September 19 is always one of my favorite days of the year. You might think the day holds some special meaning for me, or maybe you assume it’s a reminder of an important moment in my life. But you would, unfortunately, be wrong.

I enjoy September 19 for one simple reason: it’s the annual Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Bet you weren’t expecting that, right matey?

I know it’s silly, but I personally think it’s fun getting the chance to say things like “Yo ho! Land ho!” and “avast, me hearties!” and “scurvy!” Wait, maybe that last one isn’t so fun…

Well, whatever way you choose to express your pirate-y language, the day is also a nice excuse to show off your swagger and think about what it’d be like to sail the high seas decked out in the best pirate fashion the 1700’s had to offer. And you can do it all without the downsides of ACTUALLY being a pirate, such as the constant threat of mutiny and bad weather, having to man the cannons in battle, and forgetting where you hid your treasure.

By the time you all get to read this, however, Talk Like a Pirate Day will already be over. (Sorry for the late notice.) But that just gives you plenty of time to brush up on pirate grammar and vocabulary for next year!

But if pirates aren’t your thing, there are always plenty of other weird “national whatever days” out there for you to celebrate. Nationaldaycalendar.com is probably the most comprehensive list out there on the internet so I checked out what they had listed upcoming for the next couple of weeks.

Plenty of them are oddly specific food-based days like “national cherries jubilee day” on September 24 (sidenote: I didn’t even know what that dessert was before now) and “national corned beef hash day” on September 27.

As we transition into Fall weather, I noticed there were several days celebrating specific drinks that would be perfect for this time of the year when everything is starting to cool off. “National chai day” is September 21, followed by “national coffee day” on September 29, and then “national hot mulled cider day” on September 30.

But setting aside reminders to eat (and drink) lots of your favorite foods or the more important serious “awareness” days, a few strange days caught my attention.

September 22 is apparently both “national elephant appreciation day” and “hobbit day.” If you know anything about the Lord of the Rings series, you’ll understand why those two don’t exactly match up together!

September 24 is “national punctuation day” or as I’d like to rename it “national please use the Oxford comma for clarity’s sake day” or “national look up what an interrobang is because it looks cool day.”

The last Saturday in September is observed as “national ghost hunting day.” Personally, I feel like a Saturday in October might be more suitable for spooky spirit chasing, but I’m not the one who came up with the idea. For the more faint of heart, I’d suggest a better way to celebrate this day would just be staying home and watching “Ghostbusters” instead.

October will be here soon, so it might be a good idea to check out what “national days” are coming up. That’ll give you more time to prepare! I think I’m really looking forward to “national noodle day” on October 6 even though I honestly celebrate that one all year long.

What weird and specific things do you think deserve their own recognition day? You might be surprised what’s already on the list!

Holly Taylor is a Staff Writer at Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact her at holly.taylor@r-cnews.com 252-332-7206.