Wednesday, August 20, 2025

How Does This Even Happen? (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.    


Much thanks again to Charlotte (MotherOwl) for providing the prompts last month. 


This month, yours truly is providing the prompts on my blog.


Please feel free to use some of the prompts, none of them, or all of them as you see fit.  The point is to get the creative juices flowing in whatever manner your muse leads you.


This week's prompts are:


absent

satisfaction

combination

fun

echo

exempt


and/or the following phrases


between a rock and a hard place (in a difficult situation with no easy choices)

knuckle down (applying oneself seriously to a task)

long in the tooth (aging or getting old)


As an additional prompt you may wish to use, Charlotte(MotherOwl) has chosen Straw Yellow as the color of the month.



Jensen realized he was Between a Rock and a Hard Place when it came to Mr. Zabriski.


The man had lived in the apartment complex since before Jensen was manager; a widower, now retired and with no living relatives anyone knew anything about.  Jensen had once asked him about family and he'd said, "My friends are my family."


The man's mind was ABSENT more and more, he was coming up with crazier and crazier reasons to be paranoid or afraid, and to his friends in the apartment complex, the only friends he really seemed to have, there was no SATISFACTION in watching this happen to him.


For Mr. Zabriski, who had been popular with both the residents and staff at the complex, life didn't seem to be much FUN any longer.  He seemed to live in either an ECHO of the past or a fear of present dangers which didn't exist, first swinging toward one, and then the other.


Jensen didn't know if Mr. Zabriski's symptoms were more in line with dementia, a psychiatric problem, or a COMBINATION of both.  He just knew the man was getting Long in the Tooth, a problem all of us would have someday with any luck, and he needed to Knuckle Down and figure out what to do about it before it got any worse, if there was anything he could do.


Jensen knew Mr. Zabriski wasn't really his responsibility beyond as a resident of the complex he managed, but he wasn't EXEMPT from feelings, and he felt responsible.


He'd been raised to believe the answer to, "Am I my brother's keeper?" was, "Yes, to the degree you can help your fellow man in need, you are."


Watching the sunset throw every color of yellow from goldenrod to Straw Yellow and lemon to mustard across the wide sky, he picked up the phone and dialed his brother-in-law, who was a lawyer.  He'd at least start with finding out who he should be contacting to get the ball rolling on making sure if anything happened, Mr. Zabriski would have some kind of plan in place.




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Today is:


Bad Hair Day -- birth anniversary of Don King


Birth of the White Buffalo -- Lakota Native American rituals honoring the birth of the White Buffalo in 1994, signaling the return of the White Buffalo Woman (manifestation of the Star Goddess Wohpe), who gave them the sacred peace pipe


Dial the Phone Day -- the first rotary dial phone patent was applied for by A. E. Keith, John Erickson, and Charles Erickson on this day in 1896


Feast of Asma -- Baha'i


Independence From USSR Day -- Estonia


Lemonade Day


Moon's Birthday -- Aztec Calendar (according to some websites, but i haven't confirmed it; if you want something to celebrate, this is as good as anything else)


National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day


National Medical Dosimetrist's Day -- American Association of Medical Dosimetrists (medical radiation safety experts) 


National Radio Day -- on the day WWJ(AM) radio first signed on in Detroit in 1920, one of the earliest news broadcast stations


Paryushana Parva -- Jain (start of the 8 day festival signifying human emergence into a new world of spiritual and moral refinement and a celebration of the natural qualities of the soul; the final day is Samvatsari, the most important day and focused on forgiveness)


Revolution Day -- Western Sahara


Revolution of the King and People -- Morocco


St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Day (Patron of bees and beekeepers, candle makers, wax refiners; Burgundy, France; Cistercians; Gibraltar; Queens College, Cambridge, England; Speyer Cathedral)


Stop and Smell Your Dog Day -- and, depending on the results, maybe even Give Your Dog a Bath Day


St. Stephen's Festival --  Budapest, Hungary (National Day for all of Hungary)


Thoth orders the healing of the Eye of Horus -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)


Virtual Worlds Day -- internet generated, as well it should be


World Mosquito Day -- commemorates the day Dr. Ronald Ross discovered the link between mosquitoes and malaria in 1897



Birthdays Today:


Amy Adams, 1975

Tara Dakides, 1975

Jan Allen, 1956

Theresa Saldana, 1955

Al Roker, 1954

Robert Plant, 1948

Connie Chung, 1946

Don King, 1931

Jim Reeves, 1924

Jacqueline Susann, 1921

Eero Saarinen, 1910

Edgar Albert Guest, 1881

H.P. Lovecraft, 1880

Eliel Saarinen, 1873

Benjamin Harrison, 1833

Bernardo O'Higgins, 1776



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"1812 Overture"(Tchaikovsky Op. 49), 1882



