33 Offbeat Holidays You Can Celebrate in October
1st October 2019
If, of course, that’s what you want to do.
In this case, ‘offbeat’ is journo-speak for ‘Why would anyone want to do that?’
1st October 2019
If, of course, that’s what you want to do.
In this case, ‘offbeat’ is journo-speak for ‘Why would anyone want to do that?’
October 1st, 2019 at 15:53
OK, I have to call bullshit on this one:
“..On October 26, 1785, a pair of Spanish mules arrived in the U.S. as a gift from King Charles III. They’re said to have been the first mules bred in this country, by George Washington himself.”
George did breed mules – which involves a horse being impregnated by a donkey- but mules were in use long before 1785. Mules are almost always infertile, and so the Spanish mules weren’t bred by Washington or his stock. (FYI, the reverse, a donkey impregnated by a horse, results in a hinny.) The Mule Day description is so wrong in so many ways that it hurts my head.
Occasionally you’ll find trail riders in Texas that will ride a mule. Unlike a horse, a mule’s gait is very steady, and rider’s often describe it like riding a rocking chair. That gait made them very valuable for plowing and cultivating (“40 acres and a mule”) and their toughness made them very desirable for hauling loads in rough country – e.g., 40 Mule Team hauling borax. (I’ve seen a mule eat a thistle.)