Is the Lamp Running Away From Home? (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Keith, Catsynth, 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, Sean Jeating is providing the prompts and they will appear on River's   blog.

This week's words/prompts are:

1.squad  

2.cemetery  

3.flowers  

4.painted  

5.cross

and/or:

1.barely  

2.money  

3.eat  

4.freedom  

5.courage

use either list or both, or mix and match, just have fun.

Charlotte's colour of the month is Heavenly Blue if you choose to use it.

The old CEMETERY was in awful shape, and while most folks just tutted and said it was a shame, a few of us decided to actually finally do something about it.

We called ourselves the St. C SQUAD, which in our minds meant Save the Cemetery.  It simply wasn't right to let everything continue to degrade, even if the last burial had been a few generations ago.

On a lovely, clear day under a Heavenly Blue sky, we showed up with tools and equipment and started to clear out weeds, plot the various crypts and headstones, and try to decipher names and dates as best we could, as some of the various grave markers were barely readable any longer.  We wanted a map to show where each person was buried, since each was a special story even if no one remembered them now.

All of us gave what days we could to the project, so it took months.  Eventually we had the weeds cleared, lawn growing and being mowed, and then we decided to do more.

The old iron fencing was rusting out in places, so we PAINTED it with rustproofing paint to save as much of it as we could.  We made sure each grave had a small holder for FLOWERS and although the blooms we used were artificial, it still looked a good bit better than no color at all, just a sea of drab stones in a green lawn.

We cleaned all the scum off the CROSS at the front, and the people of the city, starting to feel a little ashamed of themselves for the neglect of so many years, put up a sign at the front and had small metal plates engraved with all the names and dates that we could read.  Each plate was secured to the back of the headstones or other markers.

It actually became a nice place instead of an eyesore, and it BARELY cost us any MONEY, at least not once people started to really notice and participate by donating to the effort.  All we really ended up paying was time, and of course we had to EAT on the days we were there so one of us would go pick up take-out.

It's amazing what people can do if they are given the FREEDOM to just start, and have the COURAGE to do so.

(Based on a true story, a cemetery not far from here was restored by volunteers and donations after decades of sad neglect.)

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Today is:

Automatic Toll Collection Day -- the first machine went into use on New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway on this day in 1954

Beaujolais Nouveau Release -- France (at midnight, so really most of the celebration is tomorrow, a new wine celebration marked with fireworks and festivities)

Discovery Day -- Puerto Rico

Equal Opportunity Day / Dedication Day / Remembrance Day -- anniversary of the Gettysburg Address

Fete de S.A.S. le Prince Souverain -- Monaco (National Day)

Flag Day -- Brazil

Garifuna Day/Carib Settlement Day -- Belize

Geographic Information Systems Day   

"Have a Bad Day" Day -- for the hidden, or not so hidden, grouch in all of us; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

International Men's Day -- Australia; Canada; Ghana; Hungary; India; Ireland; Jamaica; Malta; Singapore; South Africa; Trinidad and Tobago; United Kingdom; United States

Liberation Day -- Mali

National Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day

National Educational Support Professionals Day -- US

Please Maintain Your Focus Today Day -- internet generated, but a good idea

Repentance Day -- Saxony, Germany (Day of Prayer and Repentance [Buss und Bettag])

     Buss und Bettag -- German speaking Lutheran, Reformed, and United Protestants (Day of Repentance and Prayer)

St. Obadiah's Day (Obadiah the Prophet)

"What Ever Happened to Gary Pucket?" Day -- internet generated, and a fun question to research

Women's Entrepreneurship Day   

World COPD Day -- International (helping people understand Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease; this year's theme is "Short of Breath, Think COPD")   

World Toilet Day -- sponsored by the World Toilet Organization (yes, really, to raise awareness of the 2.5 billion people who don't have access to proper sanitation)

Anniversaries Today:

Zion National Park is established, 1919

Women's Christian Temperance Union is founded, 1874

Birthdays Today:

