Not Exactly (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 River at her blog, Drifting Through Life.     

This week's words/prompts are:

1. hypnotic 

2. case 

3. promise 

4. wild 

5. ceiling fan 

6. burgers and shakes 

7. canvas 

8. garlic

She'd known when they moved further out into the country that there would be a lot more cooking at home and a lot less eating out.  She was okay with that, it was healthier and cheaper, after all, and she'd learned two things.

The first was to always be sure she got all her ingredients ahead of time, as there'd be no running to the corner store for a last minute item.  There was a corner store a ten minute drive away that sold gas, bait and some groceries, but it was small.  If you needed milk or a clove of GARLIC or a simple ingredient, they'd likely have it.  If you need some WILD special ingredient or spice, you'd better have it on hand.

The second thing was that after a day like today, there might need to be a special CASE made for an exception.  They hadn't been out anywhere in quite a while, and when you've spent the whole day helping your husband wrestling with tractor parts instead of doing the plowing he had planned, and you were now a day behind and you'd had no time to get a meal ready, well, even the nearest BURGER AND SHAKES joint looked like a feast.

They were both somber on the drive over.  The closest eatery was not too far from the aforementioned corner store, so not far enough of a road trip in the country to be lulled into that HYPNOTIC state long drives can cause.

After ordering they sat in their favorite spot, under a CEILING FAN.  He stared moodily at a CANVAS on the wall that was one of the few decorative works in the whole place.  It was a modern artwork and looked to him like someone had simply taken a large brush and slung paint around in a wild frenzy.

She sipped her iced tea and waited, knowing he wouldn't keep silent forever.

"I just don't get why everything has to be so doggone hard," he finally said with a sigh.

She let him go on for a while, knowing they'd both feel better after eating.  Once the food came, she started talking about what she was planting in the kitchen garden to distract him.

By the time they'd finished and each ordered a large cookie to nibble on the way home, she said, "It's hard because you appreciate it more when you work for it, and tomorrow will be a better day, I PROMISE."

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Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Indonesia (Hari Tentara Nasional)

Balloons Around the World -- balloon artists around the world are encouraged to donate an hour or more to a charity of their choice in their community, entertaining children everywhere with balloon sculpture

Change a Light Day -- US (was originally sponsored by EnergyStar, promoting energy saving light bulbs; although they don't seem to be running this particular campaign any longer, it's a great idea to switch to the highest efficiency bulbs you can)

     while the original dates were on Wednesdays, some websites list this on the first Sunday

Constitution Day -- Vanuatu

Do Something Nice Day -- internet generated; make someone's day brighter, it will brighten your own

Durga Puja -- Hindu (start of the five-day celebration of the goddess Durga)

Festival of the Five Toes -- Fairy Calendar

Festival of Mania -- Ancient Roman Calendar (held to placate the Manes, on dates when it was believed the doors to the underworld were open and the dead were free to roam)

International Day of No Prostitution -- information here    

Long Walk Day -- David Kunst finished his walk around the world on this day in 1974; go for a long walk in his honor

Most Common Birthday -- US (yes, according to Anybirthday.com, on average, more people are born in the US on this day than any other; wonder if it has anything to do with today being 9 months after New Year's Eve?)

National Apple Betty Day

National Get Funky Day -- the brainchild of Funkytown Fitness Center in St. Augustine, FL, US, urging you to get funky and break free of your comfort zone!

