Welcome to our Netroots for the Troops, Inc. Holiday Fundraiser: Twelve Days of Christmas Blog! Today is the fourth day of Christmas, and entitled Four Calling Birds.
Netroots for the Troops is a DK tradition. We raise funds each year to create and send care packages to our troops. There’s something magical about receiving a care package. Your donation will help us create and ship packages full of useful and fun things to our soldiers overseas. Boxes will be packaged next summer at Netroots Nation. More on how to donate below.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, four calling* birds, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
Ah, the fourth day. The day of calling birds. What is a “calling bird” you ask? Well, that’s the reason for the asterisk, as most authoritative sources indicate that the original words to the song were “four colly birds”. Wow, that really cleared things up didn’t it? Ok, so on we go to finding out about “colly” birds. It turns out that in England a coal mine is called a colliery. With English people liking to shorten words as they do, it soon happened that colliery was shortened to colly. Over time, the word colly took on the meaning of anything black. Hey, we finally got to what this means – a blackbird. According to the link above, blackbirds in England have gone by either term - blackbird or colly bird.
Cost information for Day 4 of the 12 days is:
Carryover from yesterday: $835.97
Today's costs:
Four Calling Birds: $599.96
Three French Hens: $150
Two Turtle Doves: $100
Partridge in a Pear Tree: $161.99
Today's total: $1,011.95
Running total: $1847.92
You are also probably asking,
Who the heck is glendaw271? “Why should I become part of her team for NFTT? I could help out one of the other better known diarists who are contributing time to this effort.
True, I’m not very well known, especially now that “Morning Feature” has moved on to the BPI Campus (come over and enroll!). I do occasionally write a diary for Kosability, and I’m known to spend a Friday or two with the folks at Mojo Friday. Other than that, I largely lurk around here. As for my democratic activism, I am active in the Cedar Rapids Democratic Party. My activism started immediately after the 2000 election while living in Seminole County, Florida. I worked in 2002 to try to defeat the re-election of Jeb Bush as governor. I walked all over Sanford in 2004 in an effort to defeat the awful W.
Now it’s time for the real reason for the diary. NFTT is important work, and due to limited finances this Christmas, this was my way for me to help with that important work. You may not know exactly what four calling birds and a glendaw271 are, but today we’re here "calling" on you to donate some money for the troops.
This year it’s personal for me. This year, there are a lot of troops from the Iowa National Guard in Afghanistan. My friend Rob is there, as are several of my older son’s friends. They need all the support that they can get while they are there.
Please support the troops. Please donate to Netroots for the Troops so we can pack and send as many quality care packages as possible. Thank you!
Did you enjoy the diary? Now it’s your turn to have some fun! Be sure to recommend the diary and make lots and lots of comments! The team with the highest number of comments at the end of the fundraiser will earn special recognition! Then, make a pledge and donation! Here’s how:
- Visit our website at: https://atl.etapestry.com/...
- At the top left corner of your screen, select “Find A Team/Participant”
- Under the blank box, click “Show All Teams”
- Click on the Team Name for Today’s Team
- At the top left corner of your screen, select “Make A Donation”
It’s that simple! Now, on with the games!
FYI, When you donate, look for the team that you want to be a part of (Four Calling Birds, hint!). Here is the schedule of the fundraiser:
“12 Days of Christmas Blog”
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Diary Schedule
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Date
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Topic
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Diarist
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Time
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12/13 | Partridge in a Pear Tree | iriti | 6pm EST |
12/14 | Two Turtle Doves | iriti | 6pm EST |
12/15 | Three French Hens | spedwybabs | 6pm EST |
12/16 | Four Calling Birds | glendaw271 | 6pm EST |
12/17 | Five Golden Rings | Hedwig | 6pm EST |
12/18 | Six Geese A-Laying | caberkeleywv | 12 Noon EST |
12/19 | Seven Swans Swimming | PatricJuillet | 12 Noon EST |
12/20 | Eight Maids Milking | Stranded Wind | 6pm EST |
12/21 | Nine Ladies Dancing | Progressive Chick | 6pm EST |
12/22 | Ten Lords Leaping | Meteor Blades | 6pm EST |
12/23 | Eleven Pipers Piping | YatPundit | 6pm EST |
12/24 | Twelve Drummers | 4Freedom | 12 Noon EST |