Last week was filled with several days of rain alternating with snow and icy roads. And as much as I enjoy sitting in my recliner and watching the snow come down, after a bit I get restless.
Not restless enough to go out in the rain or snow, but I do start looking for other things to do. Household chores always need some attention, and a little baking is always welcomed by my family.
There are dinners that can be started and finished in the crockpot and laundry to catch up but none of these things take very much time ... and after even my best efforts to avoid it, sooner or later I climb inside my busy head to wonder.
Some of the things I wonder about could be called worrying … like why, every morning when there is a weather warning, the local television stations post places where the homeless can go to get warm.
Since I have never observed any homeless person lugging a television or for that matter a radio around, I wonder how they find out about these places.
However, I recently saw many folks entering the Salvation Army shelter, so apparently there are agencies spreading the word in person or posting flyers. That took one worry to cross off my list.
I worry about the local wildlife — if they have a warm enough coat or a home to stay safe in. My fellow columnist George Walter relieved me of that part of that worry when he recently wrote about how birds stay warm.
And then I move on to my herbs and berry bushes and wonder if they will survive. They do every year, but I still devote some time to wondering if they will this time also.
After a while I move onto other wonderings — like how do we know the first man was actually named Adam and the first woman was called Eve? How do we know they had English names? Especially since there was no English language in the beginning of time.
According to Google, the knower of all things, the English language began to develop in the 5th century AD, when Germanic tribes invaded Britain. This, of course, leads me to wonder why we are not all speaking German.
You can see why I try to avoid visiting my busy head.
I do not wonder about what is going on in the world today. As far as I am concerned it has gone mad, so I do not worry about the eventual outcome. I have to believe that we will survive this episode as we have so many others, so I prefer to wonder about Adam and Eve.
Nor is this the only thing I wonder about. For instance, I recently read that the Shih Tzu breed of dog has the closest DNA to the wolf, from whom all dogs have evolved. I had a Shih Tzu. She was barely 1-foot tall from toe to head, and as sweet as the day was long.
Again, according to Google, the Siberian Husky, Akitas, and Chow Chows are the most closely related to the wolf. The Shih Tzu didn’t even get honorable mention. I read the Shih Tzu information on Facebook after Mark Zuckerberg decided to remove all his fact checkers.
Which, of course, led me to wonder what will happen to all the Facebook fact checkers who no longer have jobs? What does a fact checker switch fields to? Teacher? Analyst? Perhaps they can all go to work for Google.
I enjoy watching crime shows, but I do wonder why criminals even try to commit crimes. With all the scientific advances we continue to discover, I have to wonder why you would think you can get away with anything.
Everyone on television crime shows leaves at least one traceable hair, thread, plant dropping, or footprint behind at the scene of the crime. Now they can even find criminals through family DNA, thanks to all the folks who sign up to discover who their ancestors were, so why would you bother committing the crime in the first place?
I also wonder why, with all the great minds working on it for so many decades, we have not found a cure for cancer? Or so many other devastating diseases.
I could go on, but I will spare you. It’s bad enough I must live with my busy head … no need to drag you in there with me.
But I will leave you with my current major wonder in case you know and would like to share … why aren’t we all speaking German?
Kathleen Anderson writes her column each week from her home in Olympia. Contact her at kathleen@theJOLTnews.com or post your comments.
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Grailking
Well, German salutes are making a comeback, so maybe ...
Wednesday, February 12 Report this
MamaBear
Maybe the genius scientists who would have discovered a cure for cancer and other diseases have been killed in the womb. Also, the genius scientists who would figure out how to vacuum the CO2 out of the air and do away with climate change may have been killed in the womb.
Wednesday, February 12 Report this
bobkat
@ mamabear - don't worry, they're out there - alive and well! Big Pharma will never again repeat the mistake they made by, essentially, eradicating Tuberculosis. Think of the corporate profits that could have been made by dragging out the "search for a cure."
Thursday, February 13 Report this
GinnyAnn
We're speaking a dialect of German mixed with a lot of French from the Norman invasion. We don't all speak French because French was the language of the elite nobles who eventually all learned English after being on the Isles for a few hundred years. Languages evolve over time, of course, so English absorbed Dutch, French, Flemish, Danish, and a few other languages as it transformed from Old English to Modern English. That's why we have to have a guide to study Shakespeare. That's why British English and American English are so different. The first time I went to England I was gobsmacked because their English was a completely foreign language.
Thursday, February 13 Report this
ViaLocal
@mamabear, maybe they died at a young age because healthcare in the country sucks. Maybe they died at a young age in a school shooting. Maybe they died of abuse in the foster system, or in a bad, unsafe home. Maybe they were kidnapped and put into human trafficking, the same circles that politicians who want to ban abortion laws usually run in. I bet Jeffery Epstein wasn't a fan of abortions either.
Thursday, February 13 Report this