tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62632701929284619032024-03-19T00:31:11.250-07:00Mary's Ramblin'sTripping About The Country-
Observations from the Road and Home.Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.comBlogger2117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-6167568870886326822020-12-18T07:43:00.000-08:002020-12-18T07:43:07.486-08:00THE TROUBLE WITH BLOGSPOT.COM<p>I've been blogging on Blogspot and it is very limiting. You are not allowed more than 14 followers for starters. Today, if time permits, I am changing my blog back to Wordpress. If you are interested, you can find me at my old address when I blogged for six years with my Partner, Jim. Then we were OTRWJAM@wordpress.com. Now, it will read Marysramblins@wordpress.com, that is if the title is still available. I'll be working on it. </p><p>Ciao<br /></p>Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-79715841417838927962020-11-04T19:07:00.001-08:002020-11-04T19:07:24.166-08:00PROVERBS TO LIVE BY<p> We're all in favor of progress, providing we can have it without change. Bill Vaughn-Kansas.</p><p>There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience. French Proverb.</p><p>If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. Bernard Shaw.</p><p>Happy is the person who can laugh at himself. He will never cease to be amused. Habib Bourguiba.</p><p>If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses. Goethe.</p><p>Put all your eggs in one basket- and watch that basket. Mark Twain from Puddin Head Wilson.</p><p>A political convention is called to decide who's going to be the life of the party. Earl wilson.</p><p>Nobody knows the age of the human race, but all agree that it is old enough to know better. Shaw.</p><p> If hard work is the key to success, most people would rather pick the lock. Claude McDonald.</p><p>When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that three of his fingers are pointing at himself. Anonymous. </p><p>Every time you try to smother a truth, two others get their breath. Bill Copeland.</p><p>Worry is a fast getaway on a wooden horse.. Stanley Horowitz.</p><p>The more help a person has in his garden, the less it belongs to him. William H. Davis.</p><p>Country Music has come to town! It gives you a shiver like the faraway whistle of a night train; and the age-old lament for love lost or the joy of love discovered. The wry humor of hard workers and lonely drifters. It is life in a tune with its trials and rewards. You'll hear it in big cities and small towns from coast to coast. It is uniquely ALL AMERICAN.</p><p><br /></p><p>Ciao<br /></p><p> <br /></p><p> <br /></p>Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-71438926652699802882020-11-01T15:15:00.002-08:002020-11-01T15:15:23.311-08:00QUIRKY QUOTES FOR FUN.<p>If walking is good for your health, the postman would be immortal. </p><p>A whale swims all day, only eats fish, and drinks water, but is still fat. A rabbit runs and hops and only lives 15 years, while a tortoise doesn't run and does mostly nothing yet lives for 150 years, and they tell us to exercise? I don't think so.</p><p>Now that I'm older, here's what I've discovered in numerical order:</p><p>1. I started out with nothing and still have most of it</p><p>2. My wild oats are mostly enjoyed with prunes and Allbran.</p><p>3. Funny, I don't remember being absent minded. </p><p>4. Funny, I don't remember being absent minded.</p><p>5.If all is not lost, then where the heck is it?</p><p>6. It was a whole lot easier to get older than it was to get wiser.</p><p>7. Some days you're the top dog, some days you're the hydrant.</p><p>8. I wish the buck really would stop here. I sure could use a few of them.</p><p>9. Kids in the back seat cause accidents. Accidents in the back seat cause kids.</p><p>10. It is hard to make a come back when you haven't been anywhere.</p><p>11. The world only beats a path to your door when you're in the bathroom or you owe money.</p><p>12. If God wanted me to touch my toes, he'd have put them on my knees.</p><p>13. When I'm finally holding all he right cards, everyone wants to play chess.</p><p>14. It is not hard to meet expenses...they're everywhere.</p><p>15. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.</p><p>16. These days I spend a lot time thinking about the hereafter...I go somewhere to get something and wonder what I'm "here after."</p><p>17. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded?</p><p>18. Have I sent you this message before?? Or did I get it from you?</p><p>And last, some BUMPER SNICKERS:</p><p>Spotted in North Platte, Nebraska: Keep your doors locked. This is Zucchini season!</p><p>On a crumpled bumper in Atlanta: "I break for tailgaters".</p><p>From California: "Private bumper sticker. Do not read."</p><p> </p><p> <br /></p><p> </p><p> <br /></p><p> <br /></p><p><br /></p>Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-44178954322636888142020-10-31T12:00:00.000-07:002020-10-31T12:00:23.750-07:00WISDOM KEEPERS<p>That's me. A wisdom keeper. It seems to me, in my youth, I came up with a very cogent quote. I can't remember it anymore. Age robs us of more than years. Memory goes woggly, as well. But, there are so many wonderful quotes from others I hope to share today. Then, I'll print them out and read them now and then to stay up to date.<br /></p><p>My favorite:<br /></p><p>“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and
narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these
accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be
acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's
