T is for Toes

Photo source

I was talking with Miss Landers recently about the royal visit of William and Kate to India and Bhutan, and she filled me in on the hoopla about Kate's toes. Apparently, Kate took her shoes off at one point and the photographers zoomed in on her feet. Now the world is abuzz because Kate did not have a pedicure. I'm guessing that her plain toes generated so much talk because, let's face it, just about everything else is perfect with her.

Photo source

And all of this toe talk reminded me of something I was wondering about last summer. Does every other woman but me get a pedicure in the summer? I painted my toenails a few times in my younger days, but haven't for years. It's just not something that makes it to the top of my list of things to do. While I do wear sandals in the summer, I mostly wear running shoes which work best for my feet.

At some point last summer, I noticed that everyone around me had a pedicure. I was surprised about this, so I spent the next several weeks making a note about how many women had pedicures. I looked at people's feet everywhere I went. (Sounds a little strange, now that I write that.) And the result of that was I saw only one person that had unadorned toes. However, there were many that did not have a manicure.

So is this a regional thing? Do most people have a pedicure in the summer where you live? Do you always have a pedicure when your feet emerge from winter wear? And do you think that this should be the year that I join the rest of the world with a pedicure, or do I march to my own drummer and remain with Kate and her plain toes?

S is for Swamps

S is for Swamps I have known

or S is for School Days

Well, today was going to be about swamps with an Earth Day theme, but I've run out of time to develop that post properly--meaning I haven't written it and I can't find my pictures to go with it. The earlier parts of my day were spent either at work or the dentist. (Still biting my tongue at this point. Can't wait for the numbness to wear off.)  And, I have to leave for my book club meeting in a few minutes. So I've decided to go into the files and revisit something from the past.

Below is a post that I did during the School Days series and this one happens to be about my dad. When I did this interview, he was was in the early to mid stages of Alzheimer's. However, since older memories are often the last to go, everything he told me was right on and I had a very nice time talking with him. I am so happy I did this.

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School Days--Earl

School Days is a reoccurring feature in which I ask people about their early memories of school. Everyone has a story to tell about this and I hope to give them a voice here. 

Here is today's story.

Earl started school in 1932 when he was six years old. His school was in rural West Virginia. 

Tell me about when you started school.

I had just turned six. I started with my older sister. They held her back so we could start school at the same time. We went to a one room school a mile or less from our farm house. I used to run all of the way there and all of the way home.

What was your school like?

It was a one room school with one teacher. It had a gas heater and had no pump for water. We had to carry our water.  On the playground there were teeter-totters and the big kids would try to knock the little kids off.

Did you like school?

No, I couldn't wait to get away from there. There were too many restrictions.

Did you get in trouble because you weren't used to so many restrictions?

No, they just ignored me. I didn't do much including applying myself to my studies. I wasn't much interested in what they were teaching although I could hold my own in most areas. My sister applied herself and did well in school. My favorite subject was freedom when school let out.

What did you do for lunch?

We took our lunch. I made my own because my mother was too busy with the rest of my brothers and sisters. We usually had biscuits and sandwich spread. I've had enough sandwich spread to do me for a long time.

Another time, I would like to hear more about your school days.

R is for Rainbow

Today... I am going to remember

 that after a storm, there can be a rainbow.

Q is for Qualifications

Q is for Qualifications

Although it's said with tongue in cheek, you hear people saying all the time, "if it's on the internet, it must be true." I guess that includes what I put out there too. However, I have no qualifications to be an expert on anything I write, except perhaps a personal anecdote. And even then, everyone has a slightly different view of the same event.

So while I try to be correct in whatever I post, I don't always succeed. Remember in last week's Second Look when I said that I was trying to learn to identify different sparrows. Well, apparently I needed more work because a friend pointed out that I made a mistake with the sparrow identification. (I have since fixed it.) I think with this week's Second Look I have everything correct, however I don't have expert qualifications to guarantee this. That means, kids, don't use this as a reference for a school report. :)

Here are some things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Spring Star Flower

Pansy

Variegated Vinca

Red-winged blackbird. However, on this one you see a white stripe instead of a red one.

Pansy

Emerging leaves on a sweet gum tree.

The squirrel has not been able to open the suet feeder with the bolt.
It's still eating the suet, but it's not carrying the whole cake away now.

Male cardinal eating suet that the squirrel dropped.

Daffodil

The sparrows and bluebirds have been laying eggs this week.

Hawk

P is for Play

P is for Play

or I Went to See A Play

Last weekend, Ward and I went to the local theater and saw a play. When we made the reservations a couple of months ago, the weather was cold and snowy and spending an afternoon watching a play was appealing. However, on Saturday when there was beautiful spring weather, I was not so sure that I wanted to spend the afternoon inside.

But it was well worth it. We saw Dial M for Murder and thoroughly enjoyed it. Dial M was written by Frederick Knott and was first preformed in England before Alfred Hitchcock made it into a movie in 1954. We both had seen the movie, but had forgotten many of the details. So we were on the edge of our seats much of the time as the story unfolded . In fact, the over 2 hour play held my attention the entire time. A rare occurrence for that length of time.

If you haven't seen Dial M for Murder or haven't seen the movie in a long time, I recommend you watch it. It plays frequently on TV or pick it up at the library. I just put a hold on it at my library so my kids can see it.

We make it to a play a couple of times a year and find it is a nice break from our regular routine. And this time was no exception.