Wednesday, March 25, 2020

This Has To Stop (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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




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 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. Ghostlike
  2. Holly
  3. Incidents
  4. Joking
  5. Kilogram
  6. Lactate

And/Or

  1. Magnanimous
  2. Needles
  3. Outboard
  4. Particle
  5. Quiz
  6. Rancor


"Look here, Mark," Uncle Abe said.  "I'm going to have to give this sow a shot to help her LACTATE.  She's birthed the piglets, all right, but we'll lose them if we don't get her making the milk."

Mark, always squeamish around NEEDLES, wasn't sure he wanted any part of this.  He was in for it, though, having been sent to spend the next few weeks at his dad's family's farm.

"Very MAGNANIMOUS of you to take him," Mark's mom had said.  Since he'd never had a PARTICLE of interest in farming, Mark wasn't so sure he'd have used that word.

Still, it was better to be here than back home right now.  Ever since the fire tore through the house, leaving them living out of a hotel room with suitcases gleaned from items they'd salvaged and the donations of friends, he'd felt like he was in the way as his parents navigated working and trying to rebuild.

Nanny and Pappy had welcomed him, as had Uncle Abe and Aunt Judith.  There were no more children around the farm any more, and they'd wanted to spent time with him more than just the every-other-Christmas visits they'd had up until this point.

Uncle Abe told Mark to hold one of the piglets up to the mama and let her be sniffing and licking at it while he slapped her rump a few times then jabbed her with the needle.  The sow squealed and looked back at Uncle Able, with surprise but no RANCOR, then turned again to the baby in front of her.

Since coming to the farm in the previous weeks, Mark had grown used to such INCIDENTS as birthing animals and had learned a little about steering a tractor.  He had learned that KILOGRAMS are real measurements, not just a word that lived in the math book at school to bring him trouble by making him convert measurements from it to pounds.

Last weekend, he'd gotten to enjoy taking the boat with the OUTBOARD motor on the lake to go fishing, and he'd endured Pappy's JOKING around with him when he'd caught the smallest fish of the day.  Then, on his last cast, he'd caught the biggest fish of the day and been able to have the last laugh.  Aunt Judith's fried fish that night was the best he'd ever eaten, for more reasons than one.

He'd also found out that HOLLY bushes hurt if you accidentally run into them trying to back away from a cow.  He'd since made friends with the cow, but not the bushes.

One day they'd gone into town.  It was quiet and GHOSTLIKE to him, compared to the busy city in which he'd always lived.  He was getting used to quiet, though.

The medicine had done the trick and the piglets were happily nursing when Uncle Abe and Mark finally went back into the house to get ready for bed.  The rest of the family were there to QUIZ them on how it had gone, and everyone was satisfied with the outcome.  It had been a great day.


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


Today is:

Anniversary of the Arengo and the Feast of the Militants -- San Marino

Annunciation of the Virgin Mary -- Roman Catholic Christian
    Lady Day/Quarter Day -- England; Ireland; Wales (traditional New Year's Day)
    Varfrudagen -- Sweden (waffle day)

Day of the Shining Ones of Heaven move Upstream -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of King Amenhotep I -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (rituals depicting his death and burial, performed for the Deir-el-Medina workforce; date approximate)

Hilaria -- Ancient Roman Empire ("Day of Joy", honoring Attis)

Hindu New Year -- Hindu (local custom/date may vary)
    Hari Raya Nyepi Tahun Baru -- Indonesia (New Year in the Balinese Saka calendar)
    Nyepi Day -- Bali, Indonesia (Day of Silence, Balinese New Year/Saka New Year celebration on which everything is closed, even the international airport)
    Ougadi -- Mauritius and some regions of India (the Telugu New Year)

Independence Day -- Cyprus; Greece(1821)

International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade -- UN

International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members -- UN

International Waffle Day -- based on Sweden's tradition of having waffles on Annunciation Day

Little Red Wagon Day

Medal of Honor Day -- US (first one awarded this date in 1963)

Mother's Day -- Slovenia

National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy -- Greece; US

National Lobster Newburg Day

National Pecan Day -- anniversary of George Washington's planting of Pecan trees at Mt. Vernon in 1775

Numbskulls and Clodhoppers' Dance -- Fairy Calendar (i know a couple of people who qualify on both counts; i need to find out how to buy tickets!)

