Saturday, August 15, 2009

Things I learned this summer


• If we all communicated like dogs, without speech, we’d be a whole lot happier.

• You can still love a family member, even while wondering where the hell they came from.

• There is a big Caladium plant that looks exactly like an elephant’s ear. They call it Elephant Ear.”

• Some people truly don’t want what’s good for them.

• Sometimes when you shave a dog, it becomes an entirely different color.

• You can love, care for and devote yourself to someone for years, and they can still show you disrespect on a regular basis.

• In our woods there is a yellow, pitcher shaped wildflower, of the Impatiens family that’s called “Touch me not”. When the flowers are peppered with orange spots, it’s called “Spotted jewel weed.”

• Some people will try to make you doubt your own five senses and your own good sense.

• In Florida, it seems like just about everyone owns a gun.

• In New England, it seems most people don’t.

• The forests of the Berkshires are filled with little, red amphibians that are called “efts”.

• Some people would rather believe anything than believe the truth.

• Cats don’t hold grudges.

• Even smart people can get duped.

• In a New York minute, everything can change.


13 comments:

  1. Some of these things I've learned, some are new to me.
    Like efts. I may start to say Eft It instead of....well, instead of something worse.
    ~Mary

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great learnings. Simple but profound. I guess I will be learning a lot from now on, too. Just like you, I am now cut adrift.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such a lot of interesting things you've learned and shared with us Deedee, but if we are to communicate like dogs do we really need to do the sniffing bottom thing?! :O)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah. So it's been one of those summers!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Efty is an onld English word for newt - amphibians we have in our ponds. Over here the two plants are called Touch--me-not Balsam and Blotched Emlets.
    I'm not sure about cats not holding grudges, though. One of ours takes days and days to forgive me for putting flea spot stuff on her!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats on asking yourself a good question (implied by this post): What have I learned this summer. Just asking the question sets you apart, and serves as an antidote to: "Some people will try to make you doubt your own five senses and your own good sense." If you've done your own thinking, you're less likely to be bullied onto the slippery slope of self-doubt.

    ReplyDelete
  7. hey deedee, hows it going? i guess its never too late to learn new things.......just by quietly observing you can pick up a wealth of information without leaving your own backyard. take good care and i''ll see ya around, uncle jack

    ReplyDelete
  8. And another important lesson I have taken 60 years to learn is, no matter what the problem the sun still comes up every day.

    Margaret

    ReplyDelete
  9. Coming from Nottinghamshire, Margaret, I presume that you are talking about a metaphorical sun!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Loved your list..I'm very succetable to the remarks about family.....
    I know about Red Efts, haven't thought about them for years though!
    Very true about cats..they are little Buddhas!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello, my friends!

    Mary: Sometimes ya just gotta say "eft it!"

    S.Soul: Best wishes...keep your chin up!

    Lesley: Yeah, I'd skip that butt sniffing thing.

    Scriptor: According to a TV show I saw recently, scientists have learned that the Catskill mountains in New York were once connected to the area of Loch Ness, back in the time of Pangea(sp?) That being the case, we must have a lot of flora in common!

    Don: Yes, I have been getting better at believing in myself...finally!

    Jack: Doing alright, hope you are too - come on over sometime...

    GB and Margaret: The sun WILL surely rise again-and since I am dealing with a sweltering heat wave right now, I would gladly send you some of it if I could!

    Lyn: I was astonished to walk through the woods and find my feet surrounded by those little newts! I was thrilled, but had to tread carefully to avoid stepping on them.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ha Ha!!! Oh Deedee, this list of yours cracked me up!!! Loved it and so true, so true! Thanks for the smiles and bit of laughter.

    ReplyDelete
  13. As the common green spotted newt develops from its tadpole form it first becomes a "red eft"
    These young newts spend 2 years in the forest before finding a body of water to mature in.
    Once they do, they turn green (but keep the red spots)

    This is how newts propagate from pond to pond

    ReplyDelete