Eye on the Sparrow

A Reason to Celebrate! Today is Brandon's Big 3-0! He had been forewarned that in the Czech Republic he is expected to bring a "treat" to work on his birthday. This is also a common expectation on "Name Day" or "svatek". Every day of the year is someone's name day. As explained on the Prague foreigner's website: "The associations between the days and the names have arisen through many reasons, but primarily because the church held a festival for a saint of that name on that day. For instance, the church feast of Saint Michael was held on September 29th, and as a result the name day for Michael is on September 29th. In the Czech Republic, a person's nameday is treated with greater importance than someone's birthday, so be sure not to forget." So Brandon shares his birthday on September 6 with the Name Day for Boleslav. Unfortunately, Brandon's name doesn't make the Czech Name Day list. Lydia's equivalent (Lydie) is on Dec. 14th and I think I will take the liberty of TWO name days: Anna on July 26th and Marie on Sept 12th. Set your reminders now!