Runaway (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy's Poetry Day, and Brian's Thankful Thursday

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It was one of those priceless moments, and unfortunately, it was not caught on film.

Sweetie was leaving to run an errand, and decided to simply pull into the driveway part of the way, leaving the car running and the driver side door open, to run back in the house to get something he'd forgotten.

He also forgot to shift the car into park.

The car, left to its own devices and in reverse, promptly backed across the street and into the field that is the huge schoolyard over there.

He equally promptly took off after it, and in a scene that would have made the Three Stooges proud, every time the car hit a rut or dip it would change direction, as he madly scrambled and finally got his hands on the steering wheel, allowing him to jump in and bring the car back under control.

Yes, he missed his shot at Youtube fame, but we still have a funny story to remember.

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Shift.      

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Gosia at Looking for Identity has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World.  Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit other blogs to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.     

This fence protects a very nice play place for the children:

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 It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  This week's image and my poem:    

"Don't go out there," they told him,

"It's farther than you think."

But he did not believe them,

He'd be there in a blink.

The next thing he remembered

He was face down in the sand,

Two men were picking him up,

There went his boasting grand.

"Distances are deceiving,

There's nothing there to see,"

They finally convinced him,

He let the desert be!

(When Sweetie's father was stationed in North Africa during the war, a newly transferred officer decided he wanted to walk to a sand dune he saw and just see what was beyond it.  They warned him that it wasn't safe, but he went and had to be picked up and brought back.  What had looked like a short trek was much farther than he thought, and in the 120*F heat, you pass out pretty quickly.  He also learned the only thing to see was more dunes beyond it.  He never tried that again.)

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Brian of Brian's Home hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  

Today i am thankful we have an appointment to have Horizon shaved.  He's a half feral cat still, scared of his own shadow, and all of his 15 years of life i have never once seen him groom himself.  Lately, that has meant horrible knots in his fur that i've tried to trim with little success (and the occasional bite).  The vet is going to do it for us, and i think he will be much more comfortable for the rest of the summer.

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Today is:

Aphrodisia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (bathing festival of Aphrodite and Peitho [Persuasion]; through tomorrow)

Casual Pi Day / Pi Approximation Day (22nd day of month 7; 22/7 is the approximation of Pi)

Festival of Boredom and Reverie -- Fairy Calendar

Hammock Day -- don't know who came up with this one, but at the height of the dog days, it seems appropriate; on some sites listed as Summer Leisure Day

International Childbirth Education Awareness Day -- can't find confirmation on this, but if you're going to have a kid, it's not a bad idea to get educated about what to expect!

King Father's Birthday -- Swaziland

National Penuche Fudge Day

Ratcatcher's Day -- celebrated by the British dating of the Pied Piper story; celebrated June 26 in Hamelin, Germany

Revolution Day -- The Gambia

Soma-Nomaoi Festival -- Haramachi City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan (Wild-Horse Chasing, a four day festival in which a thousand horsemen, clad in ancient armor, compete for possession of three shrine flags, and along the Hibarigahara Plain, men clad in white costumes attempt to catch wild horses)

Spooners Day (Spoonerism -- Named for William Archibald Spooner, English cleric and scholar who once fussed at a student because "You hissed my mystery lesson," told a groom it was "kisstomery to cuss the bride," and once accidentally referred to Queen Victoria as "the queer old Dean.")

St. Mary Magdalene's Day (Patron of apothecaries, contemplative life and contemplatives, converts, druggists, glove makers, hairdressers and hair stylists, penitent sinners, penitent women, people ridiculed for their piety, perfumeries and perfumers, pharmacists, reformed prostitutes, tanners, women; Anguiano, Spain; Atrani, Salerno, Italy; Casamicciola, Italy; Elantxobe, Spain; Foglizzo, Italy; La Magdaleine, Italy; against sexual temptation)

   Stilt Dance Day -- Anguiano, Spain (a special stilt dance performed on the Feast of the city's patron, St. Mary Magdalen)

Birthdays Today:

George Alexander Louis Windsor, His Royal Highness Prince of Cambridge, 2013

Madison Pettis, 1998

Selena Gomez, 1992

Scott Dixon, 1980

Daniel Jones, 1973

Rufus Wainwright, 1973

Irene Bedard, 1967

Rhys Ifans, 1967

Shawn Michaels, 1965

David Spade, 1964

John Leguizamo, 1964

Rob Estes, 1963

Keith Sweat, 1961

Willem Dafoe, 1955

Alan Menken, 1949

Albert Brooks, 1947

Don Henley, 1947

Danny Glover, 1946

Estelle Bennett, 1944

Bobby Sherman, 1943

Kay Bailey Hutchison, 1943

Alex Trebek, 1940

Terrence Stamp, 1939

Louise Fletcher, 1934

Oscar De la Renta, 1932

Orson Bean, 1928

Bob Dole, 1923

Amy Vanderbilt, 1908

Alexander Calder, 1898

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1890

William Archibald Spooner, 1844

Gregor Johann Mendel, 1822 (Note:  some sources say July 20)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Plan 9 From Outer Space(Film), 1959

Today in History

King Edward I of England and his longbowmen defeat William Wallace and his Scottish schiltrons outside the town of Falkirk, 1298

The Swiss decisively defeat the Imperial army of Emperor Maximilian I in the Battle of Dornach, 1499

A second group of English settlers arrive on Roanoke Island off North Carolina to re-establish the deserted colony, 1587

Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean becoming the first Euro-American to complete a transcontinental crossing of Canada, 1793

In the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Rear Admiral Nelson is wounded in the arm, and part of it is amputated, 1797

Death of Josef Strauss, Austrian composer, 1870

First ever motorized racing event is held in France between the cities of Paris and Rouen. The race is won by comte Jules-Albert de Dion, 1894

Wiley Post becomes the first person to fly solo around the world traveling 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes, 1933

Dezik and Tzygan become the first of Russia's Space Dogs, making a sub-orbital flight, which they both survived, 1951

Japan completes its last reparation to the Philippines for war crimes committed during WWII, 1976

Martial law in Poland is officially revoked, 1983

The second Blue Water Bridge opens between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario, 1997

The Stonehenge World Heritage Site announces the discovery of a possible new henge, the biggest discovery at a major monument in over 50 years, 2010

Norway is the victim of twin terror attacks, on government buildings in Oslo and a youth camp at Utoya, 2011

Scientific studies reveal that dolphins have unique names for one another, much like humans do, 2013

The Brain Kids, a team of robots from Japan's Chiba Institute of Technology, wins this year's RoboCup, a robotic soccer tournament started 18 years ago to encourage new developments in the robotics field, 2015

India's lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, successfully takes off from Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota aiming to make India the fourth nation to soft-land on the moon, 2019

The French submarine Minerve, which disappeared in 1968 with a crew of 52, is  rediscovered off coast of Toulon, France, 2019