Another Fence Down

According to Sue Mattingly’s post this morning, April has been designated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as “Distracted Driving Month.”

This is a very important message and I couldn’t help but do a few senryu-of-sorts for the cause.

as she turns a corner
her boy in the back seat barfs
new car shopping

oncoming headlights
insistent cell phone jangling
fender bender

the GPS says
turn here! brakes –
and more brakes

get a load of that
chick mowing her lawn!
another fence down

Things We Do For Our Good

The Ragtag Daily Prompt this morning is FOR OUR GOOD.

I’m thinking now of the many things we regularly do for our good. For one thing, we take multi-vitamins and other medications. I don’t know where my husband’s blood pressure would be if he didn’t have medication to regulate it.

I take a tiny synthetic thyroid pill every morning. Before the doctor discovered my thyroid was no longer functioning, I was so cold all the time. One time I was looking for my sweater and my daughter commented, “Maybe we should move to Florida so you can be warm for once.” And my husband told her, “If the sun went behind a cloud in Florida, your mother would put on a sweater.”

I have arthritis and find that glucosamine helps. In fact, if I forget to take it for a few days, I start waking up in the morning with headaches. I’m also very thankful for pain-killers. I can’t imagine how life must have been back in the day when liquor was about the only pain-killer known in the western world. Or laudanum, an opiate.

My husband has been dealing with macular degeneration and gets injections to keep this under control. Getting a needle in the eye might seem like a dreadful thing, but the only other option is blindness, so his doctor does this, and he suffers this treatment, for his good — and we are very thankful it works.

Experiment.Pub DomNow I think of the millions of people working behind the scenes for our good, trying to make our environment safer, healthier, and more convenient. Researchers, inventors, food handlers, manufacturers, health inspectors, law officers. They may be doing it for a paycheck, but since what they do ultimately benefits me, I want to let them know I appreciate their efforts.

Now that we have a virus to deal with, health authorities and the government have decided that, for our good, we should self-isolate. So we’re doing our best to respect their wisdom. In the end it will be debated whether it was really for our good, or what should rather have been done.

I need to say thanks, too, to all the Happiness Engineers at WordPress for making blogging the enjoyable experience it is. I doubt we realize how much they do behind the scenes to keep us safe from spammers and hackers and up-to-date with technology.

I’m also thankful for the friends who’ve told me some things for me good. No, I may not have appreciated it at the moment, sometimes outright rejected it and I’ve even fired back with a sharp rebuttal at times. But later, turning over their thoughts, advice — yes, even sarcastic comments — I began to see a little light in it, some area where I could improve.

So I’ll enjoy my many blessings. Thinking this all over, I’ll say with the song writer, “Lord, I thank you for the good folks in my life.”

Whatnot Wednesday

Fellow blogger Biff has done another Whatnot Wednesday and invites other bloggers to respond by likewise posting a bit of misc trivia. Here’s my contribution. (To further reinforce my caution in this morning’s post about name-calling.)

A Belisha beacon, consists of a lamp with an amber globe sitting atop a tall black and white pole, marked pedestrian crossings in the United Kingdom and other countries historically influenced by Britain. The flashing light warns motorists to watch for pedestrians crossing.

It was named after Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Minister of Transport who in 1934 added beacons to pedestrian crossings. The first one became operational on July 4, 1935. These crossings were later painted in black and white stripes, and have become known as “zebra crossings.” Since then, Belisha beacons have been replaced by WALK signals for pedestrians.

Not long after Belisha beacons were set up in London the King and his Queen were enjoying a pleasant drive through the city in the royal limousine. They passed an intersection where one of these lights had been installed.

“Pull over,” King Edward instructed their chauffeur. “I want to test one of these crossings and see how well they actually work,” he told the Queen.

The chauffeur parked the car a short way down the street and the King got out. He walked back up the street to the crossing and about five minutes later he returned. As he climbed back into the car he was chuckling.

The Queen looked at him curiously and asked, “What’s so amusing?”

He grinned at her. “One of my loyal subjects just called me a doddering old fool.”

OFF WITH HIS HEAD!
the red queen

flexes her guillotine
toady or kneel

Bravery

Good morning everyone. A bright Monday morning, the beginning of another week and also Remembrance Day here in Canada.

Folks who are planning outdoor celebrations this morning will have to be brave to face the chill that’s settled across the prairies. We had a fair bit of snow Saturday, and now it’s seriously cold. At 7 am it was -22̊ C. Add wind gusts up to 28 km/h for a wind-chill factor of -31̊ C.
For our American friends that’s -7̊ F and with wind gusts up to 17 mph, which gives the feel of -24̊ F if you’re outside for very long. I let our cats outside first thing and they were ready to come in about three minutes later.

So it’s the perfect day to stay indoors and work on my sewing projects, but I will be cooking at the Villa today, both meals. Thankfully I can slide my car into the heated garage there. Dear hubby will have to get up and help me open the door of our unheated garage because at this temperature, the mechanism doesn’t want to work.

Like most people who are classed as “brave”, I’m not particularly courageous or eager to face the elements, but I have a job to do and will do it regardless of the externals. I don’t think any soldiers were enthused about facing enemy guns, but they were given the job, the goal was held forth, and they gritted their teeth and complied, hoping to make it out alive.

Ragtag Community’s word prompt for today is BRAVERY, quite understandable considering this special day. At the 11th hour dedicated folks all over the world will pause for a few moments of silence, remembering those lost in war and wishing, praying, violent conflicts will cease forever.

I hopped over to Pixabay and checked out images of ‘Bravery’; it’s very interesting what they all show. From a dandelion daring to bloom in parched clay to bungee jumping to Rosie the Riveter to Super heroes. Here are a few illustrations of bravery:

Fire.skeeze
Skeeze.Pixabay

Soliers.johnrocks888
johnrocks888.Pixabay

Rocket.WikiImages
WikiImages.Pixabay

surgery-1807541_640
Sasin Tipchai.Pixabay

But some things that people think are brave, like death-defying stunts, I’d class in the realm of… well…a lack of good sense. All in one’s perspective of bravery, I suppose? Like, why on earth would you play with a snake or fling yourself off a cliff if you don’t have to? Different strokes for different folks?

Matador.memyselfaneye
memyselfaneye.Pixabay

bungee-jumping-3164249_640
wfff.Pixabay

Anyway, wherever you are today, I hope you can have a day of relative peace and safety. Let’s all take time to appreciate all the folks who have sacrificed—and are working today—to give us security and a better quality of life.

 

Adam’s Fall

Another Friday Fictioneers prompt in my In-box this morning, so here’s my story in response. I’m so glad our leader Rochelle Wisoff-Fields puts in so much time and effort to moderate these weekly challenges. If you’d like to enter an item in this week’s FF story collection, check out her blog for more details. Thanks to J Hardy Carroll for the prompt image. I’ll admit, photos like this give my muse a real workout!

PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll

ADAM’S FALL

I wanted to punish Adam that morning. Kid brothers don’t need to tag along when you’re with your best friend!

At the old factory Mick and I easily went over the fence. “Wait up, guys,” Adam yelled.

I nudged Mick. “Tough. He needs to learn.”

We poked around some old machinery, then headed back. Saw Adam’s shoe hooked in the chain; him sprawled on the concrete.

The trident of remorse-fear-panic jabbed me as I ran, screaming his name. I tugged at his arm.

“Careful, Jordan,” Mick warned. “”If he’s got broken bones…”

Adam lived, thank God! And I learned.