Thursday, June 30, 2022

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

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It's the time that can strike fear, or at least a huge amount of annoyance, into the heart of every cat in the house.


Dogsitting time is here, as #2 Son has flown on a 10-day trip to Alaska.


Jock, the 4-month-old blue heeler, is having a ball.  He's been here about 24 hours and has had 2 accidents in the house, torn a magazine, and chased all four cats several times each.


The cats have decamped to the tops of the furniture, except Tripod SissyCat who wants to stay outside on the porch all of the time, and they are giving me dirty looks.


The little guy and i are having fun, though -- in fact, it's time for our evening game of chase the ball, at least until he gets bored and i have to chase it myself the last time to pick it up and put it away.



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






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While Good Fences Around the World seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird, i still enjoy looking for and posting interesting fences, so i will!






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




High above every grief and care,

it's such a joy to be floating on air.

It never gets old to see this sight,

the spreading Earth in dawn's first light.



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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 we are thankful to have Jock here.  The cats are not, but that means they will be thankful when he is gone.






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Today is:


Aizen Matsuri -- Shoman-in Temple, Osaka, Japan (celebration of Aizen Myo-oh, greatest of the 8 Buddhist guardian gods, and is also called the Yakuta Festival; through July 2)


Armed Forces Day -- Guatemala


Crab Races -- Fairy Calendar (Pixies, Elves, and some Fairies)


Day of Aestas -- Ancient Roman Calendar (culmination of the festival that begins the summer)


Feast of the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome -- remembrance of the first Christians killed in Rome by order of Nero as scapegoats for the fire in Rome


General Prayer Day -- Central African Republic


Independence Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)(1960)


Leap Second Time Adjustment Day -- if one is needed


Meteor Day -- because of the Tuskunga Event


National Bomb Pop Day -- on the Thursday in June right before US Independence Day, to kick off the celebration with the original red, white, and blue bomb pops


National Corvette Day -- US (vehicle introduced this day in 1953)


National Handshake Day -- US; sponsored by professional development companies on the last Thursday in June, encouraging everyone to develop a good, professional handshake


National Ice Cream Soda Day


Pridie Kalendas July (Day Before the Kalends of July) -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a day when dies comitiales -- citizen committees -- voted on political and criminal matters)


Revolution Day -- Sudan(1989)


St. Theobald of Provins' day (Patron of bachelors)


Tech Support Appreciation Day -- if you can get a hold of them, they can be great to have around



Anniversary Today:


Greg Allman marries Cher, 1975



Birthdays Today:


Michael Phelps, 1985

Fantasia Barrino, 1984

Ralf Schumacher, 1975

Michael Gerard (Mike) Tyson, 1966

Rupert Graves, 1963

Vincent D’Onofrio, 1959

David Alan Grier, 56, 1955

Leonard Whiting, 1950

Patricia Schroeder, 1940

Nancy Dussault, 1936

Harry Blackstone, Jr., 1934

Susan Hayward, 1919

Lena Horne, 1917

Czeslaw Milosz, 1911

William Almon Wheeler, 1819



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Johnny Carson Show"(TV), 1955

"Guiding Light"(TV), 1947

"Brenda Starr, Reporter"(Comic strip), 1940




Today in History:


Jews are expelled from Berne Switzerland, 1294

The Spaniards are expelled from Tenochtitlan, 1520

Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery, Ohio, 1794

French  acrobat  Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope, 1859

The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place, 1860

The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal; it arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4, 1886

Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", in which he introduces special relativity, 1905

The Tunguska event, probably caused by a meteor or comet fragment, occurs in remote Siberia, 1908

The Regina Cyclone hits Regina, Saskatchewan, killing 28; it remains Canada's deadliest tornado event, 1912

Congo gains independence from Belgium, 1960

The first leap second is added to the UTC  time system, 1972

The Royal Canadian Mint introduces the $1 coin, known as the Loonie, 1987

East Germany and West Germany merge their economies, 1990

The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, 1997

After nearly 7 years in space, the Cassini spacecraft becomes the first to orbit the planet Saturn, 2004

The Molecule of the Year 2011 is announced, BMP7 (Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7), a potential therapeutic utility for recurrent metastatic disease, 2012

Misty Copeland becomes the first African American principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, 2015

Donald Trump becomes the first sitting US President to set foot in North Korea during the Korean Demilitarized Zone meeting with Kim Jong Un, 2019

American Abhimanyu Mishra becomes the youngest chess grandmaster ever at 12 years and 4 months, surpassing Sergey Karjakin, 2021

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

A Product I Didn't Know Existed, or Was Needed (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 Charlotte/Mother Owl at her blog.  A big thank you to Charlotte for providing such wonderful prompts this month!     


