Christmas Cheer (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, BeThere2Day, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     www.wordlesswednesday.blogspot.com

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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 Elephant's Child.      

This week's prompts are:

 

• Grandmama
• Holiday
• Ruthless
• Gallery
• Purchase

 

And/or

 

• Machine
• Stitched
• Motion
• Art
• Brain

 

Have fun. 

"Call me GRANDMAMA," she said, "just like the grandmother in the Addams Family, but I'm not quite so RUTHLESS in some of my ways as they were.  Note, I said 'some!'"

She grinned mischievously, then turned back to her MACHINE and STITCHED away at a seam.  When she got to the end, she stopped and looked up at me again.

Her eyes were lively and I could see her BRAIN was working a mile a minute.

We'd stopped at a new, local place to do some HOLIDAY shopping, with it being "Small Business Saturday" and all.  From the outside it looked like part ART GALLERY, part crafters' paradise and inside it was as fascinating as the outside promised.

There were paintings, sculptures and stained-glass hangings, one-of-a-kind stitched and embroidered and hand tatted items, quilts, craft supplies and more.

It seemed she'd come to a place where she could comfortably stop, so Grandmama stood up and stretched.  "Gotta keep both the mind working and the body in MOTION," she said, "or you'll dry up or rust up."

Stepping out from behind the counter, she shook hands with each of us.

I asked her how long her shop had been here, as I'd only noticed it a few weeks before when a friend pointed it out.  My sisters had wandered off to explore, but I was curious and wanted to get to know her better.

"We opened a few months ago.  My family is big into arts of all sorts and we've made and sold stuff for years at boutiques and flea markets and lately, online.  We have plenty of friends who are quality crafters or artists, too, and we wanted a steady place to showcase our work and theirs, and from which to ship things out for the online business.  This little 'nest' came open, so we took the plunge."

"It's perfect," I told her, then lowered my voice.  "I'd like to PURCHASE the large ceramic frog planter over there for my mom for Christmas, but I want it to be a surprise and one of my sisters is notorious for spilling the beans.  Can I pay you for it and come pick it up later this week?"

"Easy-peasy," she said, and we were finished before either of my sisters returned to the counter with some items that had caught their eyes.

"I'll be back," I told her, and she smiled.  

"I'm counting on it!  And spread the word, we love meeting new customers!"

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Today is:

Divalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (part of Saturnalia; feast of Angerona, goddess of secret sorrows)

Flashlight Day -- what better day, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, when dark is with us longest, to make sure you have one in good working order

Forefathers' Day -- Plymouth, MA, US (celebrates the landing of the Pilgrims)

Homeless Persons' Memorial Day -- US

Humbug Day -- those frustrated with their holiday preparations are allowed up to 12 humbugs today, just to help vent their frustrations; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Icelandic Traditional Calendar Month Morsugr "Fat Sucker" begins -- Iceland (referring to the daily fare becoming scant in deep winter and body fat is used up)

Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Gluggagaegir -- Peeper, who peeps through the windows and will come steal toys he likes the look of

Kiwi Fruit Day -- California, US (celebrate with them, these are good!)

Look At the Bright Side Day -- Northern Hemisphere, and why not; after all, each day after this will have more sun!

National Hamburger Day

Pancha Ganapati -- India (through the 25th, a modern Hindu festival honoring of Lord Ganesha, Patron of Arts and Culture)

Phileas Fogg Wins A Wager Day (1872)

Poseidea -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival to honor Poseidon; date approximate)

Solstice -- Northern Hemisphere Winter begins/Southern Hemisphere Summer begins at 21:48UCT

     Anne and Samantha Day -- celebrating the lives of Anne Frank and Samantha Smith, a day to work and pray for world peace

     Alban Arthuan -- Druid Festival, 4th Station; through the solstice

     Bruma -- Ancient Roman Calendar

     Dongzhi Festival -- East Asia (literal meaning, "Extreme of Winter")

     Festival of Isis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (celebration of the seeking of Osiris by Isis and her resurrection of him)

     National Haiku Poetry Day -- US (because haiku is traditionally about the seasons, it's celebrated on the first day of winter)

     Wild Hunt reaches its peak -- various Norse traditions

     Soyala New Year Festival -- Hopi and Zuni Native Americans (a festival of purification as well as celebration, with homes cleaned, fires doused, and personal restraint observed)

     Yalda -- Iran (Persian/Zoroastrian winter solstice festival; to celebrate the longest night of the year, many stay up for the fight against dark and evil.)

