🎄🎅🤶
There are 24 more days for a lot of us; 18 for others; and
25 for some. Those are the number of
days until Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanzaa.
Each of us will celebrate these special events in our own way. Whichever you do, may you receive the
blessings of that celebration and a deeper meaning of it.
I went over to Aint Daisy’s house shortly after she’d gotten
home from a little trip. She was upset,
which upset me, too. “Oh Aint Daisy,
what is the problem?” I gently asked as I sat down in the rocker beside hers. “Someone broke into my house, went through my
things, and took some special things to me.
They weren’t valuable except to me and the memories I had of them. What’s really upsetting me is I know the
young’un who took ‘em.” “Oh no!!! What are you going to do? Are you going to call the police, or scold
the person, or talk to their folks?” I inquired. She just sat rocking in her favorite chair
with some tears in her eyes. “Chile, I
know they have a conscience; I taught ‘em in Sunday school. When one knows they done another wrong, and
they know YOU know they done you wrong, your souls are disturbed, hurt, and
very disappointed. That’s why when they
have a conscience they cain’t look you in the eye anymore, especially when
you’re nice to ‘em. No amount of my
scolding will make ‘em feel as bad about doing a trusted one wrong as the look
they’ll get and the niceness they’re gonna be a-gettin’. They’ll carry all that with ‘em 24/7. Mark my words, chile. So, I’ll be nice to ‘em and forgive ‘em
‘acause the good book tells ya to do that, but I won’t trust ‘em ever again,
and they’ll know THAT.” She quietly
rocked more and slowly shook her head. I
hurt for the Lady of the Holler, but even in her despair, she was speaking
words of wisdom.
I’ve been thinking of involved/fancy ways to say simple
things. Here are some I’ve thought: Using a schematic pattern, I laid it on a flat plane of
interwoven fibers and incised the design.
(I cut out a garment to sew.) Encouraged
and involved multiple levels of achievement individuals in a thermodynamic
setting of cleaning, sanitizing, and organizing performance of ceramic and
metal objects. (Told my kids to wash,
rinse, dry, and put away the dishes) Restored and improved molecular
structures of worn, woven materials. (I washed some clothes.) Removed freshly deposited, unsafe frozen
liquid particles from solid traffic surfaces using ergo dynamically designed
tools. (Shoveled snow and ice on
the walk.) Referring to my
dissectology skills, I engineered, erected, and assembled a level plane of
irregular pieces into one. (I put a
puzzle together.) Using reflective
and illumination devices, I observed chevelure strands on a spherical shape. (I looked at my hair in the lighted
bathroom mirror.) Removed and
sanitized hard surfaces of epithelial debris and waste flushing with thermally
charged hydrogen and oxygen solutions and sodium salt of hypochlorous acid. (I cleaned the bathroom using hot water and
bleach.) I chose not to arrange,
assemble, and distribute multiple fibers into a flat, organized, dimensional
plane on a reclining surface. (I
didn’t make my bed.)
It has been determined that one can tell a lot about a
person’s hands. For example: if they are wrapped around another’s throat,
someone is very upset; if they have a death grip on a delicious food product,
some one is hungry and won’t share; if the fingers are all lined up tightly
together and the hand is moving quickly toward a rear body part of a child,
said child is going to get a swat on their butt. Now, if the hand is on an animal with very
long claws, y’all just better not bother that animal---shredding is one of
their gifts.
I find it interesting that “MONKEY POX” is being changed to
another name because part of it is considered derogatory. The monkeys are
probably complaining. Well, what about
“CHICKEN POX”? You don’t hear the
chickens complaining.
Do you know what the duct tape of food is? It is bacon!!! You can wrap it around anything, even
asparagus and Brussels sprouts, and the whole thing will taste good. Raw cauliflower, raw broccoli, and greens are
natural roto-rooters. And then there is
peanut butter----------the glue which holds children and adults, who are kids
at heart, together. You’re welcome!
