Joyful, Joyful (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy's Poetry Day and Brian's Thankful Thursday

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Even though it was the Christmas season, i wasn't feeling particularly festive when i braved the shopping mall, a place i tend to dread, to buy a special gift for the Angel Tree (although buying the gift itself is a joy, it's the location i was not so happy about).

It just so happened i was passing the most decorated area of the whole place, the Santa Village, with it's Jolly Old Elf in his big chair and a rather short (school not being out yet for the holiday) line of parents and children, the former trying to keep the latter reigned in a bit whilst the latter jumped around like fleas on a hot brick.

The child ensconced on Santa's lap was just getting his lollypop and jumping down to head back to his mother when i noticed the tiny tyke whose turn was next.

She was in one of those cute little red dresses trimmed with white, white stockings and black patent leather shoes shined up within an inch of their lives, her hair beautifully curled and she reminded me of "Little Cindy Lou Who, who was no more than two," although this child was closer to three.

When she realized it was her turn, with absolute abandon and jubilation on her face, she threw her arms in the air and ran forward calling, "Santa!" who got up out of his chair and ran to meet her halfway, picking her up and throwing her in the air, catching her into a huge hug, you could see the joy and it was contagious as he carried her back to his seat to have a good talk and pose for pictures.

My steps were much lighter as i continued my errand and the image has stayed with me all these years, something to bring a smile when the planning and cooking and sheer work of this time of year tend to wear me down.

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

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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:    

I was raised with cats for siblings

and so it stands to reason,

there should be no quibblings,

my mentors in every season.

If they won't let milk go to waste

Then I'll do what they do,

I'll get down here and have my taste,

I'm part of the feline crew.

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Angel Brian's Family of Brian's Home - Forever hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  https://brianshomeblog.com/

Today i am thankful for all the many condolence messages which have been sent to us about our loss last Friday of Dansig the Round.  It's been very comforting.  I'm also thankful for the beautiful badges, the first one by Ms. Ann of Zoolatry and the second one by Ms. Ingrid at Meezer's Mews and Terriertastical Woofs.

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Today is:

Bonza Bottler Day™

Constitution Day -- Russia (constitution approved in nationwide referendum 1993)

Feast of Masa'il (Questions/Mystery) -- Baha'i

Gingerbread House Day -- because today is as good a day to start making one as any

Hovercraft Day -- the first prototype of a hovercraft was patented this day in 1955 by British engineer Christopher Cockerell

Independence Day -- Kenya (Jamhuri)(1953)

Miracle of the Roses / Our Lady of Guadalupe -- Catholic Christian; related celebrations

     Fiesta del Virgin de Guadalupe -- Mexico

     Las Mananitas -- Puerto Rico

National Ambrosia Day

National Cocoa Day

National Ding-A-Ling Day -- an unofficial day on which to honor all the ding-a-lings you know, and even act like one yourself if you wish

Neutrality Day/National Day and Student Youth Day -- Turkmenistan

Poinsettia Day -- death anniversary of Joel Roberts Poinsett

St. Finnian of Clonard's Day (Father of Irish Monasticism; going to bed without supper tonight means you risk being carried away by the fairies)

St. Lucy's Eve -- Austria (night of the shining that some use to predict the future)

Yuletide Lads begin arriving -- Iceland (Jolasveinar trolls, children of Gryla and Leppaludi, who come one each day to bring gifts and mischief from now until Christmas)

     Yuletide Lad of the Day, Stekkjarstaur -- Sheepfold Stick, who will try to drink the milk from the farmers' ewes

Anniversaries Today:

Jerry Lee Lewis marries his cousin Myra Gale Brown, 1957

Pennsylvania becomes the 2nd US State, 1787

Birthdays Today:

Mayim Bialik, 1975

Rey Mysterio, Jr., 1974

Madchen Amick, 1970

Jennifer Connelly, 1970

Tracy Austin, 1962

Sheila E. 1957

Cathy Rigby, 1952

Robert Lindsay, 1949

Tom Wilkinson, 1948

Emerson Fittipaldi, 1946

Dionne Warwick, 1941

Connie Francis, 1938

Robert Lee "Bob" Pettit, Jr., 1932

Edward Irwin Koch, 1924

Bob Barker, 1923

Bob Dorough, 1923

Joe Williams, 1918

Frank Sinatra, 1915

Edward G. Robinson, 1893

Edvard Munch, 1863

Gustave Flaubert, 1821

Stand Watie, 1806

William Lloyd Garrison, 1805

John Jay, 1745 (Old Style date)

Erasmus Darwin, 1731

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"La Valse"(Ravel ballet), 1920

St. Louis Post-Dispatch(First edition), 1878

Today in History:

The Battle at Nineveh: Byzantine emperor Heraclius defeats Perzen, 627

The Order of the Dragon is created by Sigismund, King of Hungary, and his wife Queen Barbara of Celje, following the battle for possession of Bosnia, 1408

Isabella crowns herself Queen of Castile and Aragon, 1474

Jews are expelled from Schlettstadt Alsace by Emperor Frederick III, 1479

In Vienna, Ludwig von Beethoven receives his first lesson in music composition from Franz Joseph Haydn, 1792

Mexico is officially recognized as an independent nation by the US, 1822

The first Canadian coins are circulated (1 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent and 20 cent), 1858

Rudolph Dirks' first Katzenjammer cartoon strip appears in the NY Journal, 1897

Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, is founded, 1897

George F Bryant of Boston patents the wooden golf tee, 1899

Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland, 1901

Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India, 1911

Oscar Straus becomes US Secretary of Commerce, the first Jew to be a US Cabinet member, 1906

The first all metal aircraft, the Junkers J-1, is test flown in Dessau, Germany, 1915

In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys, 1917

The first prototype of a hovercraft is patented by British engineer Christopher Cockerell, 1955

Guinea joins the United Nations, 1958

The Russian Federation gains independence from the USSR, 1991

An asteroid named 4179 Toutatis, over 3 miles wide, passes within 4.3 million miles, or 18 lunar distances from Earth, 2012

The International Space Station suspends some of its non-critical systems after an ammonia cooling pump fails; the station and six crew members aboard were not in danger, 2013

French President Francois Hollande proposes that terminally ill patients should have the right to be sedated until death; the proposal does not suggest assisted termination of the patient's life, 2014

Bill English is sworn in as New Zealand Prime Minister, 2016

Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev compete a complex spacewalk to fix a hole in their Soyuz spacecraft, 2018

A point of land 3.5km (11,500ft) below sea level under the Denman Glacier in Antarctica is identified as the deepest point of land on Earth, 2019

Emma Tucker becomes the first woman editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, 2022