Because Little Girl Has a Sense of Humor (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 Alex J. Cavanaugh and are posted by Elephant's Child.          

This week, the words are

guacamole

ninja

lollygag

malarkey

skedaddle

piffle

and/or

berserk

earwig

fiasco

gazebo

huzzah

nitwit

thingamajig

pandemonium

"Alan, June, it's wonderful to have you here, kiddos!"

Aunt Marigold had opened the door before they'd even knocked.  She was dressed in a muumuu and had an avocado in one hand.

"Well, don't just LOLLYGAG on the porch, come on in!" she opened the door wide.  "Your room is the second on the right down the hallway."

"Um, how did you know we were here?" June asked.  As much as she'd grown fond of Alan's eccentric aunt, she was still a bit nervous around her at times.

"I have NINJA skills!" Aunt Marigold grinned.  Then, "Actually, I saw you heading up to the porch through the kitchen window where I was making GUACAMOLE to go with supper.  You two run along and put your suitcases in your bedroom, and come talk to me in the kitchen.  We're going to have supper in the GAZEBO.  I was so glad to see this house had a wraparound porch and the gazebo, I thought, 'HUZZAH, suppers outdoors!' and I love dining al fresco."

Alan and June dutifully headed down the hall Aunt Marigold had pointed out, opening the door to the second bedroom on the right.  It was a spacious room and ensuite, tastefully decorated.  They took a few moments to look around, even stepping out onto the porch through the sliding glass door, and setting the suitcases in the large closet.

Back in the kitchen, Aunt Marigold was in fine fettle.  "I'm so glad you two are the first to arrive," she said.  "Hand me that THINGAMAJIG, would you Alan?"

"This potato masher?" he asked, and she responded, "Yes, that's the ticket."

"Aunt Marigold, we really want to thank you so much for hosting the family reunion," Alan said.

June added, "You've chosen a lovely place to rent for all of us, we appreciate it so much!"

"Oh, PIFFLE, it's nothing, kiddos!  I love having a reunion like this every few years, the family needs it.  This time, I didn't want any FIASCO like the time we tried a cruise together.  Don't get me wrong, cruises are great, but not with as many people as we have.  Alan, remember how we kept losing the cousins?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Those children can SKEDADDLE faster than anything you've ever seen, especially when they want to go sneak more ice cream.  Always up to some monkey-shines or MALARKY.  Speaking of, here they come!"

Another set of relatives arrived, followed closely by more -- a PANDEMONIUM occurred as cousins and aunts and uncles and parents and Aunt Marigold's brother, Alan's grandfather, all arrived in waves, lots of hugging and hellos and running around looking for bedrooms.

"How's my NITWIT big brother?" Aunt Marigold teased her brother as if they were still children. 

He grinned back at her, and said, "Careful, I might go find an EARWIG and chase you with it!"

"So I can go BERSERK?" she grinned back.  "Did I ever tell you younger ones about the time my brother chased me with one of those things, and what I did to get him back?"

Alan looked at his grandfather and great aunt, and responded, "No, but I am guessing we're going to hear a great story after supper!"

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Today is:

Amun in the Festival of Raising Heaven -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Dragobete -- Romania (lover's day, and the day birds choose a mate, also considered by locals as the first day of spring)

Flag Day -- Mexico

Giving of Shoes -- Fairy Calendar

Gregorian Calendar Day -- Gregory XIII issued the Papal Bull requiring Roman Catholics to adopt his calendar reform on this day; the effective date of adoption was to be Oct. 4, 1582

Inconvenience Yourself™ Day -- enrich your life by looking for ways to make a positive impact on the world, even if it inconveniences you 

Iseseisvuspaev/Independence Day -- Estonia(1918)

National Artist Day -- Thailand

National Tortilla Chip Day

N'cwala -- Zambia (Thanksgiving festival, celebrated with traditional dance, music, and specially brewed beer)

Nylon Toothbrush Day -- the first ones went on sale this date in 1938

Obnoxious Day -- probably started as a joke, the only ones who benefit from this day are the ecard companies

Regifugium -- Ancient Roman Calendar (flight of the king)

St. Æthelberht of Kent's Day (first Christian King of the Anglo-Saxons; some have his day listed tomorrow instead)

Teal Ribbon Day -- Australia (wear a teal ribbon, raise awareness of ovarian cancer) 

Anniversaries Today:

Hadassah is founded, 1912

Western Washington University is established, 1899

The American University is chartered by an act of the Congress of the United States of America, 1893

Birthdays Today:

Billy Zane, 1966

Kristin Davis, 1965

Eddie Murray, 1956

Paula Zahn, 1956

Steven Jobs, 1955

Alain Prost, 1955

Helen Shaver, 1951

George Thorogood, 1950

Edward James Olmos, 1947

Rupert Holmes, 1947

Barry Bostwick, 1945

Joe Lieberman, 1942

James Farentino, 1938

Renata Scotto, 1937

Michel Legrand, 1932

Mark Lane, 1927

Stephen Hill, 1922

Abe Vigoda, 1921

Chester W. Nimitz, 1885

Honus Wagner, 1874

Winslow Homer, 1836

Wilhelm Karl Grimm, 1786

Ibn Battutah, 1304

Emperor Toba of Japan, 1103

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Peer Gynt"(Play), 1876

"Rinaldo"(HWV 7), 1711

"L'Orfeo"(SV318), 1607

Today in History:

St. Francis of Assisi, age 26, receives his vocation in Portiuncula, Italy, 1208

In the first imperial coronation by a pope,Charles V is crowned by Clement V, 1530

Pope Gregory XIII, by decree, institutes what is now known as the Gregorian Calendar, correcting the older Julian Calendar, 1582

L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera, receives its première performance, 1607

The London première of Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage, 1711

The US Supreme Court first declares a law unconstitutional (Marbury v Madison), 1803

London's Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground, leaving owner Richard Brinsley Sheridan destitute, 1804

The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West, 1831

William Otis of Pennsylvania patents the steam shovel, 1839

The first parade to have floats is staged at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, 1868

Andrew Johnson becomes the first President of the United States to be impeached, 1868

The SS Gothenburg hits the Great Barrier Reef and sinks off the Australian east coast, killing approximately 100, including a number of high profile civil servants and dignitaries, 1875

China and Russia sign the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty, 1881

Chicago is selected to host the Columbian Exposition, 1890

Rudolf Diesel receives a patent for the diesel engine, 1893

Hudson Motor Car Company is founded, 1909

National Public Radio is founded in the United States, 1970

The United States Olympic Hockey team completes their Miracle on Ice by defeating Finland 4-2 to win the gold medal, 1980

Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer, 1981

A special commission of the U.S. Congress releases a report that condemns the practice of Japanese internment during World War II, 1983

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers a USD $3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie, 1989

The last occurrence of February 24 as a leap day in the European Union and for the Roman Catholic Church, 1996*

Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea, 2007

Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba after nearly fifty years, 2008

Final launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, 2011

Pope Francis creates a second Secretariat within the Vatican and gives it the power to audit any Vatican agency at any time, 2014

The Journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences publishes a study of the first animal that doesn't need oxygen to breathe, a tiny parasite living in salmon tissue, 2020

*The Romans counted Feb. 24 twice in leap years, instead of adding Feb. 29; that continued in many places until 1996