Just a Beautiful Day(Wordless Wednesday) and Aunt Marigold (Words for Wednesday)

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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 to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.    

This month, the prompts are being provided by Mark Koopmans, and are being posted by Elephant’s Child.           

1. Deviled/which might also be spelt devilled
2. Interdependence
3. Watery
4. Figs
5. Zoom
6. Headphones

        

And/Or

1. Gargled
2. Presence
3. Yelling
4. Andalusia
5. Snowdrifts
6. Exfoliate

“What is Aunt Marigold doing now?” June asked with concern, listening to what sounded like WATERY YELLING coming from the bathroom.

“From the noise, I would say she is gargling,” Alan answered, mildly.

“If I GARGLED like that, I hope you’d call an ambulance, because something would be wrong,” June noted, shaking her head.

The PRESENCE of Aunt Marigold, who had flown in from her visit to ANDALUSIA, was causing a bit of a ruckus in the house.  She’d come, she noted, “To enjoy your SNOWDRIFTS, kiddos!  This area always has the best snow, and I was getting ready for something different from the south of Spain, anyway.  Next on my list is Tasmania, but meanwhile, I want some cold.”

By this time, Aunt Marigold had decided to quit gargling, and was calling out, “Has anyone seen where I left my loofah?  I can’t be expected to properly EXFOLIATE my skin without my loofah!”

Before either of them could answer, she could be heard to exclaim, “Here it is!  I left it in the suitcase by the preserved FIGS.  Excellent, now I’ve found all the gifts I brought, also.”

At breakfast later, June asked with a bit of trepidation, “What are your plans for today, Aunt Marigold?”  This eccentric, globe trotting aunt of her husband’s, whom he took with the aplomb indicative of long INTERDEPENDENCE between family members (that is, nothing she did shocked his side of the family any more), certainly kept June off balance.

“Oh, I thought I’d knock around and enjoy the snow, and maybe make some of my famous DEVILED eggs for lunch.  Everyone has to taste my eggs to believe them, right Alan?” Aunt Marigold smiled at her nephew, and he smiled back.

“Yes, your eggs were always the best at the county fair, when you were in the country to make them and enter the contest,” he noted.

“Well, you can’t expect me not to ZOOM off when adventure calls just to enter my eggs in a contest, although now that you mention it, I might come back next September for just that purpose.  You know, relive old times!”

Alan noted something to the effect that this might be a good idea, and Aunt Marigold excused herself from the table.

“Well, kiddos, I’m going out there to enjoy your snow, and stop at the store for supplies.  Got to get my ingredients lined up, you know!”

Alan smiled and told her to have fun, while June looked a bit shellshocked as Aunt Marigold got up and gathered herself together to leave.  Once the door was shut, June said, “I love your aunt, I love her sense of adventure, but she’s always so enthusiastic that she kind of scares me!”

“You’ll get used to her,” Alan said, then seeing June’s face he added, “but don’t take that to mean she will be here long.  She never stays long when visiting family.  Something about fish and company stink after three days, is her usual saying.”

“Well, no matter how long or short her stay, I’m going to hunt up my noise cancelling HEADPHONES that I wear on planes.  That gargling is just too much for me!”

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Today is:

Answer Your Cat's Questions Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays; meditate on what your cat's question might be, then answer it

Celebration of Life Day

Come in From the Cold Day -- somebody at an ecard company decided today would be a good day to do that 

Day of Unity and Liberty of Ukraine -- Ukraine

Dia de la Fundacion del Estado Pluinacional de Bolivia -- Bolivia

Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition -- Rockford, IL, US (frozen art fun; through Saturday)

National Blonde Brownie Day -- i thought these were just called "blondies."

Polka Dot Day -- looking up why they are called "polka dots" gives lots of stories, but no concrete evidence; they were probably named after the dance craze that became fashionable around the same time the pattern appeared

Sioux Empire Farm Show -- Sioux Falls, SD, US (great winter farm show, since you can't be planting, come out and have fun; through Friday)

St. Vincent of Zaragoza's Day (Spanish martyr and Patron of vine dressers, vinegar makers, vintners; Lisbon, Portugal; Portugal; vicenza, Italy; Vilamalla, Catalonia, Spain)

    a sunny day today indicates a good wine crop next season

Zehnder's Snowfest, Ice Carving, and State of Michigan Snow Sculpting Competition -- Frankenmuth, MI, US (fun for the whole family; through Monday)

Birthdays Today:

Christopher Masterson, 1980

Balthazar Getty, 1975

Olivia D'Abo, 1967

Steven Adler, 1965

Diane Lane, 1965

Michael Kelland Hutchence, 1960

Linda Blair, 1959

Steve Perry, 1949

John Hurt, 1940

Joseph Wambaugh, 1937

Seymour Cassel, 1937

Sam Cooke, 1935

Bill Bixby, 1934

Piper Laurie, 1932

Ann Sothern, 1909

Robert E. Howard, 1906

George Balanchine, 1904

Rosa Melba Ponselle, 1897

D.W. Griffith, 1875

Grigori Rasputin, 1869

August Strindberg, 1849

Richard Upjohn, 1802

Nat Turner, 1800

Lord Byron, 1788

Andre Ampère, 1775

Sir Francis Bacon, 1561

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Emergency!"(TV), 1972

"Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In"(TV), 1968

"The Crucible"(Miller play), 1953

"Our Town"(Wilder play), 1938

"Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District"(Opera; Shostakovich Op.29), 1934

Today in History:

The first contingent of Swiss Guards arrive at the Vatican, 1506

Postal service between NYC and Boston is inaugurated, 1673

The Native American Iroquois tribes renew their allegiance to the British against the French, 1690

Spain ceded the Falkland Islands to Britain, 1771

A severe earthquake in southern Syria kills thousands, 1837

The Zulus attack the British Army camp in Isandhlwana, South Africa, 1879

The Ancient Egyptian obelisk "Cleopatra's Needle" is erected in Central Park, 1881

After 63 years, England stops the sale of Queen Victoria postage stamps series and begins King Edward VII series, 1901

First live radio commentary of a football match anywhere in the world, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United at Highbury, 1927

KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood, California, 1947

Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space, 1968

The Boeing 747, the world's first "jumbo jet", enters commercial service, 1970

The Singapore Declaration, one of the two most important documents to the uncodified constitution of the Commonwealth of Nations, is issued, 1971

The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, is introduced during Super Bowl XVIII with its famous "1984" television commercial, 1984

Robert Tappan Morris, Jr. is convicted of releasing the 1988 Internet Computer worm, 1990

Kmart becomes the largest retailer in United States history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, 2002

Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country's first indigenous president, 2006

Water vapour is detected on the dwarf planet Ceres, 2014

Winter storm conditions strand 500 motorists for 24 hours on the New Jersey turnpike in Pennsylvania, 2016

Netflix becomes the largest digital media and entertainment company in the world worth $100 billion, 2018