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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, BeThere2Day, 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 yours truly.
Please feel free to use some of the prompts, none of them, or all of them as you see fit. The point is to get the creative juices flowing in whatever manner your muse leads you.
This week's prompts are
employee
chaos
decide
water
immune
buffet
and / or the following archaic or seldom used words
prepence (premeditated or planned in advance)
pelf (wealth, often dishonestly acquired; rubbish or trash)
coxcomb (a dandy; a vain or conceited man)
Charlotte/Mother Owl has chosen luminous bright red as the color/colour of the month, which may also be used as a prompt.
In later years, upon telling the story she would say it was "malice PREPENCE," and then laugh.
He'd just shake his head and say, "I'm not in charge of the weather."
Their annual camping trip was left up to his boss to DECIDE when was the right time in the autumn for his week off.
(He also got a week off in spring, and then it was her turn to decide where they were going this time. It worked for them.)
It had to be before the holidays started but after the weather was more likely to be cool, so generally landed in late October or early November.
That was the year it landed wrong.
The place was perfect. It had WATER, so there could be fishing and boating he loved. It had hiking trails, so she could go exploring.
That particular week, it also had CHAOS, definitely not in the original specs.
There aren't many bad storms in the area he'd chosen at that particular time of year, but no place where you go camping, except perhaps the Sahara Desert, is IMMUNE from the occasional storm.
They arrived and got set up, and within 24 hours the warnings had come in. A storm was brewing, everyone leave, the park was being closed.
With everyone else who lived too far away to get home before the weather broke, they descended upon the nearest small town to seek shelter.
Two of the 3 local guesthouses (a term they always used when telling the story, tongues planted firmly in cheek) already had "No Vacancy" signs, and they hied themselves to the third.
Upon driving into the parking lot, they were singularly unimpressed with the general PELF and air of unkemptness.
Upon opening the lobby door and seeing the Luminous Bright Red carpet in the lobby which made it look like a house of ill repute as they were wont to say, and the desk EMPLOYEE, an obvious COXCOMB with his nose much higher in the air over the influx of business than it had any right to be, they came close to making the decision to sleep in their car.
When they saw their room, they almost wished they had made the decision to sleep in the car, but the storm was really too bad for that. In for a penny, in for a pound and they instead brought in some of their camping gear, setting their tent ground cover over the bed and sleeping in their sleeping bags, leaving everything else they owned in the vehicle. They didn't want to touch anything in the place.
Yes, they would tell you, it was that bad.
This establishment boasted a BUFFET breakfast which consisted of several cheap boxes of cold cereal and almost room temperature milk, with vintage bowls of unknown cleanliness, and they passed, instead dashing to the car between the heavier downpours to grab some of the food they'd brought, mostly the trail mix and anything else they could eat without heating or utensils.
The moment the storm slacked enough, they headed home, choosing to spend the rest of the week on a "staycation."
Camping in their own back yard, they later decided, was the best thing about the whole week. And you don't even have to use a camp toilet.
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Today is:
Black Ribbon Day -- Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania
European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism -- European Union
Flag Day -- Ukraine
Great Feast of the Netjeru (all gods and goddesses) -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)
Health Unit Coordinator Day -- US National Association of Health Unit Coordinators, Inc.www.nahuc.org
International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition
National Spongecake Day
Nemeseia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (local festival to the goddess Nemesis, date approximate)
Ride the Wind Day -- internet generated, a day to get out and ride with the wind in your hair, in whatever transport you choose, or fly a kite
Sento Kuyo -- Nenbutsu-Ji Temple, Adashino, Kyoto, Japan (memorial service for graves that no longer have families to tend them; through tomorrow)
St. Eoghan's Day (Patron of Derry, Ireland)
St. Rose of Lima's Day (Patron of embroiderers, florists, gardeners, needle workers, people ridiculed for piety; The Americas/The New World, especially Central and South America, Latin America, Peru, and the West Indies; Lima, Peru; Philippines, Santa Rosa, CA, US; Villareal Samar, Philippines; against vanity)
Valentino Memorial Service -- Hollywood Cathedral Museum, Hollywood Forever Cemetary, Los Angeles, CA, US (annually since 1927, a memorial service celebrating Rudolph Valentino on the anniversary of his death)
Vertumnalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (in honor of Vertumnus and Pomona)
Vulcanalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival to the god of fire)
Birthdays Today:
Kobe Bryant, 1978
Jay Mohr, 1970
River Phoenix, 1970
Queen Noor of Jordan, 1951
Rick Springfield, 1949
Shelley Long, 1949
Antonia Novello, 1944
Patricia McBride, 1942
Richard Sanders, 1940
Tony Bill, 1940
Barbara Eden, 1934
Sonny Jurgensen, 1934
Mark Russel, 1932
Vera Miles, 1930
Gene Kelly, 1912
Edgar Lee Masters, 1868
Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, 1785
Louis XVI, 1754
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"She Loves You"(Beatles single release date), 1963
"The Bat"(Mystery play), 1930
"Gasoline Alley"(as a daily comic strip), 1919
Today in History:
On the feast of Vulcan, Roman god of fire, Mt. Vesuvius begins to rumble, 79
Visigoths storm Rome, 410
Edward I executes William Wallace, Scottish patriot, for high treason, 1305
French explorer Jacques Cartier lands near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada, 1541
Rabbi Joseph Caro completes his commentary of Tur Code, 1542
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of Huguenots in Paris begins, 1572
The first one-way streets open in London, 1617
Steamship service begins on the Great Lakes, 1818
Great Britain abolishes slavery in the colonies, 700,000 slaves are freed, 1833
Automobile tire chain is patented, 1904
The World Council of Churches is formed, 1948
Lunar Orbiter I takes the first picture of Earth from the Moon's orbit, 1966
Bryan Allan, in a Gossamer Condor, completes the first man-powered flight of one mile, 1977
Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the US, 1979
Hans Tiedge, top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany, 1985
Hungary opens the Iron Curtain and allows thousands of East Germans through to West Germany, 1989
West Germany and East Germany announce that they will unite on Oct. 3, 1990
The remains of Anastasia and Alexei, rumored to have survived the 1917 assassination of the Russian Czar and his family, are found, 2007
Heavy winds knock down the Anne Frank tree in Amsterdam, breaking off approximately one meter above the ground, 2010
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is overthrown, 2011
Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, announces he will not contest the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency charges of doping, a result of which will include being stripped of all of his tour de France victories, 2012
Libya's ruins of Cyrene, a World Heritage Site near Shahhat, is damaged by real estate developers, 2013
Destruction by ISIS of the first century AD temple of Baalshamin in the ancient ruins of Palmyra is confirmed by Syrian officials, 2015
The world's driest place, the Atacama desert in Chile, blooms after an unexpected rainfall, 2017
Russia launches the first floating nuclear power station, the Akademik Lomonosov, from the port of Murmansk, 2019
Video evidence shows a Seychelles giant tortoise hunting and eating a bird, a new behavioral observation, as tortoises were previously thought to be herbivores, 2021
The vacation was a bit tragic, but it did make me laugh, I probably would have done the same with the groundsheet and sleeping bags, and room temperature milk? Yuk! Very nicely done Mimi.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful use of your challenging prompts.
