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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 Lissa.
The prompts this week are two photos:
Had she really lived that way at one point?
Walking down the street in the rain, clutching easily procured food in one arm and her umbrella in the other, she was immersed in remembering.
She recalled standing against the wall, watching the older boys scan the newspapers looking for job announcements. Her younger sister crouched next to her twin brother, the two of them enjoying the funnies.
As the laundry flapped in the breeze, Mama would poke her head out to check on it, making sure it hadn't blown away. The one time it happened that the line broke, it wasn't a laughing matter, although she could laugh now at how they must have all looked, chasing sheets and pillowcases down the street and up the alley.
The movie she'd been to before she went and bought dinner had brought back so many memories, not all of them good. At the time, she'd known they were poor, but as a child that just meant not much variety in their meals and only one small, cheap gift each at Christmas.
Now she realized how poor they truly were, with vitamin deficiencies always a concern (although they hadn't realized that was the cause of some illnesses at the time) and no extras, none of life's little luxuries to soften the days.
It made her miss Mama, and wish she could have done more for her before she died.
Lost in her reverie, she'd almost walked right past her own door. Going in, she started getting the dinner she'd purchased ready to serve, thinking of how much she had.
That was one movie that would haunt her thoughts for a long time to come.
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Today is:
Aloha Day -- unofficial celebration of the annexation of Hawai'i by the US
Anniversary of Snick-Snacker's Left Foot -- Fairy Calendar
Awa Odori Festival -- Tokushima, Japan (through the 15th; one of Japan's largest dance festivals, Awa-dance is said to be a "fool's dance", and the saying is "It's a fool who dances and a fool who watches, so if both are fools, you may as well dance!")
Crayfish Premiere -- Sweden (although they are now available year 'round, it used to be that crayfish could only be sold and served in restaurants the day after the season opens; the actual premiere date is often still celebrated with crayfish parties and lots of schnapps)
Festival for Hercules Invictus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (through tomorrow; based on an even older Greek celebration of Heracles at the same time of year)
Festival for Venus Vitrix -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Victorius Venus)
Grouse Day/Glorious Twelfth -- England; Scotland (opening of grouse hunting season; because the 12th is a Sunday in 2012, it will actually be celebrated tomorrow)
Her Majesty the Queen's Birthday and National Mother's Day -- Thailand
International Youth Day -- UN
Julienne Fries Day
Krishna Janmashtami -- Hindu (birth of Lord Krishna)
Lychnapsia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (celebration of the Birthday of Isis, instituted after the conquest of Egypt)
Middle Children's Day -- on some sites, listed as Aug. 14; either way, Middle Children deserve a special day!
National Toasted Almond Bar Day
Osirian Mysteries; Feast of the Lights of Isis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate, but this is the date the Romans gave it, so who am i to quibble?)
PC Day -- no, not politically correct, personal computer; IBM introduced theirs this day in 1981
Perseid Meteor Showers -- in 2020, peak visibility is tonight and especially tomorrow night; the Celts believed these meteors were due to games being played by Lugh, their sun god
Put Peanuts in Your Coca Cola Day -- and no, i can't figure this one out, but they say don't shake it once you do it; if anyone else wants to experiment with why, let me know the results
Solar Alignment with Teotihuacan, City of the Gods -- ancient when the Aztecs found its ruins, this city's ritual cave aligns with the setting sun today and April 29, also the rising and setting dates of the Pleiades
St. Gracilian's Day (Patron of Bassano Romano, Italy)
St. Murtagh's Day (Patron of Killaria, Ireland)
Vinyl Record Day -- celebrating the tremendous cultural influence of records, on the anniversary of the day in 1877 that Edison invented the phonograph
World Elephant Day -- learn more here
Zaraday a/k/a Zarathud's Day -- Discordianism
Birthdays Today:
Casey Affleck, 1975
Pete Sampras, 1971
Peter Krause, 1964
Ann M. Martin, 1955
Pat Metheny, 1954
Sam J. Jones, 1954
Skip Caray, 1939
George Hamilton, 1939
William Goldman, 1931
George Soros, 1930
Alvis Edgar “Buck” Owens, 1929
John Derek, 1926
Michael Kidd, 1915
Jane Wyatt, 1912
Cantinflas, 1911
Joe Besser, 1907
Alfred Lunt, 1892
Cecil B. DeMille, 1881
Christopher "Christy" Mathewson, 1880
Edith Hamilton, 1867
Katharine Lee Bates, 1859
"Diamond Jim" Brady, 1856
Robert Mills, 1781
Thomas Bewick, 1753
Debuting/Premiering Today:
Wings(Film, only silent film to win the Oscar for Best Picture), 1927
Today in History:
The last ruler of the Egyptian Ptolemaic Dynasty, Cleopatra VII Philopater, allegedly commits suicide by asp bite, BC30
A conjunction of Venus and Jupiter occurs which may have been what the Bible calls the Star of Bethlehem, 3
Crusaders win the Battle of Ascalon, 1099
Juan Ponce de Leon arrives in Puerto Rico, 1508
