BONZA BOTTLER DAY is any day when the date and the month have the same number. Bonza, I'm told, means "excellent" or "really great" in Australian, and there's some suggestion that "bottler" means the same.

Bonza Bottler is a "just because" kind of holiday, started a decade or so ago by the late Elaine Fremont who believed the world needed more holidays. On BBD, we are called to let loose, just for the joy of it, and Ms Fremont's original wish was that we celebrate without alcohol or other artifical stimulants. Celebrate using just our natural ability to be joyous -- even in hard times, letting this part of ourselves play out . . . come out to play. Think of Snoopy, dancing madly to music maybe only he can hear. Think of Shrek and Princess Fiona, giggling and roughhousing as they walk through a field.

Wicki, our Boston Terrier, is a great believer in "just because." She loves to wrestle with Dudney, our 12-year-od cat, and we, in turn, never tire of watching the two of them pouncing and leaping and rolling around. Dogs and cats are not supposed to play together -- their styles are too different, says Conventional Wisdom. But for nearly 4 years now, cat-dog play has been a regular and delightful aspect of our family life.

If they can do it, why can't we? Play, that is. Just because. Take time out from the Tasks of Life, step aside from our accustomed ways of being, and Celebrate. Why? Just because. May you enjoy your own Bonza Bottler Day. This month. This week. Why not today?