Not Afraid (Six Sentence Story) and Good Fences

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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“Have you ever had this close a brush with death?” he hissed in her ear, making sure she felt the cold steel on her neck.

She knew her life depended on keeping her voice steady, even cold, and she did so as she answered, “Yes, even closer.”

“Really?” he almost laughed, and as he shifted his weapon his lifted the hair on her neck and ran his fingers along her hairline, while she suppressed her shiver of disgust and simply said, “Yes, really.”

“You’re pretending not to be scared of me, but you should be very afraid,” his voice had become hard, and he tightened his grip.

Now or never, she thought, and she let her breath out as hard as she could while pulling herself down out of his grip with all her might and kicking backward with her left leg, just as she had been taught.

Caught off guard, he instinctively grabbed for the leg she had kicked and so she was able to knock the gun from his hand and get him to the floor; while he lay there writhing in agony from her second kick, which was to the groin, she said, “I’m not afraid of you, I’m a mother and I take karate with my children!”

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

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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.   

This one is very pretty to me:

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Today is:

Bicycle Race Day -- anniversary of what is supposed to have been the first bicycle race ever, at the Parc de Saint-Cloud, Paris, in 1868

Corpus Christi -- Catholic Christian

Dia de Castilla-La Mancha -- Castile-La Mancha, Spain

Doha Document for Peace in Darfur Commemoration -- Sudan

European Maritime Day -- European Council (this year's host for the conferences is Bulgas, Bulgaria, through tomorrow, with a lineup of activities for the general public at the Burgas Sea Festival)

Fardagar -- Traditional Icelandic Calendar (time when farm workers moved from one farm to another, the time to settle debts, and until the 20th-Century, the day to start the fiscal year; always the Thursday through Sunday of the 7th week of summer)

Feast of the Visitation of Mary -- Christianity (Mary's visit of her cousin Elizabeth, chronicled in Luke 1:39-56)

Friendship Festival -- Lathrop, Missouri, US (including the super hero look-alike contest; through Saturday)

Great American Brass Band Festival -- Danville, KY, US (this year's theme is Brass Greats of American Jazz; through Sunday)

"Make My Day" Day -- birth anniversary of Clint Eastwood

National Macaroon Day

Royal Brunei Malay Regiment Day / Royal Brunei Armed Forces Day -- Brunei

Save Your Hearing Day -- because once it is gone, you will regret it; on the anniversary of the concert by The Who which set a Guiness World Record for loudest rock concert in 1976

Speak in Complete Sentences Day -- be a good example!

St. Petronilla's Day (Patron of mountain travellers; against fever)

Take This Job and Shove It Day -- birth anniversary of Johnny Paycheck

This Day (again) -- Fairy Calendar

What You Think Upon Grows Day -- Stephanie West Allen wants you to remember the power of positive thinking

World No Tobacco Day -- WHO  

Birthdays Today:

Jonathan Tucker, 1982

Colin Farrell, 1976

Phil Keoghan, 1967

Brooke Shields, 1965

Lea Thompson, 1961

Chris Elliot, 1960

Roma Maffia, 1958

Kyle Secor, 1958

Gregory Harrison, 1950

Tom Berenger, 1950

John Bonham, 1948

Sharon Gless, 1943

Joe Namath, 1943

Johnny Paycheck, 1941

Terry Waite, 1939

Peter Yarrow, 1938

Clint Eastwood, 1930

Patricia Roberts Harris, 1924

Prince Rainier of Monaco, 1923

Denholm Elliott, 1922

Don Ameche, 1908

Norman Vincent Peale, 1898

Fred Allen, 1894

Walt Whitman, 1819

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Survivor"(TV), 2000

"Seinfeld"(TV), 1990

"Beatlemania"(Musical), 1977

Today in History:

Rameses II (The Great) becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, BC1279

A devastating earthquake strikes Antioch, Turkey, killing 250,000, 526

Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus and Cumans, 1223

Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary, 1669

The Godiva procession through Coventry begins, 1678

The Province of Pennsylvania bans all theater productions, 1759

In Australia, Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth, reached Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains, 1813

In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O'Neill leads 850 Fenian raiders across the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, Ontario, as part of an effort to free Ireland from the United Kingdom. Canadian militia and British regulars repulse the invaders in over the next three days, 1866

