Booming Banter

My Dad did the National Lottery every Saturday. His numbers were always the same. Multiples of seven up to 42.

He won now and then but never anything bigger than twenty or thirty pounds. We’d need a statistician to tell us if his odds were any different than a random draw or those of us who use birthdays and anniversaries to pick numbers. My hunch is it wouldn’t make a bit of difference as the chance of winning is so infinitesimally small.

The lottery is something we hardly ever do here in the USA but when we are in the UK we will test our luck now and then.

One memorable win we once had was in London. We were in a line about a mile long waiting to get tickets to see Phantom of The Opéra and right beside the theatre  was a little newsagents with a lottery sign prominently displayed. It was calling out to us for so long we had to buy a ticket.

When the draw was made that night we won seventy pounds. This covered our theater tickets and a few pints to boot! It was some time ago!!!!!!

This week we are going for gold here in the USA too.

The poweball jackpot has gone so high that it is featured in the news headlines. Who know why but when it’s close to the billion mark the jackpot calls out our name!

Chance of a win is lower than all three of us staring on the West End and Broadway simultaneously but we are confident we’ll be singing!

Blessing # 286 – Anticipation

This morning on the news there was a really unusual request from the Memphis Zoo.

They are looking for Bamboo! Their Giant Pandas need to put on a little weight and need a bit of variety to tempt them to eat more.

These BIG BEARS are really special critters. Their digestive system like all Bears is designed for a meat based diet yet they live almost exclusively on Bamboo. Why on earth did they choose this food?

How do they get the vitamins and amino acids they need to sustain growth and maintain their bodies? Now and then they will munch a little mouse or two but that won’t do it.  They don’t have a rumen so they must have evolved some really unique micro flora in their intestines to produce these essential nutrients for them. Maybe worth taking a look at to see if there is anything useful little bug living in there to help manage  metabolic disorders or even malabsorption in the elderly.

Pandas need to eat about 25 kilos (55 lbs) of Bamboo every single day to get the energy they need to survive yet they grow to be quite a size so they must manage.

Just imagine if that was us eating celery. We’d be spending every waking hour crunching. That might be what it’s all about these critters just love to eat.

They must have very sensitive taste buds too because they can distinguish between different types of Bamboo. So just as variety in our diets tempts us to eat more so too will a variety of Bamboo enhance the intake of these lovelies.

Imagine what would happen if someone hit on a really delicious variety the world might soon be overrun by cuddles.

Blessing #285 – Chewing Things Over

Are you part of a book club? Many people are these days. It’s eye opening getting different peoples perspectives on the same story. Can be quite surprising what someone sees that you have completely ignored.

Our Lily Circle meets every month and each season we read a book of short stories or a novel. We take it in turn to lead the discussion and today it’s my turn.

The current book, unlike any other we have done together, has brought universal agreement on one point. Not one person likes it!

So it was quite a challenge to pull out some positives in the chapters for tonight. The old saying Give a Dog a Bad Name really rings true.

The whole book seems so fake and contrived but is seemingly based on true stories. Everyone is so goody goody. No one swears or shouts or goes ballistic. Who lives like this?

In the end there were a few redeeming features in the chapters for tonight but there is no doubt our conversation is likely to focus not on these but on the sickly sweetness of the stories.

Just strikes home the points that you find diamonds in the rough and you gotta take some rough with the smooth to appreciate them.

Blessing # 284 – Digging for Bold

This morning just as the sun was rising three young bucks where having their breakfast in our back yard.

They were munching away and only for a second lifted their heads to have their photo taken.

That fresh new spring grass must taste heavenly after the dry diet of winter.

These same lads will soon be at the front door chomping down on the sedum. It’s their favorite. They’ll let it grow to a certain height and then gobble it up in a single midnight feast.

Right now the sedum is just popping out of the ground so it’s safe for a while but footsteps show the lads have been round sniffing!

Along with courting geese strutting their stuff, cardinals going crazy and flying inside the porch in search of partners it’s a sign that the day has finally come to officially say winter is over!

Blessing #283 – Spring Has Sprung

Our credit card with CHASE allows us to book travel at a really good redemption rate provided we book well in advance.

Last Saturday we started to think of summer and what we might do. We really want to see our family and friends in the UK but also go places we haven’t been.

So we thought we’d do a tour of the British Isles. Dad and Dibs are staying home so it will be another Mom and Son adventure.

The rates looked really good out of Chicago less than half the points needed compared to going from Columbus. It will mean a six hour drive but we’d need to fly to Chicago anyway to connect to an International flight so in the end with all the hanging around between flights we might even gain some time.

Today, as Aaron is taking some summer classes to prepare for college credits he was checking his schedule at school. When he sent the dates it was a green light to get the tickets.

That’s when some panic set in. Points for the itineraries we had looked at at the weekend had gone up steeply from 32000 to 48000 in just a few days. 

