Wonders N Wishes

There are so many wonderful things about Wednesday!

My short list:

• It is Hump Day! That wonderful middle of the week, half way to the weekend, let's celebrate making it over life's hump day!
• It is Wordless Wednesday! Whether you celebrate by seeking quiet solitude or by sharing image only posts, there's a sense of wonder in the wordless approach. Click here for my contributions to the sound of silence.
• It is 'not so' Wordless Wednesday over at Curious as a Cathy. Absolutely perfect for the chatter box in me. Of course I will be sharing this post there. :D
• It is Wish Day! That is right, the day designated by Claudya @ Unknown Mami's as the day to put a voice to our wishes. You will find my wish below. 
• It is Wonders N Wishes Day! The day I am designating to share a 'Wonder' as well as a wish.

 

This week's wonder

Searching for a wonder for this week I came across a story about a gentleman who purchased the Providence Arcade built in 1828 and is the oldest mall in America. Then he remodeled the two upper floors of the mall turning them into micro apartments. I really think it is a great idea, and wonder if maybe it other abandoned malls could be converted similarly but in a way that would provide affordable transitional housing.  

It's Wish Time!

Today I'm calling on the universe to grant the following wishes.

- I wish It was December.  Not because I am impatient for Christmas, and certainly not because I love winter. I wish it was December because then maybe, just maybe all this election negativity would be over.

- It would be really nice if stores started carrying non-alcoholic Irish cream for my coffee. It use to be that all the grocery store carried Irish cream coffee creamer, but over the last few years fewer and fewer stores are stocking it. And now I can't find a single store in our area that stocks it. The only reason I can think of for this is that it must not have sold very well, which baffles me because Irish coffee is SO Good!

- My last wish for this day is that the universe is looking down on you kindly!

As Claudya at Unknown Mami's says go ahead and wish, be it simple or big, when we give a voice to our wishes it helps us realize those wishes. So what are you wishing for? I would love to know, just put your wish in the comment section and I will gladly lend my wishing powers to your wish. Please join me in visiting Unknown Mami's Wish Wednesday so that we can lend our wishing powers to her and those she is wishing for.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Boy Was My Face Red

Typically one is happy to receive an award or trophy, and they are proud to display it for everyone to see. Now I haven't received many awards or trophies in my lifetime but I can tell you that I earned one trophy when I was a teenager that I hid and hoped the entire world (my small circle of friends and acquaintances) would forget about.

It was the summer of '74 when I found myself the recipient of that ill begotten award. At the time, like many 14yr old girls I was awkward and self conscious, often finding comfort by reading true stories submitted to Young Miss magazine for their 'Boy, was my face red' feature. The stories were never anything really shocking and in a way put everyday little mishaps into perspective. Then it happened! I had a story that topped every story I had ever read, but there was NO way I was going to write in to the magazine and share my humiliation.

 

Growing up in Southern California my summers consisted of long afternoons surfing the waves, fun filled times at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm and Baseball! Now if you are fortunate enough to remember the 70's, you may remember that national news agencies proclaimed a streaking epidemic in '73 that rose in popularity and was was called a "a growing Los Angeles-area fad" by Time magazine in it's December '73 issue. By the summer of '74 streaking had reached a high point in pop culture with a wide range of novelty products flooding the market and Ray Steven's song "The Streak" hitting number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May. While I thought the song was great and regularly attending Dodger games so I had seen my share of streakers, I was not usually one to follow fads and I certainly had no intention of bearing it all to follow that one.

What I didn't know was that Ol' Neptune had different ideas. No one warned me when I chose to follow the string bikini fad that I would be setting myself up to join the growing number of individuals following the streaking fad. While body surfing one hot afternoon, I discovered just how much Ol' Neptune likes his ladies bare.

As was my typical routine, I had gone to the beach with my eighteen year old brother and a large group of his friends. It was a bright sunny day and the waves were really good, probably thanks the rather strong rip tide. We had been surfing for a few hours when I saw what would be both the best and worst wave of the day. I quickly swam out, positioning myself for probably the best body surfing I have ever done. It was perfect! I caught that wave and rode it all the way in. With the thrill of the ride still running high in my system I leaped to my feet as I the wave deposited me on the shore. I know I must have been grinning like a cat that just caught the fattest mouse. Then I saw one of my brother's friends. He was standing directly in front of me with the most shocked look on his face I had ever seen.

I could feel the rip tide pulling the wave back out to sea as I looked down and discovered I was Naked! As fast as I could I STREAKED back into the ocean, looking around for my best friend or my brother in the hopes they would bring me a towel. Much to my dismay neither were anywhere to be seen. Instead it was my brother's friend who ran and got a towel, then waded out into the water to give me the towel. I was very grateful but still completely mortified and hoped that no one else had witnessed the event. My hopes were soon dashed when a few days latter I received an award, which was quickly hidden away, that read "World's Fastest Streak".  It stayed hidden for many years, and although others enjoyed reminding me of how I got the award I did not talk about it until my own daughter became a teenager. 

She too loved to surf and one afternoon before heading out to buy her a new swimsuit I pulled it out and told the story as a warning to be very careful of the bathing suit she was about to choose. I had completely forgotten the incident when Liselman posted this on his blog and reminded me. As I read his post I found myself laughing at the memory of my short streaking career, and promised to post my story. I looked for the award but have no idea where it has gone. It is most probably buried under a ton of rubbish in a landfill somewhere, so I decided to have a bit of fun and make one.

