Live and Learn

In a nod to my byline of Live and Learn, I occasionally share things here that I've learned.

 I am all the time looking things up of no consequence, so I suppose I am learning things all the time. But does anyone care how old a celeb is or what channel a certain show is on? (Yes, I am that shallow) Not really. So I won't share those bits of wisdom I learned this week. Instead, I will share other inconsequential things that were new to me. 

1. Outback Steak Houses are brightening up their decor with murals. Wally and Theo took Ward out to Outback Steakhouse for Father's Day, and Theo pointed out that there was a big mural on the wall by the bathrooms. It was quite striking, with a koala in the middle wearing a Maryland flag, surrounded by other Maryland-themed items. I looked up the artist, The Artist Jones, and he lives in Florida, but is painting these themed murals at different Outbacks all over.

Shown are the MD state flower: black-eyed Susan, the MD state bird: Baltimore oriole, the MD state crustacean: blue crab, the lighthouse from MD's Eastern Shore, and the MD state flag wrapped around a koala. 

2. A muster station is a gathering place on a cruise ship where everyone gathers for safety drills or in case of an emergency. Ward is on a cruise this week with one of our line dancing groups. I am very prone to motion sickness, so I didn't want to go. However, he has been wanting to try a cruise, so this was a perfect opportunity. He texted me that they couldn't leave the port until everyone was at their muster station. I had to look up what that meant. 

3. You can't always find things on the internet. I was chatting with Miss Landers, and she mentioned that she doesn't like the rubber bands you buy these days because they are coated with a substance that makes them bitter. This is to discourage kids from eating them. I thought that made sense, but I tried looking up the details before I mentioned it here. I couldn't find that confirmed anywhere with many different searches. Miss Landers is usually a very reliable source, so it may be true. Or not. Did I mention I was going to share inconsequential things? 

4. More things are blooming in my yard. 

Until next time...

Live and Learn

I think we all learn something every day. That's just part of living. Sometimes it's big, and sometimes it's small. From time to time, I think that I should do a regular feature here about things I've learned, you know, because I have Live and Learn in the name of my blog. However, my follow-through is not always the best.😏 But today, I'm going to make it happen. Here it goes. Some things I've learned recently.

It took way too long to put this sticky straw
around the tomato plants.

1. Straw made for covering up grass seeding is very sticky. Occasionally, we buy a bale of straw to mulch around various plants. Last fall, we bought a bale at our local Southern States like we always do. However, it was very difficult to pull apart. Annoyingly so. It turns out that we got straw coated with something sticky to be used for seeding, so that it won't blow away. You can be sure that we will be very careful when we purchase straw again to know what kind we're buying.

Costco chicken

2. Costco's Kirkland Signature brand is 30 years old, and the worldwide celebration for this is happening at a Maryland depot. (Knowing these kinds of things happens when your son works there.) I think the most popular Kirkland product is the $4.99 rotisserie chicken. Costco sells enough of them that they raise their own chickens, and last year, they sold over 157 million. However, I consulted with Theo, and he said that if you didn't count gasoline, the most popular item is probably toilet paper. :)

3. Speaking of Costco, their stores are called warehouses, and their distribution centers are called depots. Theo works in a depot. I confused the two when I first learned this.

It's been over a month, and
I'm still waiting on this parsley to sprout.

4. If it's important or takes a lot of prep work, it pays to use newer seeds. I planted 6 packages of old seeds, and only two (seeds, not packets) of them sprouted. There were some flowers, some veggies, some in pots, some in the ground. All of these were a hopeful experiment, and luckily, the lack of results is not of much consequence. On the things that really mattered to me, like tomatoes, I used newer seeds.

These peas have been good both for pod eating and shelling.

5. Peas come in purple and yellow varieties. Uncle Billy gave me some extra pea seeds he had that have purple and yellow pods. I've only seen green ones before. The peas are doing well (new seeds), and it's fun to see the new varieties.

This is what the peas look like on the inside--more like the peas I know.

Well, nothing earth-shattering in this list. It's funny how I know that I'm processing new information all the time, but nothing much came to mind as I was writing this. Maybe I should keep a list. We'll see how I do with follow-through on that. 😀

Until next time...

D is for Don't Assume

 

April is the 15th anniversary of my blog, so I will be sharing previous posts this month from over 2000 that I have written. Today, we're revisiting a post from November 2015 when a conversation made me think twice.

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Live and Learn--Don't assume

I was thinking about the title of my blog last night and how we learn throughout our entire lives. I thought I'd start sharing some of the things I've learned through living. I think you'll find most of these lessons are not unique to me, but things we all figure out one way or another.

The first: "Don't assume you know what others are thinking."

We observe others, and from their actions, we assume we know what they're thinking. The problem is that we bring our perspective to the situation, which can be different from that of the other person. Sometimes, this leads us to the wrong conclusion. This happens even in what seems to be the most obvious of situations (especially with kids).

An applesauce-lovin' Wally
(with wild hair)

Here's an example:

When Wally was a toddler, he loved yogurt and applesauce mixed together. We'd give him a bowl, and he would quickly gobble it down. I was happy that he enjoyed this healthful snack. A recent conversation with an adult Wally, however, revealed that all was not as it seemed. It turns out that Wally liked applesauce but not yogurt so much. He kept eating because he was trying to see where the applesauce went. He said he was always disappointed because he never found it.

Wow. That was a surprise. I had never thought about the concept of mixing, and when kids understand that. I just thought he liked applesauce mixed with yogurt. I was wrong.

This example helps me think twice before I judge what others say and do. When someone says or does something that I don't understand, I try to remember that maybe there's something going on that I don't know.

Have you ever been surprised when you learned the background behind what someone has said or done?

Until next time...

Live and Learn--Don't assume

I was thinking about the title of my blog last night and how we learn throughout our entire lives. I thought I'd start sharing some of the things I've learned through living. I think you'll find most of these lessons are not unique to me, but things we all figure out one way or another.

The first: "Don't assume you know what others are thinking."

We observe others and from their actions, we assume we know what they're thinking. The problem is that we bring our perspective to the situation which can be different from that of the other person. Sometimes, this leads us to the wrong conclusion. This happens even in what seems to be the most obvious of situations (especially with kids).

An applesauce-lovin' Wally
(with wild hair)

Here's an example:

When Wally was a toddler, he loved yogurt and applesauce mixed together. We'd give him a bowl and he would quickly gobble it down. I was happy that he enjoyed this healthful snack. A recent conversation with an adult Wally, however, revealed that all was not as it seemed. It turns out that Wally liked applesauce but not yogurt so much. He kept eating because he was trying to see where the applesauce went. He said he was always disappointed because he never found it.

Wow. That was a surprise. I had never thought about the concept of mixing and when kids learn that. I just thought he liked applesauce mixed with yogurt. I was wrong.

This example helps me think twice before I judge what others say and do. When someone says or does something that I don't understand, I try to remember that maybe there's something going on that I don't know.

Have you ever been surprised when you learned the background behind what someone has said or done?