Booming Banter

This morning at Church, being the Sunday closest to July 4th, we sang America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee) and my absolute favorite the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

The Star Spangled Banner while written in 1814 during the Battle of Fort Sumpter only officially became the National Anthem in 1931. It was preceded by other hymns including America for most of the 19th century

It always amuses me that the music of America is the same as the National Anthem of the UK God Save The Queen. Wouldn’t it have been better for the new Republic to sing a different tune.

Perhaps the reason for the choice lies in the final line.

Times have changed a lot on both sides of the Atlantic since independence was won and the Republic was created.

In the UK we no longer are the empire we were in the days of George III. However we have had the blessing of  stability over the past 67 years in a monarch who is truly gracious in every way and whose successors seem just as caring. Our Queen has done her upmost to bring Nations together and foster Commonwealth.

The Republic of the United States of America is now the superpower. A nation of great opportunity. The desired home of many seeking freedom and the American Dream of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

May that same light always shine just as bright for today’s pilgrims as it did for those so long ago!

Blessing #381 – United Nations

We use questions ever hour of every day. They are the back bone of most conversations and communications.

How can I help? Are you well? Is it hot? Where are you going tonight? Who is Susie dating now? And of course the inevitable what do you want for dinner?

Questions are used to solve problems. In science and technology we use a technique called Five Whys and How. Try it if you haven’t used it. By the time you get to the forth why many problems are solved or you have lost a friend!

Whats your BIGGEST question? Is there something that comes to your mind now and again that you just cannot shake.

Mine is ARE WE ALONE? You may say it doesn’t matter but it does for me. I’m pretty sure we are not.

When you think of the scale of the universe and relate this to something earthy like the gut micro flora it is reassuring to see similar trillion numbers.

Share your BIG Questions

Blessing # 381 – Unending?

P is also for POOL and pool season means lots of reading under the rays.

As always trying to include a few classics and the first this year is Oscar Wilde’s PICTURE of DORIAN GRAY.

Many people know the plot. A Picture of a beautiful young man ages in the attic while the subject remains as youthful as the day it was painted but falls into spiritual and moral decline.

Today with the apps we have on our phones we too can modify our pictures. We can smooth out wrinkles and make ourselves look years younger if we choose too.

We can even take it a step further and chemically or physically erase the passage of time.

We can be superficially kind and gentle and virtuous.

To what end though if we are not?

As Dorian discovered happiness is not found in a fountain of youth or in even the greatest self indulgence. It is the ability to love that makes the difference.

The book came with a copy of the Ballad of Reading Gaol another Wilde work I’d never read.

In it dear Oscar shows his capacity for love in his empathy for the man who was hanged in the prison beside him. Unconditional!

Blessing # 380 – Love First

We live beside a beautiful river called the Olentangy that today gives its name to our school district too.

The river supplies us with water that thankfully is purified before it runs from our taps. If we were keen and skilled there is no doubt it could also be a source of food and was for sure in the past.

The river curves it’s way south to Columbus where it joins the main Scioto River that in turn still further south joins the great Ohio River and finally the mighty Mississippi.

”Our” river has quite a quirky name but that is nothing in comparison to its original KEENHONGSHECONSHEPUNG !

Of course as you all will know, in the language of the native Delaware Indians this means “sharp tool river”. I just love this because it is such a give away for what the river was valued for in addition to the obvious.

The Delaware came to Ohio from the North East and give our county and the county seat their names. They had a few challengers for the territory most notably the Wyandotte Indians from Quebec who had migrated south.

Early European settlers decided the name of the river was just a teeny bit complex. None of them must have come from Wales! So they called our river the Whetstone. Not quite as explicit as the Delaware’s choice but still the link to pebbles.

Some time later the decision was taken to revert to an Indian name and Olentangy was chosen.

This name again gives clues to more of the assets in the river as it means Red Face Paint Stones. I’ll know where to go then if I’m ever in need of a little rouge!

Thank goodness no one found gems or gold or we’d not be here today!

Blessing # 379 – History Rocks

Today we hit that magic number that leaves no doubt we have a summer. The thermometer passed 90F for the first time this year!

Wonderful!

In the UK we rarely reach these dizzy heights but we have a delight known as a 99 that is the essence of summer itself.

It’s a soft serve ice cream with a Cadbury’s chocolate flake stuck in it. On a day like today the ice-cream runs down your arm as you made your way through the flake.

How it got the name 99 is debatable. Perhaps linked to the address of the ice cream parlor where it was invented or alternatively the number of guards who served the king of Italy. Or maybe just because if you get a big enough one it kills any fever!

It’s a respectable and noble use though of the number 99.

This is so often not the case. Why on earth do retailers use the number so often? Is it a psychological trick?

Who among us is taken in by an item labeled 9.99! Or worse still 99.99!

What do you think and what on earth do you do with all those pennies?

Blessing # 378 – Sweet and Sour

 

This morning on the way back from Zumba a squirrel ran out in front of me.

They are everywhere around us and they have this cartoon like character that makes them adorable even if thy wreck havoc.

They run into the road, stop, look at you, hesitate for an instant and then take off at great speed. Locals will endorse what I’m describing.

The speed limit in our subdivision is 25 mph so the critter got lucky but the thought crossed my mind that if he’d been a split second earlier he’d have been mash!

Yeh thanks Nutkin you gave me my topic for today!

MASH! When you hear that word what comes to mind for you?

Maybe the long running TV series on the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital that made us laugh so much.

Maybe the weaning food we give our babies or the food we have when we have teeth problems or have no longer teeth at all.

We mash many things but who’d want to eat mashed food all the time? Even babies after a few splutters and spits give it up.

