Saturday is April 1. So don’t get “fooled.” I have only been able to
pull off one really good April Fool’s joke. That was my mother’s original
due date. I was born eight days early. April Fool!
And on top of that, I started a veritable flood of babies. My birthday
was Easter Saturday that year, and no babies were expected for at least a
week. So they only had a minimum staff in the delivery room. I was the first
of 13 “early” babies born between 5 p.m. Saturday, and 5 p.m. on Easter
Sunday. Mom always said those poor maternity nurses cursed me at birth.
I was 12 years old before I made it to church on Easter. I had
measles (both kinds), mumps, chickenpox, a nearly severed toe, scarlet fever,
and my tonsils out, all over the Easter season. Mom would put my new dress
on, run me out for family pictures, and run me back into bed. It was a
running joke. I think I have finally grown
out of it, but I admit I am very cautious around that time every year.
PPP
Funky Fact: The origin of this day for practical jokes is uncertain. It
is generally agreed by scholars that it started in 1582 in France with
the change to the Gregorian calendar. This change moved New Year’s
from March 25 to Jan. 1. Thus, the first
April fools were the people who failed to make the proper adjustment. I
also found the curious fact that after noon, you aren’t supposed to play any
more jokes. After that, you are considered the “fool.”
PPP
The Golden Bough concert at the high school was wonderful.
They played a variety of instruments and were very entertaining. This is the
first of the Arts Live programs I have attended, but I certainly plan to
attend more in the future. This is a good opportunity to see very high-class
entertainment right here in the Valley. But the seats weren’t full for this one
either. You really should try and get out to one of these events. They are a
bargain at $15. And if you are 65+, it is only $10.
The next one is April 27. It is Harley Brumbaugh’s swing
and Dixieland music. I can probably even get the Mountain Man to attend
that one.
PPP
April is National Poetry Month and there are some very good
programs coming up at the North Bend Library. I will keep you informed
as they come along.
PPP
I saw a good program on the Discovery Channel earlier this
month. They were digging up a woolly mammoth. It is the first one they have
found that is not a skeleton or a fossil. It is frozen in the ice, and is
apparently very well preserved. They showed where they found hair and skin
and everything. This is a big deal scientifically, I guess, and one of the
things they want to do is try to clone the mammoth.
For the life of me, I can’t think why they would want to. I guess just
to prove they can, but it seems like a waste of time and money to me.
All the things they could be finding cures for, and they want to clone a
woolly mammoth. What do you do with it after it is cloned? It is about three
times the size of an elephant. Can you train it to do something useful? Will it
solve some problem for mankind? It would be cool to see a real mammoth, but
I don’t think it is very practical. Does anyone else have a problem with
this, or is it just me?
PPP
Thought for the Week: “April is the cruellest month, breeding lilacs
out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with
spring rain.” _ T.S. Eliot, “The Waste Land”
Please submit items for
North Bend Nuggets to
Pat Simpson at P.O. Box 857,
North Bend, WA 98045,
or by e-mail to patsimps@hotmail.com,
or drop them by the library.
