Japanese Magnolia/Tulip Tree (Wordless Wednesday) and No Coincidence (Words for Wednesday)

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday 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 Mark Koopmans, and are being posted by Elephant’s Child.        

This week's prompts are:

1. Constipation
2. Rivalry
3. Occupation
4. Sneeze
5. Wishy-washy
6. Diatribe

And/Or

1. Snot
2. Beluga
3. Emergency
4. Qualify
5. Coffee
6. Butt

It really is true that i am not one for big adventures and crazy things happening.  Yet, they happen.  Yesterday was no exception.

Also note that i do not believe in coincidence; i agree with Albert Einstein that it is simply G-d's way of remaining anonymous.

Due to the RIVALRY of college sports, and football in particular, there was a mix-up with a client yesterday.  Some of my clients are very good about telling me ahead of time when they are going to be out of town, thus allowing me to look for other work or make other plans, and some are very WISHY-WASHY about informing me of such things.

Yesterday's client does QUALIFY for latter category, and i will not go into a DIATRIBE about it, although part of me wants to.  After all, when i am suddenly out of work, i have no paid time off, it means i am out of the money, too.  

Her husband's OCCUPATION makes it possible for them to do fun things like run to NOLA to watch football, so they chose to do so.  They also chose to spend the night down there.  Thus Sweetie and i showed up to clean their house Tuesday morning, and no one was home.

A quick call to her confirmed that we would not be working that morning, although we agreed that if they got back in town soon enough, i would come in the afternoon.

Then we simply went home to wait.  While Sweetie warmed himself another cup of COFFEE, i heard a loud noise, looked out the kitchen window and faster than a SNEEZE can sling SNOT the tree behind our next door neighbor's house, and the electric wire next to it, spewed out a fireball!

My instinct was to call the EMERGENCY number as i ran out the door to see if the neighbor was home.  The 911 operator put me in touch with the fire department, and i reported what was going on.  By this time, the tree limb was just smoldering, there were no more actual flames, but i did not let that fool me into any complacency.  The fire fighters were dispatched and i then turned my attention to calling the power company to let them know of the situation.

By this time, our neighbor had answered her door -- her husband and daughter were at work, and she was still in her nightdress, which made her look as white as a BELUGA whale.  (Had to work in that word somewhere, without making someone sound like the BUTT of a joke!)  She was quite frightened and hadn't known what to do, so us being there to see it and call it all in was quite providential.

The fire department showed up and made sure the limb was brought down and put totally out, while we settled in to wait and see if our client would get back in town early enough for us to clean her home.  Since traffic from NOLA was moving like a 'gator with CONSTIPATION, we gave up on that eventually.

It took the electric company quite a while to get out there (several hours, to be exact).  Once they did, all was restored rather quickly.  It turned out the one limb was the only one close enough to cause trouble, the wire itself has suffered no damage.  How that happened i do not know, but i am thankful they didn't have to get back there and run new wires.

We were home to see it and deal with it because of ciercumstances beyond our control, the generator worked, the fire department responded, the area has had quite a bit of rainy drizzle lately so the whole tree didn't go up in flames, just the one dangling branch, and all is well.  As much as i regret the loss of expected income, we have a great deal for which to be grateful.

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Today is:

Arbor Day -- Jordan

Armed Forces Day / Remembrance Day -- Nigeria

Army Day -- India

Basketball Day -- rules for the game were first published this day in 1892(day debated, year is certain)

Chosun-gul -- North Korea (Korean Alphabet Day)

Dia del Maestro -- Venezuela (Teacher's Day)

Feast of the Ass -- Ancient Roman Calendar (celebrates Vesta being saved by a donkey)

Feast of Entering Heaven and the Two Lands -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of All Fairies -- Fairy Calendar

Fiesta Del Senor de Esquipulas/Pilgrimage of Cristo Negro de Esquipulas -- Esquipulas, Guatemala (Festival of the Black Christ)

John Chilembwe Day -- Malawi

Lenaea -- Ancient Greek Calendar (a Festival of Comedy; date approximate)

Moliere Day -- France

National Hat Day -- begun by a hat loving individual who has chosen to remain anonymous

National Strawberry Ice Cream Day

Procrastinator's New Year -- declared by someone who had a really great sense of humor

Sailing of Wadjyt -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (the icon of the cobra goddess, Wadjyt, is carried on the Nile to visit many cities; date approximate)

