May Day

May Day

"first of May," mid-15c.. Accounts of merrymaking on this date are attested from mid-13c. Synonymous with "communist procession" from at least 1906. The May Queen seems to be a Victorian re-invented tradition.

mayday

"distress call," 1927, from Fr. m'aider, shortening of venez m'aider "come help me!" 

~ Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

May Day   n. May 1, observed in the United States, Canada, and parts of Western Europe in celebration of the coming of spring. May 1, observed as a holiday especially in socialist countries in honor of labor and labor organizations.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Today is May Day. As the definitions imply, the First Day of May can be observed and celebrated differently by different folk. I remember from elementary school the May Day Dance my class (kindergarten, was it?) did a round a pole (May Pole?). each of us holding the end of a large colored ribbon until the pole was decorated.

Thankfully, in the various roles I have played in my life, I have never had to broadcast mayday as a distress call.

My father was a union organizer. I have marched in a May Day parade or two in honor of the proletariat and labor organizations. If I had the energy and knew where one was, I'd march again today and maybe play and sign this song:

There is Power (written by Joe Hill)

Closer to home, on a very wet Churchill Downs track here in Louisville, Super Savor splashed to win the 136th Kentucky Derby while about 165,000 race fans packed the Downs to watch. I wasn't one of them.

Very close to home, 65 years ago this May 1st my mother, Katherine Hertle, married my father, Robert Lawrence Temple.

Happy anniversary, Mom; I wish that Dad were still with us.

Wednesday Mishmash & a Bawdy Song

So much has been happening so fast that I have a dozen posts mushing up my brain. To unmush my brain, I'm putting some mishmash here!

Mom's Birthday

My mother was 87-yesrs-old on March 1st. She is doing remarkably well. We talk at least once a day and I look forward to Spring when I hope to drive the 85 miles to visit her.

CPAP Mask

As I have previously written, I cannot sleep wearing my current CPAP mask. I obtained this one the last time I was hospitalized and never used it because I had a working mask. When that mask broke, I began using the full-face one from the hospital. There is something about coverning my nose and mouth that disturbs me. I do fall asleep, but within less than an hour I awaken in a panicked state and must immediately shed the mask. I gotta get that new mask!

Meals on Wheels

I'm also working on getting Meals on Wheels. My mother explained how easy it was for her to praticipate in the program in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Here is Louisville the program is much larger. And, guess what I have again learned? The bigger the community means a bigger program with a larger bureacracy and (many) more hoops through one must jump.

Have I Shared this Photo?

Sometimes I brush Alex's coat while we cuddle; sometimes, as above, Alex combs my beard with his claws.

Coffee House

I enjoyed creating last Wednesday's Coffee House; however, putting together such a post is  is quite a jib. So there isn't a coffee house today. Perhaps there will be one next Wednesday.

In the meantime remember to check out the Song in My Mind Today on the sidebar...

and enjoy the song embedded below (WARNING: Bawdy Song):

Mandy Lane ~ Chad Mitchell Trio

And remember:

Mark Twain

Too Bad It's Monday Jokes

On New Year's Eve, Marilyn stood up in the local pub and said that it was time to get ready. At the stroke of midnight, she wanted every husband to be standing next to the one person who made his life worth living.

Well, it was kind of embarrassing.  As the clock struck - the bartender was almost crushed to death.


"What are you doing?" she asked her husband as he stalked about the kitchen with a folded newspaper in his hand.

"Hunting Flies" He responded.

"Oh. Killing any?" She asked.

"Yep, 3 males, 2 Females," he replied.

Intrigued, she asked. "How can you tell them apart?"

He responded, "3 were on a beer can, 2 were on the phone."

An aged farmer and his wife were leaning against the edge of their pig-pen when the old woman wistfully recalled that the next week would mark their golden wedding anniversary.

"Let's have a party, Homer," she suggested. "Let's kill a pig."

The farmer scratched his grizzled head. "Gee, Ethel," he finally answered, "I don't see why the pig should take the blame for something that happened fifty years ago."

After New Year‘s Eve party, a drunken man decides to sleep off his drunkenness at a local hotel. He approaches the reception desk, takes care of the formalities and heads off to his suite.

Several minutes later, the drunk staggers back to the reception desk and demands his room be changed. "But sir," said the clerk, "you have the best room in the hotel."

"I insist on another room!!!" said the drunk.

"Very good, sir. I'll change you from 502 to 525. Would you mind telling me why you don't like 502?" asked the clerk.

"Well, for one thing," said the drunk, "it's on fire."

3 men all die on Christmas Day, and arrive at the pearly gates. Peter greets them and tells them that they are all evil men who SHOULD go to hell - but because it's Christmas, he'll let them into heaven if they have something representing the holiday with them.

One of the guys has a Christmas ornament, and gets let in. Another guy has pine needles on his shirt, and gets let in. The third guy pulls out a pair of women’s panties.

"How do those represent Christmas?" asks Peter.

