Author: Margy

Wednesday What’s That?

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Weather in Arizona – usually temperatures are described as warm, warmer, hot, hotter, or real hot. So far this year, though, warmth hasn’t been a factor here at all. With that thought in mind, can you guess what these close-up photos are? The top photo is frost on the fabric top of a convertible. The middle photo is frozen rain drops on the shark fin antenna of the same car. The bottom photo is hail as it fell onto our patio table. I’m not complaining about our Arizona cloudy, cool, sometimes rainy weather though. Our home in Canada is just coming out of ‘Deep Freeze’ mode. Wind chills have been in the -40°C to -50°C range. Sure glad we’ve missed that…

Bird Quotations

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A wonderful bird is the pelican His bill will hold more than his belican. He can take in his beak Food enough for a week, But I’m damned if I see how the helican. – Dixon Lanier Merritt – Bluebirds have taught me a few things. First, the more you think you know, the more you have to learn. Second, never say never because they will fool you every time! Third, they have taught me to stop sweating details in my life and learn to enjoy the simple things. There are things far greater than ourselves out there, going on unnoticed right before our eyes. – Malinda Matsuko, Bluebirder, 2005 – Despite their having one wing trimmed, some ravens do in fact go absent without leave and others have had to be sacked. Raven George was dismissed for eating television aerials, and Raven Grog was last seen outside an East End pub. – The Ravens, Tower of London – Eagles may soar in the clouds, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines. – Jason …

Saying Goodbye to The Fisherman

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I recently read the book “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematory” by Caitlin Doughty. It is a witty and thought provoking look at the history of caring for the dead and how the process has been sanitized by today’s funeral industry. The author explains the process of cremation in some detail – all very fascinating if you are interested in options to the ‘casket in the ground’ type of burial. The Car Guy’s dad, The Fisherman, passed away in October 2017. The Fisherman was cremated. It was a good choice because a number of events, including the weather, made it preferable for us to hold a burial service the following June. As the date for interment approached, our family discussed what kind of special box or urn we would use for the ashes. We decided that a wine bottle in a wood presentation box would be an excellent choice because The Fisherman had made his own wine for decades. The Car Guy filled one wine bottle with ashes for the cemetery. …

Death and Cemetery Quotations

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Funeral, Burial and Cemetery According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two! Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy. – Jerry Seinfeld – Amazing tradition. They throw a great party for you on the one day they know you can’t come. – Michael Gold (Jeff Goldblum), The Big Chill (1983) – Being president is like running a cemetery: you’ve got a lot of people under you and nobody’s listening. – William J. Clinton – Cemetery: (n) A marble orchard not to be taken for granite. – Author Unknown – Don’t carry me off in a brass-handled coffin With a wreath on my chest I won’t be ‘at rest’ There’s nothing much worse than a ride in a hearse To a hole in the ground with just strangers around No! bury me deep in the compost heap Or pop me right under a nice floribunda Its …

Differing Opinions, Honest Conversations

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Fannie Flagg’s book, ‘Standing in the Rainbow’, was published in 2002. One of the central characters is a politician who appealed to a similar electorate as President Trump did – people who felt powerless and voiceless. One of her characters spoke for marginalized older white men when he said: What bothered him and other men his age and older was that the things that they had been willing to die for were no longer appreciated. Everything he had believed in was now the butt of jokes made by a bunch of smarty-assed late night-TV so-called comedians making a salary you could support a small country with. All he heard was people saying how bad we were, how corrupt we had been, and how terrible white men were… He had never knowingly been mean or unfair to another human being in his life. Now it seems he was the oppressor, responsible for every bad thing that have ever happened in the history of the world. – Fannie Flagg, Standing in the Rainbow – While the postmodernist …

And That Ended The Card Game

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Hi again. My name is Ghost. I’m this blogger’s daughter’s dog. The last time I ‘blogged’, I was back in Puppy Classes again. I think they went rather well for my owners. I wasn’t as impressed, because apparently I am going to have to get used to ‘coming when I’m called’ and all sorts of other infringements on my love of absolute freedom. Freedom to do what I want. Case in point is this ‘incident’ from before puppy classes. I had a sleep-over at the aunt’s house. The whole family was playing cards on this flat topped piece of wood (that looked like the floor).  They called it a ‘table’, but I didn’t have one of those at my house yet, so how was I to know that it was off limits to me!? Anyway, I thought it would be okay if I joined the card game, so with a speed that surprised even me, I unlocked, launched and landed right onto the middle of the table. Then I settled down to wait for whatever …

Dog Quotations

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A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down. – Robert Benchley – A well-trained dog will make no attempt to share your lunch. He will just make you feel so guilty that you cannot enjoy it. – Helen Thomson – By and large, people who enjoy teaching animals to roll over will find themselves happier with a dog. – Barbara Holland – Does the name Pavlov ring a bell? – Author Unknown – Dog – a kind of additional or subsidiary Deity designed to catch the overflow and surplus of the world’s worship. – Ambrose Bierce – Dogs remember faces, cats places. – Author Unknown – Dogs teach us a very important lesson in life: The mail man is not to be trusted. – Sian Ford – Every boy who has a dog should also have a mother, so the dog can be fed regularly. – Anonymous – From the dog’s point of view, his master is an elongated and abnormally cunning dog. – Mabel Louise Robinson …

Moon and Venus Sunrise

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Morning is wonderful. Its only drawback is that it comes at such an inconvenient time of day. – Glen Cook, Sweet Silver Blues – Early morning cheerfulness can be extremely obnoxious. – William Feather – It sounds plausible enough tonight, but wait until tomorrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.” – H.G. Wells, The Time Machine – I get up early and go to bed early. The Car Guy gets up late and goes to bed late. That gives each of us a 2-3 hour bit of solitude. As Martha Stewart would say, “It’s a good thing.” Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Chocolate Quotations

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After about 20 years of marriage, I’m finally starting to scratch the surface of what women want. And I think the answer lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate. – Mel Gibson – Among life’s mysteries is how a two-pound box of chocolate can make a person gain five pounds. – Unknown – As with most fine things, chocolate has its season. There is a simple memory aid that you can use to determine whether it is the correct time to order chocolate dishes: any month whose name contains the letter A, E, or U is the proper time for chocolate. – Sandra Boynton, Chocolate: The Consuming Passion – Because I am an awesome parent, I’m currently helping my kids search for their chocolate that I ate last night. – Author Unknown – Carob works on the principle that, when mixed with the right combination of fats and sugar, it can duplicate chocolate in color and texture. Of course, the same can be said of dirt. – Sandra Boynton – Chocolate: Here today …. Gone today! …