St. Ita's Day (Patron of Limerick, Ireland)

St. Paul the Hermit's Day (the first of the Egyptian hermits; Patron of clothing industry, weavers)

Thiruvalluvar Day -- PY, TN, India (remembrance of the celebrated Tamil poet)

Tree Planting Day -- Egypt

Tsunahiki Matsuri -- Japan (various shrines hold tug-of-war festivals in which the team for god Ebisu vie with the team for god Daikoku; if Ebisu wins, the next year will have good catches at sea, if Daikoku, it will bring good harvests)

Anniversaries Today:

Opening of the British Museum, 1759

Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England, 1559

Birthdays Today:

Drew Brees, 1979

Chad Lowe, 1968

Mario Van Peebles, 1957

Charo, 1951

Andrea Martin, 1947

Margaret O'Brien, 1937

Ernest J. Gaines, 1933

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929

John Cardinal O'Connor, 1920

Lloyd Bridges, 1913

Gene Krupa, 1909

Elie Siegmeister, 1909

Edward Teller, 1908

Aristotle Onassis, 1906

Goodman Ace, 1899

Pierre S. du Pont, 1870

Philip Livingston, 1766

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, a/k/a Moliere, 1622 (baptismal date, actual birth date unknown)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Hill Street Blues"(TV), 1981

"Happy Days"(TV), 1974

The Democratic Donkey(symbol in newspaper comic), 1870

"Stella"(Goethe Play), 1816

Today in History:

Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah's reign, in a siege lasting until July 23, BC588

Christopher Columbus sets sail for Spain from Hispaniola, ending his first voyage to the New World, 1493

Third sitting of the Council of Trent opens, 1562

The British Museum opens in Montague House in London, 1759

John Etherington of London steps out sporting the first top hat, 1797

The first US built locomotive to pull a passenger train begins its first run, with Mr. and Mrs. Pierson on board for the first US railroad honeymoon trip, 1831

The donkey is first used as a symbol for the Democratic Party, in Harper's Weekly, 1870

The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is originally incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia, 1889

James Naismith publishes the rules of Basketball, 1892

Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake" premieres in St Petersburg, 1895

Dr. Lee DeForest patents a 3-element vacuum tube (one of the inventions that later made radio possible), 1907

The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African-American college women, 1908

The Boston Molasses Disaster, 2 million gallons of molasses spill, 21 killed, over 150 injured, 1919

The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, is completed in Toledo, Ohio, 1936

The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia, 1943

The US Supreme Court rules that "clear and present danger" of incitement to riot is not protected speech and can be a cause for arrest, 1951

The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles; the Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10, 1967

The USSR launches Soyuz 5, 1969

The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm, 1991

Wikipedia goes online, 2001

An intense solar flare blasts X-rays across the solar system, 2005

ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the moon, 2005

The Stardust space mission returns dust from a comet to Earth, 2006

Chesley Sullenberger lands US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in NYC. All passengers and crew members survive in what becomes known as the "Miracle on the Hudson", 2009

The American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan unveils its newest exhibit, a replica skeleton of a Titanosaur dinosaur (found in 2010 in Argentina), the largest known dinosaur at 70 tons, 37m, 2016

Chinese scientists confirm that they have germinated a cotton seed on the moon on board the Chang’e 4 lander, 2019

Tuesday Coffee Chat: Be Prepared!

Rory Bore at Ink Interrupted hosts the Tuesday Coffee Chat, and this week she asks the question, What's in your Emergency Go Bag?  You do have an Emergency bag, right?

While some might call it an emergency bag, i call it my running away from home bag.  Why?  Because the only thing that keeps me sane and prevents my running away from home is the fact that i could do so at a moment's notice if i wished.  Knowing i could makes it unnecessary.

The bag, and the cat (EnigmaSissy) that wouldn't get out of the way.

The last person who asked what was in my bag was told, i could tell you, but then i'd have to kill you. 

No, not really, but i do keep many things in there that would come in handy if i had to start my life over elsewhere.  

My medical file is in there, and if i had to skedaddle quickly there's room for my thyroid medication.  Also i keep a small first aid kit and some clean clothing.

My favorite study Bible and devotional book and prayer lists are in there (and yes, if you are reading this, you are likely to be on the prayer list).  Reading glasses, too, for these over 40 eyes.