McCaughey Septuplets, 1997

Kerri Strug, 1977

Savion Glover, 1973

Gail Devers, 1966

Terry Farrell, 1963

Jodie Foster, 1962

Meg Ryan, 1961

Allison Janney, 1960

Anne Curry, 1956

Eileen Collins, 1956

Scott Jacoby, 1956

Glynnis O'Connor, 1955

Kathleen Quinlan, 1954

Ahmad Rashad, 1949

Calvin Klein, 1942

Garrick Utley, 1939

Ted Turner, 1938

Dick Cavett, 1936

Jack Welch, 1935

Larry King, 1933

Roy Campanella, 1921

Indira Gandhi, 1917

Peter Drucker, 1909

Tommy Dorsey, 1905

Billy Sunday, 1862

James Garfield, 1831

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Heaven's Gate(Film), 1980

"Rocky and His Friends/Rocky and Bullwinkle"(TV), 1959

The first Automatic Toll Collection Machine, at the Union Toll Plaza in New Jersey, 1954

Today in History:

The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land, begins, 1095

Rabbi Isaiah b Abraham aha-Levi Horowitz arrives in Isreal, 1621

The Jakobinen club forms in Paris, 1794

The Jay Treaty, the first US extradition treaty, is signed with Great Britain, 1794

Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first European Americans to cross the continent, 1805

Warsaw University is established, 1816

The St. Petersburg flood, caused by storms, kills 10,000, 1824

The second Canadian railway line, the Montreal and Lachine Railway, is opened, 1847

Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address, 1863

Boss Tweed is convicted, sentenced to 12 years, 1874

Carrie Nation attempts to address the US Senate, 1903

NY receives the first Marconi wireless transmission from Italy, 1911

Samuel Goldwyn and Edgar Selwyn establish Goldwyn Pictures (anybody want to guess what this eventually became?), 1916

The first issue of Time Magazine is published, with Emperor Hirohito on the cover, 1928

Télé Monte Carlo, Europe's oldest private television channel, is launched by Prince Rainier III, 1954

The first automatic toll collection machine is introduced on New Jersey's Garden State Parkway, 1954

Ford cancels the Edsel, 1959

Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum (the "Ocean of Storms") and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon, 1960

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement, 1977

Lt. Gen. Maurice Baril of Canada arrives in Africa to lead a multi-national policing force in Zaire, 1996

Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of the Artist Without Beard sells at auction for $71.5 million USD, 1998

The People's Republic of China launches its first Shenzhou spacecraft, 1999

Claudia Castillo has a successful trachea transplant from stem-cell created organ, 2008

Many nations urge lower fishing rates on the Atlantic bluefin tuna; quota limits on the critically endangered fish are discussed by major fishing nations in Paris, 2010

The Philippines receives a $500 million emergency loan from the World Bank to help the country recover and rebuild in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, 2013

‘Oumuamua (1I/2017 U1), the first interstellar object in our solar system to be detected by humans, is sighted by Robert Weryk using the Pan-STARRS telescope at Haleakaia Observatory, Hawaii, 2017 

LeBron James becomes the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double against all 30 franchises with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists as the LA Lakers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 2019

A partial lunar eclipse lasting 3 hours, 28 minutes and 23 seconds is the longest since 1440, 2021

Brazil records its highest-ever temperature of 44.8C (112.6F) in Araçuaí, Minas Gerais state, 2023

But Every Minute Counts, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

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It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.  http://stacyuncorked.com

For the first time in a while, Carl had work on a Monday, but not until later in the morning.  Also for the first time in a while, he was not already in his sleep chair when i arrived.

He went to transfer to his chair and stopped.  "My boxer shorts have a hole," he observed.  I told him to change them, but he shook his head.

"Bathrobe!" he said, grabbing it.  It would have worked, but instead of putting it on and fastening it around him, he either let it stay open, or simply carried it around with him.  It did not do the job intended.

As he headed off to rest, he asked me to wake him at 9:12.  Knowing if he had a sleep motto it would be, every minute counts, i tried very hard to wake him at the exact time he asked.

Before then, however, he came in to brush his teeth and to comment about the foggy conditions.

I would wonder how much rest he actually gets when he goes out there, but every time i have to pass through that room, he is curled in his chair with a blissful smile, so it works for him.

