Thursday, June 25, 2026

The Best (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy’s Poetry Day, and Brian’s Thankful Thursday

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He gets a charge out of telling the story because it always brings such a laugh.


We'd been out on a date, walking because when you live in a small town just a block from the main street where everything is located, you don't drive to the movie theater, you stroll, shyly holding hands because you know there's gossip, but it's mostly the older ladies nodding approvingly since you both came from "good" families and they've been hoping you'd make a match of it for several years now.


Even the youth pastor has kind of been wondering why you two didn't say anything but just went away to colleges in the same nearby city, coming home for weekends and holidays and simply acting the same as always, but everyone knows and wonders why there's "no progress."


Anyway, the movie was over -- there were only two screens, and showings were the early birds at 4pm and the matinee at 7pm -- and we came out of the now closing-for-the-night theater into a light drizzle which quickly escalated, and though we'd planned for him to walk me straight home, dove into the only open place just to get out of the sudden deluge.


This place always stayed open until one hour after the theater closed in case someone was hungry, and although their menu was limited it would serve the purpose and we ordered and received our meals and sat down, damp but now drying out a bit, and enjoyed our burgers and fries.


That's when it happened, he looked up out of the blue and said, "Will you marry me?" and I stared a minute, smiled and said, "Yes," and we laughed and finished our meal and walked home in the downpour anyway and he loves to tell how the best meal he ever ate was when he proposed to me at our hometown McDonald's.



Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Charge.


(Please note this is not autobiographical.  My Ms. G stories are about a real client i have, but this story was made up.)     




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While Good Fences Around the World seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird, i still enjoy looking for and posting interesting fences, so i will!





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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  This week's image and my poem:    







I knew snagging discount airfare

would bring me to my knees,

I hope I don't throw my back out,

'cause now I need to sneeze!


I'm not sure I'm gonna make it,

I've already got a crick,

Just get us there fast, Mr. Pilot,

and make the landing stick!



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Angel Brian's Family of Brian's Home - Forever hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  


Today i am thankful i made arrangements to take the day off from Ms. G yesterday, pick up Ms. V after doing my volunteer shift at the cat shelter, and the two of us attended a ladies' testimony luncheon at the church.  It was very uplifting.






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Today is:


Arbor Day -- Philippines


Ashura -- Islam (optional day of fasting that begins at sundown, local observances and national holidays may vary)


Color TV Day -- CBS broadcast the first program in color on this day in 1951


Day of the Seafarer -- The International Maritime Organization (this year’s theme is “Seafarers in the Front Line”)   


Feast of the Optional Holiday -- pick one, and celebrate it or don't, your option!


Festival of Ranting and Vaporing -- sponsored by The Daily Bleed


Global Beatles Day -- read about the meaning of this day, and why this date was picked, here


Gotanshin Sai -- Kitano Tenmangu, Kyoto, Japan (festival to commemorate the birth of Lord Sugawara, with ceremonies to ward off summer infections)


Independence Day -- Mozambique(1975)


Leon Day -- Noel spelled backward, the turning poing on the calendar when Christmas starts getting closer; those who make Christmas/Noel gifts need to start thinking about their projects


Ludi Taurii -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Games of the Bull, a two-day festival held once every five years)


National Bomb Pop Day -- on the last Thursday in June, right before US Independence Day, kick off the celebration with the original red, white, and blue bomb pops


National Catfish Day


National Fried Okra Day


National Handshake Day -- US; sponsored by professional development companies on the last Thursday in June, encouraging everyone to develop a good, professional handshake


National Strawberry Parfait Day


Slovenian Sovereignty Day / National Day -- Slovenia


Statehood Day -- Croatia


St. Eurosia's Day (a/k/a Orosia; Patron of Jaca, Spain; against bad weather)

     Fiesta de Santa Orosia -- Jaca, Spain


St. Molaug's Day (Patron of Argyll, Scotland; against mental illness)




Anniversaries Today:


Virginia becomes the 10th US State, 1788



Birthdays Today:


Scott Terra, 1987

Linda Cardellini, 1975

Dikembe Mutombo, 1966

George Michael, 1963

Ricky Gervais, 1961

Sonia Sotomayor, 1954

Jimmie Walker, 1949

Phyllis George, 1949

Carly Simon, 1945

Willis Reed, Jr., 1942

June Lockhart, 1925

Sidney Lumet, 1924

Anne Revere, 1903

George Orwell, 1903

Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold, 1886

Rose Cecil O'Neill, 1874



Debuting/Premiering Today:


Het Achterhuis. Dagbrieven van 14 juni 1942 tot 1 augustus 1944(First publication of excerpts from Anne Frank's diaries), 1947