Charge cords for electronic devices and a storage battery that can charge said devices are in there, along with keys (to my house and some of the houses i clean), snacks to ward off low blood sugar, my master calendar and my list of clients and how much i've been paid, so when the end of the year comes i can be sure to properly report my earnings.

Yes, there's a bit of emergency cash, and a mini umbrella, and a flashlight and all-in-one tool.

Also a mini sewing kit, miscellaneous office supplies (rubber bands, pens, mechanical pencil and refills, paper clips, twist ties), writing paper, blank cards and thank you cards (so i can write a card if the need arises) and stamps, even blank paper and few children's markers so i could entertain a child and let him/her color if i had to.

The cards have come in handy on several occasions, including once when i heard that a person who worked with the homeless ministry was ill and i decided not to waste any time, but wrote a card then and there and sent it with one of the pastors.  She gave it to him, and he loved it, and he died within the week, so if i hadn't had the card and written it right then, he would never have known how much his warmth and smile had ministered to my heart when we worked together.

Mostly the bag is like a security blanket for me, so laugh if you want, but when it's time for me to run away from home, i'm ready.

Today is:

Baby Boomer Recognition Day 

Father's Day -- Egypt; Jordan; Lebanon; Palestine; Syria; Uganda 

Go Skateboarding Day -- and break something?  leaving this to the young; sponsored by the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC) 

Martyr's Day -- Togo

National Aboriginal Day / First Nations Day -- NT, Canada

National ASK Day -- prevent gun violence and accidental deaths, ASK if there is an unlocked gun anywhere that your child plays, because Asking Saves Kids! http://askingsaveskids.org

National Peaches & Cream Day

Reaping Machine Day -- Cyrus McCormick was granted a patent for his mechanical reaper this day in 1834

St. Alban's Day (Patron of epileptics, people with hernias; against epilepsy, hernias, kidney stones)

St. Aloysius Gonzanga's Day (Protector of young students, young men; Patron of AIDS care-givers and patients; for relief from pestilence; Castiglione delle Stiviere, Italy; Valmonte, Italy; against sore eyes)

Swedish Days Midsommar Festival -- Geneva, IL, US (celebrating Swedish heritage in the granddaddy of all Illinois festivals with fun for the whole family through Sunday)

Tiger-Get-By's Third Birthday -- Fairy Calendar

Ulloortuneq -- Greenland (National Day)

Western Days -- Elgin, TX, US (music, carnival, parade, live music and more; through Saturday)

World Handshake Day -- no one likes them fishy, and it's not a contest; practice a firm grip and a smile! not to be confused with National Handshake Day, today's sponsor is here 

World Music Day -- begun in the UK, now celebrated everywhere 


Anniversaries Today:

New Hampshire becomes the 9th US State, 1788


Birthdays Today:

Kris Allen, 1985
Prince William (William Arthur Philip Louis), 1982
Juliette Lewis, 1973
Larry Wachowski, 1965
Sammi Davis-Voss, 1964
Doug Savant, 1964
Berkeley Breathed, 1957
Rick Sutcliffe, 1956
Benazir Bhutto, 1953
Nils Lofgren, 1951
Meredith Baxter, 1947
Michael Gross, 1947
Ray Davies, 1944
Mariette Hartley, 1940
Joe Flaherty, 1940
Bernie Kopell, 1933
Maureen Stapleton, 1925
Jane Russell, 1921
Jean-Paul Sartre, 1905
Al Hirschfeld, 1903
Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892
Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1859
Daniel Carter Beard, 1850
Daniel D. Tompkins, 1774
Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, 1731
Increase Mather, 1639


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Evita"(Musical), 1978
"Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg"(Wagner opera), 1868


Today in History:

Jews are expelled from Nurenberg Bavaria by Emperor Maximillian, 1498
The Incident at Honno-ji takes place in Kyoto, Japan, 1582
In Montreal in New France, a slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique is put to death, having been convicted of the arson that destroyed much of the city, 1734
Halifax, Nova Scotia, is founded, 1749
The first Victoria Cross is awarded during the bombardment of Bomarsund in the Åland Islands, 1854
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police fire a volley into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two, during the Winnipeg General Strike, 1919
The first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage begins at Vancouver, British Columbia, 1940
Columbia Records introduces the long-playing record album in a public demonstration at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, 1948
Ellen Louks Fairclough is sworn in as Canada's first woman Cabinet Minister, 1957
In handing down the decision in Miller v. California 413 US 15, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller Test for obscenity in U.S. law, 1973
SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane  to achieve spaceflight, 2004
Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially named Nix & Hydra, 2006
Greenland assumes self-rule, 2009
The U.S. officially charges Edward Snowden with espionnage, 2013

Who's That!