Have you ever wondered why it is that we find events that at the time totally embarrassed us so funny years later?

SIMC: Lincoln Patriots Marching Band

My oldest granddaughter is a member of the Lincoln High School marching band and this last Saturday they competed in  The Dutchmen Field Championship in Orange City Iowa. It is one of the largest Midwest marching band competitions. This was my first time going to a marching band competition and I have to say it was pretty cool. In more ways than one, I really should have taken a blanket.

Each band's performance consisted of three 'acts'. The Patriots colorguard actually changed outfits during the performance. Switching from the bright green 'Alien' outfits to orange/gold spacesuit outfit. The theme of their performance was "Moving to Mars".

The large boxes served both as a way to display background scenes for the show as well as to provide a place for the colorguard to quickly change their outfits. It was so well choreographed that I didn't even realize what was happening till I saw the different color outfits.

Toward the end of their performance they had a huge parachute like material unfurl as the band played and a voice could be heard saying "Huston we have touchdown".

Most of the bands competing had less than 100 students,  with a few having between 110 and 150 students, but my granddaughter's band is huge. They have 260 students in the marching band. Watching them march off the field really gave a good sense of just how big they are. This photo only covers about half of the band.

After the Patriots performance the band for the hosting school performed a really awesome show titled "The Giving Tree".  Then all of band performers gathered on the field with blankets to sit and watch the fireworks display while the judges deliberated. 

When the lights went back on the kids on the field stood up while a few members from each band lined up on the sideline to accept awards for their teams. 

 

For the most part everyone was having a good time, except this young lady that was sitting next to me. She was so tired and just wanted to go home. In her defense I will admit that some of the performances were a tad on the boring side.

Every band got a participation award, and awards were given for various performance aspects. I do have to say I was glad that the bands were grouped into different classes with awards given in each class. The Lincoln Patriots received first place which really wasn't a surprise because they are very accomplished with a long list of outstanding accomplishments. They have participated in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California as well as in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York on multiple occasions. This year they have been invited and will be marching in The Hollywood Christmas Parade" in Hollywood, California. All of which is a testament to not only the kids but to Lincoln High School's music and marching band programs and directors. 

At the end of the night we were all a bit cold and tired but very happy too. Three High schools from Sioux Falls and two from smaller towns near Sioux Falls had all competed, so the line of cars heading back to Sioux Falls looked even longer than the line created by the Patriots as they left the field. I tried to get a good shot of the long line of cars and buses on the roadway in front of us, but this is the best I got. LOL

Have you ever been to a marching band competition? 

 

Thank you for visiting me here in South Dakota.

This is my contribution to 'Sunday In My City'. 

To find out what is going on in different cities around the world hop over to

 Unknown Mami's Sunday In My City blog hop.

The AC Menagerie Bulletin

Welcome to the September 7th addition of

 The AC Menagerie Bulletin

The AC Menagerie Bulletin is a weekly digital newspaper highlighting brief accounts of the week's happenings around the Zoo (our home) and on blogs by myself (Nita Davis). Sit back, relax and enjoy while you catch up with the Davis family.

Blog News 
I do believe I jinxed myself two weeks ago when I wished for help keeping track of time. The wish came to mind late Wednesday as I was writing my Wednesday Wonders & Wishes post. Yes, a post that should have been written by Tuesday so it could be published early Wednesday, and thus the wish. Instead of giving a bit of help keeping track of time the Universe decided I needed a wee bit of a break and gave me a nasty cold instead. 
 
Exciting News 

This happy couple just celebrated their second anniversary. Well I am no dummy, so when they asked me if I wanted to go to brunch with them on their anniversary, I knew some exciting news was coming. I was right, they are expecting their first child in April. 

 
Educational News

We have all been anticipating Sissy's orchestra concert this year as we found out at the end of last year they will be preforming with a very special orchestra. It hasn't been announced publicly yet, so I won't spill the beans and say who it is. I will say though that the orchestra holds a very special place in our family's heart and especially in Sissy's heart. From the time she was two years old until my husband passed away four years ago when she was eight, she would sit in his lap every day and they would watch this orchestra's video of 'Carol of the Bells'. It became 'Their' song.  Last week when Sissy got home from school she was visibly upset and told me she was thinking of asking if she could preform in the chorus instead of the orchestra. I was so confused as she had been so excited all summer long to play with the orchestra. When I asked why, she said her teacher handed out the sheet music for this years concert, and of all the song that they could have been playing wouldn't you know it they are playing 'Carol of the Bells'. She said she doesn't think she can play that song without breaking into tears. I totally get it. Her mom and I get teary eyed every time we hear that song. But we have convinced her to put all that emotion into playing the song. Now we are just hoping that all the time and tears spent practicing and listening to her practice will be a healing experience for us all.

Critter News

Devil cat is at it again! The other day I bought two packages of these donuts. Yes, my biggest junk food weakness is donuts. I was in a hurry that morning and had opened one of the packages and ate two of the six little donuts, before running out of the house. Forgetting we have a kitten that thinks it is a dog, I left both the opened package and the unopened package on the table. When I got home that darn cat had not only eaten the opened package of donuts but had ripped open the sealed package and eaten half of them as well. I was so mad at the cat I threw the half eaten donuts away without taking a picture of them. It is a miracle the cat is still alive.... LOL

Comics 

The Blog Review

On Artistic Composition  & Nita's Photography this week:  Digital Silence due to the following.