Welcome to shabbos for Jewish cats: it’s CaturSaturday, July 25, 2025, and also National Day of the Cowboy.  Here’s a photo I took on a fly-collecting trip to Death Valley:  a rare Jewish cowboy once on display at the Eastern California Museum in Independence…

Welcome to Thursday, July 23, 2026 and National Refreshment Day.  Honoring that, I give you below the best beer I ever had, procured by a friend in Amsterdam—with difficulty (see below). It’s a Belgian beer made by actual monks in an actual monastery (Westvle…

Welcome to The Cruelest Day: Tuesday, July 21, 2026, and  National Junk Food Day.  Let me put in a word for occasional enjoyment of “bad for you” food. You could live a long time eating just vegetables and cheese, but is that a life? Here is some junk food: a…

Welcome to Thursday, July 16, 2026 and National Cherry Day. Here’s a bowl of pie cherries from Andrzej and Malgorzata’s orchard, next to a pie that Malgorzata made in 2016: my first cherry pie in Dobrzyn: It’s also Guinea Pig Appreciation Day, National Corn F…

Welcome to a Hump Day (“Haftanın Ortası” in Turkish): Wednesday, July 15, 2026. It’s also National Hot Dog Day, celebrating the American snack whose epicenter for quality is Chicago.  The classic Chicago dog is a Vienna beef dog (in a natural casing) nested i…

Welcome to another damn week: it’s Monday, July 13, 2026 and National Beans ‘n’ Franks Day. It’s a good emergency meal, but I like to have it over rice with a fried egg on top. Hemingway also liked canned beans, and here’s a notable passage from a short story…

Welcome to Sabbath for goyische cats: Sunday, July 12, 2026, and National Pecan Pie Day, the best of all possible pies and a triumph of American cuisine.  Here’s an individual pie that I saw on my 2021 post-pandemic BBQ Tour of Texas (this is from Cooper’s Pi…

Welcome to CaturSaturday, July 11, 2026. It’s shabbos for Jewish cats and National Blueberry Muffin Day. I love them but, oy, do they have calories! Muffin orgy courtesy of ChatGPT: It’s also Free Slurpee Day (claim yours at a 7-11), Bowdler’s Day (the famed …

Welcome to Friday, July 10, 2026 and National Kitten Day.  Here’s a ten-minute video of kitten antics to brighten your day. My favorite bits are when kittens jump sideways. It’s also Don’t Step on a Bee Day, Martyrdom of the Bab Day, National Piña Colada Day,…

Welcome to a Hump Day (“dina bonggol” in Javanese): Wednesday, July 8, 2026 and National Blueberry Day. If you can get the smaller wild lowbush blueberries rather than the big bland blue balls that are the commercial highbush form, do. The best blueberries I …

Welcome to the Cruelest Day: Tuesday, July 7, 2026 and National Day of Rock ‘n’ Roll, which means of course that we should celebrate the most influential rock group of all time. I don’t need to tell you who it is, but here’s one example: It’s also Chocolate D…

Welcome to Thursday, July 2, 2026, and it’s National Freedom from Fear of Speaking Day. Many people have a phobia about speaking in public, but the gentleman in the painting below overcame it to have his say in a town meeting. This is of course Norman Rockwel…