Rising to the Challenge (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy’s Poetry Day and Brian’s Thankful Thursday

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While i enjoy the challenge of participating in stories, poems and blog hops, many of which are based on pictures, i sometimes find i'm just not quick enough with the camera to document the funnier moments.

For example, there was the time Tripod SissyCat was rolling around on a piece of old newspaper which had fallen to the floor and got one claw caught in it, and in trying to extricate herself, managed to wrap herself up in the paper quite well, and she had torn her way out before i could either get my camera or unwrap her.

Then there was the time Dansig the Round, our rather large and floofy orange tabby, tried to walk through the middle of the metal Christmas tree, pictured above.  He got wedged in, and before i could either help him or snap a photo, he'd managed to wiggle his way out.

And how do you document the funny things people do, such as when my Sweetie fusses about how much ice cream his brother eats, then has a portion just as large?

I will keep trying, and meanwhile, for the moments uncaught, there's using them in a Six Sentence Story!

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Challenge.      

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While Good Fences Around the World seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird, i still enjoy looking for and posting interesting fences, so i will!

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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  This week's image and my poem:    

This is the last time

I carry this much myself

Elf, please get me up

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I am not hurt so

do not worry I just need

a short siesta

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All year long we work at a pace

to get enough toys to take everyplace.

Sometimes by Christmas, we're worn out,

there's no time to rest, and we don't pout.

But once in a while, I sneak in a way

to get a few minutes of quiet in my day.

It's not really comfy, but I do what I must

to get a little break so I don't go bust!

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Angel Brian's Family of Brian's Home hosts Angel Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  

Today i am thankful i got the Angel Tree gifts delivered.  Two-year-old twins, boy and girl, who love Mickey and Minnie Mouse, each got a "stuffie," a book, and a set of "Little People," all shaped like Mickey or Minnie, on behalf of their incarcerated parent.

Making sure children whose parents are incarcerated know the parent still loves them is very important, and i pray this small gesture helps.

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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

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 03:27UTC Dec, 22, 2023

     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