George Washington was born on February 11, 1731. Until 1752. Then he was born on February 22, 1732, because Britain abandoned the Julian calendar in favor of the Gregorian*. (No wonder he was annoyed with them.)
For many years, the United States celebrated our first president’s birthday on February 22nd, but eventually the public tired of celebrating both Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays in the same month (Lincoln’s is February 12th). In 1968, Congress combined the two in a happy compromise by having President’s Day fall somewhere in between, on the third Monday in February.
In honor of that day, school children still learn the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. For those of you who didn’t, young George received an axe for his birthday and went into the yard to play. Later that afternoon, his father discovered that their most prolific cherry tree had been chopped down, and inquired as to the culprit. George, caught red handed, said wisely, “Father, I cannot tell a lie. I did it.”
In the spirit that George might have replied differently if he’d been quick enough to think of something, I am posting a game that I got from my AQ friend, Cat Woods. [Link to her blog post with the same title: http://catwoods.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/i-cannot-tell-a-lie/]
In this game, the author lists two truths and a lie, and the readers guess which is the lie. All of mine have a patriotic theme. Sort of.
1. I used to have a parakeet that figured out how to escape his cage, and my cat ate him while I was at a Fourth of July carnival.
2. When we were young, several of my siblings and I dressed up our little sister as Uncle Sam, put her on top of the newel post in the front hall and left her there.
3. I once was driving my car and a firework shot through the open window and caught the back seat on fire.
Can you tell the lie? Make some guesses in the comments, and I will post the answer on Monday.
*http://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/washington/
Layinda's Blog 