lifetime.” ― <i>Mark Twain <br /></i></p><p>"No Nation or state can advance faster than it's working classes."- H. A. Rucker</p><p>"Respect existence or expect resistance"- Martin Luther King</p><p>"Share the same garment of opportunity, for no human is illegal."- Martin Luther King</p><p>"Our inequality materializes our upper class, vulgarizes our middle class and brutalizes our lower class.- <span> </span>Matthew Arnold </p><p>"The gulf between employers and employed is constantly widening, and classes are rapidly forming, one comprising the very rich and powerful and the other the poor who are toiling." President Hoover</p><p>"The wealth of a country is its working people." Theodore Herzl</p><p>Wisdom is fine, but life must have some fun. A couple of young people loved to quote this in front of any serious conversations to jar the adults away from being too dull.<br /></p><p>"Sex is evil, Evil is sin, Sin is forgiven, So, sex is in!!!"</p><p>Don't you love it when the kids are more clever than the adults?</p><p>Cha, cha, cha.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /><i></i></p><p><br /><i></i></p><p><br /><i></i></p><p><i> </i></p><p><i> </i></p><p><i> </i></p>Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-86216571012509082112020-10-31T11:14:00.000-07:002020-10-31T11:14:08.099-07:00NO ONE FOR PRESIDENT<p>I'm prone to collecting expressions or statements that people make that either tickle my sense of humor or strike me s interesting, odd or unusual. Here are a few of them that have been hanging around on a scrap of paper.</p><p>I had a store in Murphys at one time and an older woman, Mrs. Fisher would visit me. She would joke about a cheap establishment from her day saying people called them: "Hotel De Bum Bill of Fare."</p><p>And another store friend, among many who hung out at my store and the next door barbershop where they'd come to me for their drinks after having their hair cut. It was known in the neighborhood as "The 4:30 Club. Kind of the end of the day. Business slowed down.</p><p>Buster Riedel loved to say with a twinkle in his eye:</p><p>When I was young I spent my money on booze and girls. The rest of it was wasted.</p><p>He also recited this bit:</p><p>When your heels hit hard, and your head feels queer, and your thoughts foam up like froth on a beer and you laugh like hell at some damn fool song, You're drunk, by God, You're drunk.</p><p>His wife, Rosie, didn't approve of the 4:30 Club so he would leave for home with these words:</p><p>" I gotta go home and get some hot tongue and cold shoulder." </p><p>He was in his 90's. He once owned a grocery store in downtown Murphys and he would drive to Stockton to order his bread and other stuff. He no longer ran the store, but he made it a point to make the trip and bring the 4:30 Club members, and other friends fresh bread about once a month. Those were fun times.</p><p>Murphys was full of interesting characters. Another was Betty Dunkle. She liked to repeat an old toast at any occasion where the wine and scotch flowed.</p><p>"Heres to you and here's to me, the best of friends we'll always be, If you have a friend both good and true, stab her in the back before she stabs you. </p><p>Another she was fond of was: Early to rise and early to bed, makes a girl healthy but socially dead. </p><p>I think I was the healthy one and socially dead, but I learned how to be a little bit wild with her as my friend. </p><p>So much for Tomfoolery. Don't know who Tom was, but I'm going to look him up on the internet where someone knows all and then I'll tell you.</p><p>Ciao<br /></p><p><br /></p><p> <br /></p><p> <br /></p>Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-85309903884247964432020-10-30T09:46:00.002-07:002020-10-31T10:14:44.014-07:00DEATH AND DISEASE<p>The Corona Virus is a scary disease, but there have been much worse. Flu epidemics were deadly and people of the early 1920's saw fit to wear masks, not quite like those we find today. But, in 1867 Yellow Fever killed 1/3 of the population of Texas, Louisiana and the Mississippi low country. No one knew at the time that mosquitoes carried the deadly virus. </p><p>Many areas were prone to flooding at the time. Many houses were built on stilts to keep the flood waters at bay. In fact, even garbage cans were on stilts. To empty them, they could be tipped over and dumped and then moved back to level again. </p><p>When Jim and I traveled in Louisiana and Mississippi, we saw many houses on stilts though at the time, I didn't realized how deadly and destructive some of the weather there could be. Nor did I realize that Texas was a hot bed for flooding diseases. We take for granted that waterways are very much controlled by ditches and dams. It was not always so. <br /></p><p>I'm astounded at how much history we forget. And, when we forget, we are destined to repeat<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-38581909662742972242020-10-18T08:18:00.000-07:002020-10-18T08:18:24.626-07:00CHEERS # II<p>The popular Cheers character, Norm Peterson, was known for his one-line zingers. It was a long running popular program that I enjoyed very much. I hope you did too. More remembrances.<br /></p><p>SAM: Beer Norm?</p><p>NORM: Have I gotten that predictable? Good!</p><p>SAM: Whatcha up to Norm?</p><p>NORM: My ideal weight if I were eleven feet tall.</p><p>WOODY: How's it going Mr. Peterson?</p><p>NORM: Poor.</p><p>WOODY: I'm sorry to hear that.</p><p>NORM: No, I mean pour.</p><p>SAM: How's life treating you Norm?</p><p>NORM: Like it caught me sleeping with its wife,</p><p> SAM: What's going down, Normie?</p><p>NORM: My butt cheeks on that bar stool.</p><p>WOODY: Pour you a beer Mr. Peterson? </p><p>NORM: Alright, but stop me at one...make that thirty one.</p><p>WOODY: How's it going Mr. Peterson?</p><p>NORM: It's a dog eat dog world, Woody, and I'm wearing milk bone underwear.</p><p>SAM: What's the story Norm?</p><p>NORM: Boy meets beer. Boy drinks beer. Boy meets another beer.</p><p>WOODY: Can I pour you a beer Mr. Pertson?</p><p>NORM: A little early isn't it Woody?</p><p>WOODY: For a beer?</p><p>NORM: No, for stupid questions.</p><p><br /></p><p>And, so it goes. I'm sure there are many more. </p><p>Exit stage right.......<br /></p><p><br /></p><p> <br /></p><p> <br /></p><p> <br /></p><p> <br /></p>Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-89137233636869617112020-10-17T07:32:00.002-07:002020-10-17T07:32:33.802-07:00CHEERS POPULAR TV PROGRAM<p> <span style="font-family: verdana;">Norman Peterson quotes from the Cheers show are very funny. Thought I'd repeat some of them here.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>Sam: What's new Normie?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>Norm: Terrorists Sam. They've taken over my stomach & theyre demanding beer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>Sam: What'll you have Normie?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>Norm: A reason to live. Give me another beer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>Sam: What'll you have Normie?