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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 Cindi and posted on her page Of Dandelions and Sunshine.
The Challenge: They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. Write at least 100 words about the image below.
It was the prettiest house in the area.
Even though it was mostly hidden, and people passed it by all the time for the showier homes up the road, I knew in my heart this one was the loveliest little place around.
When our family would drive past, I'd watch for it and dream about going to visit, although I had no idea who lived there or how I'd ever get an invitation.
In later years, when I was old enough to drive and I'd pass it, I noticed it didn't seem as well kept as when I was young, and I wondered if it was just my imagination. Maybe my childhood dreams of it had embellished it.
It wasn't my imagination, I realized, when eventually a For Sale sign appeared at the road. I inquired about it on a whim, and I couldn't believe what the agent told me. The owners had died some years before, the heirs fought and squabbled and no one wanted to live there, so it just sat. Now the legal battles were over and they were letting it go cheap, so would I like to see it?
Would I!!! Finally, a chance to see it up close. In spite of the obviously needed repairs, once I was in it I knew it was, indeed, the prettiest house I'd ever seen. There was just something special about it.
By now I had a good job and still just enough of the dreamer in me to go for it. It took years of work, and mistakes, and more years of work, but I'd never trade a moment of it, because now that it's restored I absolutely live in the prettiest little house that ever was.
(Based loosely on a house near here that i always believed, and still believe, is the prettiest house ever. It did sit empty for years, and was finally bought by a couple who lovingly restored it, and it's a delight to drive past and see it.)
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Today is:
Banned Websites Awareness Day -- sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians
Battle of Boqueron Day -- Paraguay
Constitution Day -- Brunei
Festival of Tezcatzonctl -- Ancient Aztec Calendar (chief god of intoxication; date approximate)
Gwynn ap Nudd's Fest -- Celtic Calendar (god of the underworld; date approximate)
International Coffee Day -- and i thought this was every day!
Inventors Day -- Argentina
Make a List of the Top Ten Happiest Days in Your Life Day -- must have been started by an optimist
Mutation Day -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
National Attend Your Grandchild's Birth Day -- attendingthebirth.com; a day to remind grandparents to be active in their grandchildren's lives (and if you need a reminder, i wonder about you; if you aren't allowed by bitter parents, i feel badly for you)
National Mocha Day
National Women's Health and Fitness Day -- US, sponsored by Fitness Day
Quick Draw Day -- debut of Quick Draw McGraw and his side kick, Baba Looey, in 1959
Sts. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and All Angels' Day (Michaelmas)
Archangel Gabriel, Patron of broadcasters, clergy, communication workers, diplomats, messengers, philatelists/stamp collectors, post offices and postal workers, radio and radio workers, secular clergy, telecommunication workers, telgraphers, telephones, television and television workers; Argentinian ambassadors; Seattle, Washington
Archangel Michael, Patron of artists, bakers, bankers and banking, barrel makers/coopers, battle, boatmen/mariners/sailors/watermen, dying people, emergency medical technicians/paramedics/ambulance drivers, fencers and fencing, grocers and greengrocers, haberdashers and hatmakers, knights, milleners, paratroopers, police officers, radiologists and radiotherapists, security guards, sick people, soldiers, swordsmiths; for a holy death and safety at sea; England, Germany, and over 25 cities around the world; against danger at sea and temptation.