ReplyDeleteI want that sign lol :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a blunttastic week mimi 👍
A good sign for the Information Department.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I was always happiest when I found someone who helped me, answered my question, rather than shuttling me off to another person who just might do the same.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had that signed when I was working. I was a paralegal for 7yrs.! hahaha
ReplyDeleteI go camping at least twice a year and have survived quite a few storms and even slept in my car, but I never ended up in a place like that! Great sign.
ReplyDeleteAsk someone else is perfect! We've stayed at a disgusting hotel like that for a night and it was so awful, we will never forget and never stay at that chain again. Our car would be better.
ReplyDeleteI was that someone else.
ReplyDeleteLove your use of the prompts. I've done that very thing many years ago. Well done.
Thank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. Love and hugs. ♥
When we were first married most of our holidays were camping. One year we were in a campsite on top of a cliff overlooking a Cornish beach and a storm rolled in. It was the worst lightning I had ever seen. Everyone ran for the local pub and the landlord said everyone was welcome to stay the night and would have to sleep wherever they could find a space. Most people stayed up all night talking and drinking. It was a big adventure to us back then.
ReplyDeleteLoved your story and that sign! Mine has been published on my blog.
ReplyDeleteThat was a really good story and that desk plate sure is popular these days.
ReplyDeleteGreat story. I prefer staycations. :) XO
ReplyDeleteThere's no point asking me, either. In the words of Manuel from "Fawlty Towers"....."I know nuttin'!" :)
ReplyDeleteHello my friend, Ii hope this finds you healthy & happy! Loved your post today... I don't go anywhere any more unless it's to the doctor's & back! :( My happiness is here on line talking to my friends & hopefully they'll talk to me. I HATE being disabled with a passion. I wish my strength would come back & the pain go away! BUMMER! :(
ReplyDeleteI have some colleagues at work who MUST have that sign on their desk. I get so many random requests that others should be handling. LOL
ReplyDeleteGreat story!
Here is mine which will appear also on my own blog tomorrow:
ReplyDeleteThere was total chaos in the employee lunch room as Bill and George yelled at each other, with Ann between them, trying to calm things down. Bill slammed his coffee mug onto the table causing the hot brown liquid to slosh over someone’s unfortunate sandwich. He fixed his eyes on Ann, sorrowfully telling her, “I was right, you are a gold digger. All this time pretending to decide between me and George and now this..this..coxcomb is flourishing a winning lottery ticket, you’ve decided he is the one for you. Wealth? Hah! More like pelf,” he said.
“I don’t even know what that means,” said Ann. “It means wealth dishonestly obtained,” said Bill. “That two million is already in his account, but he has conveniently forgotten that we bought it together and I paid for my half.” Ann turned to the other man. “George? Is this true?” “He did say all along that any amount of winnings wouldn’t make any difference to him, he was happy with his life just they way it is,” said George, “so why is he quibbling now? I have had premeditated plans in place for months for how I might spend it.”
“He is quibbling because you have been dishonest,” said Nancy, whose sandwich was the now soggy inedible result of the coffee spillage. “And I would add that he is more likely not totally immune to the dreams that come with the promise of riches.” Ann said to George, “so you just ‘forgot’ to mention the ticket had won the first prize?” Nancy dropped her ruined lunch into the bin, then turned to the buffet table to select another option and after wiping the mess with a water soaked napkin, sat down well away from the arguing pair.
“Shame on you,” said Ann to George. “I think you should go to the bank immediately with Bill and transfer half the money to his account.” She smiled brightly at Bill, letting him know that he was probably the better man after all. Bill wasn’t fooled though, he knew now she was a money chaser and probably only wanted him after all because he was a younger man and George might hand over half the money.”
Yow! Well done, River!
DeleteOh quite a story. Yes those places sure exist ... The staycation idea was not half bad. But storms n the Sahara desert is a thing. Sand storms ... so bad that the bottom part of my 'rolled up and in its bag' sleeping bag was filled with fine sand! Yuck!
ReplyDeleteOh, wow! I think I stayed in that same hotel! Ew. The only good thing about holidays like that one is the stories one gets to tell afterward!
ReplyDelete