Ducks in a Row (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 Hilary Melton-Butcher and are being posted by Elephant's Child.          

This week's prompts are:

jubilant

ginger

shimmering

beachcombing

smudge

Rosetta Stone

and/or

charcoal

wool

toga

abyss

coffee

leaves

Have fun.

If we had been tempted to be JUBILANT about the car situation looking up in the past week, it was just the SHIMMERING of an oasis.  Each setback is like a SMUDGE of CHARCOAL across a pristine wooden COFFEE table, or spilled GINGER ale on your new white WOOL coat, or splashed mud from a chariot wheel on your new TOGA you're wearing for the first time to the Forum, or...you get the picture and i can't think of more ways to use the words.  Okay, newly fallen LEAVES on your fresh raked lawn.

Actually, i am exaggerating.  By G-d's grace, we are going to get through this.  None of us are likely to end up living in a shack on some shore BEACHCOMBING for a living.  Sometimes, though, the never-ending-ness of car drama feels like an ABYSS.

In a day and time when finding a good used car can be almost as difficult as translating the ROSETTA STONE was when it was first found, we were blessed to happen upon one at the right time and right place, and it's here and so far, so good.

Now, to the continuing saga of #1 Son's car.

His part came in on Monday, just as i was buying a used car for us and it was installed as we were taking the borrowed truck back to its rightful owner.

Sweetie and i picked up the key, and after he got off work, #1 Son drove Lunceford the Land Yacht over here and i took him to Kevin and Lenny's to get his own car.

It wouldn't start.

Kevin poked his head out of the shop he was closing up for the day and said, "What!"  Upon being informed he said, "Well I can jump it for you."  My response was simply, and then how does he get it back here when it won't start when he gets where he's going?"

"Yeah, there is that," Kevin said.  "Leave it here and I'll put a new battery in it in the morning."

We left it, and went back to the house so he could climb in Lunceford again and get home.

Tuesday morning, i called bright an early and begged them to check the alternator on Son's car.  They said they would.

While i was working for Ms. D, Son came over, gave the keys to Lunceford to Sweetie and was driven back over there to pick up his car.

Early in the afternoon, #1 Son called, and i knew before i picked up my phone that it was not good news.

"The car won't start, it was dying on me in traffic so I pulled into the Trader Joe's parking lot.  Can you come jump it off and let's see if we can get it back to the shop?"

Do you have jumper cables? i asked, and he answered in the affirmative.  (Mine are in GusGus, hardly helpful.)

What a blessing the new-to-me-car was here so i didn't have to wait for Sweetie to come back with Lunceford.  We were able to carefully and safely jumpstart his car, and for the third time in recent weeks, #1 Son had a harrowing drive.  As i followed him more closely than any car should follow another, his electrical systems in the car shut down one at a time, wiper blades slowed to a crawl (of course it was raining), headlights blinked off and on, turn signals quit working and the dash gauges went down one by one.  The car rolled in the shop driveway on inertia and prayer.

Sweetie, as noted, had been running errands in Lunceford but was back by the time we got there, and so #1 Son is again borrowing the Land Yacht.

We hope it's just the alternator, that they can find one, and that we can finally put this episode of our ongoing car drama behind us for a while.

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Today is:

Barbie-in-a-blender Day -- while i get why we do it to Barbie, what did your blender do to deserve this?  originally thought of by Freeculture.org, to defend our rights to comment on cultural icons, whether they are trademarked/copyrighted or not

Bugs Bunny Day -- the "wascally wabbit" made his debut in A Wild Hare, released on this day in 1940

Day of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus -- date on the Julian Calendar, these are the legendary saints who, upon persecution by the Emperor Decius and being walled up in a cave to die as martyrs, instead slept for over 200 (in the Koran, yes, they are mentioned there, it is 300) years; based on an even more ancient legend and the prototypes of Rip Van Winkle; related observances 

     National Sleepy Head Day -- Finland (the last person in the house to wake on this day is awakened with water, either thrown on him/her or the person is thrown into water; in honor of the story of the Saints of Ephesus)

     Seven Sleepers Day -- Ancient Latvian Calendar

     Siebenschlafer -- Germany (a weather prognostication day, if it rains today, there will be rain for seven weeks more)

Iglesia Ni Cristo Day -- Philippines

Ipip Festival -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (festival for working on the king's tomb; date approximate)

Jose Celso Barbosa Day -- Puerto Rico

National Blunt Object Day -- this one is just weird, and no one wants to take the blame for starting it, either

National Creme Brulee Day

National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day -- US

National Scotch Day

Over-The-Moon Night (Cows and Spoons) -- Fairy Calendar

St. Pantaleon's Day (Patron of bachelors, physicians, torture victims; against tuberculosis)

Take Your Houseplants For a Walk Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, which claims doing this will orient them to their position on the earth and make them healthier (some websites mistakenly call it take your pants for a walk day!)

Victory Day -- North Korea

Walk on Stilts Day -- at your own risk always; sponsored by Bill "Stretch" Coleman, the Nine Foot Clown, who encourages everyone to walk on stilts to foster a chance to develop self-confidence, master balance and coordination, enjoy the challenge, and celebrate daring accomplishments at all ages   

War Martyrs' and Invalids' Day -- Vietnam

Birthdays Today

Ashlyn Sanchez, 1996

Cheyenne Kimball, 1990

Courtney Kupets, 1986

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, 1977

Alex Rodriguez, 1975

Maya Rudolph, 1972

Triple H, 1969

Julian McMahon, 1968

Maureen McGovern, 1949

Peggy Fleming, 1948

Betty Thomas, 1947

Bobbie Gentry, 1944

James Victor, 1939

Gary Gygax, 1938

Jerry Van Dyke, 1931

Norman Lear, 1922

Leo Ernest Durocher, 1905

Joseph Bert "Joe" Tinker, 1880

José Celso Barbosa, 1857

Alexandre Dumas, fils, 1824

Queen Hatshepsut, BC1508

Today in History

Siward, Earl of Northumbria invades Scotland to support Malcolm Canmore against Macbeth of Scotland, who usurped the Scottish throne from Malcolm's father, King Duncan; Macbeth is defeated at Dunsinane, 1054

Jesuit priest Francis Xavier's ship reaches Japan, 1549

The English Parliament passes the second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English ports, 1663

A Royal Charter is granted to the Bank of England, 1694

The Russian Navy defeats the Swedes atthe Battle of Grengam, 1720

The first U.S. federal government agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, is established (later renamed Department of State), 1789

Robespierre is finally arrested, 1794

The Atlantic Cable is successfully completed, allowing transatlantic telegraph communication for the first time, 1866

Researchers at the University of Toronto led by biochemist Frederick Banting announce the discovery of the hormone insulin, 1921

The animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny, 1940

RMS Titanic, Inc. begins the first expedited salvaging of wreckage of the RMS Titanic, 1987

A pipe bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, GA, US, during the Summer Olympics, 1996

Photograph negatives purchased at a garage sale prove to be early works by photographer Ansel Adams, 2010

The first Przewalski’s horse (whose wild populations were believed extinct in 1969) to be conceived via artificial insemination is born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute as part of a worldwide effort to rebuild the wild herds, 2013

Fiat Chrysler is fined a record $105 million by US regulators over their number of car recalls, 2015

US congressman John Lewis becomes the first African American lawmaker to lie in state in the Rotunda in Washington D.C., 2020

Triathlete Flora Duffy claims an historic first ever Olympic gold medal for Bermuda in the women's event at the Tokyo Games, 2021