“Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put your offering (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before Sunday evening UK time. If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here. Thank you for taking part.”
The inspiration for this list is a jam-packed three weeks of American football playoffs. (Notice, Dale, I called out the distinction.) You may not be a fan, but if you are, here is a friendly list of things not to do.
Top Ten Things Not to Do During the NFL Conference Championships
10 During the NFL Conference Championships, do not talk smack about your team’s opponent. If you do, at best, your team will move on to the Super Bowl. At worst, you may be served a big dish of cold crow by all who heard your talk. (You were sure your team would win, huh, Bunky. Now you have a full year of black poultry eating.)
9 During the NFL Conference Championships, do not plan anything important on that Sunday. If you do, at best, you’ll disappoint others. At worst, you will miss the game. (It just so happened your team lost by one point as the opponents went for the extra two points with two seconds to play. Way to let them down, Tex.)
8 During the NFL Conference Championships, do not think you can run to the store for basic food and beverage items. If you do, at best, you’ll get there and back before the first game. At worst, you’ll join one hundred of your fellow fans in a frenzy at halftime, fighting over the last bag of Cheetos. (Don’t be afraid. Tiny, the WWF champ, is asking you nicely to let go of that six-pack. He only gets mad if you ignore his growl, Merle.)
7 During the NFL Conference Championships, don’t try to grill dinner without a TV close at hand. If you do, at best, you’ll miss key plays watching that steak. At worst, you planned to time the steak for halftime but now have something resembling blackened cedar plank. (You totally forgot about the meat, right, Buford?)
6 During the NFL Conference Championships, do not accept an invitation to a house where you have no idea of the media capabilities of the host. If you do, at best, you will try to watch the game on inferior equipment. At worst, your host was not aware of the playoffs, and besides, he and his family have taken a no-TV pledge. (The only set in the garage is a black and white rabbit-eared portable that sparks when you turn it on, Bruce..)
5 During the NFL Conference Championships, do not try to entertain your in-laws during the game. If you do, at best, you will have a difficult time handling both assignments. At worst, your in-laws will no longer be interested in the game and will ask if they can watch the movie Heidi instead. (Well, Ferd. You did try, and now you must turn to Heidi on this TV and go to your room.)
4 During the NFL Conference Championships, do not answer your phone. If you do, at best, it will be your talkative sister who doesn’t have a clue about football. At worst, it will be your boss who has no life and has decided to call a strategy meeting that should go on until midnight. (You could have said you were sorry on Monday, Pud.)
3 During the NFL Conference Championships, do not allow anyone you don’t know in your house. If you do, at best, you will be interrupted to play host to them. At worst, just your luck, the couple from your spouse’s work wants to share with you the idea that they think football is a metaphor for the male-dominated society and they believe it should be banned. (If you knew these people, you could tell them to have a big cup of shut the f*#k up, huh, Pilgrim?)
2 During the NFL Conference Championships, do not try anything funny or different with your TV. If you do, at best, you will only trip the circuit breaker. At worst, you will mess up enough to take out the city grid. (The news says the power will be back on around midnight, Buster. You can watch the game on your iPad, provided the battery holds. If not, there is always the Today Show recap. Way after Al Roker and the weather.)
1 During the NFL Conference Championships, do not overserve yourself even if things are not going well for your team. If you do, at best, the end of the evening may come too early. At worst, getting carried away with the game ended with a toss of your remote aimed for the referee which passed through the big screen on its one-thousand-mile trip. (Until then, it was an exciting game, huh, Dip?)
Today, we will tour the neighborhood and check out the holiday decorations that are still up but shouldn’t be. Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas today, which is a good reason to keep the decorations displayed. It is also okay to keep decorations up for as long as someone wants, but they should be in good condition and look like they are being done on purpose, not just forgotten. We are only going to see the decorations that have been neglected, not the ones left on purpose. We are catered by Salty Sow of Austin. Our entertainment is Roy Orbison.
