Wednesday? Where did you go?

Rabbit rabbit rabbit! Evil spirits begone from Nutwood!

I swear, it seemed like the day vanished in a poof of smoke. We went down to my folks' place this afternoon to pick up tables for our upcoming garage sale and then stayed to visit a while. Do you guys remember the story I posted here a while back? About the girl in the window? I had given a copy to my Dad and although he said he thought it was good, he said he didn't quite get it. I explained that the girl in the car grew up to be the woman at the gas station, and then he was like ohhh, okay. Well, I didn't even ask Mom to read it, because that's not her thing. She's not fond of fiction, and prefers biographies and nonfiction. She definitely has a morbid turn of mind at times (We still laugh about driving through the Georgia mountains, and as we looked over the sides at the deep ravines, Mom said, "That would be a good place to dump a body." Mom? Huh?), but I didn't think she'd care for it. She shocked me today by saying, "Honey, that was really good. It really caught my interest and made me want to keep reading. You should be writing for a newspaper or something."

I can't begin to tell you how much that meant to me. Like I said, I never thought it would interest Mom, so I didn't even ask her to read it. To hear her say that she thought it was really good was a very pleasant and completely unexpected surprise. I guess we never get too old to enjoy praise from our parents, do we? I'm smiling as I write this. I thanked her a couple of times for what she said, but I don't think she realizes how happy I was to hear that. Pretty cool.

On our way back, we were tooling along nicely when a couple of police cars came speeding up and passed us, lights flashing. We found out why before too long, as we ran into a bona fide traffic jam in Lapaz, Indiana, of all places. (Population 489 in the 2000 census) It was apparently a fairly bad accident, because it took about an hour to clear the logjam and get us moving. I didn't even have a book with me! Ack! I almost took one, too, but I always like looking around at the countryside, or the wildflowers (which are blooming like crazy now), or at people's landscaping. I looked at the same patch of wildflowers for about 15 minutes and Ken said, "How are those looking to you?" I said, "Stupid green." Haha! We finally got moving again, and I just hope no one was seriously hurt. We only saw one SUV that was smashed in the front, and it didn't look too awful, so I hope there were no major injuries.

Now Ken is trying to mow between the raindrops. It's an unseasonably cool day for July. I'm ready for warmth again!

As promised, here are a few pictures from last night. It was great to see my pals, and I'll look forward to next time. Maybe I'll be caught up on the book list by then...oh, and I did find that Lord Jim is available at Project Gutenberg. I think I'll give it a try online, but I can tell you right now that it is not better than holding a book in my hands. I'm tactile, baby. Anyhoo, here are the pictures.

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From left to right: Jillian and Erica (I love how Jillian is cracking up); Jim and me; Mary and Jillian; Sarah and Teresa (the birthday girl). A good time was had by all!

A brief interruption and a diametric opposition

Rabbit rabbit rabbit! Evil spirits begone!

We had some fairly strong thunderstorms come through Nutwood today, and our cable broadband was out for several hours in the afternoon. I tried to catch up as best I could, but I wasn't able to comment on every entry. Things seem to be working well now. Despite the rain, I had a window of opportunity between storms, and was able to get a little deck and reading time in!

Something has puzzled me lately. In reading various writings on Teh Interwebs, I've found a strange phenomenon from those who dislike our President and our current administration. They vacillate between two labels: fascism and socialism. Sometimes in the same entry.

I had to think back to what I learned in World History, and what I've read about it over the years, but I've always understood that fascism and socialism were at completely opposite ends of the spectrum. Fascism is far right and reactionary, and socialism is left, on the pathway to communism. The definition of fascism that I found is "a system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism." For a fascinating article about the 14 characteristics of fascism, click on the link. I really don't think the far right needs to be bringing up fascism, because when I read those 14 points, it's not President Obama that springs to mind. I'm just sayin'!

Socialism is defined as "any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy." If anything, this makes more sense than the former charge; our government (and all of us) now owns a portion of several companies. I feel this is limited, though, and temporary. Of all the businesses, companies, and corporations in this country, the number of those receiving bailout money is not a huge percentage. The vast majority continue to operate independently and without government intervention.

While I'm at it, I'll muddy the waters a bit by speaking of National Socialism, or Nationalsozialismus, i.e., Nazism. Although that particular movement contained the word and an element of socialism, those fascists were far removed from Socialism and Communism, and indeed, executed many communists. They were a totalitarian regime, exerting complete control over every aspect of citizens' lives, using censorship, propaganda, and hatred of "others," whether it was because of race, religion, or sexual orientation. Again...the Obama administration is not the first one I think about!

Am I missing something here? I honestly don't see how it's possible to be both fascist and socialist at the same time. When I read something that calls President Obama a socialist in one breath and a fascist in the next, it just makes me think "That makes no sense." Perhaps a fully coalesced argument might be more convincing, rather than cherry-picking pejorative terms designed to excite the excitable. Heck, might as well thrown in "grinch-like" while you're at it!