"It Pays To Be Ignorant"(Radio), 1942



Today in History:


The Book of Concord or Concordia, the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, is published, 1580 

Elena Cornaro Piscopia is the first woman awarded a doctorate of philosophy, from the University of Padua, 1678

Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Hungary, 1741

Lucien B. Smith of Ohio patents the first version of barbed wire, 1867

Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, 1876

Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated the first President of Ireland, 1938

The Diary of Anne Frank is published, 1947

The Berlin airlift begins, 1948

The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea, 1950

CBS broadcasts the first color television signal, 1951

First live global satellite television programme – Our World, 1967

Mozambique achieves independence, 1975

Microsoft  is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington, 1981

Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia, 1991

Kim Campbell is chosen as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and becomes the first female Prime Minister of Canada, 1993

An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir, 1997

The Soufrière Hills volcano in Montserrat erupts resulting in the death of 19 people, 1997

The Harvard School of Health Study concludes that since 1980 the number of adults with diabetes has doubled, 2011

A portion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which protects minority voting rights, is struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling that Congress has not taken into account the nation's racial progress when singling out certain states for federal oversight, 2013

The US Supreme Court rules that police cannot examine the digital contents of a cell phone without a court order, 2014

Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson announces it plans to move some production abroad in response to EU retaliatory tariffs, 2018

Mirazur on the French Riviera is crowned the world's best restaurant at a ceremony in Singapore, 2019

The WHO declares the Ebola outbreak in the Congo over, after 2,280 deaths in two years, 2020

Scientists publish findings surrounding the 30,000-year-old intact remains of a baby wooly mammoth found frozen in permafrost in Klondike gold fields in the Yukon, Canada, 2022

China’s Chang’e 6 mission becomes the first to return samples to the Earth from the far side of the moon, 2024

Axiom Mission 4 launches to the International Space Station, with two of its four astronauts being the first from Poland and India since the end of the Cold War, 2025

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Why Is There a Flamingo in the Cat Shelter Fridge? (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless WednesdayCatsynthKeith, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     




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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.    


This month the words/prompts are supplied by Hilary Melton-Butcher and can be found right here at River's blog.


This week's words/prompts are:


1.smoking  

2.culture  

3.popular  

4.decade  

5.soft


and/or:


1.consumption  

2.stretch  

3.ripen  

4.fields  

5.cavern


and an extra set of words:


1.jumper  

2.multiple  

3.oven  

4.disprove  

5.support

6.bound  

7.rural  

8.swathes  

9.poverty  

10.pop


use any list or all, or mix and match, just have fun.


Charlotte's  colour of the month is Razzmatazz



She stood at the OVEN with her Razzmatazz pink apron on, gloved hands ready to remove the MULTIPLE dishes in which was supper, when it hit her.


With SMOKING hot pans of good smelling meats and veggies being shuttled out and the bread being shuttled in was a terrible time for her writer's block to break.


Like SWATHES of RURAL POVERTY sweeping over a landscape between bustling cities, her block would come on on her and sometimes STRETCH for hours into days.


The list of words she went to for inspiration would leave her flat.  She'd immerse herself in the CONSUMPTION of POPULAR CULTURE for a time until she'd feel she could go a DECADE without bothering with it again.


The CAVERN of emptiness, where ideas just don't come, would lead her to do MULTIPLE things to end it, BOUND and determined it wasn't going to get the better of her.


Sometimes she'd go to the library and read children's books, or try to learn enough math to DISPROVE a theorem her husband would throw at her.  As a scientist, he'd try to show SUPPORT where he could, and he figured distracting her literature brain with higher math just might do the trick.


Eventually, though, with a SOFT POP, her dry bubble would burst and her mind would be like a swirling FIELD of grain which had decided to RIPEN at just this exact moment.


Standing in a hot kitchen trying to put together a meal was about the worst time for it to happen, though.  She set the hot dishes down, grabbed the pencil and grocery list from the side of the fridge and scribbled notes frantically so as to catch every last bit, and then, with a lopsided grin of triumph, called for her husband and kids to come eat.


Once supper was over, they would clean, she would write.


(Note:  I could not for the life of me think of a story for today, so i got online and looked up a site offering short story ideas.  One was, "You have a writer's block breakthrough at the worst possible time."  Bingo.)




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Today is Cat World Domination Day!  They've already taken over the internet, they're going to finish their takeover of the whole world as soon as they're done with their naps.


Thanks to Barb Kowalik and The Cat Blogosphere for the event badge.         



