Happy April fools day. I wonder if any of us know where that tradition came from🤪

Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. Under the Julian Calendar, like the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1.

People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.” These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.

April Fools’ Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with “hunting the gowk,” in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people’s derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs on them. Some things never change, do they?

So far, I seem safe from these random pranks, and have not been cast as a gowk. Instead, the Hospice Staff members that Hans and I have been speaking to today are quite impressive. One of our nurses loves to travel, (remember Laura) and Hans and I spent quite a lovely time reminiscing about Italy with her.

Another one of the staff, Maria, , is originally from Columbia and she gleefully related how she and her husband love to travel. Both of them grew up with no toys or shoes or bicycles, and now work very hard to build fulfilling lives. She owns a cleaning business and works here too.. the lady is no slouch! There next trip is coming up soon to Singapore

The point is, my little gowks, is that you never know what interesting stories the person in front of you is carrying around, just waiting to share with you.

My health continues to be an unwritten story. Our biggest goal is to get some kind of pain dispenser system that does not involve my port so I can be medicated at home. Still no answers but you’ll be one of the first people to know 🙂