This week's prompts are


Humdrum

Hapless

Righteous

Puny

Troubled

Quirky


and/or this photo





"Is it just me, or has my life become a bit, well, HUMDRUM?" she asked her friend as they looked up into the sky through the branches of the bare tree under which they were sitting.


"Maybe a little, but you seem TROUBLED by it, and if it's causing a problem it needs to be solved."


"It seems a PUNY problem to put too much energy into," she started and her friend interrupted.


"Wrong attitude," her friend responded with hint of RIGHTEOUS indignation in her tone.  "The idea that just because your problems aren't as bad as other people's problems means you have no problem is wrong.  If something's causing a problem, it needs to be solved."


"How do you solve the problem of a life that's gotten a little dull around the edges?"


"You aren't HAPLESS like this tree here.  If the tree isn't getting enough water, it can't go fetch water.  If you need more happiness or excitement or whatever it is you need in your life, you have the capacity to get up and go get it.  Speaking of getting up and going to get something, I'm getting hungry so I'm going to get up and go fetch myself a sandwich.  Are you coming?"


"Sure," she laughed.  "You know, you're QUIRKY but you have good answers."


"That's why you keep me around!"



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Today is:


Autonomy Day -- French Polynesia


Camera Day -- internet generated, but a fun one to celebrate


Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul -- Christian

     St. Paul, Patron of Greece, Malta, rope makers, tentmakers, upholsterers

     St. Peter, Patron of clockmakers, fishermen, Russia; against fever, foot trouble, wolves

     a recognized holiday in Chile; Holy See; Italy; Malta[l-Imnarja]; Peru; GR and TI, Switzerland; Wallis and Fortuna

     Haro Wine Festival -- Haro, LaRioja, Spain (a festival that includes a Battle of Wines, where wine is thrown from buckets at opposing teams; on the feast day of the city's patron, San Pedro)

     Rat-Catcher's Day -- often cited because some of the earliest legends of the Pied Piper claim he took the children on the Feast Day of Sts. Peter and Paul


Hug Holiday -- while the National Hug Holiday Week has been moved to the beginning of May, this is the original day, and was for quite a while, so go give someone a big hug!


Independence Day -- Seychelles


National Almond Butter Crunch Day


Oharai/Grand Purification Festival -- Shinto


Runic Half-month Feoh (wealth) commences


Waffle Iron Day -- don't know why today, but it's a great gadget, and if you have one, pull it out and use it today


Wicked Fairies Summer Debate -- Fairy Calendar (i'd love to hear this!)



Birthdays Today:


Prince Aristide Stavros of Greece and Denmark, 2008

Amanda Donohoe, 1962

Sharon Lawrence, 1962

Fred Grandy, 1948

Richard Lewis, 1947

Gary Busey, 1944

Robert Evans, 1930

Ray Harryhausen, 1920

Slim Pickens, 1919

Bernard Herrmann, 1911

Nelson Eddy, 1901

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1900

James Van Der Zee, 1886

William James Mayo, 1863

George Washington Goethals, 1858

Julia Clifford Lathrop, 1858



Debuting/Premiering Today:


Moonraker(Film), 1979



Today in History:


An Irish monastic chronicler records a solar eclipse, 512

Jacques Cartier makes the European discovery of Prince Edward Island, 1534

The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground, 1613

Alexander Macdonell and over five hundred Roman Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario, 1786

Coal is discovered on Vancouver Island, 1850

Ninety-nine people are killed in Canada's worst railway disaster near St-Hilaire, Quebec, 1864

France annexes Tahiti, 1880

The first known recording of classical music, Handel's "Israel in Egypt", is made on a wax cylinder, 1888

Street railway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, commences operation, 1891

Doukhobors burn their weapons as a protest against conscription by the Tsarist Russian government, 1895

France grants 1 km² at Vimy Ridge "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes," 1922

Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Canada receives a patent for sprocket and track traction system used in snow vehicles, 1937

Isabel Perón is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina, 1974

The Seychelles  become independent from the United Kingdom, 1976

The space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir Space Station for the first time, 1995

Two car bombs are found at Piccadilly Circus, in the heart of London, 2007

News that European Union members agree on a deal to help some struggling Eurozone members causes world stock markets to soar, 2012

The Beijing Times reports that up to 30% of the Great Wall of China has disappeared, partly due to natural forces of decay and partly due to people stealing bricks, 2015

Iraqi forces retake the remains of the destroyed Great Mosque of al-Nuri from the Islamic State; it was the symbolic site where their leader had declared a "caliphate", 2017

Lytton, British Columbia, records Canada's highest-ever temperature of 49.6C (121.3F), before being destroyed by a wildfire the next day, 2021