development of recent years. This has received criticism, described as "It's just a way of celebrating mediocrity".[1]

Graduation at the college and university level occurs when the presiding officer confers degrees upon candidates, either individually or en masse, even if graduates physically receive their diploma later at a smaller college or departmental ceremony. When ceremonies are associated, they usually include a procession of the academic staff and candidates and a valediction. The faculty will usually wear academic dress at the formal ceremonies, as will the trustees and degree candidates. After degree completion, graduates can be referred to by their graduating year.

In some places, graduation parties to celebrate graduation from school, college or university are popular. In a recent 2014 nationwide survey in the United States, $985 was the average amount spent on graduation parties.[2] When a student graduates without attending the ceremony, then it is called graduation in absentia.

By country

The procedures and traditions surrounding academic graduation ceremonies differ around the world. Whereas in the United Kingdom a graduation usually only occurs at university level, in the United States of America and many other countries graduations also occur at high schools where no higher education qualifications are conferred upon the graduates. In a graduation ceremony the students dress up in special graduation caps and clothing that are made just for this purpose.

Graduation traditions are varied across universities observing different cultures. Most universities across Sweden are research-oriented and may present its students with bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degrees covering all academic streams. Universities across the country are based through the Higher Education Ordinance. A large number of candidates continue their education onto secondary and upper secondary education. Most of the national programs provide Swedish, English, Math and Science among majors.

In Zimbabwe, graduation ceremonies are often associated with the guest of honor who most often is the ceremonial head of the institution. At state universities the President of Zimbabwe officiates as chancellor and guest of honor. Every graduate of a state university in Zimbabwe can claim to have shaken the President's hand. The person most associated with graduation at those institutions is Zimbabwe's ex-President Robert Gabriel Mugabe. At other State Institutions of higher learning the vice Presidents or any other Senior Government officials may preside.[3]

History of graduation

Ceremonies for graduating students date from the first universities in Europe in the twelfth century. At that time Latin was the language of scholarship. A "universitas" was a guild of masters (MAs) with licence to teach. "Degree" and "graduate" come from gradus, meaning "step". The first step was admission to a bachelor's degree. The second step was the masters step, giving the graduate admission to the universitas and license to teach. Typical dress for graduation is gown and hood, or hats adapted from the daily dress of university staff in the Middle Ages, which was in turn based on the attire worn by medieval clergy.[4]

The tradition of wearing graduation hats in Sweden has been in place since the mid-eighteenth century. The cap is typically a white sailor hat with a black or dark blue band around it, a crown motif, and a black peak at the front. The graduation hat tradition was initially brought into practice by students at Uppsala University. The headgear then became popular across several other European nations as well.[5]

Re: June is busting out all over

Jamma — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 12:32:51 GMT

@cherry wrote:
Happy birthday June babies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I-790dGx-o

Thank you Cherry---I am a June baby and so is my daughter. She was born on Fathers Day.

Re: June is busting out all over

Jamma — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 12:34:21 GMT

I also married in June. I lost my Hubby 3 years ago but Monday June 3 is our 57th wedding anniversary.

Re: June is busting out allover

SeaMaiden — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 12:47:27 GMT

@cherry

Love poetry! Here is one I found:

What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that it's fresh young beauty will ever fade~ Gertrude Jekyll

Gertrude Jekyll was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote over 1,000 articles for magazines such as Country Life and William Robinson's The Garden. Wikipedia
Born: November 29, 1843, London, United Kingdom
Died: December 8, 1932, Munstead Wood, Godalming, United Kingdom
Structures: Winchester College War Cloister
Parents: Edward Joseph Hill Jekyll, Julia Hammersley

Re: June is busting out all over

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 13:44:59 GMT

Thank you ladies and a Happy anniversay to @Jamma and to all

Re: June is busting out all over

cherry — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 15:05:11 GMT

From Around the year with the Von Trapp family ( out of print) by Maria Von Trapp

There are the birthdays. I suppose there are as many ways of celebrating a birthday as there are families, or even as there are individuals. In our family some of our children, pointing out that the big feasts in the year have a vigil, insisted that their birthday should be celebrated the evening before so that they could have the full day following in which to be the center of attention in the house. Some prefer their birthdays to be celebrated at breakfast; others, during lunch. That should be up to the individual. For days, sometimes for weeks, the preparations are going on. If everybody, as it should be, is supposed to make something for everybody else’s birthday, this — and I cannot stress it enough — will bring out hidden talents in the family. We only found out by chance that one of our children is gifted in leather work that another one makes beautiful woodcuts. One of the boys turned out to be a good silversmith, and one of the girls is working in clay. If the children are given a chance to try this or that handicraft, they are sure to discover some special gift. And the most gifted cook, of course, is entrusted with preparing the birthday cake.

In our family we have two favorite birthday cakes. Number One is that famous Viennese Sacher Torte.

*Sacher Torte*
4 oz. butter 4 oz. sugar 4 oz. softened bittersweet chocolate	7 eggs 1 cup bread flour 2 Tbsp. fine bread crumbs
Beat butter, sugar, and softened chocolate together. Add one egg yolk at a time. Beat 7 egg whites until peaks stand up straight. Add to mixture. Then add bread flour and bread crumbs. Mix in by hand with rubber spatula. Bake slowly in well-greased, floured cake tin. When cool, cut in half horizontally. Spread apricot jam on lower half. Cover with upper half and spread evenly with apricot jam. Let dry for a while.

Icing for Sacher Torte

3 oz. bitter chocolate

2 oz. sweet chocolate

3 oz. butter

1/3 cup cream

1/2 box sifted confectioner’s sugar

Icing: In upper part of double boiler melt 3 oz. bitter chocolate, 2 oz. sweet chocolate, 3 oz. butter. Add 1/3 cup of cream. Stir. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 box sifted confectioner’s sugar. Pour icing on the torte and spread around sides with spatula.

Number Two is Linzer Torte.

*Linzer Torte*
1 cup butter 1 1/2 cups flour 1 cup sugar 2 egg yolks 1 tsp. baking powder	2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. cloves 1 cup ground nuts or almonds 1 Tbsp. orange or lemon peel
Sift flour and baking powder together onto a pastry board. Add butter, sugar, egg yolks, orange or lemon peel, nuts, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Mix by hand and chill. Pat 2/3 of dough into layer-cake tin and spread with a layer of currant preserve. Roll remaining 1/3 of dough into strips as thick as a finger. With this, form a lattice work on top of preserve. Bake in medium oven 350-375° F. until edges recede from sides.

Now to the celebration itself. A small table is covered with a white cloth. The birthday cake with the candles is put in the middle and the gifts are placed around it. The whole household — family, helpers, guests — stand in a semicircle, each one holding a flower or a piece of evergreen, according to the season. Then the mother goes to fetch the birthday child. “Happy Birthday to You” is sung until the hero of the day has been congratulated and kissed by everyone. In the process, he gathers his little bouquet. Then he thinks of a wish and blows out the candles (in one breath!), and then he looks at the gifts. (One of the first birthday presents, when the children were quite small, was a puppet theatre. With each birthday new puppets were added and all the favorite fairy tales could be enacted.)

The birthday child’s place at table is decorated artistically — differently at each meal — and he decides what the day’s and the evening’s entertainment will be — games, or folk dancing, or perhaps an excursion. Whatever it is, we all are at his or her disposal.

Re: June is busting out all over

meallen616 — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:28:51 GMT

@cherry,

I will be 68, on June 16, Father's Day, thank you!