💚☘ 2025 March FROM MY PERSPECTIVE

The third month of the year usually comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.  Of course that is the prediction, but it can be just the opposite.  Those born in March are usually conceived in June, which is the month of a lot of marriages and honeymoons.  “Madder than a March hare” comes from an old English idiom which refers to the wild, erratic behavior of hares and rabbits during their breeding season, usually in the month of March.  My birthday is in this month.  

Superman has super vision.  I need supervision.  Spelling and grammar are important, y’all.

I was raised in the South.  I learned to cook mostly while in the South as I watched my mother and grandmother fix the deliciousnesses of the day.  Grandmother would fix butter beans; mother fixed lima beans.  They looked different, tasted a bit different, and were cooked differently.  What a surprise to me when I found out they were the same bean, but just at different stages of maturity.   I equate the two to human stages of development.  The lima bean is youth---strong and resilient.  The butter bean is an older adult---a bit softer and more vulnerable, but can hold its own surrounded by the broth, ham pieces, and cornbread of life.

As I approached the little house with the red front door, sitting in her favorite rocking chair on the porch was my dear, wise friend Aint Daisy.  She was watching some squirrels “rassle”, as she calls it, under the big oak tree.  She smiled as she saw me and called for me to “come on up he-ahh, chile.”  I sat down beside her.  She reached out her cool, slender, wrinkled hand and gave mine a squeeze.  “How are ye, t’day, sweet thang?  I been watchin’ those critters rassling with each other for nigh on an hour.  I’d think they’d get tarred o’ all that business,” she said.  It was that time of the year animals sought out a mate and these two evidently had found each other.  “Aint Daisy, I have a bit of a dilemma, and I want to know what you think about what I should do,” I mentioned to her.  I told her of what I was dealing with and the conundrum of choice I had.  She sat listening intently, smoothed her neck-to-knees, flowered apron, and spoke.  “Whall, as I see it, they both have rewards an' consequences.  Ye either quit an’ do nothing, or ye move on a-head and do som’tin.  Yer gonna have t’ live with yer decision fer a long time.  Sos, yer choice needs t’ be wise and fits ye the best.  Don’t make yer decision real quick.  Ye need to think ‘bout both choices an’ sort out th’ twigs an' briars.  Ye know iff’n ye rush the bread dough, the bread ain’t a gonna turn out as good as iff’n ye’d let it set a while.”  Her analogies were not related to each other, but made a lot of sense.  (Of course they made sense; they were coming from Aint Daisy!)  We talked some more, and as we talked I was able to sort out all the “twigs and briars” of the choices I had with the help from The Lady of the Holler.

There is a fallacy about trauma, I believe.  Some have told it makes people stronger.  Well, maybe it does, BUT are those who believe that, aware of what it really does?  It damages the nervous system.  It hijacks the digestive track.  It keeps the person on a constant loop of hyper vigilance.  It keeps the “ghost” of the cause and ordeal ever present in the memory.  I’ve been there and am reminded every day of what happened; so, I know what I’ve mentioned is true.

A friend of mine came over in a mixed-feeling attitude.  She was so irritated and happy due to someone had been quite rude to her.  I knew why she was irritated, but questioned her why she was happy.  She said, “After they got that smarty smirk on their face of thinking they’d succeeded in insulting me, I said, ‘I’ve been called worse by those better than you.’  As I walked away, I knew that come-back had made them mad.”

“If they left your life and you gained peace, you didn’t lose, you won!”

FYI:  The longest alphabet is the Cambodian with 74 letters.  Antarctica is actually a desert.  Dogs’ nose prints are as unique as human finger prints. A hippo's jaw opens wide enough to fit a sports car inside.  A group of flamingos is called “a flamboyance” (imagine that!).  The color blue attracts mosquitoes two times faster than any other color (you’ll be the ‘blue plate special’).  Sloths are so slow with everything they do; even their digestion is slow.  This creates gas, but they can’t fart.  So, the gas is reabsorbed into the blood stream and is respired out of the lungs into the breath.  That gives morning breath a whole different perspective! Sloths move so slowly that mold grows on their fur. 

My husband was the best straight man to my sense of humor and shtick.  Here is an example:  I was sitting in my chair thinking about a lot of things.  Guy said, “A penny for your thoughts.”  I didn’t answer, so he said, “O.K., how about could I buy one and get one free, or are you going to give me some witty answer?”  I asked, “If I tell you something witty on your “buy one get one free” deal, then you’ll call me a half wit.”  “Oh please give me a break,” he moaned.  I told him, “It’s a good thing I’m not knitting.  Then you’d call me a knit wit.”  He told me to go away; can you imagine that?

Brenduhh told me she went to the eye doctor to get contact lenses.  The technician told her there was a tiny black dot on the top of the right one so she wouldn’t get them mixed up and put them in wrong.  A week went by and she seemed to be having some trouble with them.  She went in to have them be checked.  The technician looked them over, inserted them into Brenduhh’s eyes and asked her if it was better.  Brenduhh was thrilled, but couldn’t figure out why they were fine at the office, but not at home.  She said, “I think I was wearing them up side down.”  She said the technician rolled her eyes.  “I guess she was looking for her contact lenses, Trudy.”

There is only one country which can be spelled using only one row of keys on the typing keyboard----PERU.  There is only one state which can be spelled using only one row of keys on the typing keyboard---ALASKA.  You’re welcome.

I saw this and thought it would be nice to share:  “When a flashlight grows dim or quits working, you don’t throw it away, your change the batteries.  When a person messes up and finds themselves in a dark place, do you cast them aside?  Of course not, you help them change their “batteries”!  Some need AA…attention and affection; some need AAA…attention, affection and acceptance; some need C…compassion; some need D…direction.  And, if they still don’t seem to shine, simply sit with them quietly and share your light.”

You shine brighter when you light another’s “candle” with your own.  You can’t brighten your shine by messing up another’s.  These sayings are a segue to what my Daddy instilled in me.  When I was invited to work in a managerial position, I told Daddy.  He had an illustrious career with a major corporation in a managing position and in sales.  He listened, smiled and said he was proud of my accomplishment.  There was a pause, then he said, “Babe, you’ll have times you’ll have to step on someone’s toes.  A good manager will have to do that, but they won’t mess up the person’s shine.”  He was very wise; I was very blessed to have him as my Daddy.

I was told I was a bitter woman because I brought to light the apparent lack of actions of a school district, which is close to me, to ensure a safer crossing of the students who have to cross a very busy 4-lane highway which has a light and ONE crossing guard. I was told, "The crossing guard is very devoted to the safety of the children crossing." Hmmm, no matter how much devotion ONE crossing guard has to protecting the children, they are no match to a two-ton, or more, vehicle going faster than they are walking. I mentioned my doubt that the administration and board of education of that school district were as concerned as others about having more guards and even law enforcement at the crossing for 30 minutes in the mornings and 30 minutes at dismissal. This idea had been presented to the administration and board. Nothing has been done. This idealist told me the school was not responsible for the safety of the children crossing this major highway; it was the drivers of the vehicles responsibility. I think the ivory tower this idealist lives in is fully furnished. And, I think the administration and board of education of this school district forget that if the students were all gone there would be no reason for them to have the positions they do. So, is it going to take a child or children to get seriously hurt or killed before they do more to protect the children?

Always, Trudy J