Wednesday, November 21, 2018

My Sentiments Exactly (Wordlesss 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.) 


***********************************




Linking up with Wordless Wednesday and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     




***********************************




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 Elephant's Child.     

This week's prompts are:

  1. transparent
  2. solve
  3. theory
  4. loot
  5. take
  6. wing

And/or

  1. demonstrate
  2. graduate
  3. justify
  4. strain
  5. stain
  6. blackmail


"Can you think of any ways we could make some money before Christmas?" Joe asked Sam, a TRANSPARENT look of sadness on his face.

"No, I can't think of anything either," Sam said.

The two nine-year-olds sat on WING chairs on Joe's porch, their usually erect and alert bodies drooping in such a way as to DEMONSTRATE to the world at large that not all was right in their smaller worlds at this moment.

As they contemplated the need for buying gifts for the upcoming season, they tried to come up with ways to SOLVE the dilemma of small allowances that already saw the STRAIN of meeting their usual needs and large (at least to them) families for whom it would be a STAIN on their honor to not at least get each member something, no matter how little.

"Maybe we could look for pirate LOOT?" Joe said, but without much enthusiasm.

"Nah, too late.  Even if we could find pirates and dig up their treasures, we'd need more time to get the gold turned to regular money so we could buy stuff.  The store doesn't take gold coins, you know," was Sam's reply.

"Well, it was a theory," Joe noted a bit defensively.

"What's 'theory'?" Sam asked.

"I think it means an idea," Joe said, having heard his oldest brother the high school GRADUATE use the word the week before.  He adored that oldest brother, and would TAKE every opportunity to imitate the young man in every way possible, including using words he didn't quite understand.

Joe continued, "Could we BLACKMAIL someone?"  They had seen a movie which had that as an element at the cinema during the summer, and Joe had been intrigued with the idea ever since.

"Nah, we have to know a secret about somebody who's rich.  The only secret I know is that my sister is putting on make-up at school after mom told her she wasn't supposed to wear it, and she doesn't have any money, either."

With Sam putting the kibosh on his every idea, Joe was feeling more than ever that he had to find something, if only to JUSTIFY the notion that there was something they could do.

Finally Sam said, "Well, there's nothing we can do tonight anyway, and my mom's gonna be calling me for dinner soon.  Maybe tomorrow we can come up with something."

"See ya," said Joe as Sam picked up his bike and headed up the street.  Deciding to go into the house to wait for his own evening meal, a sudden thought came to him and he laughed.  It was so simple, so easy, so obvious.  He was still laughing softly about it when his mom told him to wash up before dinner, still grinning as he went to bed.

He could hardly wait, he knew there was no way Sam would be able to shoot this idea down.


***********************************


Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Bangladesh

Beaujolais Nouveau Release -- France (at midnight, so really most of the celebration is tomorrow, a new wine celebrationmarked with fireworks and festivities)

Bon Om Touk -- Cambodia (a/k/a The Water Festival, it is Cambodia's largest party, always held for two days around the time of the full moon in November)

False Confessions Day -- internet generated, and not for the faint of heart

Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin -- Eastern and Roman Catholic Christian (those following the Gregorian Calendar)

Festival of Madonna della Salute -- Venice, Italy

Furniture Memory Day -- an internet generated test of your memory; see if you remember where you got each piece of furniture you own, how much it cost, and how its most precious scratch came to be; you are also encouraged to dust if you want to

General Framework Agreement Day -- RS, Bosnia and Herzegovina


Gerard d'Aboville Day -- marking the day, in 1991, he arrived in Ilwaco, WA, US, after departing Japan 4 months earlier in a rowboat!

Gingerbread Day

Mawlid an Nabi -- Islam/Muslim (Prophet's Birthday, began sunset yesterday; celebrated over the next several days, depending on which country)

National Family Caregivers' Day -- US (if you are a caregiver who needs support, you can get it here or here)        

National Stuffing Day -- various dates given on many sites, so if you enjoy stuffing, celebrate them all

No Music Day -- www.nomusicday.com for the explanation

Repentance Day -- Saxony, Germany (Day of Prayer and Repentance [Buss und Bettag])
    Buss und Bettag -- German speaking Lutheran, Reformed, and United Protestants (Day of Repentance and Prayer)