That, it just so happens, is PepperJack.

PepperJack has been our guest for a couple of days.  He is Miss Lizzie's dog.

So, how did we end up, again, taking care of Miss Lizzie's dog?

Funny you should ask.  It's long, and it's complicated.

Miss Lizzie, the young lady who lived with us for a while, has a section 8 apartment now, and is trying to arrange surgery for her arms and neck so she might be able to go to work.

Meanwhile, she is still having post traumatic stress flashbacks to the abuse from her childhood.  She had a flashback the other day, and in it, dropped something on the floor that broke, and she cut her foot on it very badly.  She sent me a 2am text asking me to send Bigger Girl to help, and called 911.

Until help got there, she poured bleach everywhere, because she is very highly germ phobic when she is having a flashback.  She also got scared that she had gotten something rotten in her mouth, and rinsed her mouth with a bit of the bleach.

The EMTs and Police got there before Bigger Girl, who might have been able to explain the way Miss Lizzie's mind works in these situations.  Instead, they saw blood, bleach, and heard her incoherently talking about rinsing her mouth with bleach, decided she had attempted suicide, and carted her off to the hospital, from which she was admitted to the psychiatric ward.

It took us almost 3 days to get it sorted out and spring her, because she is not suicidal, just undergoing her usual trials and tribulations that go along with having been molested many times as a young child by your grandfather.

So, Bigger Girl cleaned the blood and locked up the apartment and brought PepperJack here.

The cats were insulted, but they got over it.

Meanwhile, we got two more litters of kittens, had my parents up at the hotel, where we went to visit them, and i had to spend hours and hours fielding phone calls from two other emergency situations that only mommy can fix.  Of course.

PepperJack is back home with Miss Lizzie, though, and the week is finally done.  And i am done in.

Oh, and Bigger Girl visited Miss Lizzie in the hospital, and talked the doctor in to letting her out.  Meanwhile, she says there is a person in there right now who thinks he is Michael Jackson.  He spends as much time as they will let him spend in one room playing Michael Jackson Albums and singing/dancing along, very badly.

Let's hope i can find my sanity again, i'm not a huge fan of lousy Michael Jackson interpretations.



Today is:

Bartletide -- West Witton, Yorkshire Dales, UK (a/k/a Burning Bartle, a ceremony in which a straw effigy of Owd Bartle, a sheep theif of yore, is paraded, then burned after sunset, as a warning to the light fingered)

Birthday of Osiris -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Corvette Crossroads Auto Show -- Mackinaw City, MI, US (show that includes a Corvette parade across the Mackinaw Bridge; through tomorrow)

Country Fair and Auction -- McHenry, MD, US (sponsored by the local Mennonite churches, a good old-fashioned time of family fun)

De Ducasse -- Ath, Belgium (Giants of Ath Festival or Wedding of the Giants, a celebration since medieval times in which "Goliath" marries, then goes to do battle with David; through tomorrow)

Ferret Buckeye Bash -- Colombus, OH, US (ferret show)

Festival for Luna -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Festival of Mania -- Ancient Roman Calendar (to placate the Manes, a day when the Mundus, the portal to the afterlife, is open and the dead are free to roam)

Flag Day -- Liberia

Flitting Appreciation Day -- another "holiday" with no particular reason except that someone who enjoys flitting around wanted to celebrate it

Gangara Fire Festival -- Atago Shrine, Ikeda City, Japan

Green Corn Pow Wow -- Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (through tomorrow, Pow Wow and presentations of Native heritage to all)

Hotter 'n H*ll Hundred Bike Race -- Wichita Falls, TX, US (cyclists of all ages in the largest sanctioned century ride in the US, in the Texas summer heat)

Independence Day -- Ukraine(1991)

International Bat Night -- through tomorrow, go enjoy these wonderful creatures; www.eurobats.org or www.batcon.org

International Day Against Intolerance, Discrimination and Violence Based on Musical Preference, Lifestyle, and Dress Code -- sponsored by the Romanian Humanist Association and the Sophie Lancaster Foundation

International Strange Music Day -- as declared by strange musician and composer Patrick Grant

Knife Day -- internet generated, but how would we cook without them?  today remember how much you do each day with a good kitchen knife.

