Thursday, May 4, 2017

Coward? and Sign of Spring



"I never meant to harm him" he said softly,  "and I almost feel like I took the chicken way out of this whole situation."

"Your enemy meant to harm you," the Temple Guardian replied.  "No matter what you had done, even if you had given him the Djinn bottle, he would never have stopped trying to harm you and your family.  In the end, you did not send him to the other side, his own anger and hate did that."

"I feel sick," he said, and the Temple Guardian remarked, "You do look a bit green."  The ground beneath them began to rumble as the Guardian added, "You are not meant to be here now that your work is done, and as mine is done, too, neither am I."
Linking up with Uncharted Blog and Six Sentence Stories, where the cue is Chicken.

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Gosia, of Looking for Identity, has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World.  Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit others to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.

There's a decorative fence near here that changes with the seasons.

It says, "Keep on the Sunny Side!"




Today is:

Bird Day -- anniversary of the first Bird Day declared in 1894 by the Superintendant of Schools in Oil City, PA, Charles Babcock

Cassinga Day -- Namibia

Childhood Depression Awareness Day / National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day -- US (sometimes also called Green Ribbon Day, SAMHSA's "Caring for Every Child's Mental Health" public awareness event) 

Compliment Someone's Smile Day

Declaration of Independence Day -- Latvia

Dodenherdenking -- Netherlands (Remembrance of those in the armed forces who have died in war or peacekeeping missions.)

Fairy Ring Day (Giving) -- Fairy Calendar

Festa Dei Serpari -- Cocullo, Italy (The Procession of the Snake Catchers, in honor of the city's patron, St. Dominick, whom they believed could cure snakebite)

Festival of Nations -- St. Paul, MN, US (cultural exhibits, food, dance, and folk art from 90 ethnic groups in a celebration held each year since 1932; through Sunday)

Frustrating the Fairies Day -- Ireland (a day to confuse the fairies so they may not cause any mischief, although i can't find any details about how to frustrate them)


Kansas Barbed Wire Swap/Sell -- La Crosse, Kansas (held by the Barbed Wire Collectors Association, and no, i'm not making that up! through Saturday)

Make-a-Book Day -- the Thursday of Family Reading Week 

May Fourth Movement
     Literary Day -- Republic of China
     Youth Day -- People's Republic of China

Memorial Day -- Curacao (military ceremonies to honor victims of WWII, not a government holiday)

Midori no hi -- Japan (Greenery Day/Arbor Day)

National Candied Orange Peel Day

National Day of Prayer -- US / Interfaith

National Day of Reason -- US Humanist alternative to the National Day of Prayer

National Kids Fitness Day -- this one doesn't seem to have any particular sponsor or organization behind it, but please get those kids outdoors to do something fun, any time you can!

National Orange Juice Day

National Weather Observers Day -- another fun day that doesn't seem to be sponsored by anyone, but Family Crafts has suggestions for how to celebrate 

Petite and Proud Day -- i've never heard of this one until now, but it's the one for me!

Relationship Renewal Day -- because someone, somewhere, wants you to stop taking the ones you love for granted

Remembrance Day for Martyrs and the Disabled -- Afghanistan

Respect for Chickens Day -- International (United Poultry Concerns

Richmond Mushroom Festival -- Richmond, MO, US (arts and crafts, carnival, barbecue contest, bike and car show, bands, and stage shows, all to celebrate the fun fungus; through Sunday)

Sagami Giant Kite Festival -- Sagami, Japan (through tomorrow; giant kite that requires a team of 100 people is flown on the banks of the Sagami River)

St. Florian's Day (Patron of brewers, chimney sweeps, coopers, drowning victims, fire prevention, firefighters, harvests, soap-boilers; Austria; Chur, Switzerland; Linz, Austria; Poland; against battle, drowning, fire, and flood)
     a recognized holiday in Austria

St. Venerius of Milan's Day (Patron of lighthouse keepers)

Star Wars Day -- greet others with "May the 4th be with you!"