"These are Carol's."

A blonde gets lost in her car in a snowstorm. She remembers her father's advice, "If you ever get stuck in a snowstorm, wait for a snow plow and follow it." Soon a snow plow comes by, and she follows it for about 45 minutes.

Finally, the driver of the truck gets out and asks her what she is doing. She explains the advice her father had given her. The driver says, "Well, I'm done with the parking lot here at the mall, now you can follow me over to the bank."

A woman's husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months, yet she had stayed by his bedside every single day.

One day, he motioned for her to come nearer. As she sat by him, he whispered, eyes full of tears,

"You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times. When I got fired, you were there to support me. When my business failed, you were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you stayed right here. When my health started failing, you were still by my side.........You know what?"

"What dear?" she gently asked, smiling as her heart began to fill with warmth.

"I think you bring me bad luck!"


After a trial had been going on for three days, Finley, the man accused of committing the crimes, stood up and approached the judge's bench. "Your Honor, I would like to change my plea from 'innocent' to 'guilty' of the charges."

The judge angrily banged his fist on the desk. "If you're guilty, why didn't you say so in the first place and save this court a lot of time and inconvenience?" he demanded.

Finley looked up wide-eyed and stated, "Well, when the trial started I thought I was innocent, but that was before I heard all the evidence against me."

KATZ

That's all, folks!

Have a happy, blessed, & safe New Year!

2009 Seasonal Mishmash

My mother and I had a long telephone conversation this afternoon. She remembered that she was 17 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Her "young adulthood" was taken up by World War II.

Memories of those days came back to her yesterday as she watched a television program that centered on many of the songs of that time. As music often does, the songs tapped many of Mom's memories, both happy and sad.

The video below is for my mother, even though she doesn't have a computer and probably will never see it.

The 3rd post to my newest blog, Nick's Pics, is up. This one is made up of photographs of me playing "cowboy" in my Uncle Frank's backyard.

Alex has a new post on his blog, Alexicon, with pictures of the furball and me watching what ALex calls pawz-ballz on TV:

Often pictures speak much louder than words. I believe that the work of editorial cartoonists may speak the loudest of all. Below are some that I have encountered that speak to me as they address this 2009 hoiliday season. For more editoral cartoons, my I suggest that your browse Daryl Cagle's site?

Happy Birthday, Mom

Today (March 1) is my mother's 86th birthday!

from your loving son

&

Alex, the cat who owns him

Super Sunday Stuff

Super February (my birth month)

And I've already received my first birthday card!

Super Good News

My mother’s electricity was restored at about 6:00 PM Saturday!

Super Sunday Weather Forecast

The high for today in Louisville is supposed to be about…

Good-bye ice!

Super Bowl Fans

I encountered a survey yesterday that asked the question Who will win the 2009 Super Bowl? After I entered my answer, I was shown the results of the survery:

I noticed something interesting: for the most part, fans in states west of the Mississippi River chose Arizona and states east of the Mississippi River chose Pittsburgh. Does this mean that, if there is another civil war in the United States, it won’t be between North and South but between East and West? I really need to consider this more deeply.

Super Scare

I was reading a book this morning when I heard a siren in the distance. As it got louder, I realized that whatever the emergency vehicle was, it was coming down my (still) snow covered street. The scare hit me when the sound of the siren didn’t recede, but simply stopped.

So I grabbed my cane, limped out on my (still) snow covered porch and saw this in the street in front of me.

I understand that there was a small fire inside the house a couple of doors from me. Thankfully, the firemen easily extinguished it and no one was seriously hurt. Whew!

Super Story Song

Corey’s Coming ~ Harry Chapin

Super Furball-Nosehose Insight

Yesterday I had an insight into why—never a question to ask a cat, I’ve learned—Alex hassles me to get up from whatever I’m doing when he seemingly wants nothing from me. Here’s the process of my enlightenment:

I am sitting in my desk chair seeking holes in my nosehose, marking them with a red Sharpie, and covering them with duct tape when the furball begins clawing at my robe.

I grab my cane, stand, ask Alex, “What do you want now?”, and following him into the kitchen where he jumps up on his table (it was once my table), and sits behind his dual food dish (one side is dry food, the other is moist with lots of gravy which is just about all the furball eats of it) that is still filled with food from the last time we did went through this maneuver about thirty minutes before.

Alex begins nibbling at his food and I turn to return to my chair. Suddenly I am stopped by something (someone) yanking on my nosehose. I look behind me to see Alex chasing, capturing, clawing, and chewing my nosehose.

And this is my insight: when Alex hassles me for no apparent reason, his objective is to get me to move around which makes my nosehose swish around, and he can practice his stalking, capturing, and slaughtering skills on my nosehose.

So I sat back down in desk chair began seeking new holes in my nosehose, marking them with a red Sharpie, and covering them with duct tape. At least I now have insight as to why I do this every day.

I hope you enjoy the Super Bowl—or whatever you plan to do—today!