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>Norm: I'm in a gambling mood Sammy. I'll take whatever comes out of that tap. <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>Sam: Looks like beer Norm.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>Norm: Call me Mr. Lucky.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>SAM: Hey Norm, hows the world been treating you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>Norm: Like a baby treats a diaper.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>Woody: Hey Mr. Peterson, there's a cold one waiting for you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>Norm: I know, if she calls I'm not here.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">More Normie quotes later.<br /></span></p>Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-65801112929811615252020-04-05T18:10:00.000-07:002020-04-05T18:34:51.613-07:00INHERITED HABITSMy mom and my dad's sister, my Aunt Mary Rowe, were great communicators. They would write a pithy quote on their letters and cards to each other and other relatives as well. I expect I've inherited their love of these short little quips of wisdom or humor. With the Corona Virus and sequestering, I've found I do not have more time than usual. But I do more things that I like to do in the time I do have. So, here are some words from ages:<br />
<br />
Well, first, a word of wisdom from me: Don't do business with AT&T if you can avoid it. They have to be one of the worst companies for customer service.<br />
<br />
Now, to the greats:<br />
<br />
No man can conform his faith<br />
to the dictates of another.<br />
The life and essence of religion<br />
consists in the internal<br />
persuasion or belief of the mind<br />
<br />
Thomas Jefferson, 1819<br />
<br />
That woman tempted me,<br />
And she tempts me still.<br />
I pray to God,<br />
She always will!<br />
<br />
Perhaps the author (unk.) was fearful to sign it.<br />
<br />
Life is short, live it!<br />
Love is rare, grab it!<br />
Anger is bad, dump it!<br />
Fear is awful, face it!<br />
Memories are sweet, cherish them!<br />
<br />
Another unknown author but<br />
a great quote.<br />
<br />
Anything too stupid to be said, is sung.<br />
<br />
Voltaire (1694-1778)<br />
<br />
Last words of a dying Pancho Villa:<br />
<br />
Don't let it end like this,<br />
Tell them I said something- (1877-1923)<br />
<br />
This is lousy weather for a wedding toast<br />
but then it is lousy weather for just about anything.<br />
It poured rain, ceaselessly all day.<br />
<br />
Here is to the Bride<br />
May you always have diamonds on your fingers<br />
and knock-you-dead-destroy-the-paycheck<br />
dresses to wear.<br />
Here is to the Groom<br />
May you have an indestructible paycheck.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-62910516068371072692020-03-24T21:00:00.000-07:002020-03-24T21:00:49.635-07:00QUIPS AND QUOTESSometimes, we need a little levity.<br />
<br />
To be alive, not just the carcass<br />
But the spark. That's crudely put<br />
But if we are not supposed to dance<br />
Then why all the music?<br />
By Gregory Orr<br />
<br />
My candle burns at both ends;<br />
It will not last the night;<br />
But, ah, my foes, and ah, my friends...<br />
It gives a lovely light.<br />
Edna St. Vincent Millay<br />
<br />
He who doesn't like<br />
Wine,women and song<br />
Remains a fool<br />
His whole life long.<br />
<br />
Author unknown to me.<br />
<br />
Fortune favors the brave.<br />
<br />
Virgil Aeneid 70 BC-19 BC<br />
<br />
Anything too stupid to be said is sung.<br />
<br />
Voltaire (1694-1778)<br />
<br />
<i>Aside: Those oldsters didn't mince words.</i><br />
<br />
The hand that rocks the cradle<br />
Is the hand that rules the earth;<br />
The hand that holds four aces,<br />
Bet on it for all you're worth.<br />
<br />
Author unknown to me, but it sounds good.<br />
<br />
Ciao <br />
<br />
<br />Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-58717191479368704512020-03-20T22:02:00.000-07:002020-03-20T22:02:16.850-07:00GREED AND FEAR.No one is responsible for the Corona Virus. It just happened. People are fearful and hopefully, as I, and others face Isolation things will improve. For the first time since I've been diagnosed with cancer, my Doctor asked me to skip a treatment and stay home. Part of the reason is that I'm doing well and I'm at great risk to have blood work and an infusion at my age with a serious disease. <br />
<br />
My grandson, Stewart and his fiance, Allie, returned from Europe three days ago. They were immediately quarantined. I asked them what they were doing and they told me they were working jigsaw puzzles and eating a lot of popcorn. Allie is a nurse and Stewart is a tech writer, so he can work from home as long as his services are needed. And Allie will soon be needed with her skills.<br />
<br />
My daughter bought me a lot of groceries so I could last a month without going to a grocery store. I'm at risk because of age and disease. I'm being very careful. But, I went to the post office. That is not very careful. I was out for therapy and I convinced myself it was all right. NOT! No one in the post office, not the customers or the workers wore masks or seemed at all concerned. I immediately came home and washed, washed, washed. I shouldn't have gone there.<br />
<br />
My son Doug walked in his ankle boot cast to his local grocery and found the shelves quite empty. He has a turkey in his freezer, and was looking to buy some potatoes to go with the turkey. He said, "I can live for a week or more on a turkey. He called me from the market and I suggested he get stuffing mix to go with his turkey, or boxed potato flakes. All gone! Looking at the emptiness he asked a checker whey the shelves were so bare. She told him that a group of men, swooped in and took everything. She found out they were hoping to sell the stuff on the black market when things get desperate. That is criminal greed.<br />
<br />
I was stunned. Doug was too. However, the store had a sign up front that said no returns would be granted on receipts for purchases from March 17th forward. According to her, that put a stop to it. . <br />
<br />
