***********************************
Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, BeThere2Day, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.
***********************************
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 Elephant's Child.
This week's prompts are:
- Least
- Fundamental
- People
- Satisfaction
- Excited
and/or
- Natural
- Trashed
- Profligacy
- Fragile
- Future
An additional prompt from Charlotte (MotherOwl) is to include Bright Red Orange in your take on the prompts.
Have fun.
"You don't have to know everything, but you do have to at LEAST have an acquaintance with the FUNDAMENTAL principles."
He was in one of his pontificating moods, and of all the PEOPLE you don't want to be around, he's one of them, at least when he's in that mood.
It's seldom he can get a good impromptu lecture going, as most of those he knows make themselves scarce when he starts, so when he can trap someone and start his lecture mode, it gives him great SATISFACTION. In fact, if he wasn't such a stoic, I might even say it got him EXCITED.
His lecturing followed a NATURAL course, although he never saw it. First, he TRASHED the PROFLIGACY of those who were supposed to be doing everything both differently and correctly, meaning his way. Then he'd go into how FRAGILE the system is (whatever the system happens to be which brought about his current rant) and what the FUTURE will bring if it is not changed.
As he was truly warming to his subject, I suddenly jumped up and said, "I'm so sorry, my phone timer is on vibrate and it just went off, I must see to the biscuits I have in the oven," and I ran toward the kitchen.
"Oh, well, yes, uh, mustn't let those burn, must we..."
He trailed off as I got to the kitchen and opened the oven, got the biscuits out, set them on the rack to cool, then opened the back door and stepped out.
The beautiful sunset, a Bright Red Orange fireball setting the clouds glowing in a delightful spectacle, helped me pause and take a breath and reestablish my good humor. After all, there's only so much of him one can take at a time, as you'll find if you ever happen to meet him.
***********************************
Today is:
Agriculture Day and Labor Day -- Haiti
Amtrak Day -- the train service began this day in 1971
Anxiety Disorders Screening Day -- if you have symptoms, get checked, there is help
Beltaine / Samhain -- Wiccan/Pagan
Bladder Cancer Awareness Month http://www.bcan.org/
Calends of May -- Ancient Roman Calendar; related observances
Day sacred to Maia
Feast for Lares Praestites (household gods)
Childhood Stroke Awareness Month -- also called Pediatric Stroke Awareness Day, because kids can have strokes, too
Chimney Sweeps Day -- the boys as young as 4 trained to help master sweeps got Mayday off each year
Constitution Day / National Day -- Marshall Islands
Executive Coaching Day -- a reminder, on what is most countries' Labor Day, that workers deserve great leaders
Feast of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage -- Antipolo, Rizal, Philippines (pilgrimages to the shrine of Nuestra Sra de la Paz y Buen Viaje; through the month)
Festival of Matsu/Mazu -- Southern China and Taiwan (Taoist goddess of the sea who protects fishermen and sailors; often worshiped in sea-faring areas surrounding China as well, although some local dates will vary)
Ma Zu, Goddess of the Sea’s Birthday -- Buddhism; Taoism
Festival of Saint Efisio -- Cagliari, Italy (one of the most colorful religious festivals anywhere in the world; through the 4th)
Garland Dressing -- Charlton on Otmoor, England (a wooden cross is bedecked with yew and box leaves)
Global Love Day -- sponsored by The Love Foundation
Go Fetch! National Food Drive for Homeless Animals -- PALS Foundation
Great American Grump Out Day -- encouraging everyone to avoid grumpiness and rudeness for 24 hours; who knows, you might enjoy it so much it will stick!
Gujarat Day / Maharashtra Day -- MH, India
Journée Internationale de la Guérilla Tournesol / International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day -- begun in Belgium, now celebrated worldwide, guerrilla gardeners are encouraged to plant sunflowers (or an appropriate plant for their climate) in a neglected public place or shabby flower bed
Keep Kids Alive! Drive 25 Day -- 20-25mph in school zones, please
Kevadpuha -- Estonia (Spring Day)
Law Day, USA -- US, by Presidential Proclamation
Lei Day -- Hawai'i (where you celebrate Mayday with a lei instead of mayflowers)
Loyalty Day -- US
May Day / Labor Day / Worker's Day -- International; celebrated as the beginning of summer in some places, as a Labor Day in others
Mother Goose Day -- as declared by the Mother Goose Society
National Chocolate Parfait Day
National Day to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy -- US
National Love Day -- Czech Republic (couples flock to the memorial of the poet Karel Hynek Mácha in Prague and kiss)
National Purebred Dog Day -- US (as proposed on this page)
New Homeowner's Day -- can't find confirmation on this one, listed at a few sites but no history or records of why this day
'Obby 'Oss (Hobby Horse) Parade -- Padstow, Cornwall, England (every May 1 since 1502, if the records are correct)
Play of St. Evermaar -- Belgium (annual performance of a mystery play, in its original form from over 1,000 years ago, by the village)
Riding of the Bounds -- Berwick-upon-Tweed, Casey, England (riders scour the countryside to be sure the Scots have not encroached upon English soil in this 5 century old tradition)
Rodonitsa -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (day to offer feasts to the ancestors, named for Rod, god of family and the cosmos)
Santacruzan / Flore de Mayo -- Philippines (lasts through the month, with the biggest celebratory days being May 26-27 this year)
Save the Rhino Day / Rhino Mayday -- International
School Principal's Day -- since teachers get a day, so should the principal
Silver Star Day -- US (to honor all military who have earned a Silver Star)
SOS Radio Week -- UK (The Royal National Lifeboat Institution keeps the seas safer, and Radio Amateurs help them raise funds www.sosradioweek.org.uk; it used to be a week, and though that's still the name, it now lasts the whole month of May)
Stepmother's Day -- sponsored by secondwivesclub.com
St. Joseph the Worker's Day -- Holy See(Vatican City)
St. Peregrine Laziosi's Day (Patron of AIDS patients, cancer patients, and the sick; against cancer, open sores and skin diseases)
St. Walpurga's Canonization Day (The saint who banishes the evil from Walpurgis night.)