Dr James Moore of the UK wins the first recorded bicycle race, a 2k velocipede race at Parc de St Cloud, Paris, 1868

Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes, 1884

Arrival at Plymouth of Tawhiao, King of Maoris, to claim protection of Queen Victoria, 1884

Over 2,200 people die after a dam break sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1889

The Union of South Africa (predecessor of the Republic of South Africa) is created, 1910

The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles, 1927

A 7.1 magnitude Earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan, 1931

The Republic of South Africa is created, 1961

The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide  that buries the town of Yungay, Peru, 1970

In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30, 1971

The Muppet Movie, Jim Henson's Muppets' first foray into the world of feature length motion pictures, is released, 1979

The burning of Jaffna Library, Sri Lanka, is one of the violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the twentieth century, 1981

Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead, 1985

Athena 98.4 FM, the first legal private radio station in Greece, starts broadcasting, 1987

Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was Deep Throat, 2005

Asteroid 1998 QE2, an asteroid measuring nearly 1.7 miles across, and its moon, pass within 3.6 million miles of the earth, 2013

What and Why (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)  

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.

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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts that encourages us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.  This month, the prompts are being provided by Margaret Adamson and her friend Sue Fulton, with some pictures by her friend Bill, and are posted by Elephant's Child.        

               

This week we have a phrase:

1. Back to the drawing board

And/or

Another of Bill's photos.

  

Yes, it's a long road.  It always feels longer when the product didn't go over so well.

There's a stark beauty out here that just becomes hot and sere and treacherous when we are heading back to home base to start over instead of to start production.

Today, it's back to the drawing board.

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Today is:

Anguilla Day -- Anguilla

Arrival Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

BookExpo America -- Jacob K Javits COnvention Center, NYC, NY, US (publishers display fall titles; through Friday)

Dia de Canarias -- CN, Spain (Canary Island Day)

Dia de las Madres -- Nicaragua(Mother's Day)

Einherjar -- Asatru (Modern Norse Pagan) Calendar (a memorial for the war dead in Valhalla)

Feast Day of St. Joan of Arc (Patron of captives, martyrs, opposition of Church authorities, people ridiculed for their piety, prisoners, rape victims, soldiers, WACs, WAVES; France)

Heirloom Seed Day -- While i can't find the history of this one, it's a good one to celebrate, we need to raise awareness of and preserve heirloom seeds

Indian Arrival Day -- Trinidad and Tobago (anniversary of the 1845 arrival of the first Indian laborers to Trinidad)

Lod Massacre Remembrance Day -- Puerto Rico

Loomis Day -- because if we are going to honor Marconi, we should also honor the Washington, D.C., dentist Mahlon Loomis, who patented a wireless telegraphy system before Marconi was even born

My Bucket's Got a Hole In It Day -- this one may be listed on another day as well, since no two sites agree; mercy, just go get a new one already! or go get out your Hank Williams records

National Mint Julep Day

National Senior Health and Fitness Day -- US (don't let age get in the way of staying healthy!)  

Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival -- Sedalia, MO, US (with a variety of free and paid venues, it's a good time for all; through Saturday)

St. Walstan of Bawburgh's Day (Patron of agricultural workers, farmers and farm workers, field hands, husbandmen)

This Day -- Fairy Calendar

Water a Flower Day -- no sponsor or reason given for this day, except that the spring rains are slowing and you don't want your garden to wilt

World MS Day   

Anniversaries Today:

Henry VIII marries Jane Seymore, 1536

Birthdays Today:

Blake Bashoff, 1981

Trey Parker, 1972

Wynonna Judd, 1964

Tom Morello, 1964

Ted McGinley, 1958

Colm Meaney, 1953

Stephen Tobolowsky, 1951

Meredith MacRae, 1945

Gale Eugene Sayers, 1943

Michael J. Pollard, 1939

Keir Dullea, 1936

Clint Walker, 1927

Benny Goodman, 1909

Mel Blanc, 1908

Countee Cullen, 1903

Peter Carl Fabergé, 1846

Czar Peter the Great, 1672

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Paperback Writer"(Single release), 1966

"War Requiem"(Britten Op. 66), 1962

"Odisséia de uma raça / Odyssey of a Race"(Villa-Lobos Symphonic poem), 1954

"Prodana nevesta / The Bartered Bride"(Opera), 1866

Today in History:

Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem; the Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall, 70

19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal, 1431

In Florida, Hernando de Soto  lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold, 1539

Publication of La Gazette, the first French newspaper, 1631

The Pennsylvania Evening Post become the first daily paper in the US, 1783&

John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria, 1842

Westminster's Big Ben rang for the first time in London, 1859

Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern "Memorial Day") is observed in the United States for the first time, 1868

New York City's Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public, 1879

The Treaty of London, 1913, ends the First Balkan War and Albania becomes an independent nation, 1913

In China protests erupt against the Great Powers infringing on Chinese sovereignty, 1925

A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes, 1948

The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened, 1959

launch of Surveyor 1 the first US spacecraft to achieve landing on an extraterrestrial body, 1966

At the Ascot Park in Gardena, California, daredevil Evel Knievel jumps his motorcycle over 16 cars lined up in a row, 1967

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators, 1989

272 days after the September 11 attacks, closing ceremonies are held for the clean up/recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site in New York City. The last remaining steel beam is removed and transported to the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, 2002

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel pledges to end all nuclear power within 12 years, 2011

Former Chad dictator Hissène Habré is convicted of crimes against humanity by the Extraordinary African chambers, 2016

Really Random Tuesday

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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There’s so much going on, it’s the perfect time for linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked.  

One of the things i hoped would happen is that we would get some rain here so that i would not have to worry about watering quite so much for Mr. BA while he is gone.

On Sunday, we got a nice bit of rain at our place and not a drop on their end of town.

Monday i got a break, and the clouds delivered.  Now i hope we continue to get one of those nice showers each afternoon.

He also asked me to do a bit of weeding, if i had time.  Not only do i have a job or two or three besides his place each day this week, i only remember some of the plants he identified as intruders (or "volunteers", as Ms. S calls them).  When i tried to get the weeds out of the iris bed, i got a new respect for the Biblical parable Jesus told about The Wheat and The Tares.

Jesus told a story of a landowner having his field sown with wheat, only to have an enemy come in and plant tares (weeds).  The workers ask if they should pull up the tares, but the landowner notes that this would just tear up the roots of the wheat as well.  He tells them to leave it to all grow together and harvest it all at the same time, separating it out then.  This is referencing the end of the world, when the evil and good will be separated.

In the same way you can’t pull up the tares without damaging the wheat, it's very difficult to pull up the "volunteers" without tugging on and maybe damaging the roots of the irises.

Big Red the new kitten is precious.  He’s very shy, i have to sit and wait a while, and once he is not scared, he comes out to visit.  It takes about an hour to get him comfortable enough to play and allow petting.  While he is not thrilled with being held, he does allow it.

He is also not using his litter box, preferring to "go" under the bed in the spare room where he is living.  When i clean the house this Friday as usual, Sweetie and i will have to move him to the bathroom, move the furniture, and try to clean the floor thoroughly.

Dr. D and i spent the morning yesterday trying to track down all of her checkbooks and get all of her purses into one place.  She has three banks, and since she orders more checks every time she misplaces the last set, we now have quite the collection.  Her purses filled three paper grocery sacks, and she wants to go through them and get all of the "important" stuff out of them.

There was a small incident yesterday evening.  Little Girl didn't have her key to the house, and Sweetie had already locked the door, as i hadn't gotten home from work yet and it was getting dark.

She knocked at the door, and he didn't hear her.  She tried to call him, but he'd turned his phone off for the evening and put it on the charger.  So she tried knocking on one of the windows.

These are old windows, the kind that shatter into long shards that will cut you to ribbons, and they shatter very easily.  #1 Son once broke one by tapping it with a wooden spoon!

When i got home from work last night, i had to cut pieces of cardboard and fit them and tape up the kitchen window.  Today, Sweetie is buying a sheet of clear plastic to go over it from the outside.  We can't replace the window, and the glass is a very odd size and very costly to get into these old frames.  Clear plastic will do for the time being.

Right now, i'm not sure what's going on with so many blogs i read.  Many times i cannot comment, no matter if it's a Blogger or Wordpress or anything else.  If you don't see me commenting on your blog, i promise i am trying.  It's like pulling teeth, especially on Wordpress blogs.

