Louise Carroll: Random thoughts for May
Just as sure as April showers bring May flowers, just being with people, or reading or surfing the net, random thoughts show up in my random file and I like it. These are fun things to think about, smile about, or forget about.
∎ While doing a column on superstition I read the most common superstition in Pennsylvania is about ladybugs. It is good luck if one lands on you. When I was a child, if we saw a ladybug we would say, "Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home, your house is on fire and your children will burn." That little ditty had nothing to do with luck, good or bad, but it referred to the fact that in the fall, farmers often burned off their fields.
∎ “Butterflies can’t see their wings. They can’t see how truly beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that as well.” − Naya Rivier.
∎ Pittsburgh Trivia − There are more than 700 sets of public stairs within the city limits of Pittsburgh. They are maintained by an Inspector of Steps.
∎ I like words that sound like what they mean. Wissenschaft means knowledge, learning, and science, or their systematic pursuit, and it sounds like it means it.
∎ "Unless someone like youcares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." − Theodor Seuss Geisel "Dr. Seuss," author and illustrator, 1904-91.
∎ Only 1 in 3,000 calico cats is a male. I really enjoy finding a fact like this because it makes me wonder who checked all those thousands and thousands of litters of cats to come up with this fact. Does someone have the official job of checking the sex of calico kittens?
∎ Another cat fact. Cats spend, on average, more than half their waking hours grooming themselves. You can't blame them - they have a lot of fur to cover.
∎ "Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, 'Make me feel important.'" − Mary Kay Ash.
∎ A recent study has found that women who carry a little extra weight, live longer than the men who mention it.
∎ Did you know that dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish?
∎ "A crank is a man with an idea until he succeeds." − Mark Twain.
∎ Found this gem on the internet. "The reason Mayberry was so peaceful and quiet was because nobody was married. Andy, Aunt Bea, Barney, Floyd, Howard, Goober, Gomer, Sam, Earnest T. Bass, Helen, Thelma Lou, Clara, and, of course, Opie were all single. The only married person was Otis, and he stayed drunk."
∎ "Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends." − Maya Angelou, poet 1928-2010.
∎ When I read this it made me smile. "I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top."
∎ I don't know who said, "If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague," but it’s good advice.
∎ Tracie Haswell responded to my winter column by sharing memories of how much her mother loved the winter season and the Christmas holiday. "So yes, thank you for helping to remind people that to each season there is a purpose," Haswell wrote.
∎ Long ago, when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf.
∎ When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to your youth, think of algebra.
∎ "Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier'n puttin' it back in." − Will Rogers.
∎ Someone said that the Lincoln High School class of 1969 was the largest with 379 members. If this is true, there is a lot of you out there to confirm it.
∎ "It is important to be well-read − at least a little bit." − Kareena Kapoor Khan.
∎ I will close with a saying on a T-shirt that might even explain random thoughts. "It's not my fault that I was left unsupervised."
This article originally appeared on Ellwood City Ledger: Carroll: Random thoughts for May