     Yule/Jul/Jol Festivals begin -- various calendars, religions, countries and observances, both ancient and modern

          Yule -- Wicca/Pagan, northern hemisphere

          Litha -- Wicca/Pagan, southern hemisphere

          from the Old Norse Hjol, meaning "wheel" to signify the year is at its lowest point and ready to rise again

     Ziemassvetki -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (birth of Dievs, highest of the gods; modern Latvians celebrate this on Christmas Eve/Christmas, but it was originally a three-day solstice festival)

St. Peter Canisius' Day (Patron of Catholic press, Germany, writers of catechisms)

St. Thomas' Day, the Doubting Thomas (old date, now celebrated on July 3, but many of the superstitions related to it are still observed at this time)

     Mumping Day a/k/a Gooding Day -- UK (traditional day on which beggars beg for, or "mump", good things for Christmas, always on old St. Thomas' Day)

     Sao Tome Day -- Sao Tome e Principe (Dia de Sao Tome e Principe)

Birthdays Today:

Jackson Rathbone, 1984

Jack Noseworthy, 1969

Kiefer Sutherland, 1966

Andy Dick, 1965

Florence Griffith Joyner, 1959

Ray Romano, 1957

Jane Kaczmarek, 1955

Chris Evert, 1954

Tina Brown, 1953

Samuel L. Jackson, 1948

Michael Tilson Thomas, 1944

Frank Zappa, 1940

Jane Fonda, 1937

Phil Donahue, 1935

Joe Paterno, 1926

Paul Winchell, 1922

Heinrich Böll, 1917

Josh Gibson, 1911

Joseph Stalin, 1879

Henrietta Szold, 1860

Benjamin Disraeli, 1804

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Billion Dollar Baby"(Musical), 1945

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs(Disney animated film), 1937

Tillie's Punctured Romance(Silent Film, first full-length comedy), 1914

The Crossword Puzzle(First one ever published, 1913

Basketball, 1891 (first game under the direction of James Naismith, by the rules he had published)

Today in History:

A hurricane hits Holland/Friesland, destroying villages with widespread flooding, 1163

The Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche Native Americans, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile; all Spanish cities south of the Biobio River are eventually taken by the Mapuches, and all conquest of Mapuche territories by Europeans practically ceases, until the 1870s "Pacification of Araucania", 1598

William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1620

Hue Tay Son becomes emperor Quang Trung of Vietnam, 1788

The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement, 1844

The first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army are formed: The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, 1883

The first Word-Cross puzzle, which the printer mislabeled as a Cross-Word (the name that stuck), is published in the New York World, 1913

The first feature length color and sound cartoon, Disney's Snow White, premiers, 1937

Rondane National Park is established as Norway's first national park, 1962

Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew performs the first ever manned Trans Lunar Injection and become the first humans to leave Earth's gravity, 1968

The United Nations adopts the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1969

Mexican volcano Popocatepetl, dormant for 47 years, erupts gases and ash, 1994

The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control, 1995

Scientists studying the Sutter's Mill Meteorite announce it contains the oldest material in the Solar System, 2012

The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar reaches the date 13.0.0.0.0, 2012

Hawaiian vocalist Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's official music video for his rendition of "Over the Rainbow" reaches a billion views on YouTube, 2020

The JET Laboratory, UK, has a major breakthrough in fusion energy research, producing a record 59 mega joules of energy over 5 seconds, 2021