Praying Indian John Alderman shoots and kills Metacomet, the Wampanoag war chief, ending King Philip's War, 1676
Isaac Singer is granted a patent for his sewing machine, the first one to be practical for home use, 1851
Asaph Hall discovers Deimos, 1877
The last quagga, a subspecies of zebra once plentiful in South Africa, dies at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam, 1883
Hawai'i is annexed by the US, 1898
William Somerset Maugham published "Of Human Bondage", 1915
Alleged date of the first Philadelphia Experiment test on United States Navy ship USS Eldridge, 1943
The Soviet Union detonates its first thermonuclear weapon, 1953
Echo I, the first communications satellite, is launched, 1960
South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games because of its racist policies, 1964
The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise, 1977
The IBM Personal Computer is released, 1981
Canada, Mexico, and the United States announce completion of negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 1992
The Oscar class submarine K-141 Kursk of the Russian Navy explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise, 2000
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launches, 2005
Director of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, announces plans to release remaining Afghan War Diary documents from War in Afghanistan, 2010
President Obama's health insurance mandate from his Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is struck down by the U.S. court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2011
The International Olympic Committee announces it will punish athletes who support Russian LGBT rights at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, 2013
NASA launches the Parker Space Probe, its first mission to the Sun and its outermost atmosphere, the corona, 2018
Scientists say they are close to an effective treatment for Ebola after a new drug trial has a 90% success rate in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 2019
That is a truly beautiful, emotion packed use of lissa's prompts.
ReplyDeleteGood story of times past.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
That is a lovely story, and it is true how a film can bring back so many memories. We didn't have much back then compared with today, but we made our own entertainment, and families and neighbours were so much closer then.
ReplyDeleteThe scientists pencil cup is quite fascinating with both US and Imperial measures. You have made me want to Google it to find out more. Thank you.
That pencil cup is perfect for a scientist or nerdy numbers person!
ReplyDeleteLove that cup, but love your story more. I've been poor in my adulthood, but did okay as a child. That touched my heart.
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. Big hug. ♥
I find it amazing that vinyl records have made such a huge comeback and I sold all of my collection years ago...I mean Y E A R S ago. Have a blessed day.
ReplyDeleteMimi,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, we have a pencil cup like that except it's red. It belonged to DH as a boy. How cool is that? Next, your story is poignant yet filled with happiness. My parents didn't have a lot when I was little but so did many in our rural part community of WV. As kids, we didn't know it, though. There certainly wasn't a lot for extras and meals weren't fancy and there were many Christmases where we got very little but there was no complaining. It was the way things were and we made the most of it. Although, we aren't rich, we are far richer than our parents and I count my blessings every single day for everything God has graced our lives with. The privileged generation wouldn't know what it's like to walk in our childhood shoes. Thanks for sharing. Great job! Stay safe and be well, my friend!
Amazing Mimi. Being a Canadian, metric should be easy for me but I have so much difficulties with it. When I go to the grocery and get my luncheon meat I still ask for lbs. See ya my friend.
ReplyDeleteCruisin Paul
I liked the story you do have a way with words :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a safeprompttastic week 😷😷😷
Lovely story and neat 'scientist' cup photo ^_^
ReplyDeleteLive each moment with love,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
That's a terrific story! Hey, our Dad had one of those cups too, back in the day when he had to use a slide rule in physics class.
ReplyDeleteThat was a haunting story well told.
ReplyDeleteEveryone needs to read that story. So well done! We need to remember our blessings!
ReplyDeletegreat story today mimi ♥♥♥♥♥
ReplyDeletefrom a monetary standpoint; my family was both rich, and poor; depending on whose opinion was given !
I love how you do a wordless and a words post all at once. I did laugh at your picture this week, and enjoyed your story, as always.
ReplyDeleteGreat story. And cool cup.
ReplyDeleteNow we need a measuring cup to go along with that!
ReplyDeleteThat was a great story! There is not one thing over here that I do not love. Thanks for always making my day.
ReplyDeleteI really like what you did with Lissa's prompts, but once again, I am struggling to bring forth even a sentence. The pictures just aren't "speaking" to me.
ReplyDeleteYou're really good in using the WfW prompts. It's a great glimpse into someone's day and daydream.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day.