👻👻 2021 October FROM MY PERSPECTIVE 👻👻

It’s October already so that means it’s Happy Hallowgivingstmas.  In September the stores started putting out the holiday “stuff”.  I say, “stuff” because it is not just one thing, it’s so much.  I think a card should be made which says, “Happy Hallowgivingstmas-kkah-zaa”.  It would cover Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa all at once.  Of course, spell check would go nutz and keep trying to auto-correct it leaving the printer person almost exhausted because they’d be running back and forth re-correcting the auto-correct.

I saw some real life teen moment cards the other day.  They were so true when I had my teens.  Here is what I experienced:  “Open the fridge door, look in to find what you want; leave the door open and walk away.”  “Remove socks in a rolled ball on the family room floor along with your shoes.  Walk away and leave for days.”  “Fill your coffee cup, drink some, let it cool, set it down, forget where you left it, but know the cat will find it.”  “When the ice cube tray is empty return to freezer---empty.”  “When the trash is full, practice the physics law of tilt and fall you learned in school----when the container is full, add more trash, and then some more.”  “Leave a tablespoonful of milk in the carton---return it to the fridge.”  “At 5 minutes of needing to be in attendance at an important meeting 10 miles away, announce you HAVE TO BE THERE on time or you’ll be penalized.”  “When washing your clothes, forget about separating the darks and whites, put them all in together.  Grey is a universal color!”  “Leave the hall light on, which shines in your sleeping mother’s eyes, when you get home at 1:00 in the morning.”  “Leave every light on in the house while your parents are gone as you find what you were looking for; then, leave for your date.”  “Use dishwashing liquid soap in the dishwasher because there is no more dishwasher liquid compound.  Turn on, watch the bubbles spill out of the dishwasher; yell for Mom.”  “Eat the 2 pounds of left over meat loaf for a snack.  When Mom complains that it was going to be for supper---ask her if she wants it back.  Listen to her laugh.”  “Decorate your step-father’s favorite boxer underpants with lace and sequins.  Wear them over your biking pants in front of him.  Listen to him laugh.”  I’m sure some of you can add to this list.  PLEASE share with me, if you’d like.  You might see it in another column.

Looking through some fun English books, I found a paragraph written which had no “E” in any word used.  I enjoy these kinds of challenges and devised one of my own.  “Peter Piper thought he’d picked one peck of pickled peppers.  However, he could not do the chore due to pickled peppers get processed in the home on the stove, not in the outdoors’ veggie beds.  Pickled peppers don’t grow pickled.”  This is the one I wrote leaving out the letter “A”.  It took a while to choose the correct words for understanding of the known tongue twister, which is actually alliteration.  But, that’s a whole other English lesson for another time.

She was sitting in her favorite rocking chair on the porch slowly rocking, holding a worn, black book trimmed in gold.  I knew it was her Bible.  She had a look on her face of contentment and a bit of irritation.  “What are you thinking, Aint Daisy?” I asked as I approached sitting down in the other rocker. I watched her eyes.  I can always tell when she is thinking and remembering.  “Oh, I’m jes’ thinkin’ about what a young feller said a while ago when he visited me talkin’ like he knew so much.  He told me, ‘Not everything you read in the Bible is true, ya know, Mz. Daisy.  Some of that is just tall tales,’ he went on.”  I could tell just remembering what he said was irritating her more.  “You know chile, I’ve lived a long time, gone through a lot, and watched more than most people have, especially that young feller.  The longer I live and watch this world, the more I believe the words written in red---Jesus said those---and believe even stronger what is written is true.”  “I’m sure what that fella said irritated you a lot.  Did you say anything to him that he would remember?” I asked her.  “Yep.  I let him go on about his thinkin’ some of what is written is tall tales, and that maybe some is not true.  Then, when I knew he was finished, and he asked me, ‘So, what do you think, Mz. Daisy?’  I jes’ looked him the eyes, patted my Bible and asked, ‘How do you know it hain’t true?”  More wisdom from the Lady of the Holler.

I remember when CRAYOLA came out with their 64-count with sharpener box of crayons.  I was thrilled when my mother bought me that box.  I was so careful to hold the crayon carefully so it would not break.  I didn’t share them, either.  The teacher sort of scolded me for that, but when I told her she could buy my next box if any got broken by another, emphatically using “MY CRAYONS”, she left me alone.  Mother and Daddy got a phone call, though.  CRAYOLA came out with the 120-count box.  I just about lost my mind as I danced in the aisle, holding the box to my heart, yelling, “Oh yes, oh yes”, and smelling the box.  The manager came to aisle 7 and asked me to purchase the box and move on out to my vehicle.  Yep, it was two days ago.  I’m not sharing, either.  “Crayon” in French means---pencil.  What we call a crayon in English would be referred to in French as une craie de cire, which literally means “wax pencil”.

QUEUEING is the only English word which has 5 vowels in a row.  It means: lining up. 

“Lying is done with words and also with silence.” Adrienne Rich, writer and teacher (1929- ) “A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with, the wind.” -John Neal, author and critic (25 Aug 1793-1876)  

I had gotten some yellow, grape tomatoes which were delicious, sweet, and just the right size to pop into one’s mouth.  I was telling my daughter, Della, about them and offered to give her some.  She looked at me and said, “Mom, what’s the last word in that offer?  It’s ‘tomatoes’, and you know I don’t like them.”  I continued to defend the lowly fruit/veggie saying how sweet they were, so easy to store, pop-in-your-mouth convenient, etc.  She said, “Mom, you are sounding like a TOMATO-TORNEY, a defender of tomatoes.  In fact, with your position of power about these balls of alleged goodness, I’m giving you a position of ‘Power of Tomato-torney’ and what you can do with them.”  The girl is writing her own dictionary, folks.