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Today is:


Araw ng Maynila -- Philippines (Manila Day)


Bannockburn Day -- Scotland (decisive battle of the first Scottish War of Independence, led by Robert Bruce)


Burning of the Lamps in Egypt at Sais -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar, a celebration of Isis and Neith (date approximate)


Calcio Fiorentino -- Florence, Italy (reviving 16th century style football in period costumes, through the 28th)


Carabobo Day -- Venezuela (battle commemoration)


Cat World Domination Day


Celebration of the Senses -- Wellcat Holidays urges you to enjoy all five (six?) of your senses today


Countryman's Day -- Peru (one of Peru's three Fiestas Patrias Peruanas)


Day of the Caboclo -- Amazonas State, Brazil


Feast of Rahmat (Mercy) -- Baha'i


Flying Saucer Day -- anniversary of Kenneth Arnold's 1947 sighting, while flying near Mt. Rainier, of 9 metallic, circular objects he could not identify


Fors Fortuna -- Ancient Roman Calendar (rites and festival for the goddess of good luck and fortune)


International Fairy Day/Faerie Day -- day for collectors, believers, and artists to share their love for the little folk   


Museum Comes to Life Day -- another fun and funny day someone came up with


National Creamy Pralines Day


St. John the Baptist's Nativity Day and related Midsummer celebrations (Patron of baptism, bird dealers, converts, children with convulsions, epileptics, farriers, French Canadians, lambs, monastic life, motorways, printers, tailors; against convulsions, epilepsy, hail and hailstorms, and spasms; Patron of over 60 cities and countries around the globe)

    Inti Raymi -- Peru (Incan Sun Festival)

    Jaanipaev -- Estonia

    Jani -- Latvia

    Jónsmessa -- Iceland (feast of St. John the Baptist, considered a magical night when cows can speak, seals take on human form, finding magical stones and herbs is propitious, and rolling naked in the dew is healing.)

    Macau Day -- China (celebrating the defeat of Dutch invasion forces in 1622 and paying homage to St. John as the port's Patron Saint)

    Midsummer Day -- England

    National Holiday -- Quebec, Canada (Sant Jean-Baptiste)

    Saint John the Baptist Day -- Andorra

    Saint Jonas Festival or Jonines -- Lithuania

    San Juan -- CT and GA, Spain

    Surinal -- North Korea

    Zuni Buffalo, Corn, and Comanche Dances -- Zuni Native Americans (for fertility of land and people; Vespers is also observed, as San Juan is their Patron Saint)


Swim a Lap Day -- just for fun!


Swing a Kid Day -- if swimming isn't right for you, go play on the swing set



Anniversaries Today:


Eton College is founded by Henry VI, 1441



Birthdays Today:


Sherry Stringfield, 1967

Joe Penny, 1956

Nancy Allen, 1950

Phyllis George, , 1949

Peter Weller, 1947

Mick Fleetwood, 1947

Ellison Shoji Onizuka, 1946

Jeff Beck, 1944

Michele Lee, 1942

Claude Chabrol, 1930

John Anthony Ciardi. 1916

Phil Harris, 1904

Jack Dempsey, 1895

Roy O. Disney, 1893

Ambrose Bierce, 1842

Henry Ward Beecher, 1813



Debuting/Premiering Today:


Catch-22(Film), 1970

"Hopalong Cassidy"(TV), 1949

"American Mercury Presents:  Meet the Press"(Radio), 1945



Today in History:


Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces, takes place, 972

A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion, 1374

John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland; the first European 

exploration of the region since the Vikings, 1497

Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founds Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines, 1571

Samuel de Champlain discovers the mouth of the Saint John River, site of Reversing Falls and the present day city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1604

The colony of New Jersey is founded, 1664

Kingston, Jamaica is founded, 1692

The Premier Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world (now the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London, England, 1717

The first republican constitution in France is adopted, 1793

The decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain, the Battle of Carabobo takes place, 1821

First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français, 1880

The first exhibition of Pablo Picasso's work opens, 1901

Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to get a million dollar contract, 1916

The first airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto begins, 1918

Siam is renamed Thailand by Plaek Pibulsonggram, the third prime minister, 1939

The Soviet Union makes overland travel between the West with West Berlin impossible, 1948

The United Kingdom grants Zanzibar internal self-government, 1963

Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud completes his first mission, becoming the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist, 1985

John Isner of the United States defeats Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon, in the longest match in professional tennis history, 2010

The last known Pinta Island Tortoise, Lonesome George, is found dead in the Galapagos Islands, 2012

British Prime Minister David Cameron resigns after the UK votes to leave the EU, 2016

Saudi Arabia lifts its ban on women driving, 2018

The US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, 2022

According to the UN, Sudan has the largest number of displaced children in the world after a year of civil war, 2024

NATO summit takes place in The Hague, Netherlands, with all 32 NATO members expected to attend, 2025