In the Local Paper (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Sandee at Comedy Plus, and BeThere2Day.     

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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 David M. Gasciogne and posted by Elephant's Child.          

This week's prompts are:

 

• Afternoon
• Furrowed
• Enchanted
• Knowing
• Organized
• Singing

 

And/or

 

• Clutched
• Beyond
• Metaphysical
• Symbiosis
• Vital
• Father

 Have fun. 

Moving day was finally here.  FATHER, with brow FURROWED and clipboard in hand, wanted it to be smooth, easy, and ORGANIZED.

He knew his family, thus he knew what he jokingly called the METAPHYSICAL SYMBIOSIS from BEYOND understanding would interfere with his plans at some point.  Something always did, and he had to keep a sense of humor about it, so he called it that when the inevitable hiccup or snag happened.

Looking over the checklist again, he realized he really shouldn't worry, but he did.  He'd interviewed the movers twice and he knew they were good, he'd insisted on references and checked them thoroughly, too.  The family had been living out of only the clothes they'd packed in suitcases for the last 3 days, all the rest of the clothes were in boxes and ready.

He'd even had them sleeping in their sleeping bags on top of the mattresses for a couple of nights, since they'd packed up all the linens.

This morning they'd be chivvied into whatever clean clothes were left, the dirty clothes would be picked up by the "laundry magicians" as his wife liked to call the wash/dry/fold laundromat that delivered, something they seldom used but now was the time.  That was one thing to do, remind the pick-up person that the drop-off location would be the new house, not here, that was VITAL.  The rest of the clothes might not get unpacked right away and he and his wife both had what his youngest boy probably thought was an unreasonable prejudice against them and their children running around in the buff.  He made another note on his clipboard.

Youngest daughter came down the stairs first, her favorite rabbit FooFoo CLUTCHED protectively in her arms.

"Daddy, the movers won't lose FooFoo, will they?" she asked before he could even give her a good morning kiss.

"No, sweetheart, they won't.  In fact, why don't you do a big job today.  You be in charge of FooFoo and all the stuffies.  Put them all in your sleeping bag, since the bags are coming with us in the car along with the suitcases, and they'll all be in one place, safe and sound."

"Okay, Daddy," she said.  "What's for breakfast?"

"We still have milk, bread and jam, so that's breakfast," he said.  While he was fixing toast with jam for her, the rest of the family came traipsing down the stairs so he simply toasted the whole remainder of the loaf, four slices at a time, put jam on them, and let everyone help themselves.

"I hope this cloud cover does clear off," he said to his wife as she poured milk for everyone.

"Relax," she said.  "The forecast is for some clouds this morning and an ENCHANTED AFTERNOON, which we will spend doing our best to make this your dream move."

"You're laughing at me," he sulked a little.

"Of course, I am, if I can't, who can?" she laughed.  "KNOWING you as I do, you're now at the 'worrying about things that are physically impossible' stage.  Quit worrying.  You did a great job organizing us, down to paper plates for breakfast today, pizza to be delivered for lunch, and my parents having us to their house for supper tonight when we're all moved in so we won't have to cook.

"Listen," she said, and they paused.  Youngest daughter was SINGING to the stuffed animals, hers and those of her siblings, as she put them in the sleeping bag.

"After it's all over, your family is with you.  That's what's important, remember?"

"Yes, I remember.  Thank you," he said.

"Here, have some toast," she said.  "No more worry!"

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Today is:

Czech Statehood Day -- Czech Republic

Drink Beer Day

Feast of Hapi and Creation of the Nile -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Fish Tank Floor Show Night -- the Wellcat Holidays people say that your fish keep you entertained all year long, so turn-about is fair play, entertain your fish tonight!