If you end up with two or three comments, it's because they are showing on my end as not publishing, so i try more than once, and sometimes with more than one ID.

Finally, today is Red-headed Alec's birthday!  He is 27.

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Today is:

Ambarvalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (purification festival to Ceres, date approximate)

Ascension of Baha'u'llah -- Baha'i

Castleton Garland Celebration -- Derbyshire, England (a Garland King and Lady ride the bounds of the parish on white horses, after which the garland the King wore is placed on the church tower; possibly dating back to Oak Apple Celebrations)

Democracy Day -- Nigeria

End of the Middle Ages Day -- considered such by many historians because of the fall of Constantinople on this day in 1453

Feast of Mars -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Full Flower Moon / Corn Planting Moon / Milk Moon

    Buddha Day/Vesak/Waisak  -- Bhuddist's Buddha Day; date varies with many celebrating tomorrow, and some areas already started the celebrations yesterday; sometimes called "Buddha's Birthday"

    Heavenly Sage Bao Sheng’s Birthday -- Taoism

    Kasone Full Moon -- Myanmar

    Vesak Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka

    Waisak/Vesak Festival -- Borobudur Temple, Java, Indonesia (on the day of the full moon, a stunning and spiritual celebration of Buddha's birthday)

International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers -- UN

Learn About Composting Day -- can't find a sponsor for this day, but there is a week sponsored each year here; and you can learn about composting here, too 

Lord Buddha's Parinirvana -- Bhutan

Mount Everest Day -- Nepal (declared on the anniversary of first ascent in 1953)

National Coq Au Vin Day

Oak Apple Day / Royal Oak Day -- England (celebration of the restoration of the monarchy; no longer officially recognized, but many localities have traditions that have grown up around this date which are still celebrated)

Pink Flamingo Day -- Don Feathersone created the first one on this day in 1957

Put a Pillow on Your Fridge Day -- supposedly dating back, in Europe and the Americas, to the days when you put a piece of cloth in your larder for good luck; why it became a pillow no one knows

Runic Half-Month of Odal (home, possessions) commences

Squoosh an Ice Cream Sandwich Day -- rules say you must squoosh, not squish or squash!

St. Bona of Pisa's Day (Patron of couriers, flight attendants, guides, pilgrims, travellers; Pisa, Italy)

Anniversaries Today:

Rhode Island becomes the 13th US State, 1790

Wisconsin becomes the 30th US State, 1848

Birthdays Today:

Noel Gallagher, 1967

Lisa Whelchel, 1963

Melissa Etheridge, 1961

Adrian Paul, 1959

Rupert Everett,1959

Annette Bening, 1958

LaToya Jackson, 1956

Danny Elfman, 1953

Anthony Geary, 1947

Kevin Conway, 1942

Al Unser, Sr., 1939

Francis Thomas "Fay" Vincent, Jr, 1938

Paul Erlich, 1932

John F. Kennedy, 1917

Tenzing Norgay, 1914

T.H. White, 1906

Bob Hope, 1903

Oswald Spengler, 1880

G.K. Chesterton, 1874

Patrick Henry, 1736

Today in History:

Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire, 1453

Charles II (on his birthday) is restored to the throne of Great Britain, 1660

Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Natives, 1677

The right of Canadians to keep Indian slaves is upheld at Quebec City, 1733

In Patrick Henry's historic speech against the Stamp Act, he answers a cry of "Treason!" with, "If this be treason, make the most of it!" 1765

Present constitution of Switzerland takes effect, 1874

Chemist John Pemberton places his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, the ad appearing in the Atlanta Journal, 1886

Igor Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring receives its premiere performance in Paris, provoking a riot, 1913

Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the loss of 1,024 lives, 1914

Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra record Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", the best-selling Christmas single in history, for Decca Records in Los Angeles, 1942

Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 1953

First of the annual Bilderberg conferences, 1954

Amputee  Steve Fonyo completes cross-Canada marathon at Victoria, British Columbia, after 14 months, 1985

Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station, 1999

Olusegun Obasanjo takes office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule, 1999

A WWII Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., US, 2004

Scientists describe the 160-million year-old fossile of Aurornis xui as the most basal species of Avialae, possibly shifting the evolutionary position of the Archaeopteryx as the oldest known bird, 2013