Today in History:


Hungary is established as a kingdom by Stephen I, 1000

The Dutch bring the first African slaves to the colony of Jamestown, VA, 1619

The Spanish establish the presidio that will be the town of Tuscon, Arizona, 1775

The Lewis and Clark "Corps of Discovery", exploring the Louisiana Purchase, suffers its only death when sergeant Charles Floyd dies, apparently from acute appendicitis 1804

Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" debuts in Moscow, 1882

Rotary Dial telephone is patented, 1896

The Big Blowup, a huge fire in the Northwestern US, burns 3 million acres, 1910

Adolphe Pegoud makes the first parachute jump from an airplane, 1913

Stainless steel is first cast, 1913

WJM,8Mk, Detroit, becomes the first commercial radio station to start daily broadcasting, 1920

UK becomes the first to use radar, 1940

Plutonium's weight determined, 1942

Launch of Voyager 2, 1977

George and Joy Adamson, the Born Free conservationists, are gunned down by poachers, 1989

The Oslo Peace Accords are signed in Norway, 1993

The Supreme Court of Canada rules that Quebec may not secede from Canada without federal government approval, 1998

As part of ongoing political reforms, the government of Myanmar announces it will end media censorship, 2012

Measles cases reach a record high in Europe with 41,000 infected in the first six months of 2018 and 37 deaths according to WHO, 2018

NASA confirms it is planning the Clipper Mission to Jupiter's moon Europa to take off in 2025 to explore the moon's oceans and find out if it can harbor life, 2019 

Misuzulu ka Zwelithini is crowned the new Zulu King at KwaKhangelamankengane Palace in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, 2022

In a referendum, Ecuador votes against drilling for oil in Yasuni National Park, a world biosphere reserve inhabited by indigenous groups in the Amazon, 2023

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Wednesday's Words, August 20, 2025

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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, yours truly is providing the prompts for Words for Wednesday on my blog.


Since it becomes Wednesday in some parts of the world while it is still Tuesday here, i am providing the prompts as of midnight, Canberra time, so you can work on them and post them when it's Wednesday where you are.  


Post your story in the comments here, or in the comments on my Wednesday post, or on your own blog.  If you do the latter, please leave us a link so we can come read your story.


Please feel free to use some of the prompts, none of them, or all of them as you see fit.  The point is to get the creative juices flowing in whatever manner your muse leads you.


This week's prompts are:


absent

satisfaction

combination

fun

echo

exempt


and/or the following phrases


between a rock and a hard place (in a difficult situation with no easy choices)

knuckle down (applying oneself seriously to a task)

long in the tooth (aging or getting old)


As an additional prompt you may wish to use, Charlotte(MotherOwl) has chosen Straw Yellow as the color of the month.



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Shelves and Shuffling, 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 


Last week, Carl had off so he and his mother and younger brother could go out of town to visit the place he hopes to be living someday.  They were leaving Thursday, but for some reason he needed the whole week off.


I arrived to clean the rest of the house last Thursday to kitchen chaos.






Yes, i got the shelves back in.  There was more chaos as Ms. V and Carl were packing, lots of back and forth to find "all the things" so they could go.


There's no rest for the weary.  I arrived yesterday to find Carl had the day off.


Not the whole week, mind you, but they didn't schedule him for Monday.  Lucky me.




He'd also tried to do laundry.  Note the word tried.  He didn't succeed this time.


Yes, i like Carl and enjoy having him around, and i will miss him like crazy when he moves.  It's still easier to clean his room when he goes to work.


Once we determined he'd be there, he got his bedding to go to the sleep chair, then spent a great deal of time shuffling and padding back and forth to the room like he was pacing the train station platform waiting for his train to come in.


He finally went to the other room and i was going into the laundry room again when i heard him ask his father, "Which bathroom should I use?"


I stuck my head around the corner and told him to use whichever one had toilet paper, which would be the hall bathroom.  He nodded and decamped for it, and i managed to get all the partially wet but not actually washed clothes out of the washer.


A short while later, he shuffled back in to get his medicine.  He did, and i sent him to take the pill box into the kitchen where it is usually kept.




He has started to hang clothes on the bar again.  His mother encourages him to pick clothes ahead of time, so he does, then when it's time to dress, he forgets they are there and grabs other items.  These simply got hung up.


The suitcase was empty but he had a backpack full of things which i left for him to sort, since none of it was clothing or toiletries.  Speaking of toiletries,




he'd just tossed all of them in, and in other places.  It took a bit of sorting.