Now, let's talk about fear. This happened in a Save Mart, earlier, where Doug went to buy some hamburger and the butcher told him they were out at the moment but he was getting a side of beef in and to come back in about two hours and he'd have some meat in the case.<br />
He returned and a man and his wife took all of the meat the butcher had cut and wrapped and put in the case. The butcher asked the guy to take a package or two. Allow someone else to have a some meat. The guy defiantly went to the check stand. The checker asked him to put some of it back and only take two packages. He growled at her, "Check me out!"<br />
And she did. I consider that greed and fear.<br />
<br />
I don't know if that Save Mart made it a policy, by posting a sign, requiring patrons to limit their purchases to what they need immediately. Doug's truck broke down and he cannot drive anymore and must hobble in his cast to the local market with the empty shelves. Maybe, deliveries will continue and the shelves will have more than bare spaces. <br />
<br />
I hope we have leadership in Washington that can get help for everyone very soon. After all this isn't a political issue, it is a health issue and we should all be working together to keep the Corona Virus from spreading. I'm so grateful that I have stupendous neighbors who call and check on me and ask if I need anything. I'm grateful that I don't need anything but resolve.<br />
<br />
May we all get through this with a minimum of disease among our friends and families. This pandemic is like nothing we have ever faced as a nation before. It is financially troubling especially for people like young waiters and waitresses who depend on tips to make ends meet and suddenly are unemployed with nothing coming in. And, who will gather the homeless and find treatment and testing for them who can continue to spread the virus without check?<br />
<br />
Isolation, though not permanent, can surely slow the spread of this deadly disease. I pledge.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-86709433713317852872020-03-17T14:00:00.002-07:002020-03-17T14:00:50.696-07:00AN IRISH BLESSING.It is St. Patricks Day today and I recently learned that using the term Paddy is a derogative term. So I shan't go there.<br />
My mother was French and my father was Irish, English, Belgian, Scotch and a wee bit of this and that. My mother wryly commented, "You can be a Heintz 57, but if there is a little bit of Irish in you, you consider yourself Irish." And so it was with my father. He drank heavy as a young man and to save his marriage he became a teetotaler. Once in a while, he'd sip a little and he'd sing us those Irish ballads he remembered from his youth. Sad and soulful, Oh Danny Boy, would have we kids in tears. As his tongue got thick, the accent got thicker and the songs much more fun. This one comes to mind:<br />
<br />
Oh, lady would you be kind enough to give me a bite to eat,<br />
A slice of bread and butter with a ten foot slice of meat,<br />
A piece of pie and custard would tickle me appetite<br />
For really I am so hungry I don't know where I'll sleep tonight.<br />
<br />
Chorus:<br />
Hallelujah, I'm a bum,<br />
Hallelujah, bum again,<br />
Hallelujah, give us a handout to revive us again.<br />
<br />
The Little Rock Candy Mountains, was another favorite. Ah, I guess I'm awash in memories.<br />
<br />
But here then is the Irish Blessing, author unknown.<br />
<br />
May there always be<br />
work for your hands to do,<br />
<br />
May your purse<br />
always hold a coin or two,<br />
<br />
May the sun always shine<br />
on your windowpane,<br />
<br />
May a rainbow be certain<br />
to follow the rain. <br />
<br />
May the hand of a friend<br />
always be near you,<br />
<br />
May God fill your heart<br />
with gladness to cheer you.<br />
<br />
Top o' the mornin' to ya!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-7662570043791166982020-02-29T16:42:00.000-08:002020-02-29T16:42:34.643-08:00WAS VOTING EASIER?<span style="font-family: inherit;">I ask the question, was voting easier? In a word, NO! I took directions from the newspaper. Turn on-to Stanislaus Ave. Turn right on Tuolumne Rd. Turn right again and you will see directions to the polling place. Nope. Turned up Stanislaus, dead ended into Cliff Rd. Turned right found Oneida Rd. Rt. again, Tuolumne Rd and signs for the polling place. Whoops, sorry, the polls don't open until 8:00. My protest: I called the County and they said 7:00 a.m. I did not get a mail ballot. They should have mailed one to everyone, I was told. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I went out for breakfast and returned approximately 8:45. The machines weren't working. After 15 minutes or so, the machines cooperated and they found that I was indeed a registered voter. I voted in less then 10 minutes and left. The poll workers were extremely nice and helpful. I'm still miffed that after 44 years in Murphys, there was not one polling place in our fair village.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sour grapes on my part. I hope it is better organized in November. </span>Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-50154103344911678282020-02-28T11:22:00.002-08:002020-02-28T11:22:59.768-08:00MAKING VOTING EASIER?Most of my news comes from my newspaper. I was under the impression that the powers that be were trying to make voting easier, by having more voting days, meaning more choices. What a shocker when I found out that there is NO PLACE IN MURPHYS to vote. I've lived here for 44 years and there is not place to vote in Murphys? How can that be. Guaranteed, voting will be down from normal with conditions I will list:<br />
<br />
I can vote election day in Arnold at the Library. Take note, Arnold is an area with more vacation homes than permanent residents. They are only open election day. Did I get something in the mail explaining all of these changes? NO! Arnold is twenty-five miles from me one way. Drive 50 miles to vote? Not very practical for most people I know.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow, on a Saturday, I can drive to Angels Camp, only eleven miles from my house to go and vote. Is it in a recognizable hall? NO! I was told over the phone, go to Stanislaus St until it ends, turn right , then another right on Tuolumne St. and signs will direct you where to go. Again, this is the only day that site will be open. When our voting ability has gotten worse, not better, turnout is sure to be diminished.<br />
