Holy Moley! It's National Mole Day

Today is National Mole Day.

Bet you didn’t even know there was such a day, did you? I didn’t.

Although I guessed it was probably a day to “honor” those little burrowing animals that mess up lawns and yards, my first thought had to do with all of the moles that I have on my body. I have mine checked every six months since there is a history of skin cancer in our family. Yet, even in this day and age of cancer awareness and education, I didn’t think there was a day set aside as National Mole Day for examination of those little things on our bodies.


Well, I was right – and I was wrong.
It has nothing to do with spots on our bodies and cancer. It also has nothing to do with the gopher-like animals.

And it even has nothing to do with the reality TV show “The Mole” (a show that Mensa called the smartest show on television.) Nor is it about any spies & agents commonly referred to as moles.

Nor does it relate to the term used for certain Mexican and Spanish sauces, i.e. guacamole and mole verde.

So, that leaves chemistry. Yep, chemistry. National Mole Day is about chemistry. Sounds pretty boring, huh?


What’s more, it isn’t even an all-day thing. It starts at 6:02 am and ends at 6:02 pm. Here’s the scoop from the National Mole Day Foundation:


“. . .Mole Day commemorates Avogadro's Number (6.02 x 10^23), which is a basic measuring unit in chemistry. Mole Day was created as a way to foster interest in chemistry. . . . For a given molecule, one mole is a mass (in grams) whose number is equal to the atomic mass of the molecule. For example, the water molecule has an atomic mass of 18, therefore one mole of water weighs 18 grams. An atom of neon has an atomic mass of 20, therefore one mole of neon weighs 20 grams. In general, one mole of any substance contains Avogadro's Number of molecules or atoms of that substance. This relationship was first discovered by Amadeo Avogadro (1776-1858) and he received credit for this after his death.”


But the truth is that it’s not really as boring as it sounds. Maybe it could be a day to celebrate that special chemistry you have with someone. (Sorta like Valentine’s Day perhaps.)

There are Mole Day greeting cards. There are mole jokes and mole definitions at http://www.moleday.org/. For example, what is molearchy? It’s a government in which moles are in complete control.

One of the jokes: What do you get when you have a bunch of moles acting like idiots? Answer: A bunch of Moleasses.


Well, this post got a whole lot longer than I expected.
Just like making a mountain out of a molehill.
Holy Moley!