Old New Year's Day -- until 1751, British Empire

Ramayana -- Hindu (through April 2nd; local customs/celebratory dates may vary)

Revolution Day -- Greece (anniversary of the revolt against the Ottoman Empire in 1821)

Sacrifice to Kronos -- Ancient Greek Calendar (private sacrifices to Kronos; date approximate)

St. Dismas' Day ("Dismas" is the name given to the unnamed "Thief on the Cross", crucified next to Jesus according to Biblical accounts, and who repented; Patron of condemned/death row prisoners, funeral directors/undertakers, penitent criminals, prisoners, reformed thieves; Merizo, Guam)

Struggle for Human Rights Day -- Slovakia

The Tichborne Dole - in Alresford, Hampshire, UK; since 1150, a gallon of flour is given to every resident by the Tichborne family head on this day, to avoid a curse

Tolkien Reading Day -- sponsored by The Tolkien Society on the anniversary of the fall of Sauron


Birthdays Today:

Danica Patrick, 1982
Lee Pace, 1979
Sheryl Swoopes, 1971
Sarah Jessica Parker, 1965
Marcia Cross, 1962
John Stockwell, 1961
Mary Gross, 1953
Paul Miles, 1952
Bonnie Bedelia, 1948
Elton John, 1947
Bonnie Bedelia, 1946
Paul Michael Glaser, 1943
Aretha Franklin, 1942
Anita Bryant, 1940
Gloria Steinem, 1934
James Lovell, 1928
Eileen Ford, 1922
Simone Signoret, 1921
Howard Cosell, 1920
Norman Borlaug, 1940
David Lean, 1908
Bela Bartok, 1881
Arturo Toscanini, 1867
Gutzon Borglum, 1867


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Barrymore"(Play), 1997
"Cagney & Lacey"(TV), 1982


Today in History:

The first Easter, according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus, 31
According to legend, Venice, Italy is born today at noon, 421
Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France, leading to his death on April 6, 1199
Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scotland, 1306
Sir Walter Raleigh renews Humphrey Gilbert's patent to explore North America, 1584
Henry Hudson embarks on an exploration for Dutch East India Co., 1609
Lord Baltimore founds Catholic colony of Maryland, 1634
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christian Huygens, 1655
Mount Etna in Sicily erupts, destroying Nicolosi, killing 20,000, 1669
The Slave Trade Act becomes law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire, 1807
The Swansea and Mumbles Railway in England, then known as the Oystermouth Railway, becomes the first passenger carrying railway in the world, 1807
Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from the University of Oxford for publishing the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism, 1811
Greeks revolt against the Ottoman Empire, beginning the Greek War of Independence, 1821
In New York City, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 garment workers, leading to factory reform laws, 1911
The Georgian Orthodox Church restores its autocephaly abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811, 1917
The first successful tornado forecast predicts that a tornado will strike Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, 1948
The European Economic Community is established (West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), 1957
Canada's Avro Arrow makes its first flight, 1958
Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King, Jr. successfully complete their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, 1965
The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch, 1979
The world's first wiki, a part of the Portland Pattern Repository, is made public by Ward Cunningham, 1995
The European Union's Veterinarian Committee bans the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of mad cow disease, 1996
Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus, following the rigged Belarusian presidential election, clash with riot police, 2006
In southwest China, environmental and health concerns among residents are raised when 1,000 dead ducks pulled from the Sichuan River, 2013
The world's largest banana split ever, at 8,040 metres long, is made in Innisfail, Australia, 2017

17 comments:

  1. Great use of Mark's words. I'll be working on my story tomorrow. Right now, I have to get out for my third walk of the day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. And a great and positive use of Mark's prompts. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a positive and charming story. I see a farmer's life in Mark's future.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I enjoyed ready about Mark experience at the farm. I am sure he will grow to love the farm. Stay safe and healthy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love the TP humor. That made me laugh out loud.

    I love your story and love a happy ending too. You do these so very well.

    Thank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.

    Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. Big hug. ♥

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am glad that the nasty spam comment has been deleted. I came earlier this morning and I know it is silly of me, but I never like to leave a comment right after them. I decided to come back later when you had seen and dealt with it. What is the matter with these nasty people?
    The TP made me laugh, and I enjoyed the short story.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I enjoyed your story of Mark and the pig. Fun and positive. Sorry you are getting spam as well, I got some bad ones for a while but put my blog on moderated comments.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Always worth the visit. That was a most interesting Weds. Word list!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. what a great story! Love how you worked in all those words! And I do not need a special day to eat waffles....matter of fact I could make some this morning! Cheers stay safe and healthy!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your story writing prompts are great! What a wonderful way to keep the mind "rolling." Very Charmin'!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Too, too TP funny! Great story too, you pretty much nailed the words again.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well done with the words, messymimi! I love your tale - and the piglets' tails, too! :)

    Thanks for the laugh...from the joke!

    Take good care.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Funny about the tp. :) Nice story too.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Fun poetry ~ good to have humor during this situation ~

    Stay Calm and Be Well,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

    ReplyDelete
  15. If Cracker Barrel, IHop, or Waffle Hut were open I'd be celebrating Waffle Day, but waffles don't translate well into drive thru or carry out. Have a blessed day.

    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.