"Does this mean you will see me naked?"

We are reading “Does this mean you will see me naked?” by Robert Webster.  The sub-title is “Field Notes from a Funeral Director”.  Until this book, I had not heard of ‘death care’.  It is just a term used to mean a specialist who provides care of a body after death.  Webster makes clear that a dead body can fart, expend mucus from the mouth and nose and perform other maybe unexpected actions.  The author also makes clear that important aspects of death services involve emotionally upset marriage partners, children of the deceased - often adults themselves, and others.  The funeral director and staff members perform tasks and render services that may well be completely out of the world of most functioning adults. 

Too smoky

I posted that there would be a blog pause but there is too much smoke from US and Canadian forest fires.  We didn’t go.  The government air quality web site says even our Zip code right here has air quality now that is “very unhealthy”.  We are holding our breath until it clears up.

Blog pause again

Look for a post along about Wed., the 22nd.

A daytrip

Yesterday, we took a bus trip with 48 people, about 5 of them men.  It was a trip organized by UWSP Continuing Ed and featured our usual driver.  It was called “Wisconsin Cherry Pie Christmas” and it was around the vacation spots of Door County, a peninsula that sticks out into Lake Michigan from Green Bay.

One of several Door County shops and restaurants we visited was Tannenbaum Holiday Shop in Sister Bay.  It was the most minutely decorated store I have ever visited, in an attempt to show Christmas and Fourth of July decorations and paraphernalia.  Each member of the group was given a Christmas tree ornament of a slice of cherry pie, to hang on our tree in December.

It was in Tannenbaum shop that I saw my first upsidedown Christmas tree.  It was designed to be for the 4th of July celebrating the birth and history of the United States - many objects and ribbons - all red, white and blue.

Cherries are an important product in that area.

Blog was paused - too busy!

We started early and we just got home.  Blog will resume tomorrow.

Movie: "Song Sung Blue"

We had a quick dinner last night and therefore extra time for tv.  We landed on the movie “Song Sung Blue” about a pair of night club singers who meet, love and marry.  They emphasize songs by Neil Diamond and sing in the Milwaukee area.

I have never been much for popular music but I listened to Neil Diamond often.

I was surprised by my feelings of understanding and sympathy for the couple as they have children and develop careers.  If I had been born with different hearing for music and tones, the story could have been about me.

Supporting cast

We watched all the episodes of “The Closer” starring Kyra Sedgewick.  When she left the show, the story was continued as “Major Crimes”.  I had never experienced the level of comfort and familiarity with the supporting cast of officers in the “LAPD” that I knew from The Closer when Major Crimes became our first program of the evening. We knew the personalities and specialities already.

Early!

I am often early.  I put it down to enthusiasm, with maybe a little fear of being late.  It doesn’t seem to matter what the event is.  I leave to get there early.  I try to allow for the correct travel time but then there are no holdups or traffic jams so I get there early.  My wife is aware of this tendency but she is not sympathetic.  Arriving early is not always welcomed.  It can be awkward.  People are finishing preparation, trying to get properly dressed, and I arrive early.  I haven’t been told to come back in 15 minutes but I read that message in frowns.

Animal and maybe plant detectives

We read “Dog on It” starring a German shepherd dog who has extra abilities solving crimes.  Last night, we watched “The Sheep Detectives” featuring a flock of sheep trying to solve the murder of their human shepherd.  We are on the lookout for stories featuring helpful spiders, insightful octopuses and maybe gardenias that assist or guide humans toward uncovering who dunnit. 

You and I and McWhorter

John McWhorter is an American professor of linguistics.  I enjoy his books.  I just bought one about pronouns.  He writes that his daughter, a toddler, often asked to be carried by saying,”Carry you?”.  He explains that adults often asked her those words when she was carried. So the little logic engine used the same word.  Over time she inferred that she was “me” in this instance and used the pronouns “correctly.”  Humans often learn important things outside of schools and classrooms.