|
Post by Kimby on Nov 21, 2019 1:10:12 GMT
If the parents REALLY thought ahead, they’d realize that giving their kids names with unique initials is so much more practical in the family’s day to day life.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Nov 21, 2019 5:44:52 GMT
I was always calling my boys by the wrong name. Now there is a grandson in the mix he gets called by his Dad's name when I am in a hurry.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Nov 21, 2019 5:57:27 GMT
That's why the name "hey you!" was invented.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Nov 21, 2019 6:21:49 GMT
Our former neighbours had 4 kids, all their names started with J, which is just not that common in France. Not Jacques or Jacqueline though -- one was Jonathan, the others were sort of invented and Frenchified.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Nov 21, 2019 13:06:04 GMT
Not Jean and Jeanne, and all the double prénoms based on those? At one point in Québec, Jeanne d'Arc was not uncommon as a given name, but that is utterly antiquated now. And I do know a Jean-Marie (nothing to do with Le Pen!)
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Nov 21, 2019 18:49:11 GMT
I was always calling my boys by the wrong name. Now there is a grandson in the mix he gets called by his Dad's name when I am in a hurry. My Dad didn’t even try to get his three daughters’ names right. When he wanted one of us, he’d call out “Hey K________! T_______! R________! Sam! George!” We had no brothers, though. But it worked to get the kid he wanted front and center, along with her sisters.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Nov 21, 2019 19:08:59 GMT
No Lagatta, nothing as simple and classic as Jean and Jeanne. I think one of the daughters was Jennifer, I can't remember the others if I ever even knew them.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Nov 21, 2019 21:02:36 GMT
One of my clinic families had 3 boys. Being Muslims they gave the name of the Prophet as the first name for each boy. There was Mohamed and Mahomet and Muhammad. We tried to work out how many permutations of the name there were but wound up with the giggles.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Dec 2, 2019 21:05:44 GMT
If only it will stay that way. But her teen years still lie in the future.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Dec 19, 2019 20:10:07 GMT
My internet should be fixed tomorrow morning,so I should.be able to get back to my reports.
It is already a miracle to be home. I was already on the Berlin-Frankfurt train when DB decided to inform me that the French Frankfurt-Paris train had been cancelled by the strike. They told the Paris passengers to stay on the train until Offenburg and then take the Offenburg to Strasbourg commuter train where we would find a train to Paris about 40 minutes later. It sounded like a hoax to get rid of us but it actually worked. I arrived in Paris only 40 minutes later than the original schedule.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Dec 29, 2019 3:44:31 GMT
I lost an earring in early August in the first couple of weeks of a trip. Nothing of any value, but I’d bought the pair at a street fair in Cambridge in 2013, and they were favorites of mine. I hadn’t mentioned the loss to my landlord because I figured it had fallen off when I had to climb over a couple of people and their bags to get off a city bus. However, today I received a message from my friend asking if I’d lost a pearl earring while staying in her apartment. Fortunately, though I’d debated tossing it out, I’d saved the match. Her text made my day!
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Dec 29, 2019 4:04:36 GMT
That does mean a lot! It's kind of a miracle and thank goodness you saved the other one.
My little thing isn't quite as thrilling, but ... There is a sandwich stand about a block south of the main square that I've frequented almost as long as I've lived here. Today I went by & got my usual to go. The proprietor gave it to me in one of those nifty shopping bags that stores and vendors often give to clients at this time of year. You would have thought he'd given me a diamond bracelet, I was so pleased!
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Dec 30, 2019 0:36:00 GMT
I walked up to Jean-Talon Market (a few blocks) for various reasons but most of all because I was out of the "dental" food Livia needs. Was annoyed about the extra cost but of course figured my dearest was worth it. And a kind man holding a 2-month old black Lab who was the sweetest thing was consigning him (the puppy) to a clerk in the shop as she was caring for him (puppy) over the New Year's holiday. You can imagine how all us critter-lovers waiting to pay melted into a puddle of goo. Yes, I was petting puppy, stroking his silky fur and cooing to him. And I wasn't the only one.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Dec 31, 2019 4:00:05 GMT
Aww ~ a sweet little boost for the turn of the year! When you got home, did Livia know you'd been petting a pooch?
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Dec 31, 2019 4:51:25 GMT
Yes, she did, and she was purring.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Dec 31, 2019 5:45:24 GMT
Too sweet!
|
|
|
Post by whatagain on Jan 2, 2020 1:26:31 GMT
Don't know what it means but we saw fireflies (lucioles in french a word i find lovely) and we were just all 4 in awe. Today I swam with a big turtle. So gracious. And fast when it decided to get rid of me. Just a magical moment.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 2, 2020 1:46:18 GMT
Oh wow! Both of those things seem like blessings ~ or magical, if you prefer. Seeing lightening bugs is always a thrill for me, but it's been ages since I've seen any. The Spanish word has the same root as the French one: luciérnaga.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 2, 2020 4:25:06 GMT
Like Bixa, I grew up with fireflies in the American South, and there were so many that they seemed normal back then, but I haven't seen any in more than 50 years. Oddly enough, in my grandparents' village, there were glow worms, which if I am not mistaken are just the larvae of fireflies.