Starting the new year right...with a little superstition

RABBIT RABBIT RABBIT!

Some of you who have read me for a while know that I say that on the first of the month. I don't always put it in a blog entry, but I always say it at some point on the first. Chick on the Bob and Tom Show says it, and that's where I picked it up. I've been meaning to find out a little more about it and write an entry, and it seems like the first day of the new year is a good day to do so. (A while back, a reader--I think it was Estela--found a few bits of information about it, but I neglected to save her email. Sorry, Estela!)

The exact origin of the superstition is unknown, though it has allegedly appeared in print at least as early as 1920 in England. Today it has spread to most of the English-speaking countries of the world, and is related to the widely held belief that rabbits are a "lucky" animal (think of carrying a rabbit's foot for good luck).

Blog forum posts range from hearing this in the early forties from a coworker, to hearing it from their uncle who served in World War I, to their mother using it as a child in Kentucky in the late 1800's. Most accounts trace the saying to England. Maybe some of my British friends can weigh in on this. Are you familiar with this custom?

There are multiple variations:

It is believed that saying "Rabbit Rabbit" on the first day of the New Year will bring yearlong good luck, and the converse: believing that not saying it will bring bad luck.

Being the first to say "rabbit rabbit" to a person on the first of the month will bring good luck. Once someone says rabbit rabbit to you, you are no longer allowed to repeat it to anyone, and you will have bad luck for the month.

Although some of the earliest written references using "rabbit rabbit rabbit," other versions repeat it only twice, or saying just "rabbit" or "rabbits."

The earliest referenced usage may be to saying "rabbits" three times before going to sleep the last night of the month, and then "hares" three times first thing upon waking, but accounts from just two years later report it was three "rabbits" in the morning with no "hares" at all.

Another variation is "bunny bunny hop hop."

Saying "black rabbits" the night before, and "white rabbits" following morning.

Believing that the effect is stronger on one's month of birth.

Referring to the first day of each month as "Rabbit Day."

Various ways to counteract forgetting to say it, most commonly saying it backwards ("tibbar, tibbar") before falling asleep or saying "Moose Moose" upon waking on the second day of the month.

A different but related practice of saying "Happy White Rabbit's Day" to someone in order to bring good luck.

One variation involves an element of competition: Saying "rabbit, rabbit" to another person on the first of the month entitles the speaker to the luck of the listener for the duration of the month. A more modern variation is to say "rabbit, rabbit" to someone on the first day of the month, and whoever says it first wins. The idea of luck is not involved.

Saying "White rabbits, white rabbits, white rabbits."

Saying "white rabbit, white rabbit, white rabbit" as the first words of the month, before getting out of bed -- and the speaker must first reverse position, so that speaker's head is at the foot of the bed and vice versa.

Around 1920 the following belief is common in many parts of Great Britain, with local variants: To secure good luck of some kind, usually a present, one should say ‘Rabbits’ three times just before going to sleep on the last day of the month, and then ‘Hares’ three times on waking the next morning.

Another variation brought about by the Polish is the phrase "Bunny, Bunny."

In the early 1990s, Nickelodeon had a segment called "Nick days," which had an event for every day of the year. The first of every month was "Rabbit Rabbit Day." According to the segment, the phrase "rabbit rabbit" must be the first thing said to the first person you see.

In some areas of the Southern United States, e.g., Tennessee and Mississippi, campers will say "I hate white rabbits" in response to campfire smoke blowing into their face, hoping the smoke will go elsewhere.

At least I know I'm not crazy for saying it--it really is a common superstition in many countries. I'm not really a superstitious person, and it's just kind of a fun and silly thing to do. But just in case, I made this entry early enough so that you still have time to say "Rabbit rabbit rabbit!" and bring yourself some good luck for the coming year!

As for last night, I hope everyone had a safe and fun celebration. The Havarti-Cheddar fondue turned out great (it had sun-dried tomatoes and green onions in it for some extra flavor) and I loved our new fondue pot for cooking beef! Ken made the dipping sauces, and although all were good, my favorite was the honey mustard. Next time I'd like to try a soy-ginger sauce. We couldn't even eat everything I'd set out, and we were both so stuffed we didn't have room for the fruits dipped in chocolate! That might be tonight's meal--along with the champagne we also didn't get to last night! After we cleaned off the table, we curled up on the couch (Sheeba included), and watched the countdown. We (all three of us) then proceeded to fall asleep. We're a bunch of firecrackers here at Nutwood, make no mistake about it! At least we made it to midnight--when I was working, I rarely did.

Today we're going to take down the tree, since we're leaving on Sunday. We'll get that taken care of so we don't have to worry about it when we get back. Perhaps more later!

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Rabbit rabbit. (2008, November 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:13, January 1, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rabbit_rabbit&oldid=254044558