May 2021 FROM MY PERSPECTIVE

 

                          🎕           2021 May FROM MY PERSPECTIVE

Here it is May already; the third and last month of the season of Spring.  The birthstone of May is the emerald which symbolizes success and love.  May is named for the Roman goddess Maia, who oversaw the growth of plants, and the birth flower is the lily of the valley.    A lot of us help celebrate Cinco de Mayo with the Spanish community; like so many of us help celebrate St. Patrick’s day in March.  There is, also, Mother’s Day which was the idea of Anna Jarvis of Grafton, WV.  She held a memorial service for her mother at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church.  This was in 1908.  It wasn’t until 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother’s Day be held on the second Sunday in May as a national holiday to honor mothers.  The month is closed with the Indy 500 in Indianapolis, IN. 

I saw another county road warning sign.  It made me laugh.  “Hooray!!  Spring has sprung.  Use your seatbelt or you’ll get flung.”  Here’s another:  “Phone in one hand, ticket in the other.”

“Good afternoon, Aint Daisy.  Do you mind if I talk to you about something that’s been bothering me?”  The wise one was rocking in her favorite porch rocker as I walked up the steps.  “Naw chile, you jest come on up here and set a spell.  H’aint no use to carry a heavy burden when there’s one willin’ to hep you haul it,” she drawled in her country way.  “Well, you know Gina and all she does.  Good golly, she just seems to bring shame on her family all the time.  She goes to town and drinks, takes up with questionable men, swears, and seems to be proud of all that.  I imagine her folks just about hang their heads.”  Aint Daisy didn’t say a word, just rocked and pursed her lips.  I knew something wise was going to trip off her lips.  “Honey, I know what you’re talking about, but I know the family and perhaps why she’s thata way.  Her parents are kind, honest, and well-liked by others.  She has brothers and a sister who are good people, too.  Why, there ain’t a single one from that family that’s to be ashamed of.  I learned a long time ago, don’t judge people by their relatives.  Why, I know a family who is related to a famous outlaw, one of the Fords who rode with Jesse James.   But, on the other side of the family they’re related to royalty, King Richard of England.  Not a single one of ‘em act like the outlaw side, nor are they uppity about the royalty background, either”.  I left with a much better view of people.

Have you ever wondered about the name of people and the fitting of it to their personalities? I used to hate my given name---the one which appears on my birth certificate:  GERTRUDE.  My brother would tease me mercilessly about it, and Mother would remind me it was her mother’s name, and I should be proud.  So, I looked it up.  WOW!! It means “SPEARMAIDEN”.  I told this to Guy one time.  He agreed it quasi-fit my personality.  I took the bait and questioned his logic.  “Well, Honey, you are not only a spear maiden; you make them, carry them, AND throw them!” I told him, “You forget I catch them, too.” He proudly reminded me that his meant “Leader of people.”  I asked him, “So explain why you couldn’t find your way to the St.Louis airport when the man gave you explicit directions.”

I started a new diet Monday.  Boy, I’m glad Monday is over!!!

Some things I wonder about:  Do giraffes even know what farts smell like?  Are elephants ever light on their feet?  What does a mirror twin see when they look in the mirror----themselves or their sibling?  If coffee is a bean is it a veggie or legume?  Can an ant be an aunt?  In multiple births, do the others ever wonder if they were the one(s) unplanned?  SWIMS is the same upside down.  If I put a “T” where the “W” is in what, where, when, I’ll get the answer to each.  If you rip a hole in a net, are there fewer holes in it than there were before?  Why is the word for the “fear of long words”—hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliohpobia—so long?  Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside of the bottle or tube?  If a spoon was made of gold, will it still be called silverware?

No response is a response and it can be a powerful one, at that.  Sometimes silence screams an answer.  Class is when you have a lot to say but you choose to remain silent in front of fools.

A while back I had a panic attack.  Those things are discerning, to say the least.  I quickly grabbed a brown paper bag and put it over my mouth.  The bottle of rum inside it surely did help.  I felt fine after that.

Whether you know it or not, you use quotes from Will Shakespeare more often than you think.  Here are some examples: It’s Greek to me!  Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark.  I have not slept one wink;  too much of a good thing;  neither rhyme nor reason;  wild-goose chase;  break the ice;  hoodwink ; and of course, “To be or not to be, that is the question” Is often quoted.

Brenduhh came over excited to tell me something.  “Trudy, I’ve driven by the same possum lying by the side of the road for three days and it is still in the dead position.  It surely is doing a good job playing dead.”  “Your knowledge of animal behavior just knocks me over, Miss Brenduhh,” I said with baited breath.

Becoming 76, as I told my doctor, has been an eye-opener.  I don’t think as most 76 year old people do, I don’t act as most 76 people do, and I don’t feel like some 76 year old people do.  In fact, my mind still thinks I’m 30, but my body thinks my mind is an idiot and provides the evidence when I’ve done too much.

I’m going to present some sensitive information here which was sent to me by a friend who knows I like to know where words and gestures originated.  If you’d prefer not to read it, please have a great May, and I’ll talk to you in June.

The insulting extension of the middle finger is referred to as digitus impudicus in Latin.  There is an article giving the “HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE FINGER” (that’s the title of it to Google should you want to read it) which I looked up and found to be false.  The account, though, is humorous.  I did learn a new word group:  labiodental fricative Labiodental sound: A sound that requires the involvement of the teeth and lips, such as "v," which involves the upper teeth and lower lip.  Fricative, in phonetics, a consonant sound, such as English f or v, produced by bringing the mouth into position to block the passage of the air stream, but not making complete closure, so that air moving through the mouth generates audible friction.

Now that all this explanation is about as clear as strong coffee, just read the false account and have a chuckle.  You could, also, use it as a conversation starter or startle.  I’d choose the latter.

A fun words:  morgenmuffel-----a person who is grumpy in the mornings and doesn’t like to wake up early.  Snicklefritz -----a Pennsylvania Dutch term of affection usually for young mischievous or talkative children.  (My sweet mother called me this.  I had no idea there was a meaning to it.)

On April 12, my red VW Bug was rear-ended by a drunken fool driving a big Ford truck.  My poor Bug was totaled.  I was given a motorist’s report to fill out, describe what happened, and insurance information for the state and my insurance company.  I did as required with the English composition teacher kicking in.  My daughter read my account of what happened.  She said, “Gods Mom, all they want is facts, not a novel!”  I became Joe Friday and gave just the facts.