Rain, rain go away...

 If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?

Pilgrims!!!

This is a favorite joke of many second graders I have known.  It seems appropriate today.  Everyone knows that April brings rain. However, with all the rain, wind, thunder, lightening and more rain that we have had today, I'm pretty sure Mother Nature is trying to get all of her April showers over with in one fell swoop.  Does this mean that the rest of April will be sunny and warm?  Maybe????

After I wrote the above paragraph I started to wonder what is a 'fell swoop' anyway?  And where did the phrase come from?  A little research gave me the answer.

Blame it on Shakespeare, who else?  When Shakespeare's wrote "Macbeth" 'fell' meant cruel and he compared the sudden murder of Macduff's wife and children to a hawk swooping down on its prey. One fell swoop.  Now it is used to mean suddenly, or all at the same time, but not necessarily in a bad way.  So now you know.  

Coincidentally, my west coast brother had informed me, earlier today, that today is "International Fact Checking Day" which I did before I wrote the previous paragraph.  He also shared that it is "Global Day of the Engineer."  This pleased my wonder spouse who is an Electrical Engineer.  He thinks it is fitting that engineers get a "Global" day rather than a mere "National" day.  I don't begrudge him his special day, especially since I, who am not an engineer, won our Scrabble game this evening by 100 points, an all time record.  Not exactly one fell swoop, but a victory worth mentioning all the same.   

good salesmanship...

 This evening my spouse and I were watching a show on the History channel about South and Central American pyramids, and that reminded me of an experience I had on my first ever Caribbean cruise about sixteen years ago.  Coincidentally, I had recently come across the paperwork that came with my jade cross that I purchased on that cruise.  As you might expect, on a western Caribbean cruise, we stopped at many costal cities in Cancun, Belize and other countries but the place I remember most fondly is Guatemala.  The contrast between that and other places we called on was amazing.  In most places we were almost overwhelmed with vendors trying to get us to buy their wares as soon as we set foot on land.  I was traveling with two girlfriends and between us we certainly bought enough to help support the local economies, but the shopping was not always pleasant.  Guatemala was different.  No harassment as soon as we stepped off the ship.  We were simply put on a bus and taken to the site of a very impressive Mayan pyramid.  I'm sorry that I don't remember the name of it.  Also at that site was an archaeological museum and jade factory and, of course, a lovely display of jade sculptures and jewelry for sale.  No pressure at all, simply availability.  I enjoyed looking and bought one simple piece that I knew I would wear.  What a pleasure and the reason I will always remember Guatemala with great fondness.  

A little side story.  I was wearing the cross one day when I was substitute teaching at a Catholic elementary school.  One of the students commented on the necklace and I said that I had gotten it in Guatemala.  Another student then said "My father is from Guatemala."  When I told her how much I liked it there she just smiled and smiled and said she would tell her father.

My little jade cross, one and one half inches tall.

A yarn about yarn...

 Most Mondays from 3 to 5pm a group of ladies gather in a large room on the third floor of our church's classroom wing to enjoy FFF (Faith, Fiber and Fellowship).  We each work on our own projects.  Mine is weaving or stitching, others do beautiful crochet and knitting projects.  Some items are for personal use, others are donated, usually to be given as prayer shawls for those who are sick or grieving.  Needless to say, where there is yarn work, excess yarn accumulates and accumulates and accumulates some more.  Today we were tasked with the job of cleaning out the years of accumulated yarn (not all ours) from a large storage room across the hall from our meeting room.  Our head custodian is feeling the need for more storage space.  I hate to tell him, but when the yarn is gone, it will just fill up with other stuff.  You know this happens at home, and just as surely at church.  So ten of us gathered, pulled out all of the yarn from the storage space, took what we wanted for ourselves, friends and family members and sorted through the rest of the stash to decide what to donate, what else we wanted, and, alas, what should be thrown away.  I came away with a fairly large bag of yarn for my next few projects, a few things for my granddaughter and granddaughter-in-law and two large containers of stuff to donate to the Dove's Nest, one of my favorite local charities.  If none of this gets put to good use, i really won't care.  I did my bit to get it out of the church.  

old new tech....