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I'm really bummed about this and feeling helpless to do anything about it. A letter to the newspaper may help get people riled up before the general election. Riled up enough to perhaps get some stability in our election process. Democracy depends on our right and our ability to vote.<br />
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I'm still stunned that this is so.Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-52077789223558156472020-02-23T11:03:00.001-08:002020-02-23T11:03:22.445-08:00NO HOT WATERPlumbing is for plumbers. A blocked sink that suddenly will not open makes me laugh, but the undrainable sink isn't really funny until I lie on the floor and try to fix it and get the giggles. I don't know who invented rubber gloves, but oh, how I treasure them for plumbing tasks. Living single is challenging. Getting up on a ladder to clean the
screen on my wood stove pipe would give me a warmer, less smokey house.Getting on the roof at my age with a bum knee on the right and a bum ankle on the left is something I shouldn't try. If I get desperate enough I will. I'm frigorific and shrammed. (I'm into new vocabulary words.) Yes, I'm showing off, because I'm fascinated by some of these old English words because they are so useless, or, as the old English say, bootless. I actually started collecting them because I wanted to wow my daughter with words she probably wouldn't know when we play scrabble. As busy as we are that hardly ever happens anymore. Such long words aren't practical anyway. Loess will work when you have too many esses in your hand. It means windblown soil, like drifted desert deposits. Zolaf is good when you have a hard to use Z with combined with a hard to use F. It is a tea spout sleeve. Just what everyone needs, but hey, in a scrabble game, it works. These daffynitions come from Merrium Webster. I swear they are real. How about saln, for peace and harmony. Or serac, a cut in the earth. Stupa, a mostly conical structure for storing bones. I have personal knowledge of stupas from my trip to Thailand. Too many N's? How about nene. A Hawaiian goose. Xerus is a type of giant squirrel. Zeru is a humped bovine. You've heard the word capo. Sounds like a mobster boss instead of a moveable bar on a guitar.<br />
Well, I've had my fun with words. I must heat water on the stove to wash my dishes and hope Monday brings someone agile and talented to my rescue. Ciao. Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-13157252939002610302019-12-23T07:27:00.000-08:002019-12-23T07:29:44.385-08:00ACORNS, WEATHER AND FAD FOOD.The day before yesterday, I spent a solid two hours blowing acorns off my deck and sidewalks and driveways. Thousands of them. Radio personality, John Tesh, on Intelligence For Your Life, talked about the new fad food making the rounds- acorn meal. He mentioned starving squirrels. I wish he could direct them to my house.<br />
After blowing the acorns I realized they were still there, thickly clustered around the perimeter of my driveways, decks and walking areas. Dang! Dust pan after dust pan load I dutifully removed and tossed into tree barren areas. Aha! Problem fixed.<br />
Yesterday we were warned of a huge storm coming in with lots of rain. Ferocious winds blew all day with no sign of rain. Acorns blew down with such force the acorns popped like firecrackers on the hard surfaces. The rains eventually came in a torrent dropping even more of the unwelcome crop of squirrel food. ( I only have two squirrels in my yard.) <br />
I carefully opened the curtains this morning. There were puddles of acorns near the downspouts swirling there with equal numbers of broken twigs, dead leaves and in some areas huge dead branches fell in the yard. My decks look like they have acorn chicken pox.<br />
But, on the bright side, it looks like an abstract painting. <br />
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One of these days, soon I hope, I'm going to learn how to put a picture on this blog. My new computer is wonderful but non techies like myself are still on a learning curve. Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-6750219379066843442019-12-20T14:05:00.002-08:002019-12-20T14:05:48.349-08:00BUSY SEASONS GREETINGS.It's been quite awhile since I've posted on this blog. Everyone has been busy preparing for Christmas; sending cards, mailing packages, singing and listening to Carols and most of all, attending every Christmas Party one can manage. I love the holidays.<br />
My peculiar condition means, I went to see the play SOME THINGS AFOOT on Friday at the Murphys Creek Theatre with youngest daughter and then set my sights on a "speakeasy", open Mike poetry and readings at The Gallery in Angels Camp. <br />
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Doesn't work that way. I made the play on Friday, but was tooooo tired and exhausted to make it to Open Mike. That's how it goes. One symptom of the medicine I'm taking is profound fatigue. <br />
<br />
Christmas kind of tippy-toes up on you and suddenly you realize you're not ready. OMIGOSH. My whole family, all six grandsons, all my kids, their spouses, a few strays, a couple of brothers hungry for home cooking, an adopted family, a politician, a neighbor or two, a rock hard conservative, some one missing a dog and a bunch of noisy democrats. A recipe for wonders not experienced in a long time at this big shack.<br />
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Yesterday friends helped me haul out the decorations and put up lights. I opened ornaments boxes I hadn't seen in a long time. Brushed off the dust and WOW! It's a wonderful day. Now I get to savor the wait; look forward to all the goodies that will come through the door and enjoy the weather. Predicted cold but clear and sunny through out the holiday. Can't ask for better than that.<br />
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On my home page this morning was a marvelous quote from Sophia Loren I'll pass on to you:<br />
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"<i>There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you tap this source you will truly have defeated age.</i>"<br />
