Sometimes Old Photos Have Something to Catch the Eye (Wordless Wednesday) and 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.           

This week's prompts are:

1. Nuclear
2. Foxtrot
3. Klan
4. Rollover
5. Utilities
6. Xeroxed

And/Or 

1. Audacious
2. Zinc
3. Plastered
4. Identification
5. Wheeling
6. Fixated

"What ever happened," Tanya asked as she PLASTERED the ZINC oxide sunscreen on her nose, "to our fear of a NUCLEAR winter?"

"Interesting question," her new friend, Laney, mused.  "I think we've gotten to where we are more afraid of climate change instead.  New generation, new fear."

They were WHEELING the barrow out to the shared allotment they'd been assigned, agreeing to share because neither needed a whole one to herself, and there weren't enough for everyone have their own anyway.  What had begun as a simple working together was becoming a friendship, in spite of or maybe because of their many differences.  They talked a lot as they worked, and often disagreed but never got disagreeable about it.

"Hmm, that's an idea.   Every generation has had its fears.  My grandparents were immigrants who feared the KLAN, and on the other side of the family I had a spinster great-great-aunt who feared that the younger generation were going to perdition because of the FOXTROT and other modern dances they were doing!"

"Some of the people in this area were afraid when the UTILITIES were putting up wires for electricity, my dad told me.  They were afraid they'd get electrocuted."

"Now I wonder if that would be a good research project, looking to see if you can make an IDENTIFICATION of different generations and where they lived based on what they feared."

"That would be a fascinating topic, although I'm not sure how someone could go about looking into it."

"Well, what do you think about climate change?"

"I am AUDACIOUS enough to say that climates have always changed, that we should not get FIXATED on one problem, and that it is more important we realize we need to change our ways because we are fouling our nest and destroying our home in general.  Make the changes to policy to protect our planet, but for reasons we can all get behind."

"And what about fears of this new virus?"

A form letter had been XEROXED, as Laney had jokingly called it, by the managers of the allotments and one sent to everyone associated with the place.  It called for social distancing, don't shake hands, stay away if you are sick, and even had specific instructions with pictures on hand washing.

"Someone like us, young and healthy, is more likely to die from a ROLLOVER car crash  than this virus, but I am taking all the precautions they mentioned.  It's smart at any time to have enough supplies in your home that you can stay in for a few weeks and not need to go to the store.  You could end up being shut in and it could be from a natural disaster, or even getting any illness you don't want to spread around to others."

"I'm glad you see it that way.  That's what I've been doing and thinking also.  And I stocked up on chocolate, so how about when we finish with these weeds, we go back to my apartment and have some?"

"That sounds like a great idea!"

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Today is:

Bunching of Fairies for the Second Flight -- Fairy Calendar

Charter Day -- Pennsylvania, US

Debunking Day -- internet holiday possibly started by someone tired of internet myths

Feast Day of Hercules/Herakles -- Ancient Roman and Greek Calendars

Festival of Houses and Gardens -- Charleston, SC, US (a rare opportunity to explore the private homes and gardens of historic Charleston; through Apr. 18)

Frankenstein's Birthday -- Mary Shelley's famous tale was published today in 1818

Global Marathon For, By, and About Women in Engineering and Technology -- a free series of online conversations each Wednesday for six weeks to connect girls and women and support them in the fields of engineering and technology   

Johnny Appleseed Day / Apple Appreciation Day -- death anniversary of John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman; some say March 18

King Moshoeshoe I's Anniversary -- Lesotho

National Decoration Day -- Liberia

National No Smoking Day -- UK (for help quitting, go here) 

National Oatmeal-Nut Waffles Day

Reestablishment of Independence -- Lithuania (independence from the USSR)

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day -- US   

St. Eulogius of Cordova's Day (Patron of carpenters, coppersmiths)

World Day of Muslim Culture, Peace, Dialogue and Film -- International

Worship of Tools Day -- begun by someone who knew we would be nowhere without tools

Anniversaries Today:

Romeo & Juliet's wedding day, according to Shakespeare, 1302

Emperor Napoleon married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise, 1810

Birthdays Today:

Terrance Howard, 1969

Alex Kingston, 1963

Curtis Brown, Jr., 1956

Douglas Adams, 1952

Bobby McFerrin, 1950

Jerry Zucker, 1950

Dominique Sanda, 1948

Charles W. Swan, 1942

Antonin Scalia, 1936

Sam Donaldson, 1934

Rupert Murdoch, 1931

Ralph Abernathy, 1926

Mercer Ellington, 1919

Ezra Jack Keats, 1916

Harold Wilson, 1916

Lawrence Welk, 1903

Robert Treat Paine, 1731

Torquato Tasso, 1544

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Cops"(TV), 1989

"A Raisin in the Sun"(Play), 1959

"Don Carlos"(Opera), 1867

"Rigoletto"(Opera), 1851

"I Capuleti e i Montecchi"(Opera), 1830

"The Daily Courant"(Newspaper; first British daily paper), 1702

Today in History:

Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty),BC1425

Volcano Etna in Italy erupts killing 15,000, 1669

The first English daily newspaper "Daily Courant," begins publishing, 1702

Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation, 1708

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is published, 1818

Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Maori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororareka, New Zealand, 1845

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government, 1848

The Great Sheffield Flood: The largest man-made disaster ever to befall England kills over 250 people in Sheffield, 1864

The Meiji Japanese government officially annexes the Ryukyu Kingdom into what would become the Okinawa prefecture,1872

The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins, lasting 4 days, 1888

The first confirmed cases of the Spanish Flu are observed at Fort Riley, Kansas, 1918

The Bank of Canada opens, 1935

Reginald Weit became the first African American to play in the US Tennis Open, 1948

Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," the first Broadway play by a black woman, opens, 1959

Mt. Etna in Sicily erupts, 1974

Pakistan successfully conducts a cold test of a nuclear weapon, 1983

Mikhail S Gorbachev replaces Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader, 1985

Infosys becomes the first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, 1999

Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as first female president of Chile, 2006

An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (81 mi) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people and triggering the second largest nuclear accident in history, 2011

England retains the Six Nations Rugby Championship with a 61-21 win over Scotland at Twickenham; this is England's 11th consecutive Six Nations win and equals NZ's record of 18 consecutive international wins, 2017

China's National People's Congress approves removal of term limits for a leader, which will allow Xi Jinping to retain the presidency for life, 2018