Menu
CRISP CHICKEN THIGHS
fried smashed potatoes, neck bone gravy
CANDIED PORK BELLY
collard greens, pot liquor, soy balsamic syrup
RANGER CATTLE WAGYU CHEESEBURGER
caramelized onions, gruyere cheese, pickles, Salty Sow special sauce, duck fat fries
– add béarnaise to fries +1
Today’s treat is a steaming cappuccino made right here in the kitchen. The whole milk is steamed, and the shot of espresso is delivered, and here it is. A couple of shakes of cinnamon and a sip of the foamy goodness turns my mind to the clock.
In a discussion with Resa McConaghy, she mentioned that returning to July 27th, 1940, might be interesting. Looking up the date, it is when Bugs Bunny made his first appearance. I asked Resa why we should visit that date, and she said, “Just do it.” So the clock is set for the date, and the time is set for 7:00 PM. We will stay a couple of hours. The cappuccino is drained, and we are off.
™Warner Brothers
So we arrive at the movie theater in West Orange, New Jersey. The crowd has just started to go into the theater. It now occurs to me why the CEO of Warner Brothers gifted the clock. It was so we could go back and enjoy the Bugs Bunny debut. Let’s all relax and enjoy Bugs’ big moment. Thanks to Resa for the idea.
The alarm goes off as the lights come up, and I’m sitting on the couch with an empty cup. A text comes in from Linda Hill. It reads. Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 6th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “Just do it.” Use the phrase “just do it” somewhere in your post, or write a post in the spirit of the phrase. Enjoy!
If you want to see what others do with the prompt, visit Linda’s post
At the Potawatomi Zoo in Indiana, a mama golden retriever has her paws as full as can be these days looking after a huge litter of pups—but half aren’t hers.
The Zoo had the unhappy issue of an African-painted dog who was a first-time mom and wasn’t displaying the level of care required to raise her litter of 8 pups. The Zoo’s canine team knew they had to act fast.
The group wanted to use a surrogate mother because the African-painted dog relies on the social group into which it was born. The Indiana Council for Animal Welfare connected the Zoo with a golden retriever named Kassy, who just gave birth to a litter of her own.
But even with Kassy’s love and attention, the litter of 8 experienced some cases of failure to thrive owing to a lack of presence from members of their species. However, three individuals were resilient and survived. Due to the delicate nature of baby animals, their names were simply Blue, Red, and Orange—identity codes to various shades on their coats to prevent their caretakers from becoming too attached.
The three will form a new social group in an enclosure next to the one into which they should have been welcomed. Abandoned more or less by their mom, the canine team at the Zoo is wary that reintegrating them as pups will cause conflict for the same reason they were abandoned. They will live separately and perhaps reunite in adulthood.
African painted dogs might be one of the more resilient African animals due to their limited value to poachers and large litter sizes, but because they need tens of thousands of acres to roam and hunt, fragmentation of habitat has caused them to become endangered.
The painted dogs, now 11 weeks old – released by the Zoo
“It has been an emotionally exhausting and challenging journey for the team, but it is the Zoo’s mission to work toward the preservation of wild species,” the Zoo said in a press release concerning the pups
“Sometimes the journey is smooth, and sometimes it takes extraordinary measures. These three healthy, active pups are just the start of this story, and the Zoo hopes to share more positive updates of their milestones in the future.”
Red, Orange, and Blue are thriving under Kassy’s care and are now 11 weeks old. They will hopefully live on to produce pups of their own that may return someday to Africa, but in the meanwhile, their early struggles present critical lessons to zoo visitors on the delicate nature of wild social structures and how important it is that animals are given their own space.
The good news here is the zoo folks took decisive action to save the pups. Today’s JohnKu talks about saving lives. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
“Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put your offering (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before Sunday evening UK time. If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here. Thank you for taking part.”
With a few short hours from wrapping up 2023, we at our house wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year. I think Twiggy says it best. (I have to wonder how she learned to operate the printer)
