DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

The book that started it all      "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"  is an 1865  short story  by  Mark   Twain , his first great success as a writer, bringing him national attention. The story has also been published as  "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog"  (its original title) and  "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".  In it, the narrator retells a story he heard from a  bartender,  Simon Wheeler, at the  Angels Hotel  in  Angels Camp ,  California , about the  gambler   Jim Smiley . Twain describes him:  "If he even seen a straddle bug start to go anywheres, he would bet you how long it would take him to get to—to wherever he going to, and if you took him up, he would foller that straddle bug to Mexico but what he would find out where he was bound for and how long he was on the road." Samuel Clemons aka "Mark Twain"  ...

  Flores de Mayo  (English: "Flowers of May") is a  Catholic  festival held in the  Philippines  in the month of May. Lasting for a month, it is held in honor of the  Virgin Mary . The  Santacruzan  refers to the pageant on the last day of  Flores de Mayo , held in honour of  Reyna Elena  and  Constantine  finding the  True Cross  in Jerusalem.     EtymologyThe name is derived from Flores, the Spanish word for "flowers". Also known as "Flores de Maria" ("Flowers of Mary") or "Álay" (Filipino for "offering"), the term refers to the festival as a whole. It was believed that "Flores" (short term for Flores de Mayo) originated in 1865 from the town of Malolos, Bulacan, when the young girls would make a floral offering to the Virgin Mary in the parish church.    In the Bicol region, especially in the locality of Barangay Sabang in Naga City, the Flores de Mayo is h...