Upper Canada Village -- Morrisburg, ON, Canada (through early October, various programs that let visitors and students enter the world of the 1860s)

Youth Day -- China


Birthdays Today:

Erin Andrews, 1978
Dawn Stanley, 1970
Randy Travis, 1959
Pia Zadora, 1956
David Guttersn, 1956
Jackie Jackson, 1951
Richard Jenkins, 1947
Nicholas Ashford, 1942
George F. Will, 1941
Roberta Peters, 1930
Audrey Hepburn, 1929
Heloise Bowles Cruse, 1919
Horace Mann, 1796
Bartolomeo Cristofori, 1655


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Beatles at Hollywood Bowl"(Album), 1977
"Another World"(TV), 1964
"New Girl in Town"(Musical), 1957


Today in History:

Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance, 1415
Peter Minuit becomes director-general of New Netherlands, 1626
A French manufacturer debuts the first folding umbrella, 1715
Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III, 1776
Mary Dixon Kies becomes the first woman in the US to obtain a patent, for a method of weaving hats with straw, silk, and thread, 1809
Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile, 1814
The Haymarket Square Riot takes place in Chicago, 1886
The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal, 1904
The Royal Canadian Navy is created, 1910
May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, 1919
Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion, 1932
Ernest Hemingway is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea, 1953
The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South, 1961
The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace Foundation", 1972
An all-female Japanese team reaches the summit of Manaslu, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000-meter peak, 1974
Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1979
Latvia proclaims the renewal of its independence after the Soviet occupation, 1990
The Scottish National Party wins the Scottish general election and becomes the largest party in the Scottish Parliament for the first time ever, 2007

The last nuclear reactor in Japan is shut down, leaving the country without nuclear power for the first time since 1970, 2012

18 comments:

  1. Good job! Reading through the b- days reminded me it s my wife's 60th!!

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  2. Very good story, Mimi. The earth rumbles and now I'm wondering if he'll be transported back to his wife, or swallowed up by the earth.

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  3. I thought this fabulous story was over. I should have known it wasn't. What a wonderful surprise.

    I love the fence that changes with the seasons. That's very clever.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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  4. I keep wondering how this story is going to be resolved. What will happen next?

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  5. Is there going to be an earthquake? I am wondering what is going to happen to both of them. That is a pretty fence!

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  6. Firstly, I loved your six sentences! I was in Tiananmen Square last year and the protests are still very much remembered.

    Click to visit Keith's Ramblings!

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  7. I was happy to come and find more of your wonderful story. This is an excellent line, filled with wisdom... "In the end, you did not send him to the other side, his own anger and hate did that." I do hope he will get to go home to his family now and live peacefully, satisfied with what they have.

    Josie Two Shoes

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  8. nice added insight to the characters here... the idea of victory is often no simply the end of the action. that we feeling repercussions and possibly even guilt, despite how justified we might be in our acts.
    nice

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  9. Great story. I like the six sentences too. You all have a great evening.

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  10. Keep on the sunny side! is good advice!
    Hope you are having a great week!

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  11. So it's not all over yet?? I wonder what happens next. Love that it is Compliment Someone's Smile Day. I don't have plans to go out today, so probably won't be seeing anyone but there is a digger operating nearby ...

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  12. wow! i couldn't grasp the story in my first reading but now i feel the "temple guardian " could also be our inner voice of conscience . Would request for the author's explanation.:)
    Looking forward to seeing you , next Thursday , if i am still on this side, that is :) :)
    Best wishes,
    Moon
    https://aslifehappens60.wordpress.com

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  13. Oh my , I've been out of commission and really hoped I didn't miss too much! I'm so glad this story is still here. Gotta go back and read the last few installments! Zoe/ivy

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  14. Oh my , I've been out of commission and really hoped I didn't miss too much! I'm so glad this story is still here. Gotta go back and read the last few installments! Zoe/ivy

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  15. What a fun idea to change your fence for different seasons. - Great story, I missed a week or two so had to go back to read the ones I missed.

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  16. Our own hate and anger often ends up being our downfall. Good message.

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