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So, what ever you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows. Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-72756918984746073882019-12-04T16:55:00.000-08:002019-12-04T16:55:09.525-08:00CAN YOU READ THIS?<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #26282a; font-family: arial; font-size: 24pt;"><br clear="none" /> </span></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #26282a; font-family: arial; font-size: 24pt;">Can you raed this? Olny 55 people out of 100 can.</span></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #26282a; font-family: arial; font-size: 24pt;"><br clear="none" /> </span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #26282a; font-family: arial; font-size: 24pt;">I
cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a
word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last ltteer be
in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed
it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed
ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh and
I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can raed this forwrad
it.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #26282a; font-family: arial; font-size: 24pt;">thnksnaivg is oevr and I've had athoner ifsnuoin. wahteer is bad. I'm Tarniing my bairn to get rid of my cncear. Hpoe it wroks.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #26282a; font-family: arial; font-size: 24pt;">Coia!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #26282a; font-family: arial; font-size: 24pt;">Mrya </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span>Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-2208476219413267662019-11-24T20:03:00.000-08:002019-11-24T20:03:20.214-08:00WEATHERHere we are, getting ready for Thanksgiving and the weather prediction has changed twice in two days. First, snow on the 27th and 28 at the 7,000 foot level. Later in the day, a new assessment, snow expected as low as the 5,000 foot level.<br />
Today, my neighbor heard a radio broadcast predicting snow at the 2,000 foot level tomorrow. Since I live at the 2,500 foot level, I scrambled to get my outside chores finished. Blew off the acorns from my deck and driveway and covered a few sensitive plants that don't take well to snow and ice.<br />
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While I complain about this turnabout weather, I'm reading all about climate change turning wildfires into megafires. Monarch butterfly populations plummeting, Rocket fuel in kid's cereal. Lead seeping into the Gila River. Geez, does it never end? It sounds like we are doomed but the name of the magazine I'm reading is Solutions and the solutions are out there. People working to leverage change on every front. This information comes from the Environmental Defense Fund.<br />
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Clean energy job growth is a centerpiece for solving the climate crisis. The fastest clean energy growth is led by four Republican Governors, Nevada, Kansas, Oklahoma and Kentucky and one Democratic Governor, Pennsylvania. If the feds don't do it our State Leaders are bold and smart enough to step in. Wind and Solar are now the cheapest source of new electricity across two-thirds of the world, according to EDF.<br />
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Climate Corps are committed to helping create 20,000 jobs and bring in $25 Billion in investment and slash unhealthy emissions in Ohio. A report called Powering Ohio brings a new top tier set of grad students trained by EDF, promoting renewable electric vehicles and reaching out to cities and institutions in the U.S, and China to cut energy use and create sustainable supply chains that set strict emissions reduction goals. Commerce at its safest.<br />
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EDF is helping restore 30,000 acres of Monarch butterfly habitat in California's Central Valley. Oregon fisherman, Brad Pettinger is using sensors, analytics and artificial intelligence to track catches to keep our ocean healthy. Beia Spiller uses satellite and health data to calculate the social cost of air pollution.<br />
EDF is working for a program to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta habitats for salmon, water users and wildlife protection. <br />
<br />
EDF has warriors for clean air and water. They have scientists that can measure particulate in the air and provide evidence that give depth to City Officials worried about their communities. Land loss in Louisiana has in the past been a tightly guarded secret. Now, they are planting oyster beds that filter fertilizer run off and help abate storm surges from washing away soil and sand. Places that Jim and I visited are now underwater and were already threatened when we were there. This is a 50 billion 50 year state plan to save lives and coastal fishing and marshes. It would be so much cheaper to not let things like this happen in the first place. <br />
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Shakeila James from EDF's Moms For Clean Air has introduced Community RX that brings black women from the South to fight for their communities. Black children are three times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma. Their mission has been adopted by prominent black pastors and has reached 2000 fighting women. Way to go! Never underestimate the power of a mad, protective mom.<br />
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I was surprised to learn that there are more fires in the Eastern and Southern United States than the West. Those in the West are are bigger and hotter and more destructive. But new forest management plans can help reduce that threat. There is so much more to be done. Texas is a holdout, resisting the evidence of climate change.<br />
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Eventually, they will have to come to the table and work with their native populations and their people will find themselves and their homes and land susceptible to the dangers of ignoring climate change.<br />
