Yesterday on the way to church, I had to brake for a robin. Now, I suppose this might not seem all that unusual. Have you noticed how robins seem to fly so much lower in the spring? My theory is that they are all new parents, and, well, you know how tiring that is.
It’s been a long time since I was a new parent, I can tell you, but I still remember the months of sleepless nights, the times when the baby would wake one of the older ones (or both, or vice versa), and we’d have some caterwauling good times. Many were the times I flew pretty low in those days. So I understand about the robins flying low in the springtime.
However, the thing about this robin was not that it was flying low. This robin was — I swear it — walking. All the way from one side of the highway to the other, there it was pumping along in front of me without a single wing flutter. Only when it got to the edge, looked around and seemed to find nothing of interest did it fly off into a nearby tree.
This is one of those things in this life that you don’t expect. You can’t help but speculate: Did she have a flat wing? Was she hearing funny noises in the engine? Was it such a nice day that she decided to walk?
We will never know. My point here is that, despite the opinion of some really boring people, not everything can be explained away by human brain twisting. Let’s face it, there are more things in this world, Horatio, than even you can explain, and thank you, Shakespeare, for that input.
Here’s another thing you don’t expect. Remember the movie “Oklahoma?” Well, probably not if you are under 60, in which case, I feel sorry for you, movie-wise. Anyway, “Oklahoma” is all about corn, the kind that grows in the field. Supposedly, Oklahoma is up-to-here with corn. You remember, as high as an elephant’s eye and all that?
So of course, the movie works the corn thing. Singing his head off, Curly takes the wagon out between rows and rows of towering corn; corn is an actual presence in the movie. Only thing is: The movie was not filmed in Oklahoma. Nope, the year they made the movie was not a good year for corn in Oklahoma, or something like that — I’m not quite sure what the problem was.
Actually the movie was made in Arkansas. If you check carefully, those boundless fields of corn are suspiciously thin and there are few, if any, long range shots of endless miles of corn off into the distance. Oh, well. It was still a beautiful morning when Curly and Laurie got together. (That’s the kind of corn I can take forever, and pity the young ones who scoff at it.) Anyway, keep in mind that sometimes you just can’t expect good old Oklahoma corn in Oklahoma — or else get ready to sing “Arrrrrrrrk-an -saw! where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain.”
But of course, it really doesn’t matter most of the time when things don’t turn out as you expect. The other day in church, there was a slight snafu in the children’s sermon. Karen, the “preacher” had brought along a number of toy bricks, to be stacked up on end by the kids, so that the idea that just one good deed can lead to other good deeds could be fully illustrated by a neat, orchestrated on-line collapse. Only problem: The little one chosen to start off the process hit the first brick from the side. It fell off the railing with a lonely little rumble and all the other bricks, scheduled for synchronized collapse, remained stubbornly upright.
But that’s OK. Karen just tapped the second one herself, and the point was made.
Life doesn’t always come out the way we expect it to. Robins, and corn, and people don’t always perform as predicted. Luckily we can live with that, and, assuming we get a decent recovery time, maybe we can even get an unexpected smile out of it.
Maude McDaniel is a Cumberland freelance writer. Her column appears on alternate Sundays in the Times-News.
Maude McDaniel - Living
There are some things
- Maude McDaniel - Living
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Ordinary things can be the most amazing
When you live in this world — not that I have any experience in any other one yet — you come across absolutely amazing things that don’t amaze you.
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Rusty takes over with his doggy wisdom
They say the world is going to the dogs.
If only! -
There are eggs, and there are Easter eggs
Today, I want to talk about — eggs. Good subject for Easter, right? But have you ever wondered how eggs, well, happen? How do they form so perfectly, with the shell always on the outside and the stuff so flawlessly contained inside.
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The signs of old age never seem to stop
Well, I’ve satisfied your intense curiosity about chopsticks, and playing cards, and such, which means I can get back to my favorite topic these days — how to know when you’re getting old.
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A sense of humor makes life easier
This may not be a secret — but I love laughing.
As far as I am concerned, a sense of humor transforms life from something that has to be gotten through grudgingly, just because you happened to be born and have no other choice, into an opportunity for joy, if only for a moment here and there. -
You’ve heard it before, but things are worse
Hey, I’ve been pretty good-natured lately, and it’s a strain on me. Considering my age (very old) and the state of the world (very bad), you must be amazed at my self-control in the last few months. I don’t remember saying anything good about the music or the electronics or the morals of our culture in recent columns — but I have carefully tried not to bash them. Well, not too much.
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History of chopsticks and related subjects
Now there are some big questions in life, like where did we come from, and even bigger questions in life, like where are we going? Today, however, I prefer to talk about chopsticks.
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Wondering? Here’s how cards began
Just in the last few years, I have become quite the cardplayer .My father would be amazed, because he would not allow me or my brothers to play cards (with the regular cardfaces) when we were growing up. We were, however, allowed to play other games that had cards of their own, like Touring and Flinch.
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By now, we should know all the answers
Here I had expected that, by the time I reached this advanced age, I would know all the answers there were to know, or maybe even more. But apparently it was not to be, for, lo and behold, I seem to have still more questions lining up, like all those thousands of blackbirds on the lines in front of the M&T Bank on Industrial Boulevard.
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Here are a few laughs to start the new year
Nothing’s better to start out a new year with than jokes! Even if they are other people’s jokes. And some of these are not so much laugh out loud, as just wry observations on the world. But then that’s what the best humor is often about!
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Ordinary things can be the most amazing