As i cleaned, i noticed this in his bathroom drawer where we keep spare lids (since he loses so many lids, we keep spares).

various bottle and tube caps with white chunks of deodorant stick

I've never seen anyone take the deodorant stick out of the tube it comes in before.  Of course, it had broken into pieces and i had to dig them out.  I didn't bother asking about it, he had 3 other sticks so i found the empty tube and threw all of it away.  Even he probably doesn't know how it happened.

He also presented me with another mystery.  He used to have 3 laundry baskets, and this time he only had two.  I searched the house, no dice.  I went out to his car to see if it was in the back seat or the trunk, nope.  When he was up later and i asked him, he looked confused.  "I had how many?" he asked.

Never mind, two is enough, right?

When he did get up, i tried to steer him to the bathroom for a shower (i'd just cleaned it and put in clean linen and all his clothes) when he said, "Just a few more minutes?"

I told him it was up to him, but to make sure he wasn't going to be late to work.  He thought a moment and headed to the bathroom, assured me the clothes i'd chosen would work, and i in turn told him not to come out undressed and left him to it.

He came out a little bit dressed, asking if he could change shirts.  Again, up to him, so he did.

Carl likes to chat while i'm cleaning and he's puttering or eating breakfast, and this was no exception.  "It was staff appreciation day yesterday," he noted.  Then added, "At church.  And a four-year-old talked, something about liking Sunday school."

Before i could respond he changed to, "Should I sign up for tutoring?"

What kind of tutoring, i asked, and he answered, "Math and such."  Then he stopped and noticed i was cleaning out his fridge.

"Kiwi!" he said, grabbing one and trying to eat the inside out of it without peeling it while standing over the garbage can.

Please take it to the kitchen and put on the apron i left on your chair, i told him, so you don't wear kiwi to work.

"But it's so good, one more bite!" he kept saying.  Eventually he left with the kiwi, and i was able to deal with the half eaten apple in a bag and the bag with only an empty juice bottle and his wet wipes.  Why did the wet wipes land in the fridge?  Because they were in the bag with the former full bottle of juice, and taking them out of the bag to put them away is too complicated.

As i was finishing and he was about to leave, he had another question.

"What direction should I go?" he asked.

Thinking carefully, because he might be asking for directions to work to take him around the current road construction or he might be asking about the state of the universe, i neutrally said, do you mean your direction in life?

"Yeah!"

That's not an easy question, i told him, i would suggest you talk to your pastor and your parents, and pray about it, and seek plenty of counsel.

"I do my best at work, but they're never satisfied.  I want to get out of retail!" was his answer.

Thus the earlier question about tutoring.  He's wanting a different job, and i don't blame him as pushing carts in a parking lot all day is hard work.

The thing is, the group home for special adults which has accepted him should have a place for him by next summer, so he won't even live in this town any longer.  Trying to find a new job wouldn't do him much good.

Before i could find a way to explain this, it was time for him to go.

Carl is fun and funny, and he's also a sensitive soul.  Even so, he can probably stand this job for another six months or so, and then be done with it.

In honor of his fun loving nature, let's have some funnies.

Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

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Today is:

Constitution Day -- South Africa (the 1993 Constitution, granting blacks the right to vote, was approved)

Dan sjecanja na žrtve Domovinskog rata i Dan sjecanja na žrtvu Vukovara i Škabrnje  -- Croatia (Remembrance Day for Homeland War Victims and for the Sacrifice of Vukovar and Škabrnja)

Day of Ardvi Sura (Aredvi Sura Anahita), Mother of the Stars -- Ancient Persian Calendar (date approximate)

European Antibiotic Awareness Day -- ECDC (because prudent use of antibiotics can help stop antibiotic resistance)  

Feast of the Virgen de Chiquinquirá -- Maracaibo, Venezuela

Independence Day -- Morocco(1956); Western Saraha(1975)

Married to a Scorpio Support Day -- remembering those married to Scorpios and suffering because of it, and encouraging them too hide the flow charts and assert themselves today; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

National Day -- Oman (traditional)

