“What Do You Mean We Live on the Outside of the Earth?”

Live and learn!
Or: Inside a young mind

From The Gram With a Thousand Rules: “Subject: What Do You Mean We Live on the Outside of the Earth?

“We were sitting on the steps leading down to our sidewalk, the first time I ever remember thinking my mother thought I was a real person rather than a baby. My siblings were playing in the street, and I was sitting on Mother’s lap waiting for Daddy to come home for supper. It was a hazy day, and I could see the sun filtered by the clouds, and on the other side of the sky I could see the moon rising. I looked at Mama and said: ‘The sun and the moon and your eyes all look like the same size.’ She gave me a big squeeze and said: ‘You are a smart little girl.’ I never did figure out why she thought that, but what I do know is: That was the moment when my love for astronomy began.

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Before the Norge came to their rescue, the big white horses King and Bill hauled all the ice they could handle!

Then & Now

The Happy Medium: “Subject: From icebox to refrigerator.

“Recently I watched the movie ‘Frozen.’ The opening scene showed men cutting ice blocks from a frozen lake. The blocks of ice were dragged out of the water and placed on horse-drawn bobsleds and carried away.

“This scene reminded me of the stories Dad told us about the times he cut ice on the lake and had it brought up to our family icebox.

Continue reading “Before the Norge came to their rescue, the big white horses King and Bill hauled all the ice they could handle!”

“Hey, lady, do you happen to know this giant white dog outside your house, barking to be let in?”

Know thyself!
And: Our pets, ourselves

Grandma ’Ginia writes: “Subject: Generation gap or natural selection?

“As I grow older and wiser, I’ve noticed that I’m living vicariously through my kid and grandkids. It’s not that I am not having any adventures, but they seem to be receding a bit. An example greeted me this morning when I checked my texts, my lifeline to the family.

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“Are you out of your mind? You can get perfectly good chicken at the grocery store.”


Our poultry, our “friends,” ourselves

DebK of Rosemount writes: “Chicken-butchering of 2021 has just concluded with Taxman’s stuffing the last of this year’s roosters into the freezer. Thus ends an effort that each August or September consumes a full week of our lives and moves me precipitously — though temporarily — toward vegetarianism. And friendlessness, too, as it happens.

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“‘Oh,’ she said almost matter-of-factly, ‘did you hear about that awful thing that happened in New York?'”

Remembering 9/11
Including: The Permanent Maternal Record

Zoo Lou of St. Paul writes: “I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since the mind-numbing terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

“After watching a documentary by Spike Lee recalling the horrors of that fateful day, I remember something that brought a ray of innocent, and unintended, humor during one of our nation’s darkest hours.

Continue reading ““‘Oh,’ she said almost matter-of-factly, ‘did you hear about that awful thing that happened in New York?’””