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

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Down here in the swamps, we may moan about the winter but our winters really are pussycats compared to other parts of the country.

During summer's swelter we wait impatiently for the first time the temperatures dip below sauna in the desert level.

As painful as cold is to my hands and feet (i have a weird condition which makes them hypersensitive to cold), i do not complain about the cooler months but try to relish them.

Here it is now, December, and we're back to short sleeve weather, bordering on needed the A/C during the hottest part of the afternoon, and we once again wait for temperatures to fall.

It should happen soon, in fact, if the weather guessers are right, today should be in the sixties and the next few nights in the lower 40's to upper 30's.

As noted, nothing to write home about if you live in the Frozen Nawth, but we swamp creatures will be bundling up and being glad to not sweat or melt for a while.

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

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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!

This week it's a festive fence.

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

Bigger Girl was telling me

of all the things she got to see

when she and a friend drove around

across the country and from town to town.

They'd been to National Reserves and Parks,

places which are real benchmarks

and no trip would be complete

until she was on the edge of her seat.

At one mountain range they were on a track

at a 30 degree angle and no going back,

She said, "We won't end at the bottom in a heap

'cause no way I'm dying in a mojito green Jeep!"

(True story, Bigger Girl and a friend drove from California back to Louisiana, stopping all over at parks and landmarks and at one point, they were on the side of a mountain looking straight down over the edge when she told the friend what I've quoted above.)

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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.  

Today i am thankful for naproxen, my back has decided to start talking to me in downright forcible language, and the naproxen keeps it in check.

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Today is:

Build a Snowman Day -- occupy your mind, as Christmas seems too far away still; if you have no snow, make snowball cookies

Chocolate Pizza Day -- yes, really

E-Mail Santa Claus Just in Case He Didn't Get Your Letter Day -- send your emails to northpole.com/Mailroom/

Festival for Juventas -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of youth, protector of young soldiers)

Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Skyrgamur -- Curd-glutton, who loves skyr (milk curd) so that he sneaks in the pantry to try to get it all

I've Got My Big Fat Guy Pants On Day -- someone tired of tight clothes started this, a day to wear whatever you like, so long as it is comfortable -- and roomy

Look for an Evergreen Day -- although if you haven't bought your tree by now, you may have waited too long

National Hard Candy Day -- this time of year, it probably means candy canes

National Heroes and Heroines Day / National Jollification Day -- Anguilla

National Oatmeal Muffin Day

Opalia -- Roman Empire (feast of Ops, goddess of abundance; 3rd day of the Saturnalia)

Robinson Crusoe Rescue Day (1686)

St. Bernard Valeara's Day (Patron of Teramo, Italy)

St. Samthann (Samantha) of Meath's Day (Patron of the spiritual life)

United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation -- UN

Anniversary Today:

First radio broadcast from space, a Christmas greeting from President Eisenhower, 1958

Birthdays Today:

Jake Gyllenhall, 1980

Alyssa Milano, 1972

Tyson Beckford, 1971

Amy Locane, 1971

Kristy Swanson, 1969

Criss Angel, 1967

Jessica Steen, 1965

Jennifer Beals, 1963

Kevin Edward McHale, 1957

Janie Fricke, 1952

Robert Urich, 1946

Richard Leakey, 1944

Alvin Lee, 1944

Tim Reid, 1944

Cicely Tyson, 1939

Al Kaline, 1934

David Susskind, 1920

Leonid Brezhnev, 1906

Ralph Richardson, 1902

Carter Godwin Woodson, 1875

Minnie Maddern Fiske, 1865

Mary Ashton Livermore, 1821

William Edward Parry, 1790

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Titanic(Film), 1997

The Man with the Golden Gun(Film), 1974

"Homecoming A Christmas Story"(TV introduction of "The Waltons"), 1971

"The Music Man"(Musical), 1957

"A Christmas Carol"(publication date), 1843

"American Crisis"(publication date of the Thomas Paine essay in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls."), 1776

"Poor Richard's Almanack" (publication of first issue by Benjamin Franklin), 1732

Today in History:

Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor, 324

The Seldjuken under Toghril Beg occupy Baghdad, 1055

The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery depart England carrying settlers who found, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States, 1606

The Plymouth, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay, and Connecticut colonies combine forces and attach the Great Swamp Fort of the Narragansetts during King Philip's War, 1675

Benjamin Franklin, under the name Richard Saunders begins publication of "Poor Richard's Almanack", 1732

Thomas Paine publishes his first "American Crisis" essay, in which he wrote that "These are the times that try men's souls," 1776

Chinese troops occupy the capital Thang Long Vietnam, 1788

The US state of Kentucky becomes the first to appropriate money for road building, 1795

The US state of Georgia becomes the first to pass a birth registration law, 1823

Allen Wilson of Connecticut patents a sewing machine that can sew a curved seam, 1854

Albert L. Jones patents corrugated cardboard, 1871

The first black US Catholic priest, Charles Uncles, is ordained in Baltimore, 1891

The first city ordinance requiring separate neighborhoods for blacks and whites is passed, in Baltimore, 1910

Robert Ripley begins his "Believe It Or Not" column in the NY Globe, 1918

The British Broadcasting Corp begins transmitting overseas, 1932

The US Earth satellite Atlas transmitted the first radio voice broadcast from space, 1958

The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, returns to earth, 1972

The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that the People's Republic of China, in 1997, would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong, is signed, 1984

Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from internal exile in Gorky, 1986

A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia, 2001

The Russian spacecraft Soyuz TMA-07M is launched in Kazakhstan, with cosmonauts Roman Romanenko, Chris Hadfield and Thomas Marshburn aboard for the ISS Expedition 34 and 35 crews, 2012

The journal Current Biology publishes a study of the earliest fossilized trees ever found, dated to be 386 million years old, discovered at a quarry in Cairo, New York, 2019

Former student activist Gabriel Boric wins Chile's Presidential election, to become the country's youngest president at 35, 2021

The journal "Science" names anti-obesity medications that mimic the hormone GLP-1 as the breakthrough of the year, 2023