Christmas Dog Toy One (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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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 WiseWebWoman, and will be posted by Elephant's Child.  

   

This week's words are:

• Oysters
• Herringbone
• Puffin
• Needle
• Broom
  

and/or

• Hummus
• Crochet
• Locket
• Sprocket
• Market

Charlotte/Mother Owl has chosen Fawn Brown as the color of the month.

And, as always, have fun. 

"Are those OYSTERS' shells for the driveway?" he exclaimed in a surprised tone, something between a question and incredulity.

"They're cheap, so they were used for roads down here, too," she told him.  

"Entire roads?"

"Yes, back when this island was just hunting and fishing camps and there were almost no year-round residents, every vehicle brought over was a jeep or truck, they could all handle oyster shell roads, or gravel and dirt and lots of mud.  When my great grandfather built his first cabin here, it had an outhouse and a pump house with a well for the water.  I remember the wheel with SPROCKETs you'd turn to bring up water."

"Next you'll tell me they used HERRINGBONE combs, and your great grandmother had a BROOM made from pine branches," he chuckled.

"Almost.  I was tiny but I remember my great grandmother with her ivory CROCHET hooks and knitting NEEDLEs.  She made the Fawn Brown knitted blanket we use as a decorative cover in the spare bedroom.  Did I ever show you the LOCKET?"

"I've seen one in your keepsake box, but you've never really shown me what's in it.  Wait!  That bird, is that a -- what do you call it?  It's not a PUFFIN, those live in the Arctic..."

"It's a brown pelican, and yes, you'll see a lot of them down here.  Anyway, inside the locket is a picture of each of them, great grandfather and great grandmother.  He used to tickle me and tell me I was his cute little button, then hand me a cookie.  I'm surprised I remember, since they both died before I was five, but they lived with my grandmother, their daughter, and my grandfather, and I spent a lot of time at their house since it was next door.  When I got a bit older, my grandfather would bring me down here to the camp to teach me to fish and build fires and swim.  He told me enough stories about his in-laws they stayed alive in my imagination, since I had spent time with them."

"It sounds like your family has a long history here in the community."

"Yes, but it's changed so much.  When the original hunting cabin got to be dangerous because it was damaged by the hurricanes, grandfather and my dad built the house.  You can see it's nice, but nothing very fancy.  The new houses are almost mansions, rich people playhouses we call them, all destined to be washed away in the next big storm and leave people yelling for the insurance companies and the government to build them new ones, and then fussing about the increases in insurance and taxes.  Oh, don't get me started down this path, I just wanted to show you the nice house on the island where we can come to fish or just get away for a vacation if we want."

"It's a nice little place, I hope we can bring our kids here someday, too, pass on the legacy.  And you know I agree with you, a small place for a weekend get-away is fine.  Even with an oyster shell driveway, since it does have indoor plumbing.  It does have indoor plumbing, doesn't it?" he added mischievously.

She gave him a look, then smiled.  "Yes, and there's now a 'downtown' on the island's main paved road with a MARKET that even sells a pretty good HUMMUS."

"Then I say we bring our bags in and since I'm too tired to fish for tonight's supper and it's a bit late for that anyway, we can hunt up something in the 'downtown' area."

"I second the motion, and tomorrow night when we fry our own caught fish, I'll teach you to make hushpuppies, too."

"Deal!"

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Today is:

Akibasan Gongen Hibuse Matsuri -- Odawara, Japan (ritual giving thanks for fire and water)

Day of Quito -- Ecuador (founding of the city in 1534)

Dia de la Constitucion Espanola -- Spain (Constitution Day)

Give a Secret Gift Day -- obviously in honor of the original St. Nicholas

Independence Day -- Aland Islands(1917); Finland(1917)

Microwave Oven Day -- patented this day in 1945

Mitten Tree Day -- remembering when mittens, along with maybe a knit cap or scarf, were the big gift to find hanging from the Christmas tree

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women -- Canada

National Gazpacho Day

National Miner's Day -- US

Pawnbrokers' Day -- on St. Nicholas' Day, in his role as Patron Saint of pawnbrokers

Sindhi Topi and Ajrak Day -- Sindh, Pakistan

Special Kids Day -- a day to make sure special needs kids get to visit Santa with whatever accommodations they require    

St. Nicholas of Myra's Day (Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, archers, bakers, barrel makers, boatmen, bootblacks/shoe shiners, boys, brewers, brides, captives, children, coopers, dock workers/longshoremen, fishermen, grooms, judges, lawsuits lost unjustly, maidens, mariners/sailors, merchants, penitent murderers, newlyweds, old maids, parish clerks, paupers/poor people, pawnbrokers, perfumers, pilgrims, prisoners, scholars, schoolchildren, spinsters, students, penitent thieves, travelers, unmarried girls; Greek Catholic Church in America; Greek Catholic Union; University of Paris; Varangian Guard; Greece; Russia; also dozens of cities around the world; against imprisonment, robberies, robbers)

      Christkind -- Central and Southern Europe (the traditional gift giving day, instead of Christmas)

Birthdays Today:

Andrew J. Howard, 1969

Macy Gray, 1969

Janine Turner, 1962

Andrew Cuomo, 1957

Peter Buck, 1956

Randy Rhoads, 1956

Steven Wright, 1955

Tom Hulce, 1953

JoBeth Williams, 1953

Craig Newmark, 1952

James Naughton, 1945

David Ossman, 1936

Wally Cox, 1924

Dave Brubeck, 1920

Agnes Moorehead, 1906

Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1898

Ira Gershwin, 1896

Lynn Fontanne, 1887

Joyce Kilmer, 1886

William S. Hard, 1870

John Singleton Mosby, 1833

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Star Trek VI- The Undiscovered Country(Film), 1991

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"(TV special), 1964

"Talent Scouts"(TV), 1948

"Du Barry Was a Lady"(Porter musical), 1939

"La damnation de Faust"(Berlioz opera, Op, 24), 1846

Today in History:

The Mongols under Batu Khan occupy and destroy Kiev, 1240

Don Alfonso V of Aragon grants Barcelona the right to exclude Jews, 1424

The first edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica is published, in Scotland, 1768

Harriet Tubman escapes slavery, 1849

The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified, abolishing slavery, 1865

The first crematorium in the Us begins operation, in Washington, Pennsylvania, 1876

London becomes the first city to license taxicabs, 1897

One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence, 1922

U.S. federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that the James Joyce's novel Ulysses is not obscene, 1933

The Vanguard rocket, the first US attempt to launch a satellite, fails, 1957

The Canadian province of Newfoundland is renamed Newfoundland and Labrador, 2001

NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars, 2006

Belgium's new federal government is sworn in after 541 days of negotiations, 2011

Pope Francis gives his assent to a proposal to create a permanent post on the Pontifical Commission on cases of sin and sexual abuse of minors, 2013 

President Trump officially recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announces plans to move the US Embassy there, 2017

Details of the most distant black hole yet discovered, 13billion light-years away and 800X larger than our Sun, are published in the journal Nature, 2017

The Japanese space capsule Hayabusa-2 lands safely back on earth in Australia, carrying the first significant rock samples from an asteroid, the Ryugu, 2020

The 1,574th and final Boeing 747 jumbo jet rolls off the production line in Everett, Washington, 2022