Today, I met Ethel Taylor. I am always happy to meet a dog, I’ll tell you. I am not sure when or why I became such a fan of the canine…. but by golly, I am.  I take a special interest in their names.  This particular Yorkie was named for a school in Cincinnati.  And the school, which is an Academy, was named for Ethel M. Taylor.  Now Ethel must have been quite a woman in those parts… to have a school named for her.  I seriously doubt there will ever by a Polly C. Kronenberger Academy.  Thank goodness for the students.  That would have been awful for them.

But back to Ethel… I couldn’t find much information on her.   Not anything at all really.  (Granted… I didn’t all out “delve”….. but I tried several searches.).

So I switch gears.   On many days when I write…. when I have nothing of interest…. which many folks argue happens more often than not around here…. I’ll begin to jab around a bit.

Yes….. when I have nothing of interest… I will check historical “events” that occurred on this date.  Or famous birthdays and such.     Well.   Wouldn’t you just jump out of your skin if I told you today was Ethel Taylor’s birthday?  ME TOO!!!  But it isn’t.  Nope….. I have absolutely no idea when she was born.

Nevertheless… hold on to your golden eggs.  Today is Wanda Landowska’s Birthday.   I’m not kidding you about this….  BORN 7/5/1879 and DIED 8/16/1959.  Can you believe it?   I almost missed it this year.  Now she was a Polish (later a naturalized French citizen) harpsichordist whose performances, teaching, recordings and writings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in the early 20th century.  She played the harp like crazy.  And if it wasn’t for Wanda, the whole “Jack and the Beanstalk” deal would have been one big boring cat and mouse game.  The harpsichord took it to the best seller list.

But what really brings this full cycle…. Wanda loved Yorkies.  She had like 7 or 8 of them.  Wanda took her two favorites…. to many of her concerts and performances.   Her two very-best-pally-Yorkies were named Cynthia and Peggy.    NOW get this…. the owners of Ethel Taylor (this little Yorkie in the photo) are named Peggy & Cynthia.  Now how is that for a Canine Coincidence Batman?  I know.  It gave me shivers too.  Creepy almost.   So stick with me.  There’s always something we can stir up around here.  Places to go.  Wanda’s to meet.  Harps to play…. Beanstalks to climb.