No, Cinco de Mayo is NOT any sort of national holiday in #Mexico. It is celebrated only in the State of Puebla, where the battle it commemorates took place. This is a picture of Calle Cinco de Mayo in the city of Puebla.

#VirginiaTech #GunControl A terrible day. And the response of the Virginia General Assembly was to legalize bringing concealed weapons into bars.

#Israel I posted this on Twitter in response to an "ethnic cleansing in Gaza" post by Rashida Tlaib.

#CoSoCanucks I was published in the _Cowichan Valley Citizen_. Link to the article: https://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/opinion/letter-rail-editorial-right-on-7338759

#Caturday I bought this cat bed for Arenita eight years ago, and she totally refused to use it, until 4 days ago. I moved twice since I bought it, and considered giving it away, since she wouldn't use it. The apartment I just moved into has shelves in the closets, and I noticed that she claimed one of the shelves for a resting place. So, I placed the bed on that shelf, and now she uses it.

#CoSoCanucks Here's my street in Victoria.

#CoSoCanucks Moved from Kamloops, British Columbia to Victoria yesterday and today. Had dinner tonight in Chinatown.

For Oscar watchers and fans of "The #Sopranos". And if you want to read the entire Reddit thread, which is hilarious, it's here: https://www.reddit.com/r/thesopranos/comments/1bbjv5d/oscar_prediction_cleaver_vs_oppenheimer/

Since this is #InternationalCatDay, here is my international and bilingual cat Arenita. That bare area on her back is the result of a trip to the vet a couple of weeks ago to remove some matted fur.

#CoSoCanucks This is really quite accurate.

#CoSoCanucks

I have published a book review on Substack. The book, _Overlook: A Rock and Roll Fable_, is historical fiction (with some magical realism) about Richard Manuel of #TheBand
https://broughton.substack.com/p/book-review-overlook-a-rock-and-roll

#CoSoCanucks Having a brown Christmas here in Kamloops, BC. Took this yesterday in Kenna Cartwright Park.

#CoSoMusic #Beatles My review of a recently-published biography of George Harrison.
https://open.substack.com/pub/broughton/p/book-review-george-harrison-the-reluctant

For fans of #Metallica and #VirginiaTech.

I've been visiting Bill Armstrong in Heathsville, VA, and one of his hobbies is making replicas of US Revolution rifles and pistols. Today, he let me shoot one of them.

Today, I explored the Northern Neck area of Virginia.
The first picture is Christ Church, built by Robert "King" Carter, who was a very rich man, in 1735.
The second picture is Morris House in Reedville, on the Chesapeake Bay. It was built in 1895.
The third picture is Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church in Heathsville, built in 1881.

I visited Kenmore today. It was the home of Fielding Lewis, a major supporter of the US Revolution. Not on the battlefield, but by supplying guns and ships at his own expense. Kenmore got a lot of famous visitors, including Lafayette.
Just two blocks down the street from Kenmore is a monument to the drafting of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom by Jefferson and four other movers and shakers in 1783. Remember that in 1783, religious freedom was a revolutionary concept.

This picture is in the Fredericksburg (VA) Area Museum. One of my earliest childhood memories is of a woman carrying a sign with the same message at the corner of William and Caroline Streets, where there was a whites-only lunch counter. (J. J. Newberry, I think.)

I visited Chatham, across the river from Fredericksburg, today. The first picture is the main house, built in 1771.
It was the Union army's headquarters during much of the Civil War, and was visited by Lincoln and Walt Whitman. Clara Barton and Dr. Mary Walker worked there.
The two trees on the left were there during the Civil War.
The second picture is the view of downtown Fredericksburg from Chatham.