more words of wisdom

do not eat a half of a large watermelon after 8pm!

however, since the watermelon is considered both a fruit and vegetable, do you think i can count it as eating my 5 servings of fruit and veggies?

.... and did you know that in 1893 the us supreme court ruled that the tomato, although botanically considered a fruit, was to be considered a vegetable!

... and our government also considers the watermelon as a vegetable. and that it has a legal impact on taxes that foreign importers pay to the united states.
it all goes back to 1887 and a tomato.

in 1887, u.s. tarriff laws taxed imported vegetables and not fruit. we imported a lot of tomatoes back then and the dispute over the tomato (fruit or vegetable) went all the way to the united states supreme court in 1893. the us supreme court decided that for tax purposes the tomato is a vegetable because of how it is used.

since tomatoes are used at dinner and not dessert, they would be a vegetable. (nix v. hedden). (although i believe sophie and joseph would beg to differ because they love the red round things for dessert and dinner). according to botanists cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash are all fruits too but the usda calls them vegetables anyway.

i know...i know...way too much information. but i find it curious the government's choose of words. they just pick what meaning that want regardless of the actually meaning.

i.e. it was a "police action" not a war in korea. operation iraqi freedom and afghanistan's operation enduring freedom are not wars either... they are military operations! and the oil pouring out into the gulf is simply a "spill" because it is pouring out of a container. i dunno but it seems to me it is much more than a spill!

oh well...this blog entry is getting way to deep for me. guess i'll go eat the other half of my veggie/fruit watermelon and go to the bathroom!

cold hands ...

i am greeted each morning as i walk into gram's room with a cheery "oh hi. are you here to get me up?" i smile and say "yup. do you need to go potty?". (thank goodness we still have little kids around and can use that as our excuse for using kid words). "yes i do. you better hurry". i then pull the covers down and gently, usually, wrap her somewhat useless legs in my arms and swing them to the side of the bed. she then grabs a hold of my elbow and lifts herself into a sitting position. this morning as we performed our daily routine, gram let out a very loud "ouch". "what's wrong? are you ok?" i quickly said, fearing i had hurt her. "your hands are cold!" she said with eyes wide and her mouth puckered in a small circle. "i'm sorry. here i'll try to warm them. i then proceeded to rub them together and blow some hot air onto them. i even ran hot water over them, then went to lift her up into her chair. "ooo...you're cold." "i'm sorry", i said again. "i tried to warm them." "well" she said with a smile, "you didn't do a very good job. but thanks for helping me. now get me warm!"

i remember gram telling us that her hands were, and in fact still are, often very cold. she would tell us that when we were babies we would cringe when she changed our diapers because her hands felt like ice against our skin. i suppose it is just one of the many things my sisters, brothers and i have inherited from our mother - cold hands, drippy noses, many clearing throats, etc. oh well as the old english proverb says "cold hands, warm heart".

post script - why is it that the rest of me is burning hot but my hands are still ice cold. could it be - - - hormones!!!!

colors

nighttime summer storm

harvest

icing on christmas eve

blossoms in spring

life is good but ...

in regards to comment #4 of my last blog entry - nope!