Frances Willard Day -- Minnesota

International Right to Know Day -- FOI Advocates Network, promoting the right of access to information for all people and the benefits of open, transparent, and accountable governments

Menkhet Festival -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Michaelmas Eve -- Celtic celebration, bake your bannock bread tonight for eating on St. Michael and All Angel's Day tomorrow; tonight, build a bonfire and dine on roast lamb, and make sure the menfolk protect the horses, for anyone is allowed to "borrow" one for the celebration tomorrow

National Day of Awareness and Unity against Child Pornography -- Philippines

National Good Neighbor Day -- US (begun when Mrs. Becky Mattson from Lakeside, Montana, began campaigning for this National Day in the 1970's; go greet the neighbors, and be a good neighbor yourself!)

National Strawberry Cream Pie Day

National Women's Health and Fitness Day -- US, sponsored by Fitness Day    www.fitnessday.com/women

Nobel Conference 58 -- Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN, US (annual two-day symposium, this year, Mental Health (In)Equity and Youth)

Read a Child a Book You Like Day -- someone started this to get us to remember the books we loved as kids, and share them with children now

Runic Half Month Gyfu begins (gift)

St. Wenceslaus' Day (Patron of brewers; Bohemia; Czech Republic; Moravia; Prague, Czech Republic)

Tales of Kelp-Koli's Second Visit -- Fairy Calendar (through the 30th)

Teacher's Day -- Taiwan (on the traditional Western date of Confucius' birthday, of course)

Tzom Gedaliah -- Judaism (Fast of Gedalia, a dawn to dusk day of fasting to lament the assassination of Gedalia the righteous governor of Judea)

World Rabies Day 

Birthdays Today:

Frankie Jonas, 2000

Hilary Duff, 1987

Gwyneth Paltrow, 1973

Naomi Watts, 1968

Mira Sorvino, 1967

Janeane Garofalo, 1964

Suzanne Whang, 1962

Steve Largent, 1954

Jeffrey Jones, 1947

Ben E. King, 1938

Koko Taylor, 1935

Brigitte Bardot, 1934

Arnold Stang, 1925

Marcello Mastroianni, 1924

William Windom, 1923

Al Capp, 1909

Max Schmeling, 1905

Ed Sullivan, 1901

Kate Douglas Wiggin, 1856

Frances Willard, 1839

Confucius, BC551

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Ed Wood(Film), 1994

"Cosmos: A Personal Voyage"(Documentary series), 1980

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine"(Single release, Gladys Knight), 1967

"Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales"(TV), 1963

"Dr. Kildare"(TV), 1961

"Hazel"(TV), 1961

"Purlie Victorious"(Play), 1961

Radio Times(Magazine, first issue), 1923

Today in History:

Pompey the Great, member of the Triumvirate, is assassinated by order of King Ptolemy of Egypt upon landing in that country, BC48

King/Saint Wenceslas murdered by his brother, 935

William the Conqueror invades England, 1066

Sinking of the Spanish fleet during a hurricane off the coast of Florida, 1528

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo becomes the first European to reach San Diego Bay, 1542

Publication of "Pilgrim's Progress", 1678

Divorce is legalized in Maryland, 1701

American and French forces begin the siege of Yorktown, 1781

Napoleon Bonaparte, age 16, graduates from the Military Academy of Paris -- 42nd in a class of 51, 1785

Donati's comet becomes the first to be photographed, 1858

Toronto becomes the capital of Ontario, 1867

Sir Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mould growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin, 1928

Indonesia joins the United Nations, 1950

Mali and Senegal join the United Nations, 1960

SpaceX launches the first ever private spacecraft, the Falcon 1 into orbit, 2008

Research teams from Exeter and Cambridge Universities announce in the journal Nature Genetics their discovery of the DNA controllers that determine at what age women go into menopause, 2015

Elon Musk unveils the SpaceX spacecraft Starship, which is designed to travel to Mars and other parts of the solar system and land back on earth, 2020

The United States National Inventors Hall of Fame announces it will induct two Black women for the first time, Engineer Marian Croak and ophthalmologist Dr. Patricia Bath, 2021