4th Day of Christmas

Happy 4th Day of Christmas! I hope you are enjoying this holiday season with loved ones, as safely as possible.

For today’s gift, I want to tell you about an inspiring woman. At age 51, after being widowed and divorced, Méxican-American plant lover Ynéx Mexía discovered her life’s calling while studying botany at the University of California. According to her card in my Women Explorers Knowledge Cards deck, she discovered over 500 new species while traveling all over the Americas, many times by herself, in Alaska, Mexico, and all over South America. You can read more about her in the National Park Service’s webpage at https://www.nps.gov/people/ynes-mexia.htm

Since it’s Christmastime and we’ve mentioned Mexico, I’d love to share with you the beautiful legend of how poinsettias became associated with Christmas! The alternate name for them is “Flores de noche buena” or “flower of the holy night.” A little girl wanted a gift to bring to the Christ child on Christmas Eve, but she had no money. Find out what happend at https://www.farmersalmanac.com/the-legend-of-the-pointsettia-2815

And completely random but just for fun, since our hero today traveled to South America too, check out this adorable fresh news piece from the BBC, about a dog on the soccer field in Bolivia. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-latin-america-55458599

For today’s region to pray for, please join me in praying for Venezuela. They have been struggling economically and politically since long before the pandemic, which has exacerbated the situation. Thank you.

Reference for Women Explorer Cards Deck: by Sharon M. Hannon, published by Pomegranate Communications, Inc.