Grandma's Got Wheels! (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday, an A to Z Challenge Post

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Catsynth, Keith, 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 right here.

This week’s prompts are:

elegant

limited

spontaneous

bother

list

pin

and/or the following phrases

don’t count your chickens before they hatch (meaning do not rely on something you are not sure of)

par for the course (meaning what you would expect to happen)

a piece of cake (meaning a task which is easy to accomplish)

Charlotte's  colour of the month is Sea Green.

While the kids' trip to Alaska was not exactly SPONTANEOUS, it was a whirlwind visit, and as we all know if travel involves airlines, it's never A Piece Of Cake.

Years ago, air travel was ELEGANT, and if you are very wealthy it still can be, but when you are like most of us on a LIMITED budget, you just get the basics.  Because our little Annie is under age 2, they didn't BOTHER to get a seat for her, just for #2 Son and Daughter-in-Law, and the little bounced from lap to lap.

They had also taken the precaution to put an air tag in her shoe so they could track her location if they ever somehow lost sight of her.  There is also an air tag on Daughter-in-Law's keys, which i had because they were allowing me to use her car while they were gone.  Any time #2 son checked the LIST of where all of his air tags were (he uses to phone app to do it), the tag on the keys would start to beep, and to me it seemed totally random.  One minute, i'm sitting at my computer and the room has soft music in the background, the next my Sea Green pouch in my bag where i keep keys is beeping.  Once i figured out where the noise was coming from and what caused it, it actually got to be pretty funny.

It's a long trip from Louisiana to Alaska, and a three-hour time difference, so to say they arrived tired would be Par For The Course.  They still managed to let Annie play in the snow and see all the relatives, and the memorial service was just what they'd wanted it to be.

You Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch and you don't count on all your flights to be on time, either.  On the way back, the inevitable happened and one flight was delayed, causing them to have to reschedule a connection.  They were able to PIN down the new flight quickly and actually arrived home around the same time as originally scheduled.

All this happened after TSA went back to work, also, which meant it was easier than air travel in the US has been in quite a while.

With the whole thing, they were only gone five days, and came home needing naps, well, except for Annie, who was quite ready for adventure after having slept on the plane and on the hour drive back from the airport.  She got handed to this GG for snacks, and walks, and reading time, and all the things until her parents felt human again.

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Today is:

Aerosol Day -- John D. Lynde receives a patent for an early aerosol dispenser on this day in 1862

All is Ours Day -- an internet holiday to remind us of what we do have

Buddha's Birthday -- Mahayana Buddhism in Japan (based on Gregorian Calendar, other Buddhists use a different dating system)

     Hana Matsuri Flower Festival

Counter Stool Memorial Day -- when was the last time you got to sit on the stool at a diner counter and spin?  if you can find such a place, go take a spin today

DAB(Draw a Bird) Day -- a movement begun in Britain in the 1940's, encourages everyone to draw a picture of a bird, and share it with friends

Feast of the Hummingbird -- Ancient Aztec Calendar (date approximate)

Hammerin' Hank Day -- anniversary of his 715th homer in 1974, breaking Ruth's record

International Day of the Roma -- a celebration of Romani culture

Milk in Glass Bottles Day -- prior to this day in 1879, milk was sold in the container you brought with you to the seller

National Empanada Day

Sealing the Frost -- Guatemala (Cuchumatan Indians ritual to protect their corn from frost; date approximate, always early in April)

St. Julie Billiart's Day (Patron against bodily ills, disease, and poverty)

Trading Cards for Grown-Ups Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, and i got this out of my system dealing with Pokemon cards when my kids were young

Tutor Appreciation Day -- because some people need that extra boost

Zoo Lovers' Day -- go support your local zoo

Anniversary Today:

Voyageurs National Park established, Minnesota, US, 1975

Birthdays Today:

Kirsten Storms, 1984

Katee Sackhoff, 1980

Patricia Arquette, 1968

Robin Wright, 1966

Julian Lennon, 1963

John Schneider, 1960

Gary Carter, 1954

James Augustus “Catfish” Hunter, 1946

Stuart Pankin, 1946

Kofi Annan, 1938

Seymour Hersh, 1937

Shecky Greene, 1926

William D. Chase, 1922

Carmen Mcrae, 1920

Betty Ford, 1918

Sonja Henie, 1912

Mary Pickford, 1893

O. Raymond Knight, 1872

William Williams, 1731

Lewis Morris, 1726

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Twin Peaks"(TV), 1990

"White Horse Inn"(Musical), 1931

"The Bolt"(Shostakovich ballet), 1931 *Note: sometimes translated as "The Arrow"

"La Gioconda"(Ponchielli opera), 1876

Today in History:

Sultan Baybars conquers the Krak des Chevaliers in Syria, 1271

The first Jewish congregation in the US forms the Shearith Israel synagogue in NYC, 1730

The first fire escape, a wicker basket on a rope and pulley system, is patented, 1766

The statue Aphrodite of Milos (Venus de Milo) is discovered on the Aegean island of Melos, 1820

John D. Lynde patents the aerosol dispenser, 1862

William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons, 1886

The first recorded college basketball game occurs in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, 1893

Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square after The New York Times, 1904

Auguste Deter, the first person officially diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, dies, 1906

The last meeting of the League of Nations is held, 1946

Hammerin' Hank Aaron hits his 715th home run, beating Babe Ruth's record, 1974

Retired tennis great Arthur Ashe announces that he has AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries, 1992

The Republic of Macedonia joins the United Nations, 1993

The construction of the world's first building to integrate wind turbines is completed in Bahrain, 2008

The U.S. Department of Justice admits that it has probed WikiLeaks-related Twitter accounts, defending the practice and dismissing privacy and freedom of speech concerns, 2011

Wikileaks released 1.7 million U.S diplomatic and intelligence documents from 1973-1976 when Henry Kissinger was U.S. Secretary of State, 2013

The world's oldest living person, Gertrude Weaver of the U.S., dies at age 116, just five days after the death of the previous record holder, Misao Okawa of Japan, who died at age 117, 2015

A record 17ft (5.2M) invasive Burmese python pregnant with 73 eggs is captured in Florida's Big Cypress National Preserve, 2019

Egyptian archaeologists announce the discovery of the "golden city" of Aten, near Luxor, 2021

The first all private space flight, Axiom-1, launches to the International Space Station, 2022

A total solar eclipse stretches from Mazatlán, Mexico, to Newfoundland, 2024