Because he's going to be living around other people who are not family, his mother is trying to inculcate modesty in him.  It's not something which comes naturally to him, it seems, and yesterday he was trying.  He was wearing his pajama top and underwear, and his bathrobe.  It would have worked, except the bathrobe wasn't tied and billowed around him creating a breeze wherever he went.  He finally discarded it at some point.


One of the times he was shuffling in and out of the room (brushing teeth, looking for things, brushing teeth again) he talked about an upcoming trivia night at church.  He was wondering if he could attend that on one night and still go to the lecture series later in the week.


I told him it was possible, but to remember you have to register for the lectures that Friday evening and Saturday morning, since they are serving snacks and want to know how many will attend.


He nodded and wandered off again, i think to eat a second breakfast and then go back to sleep.




Also, he has a new toothbrush.  He's nothing but a big kid.


How about some funnies.













Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!






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Today is:


Black Cow Root Beer Float Day -- the ice cream and root beer combination was supposedly first served on this date in 1893 by Frank J. Wisner, owner of Cripple Creek Brewing, and he named it after the local Cow Mountain  


Hanawa Bayashi -- Kazuno City, Japan (parades and music in the merchant's quarter, through tomorrow)


Hot & Spicy Food Day


Ibumin Earoeni Day -- Nauru (Day of the Tribes)


Jeshen -- Afghanistan (Independence Day)


Manuel Luis Quezon Day -- Quezon City, Philippines


National Aviation Day -- US


Potato Day


St. John Eudes' Day (Patron of Baie-Comeau, Quebec, Canada)


St. Sebald's Day (a/k/a Sebaldus) (Patron of Bavaria, Germany; Nuremburg, Germany; against cold weather and freezing)


Vinalia Rustica -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Festival of Ripening Grapes)


World Humanitarian Day -- UN


World Photography Day


World's Fair of Money -- Chicago, IL, US (the greatest money show on Earth, including dealers, exhibits from around the world, family activities and educational programs; through Saturday)



Birthdays Today:


Snuffleupagus (year unconfirmed)

Jennifer Morrison, 1979

Matthew Perry, 1969

LeAnn Womack, 1966

Kyra Sedgwick, 1965

Kevin Dillon, 1965

John Stamos, 1963

Adam Arkin, 1956

Cindy Nelson

Peter Gallagher, 1955

Mary Matlin, 1953

Jonathan Frakes, 1952

John Deacon, 1951

Gerald McRaney, 1948

Tipper Gore, 1948

Bill Clinton, 1946

Jack Canfield, 1944

Jill St. John, 1940

Diana Muldaur, 1938

Franklin Story Musgrave, 1935

Willie Shoemaker, 1931

Don Ho, 1930

Gene Roddenberry, 1921

Malcolm Forbes, 1919

Jimmy Rowles, 1918

Ring Lardner, Jr., 1915

Philo T. Farnsworth, 1906 (forgotten inventor of television)

Ogden Nash, 1902

Coco Chanel, 1883

George Bellows, 1882

Orville Wright, 1881

John Dryden, 1631



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Animal Clinic" and "Acrobat Ranch"(first Saturday morning children's programs, on ABC), 1950



Today in History:


The Roman Senate is compelled to elect Octavian, later Augustus Caesar, Consul, BC43

Augustus Caesar dies, 14

Crusaders defeat the Saracens in the Battle of Ascalon, 1099

Mary Queen of Scots arrives in Leith to assume the throne, 1561

Five people are executed for witchcraft in Salem, Mass., 1692

Presentation of Jacque Daguerre's new photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences, 1839

The New York Herald reports the discovery of gold in California, 1849

The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio, 1934

Hurricane Dianne kills 200 and does about $1 Billion in damage, 1955

Leonard Bernstein conducts his final concert, ending with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, 1990

Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events which began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989

A series of strong storms lashes Southern Ontario spawning several tornadoes as well as creating extreme flash flooding within the city of Toronto and its surrounding communities, 2005

A team of divers discover the wreck of a Swedish warship, part of King Erik XIV's fleet, that sank in 1564 in the Baltic Sea, 2011

The monsoon rains finally ease up in Kerala State, India, where flooding has already claimed 350 lives and left 200,000+ in relief camps, 2018

Apple becomes the first US company to be valued at $2 trillion, just 2 years after it reached the value of $1 trillion, 2020

The drought in Europe uncovers river "hunger stones" which were set in rivers in warning of famine; the one in Děčín on the Elbe River, with an inscription dating from 1417, simply says "if you see me, then weep," 2022