I completely ignored it, went about having a delightful day with friends, finishing projects and running my errands. In fact the entire April fool's day would have completely slipped my mind if I had not glanced at a calendar this morning. Living in Southern California, I believe Mother Nature has pulled the greatest prank of all; with the rains and winds from last week, the unbearable heat we're experiencing today seems like a major joke on all of us who were complaining about the cold. I am dreaming of laying on a beach one moment, of skying down a snowy slope the next, yet here I am sitting and blogging with the fan spinning out of control over my head. I refuse to turn on the AC in April.While I bear this heat, everywhere around the world people are pulling some kind of prank on each other and getting a kick out of it. Some actually get a kick in the butt as they have the old "kick me sign" on their back, we can thank Scotland for coming up with that one ages ago. I found out that Scotland even stretches the April's fools to two days, calling the second day "Taily Daily".
Being originally from the "french quarter" of Canada, we used to call the day "poisson d'avril" April Fish, as gullible young fish are caught easily. It also involved sticking paper fish on the back of the unsuspecting fool - I mean - person. Well, I'm no fish! But I am a fish astrologically, though now a days even this is to be debated. Not only am I born on the cusp of Pisces and Aries, but they've come and added a thirteenth sign... wait! Maybe that's a prank!
Know Thy Self is all I can say.
So where did April Fools day come from? No one really knows but there are several theories. One has to do with the French and the changing of the dates when they would celebrate New Year, those who rejected the change continued to go about their traditional ways and on account of it were called fools. The other has to do with an old European Spring Festival which included the practice of pulling pranks. Both date back to the Middle Ages. The earliest connection made with April first and playing practical jokes is in Jeffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales which was written in the 14th century. It's amazing April Fool's has survived, or perhaps it isn't that amazing, after all people just enjoy a good old practical joke.
April is also the Month we observe Easter, Passover, Earth Day, and it is the official "Stress Awareness Month"; therefore, playing a few practical jokes on our colleagues and friends can generate a great deal of enthusiasm and laughter which is a great way to release stress!
The pranks today are more global and still received with joy - and if you're on the receiving end, be a good sport about it. You can always get them next year!
