Hodgepodge: High Alert, High Winds, & High Maintenance

A quick Hodgepodge for me this week, if you know me. Thanks for thought-provoking questions again, Joyce.

1. Do you think the world became a more dangerous place on September 11, 2001 or are we just more aware of the danger? How has your own life changed as a result of that day?

The danger preceded 2001 by about 6000 years. I'm not sure exactly when Cain killed Abel, but that was the first act of terrorism. I personally felt suddenly vulnerable on 9/11, mostly because I always thought the CIA had more "I" than "C" or "A," if you get my drift. I know for sure I'm more suspicious of certain skin types than ever before, something I hate in myself, but it's reality. Pat-downs and shoe-removal and wondering if someone else's mouthwash is gonna blow up our 747 to Wichita. Yeah, I think about it more often. And I think about it when I see military helicopters practice maneuvers overhead near my house. I have certainly wondered about the Ravens game at home on 9/11 this year. I fear for a sister and her husband who live in Arizona where the bad guys with guns outnumber the good guys with them. And I try not to buy anything that says "made in China" because I think they're overtaking us one purchase at a time. I wanted an Italian-leather purse for my birthday. Well, I found one, but guess where it was made? So guess who is carrying her same purse from last year (a purse made in China before my skepticism reach its summit). I cringe every time I "have to" buy something I need that's made in China.

And honestly, I'm not sure that the earthquake on the East Coast was an act of God. I'm normally skeptical about conspiracy theories, but I have heard that there is technology capable of causing earthquakes. What do you think? Is there a fault line that runs under DC or isn't there? I'm not even sure what sources to trust when it comes to looking up the truth about geological facts. Who is behind Google anyway?


2. Did you think your parents were too strict when you were growing up? How about in hindsight?

They said "yes" as often as possible, not "no" when it was just a mild inconvenience or if there was no good reason to deny us something. So when they said 'no' it was easier to take. Sometimes I wanted them to say 'no' when I wanted to get out of something, but they made us learn to make some decisions on our own. I still do that with my husband, but he asks, "Why do you have to have a reason? If you don't want to go, don't go. Why do you have to have other plans?"

I wish my dad had been more strict when I was a teenager. He had been such a virtuous young man with good intentions and purity that I really think he thought more highly of most guys who were NOT AT ALL like him. He also trusted me too much.



3. Share one random but candid fact about yourself.

I'm a pretty open book on my blog, so I'm not sure what's left to tell. Random but candid? Hmmm. I yell way too much. But haven't I said that, too? If you want to know 24 other random, candid things about me, go here. But why would you want to?


4. Would your nearest and dearest describe you as simple or far too complicated?

Far too complicated, but then again, he grew up with all brothers. He didn't have a clue when we got married how a woman thinks and feels about so many things at the same time. (He still has to buy a clue most of the time.) He doesn't understand why my hair is so important to me, why it matters which heels I wear with which dress, why I want to be told often that he loves me (not just shown with "stuff"), why I let people in front of me at the store, the highway, or at restaurants, why I prepare for hurricanes that are overhyped, why I don't notice certain noises the van is making, and on and on.

5. What is your favorite stadium or carnival food?

Cotton candy. I like it so much, it can cause tunnel vision and make me the butt of
a practical joke.


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6. Tornado, hurricane, earthquake...how many of these natural disasters have you experienced? Which do you think would be the scariest?

Well, after the past nine days, I can say all three. Scariest? Earthquake, hands down! We had no preparation, no warning, nothing. Just stood there minding our business when the house began to shake and the floor rumbled 'neath our feet. At least with tornadoes, we can hit the basement, and with hurricanes, either evacuate or board up or hunker down. With a quake, it all happens "in the blink of an eye" and all you can do is pray and hold on. It strips away every shred of self-sufficiency you pride yourself on and hold dear. Hurricane Irene was supposed to hit us hard, but didn't. Hurricane Isabel was supposed to go out to sea, but came into the Chesapeake Bay with a sudden fury. I have friends who had to be resued by boat from their second-story window. Another friend of mine lost her mentally-disabled cousin when he went out for a walk that day and was drowned in the surge on his sidewalk.

7. Labor day weekend is approaching so a work related question seems appropriate. Growing up, did your parents assign you regular chores? Were you paid for doing those chores. If you're a parent do you assign chores to your own children? Why or why not?

At age 9, my mom taught us to clean the bathroom. A rite of passage that didn't come with gifts, just rags and Comet. When we were little, we worked together on Saturdays to dust, vacuum, and clean our rooms. When we were teens, our rooms had to be clean by Friday night if we wanted to go anywhere on the weekend. When my mom had my baby sister and I was an 8th-grade cheerleader, my job was to do the breakfast dishes before leaving for school, or I couldn't go to practice. I didn't take Mama seriously, and she came up to school and took me out of practice. My coach said she'd bench me during the next game if that happened again, saying a captain should set the example of obeying her parents. It happened again. I got benched. The other girls it was harsh. But guess what? I learned to do the dishes before I left the house from then on! I don't always learn the first time.

We also had to feed the dogs and horse, mow grass, scrub floors, put laundry in the machine per my mom's very strict orders. (We weren't allowed to fold because she was picky about her right angles and folds. We got to put her neat stacks away, though.) We started getting allowance in seventh grade but had to pay for most of our things with it (and it was piddly, let me tell ya). The allowance wasn't withheld, but privileges were if work wasn't done. Kind of like salary--you still collect a paycheck, but don't count on a promotion that might give you a more "fun" life from having more money. I think they were wise in their philosophy.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Your very first childhood memory says a lot about how you respond to life and people in your life as an adult. I believe that.