The Price of Tea

My writing was done and I was ready to post it to my blog. Then I reread what I had written and a question my dad asked often while I was growing up popped into my head. “What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?”

Dad asked this question when he felt something I had said was of no significance with relationship to a conversation or situation. In other words, “That’s stupid!” (But he never would have said that.)

This experience set me to thinking about the many things I learned from Dad, some of which he taught using sayings and proverbs.

Just a few of the sayings I heard over the years:

“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

“Easy come, easy go.”

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

“If you make your bed, you must lie in it.”

“Actions speak louder than words.”

“Birds of a feather flock together.”

“Don’t cry over spilled milk.”

“Haste makes waste.”

“Money doesn’t grow on trees.”

“There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

“You reap what you sow.”

So that’s it for this week. I’ll edit the other writing and post it later.

Traveling Again

For nine years I was privileged to live in the beautiful state of Michigan. This week I will return there again to visit our daughter, Joanne, and son-in-law, Michael.

I sometimes wonder why we moved away from Michigan. I can't be sure, but it might have happened during a brain vacation. If there had been Internet back then, we would no doubt have used Google to locate Missouri information. As it happened, we engaged in discovery learning.

Subsequent to our move, we discovered that Missouri has a humid continental climate with cold winters and long, hot summers. According to legend, the Sioux Indians, because of the size of the Mighty Missouri River, called the area, land of the big canoe. Upon arrival, I named it, land of the no neighbors. In this climate, UFO sightings may be of about the same frequency as are neighbor sightings.

Cold weather usually arrives in Missouri in October, after which people stay inside to keep warm. Then, following a limited number of lovely spring days (maybe three or four), air conditioners come on and people hole up inside to keep cool. Sometimes, a neighbor’s head can be seen through the window of a beautiful vehicle and, occasionally, a complete neighbor is seen as he or she runs out a door to toss something on a grill.

It was also hot and cold in our Southern Michigan space. However, people participated in outdoor activities, both summer and winter. There, we saw neighbors. I jogged, walked to the library, read books on the patio, cooked on the grill, entertained guests for outdoor meals and parties, talked to neighbors over the back fence, worked in my flower garden, went on picnics, and spent days at the zoo. All of these things were done without experiencing heat exhaustion or feeling numb from cold.

Now we live just over the Missouri line in Kansas. Different address. Missouri climate.

Get ready, Southern Michigan, here I come!

~ Sign picture from Wikipedia