Koenji Awa Odori Festival -- Suginami City, Tokyo, Japan (thousands dance in the streets, through tomorrow)

National Peach Pie Day

National Waffle Day -- Cornelius Swarthout patented the first waffle iron in the US on this day in 1869

Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival -- Pittsburgh, PA, US (relive the days of yore, watch artisans practice the olde crafts, and have a high good time; weekends through September)

Saddleworth Rushcart -- Saddleworth, West Yorkshire, England (similar to rushbearing, a cart goes through the area with Morris men, the bounds of the area are checked for enemy breaches, rushes are gathered to line the church floor, and there is celebrating, gurning, wrestling, singing, and a final procession tomorrow to St. Chad's Church at Uppermill for the 11am service)

Sidewalk Art Festival -- Portland, ME, US

St. Bartholomew's Day (Patron of bookbinders, butchers, cobblers, Florentine cheese merchants, Florentine salt merchants, leather workers,plasterers, shoemakers, tanners, trappers, whiteners; Armenia; Borgo Tossignano, Italy; Boves, Italy; Carpineto dell Nora, Italy; Civitella in Val di Chiana, Italy; Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Gambatesa, Italy; Gharghur, Malta; Lipari, Sicily, Italy; Maastricht, Netherlands; Magalang, Philippines; Plzen, Czech Republic; Potosí, Bolivia; Salzano, Italy; Trino, Italy; against nervous diseases, neurological diseases, and twitching) related observance
     Schaferlauf -- Markgroeningen, Germany (Festival to honor St. Bartholomew, Patron of Herdsmen, on this day or the weekend after; includes traditional barefoot race by children of active shepherds and water carrying contests; also now has a music festival)

St. Owen of Rouen's Day (Patron of the deaf; against deafness)

Usuki Stone Buddhas Fire Festival -- Usuki, Japan (torchlight at twilight lights the regions mysterious Buddha statues)

Vesuvius Day -- anniversary of 79CE eruption which destroyed Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum

Vuelta a Espana -- Spain (the third of cyclings' prestigious Grand Tours; through Sept. 15)

Waratambar -- New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea (a native thanksgiving)

William Wilberforce Day -- Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, OH, US (birth anniversary of founder, in 1759)


Birthday's Today:

Rupert Grint, 1988
Marlee Matlin, 1965
Cal Ripken, Jr., 1962
Steve Guttenberg, 1958
Yasser Arafat, 1929
Hal Smith, 1916
Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, 1890
Daniel Gooch, 1816
William Wilberforce, 1759


Today in History:

The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius buries Pompeii and Herculaneum, 15,000 die, 79
The Visigoths under Aleric begin to pillage Rome, 410
King John of England, a/k/a Humpty Dumpty for having to issue the first Magna Carta, marries Isabella of Angoileme, 1200
Six thousand Jews are killed in Mainz after being blamed for the bubonic plague, 1349
The printing of the Gutenberg Bible is completed, 1456
The first English convoy lands at Surat, India, 1608
Calcutta, India is founded, 1690
British troops invade Washington, D.C. and burn down the White House and several other buildings, 1814
Charles Darwin is asked to travel on HMS Beagle, 1831
The Panic of 1857 begins, touching off one of the most severe economic crises in US history (Which just goes to show you, the more things change, the more they stay the same), 1857
Cornelius Swarthout patents the waffle iron, 1869
The Wolseley Expedition reaches Manitoba to end the Red River
Rebellion, 1870
Captain Matthew Webb became first person to swim English Channel, 1875
Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera, 1891
Workers start pouring concrete for the Panama Canal, 1909
Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly non-stop across the North American continent, 1932
The treaty creating NATO goes into effect, 1949
France explodes its first hydrogen bomb, thus becoming the world's fifth nuclear power, 1968
Voyager 2 (launched 1977) reaches Neptune, 1989
Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1991
The first RFID human implantation is tested in the UK, 1998
Argon fluorohydride, the first Argon compound ever known, is discovered at the University of Helsinki, 2000
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefines the term "planet" such that Pluto is considered a Dwarf Planet, 2006