Noisy Munching Day -- a fun day for kids, or your own inner child; munch chips, celery, pickles, anything loud, to annoy others

Nubaigai -- Pagan Lithuanian Calendar (harvest festival; can't get independent confirmation that it's always on this day)

Republic Day -- Portugal

Semana Morazánica, una Fiestas Patrias -- Honduras (through Saturday)

St. Placid's Day

Thesmophoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (start of a 3-day women's festival of Demeter; date approximate)

Thimphu Tsechu / Thimphu Drubchen -- Thimphu, Bhutan (three-day Drukpa Buddhism tshechu festival, sacred masked dances dedicated to Bhutan's protective spirit which tourists may watch but are strictly prohibited from taking pictures; this is Bhutan's largest tshechu and has been held every year since 1867)

Unicorn Questing Season begins -- as established by the late W. T. "Bill" Rabe, get your official license here   

World Teachers Day -- UN

Yom Kippur -- Judaism (began sundown yesterday, ends sundown today)

Birthdays Today:

Jesse Eisenberg, 1983

Kate Winslet, 1975

Parminder K. Nagra, 1975

Josie Bissett, 1970

Mario Lemieux, 1965

Laura Davies, 1963

Michael Andretti, 1962

Maya Ying Lin, 1959

Bernie Mac, 1957

Bob Geldof, 1954

Clive Barker, 1952

Bob Geldof, 1951

Karen Allen, 1951

Jeff Conaway, 1950

Steve Miller, 1943

Vaclav Havel, 1936

Bill Dana, 1924

Glynis Johns, 1923

Bil Keane, 1922

Donald Pleasence, 1919

Allen Ludden, 1917

Larry Fine, 1902

Robert Hutchings Goddard, 1882

Louis Lumiere, 1864

Chester A. Arthur, 1829

Denis Diderot, 1713

Jonathan Edwards, 1703

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Monty Python's Flying Circus"(TV), 1969

"Love Me Do"(Single release), 1962

"Zane Grey Theater"(TV), 1956

"The Diary of Anne Frank"(Play), 1955

"You Bet Your Life"(TV), 1950

"Secret Service"(Play), 1896

"Orfeo ed Euridice/Orpheus and Euridice"(Opera), 1762

Today in History:

Founding of the city of Concepcion, Chile, 1550

The Gregorian calendar is introduced in Italy and other Catholic countries, 1582

March on Versailles by the women of Paris, 1789

Shawnee Chief Tecumseh killed in the battle of the Thames, 1813

Founding of the City of Anaheim, 1857

Destruction of most of Calcutta by cyclone, approximately 60,000 die, 1864

A strong hurricane devastates the Bay of Fundy region of Maritime Canada, 1869

The surrender of Chief Joseph, after the 1,700 mile retreat, marks the end of the Nez Pierce War, 1877

The first individual time trial for racing cyclists is held on a 50-mile course north of London, 1895

Sir Samuel Griffith is appointed the first Chief Justice of Australia and Sir Edmund Barton and Richard O'Connor are appointed as foundation justices, 1903

First appearance of the Little Orphan Annie comic strip in the NYC Daily News, 1924

Suffrage is extended to women in France, 1944

The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake kills 110,000, 1948

The first documented recovery meeting of Narcotics Anonymous is held, 

1953Dr. No, the first in the James Bond film series, was released, 1962

The first episode of the famous comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus aired on BBC, 1969

Signature of the European Patent Convention, 1973

Raoul Wallenberg is made an honorary US citizen, 1981

Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, 1984

The first official version of the Linux kernel, version 0.02, is released, 1991

The Bulldozer Revolution begins in Belgrade, eventually leading to the resignation of Slobodan Milosevic, 2000

A new, though threatened, language known as Koro, is discovered by a team of linguists on an expedition to Arunachal Pradesh, in northeastern India, 2010

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Edvard Moser, May-Britt Moser and John O'Keefe, neuroscientists who discovered the brain cells responsible for positioning and navigation memory, 2014

Governor Jerry Brown of California signs a bill giving terminally ill patients the "right to die," 2015

The constitutional court of Spain suspends the Catalan parliament to prevent declaration of independence, 2017

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded jointly to Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege and Yazidi activist Nadia Murad for "efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war", 2018

Jenny Saville's "Propped" brings a record price at auction for a living female artist, £9.5 million, 2018

The Nobel Prize for Medicine is awarded jointly to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, 2020

Russia launches an actor and director to the International Space Station to make the first film in orbit, 2021