Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Joe, the Cranky Old Man, i thought of you when i saw this (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 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 that encourages us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.    

This month, the prompts are being provided by Delores at Mumblings.

This week's words are:

bespoke
fence
poster
drained
splice
ergonomic

and/or

bridle
bent
wallow
derail
stoned
savings

The tilt to parts of the FENCE BESPOKE of either neglect or lack of funds, he was not certain which.

Rounding the corner, he saw a pig WALLOW next to a barn that looked to be in about the same condition as the fence.  

The house beyond it, however, was in much better shape.  It could have been on a POSTER advertising the charms of country living.

The whole scene reminded him of the saying about how if a man's barns are bigger or better than his house, his income exceeds his outgo and his SAVINGS are large.  This was the opposite, obviously a small farm where the people took fabulous care of the house, but the rest of the place looked shabby chic, or perhaps like the owners were always STONED.

A sudden noise behind him DERAILed his thoughts and he turned to see a boy of about 12 on horseback, fighting with the reins to get control as the horse tried to run away with him.  With only a split second to act, he jumped aside and grabbed a tree limb that BENT down close to the road.  Swinging himself up on it in a manner more desperate than ERGONOMIC, he had barely gotten a clumsy hold on his perch when the horse was next to him and he reached out to grab the boy out of the saddle.

He had hold of the child more by the back of his clothing than anything, and since he was only dangling a couple of feet above the road by this time, he let go and then jumped down himself.  The boy picked himself up and looked at him, DRAINED of all color, and tried to catch his breath.

"Thank you," he finally heaved.  "You're welcome," the man replied, as what happened hit him and the adrenaline aftermath set in.

"Where do you live?  We need to get you home and tell your family what's happened.  They will need to look for the horse.  I'm Dave, by the way," the man said, offering his hand to the youngster, who looked befuddled at first.

Reaching out hesitantly to give a handshake, probably the first of his life, the youngster said, "I'm Phillip, and don't worry about the horse, he knows where the barn is.  Dad keeps trying to SPLICE that BRIDLE together and it's just not holding.  Steely Dean runs away every chance he gets if the bridle doesn't hold, but he always comes back."

"Well, I'd feel better if I could make sure you get home safely before I go back to the motel," Dave said.

"That's home," Phillip answered, pointing to the house Dave had been musing about.

"Are you sure you are okay?" Dave asked.


"I'm sure, and thanks again," Phillip answered.  "I'd best get back to the house, Dad will be calling me for chores soon."   He turned and headed toward the gate, leaving Dave to slowly amble back to the motel on the edge of town, thinking deeply.


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Today is:

Banned Websites Awareness Day -- sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians     

Black Walnut Festival -- Stockton, MO, US (tours of the world's largest black walnut processing plant, plus parade, crafts, carnival and entertainment; through Saturday)

Bureflux -- Discordian Calendar

Cobweb Pie Making Day -- Fairy Calendar

Dia de la Bandera Nacional -- Ecuador (Day of the National Flag)

Dominion Day -- New Zealand (trad.)

European Day of Languages -- European Union

Festival of Venus Genetrix -- Ancient Roman Calendar

International Tool Day -- internet generated, now gladly embraced by toolmakers

Johnny Appleseed Day -- birth anniversary of John Chapman

Love Note Day -- take pen and paper and send that special someone a love note today, the idea of Leona Hamel of QC, Canada

Mesothelioma Awareness Day -- bringing to light this cancer caused by asbestos exposure   

National Pancake Day

National Women's Health and Fitness Day -- US, sponsored by Fitness Day    

Old Holy Rood Day -- OS calendar (the day blackberries become unsafe for picking) related observance
    Mid-Autumn Day -- Scottish Highlands (traditional; considered the day harts begin to mate and a weather prognostication day)

Search for Your Baseball Cards Again Day -- on lots of trivia sites; recommended because you never know

September Revolution Day -- Yemen

Sts. Cosmas and Damian's Day (Patrons of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, barbers, blind people, chemical industry/manufacturers, doctors/physicians/surgeons, hairdressers, midwives, people with hernias; Alberobello, Italy; Ossimo, Italy; against blindness and pestilence) related observance:
    Begin now to lay in supplies for your Michaelmas supper on the 29th

United States Postal Service Day -- US (the first postmaster general under the current constitution, Samuel Osgood, was appointed this day in 1789)

World Contraception Day -- International


Birthdays Today:

Serena Williams, 1981
Lawrence Leritz, 1962
Melissa Sue Anderson, 1962
Linda Hamilton, 1956
Jane Smiley, 1949
Mary Beth Hurt, 1948
Olivia Newton-John, 1948
Lynn Anderson, 1947
Brian Ferry, 1945
Anne Robinson, 1944
Kent McCord, 1942
Julie London, 1926
Jack LaLanne, 1914
George Gershwin, 1898
T.S. Eliot, 1888
Edmund Gwenn, 1877
John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman, 1774
St. Francis of Assisi, 1181


Debuting/Premiering Today:

George(Magazine), 1995
"Knight Rider"(TV), 1982
"The Brady Bunch"(TV), 1969
"Hawaii Five-O"(TV), 1968
"Gilligan's Island"(TV), 1964
"The Beverly Hillbillies"(TV), 1962
"West Side Story"(Musical), 1957
"Lucia di Lammermoor"(Opera), 1835
"The Gladiator"(Play), 1831


Today in History:

In keeping a vow he made at the Battle of Pharsalus, Julius Caesar dedicates a temple to his mythical ancestor Venus Genetrix, BC 46
Sir Francis Drake returns to England with Spanish treasure, 1580
In a battle between Venetians and Turks in Athens, the Parthenon and Acropolis are seriously damaged, 1687
New Jersey passes a bill requiring a license to practice medicine, 1772
Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first Secretary of State of the US, 1789
Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson proved tomatoes weren't poisonous by eating several on the steps of the courthouse in Salem, New Jersey, 1820
The Diamond Match Company patents book matches, 1892
New Zealand and Newfoundland each become dominions within the British Empire, 1907
Indonesia is admitted to the United Nations, 1950
Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time, 1973
The United Kingdom agrees to the handover of Hong Kong, 1984
An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse, 1997
Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy becomes first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel, 2008
Georgia changes its second language from Russian to English, 2010
Saudi Arabia announces it is overturning its ban on women driving - last country in the world to do so, 2017

24 comments:

  1. I am looking forward to seeing what you do with Delores challenging prompts. They will be on my blog next month.

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  2. These days I can't relish those bags of campfire snacks anymore. Which is probably just as well! :)

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  3. Mimi,

    You always weave together a great short story with the weekly words. I ought to consider giving this a try but for now I'm dabbling with two other memes that I rolled in my not-so Wordless Wednesday post. I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about what I'm doing or where I should go. Perhaps next week I'll have a better handle on these. I'm glad the kid escaped that crazy horse wild unharmed. :)

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  4. While I can't say I'm all that interested in eating a cobweb pie, I could corner the market in producing them!

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  5. Wow, that is one great use of all those words and some great stories. We liked that a lot. Have a really nice day.

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  6. Smores and more smores is the thing for us. See ya Mimi

    Cruisin Paul

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  7. Nice story, I'm impressed that you could slip in ERGONOMIC so nimbly.

    I'll bet those S'mores don't sell very well, they are only good around a campfire...I even forgot my blog on the subjsct LOL.

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  8. I don't understand why there are words for Wordless Wednesday ;)

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  9. I love the national Pancake Day even though that one is in February in the UK ;-). And we definitely need to celebrate the debuting of Knight Rider LOL many many moons ago. Great post!

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  10. Great story! Love that Johnny Appleseed and St.Francis share a birthday.

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  11. Ahhhh.....smore's! I love to make them over a campfire. And, the Words for Wednesday prompt looks very interesting. Hopefully, I can try it someday.

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  12. I love to visit Joe. He's got such a wonderful sense of humor about things.

    You do these word prompts so very well. Wonderful wordsmith you are.

    Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. ♥

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  13. Great job putting all those words together! Celebrate with that yum!

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  14. Smores are always yummy. Just had some this weekend while camping!

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  15. Excellent story, you could make it into a series.
    Those smores bars look good.

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  16. I wonder if the men in Saudi Arabia silently thanked
    Allah that they no longer had to pause their football game to have to drive their wife/mother/sister to the grocery store.
    Sometimes I wonder these things.

    Thanks for sharing!

    - Lisa

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  17. Not sure comments going through ~ so commenting again ~ Lovely story!

    Happy Day to you,
    A ShutterBug Explores

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  18. The analogy (small farm big savings and vice versa) holds true in this story for WFW!

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    1. I meant big barns large savings and vice versa sorry

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  19. Love your take on the prompts. My father always told us to look at the fences - with a similar analogy. Good fences/high income...

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  20. I like the way you wove the words into a great story :)

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  21. dave make me think of tarzan, good rescue. visiting from words for wednesday.

    have a lovely day.

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  22. Great use of the words! Enjoyed it!

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  23. A sweet cameo from a rural setting. I liked it. I have never tasted s'mores. They have not reached Denmark yet, but I'm afraid I would enjoy them far less than your story.

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