Do You Have a Sense of Humor?!!

Oh...Unexpected entertainment happens when proof reading isn't done...or fails!
It started when the town newsletter arrived in the mail.  I read it and I was reminded that the water bill payment that has been riding above my car's visor needed to be turned in before Sept. 30th. As a part of reminders on the last page was:


Dog Control:  Please note that all dogs in the Town of "Ohhmmm" must be licensed.  Also note that there is a 'Lease Law' and an expectation for dog owners to pickup dog wastes.  Please refrain from feeding wild animals.  If you have any questions please call the Dog Control Officer.
A Lease Law??? Really??  At first I was going to call and say that I wanted to lease a dog, but then I decided I would go to the town hall and pay my water bill accompanied by my best bud "Gracie" ....dog extraordinaire!!  I put her on a leash, and off we went.
We walked up to the counter and I said,
"Do you have a sense of humor?"
"Sure...why?"
"Then I am here to pay my water bill, and sign my dog 'Gracie' up for the lease program!!"
We all laughed about the typo, and then I volunteered to be a proofreader for them 'free of charge' as I taught Reading/Language for 30 years.
Many years ago,  I had previously volunteered to proofread my school district's newsletter after the 'Back To School District Supply List' had a major typo that holds the world record for "OMG!!! Laughter Inducing Errors."
In the high school section listed under the "Computer Room Supplies", the students were asked to bring a five inch floppy dick to class.
Did you catch that?
While the person who was responsible for the error was horrified and upset, after a little time had elapsed we were able to convince her that it was not able to be changed and...the amount of laughter that had resulted was a kind of a possible positive effect.  Laughter is such fun!!
And my proofreading skills were welcomed with open arms.

Sing!

The older get...the smarter I get.  Actually, my perspective about many things has always been not necessarily in the 'norm'.  I am grateful that I can think for myself without trying to follow the mainstream patterns.  What am I talking about?
I sing. It is probably what most of my students remember and their parents, too. The song, "High Hopes" by Frank Sinatra was one that I easily referenced when kids thought they couldn't accomplish something.  I would play it for them from my CD of favorite tunes.  They would learn it and sometimes all I had to answer them with was...
"Just what makes that little old ant... think he can move that rubber tree plant?  Everyone knows an ant can't...move a rubber tree plant!!  But he has 'High Hopes!!"
Imagine my surprise when at my last assembly before retirement, with all of the kids from all three grades along with a bunch of their parents in attendance...heard the principal ask me to lead everyone in song one last time with "High Hopes".  I thought, 'Really?'
I agreed to lead it as long as my kids joined me in singing it along with anyone in the audience who knew it, too.
It was refreshing to hear how many were singing along.  There was safety in numbers, and the event was priceless.  It was a good time.
So, what exactly is my point?
Ask people to sing and they will tell you they can't sing.  To which I reply that everyone can sing...if the focus is not on whether they sound like a professional singer.  Singing is therapy and fun.
Have you ever sung along with Kate Smith belting out, "God Bless America" ?
Ask someone to draw or paint, and often they respond that it is not one of their strengths.  So??  
Why are there many people so hesitant to attempt to join in something because it won't be perfect...or good?  Media and/or culture has gotten the message out that we must be the same, wear the approved styles,  be the correct size,  etc., etc, etc
What do you think?  And ... do you sing?

Little 'Rituals'

When I was a kid, we occasionally got on The Garden State Parkway to go south to the Jersey Shore.  My Aunt Marie lived there before it became popular, and my Great Aunt Emma owned a house one block from the ocean.  As we travelled on the Parkway, we would go through a tunnel-like part of the road.  My father always 'beeped the horn' so that we could hear it echo. If he forgot, we would remind him.  To this day, more than 50 years later, whenever I go through that tunnel, the horn must echo for old time sake.  It is just a ritual.

This morning I visited a fellow retired teacher who lives very close to the school where we taught.  As I drove along the familiar path, I came to the farm on the corner where I would make a right turn. Twenty years ago, my good buddy Emily would be standing under the tree waiting for the school bus.  I would beep the horn, wave, and then see her in 5th grade 45 minutes later. I cannot drive by her house without beeping my horn...just because.  So, this morning as I passed her house, I honked the horn even though all four kids are grown and out of the family farm homestead.  Emily is now a nurse...and that is  wonderful!  Where does the time go?
So, do you have any little rituals that you continue to carry on...Share with us!

Funny What You Remember!

I have scheduled a new 'Smart Driving Class' in Oct after Columbus Day.  People have begun to call to register. To my latest call I said,
"I just need your name and phone number, and you can pay for the class on that first day."
"My name is Mrs. Smith..."
I told her that I was a retired teacher, and many years ago, I had a student named Bobby Smith in third grade  and then years later his son Mitchell in fifth grade.
"That's my son and grandson!"
"What a small world!  Ask Bobby if he remembers his desk toppling over and landing on his fingers." [That was in 1975!]
"I'm sure he does because I remember it.  I asked him after school that day how exactly a desk can fall on your fingers!"
"And years later, I taught Reading /Lang Arts to his son!!"
I asked her to please tell them both that I said hello, and,
"For that matter,  bring Bobby to the driving class with you!  He'll save money on his car insurance for three years."
It's funny how often I connect with my former students, and for the most part, each student evokes a memory.  As my son was growing up, when we would see a former student of mine, he would ask me,
"What's the story that goes with that kid, Mom?"
I recently ran into one of his classmates.  I asked him if he remembered winning a third grade 'times-table' contest with my son.  He didn't.
Oh! The things I remember!
And I am like rain woman with phone numbers, too!
Yet, why can't I remember today what I went into a room to get?!!  Go Figure!

Pass the Flowers!

Flowers are among my favorite things!  There are so any varieties, colors, shapes,  sizes, scents, habitats, textures, and unknown medicinal cures for diseases and ailments. I grow my own menagerie of summer flowers, but I support our local ' Farmer's Market' on a regular basis.  I purchase sunflowers, gladiolas, and lizianthis[sp?] which is otherwise known as 'the poor man's rose'.  I have passed them along to folks at the nursing home, neighbors, friends, and the annual retired teachers' party where you bring a dish to pass.  The glads are my dish to pass, along with the goofy phrase,
"Aren't you glad you are retired?"  [Get it?  I had to explain it to way too many folks!]
 Yesterday, I had to return some books to the public library.  I gathered up the last of this week's glads and sunflowers and bought them in to the circulation desk.  Let me just say that the level of excitement and the attention was amazing. 
Wow!  The power of flowers!
Pass some along to some unsuspecting people.  You probably have some in your garden.
It is a win/win project.
Share a good idea with us.

Gone Too Long

Well, it's time to return to writing. 
I've just got to do it.
I haven't even been around to others' blogs that I used to check on all the time.  I hope you are all well.
Fall is in the air.  It is my favorite season.
So, as I gather my thoughts, and begin to blog again...
Wish me luck...
In moving forward...
The direction I need to go.
God bless ya.