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Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-26269935433799548082019-11-23T18:07:00.001-08:002019-11-23T18:07:17.499-08:00EXPRESSIONSCreativity abounds when searching for the right description. Alta Hanks would say: "The little ones is eatin' up the big ones." It took me a while to understand she was talking about mosquitoes. Another: "He hopped on that ide'er like a duck on a June bug." Alta married my husband's father late in life and he saved her from working in the fields, following the crops. She was the best gardener I ever met and she sowed by the moon and the sun. It never made sense to me but bountiful gardens did.<br />
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Southerners are known for their homilies and these come from Toni L.P. Kelner, a Murder Mystery Writer.<br />
"He was nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs."<br />
"If she moved any slower, she'd be goin' backwards."<br />
"I ate so much, I'd like to bust a gusset."<br />
"Just between you, me and the gate post..."<br />
"She was plain as a mud fence."<br />
"I've got more time than money."<br />
"You'd think he owned the road, and half the town besides,"<br />
It took me a minute to understand he was describing a braggart.<br />
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The World War II Vets came home with a bunch of expressions.<br />
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"Killroy was here."<br />
"Gotta fag?"<br />
'Toss that in the circular file."<br />
"What's the latest poop?"<br />
"He went AWOL.<br />
"He is headed for the brig."<br />
"Where's the John in this stinkin' frat house."<br />
"Shut your blow-hole or they'll give you Latrine Duty."<br />
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I'm struggling to remember other colorful expressions. I know my friend Howard Hoyt and I one time made a list. I'll have to grab him and we old museum pieces can share old war stories. And, Museums, too.<br />
They will probably pop into my head while I'm sleeping.<br />
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Ciao <br />
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Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-21992520348096972992019-11-22T17:24:00.001-08:002019-11-22T17:24:26.706-08:00MUSEUMSI've rambled about the country a lot when I traveled with Jim and we visited a lot of museums. Don't believe we went through a town that didn't have a museum. One thing I learned about travel is you need a good pair of shoes. Now, for choices.<br />
<br />
MUSTARD MUSEUM<br />
CIGAR<br />
QUESTIONABLE MEDICAL DEVICES <br />
These read and looked like torture devices. None of them got patented.<br />
COOKIE JAR<br />
CHECKER HALL OF FAME<br />
JOHNSTOWN FLOOD MUSEUM<br />
TOOTH FAIRY<br />
ICE HOUSE MUSEUM<br />
BEVERAGE CONTAINERS<br />
Hard to believe how many varieties once made. <br />
CHECKER HALL OF FAME<br />
TOILET PAPER MUSEUM<br />
A note on this one, I had a friend who collected toilet paper and I found a unique piece in China and brought him several sheets. He moved from the Diggin's. I have a roll with smiley faces on it? Anybody? Your's for the asking.<br />
BALL HALL OF FAME<br />
BOWLING BALL HALL OF FAME.<br />
LIBERACE MUSEUM <br />
Now closed. My Mom came away with sparkles in her eyes from his glittering stage costumes and his music. <br />
MOTOR CYCLE<br />
Quite a history lesson. Both Jim and I had a turn at owning and riding motor cycles. <br />
NATIONAL KNIFE MUSEM. <br />
You could expect jack knives, and swords, but biblical blades and guillotine setups and unimaginal shaped blades and handles from countries I'd never heard of. Monster instruments meant to kill and maime. Fascinating even so.<br />
MUSEUM OF AMERICAN GLASS.<br />
A meander through awesome beauty. The glass bloswers were working and they also told the story of how leaded glass caused the death of workers who developed lead poisoning. Glass that held neon like qualities when the lights were out could make one believe in magic.<br />
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Many more on my list to revisit on another day. <br />
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<br />Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-37296234365084806282019-11-20T20:46:00.002-08:002019-11-20T20:46:16.702-08:00POLITICS AS A PROFESSIONEvery two weeks, I have Monday Bloodwork then Tuesday Infusion. suffice it to say I don't blog those days. Today, I speak of Politics.<br />
Politics is the most hazardous of all professions. There is no other in which a man or woman can hope to do so much good to his or her fellow creatures. And, neither is there any in which, by mere loss of nerve, he or she may do widespread harm. There is not another in which he or she may so easily lose one's soul, nor is there another in which a positive and strict veracity is so difficult. But danger is the inseparable companion of honor. With all temptations and degradations that beset it, Politics is still the noblest career any one can choose.<br />
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This was written by Andrew Oliver of Boston in the 18th century, except for my inclusion of women, where in the 18th century only men engaged in politics, those words stand true today.<br />
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<br />Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-66269444409460074502019-11-17T07:48:00.000-08:002019-11-17T07:48:16.631-08:00WHAT'S IN A NAME?I missed blogging yesterday because a friend came to visit with two of the sweetest, cutest<br />
young daughters you'd ever want to meet. She is going to send me some pictures.<br />
Cousin Bob visited on Friday and we got to yapping and I never did take a picture of handsome Bob. <br />
Then, to make things difficult, I'm still relearning how to post on this blog. For instance, I haven't figured how to look at the previous blog to see where I left off on all those funny names. <br />
I typed a very long poem from 1870 three days ago and saved it. I know not how to retrieve it. There must be a word for someone like me. Dimwit comes to mind but I expect I'm technically challenged. <br />
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Today, let me start with something not in print. Mining towns have interesting names. In Sutter Creek there was a place called Pig Turd Alley. I wish I'd taken a picture of it all those years ago. But the street sign was stolen so often they finally had to rename it something wimpy.<br />