National Entrepreneurs Day -- US (by Congressional designation)

National French Vichyssoise Day

Ned Ludd Memorial Machine-Smashing Day -- internet generated, but enjoy!  i know i will

Proclamation of the Republic -- Latvia (1918)

Push-Button Phone Day -- launched this day in 1963

School Pride Day -- US (always on the Tuesday of American Education Week)

St. Odo of Cluny's Day (Patron of needed rain)

Total Disregard for Taste Day -- marking the debut of Howard Stern's radio show on this day in 1985

Vertieres Day -- Haiti (Battle of Vertieres and Army Day)

William Tell Day -- the famed apple-off-his-son's-head-shot was today in 1307

Birthdays Today:

Owen Wilson, 1968

Elizabeth Perkins, 1960

Sinbad, 1956

Katy Sagal, 1956

Kevin Nealn, 1953

Andrea Marcvicci, 1948

Jameson Parker, 1947

Wilma Mankiller, 1945

Susan Sullivan, 1944

Linda Evans, 1942

Brenda Vaccaro, 1939

Margaret Eleanor Atwood, 1939

Mickey Mouse, 1928

Alan Shepard, Jr., 1923

John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer, 1909

Imogene Coca, 1908

George Gallup, 1901

Eugene Ormandy, 1899

Clarence Shepard Day, 1874

Dorothy Dix (Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer), 1861

Ignacy Jan Paderewski, 1860

James Edward Sullivan, 1860

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, 1836

Asa Gray, 1810

Louis-Jacques Daguerre, 1787

Sojourner Truth, 1787

Carl Maria von Weber, 1786

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Star Trek: Generations(Film), 1994

Malcolm X(Film), 1992

Calvin and Hobbes(Comic strip), 1985 (in this first strip, Calvin catches Hobbes in a tiger trap baited with a tuna sandwich)

"See It Now"(TV), 1951

"Skin of Our Teeth"(Wilder play), 1943

Steamboat Willie (a/k/a Mickey Mouse), 1928

US Uniform Time Zone Plan, 1883 (on this date, the railroads adopted the current uniform time zone plan; it wasn't legally mandated until 1918)

Today in History:

Old St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated, 326

The Japanese Emperor Kammy relocates the residence of Nara to Kyoto, 794

William Tell shoots the apple off his son's head, 1307

The Holland/Zealand dikes break during a storm, resulting in thousands of deaths, 1421

The first English printed book, "Dictes & Sayengis of the Phylosophers", is published, 1477

Christopher Columbus first sights the island now known as Puerto Rico, 1493

Vasco da Gama reaches the Cape of Good Hope, 1497

The worst earthquake in Massachusetts Bay/Boston area, 1755

The first Unitarian Minister in the US is ordained in Boston, 1787

30 women meet at Mrs. Silas Lee's home in Wiscasset Maine, to organize the Female Charitable Society, first woman's club in America, 1805

Mark Twain's story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is published in the New York Saturday Press, 1865

National Woman's Christian Temperance Union organizes in Cleveland, 1874

Standard time zones are formed by railroads in the US and Canada, 1883

The first newspaper Sunday color comic strip is printed, in the NY World, 1894

Britain flies its first sea plane, 1911

Lincoln Deachey performs the first airplane loop-the-loop, over San Diego, 1913

Sigma Alpha Rho, a Jewish high school fraternity, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1917

Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the third appearances of cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, 1928

Off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula, 1929

New York City's Mad Bomber places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison, 1940

In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is ratified, 1993

HIP 13044 b, a planet that was formed in another galaxy, is discovered in the Helmi Stream, 2010

Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria becomes the 118th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, 2012

NASA launches the MAVEN probe to Mars, 2013

A book written by Charlotte Bronte as a child for her toys is bought by the Bronte Society for €600,000 at auction in Paris, 2019

The longest partial lunar eclipse since 1440 occurs, lasting 3 hours, 28 minutes and 23 seconds, 2021

The Leap Second, originally inserted beginning in 1972 to keep the atomic and astronomical time scales reconciled, will be dropped as of 2035 according to the International Bureau of Weights, and Measures, 2022