Archangel Raphael, Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, blind people, doctors/physicians, guardian angels, happy meetings, love and lovers, mentally ill people, nurses, shepherdesses/shepherds, sick people, travellers, young people; Dubuque, Iowa; MacKenzie-Fort Smith, Northwest Territories; Seattle, Washington; against bodily ills, eye diseases/eye problems, insanity/mental illness, nightmares, sickness
related observances:
National Day of Remembrance for Policemen Killed -- Australia (St. Michael, Patron of police officers)
Payment of Quit Rent by London Royal Courts of Justice -- Michaelmas is a traditional English "Quarter Day", when rents come due
VFW Day -- US (The Veterans of Foreign Wars was established on this day in 1899)
World Heart Day -- International (to raise awareness of the signs and dangers of cardiovascular disease)
Birthdays Today:
Emily Lloyd, 1970
John Paxton, 1960
Bryant Gumbel, 1948
Patricia Hodge, 1946
Lech Walesa, 1943
Dave Wilcox, 1942
Ian McShane, 1942
Madeline Kahn, 1942
Jerry Lee Lewis, 1935
Anita Ekberg, 1931
Lizabeth Scott, 1922
Trevor Howard, 1916
Stanley Kramer, 1913
Michelangelo Antonioni, 1912
Greer Garson, 1908
Gene Autry, 1907
Enrico Fermi, 1901
Horatio Nelson, 1758
Miguel de Cervantes, 1547
Pompey the Great, BC106
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"Grace Under Fire"(TV), 1993
"Thirtysomething"(TV), 1987
"Designing Women"(TV), 1986
"MacGyver"(TV), 1985
"Houdini, A Circus Opera"(Opera), 1977
"The Judy Garland Show"(TV), 1963
"My Favorite Martian"(TV), 1963
"The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show"(TV), 1962
"My Three Sons"(TV), 1960
"Outlaws"(TV), 1960
"The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"(TV), 1959
"Sergeant Preston of the Yukon"(TV), 1955
"A View from the Bridge"(Play), 1955
The Barefoot Contessa(Film), 1954
A Star is Born(Film), 1954
"Make Room for Daddy"(TV), 1953
Today in History:
Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumata, securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire, BC522
Battle of Salamis, at which the Greek fleet under Themistocles defeats the Persian fleet under Xerxes I, BC480
Pompey the Great Celebrates ending the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday, BC61
Saladin's army marches into Jerusalem, 1187
The First Congress of the US adjourns, 1789
"Scotland Yard", London's Metropolitan Police Force, goes on duty, 1829
The first practical public electric tramway ever opens in Blackpool, England, 1885
John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire, 1916
The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed, 1954
Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite, is launched, 1962
WGPR in Detroit, Michigan, becomes the world's first black-owned-and-operated television station, 1975
Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to set foot on Irish soil with his pastoral visit to the Republic of Ireland, 1979
The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth, 2004
The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history, 2008
An 8.0 magnitude earthquake near the Samoan Islands causes a tsunami, 2009
The Koreas agree, for the first time in two years, to hold working-level military talks, 2010
Researchers discover a biofluorescent hawksbill sea turtle in waters off of the Solomon Islands; though biofluorescence has been observed in captive reptiles, this is the first occurrence seen in a wild reptile, 2015
Scientists confirm that Mars does have underground lakes, 2020
I like that garlic bowl. Mine sits in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteyou did very well with your story. I like the look of the old place half hidden behind the greenery.
I don't posses a garlic bowl heheh!
ReplyDeleteNice story too 👍
Have a garlictastic week 👍
I have garlic in a small basket that sits in the kitchen shelf, none in the bedroom. I like your story about the house. Have a wonderful week.
ReplyDeleteI do love your story - and hope that the owners love their new home as much as you do.
ReplyDeleteGarlic in the bedroom? Nope. I have no need. This is a vampire free home.
What if a passing vampire likes garlic?
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
No garlic in any bedrooms we have ever seen. Mom is in real estate and properties of those who have passed can really be a mess if things are not specified as to what to do with it when the owners are gone.
ReplyDeleteNight food :)
ReplyDeleteI only keep garlic in the bathroom if I suspect a vampire lurking just outside the bathroom window. Why take a chance? :) I enjoyed reading your story about the prettiest house. Sometimes I wonder about houses I pass, what they look like on the inside and would I like to live there? I'm glad the home has new tenants who lovely restored it to its former glory again. :)
ReplyDeleteNo my garlic is in the kitchen. We don't have vampires here.
ReplyDeleteLove your story. It made me smile. You write so very well.
Thank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. ♥
I love garlic but never in the bedroom unless my breathe is garlicy when I get to bed. Maybe that's why my wife turns away from me in bed. LOL
ReplyDeleteHave a great day Mimi.
Cruisin Paul
Garlic in the bedroom does keep the vampires away. That was a terrific story!
ReplyDeleteNo I don't have a bowl of gartlic in my bedroom. Should I? Loved your story, it sounds like a very special house.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you keep garlic in the bedroom? (Asking for a friend.) And I would have bought the house also if given the opportunity. It was vacant when I took the photo.
ReplyDeleteNo garlic in the bedroom - whaaaa? I've seen little treasures like that and was tempted, I love the story of the little gem of a house.
ReplyDeleteIs someone afraid of vampires? Great story about the house. XO
ReplyDeleteThat is a lovely story. It is always pleasing to see a neglected house well restored without losing it's character. You have no worries about a visit from a vampire with the garlic in the bedroom.
ReplyDeleteI understany the You in the story. I also felt tempted by such a house, h.. I still feel tempted.
ReplyDeleteHouses have their charm even if no one lives in it. Good use of the WFW prompt.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day.
No garlic bowl anywhere ` well written story ~ Xo
ReplyDeleteLiving in the moment,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Garlic in the hanging basket in the kitchen with onions. Haha...We just added Rebekah on to our house. She knows she has to keep Nick and Zach together. haha....I am hoping to go in the rapture and avoid all the messiness od the world. A wicked wicked world today.
ReplyDelete