I suppose they are just another one of the insects that have been wiped out by pesticides in most of the world.
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Jan 2, 2020 13:53:09 GMT
We still see fireflies on Sanibel during our April-May visits.
Plus, the latest Christmas decorating trend is the use of laser light projectors that send swirling swarms of “fireflies” into the air where they materialize on every branch and leaf and palm frond. Very evocative of the fireflies of our youth, and rather intoxicating.
|
|
|
Post by fumobici on Jan 2, 2020 16:02:48 GMT
When I was in Anghiari last Summer (almost said this Summer!) I was astonished by the display the fireflies (luciole in Italian, Romance languages are again very similar) put on for about a week or two. I hadn't seen fireflies since I was a teenager in Michigan, and I'd never seen so many. Magical!
|
|
|
Post by rikita on Jan 3, 2020 0:10:06 GMT
today during our train journey, agnes and i ate some smarties - i counted them so we each got the same amount, and ate mine all at once. once i had done so, she suddenly gave me one of hers and said "for you", and then added "because it is my birthday soon, and i will probably get sweets with my presents, while you still have to wait such a long time until your birthday".
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 3, 2020 3:35:48 GMT
Awwww ~ what a sweet, considerate person Agnes is!
Kimby, lovely to know that the fireflies persist in Florida, at least. Those laser Christmas lights sound wonderful!
Fumobici, after reading your accounts of magical meal evenings in Anghiari, adding in the luciole to my mental pictures puts it all off the charts in the best possible way.
Here is my firefly story, which I've undoubtedly told her before but hey ~ I'm old and repeating myself!
Anyway -- The cemetery in my home town is raised above the level of the road through town and surrounds a red brick Gothic church, all of it graced and shaded by giant live oaks. I was walking around the cemetery late one afternoon when I noticed it was getting dark. It was actually the deep shade that made it that dark, as looking out toward the road I could see the sun was still out. This added to the feeling of suspended enchantment I sometimes feel in graveyards, plus I was delighted to see a huge tall gardenia bush all in flower, with the white blooms seeming to glow in the evening gloom. As I gazed upon it, the light continued to fall and suddenly the whole cemetery was twinkling with fireflies.
|
|
|
Post by breeze on Jan 3, 2020 14:53:44 GMT
I'm sorry to hear that firefly populations seem to be diminishing. We have them here in summer and I love the way they light up as they rise.
Once when we were on a trip, friends at home told us that it rained nearly every day for the month, so we weren't surprised to see 18" tall grass in our lawn and fields when we got back one night in June. We turned off our car lights and in the darkness all around we could see thousands of fireflies. We had that spectacle every night until my husband got everything mowed.
Did you ever get fireflies to synchronize their lighting? It can be done by flicking car headlights off and on. That's a sight to see.
|
|
|
Post by casimira on Jan 3, 2020 16:30:09 GMT
When I visited my birthplace in NY last August I would sit on the front porch in the evenings with a glass of wine and right at dusk the fireflies would come out.
Magical indeed and it brought back many childhood memories of running around the yard with my brothers and some neighborhood kids trying to catch them (which is very easy to do).
One time I put some in a glass jar with holes poked in the lid and took them to bed with me to watch them light up while under the bedcovers.
Of course I released them out the window and watched them flicker/twinkle away into the night.
I've been told by some folks that live up on the river here that they see them every once in awhile.
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Jan 10, 2020 18:40:00 GMT
My brother-in-law is bringing my dear sister home for a visit this weekend. He arranges with a medical supply company to deliver and set up a hospital bed and a lift to one of the local hotels (Hampton Inn) and I am very thankful to them all as to how they accommodate my sister so comfortably. I know he pays for these services, but it is just the way they all care about how they do it. Excited to see them! I also get to have my niece and nephew stay with me.
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Jan 10, 2020 23:26:02 GMT
That is really a gift, mich. I hope your sister is able to enjoy these visits as much as you do. It sounds like quite a production. Bravo to the Hampton Inn for helping it happen. And your BiL is AMAZING!
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 11, 2020 1:05:12 GMT
Yes, indeed! I echo Kimby's words and am very happy for all of you, Mich. Don't spoil those kids too much! Breeze and Casimira ~ thank you both for those very lovely firefly reminiscences.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 11, 2020 4:16:48 GMT
In Bali fireflies are called kunang-kunang...sounds like little bells. At dusk young lads carry plastic Coke bottles with leaves closing the opening and a carry string. They catch about 6-8 fireflies each and head off into the flooded rice field to hunt. During the day the duck herder's flock has been turning the soil over so the boys soon have eels,shrimps and sometimes a snake. The Kunang-kunang are released and dance off.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 11, 2020 5:01:32 GMT
It sounds like it will be a lovely visit, mich.
|
|