Funck Road on Highway 4 near Farmington, named for the Funck family who settled there years ago. You can imagine how many times that sign had the n painted out. I've forgotten the wimpy new name.<br />
We still have Beer Can Corner in Sonora, about which I know nothing about how it got named. I used to live on Hanging Tree Rd. I once got someone else's package who lived on Hang Tree Rd. in Mokelumne Hill. Remnants of cowboy justice during and after the gold rush days. My Exchange student from Indonesia, with college age children of her own, just admitted to me in an email that when she first saw the name of our street in a letter I wrote to welcome her to America, that she was afraid to come because of the name of the road. What a hoot.<br />
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Rereading a scrap book I put together about a trip my husband and I made to Kansas City and through the State of Missouri, I couldn't help but notice the interesting town names. Admire, Kansas was the only one I wrote down for that State, but Missouri had some interesting gems. Peculiar, Cool, Tickridge, Deepwater, Truman Lake, Humansville, Ozark, and Cahoot. The more interesting thing about Missouri was passing by President Truman's house. Bess Truman was calmly working in her garden and we said hello to her. She smiled and said, "Good Morning". One of her neighbor's told us that she didn't like the huge fence surrounding the property, but it protected her from overzealous tourists. The Truman's refused to have a cadre of Secret Service Men in constant attention guarding their place. (That saved the U.S. Government a lot of money.) They knew their neighbors were decent people and that most people are likewise. Different times, to be sure.<br />
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I had a friend who named their pet Rabbit, Hop-a-long Cassidy. Pet names are another whole elephant.<br />
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Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-1654240953025072752019-11-15T08:11:00.000-08:002019-11-15T08:11:39.695-08:00FUNNY NAME USA CONTINUEDToday, I have a cousin visiting. Since I'm posting names, I mention him because he has a perfectly decent name. He is a handsome dude and his name is Robert. We've called him Bob for most of his life. But lately he insists on calling himself Joebob. I accused him once of trying to be a hillbilly, but, for some unfathomable reason, he likes Joebob. He is a snowbird; lives in Washington and escapes to sunny California for the winter. We'll probably take some pictures and I'll post them and maybe you can tell me why a very dignified man would want to be called Joebob?<br />
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I'm a bit off topic. These towns from Funny Name USA are anything but dignified either. Hopefully I'm not repeating. But here goes:<br />
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Chunky, Mississippi<br />
Makes you wonder, why Chunky?<br />
Tightwad, Missouri<br />
Why name your town after a tightwad. They couldn't all be tightwads?<br />
Molt, Montana<br />
Worms, Nebraska <br />
Yuk. Where ya from? Worms, Nebraska? Did I hear that right?<br />
Jackpot, Nevada<br />
Dummer, New Hampshire<br />
I gotta quit commenting or someone might shoot me.<br />
Buttzville, New Jersey<br />
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico <br />
Handsome Eddy, New York<br />
Whynot, North Carolina<br />
Zap, North Dakota<br />
Dull, Ohio<br />
Okay, Oklahoma<br />
Boring, Oregon<br />
Halfway House, Pennsylvania<br />
Moosup Valley, Rhode Island<br />
Ketchuptown, South Carolina<br />
I'd be willing to bet they grow a lot of tomatoes there. <br />
Porcupine, South Dakota<br />
Sweet Lips, Tennessee <br />
Sounds like a movie.<br />
Earth, Texas<br />
Eggnogg, Utah<br />
Mosquitoville, Vermont<br />
Fries, Virginia<br />
Dollar Corner, Washington<br />
Bud, West Virginia<br />
Maybe this is where my cousin came from?<br />
Imalone, Wisconsin<br />
Bar Nunn, Wyoming<br />
Intercourse, Pennsylvania<br />
I've been there too. You know, you just have to keep a straight face. It is a very devout and proper<br />
city with many hardworking farmers who drive old fashioned buggy's and don't have electricity or modern conveniences. I've forgotten what religion they are but they attract a lot of tourists. <br />
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<br />Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263270192928461903.post-15581893580856863422019-11-14T08:32:00.001-08:002019-11-14T08:32:07.331-08:00FUNNY NAME USAWhen I was a stamp collector, I began collecting envelopes with Christmas themed post marks. Towns like Mistletoe, Noel, Harmony, Christmas, North Pole, Holly, and so on. I would display them in a miniature mail box...well, we all have our little obsessions. It was fun. Recently I came across Funny Name USA. Check these out.<br />
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Boar Tush, Alabama<br />
Eek, Alaska<br />
Why, Arizona<br />
Booger Hollow, Arkansas<br />
Zzyzx, California<br />
Hygiene, Colorado<br />
Needmore, Florida<br />
Happyland, Connecticut<br />
Bacons, Delaware<br />
Hopeulikit, Georgia<br />
Volcano Village, Hawaii<br />
Beer Bottle Crossing, Idaho<br />
Embarrass, Illinois<br />
Santa Claus, Indiana<br />
Correctionville, Iowa<br />
Ransomeville, Kansas<br />
Monkey's Eyebrow, Kentucky<br />
Cut Off, Louisiana<br />
Owls Head, Maine<br />
Accident, Maryland<br />
Belchertown, Massachusetts<br />
Hell, Michigan<br />
There was once a Hell, California, too. It is long gone<br />
however.<br />
There's more. I'll get to them tomorrow if I can't find what I originally typed up for today.<br />
I'm sort of relearning how to blog and what I saved I cannot find. This list may<br />
sound familiar, because I got it from a Readers Digest. One of these days, I'll figure out how to<br />
insert a picture and still be able to return to the blog. Hey, it's trickier than it used to be. <br />
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<br />Mary Matzekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09271103301714965937noreply@blogger.com0