Peace, smiles, and kind thoughts to you-----------Trudy

 

 

 

                          🍎🍏  2021 September FROM MY PERSPECTIVE

 

I have a favorite blouse which has ¾ sleeves.  The cuffs on the sleeves are torn and worn; well, so is the shirt.  I didn’t really want to throw it away because there was still some good use from it.  So, I decided to make an apron out of it.   I cut the sleeves off all but an inch; turned that and sewed it down around the arm holes.  Now I have a loved shirt to wear in the kitchen when my skills get messy.

I walked up onto the porch to have a little visit with Aint Daisy.  I could tell she was a bit upset.  I asked permission to sit with her; it was granted.  (I was taught to ask permission to sit with someone when they are noticeably upset because they might want to be alone.)  I asked her what was troubling her.  She replied with heaviness in her voice, “Oh honey, that neighbor across the way has two little fellas who are always ‘busy’ with adventure.  She yells at ‘em, scolds ‘em, calls ‘em names, and just doesn’t seem to care who hears her.  The little ones just keep on being ‘busy’ with their adventures and that makes her even madder.  I can’t help but hear every word she says in anger to ‘em.  What she doesn’t realize is this old saying is so true, ‘Words that soak into your ears are whispered…not yelled.’  That’s why they keep on bein’ ‘busy with adventures’.  They hear her, but they’re not listening.”  ‘Another gem of wisdom from the lady of the holler.

When I awaken in the mornings I say, “Thank you.”  Before I go to sleep, I say, “Thank you.”  I do this out of gratitude for giving me another day and a night’s sleep and for the day I was given, no matter what happened.

One of mine was grumpy about all homework they had.  I tried to soothe them by telling them, “The way you eat a steak is one bite at a time.  So it is with all your homework---one subject at a time.”  They were quiet for a moment, and then blurted, “I’m so dang tired of learning!  I know enough!!”  Well, that was a 14 year old versus an over 48 year old mother.  I quietly responded with, “Write this down and read it when you feel like it: Proverbs 19:20 and 27.”  I knew those two verses would give them something to think about.

Have you ever noticed that all instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth?   Well, that’s a great big “Hmmmmmm”.

Brenduhh stopped by.  We had some sweet tea and chatted.  She was puzzled and asked, “Trudy, I have 3 sisters, but when I told my brother, Duhlan, he said, ‘That’s nothin’; I have four sisters.’  I can’t figure it out; we have the same parents and were raised in the same house.  Do you know the answer to why he has four sisters and I only have three?”  I could not look her in the eye and tell her the answer, nor could my head stop slowly shaking.

Most of you know I like words.  I found some words which end in “nym”.   I subscribe to a website, DAILY WRITING TIPS, which is all about words.  Here is some of what was sent to me:  ethnonym:   The name of an ethnic group, tribe, or people. The residents of the United States are called Americans. Other ethnonyms used by Americans include African-American, Black, Indian, Native American, and Asian-American. A similar term, demonym, is a term that refers to the inhabitants of a place. For example, Chicagoans, Londoners, Mancunians (inhabitants of Manchester, England).  Toponym:   The name of a place. Because the Romans occupied Britain for three and a half centuries, many British place names derive from Latin words. For example, the Romans called their camps castra, a word that developed into the suffix chester/cester, giving modern Manchester, Winchester, and Cirencester.  Paronym:  This word has three definitions:  1. a word having the same root as another: child/childish.   2.a word that translates into another language with only minor changes or no change at all: Schadenfreude (Schaud-in-froi-duh) which means, pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune.  The English word is: ““epicaricacy”  3. a word similar in sound or appearance to another: affect/effect.  Tautonym:  A repetitious taxonomic term.  In the binomial Linnaean system of classification, plants and animals are identified as to genus, and species. For example, the domestic cat is Felis catus; the domestic dog is Canis lupus, and the sheep is Ovis aries.   When the words for genus and species are the same, the resulting binomial name is considered to be a tautonym. The following binomials are tautonyms:  gorilla—Gorilla gorilla; wolverine—Gulo gulo; red fox—Vulpes vulpes; moose—Alces alces

This word just appeared to me from another website, Word.A.Day.  How appropriate as I just finished a large bowl of ice cream. akrasia PRONUNCIATION: (uh-KRAY-zh/zhee-uh)  MEANING:  noun: The lack of will or self-control resulting in one acting against one’s better judgment.

Have you ever been manipulated and your reaction caused the person to get upset.  Well, here is a good definition of that.  MANIPULATION is when they blame you for your reaction to their disrespect.  Oh boy, can I ever relate to that, especially being a teacher and dealing with some people who think they know how I should teach their nasty offspring.  One mother wanted me to cancel, on her son, my referral to the dean for his disrespectful behavior.  I told her, “Since you weren’t there to hear and see the level of disrespect he was showing me, the referral remains as I wrote it.  You’re not doing your child any favors by trying to rescind the consequences of his words and actions.”  Since both deans and the liaison police officer were present, she didn’t have much to say about my response.

While driving to an appointment I saw a sewage disposal truck.  The sign on the back of it said, “We haul used groceries.”  I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Whether it is good or bad, what is done in the dark will eventually come to light.

My friend was told by a governmental agency to submit the paperwork needed for her reimbursement, as soon as possible.  After waiting for 2 months, she’s learned governmental agencies “do nothing very fast.”

“If good things lasted forever, would we appreciate how precious they are?”  Hobbes

Peace and smiles…….Trudy