St. Gelasius' Day

Tie One On Day -- an apron!  on US Thanksgiving eve, write a note of encouragement or prayer, tuck it in the pocket of an apron, and wrap the apron around a good home or bakery made loaf of bread, then deliver it to someone who needs a kind gesture

Ugly Day -- Fairy Calendar

Wonderland of Lights -- Marshall, TX, US (through Dec. 31, includes parades, candlelight home tours, and more)

World COPD Day -- International (helping people understand Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease; this year's theme is "Never Too Early, Never Too Late")   

World Hello Day -- recognizing the importance of communication in world peace, say hello to people you don't usually greet today   

World Television Day -- UN


Anniversaries Today:

South Carolina becomes the 12 US State, 1789


Birthdays Today:

Tasha Schwikert, 1984
Ken Griffey, Jr., 1969
Troy Aikman, 1966
Bjork, 1965
Nicollette Sheridan, 1963
Cherry Jones, 1956
Cynthia Rhodes, 1956
Lorna Luft, 1952
Goldie Hawn, 1945
Harold Ramis, 1944
Marcy Carsey, 1944
Tweety Bird, 1942
Juliet Mills, 1941
Marlo Thomas, 1938
James DePreist, 1936
Laurence Luckinbill, 1934
Joseph Campanella, 1927
Stan Musial, 1920
Coleman Hawkins, 1904
Rene Magritte, 1898
Hetty Green, 1834
William Beaumont, 1785
Josiah Bartlett, 1729
Voltaire, 1694


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"(Single release), 1968
"A Tale of Two Kitties"(Warner cartoon, debut of Tweety Bird), 1942
"The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger"(Vanbrugh play), 1696


Today in History:

Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restores the Temple in Jerusalem; this is the event commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah, BC164
The Pilgrims, aboard the Mayflower, reach what is now called Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts, and sign the Mayflower Compact, 1620
Richard Johnson, a free black, is granted 550 acres in Virginia, 1654
In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, Marquis d'Arlandes, make the first untethered hot air balloon flight, 1783
Colonel Napoléon Bonaparte is promoted to full general and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the French Republic, 1791
First Jewish Reform congregation in US forms, Charleston, SC, 1824
Moses F Gale patents a cigar lighter, 1871
Tom Edison announces his "talking machine" invention (phonograph), 1877
Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator, 1922
First commercial crossing of Pacific by plane (China Clipper), 1935
The Alcan Highway is completed, 1942*
The British Natural History Museum announces that the "Piltdown Man" skull is a hoax, 1953
The first permanent ARPANET link is established between UCLA and SRI, 1969
Gerard d'Aboville completes his four-month solo journey to row across the Pacific Ocean, 1991
The Dayton Peace Agreement is initialed at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1995
NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members, 2002
Iran's President Ahmadinejad rejects the country's successful family planning program and tells Iranian girls they should marry at 16, 2010
The three most senior surviving members of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime are charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, 2011
For the second time in four months, New Zealand's Mount Tongariro volcano, on the North Island, erupts, 2012
The Alabama parole board grants posthumous pardons to three members of the Scottsboro boys, 2013
Scientists announce the first known comet from another start system, Oumuamua comet, 2017



*Not opened to general vehicular traffic until the next year

13 comments:

  1. NOT fair. I really, really want to know what Joe's idea is.
    Great use of the prompts though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Now I am interested and curious to know Joe's idea. Please, please, can you continue the story in your next post? Lol!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like that sign - good reminder to take the time to stop and be thankful for all that we have been blessed with.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I want to know the idea. Maybe I can do it too to make some Christmas money :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy Thanksgiving Mimi. Enjoy your day. See ya.

    Cruisin Paul

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love that sign and I'll do just that. I do that everyday anyway.

    Love your story and it leaves you with what is his plan for making money. Very well done.

    Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday and may you and yours have a most blessed Thanksgiving. ♥

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beaujolais Noveau--First had some in France and after two glasses I was woozy. Good stuff.

    No music would be a sad day indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Count us in on that fabulous sign too! What do you think Joe?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great sign ~ so true for all of us!

    Happy Thanksgiving to you and family ~ Xox

    ReplyDelete
  10. Once again your story telling amazes me.

    Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

    - Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  11. Add me to the list of people wanting to know Joe's idea. Love your story and hope there is a second chapter.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for meandering by and letting me know you were here!
Comments on posts more than a week old are moderated.
If Blogger puts your comment in "spam jail," i'll try to get it hauled out by day's end.