By Any Other Name

Friday, February 8, 20085:26:00 PM EST Feeling Happy Hearing Best of Neil Diamond Edit Entry Delete Entry
"By any other name............"
The phrase , attributed to Shakespeare I believe, that "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet", is open for debate. I have always thought that the choice of a name has more importance than some people seem to think. I do not know who gave the rose its name, but I cannot imagine it called by any other . Rose is beauty personified to my mind. Names evoke certain feelings, but does the name itself change according to the life experiences of each individual? It is a question to ponder, especially when faced with the momentous decision of naming an offspring. I realize that I might attach undue importance to this decision because I, for many years, did not care for the name given me at birth. I liked the shortened version, Pat, but I longed for the more patrician sounding Patricia, or Patrice, not my own Patsy, which I felt meant someone who would be a scapegoat . Someone who would be a sucker for anything. Not to even mention, (and I never told classmates and friends my middle name, because heaven forbid them being able to pronounce it correctly). The shame of remembering my mother tell how she found it in a Aldens catalog , fell in love with the name, and gave it to her first child lovingly. I always felt that I could have made a better choice for my kid . After all, to be stuck with something like that for life------Ugh! When did my mind change about my name? I started liking it about the same time I started liking myself. About the time I named my own children, and felt a sense of accomplishment in giving life and purpose to my own dear ones. I matured. I felt a new pride, not only in them but in myself. I became my own person, and in the process I liked who I became and even liked my name
I poured relentlessly over endless books of names for newborn babes and fretted for nine months with each one. No ultrasounds existed to determine the sex for sure, just the educated guess of the doctor if he was willing to wager a guess. The old wives tales were taken seriously to predict boy or girl by the way the pregnant mother was carrying them but just in case, a masculine name and a feminine name both had to be selected. Oh, how I agonized over those names! I liked the names ending in -a- for a girl. My rationale---I had studied Latin and the feminine ended with a's. Names that could be used for both sexes were too confusing, or so I thought. And on and on and on. Couldn't anyone see how important this choosing a name was? My laid-back husband felt he had already made his contribution and the rest was up to me. (This was during a generation when the macho male did not diaper or tend the babies.) He tried to lighten the situation by pretending to want his son named Axel or Penrod. My temeramental condition did not take this teasing lightly. When he said our daughter would be named Nivera Beta, I burst into tears and had to be consoled with a box of the white Turkish taffy that I craved. Nivera Beta, indeed!
Well, you might say as Shakespeare did so eloquently, "Much ado about nothing..........." and you are entitled to your opinion. But if you are ever at a loss when it comes to naming your children or grandchildren, just let me know and I will be glad to oblige. I have a huge store of unused names that I was saving for grandchildren that are not forthcoming. And I have found that couples selfishly want that privilege for themselves instead of allowing me to do it , when I am really so much better at naming than anyone else that I know.

A Rough Transition

I am just now attempting to transition to the new journal, and I am in the midst of dismay. I guess the old habits are so ingrained that I am having difficulty adjusting. I have been copying the archives manually, mainly because I wanted something tangible to refer to as I use them for memory prompts as I intend to compile a small book for my grandchildren. But I also wanted to transfer if possible. The first thing that happened was the refusal to accept the Google password I had established. So I changed it . Oh, well! I missed my call today. My sweetie and I call each other after lunch every day, but today he has gone to the church to help make apple butter for the youth group to sell as a fund-raiser. They made 195 quarts last Thursday and hope to have that many today. I helped with several of the stir-offs last year but I am not risking arthritis flare-up this year as we are experiencing a cold spell. We made the apple butter in the outside picnic shed, enclosed with\ tarps and we had a roaring fire in the huge fireplace, but it was still cold. I miss doing it because it was great fun, with fellowship and a great country dinner. Stirring the huge cauldrons reguire several people to switch out turns stirring with long oar-like paddles. The applesauce must be seasoned with cinnamon and cinnamon oil, and stirred continuously for several hours before it is ready to be canned in fruit jars. Maybe the next canning will be during a warmer spell and I can help then. It has become a tradition. Apple butter is wonderful on a hot, home-made biscuit!

AS I WAS GOING............

It is so good to be home! I have been away much of this month and I am
so happy to be back blogging. I have a lot of catching up to do. The house needs
a good cleaning and I need to transfer my journal. I have been copying it but
I really would like it saved. I hope I have enough space available for it. I am
going to try to do that tomorrow, providing nothing else comes up to prevent
it. So the cleaning will just have to wait, perhaps even to spring.
I have enjoyed my little vacation this fall. My son vacationed in Colorado
with a group of friends, so I was free to do a little traveling of my wn this month.
I really enjoyed the Smoky Mountains and Pigeon Forge, even though I have
been there many times. The scenery is spectacular. We went to several of the
new musical shows and Dollywood, and really enjoyed it. There's always new
things being added every season and I never tire of it.
However, I must say our own mountains were just as beautiful when we
returned. We are about two weeks ahead of the Smokies in getting our grand
fall foliage. Our mountains were ablaze with glory and looked wonderful as
we arrived home. There just is no place like home.

Hello, Dahling!

Well, Hello-o-o Dahling! It's so nice to have you back where you belong! You're looking
swell, dah-ling, I can tell, dah-ling. You're still goin', you're still growing, you're still bloggin'
strong...................That's an oldie with a new edition, just like me. I still haven't quite figured
out how to move my journal into the archives of this one. Hopefully before Halloween. Ha!
Getting to look like a reunion around here. Friends with facelifts!
This has to be a quickie, but I will catch up later with news of weddings, reunions and such.
In the meantime, love you much. So glad you came. Catch you later. Pat

Hello, Dahling!