Strength (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy's Poetry Day, and Brian's Thankful Thursday

(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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As she closed the laboratory door, she heard a loud explosion behind it that sent her reeling across the hall.

Pounding feet came and she heard people yelling, "What happened?" as she stood back up and tried to get the door open.

"I don't know, but Mark is in there, and something is blocking the door -- we have to get him out now, if the explosion is what I think it is, the atmosphere in that room will poison him if we don't get him out now!"

"I'll go get the rescue equipment, it has an ax with it and we can break down the door," someone said, and she responded, "We don't have time for that!"

"Well, what do you recommend?" came the sarcastic reply, and she answered by closing her eyes, clenching her hands to her chest, taking a deep breath, and with everything in her kicking the door so hard that it came off its hinges.

Stunned by her action, everyone stood back as she ran into the smoke filled room and helped her husband out, coughing and choking but alive -- she was new at the facility, some had questioned if she should be there, but now they would never underestimate her again.

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

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Gosia at 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 other blogs to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.      

Here's a pretty white picket I passed last week:

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

Gracious, how did I get here?

I'm only a regular girl.

I always pretended that fairies were real,

Then I reached for that odd looking pearl.

I didn't notice if there was a name

When I stepped into the store,

It just looked like an antique place,

I like the stuff of yore.

An old man who looked suspiciously

Like a wizened gnome

Said, "Welcome, Sweet Lady,

Make yourself at home!"

When I saw the crown on display,

A single pearl in the center,

I reached out to gently touch it,

And another world did I enter.

The gnome came with me over here,

Just how I do not know,

He yelled, "We have our new Princess!"

And then he bowed very low.

Looking up, I saw fairies,

Looking down, I was wearing a dress,

There were butterflies and woods and skies,

And I thought, I am in a mess!

I am not who they think I am,

And what will they do when they see,

That I am not a princess,

I am just merely me.

Then the gnome said, "Please just listen,

I will tell you what to do,

Our fairyland needed a princess,

And we have chosen you!"

He told of enchantments and tales

That I'd often wished to live,

And one of the fairies said to me,

"To us a gift you can give,

By staying here with us,

We have the princess we need,

And we will help you live your dreams,

We promise, yes indeed!"

And that is just how I became

The Fairyland Princess Royal,

It's so much better than my last gig,

Which was hard and full of toil.

If you should see that enchanted shop

Someday when you are out,

Don't be afraid to come and see

What real Fairyland is all about!

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

Today i am thankful that Sweetie has had some work from The Big Boss again.  Every penny helps.

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Today is:

Acton Fair -- Acton, ME, US (an old fashioned country fair plus midway, stage shows, and a great good time; through Sunday)

America's Cup Day -- the first America's Cup was won this date in 1851 by the yacht America

Be an Angel Day -- Sponsored by Angel Heights Healing Center, encouraging people to be a blessing and perform an act of service for someone

Cobblestone Festival -- Falls City, NE, US (something for everyone; through Sunday)

Eat a Peach Day

Feast of the Queenship of Mary & Immaculate Heart of Mary -- Catholic Christians

Flag Day -- Russia

Hoodie Hoo Day, Southern Hemisphere -- Wellcat Holidays says to go outside at noon and call "Hoodie Hoo" to chase away winter and call spring

Hotter 'n H*ll Hundred Bike Race -- Wichita Falls, TX, US (four days of challenging events and inspiring activities as cyclists of all ages compete in the largest sanctioned century ride in the US, in the Texas summer heat)

National Spumoni Day (I don't think I've had really great spumoni since I went to Italy all those years ago -- nothing like getting things at the source.)

National Take Your Cat to the Vet Day -- US (started by a vet who declared today a cat's only day for his practice, so his feline patients wouldn't be upset by any dogs in the place; now many vets will only schedule cats on a particular day)

Prairie Village Jamboree -- Prairie Village, Madison, SD, US (keeping the old prairie life heritage alive for new generations; through Sunday)

Rumpleskunkskin's Wedding Anniversary -- Fairy Calendar (Goblin celebration)

St. Symphorian's Day (Patron of children, students; Autun, France; against eye problems, syphilis)

Watermelon Festival -- Winterville, NC, US (sticky fun; through Saturday)

Anniversary Today:

Henry Leland founds the Cadillac Motor Company, 1902

Birthdays Today:

Kristin Wiig, 1973

Giada De Laurentiis, 1970

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, 1967

Tori Amos, 1963

Cindy Williams, 1947

Steve Kroft, 1945

Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells, 1941

Valerie Harper, 1940

Carl Yastrzemski, 1939

E. Annie Proulx, 1935

Norman Schwarzkopf, 1934

Gerald Paul Carr, 1932

Ray Bradbury, 1920

John Lee Hooker, 1917

Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1908

Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl, 1902

George Herriman, 1880

Dorothy Parker, 1893

Claude Debussy, 1862

Archibald MacNeal Willard, 1836

Samuel Pierpont Langley, 1834

Virginia Clemm Poe, 1822

St. Anthony of Padua, 1195

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Later with Bob Costas"(TV), 1988

Today in History:

St. Columba reports seeing a monster in Loch Ness, 565

The Battle of Bosworth Field, in which King Richard III is killed and his forces defeated by Henry VII, 1485

Madras, India (now called Chennai) is founded by the British East India company on land purchased from the local Nayak rulers, 1639

Jacob Barsimon, the first Jewish immigrant to what would become US territory, arrives in New Amsterdam/Manhattan, 1654

The Newport, RI newspaper, Mercury, becomes the first in the US to hire a female editor, Ann Franklin, 1762

Austria laundches pilotless balloons against the Italian city of Venice, thus staging the first air raid in history, 1849

Gold discovered in Australia, 1851

12 nations sign the First Geneva Convention and the Red Cross is formed, 1864

William Shepphard patents the first liquid soap, 1885

Founding of the Cadillac Motor Company, 1902

President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first US chief executive to ride in an automobile, 1902

The first Victor Victrola is manufactured, 1906

The Mona Lisa is stolen, 1911 (recovered 2 years later)

Althea Gibson becomes the first black competitor in international tennis, 1950

Pope Paul VI arrives in Bogota, Colombia, becoming the first pope to visit Latin America, 1968

Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies, 1972

The first ring of Neptune is discovered, 1989

A version of The Scream and Madonna, two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway, 2004

The Storm botnet, a botnet created by the Storm Worm, sends out a record 57 million e-mails in one day, 2007

Russia and Vanuatu become members of the World Trade Organization, 2012

India's highest court outlaws instant divorce for Muslim men (talaq, talaq, talaq), 2017