 My west coast brother surprised me with a visit this evening.  Not in person.  I think he would have let me know if he was coming to visit from Spokane, but it was a pleasant surprise.  He Zoomed in to see us, and he brought my favorite sister-in-law along.  He has acquired some new equipment that allows him to Zoom from home.  He knows that I attend some meetings by Zoom so he tried it out on me.  First on my phone, which didn't go to well, then computer to computer which went smoothly. I'm very pleased that he decided to use me as his first experiment.  I can't initiate a Zoom meeting but I can, evidently, respond to anyone who Zooms me first and provides me with the necessary access numbers.  I suggested that my brother try to include more of his family sometime so he may try it on his second son's birthday next week.  It is kind of funny though how I reacted when I realized I was being seen as well as heard.  My first thought was "I look so colorless without lipstick" even as my brother was saying that my sister-in-law would join us as soon as she brushed her hair.  While Zooming is fun sometimes, I realized that I am not ready to be seen any time I'm on the phone.  Definitely not early in the morning.  Maybe I'm not as ready for high tech as I think I am, but it really was more fun than just talking on the phone. 

The great art show...

 Today my spouse and I drove to Columbus, Ohio to visit one of my granddaughters.  She is a senior at the Columbus College of Art and Design and we went to see her senior thesis exhibition.  Her theme for her show was "Happy Objects"  The show was a lovely exhibit of hanging mobiles, chandeliers and other pieces, all with a very cheerful, even playful motif. 

Here is a paragraph from her written thesis:  "Hanging mobiles and chandeliers are the main source of inspiration for forms in this show. I like to include as much variety as I can both visually and through the textures of materials used.  I like the contrast between soft yarns and hard metal, fragile crystals and sturdy chains.  Materials are collected over time as well as found, bought, upcycled, and gifted to me.  The color pallets are reminiscent of my childhood toy play sets, past favorite colors and some monochromatic studies."

Here are a few of my favorite pieces.  I hope you'll agree that they are happy objects.

tasty treats...

 My west coast brother has come through again.  According to his sources today is "National Something on a Stick Day."  Naturally, my thoughts turned to edible treats on sticks.  There are the obvious ones like popsicles, ice cream bars and corn dogs but there are more exotic ones like kabobs of all sorts.  If you consider toothpicks sticks, and I do, then almost any appetizer, like cheese cubes, pickles, olives and cream cheese and beef roll ups are things on sticks. 

When my children were very young, the first neighborhood we lived in had an ice cream truck coming through every day, usually in the morning.  They did not get treats every day but we did indulge occasionally.  I personally really like lime popsicles.  My neighbor across the street had twin girls, about three years old, and for a long time she had them convinced that it was just a music truck.  Very clever, I thought.  When we moved to our next neighborhood, the ice cream truck came most afternoons and we lived next door to a very nice older couple who didn't have any of their own grandkids handy so they treated ours on a regular basis (with permission of course). 

My wonder spouse has informed me that Zesto's (THE place for summer ice cream) is now open for the season.  I wonder if they serve anything on a stick?

sing a song...

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day."   He even provided me with an example 'You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd.'  Naturally, this made me curious so I looked up some more examples.  Here are a few I liked.

Grandma got Runover by a Reindeer (I've actually heard this one)

Wacky Tabaccy

Beer for My Horses

I Still Like Bologna 

One Bud Wiser

Fuzzy Wuzzy Ego

Where Have All the Average People Gone?

She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy

My Bucket's Got a Hole in It (I know this one also)

Flushed from the Bathroom of Your Heart

In case you're interested, you can Google any of these and listen to them all the way through.  

PS Today is also "International Whiskey Day."  A shot or three might help in your appreciation of  these gems.