Finally after a good hour jiggling dates and airports the ideal combination was found. In to London and out of Dublin all for 34000 on UNITED so we get our frequent flyer points too.

Now I need wine!

Blessing # 282 – Just in Time

Our fundraiser went off well yesterday. We all had a lot of fun.

My friend Jackie brought her grandchildren to help. They had dressed up in green and looked like real life leprechauns.

The kids took turns manning the reception desk to show guests the way to the event including Jayne the littlest one.

A last minute idea was to give everyone a leprechaun name when they arrived using a simple little code pulled off the net!

The kids loved this and the adults too! It got total strangers talking and comparing names.

We realized many of our first names end in N or Y so we had a whole lot of GREENIES and STUMPIES in the room!

Funny how the tiny things can make the biggest impact!

Blessing # 281 – Little Lambs Love Little Laughs

Saint Patrick was by all accounts a well educated young man from a rich family when he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave.

When he escaped some years later he went back to his home in Britain.

Memories  of Ireland stayed with him though and he returned there voluntarily giving up all he had for the love of people who once held him captive.

What an influence Patrick had on the world. He literally touched the lives of billions.

Indian industrialists have long given back to their country and their people. The philanthropy of the great Tata and the Birla families goes back over one hundred years.

Just this week it was announced that one of India’s  most successful modern entrepreneurs Azim Premji the founder of Wipro IT Group will be giving even more than he has already to fund education. This brings his overall donations to a staggering 21 Billion Dollars!

It’s easy to think that if we had as much as Azim or Ratan or Warren or Bill and Melissa or Mark and Priscilla we’d do the same.

Would we though?

The BIG givers rank right up there in my books with Patrick!

Blessing # 280 – Transformers

When the beautiful Miss Missi started our Zumba class it was only on Saturday morning. Now her faithful followers are Zumbaing our way to happiness four times a week.

The group is diverse, made up of young marrieds, young Mums, young grandmas, young retirees. All young at heart of course!

We often for unexplained reasons and without planning show up in coordinated colors. This morning is was pinks and grey! It’s sorta like we’re  psychic!

In the class each person has their favorite spot mine being at the back beside the door so no one can see me! We all get in so well. I often think Maeve Binchey could write a great book about us!

We cover songs and Zumba moves that are current but sometimes this takes a few of us back a bit. We’re kick boxing to Lady Marmalade at the moment. That’s the version by Christina Aguilera not the disco epic of Labelle!

The funniest of all is our ballet to Seven Bells by Arianne Grande inspired by The Sound if Musics Favorite Things.

Let’s leave it like this our Arianne ain’t no Maria!

Blessing # 279 – Daily Dancing

Today the shopping for the fundraiser went into full swing.

There had been a bit of scouting done before on where the best deals were to be had for the stew ingredients.

Bouillon had to be the best and that is definitely Maggi so got that from the company store at super duper discount.

Aldi won out on the veggies. The checkout clerk looked startled by the volumes of potatoes, onions and carrots that were in the caddy.

She was so good though and said to leave it in there. All that was needed was to give her the number of bags of each item and she rang them up. Lovely gesture of trust!

The beef was always going to be the biggest chunk of change and here is where divine providence intervened. Giant Eagle had a buy one get one free offer on chuck roast! This is good quality stuff for stew and  it got even better.

The lovely butcher and his assistant jumped in to help. They offered to take my order, give me the BOGOF price and best of all cut all of it up for me into nice stew size pieces. They will have it all ready for me tomorrow at midday. What great service!

Now all we need to do is chop and cook. There will be a few tears on Sunday. Let’s hope it’s only down to onions.

Blessing #278 – Helpful Hands

 

 

 

This morning my friend Sue posted a picture on Facebook.

Sue is in India right now taking a yoga course and had had a bindi placed at breakfast time and was saying how good that felt.

This little mark or dot on the forehead is very usual in Indian culture. Some will wear one on special occasions like festivals or weddings others everyday.

They are mostly, but not exclusively seen on women. In the past in China too these little dots were often placed on the heads of babies.

They have traditionally a very definite spiritual connotation linked to the creation of the universe, energy and wisdom. Many still think of the bindi in that context although they also have taken on a more decorative role.

This got me wondering how many of our current practices like polishing nails, or wearing mascara or rouge might also have origins in ancient traditions.

When Aaron was playing football that the coach would also put a little strip of black across the lads faces to give them an extra edge on the field. War paint of a sort!

Today in our hectic world these daily rituals of dabbing on some lipstick or perfume or aftershave means nothing much  more than giving yourself a little lift.

Imagine though if we did as Sue did this morning and took just a few moments to reflect on the gesture and how special it is.

Imagine when you put that lipstick on if you said to yourself I’ll say something kind to someone today or I won’t shout at anyone.

Imagine with that splash of aftershave or spray of perfume if we just stopped for one second and thought how we might make life for someone just a little bit sweeter

Blessing #277 – Crossing Cultures