The Christmas tree----have you ever thought about its shape
in relationship to the meaning of this celebration? It is triangularly shaped, with usually a
star at the top. Each point represents
the trinity: Father, Son and Holy
Ghost. We decorate it to draw attention
to it---really subconsciously drawing attention to the trinity. The lights light the way, just as the trinity
lights our way to Heaven. Have you ever
noticed how your eyes travel from the bottom to the top as you gaze at the
beauty of your tree? Don’t your eyes
travel up when you are talking to The Master in Heaven? I remember the trees Mother and Daddy had at
Christmas. Each one was carefully
selected, brought into the house, set up, and let to stand for a day to
“relax”. The decorations were beautiful
with many acquired over the years. Some
were new, some hand-made by Mother (how beautiful they were), and the rest had
been used before. Each one had a special
meaning, a special memory tucked away in a heart to be thought about then and
later. The lights were simple, just the
usual colored bulbs that stayed on until someone unplugged them. Now there are the fancy kinds that twinkle or
flash. They are nice, but the old ones
were warmer and more inviting. I
remember the year we got the artificial tree.
I wasn’t real thrilled about it and voiced my opinion. The rationale of, “The needles won’t fall
off; we can have it up longer and it won’t dry out; the real ones are getting
too expensive” and so on. The smell of
the real one is what I missed the most.
No “fragrance in a can” can take the place of the smell of a real
Christmas tree. So, I take the memories,
which are all tucked away in my heart, to be thought about at a later time.
I stopped by to see Aint Daisy. She was in the front room in her rocking
chair admiring her Christmas tree. It
was lit with tiny, sparkling lights, red and green ornaments, and a few candy
canes hanging from the limbs. “Oh,
that’s a pretty tree, Aint Daisy,” I said.
“Thank you, honey. I think so
too. You’ll notice how the tree has
sparklin’ lights. Those are the stars in
Heaven. The red ornaments represent the
blood Jesus shed for our sins, and the green ones represent the earth. The candy canes are symbols of a shepherd’s
hook so the shepherd can reach out and help one of his flock which may have
wandered. The tree is a triangle---the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” “I never thought
of what all that represented, especially the tree. When I see a “Christmas” tree from now on,
I’ll remember what you told me,” I said in awe of all her knowledge, our precious Lady
of the Holler.
LONGEST WORD IN SHAKESPEARE’S
PLAYS: “HONORIFICABILITUDINITATIBUS”
(LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST) I never
chose this play of Will’s for my English classes to read. I figured they speak in 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
lettered words few of which are polysyllabic.
So, how could they possibly say one with 27 letters and extremely polysyllabic? When I put my favorite words on the board ----pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis
(A miners’ lung disease caused by the inhalation of silicate or quartz
dust) floccinaucinihilipilification
(the categorizing of something as worthless or trivial), and hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian (pertaining
to a very long word)--a few of them fainted.
Those words have 45, 29, and 30 letters respectively.
Didja know that peanuts are part of the ingredients of
dynamite? Didja know nitro glycerin
comes in jelly form? Here are some more tidbits: drinking 2 glasses of GATORADE can relieve
headache pain. So can going
shopping. COLGATE toothpaste makes an
excellent salve for burns. Got a stuffy
head? Try chewing on a few of the
curiously strong ALTOIDS peppermints. No
mysterious chemicals to inhale. Homemade chicken soup really is good for
the soul and a cold. It has enzymes in
it which help break up the stuffiness of your nose and soothes your sore
throat.
What’s the difference
between a Northern fairytale and a Southern fairytale? A Northern fairytale begins, “Once upon a
time.” A Southern fairytale begins,
“Y’all ain’t gonna believe this.”
My family had gathered to discuss and draw names of gift recipients. Sometimes we say what we’d like to receive or not receive. At my age, there isn’t much I really need or want. So, I mentioned I’d like a homemade cherry pie complete with homemade crust. I saw a twinkle in my daughter’s eyes. “I know what you’re thinking, Missy. I do NOT want an IKEA pie; I know you people!!!” My other daughter asked what that was. I told her, “It is when someone gives you a can of cherries and a pie crust. Then YOU have to put it together and bake it.”
Until next time, it’s been a grand time to spend time with you. Trudy 💓
