Friday, November 24, 2023

Random thoughts on a cold and snowy day.

 Weird day today. All day long I have been feeling like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Even though I don't remember the first shoe dropping, still I sit here waiting for the other shoe. I wonder where that saying came from?

Of course, I had to look it up. According to Google the phrase originated around the turn of the 20th century when lots of folks lived in poorly constructed tenement buildings with the bedrooms stacked on top of each other. It was common to be able to hear your upstairs neighbor taking off his shoes at night, dropping one and eventually the other. Hence, waiting for the other shoe to drop. There, now you know that.

So, I'm sitting here at home in the mountains outside of Denver at approximately 8200'. It is obnoxiously cold out and it's been snowing off and on most of the day. I do not like snow and I do not like obnoxiously cold weather. So why do I stay here? Well, 3 out of the 4 seasons are pretty darn decent. I've learned that no matter where you live there will be at least one season that is a pain in the ass. You just have to pick your poison, I guess. See, there's another saying. The meaning of this one is pretty self explanatory. You have to make a choice. Back in the mid 19th century liquor was commonly referred to as poison, so when you went to a bar the bartender would ask you to pick your poison. There, now you know that.

Apparently I am a font of useless information today. There are so many phrases, or idioms that we use on a daily basis without giving a thought about where these things come from. We take so much for granted in our busy daily lives, even words and their origins. Kind of rude, I mean words have feelings too! I think I'll start a movement, Word lives matter! 

Think about it, where would we be without words? It's how we communicate. Even if your chosen method of communication is telepathically, you still need words. I guess if you go back to a time before words people communicated with grunts and other strange noises and gestures. How would I be able to type out grunts and gestures? How would you read that? Maybe the keys on my keyboard would have little pictures of me grunting and gesturing. I would just pick the right keys to match what I wanted to say, just like now. The only difference is now I have actual letters to chose from and I can pick the ones I want in a predefined pattern. The patterns make words that you can read and voila! we have communicated much easier than grunting and gesturing. 

I guess that's enough for now. My dog, my beloved Sadie girl is giving me the stink eye. See! there's another one! I'll leave that one for later, gotta feed the dog.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by. Take care of yourselves and be nice to each other. If you're feeling brave and daring, walk up to a random stranger, give them a hug, tell them you love them and keep on walking. :-)