There is of course that MASH that is the exception to the rule and that has become synonymous with the word itself the super special spud.

In Ireland we take it to a whole new dimension and transform it with the addition of a little green into a food of dreams. We call it CHAMP. Look it up and try it.

It may not quite fit the profile of what Hippocrates had in mind when he said we should make our food our medicine and our medicine our food but it is the stuff of legend and the nectar of the God’s.

Blessing # 377 – Medics and Medicine

 

Today we have had a lot going on that at first appearance seemed to be linked to bad fortune.

First because of our issues last week we had to apply new protections and passwords to all our devises. In so doing we discovered that Krishna’s ancient phone that he had inherited from Aaron had suffered a catastrophic fail. 

The poor thing had been lying uncharged for so long that when we attempted to resurrect it only half the screen took a breath. So after an infinite number of hard reboots we decided since he never uses it that we should cancel his part of our mobile plan.

Consumer Cellular our dear provider was as always fast and efficient and without problems disconnected him. So a little savings incurred.

This made us think also about our landline phone. Most calls that we get or make on it now are either scam or are all local. Homer being an important exception. For international connections all our friends and family use WhatsApp.

Since we will need to contact Dad when we are away in the UK and he now has no mobile device we to text we decided we will train him on FaceTime or What’sApp on the iPad which he likes using. So why do we need international access on the landline?

Next up it’s obvious we call Spectrum the cable and land line phone provider and discuss the situation with them. Again we fall on someone who is most helpful and walks us line by line through our entire bill not just the phone service but the internet and cable too. Thanks to them we again manage to save a little on all counts.

As Aaron is working late shift today we then go to the bank to fix his account that was locked down like ours and discover yet another little perk for better interest rates. We are on a roll!

Not a bad day albeit one brought on by what initially might seem like problems. Every cloud as they say has some silver lining. Oh and the icing on the cake while we were doing all this gas prices fell ten cents a gallon!

Blessing # 376 – Little Means a Lot

Bet there are many youngsters out there who think that Kipper is a cute cartoon character.

They may never have experienced the orange delicacy that is a well smoked herring.

Come to think of it our Aaron has never had a kipper. We’ll sort that out when we go on our tour of the UK this summer along with the already planned haggis!

My Dad was very partial to a feed of these fish on a Sunday morning. He didn’t get them that often only on a special occasion like the holidays or birthdays.

Of course being a man of robust appetite not just a single serving would suffice. He could pack away a whole plate full with a few farls of soda bread on the side.

My Mum would fry them up on a big iron pan and she and me would have a couple too.

They are salty little demons. In fact the noun comes from the very Kipper that means to salt. With all their good fats though they must still be good for you.

Their little bones kinda get between your teeth that’s why a good piece of well buttered soft bread is needed to help them slip down.

The whole house would smell fishy and smoky for days after the breakfast bonanza but that never put us off.

They were also served up in the Guest Houses where we stayed when we went to the seaside. Somehow they didn’t seem to cause the same stink there but maybe the kitchen had extractor fans that were way beyond us.

Who eats kippers today? Shout out if you have had one in the past week and we will honor you as a true and Booming Brave Heart.

Blessing # 375 – Tasty Travels

Yesterday was stressful  today was a joy.

Sunshine, Zumba and the best of all a good old Church Rummage Sale.

In the UK we call them JUMBLE sales. If you look at the origin of the term it is a Confused Mixture. You have things jumbled up but do you Jumble? No you Rumble in the Jumble.

Thats what we did today and we found some absolutely precious little beauties.

The best of course is Irish! It is a small Belleek China plate that is so fine it is transparent.

Other little treasure that will eventually find their way to the shop are a cute dog pot holder that resembles a certain person not two inches from my feet and a tiny little beer stein that is a reminder of the critters who call our yard their home.

of course we couldn’t leave without a few books or a few angels.

Leave you to work out  who got what!

Blessing # 375 – Sunshine after the Rain!

The sun came out today but a big black cloud was over our house.

Last night as we were happily digesting our dinner, sipping a little beverage and watching some TV the phone rang. We all heaved the inevitable groan immediately suspecting our most frequent callers THE SCAMMERS.

I took the call which was fortunate as Krishna usually yells at people he doesn’t know.

The person on the phone said he was calling on behalf of Chase Bank and the reason he was calling was because there was some suspicious activity with our bank account.

I asked him what he needed and he explained he’d need my card number.

Of course I was reluctant to give him that so I asked if there was an alternative he explained I should call a number that he gave me and ask them to block our accounts and contact our bank as soon as possible.

Still suspicious I asked for his name and he told me he was Homer. Was he joking?

I asked where he was calling from and he said the Philippines. The fact that he gave me his name, albeit a funny one, and that I recognized he had an accent that was indeed from the Philippines added credibility to what he was saying so I thanked him for his advise.

Immediately I contacted one of the  local bank mangers we know well. He replied immediately saying as soon as the office opened in the morning he’d make sure we were safe.

So good to his word he called this morning and said that Homer was for real and had stopped an attempted fraudulent transfer. Now we needed to get to a bank branch quickly and close all our accounts.

Off we went to our usual branch and our manager there stopped what she was doing and gave us her full attention. It took a while but we got everything closed and this is where dear Krishna’s record keeping again came to the fore. We were able to go though all payments of the past months without tearing our hair out.

Lessons for all of us listen carefully even if you suspect the call may just be a scam! Be gracious to everyone. Be vigilant to anything suspicious and change your passwords often!

A long story that you just couldn’t make up!

We are so grateful to Homer and all at Chase who helped us today. So impressed with all they did to protect us. Let us all pray this Odyssey is over.

Blessing # 374 – Checks and Balances