Swieta Panstwowe -- Poland (National Day)
Tammany's Day / St. Tamenend -- US soldiers in the Revolution wanted a patron saint to rival St. George of the British Army, and chose Delaware Indian chief and wise man Chief Tamenend, also called Tammany
Upper Canada Village -- Morrisburg, ON, Canada (through early October, various programs that let visitors and students enter the world of the 1860s)
Unity Day -- Kazakhstan
Virgen de Chapi Festival -- Peru
Yotaka Matsuri -- Fukuno, Toyama, Japan (enjoy floats, paper lanters, and mock battles in this two day festival)
Zuni Green Corn Dance -- Zuni Native Americans (welcoming back the Corn Maidens who fled during the winter; dating approximate as many Native ceremonies are closed to outsiders)
Anniversaries Today:
Cheerios go on sale, 1941
Empire State Building Ribbon Cutting, 1931
Birthdays Today:
Wes Anderson, 1969
Tim McGraw, 1967
Charlie Schlatter, 1966
Steve Cauthen, 1960
Ray Parker, Jr., 1954
Paul Teutul, Sr., 1949
Rita Coolidge, 1945
Bobbie Ann Mason, 1940
Judy Collins, 1939
Sonny James, 1929
Charles "Chuck" Bednarik, 1925
Terry Southern, 1924
Jack Paar, 1918
Glenn Ford, 1916
Archie Williams, 1915
Kate Smith, 1909
Mark Clark, 1896
Leo Sowerby, 1895
Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Burke), 1852
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, 1837
King Kamehameha I of Hawai'i, 1738
Joseph Addison, 1672
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"My One and Only"(Musical), 1983
Citizen Kane(Film), 1941
"Batman"(Detective Comics #27), 1939
"Buffalo Bill's Wild West"(touring Western show), 1883
"Le nozze di Figaro/The Marriage of Figaro"(Mozart Opera, K492), 1786
Today in History:
The Wars of Scottish Independence end with a treaty recognizing the Kingdom of Scotland as a separate entity, 1328
The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, 1707
Species Plantarum is published by Linnaeus, marking the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, 1753
Josiah Wedgwood founds the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain, 1759
Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt establishes the Illuminati in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria), 1776
Kamehameha, the king of Hawai'i defeats Kalanikupule and establishes the Kingdom of Hawai'i, 1785
The British colonies abolish slavery, 1834
The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom, 1840
The first wagon train leaves from Independence, MO, bound for California, 1841
Hong Kong Police Force, the world's second, Asia's first modern police force is established, 1844
Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition in London, 1851
The Empire of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay sign the Treaty of the Triple Alliance, 1865
The Folies Bergère opens in Paris, 1869
Moses Fleetwood Walker becomes the first black person to play in a professional baseball game in the United States, 1884
The RMS Lusitania departs from New York City on her two hundred and second, and final, crossing of the North Atlantic, 1915
The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight are introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris, 1927
The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named, 1930
The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City, 1931
The Summer Olympics are cancelled due to war, 1940
The Salk vaccine is made available to the public, 1956
Fidel Castro proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections, 1961
Amtrak is formed to take over the U.S. passenger rail service, 1971
Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, 1987
On the same day, Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A's sets the record for stolen bases (his 939th), and Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers pitches his 7th career no-hitter, breaking his own record, 1991
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, , 2004
Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden, 2009
Pope John Paul II is beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, 2011
The U.N. Human Rights Office determine it is a violation of international law to force-feed hunger strikers at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison, 2013
Scotland becomes the first country in the world to introduce a minimum price on alcohol, 2018
Naruhito officially succeeds his father Akihito as the Emperor of Japan after the latter abdicated the day before due to ill health, 2019
New York City officially names a street "Sesame Street" in honor of the show's 50th anniversary, 2019
Scotland becomes the first country in the world to introduce a minimum price on alcohol, 2018
Naruhito officially succeeds his father Akihito as the Emperor of Japan after the latter abdicated the day before due to ill health, 2019
New York City officially names a street "Sesame Street" in honor of the show's 50th anniversary, 2019
Cognitive psychologist and computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, known as "the Godfather of AI," resigns from Google to begin speaking out about the dangers of artificial intelligence, 2023
