Wednesday, July 05, 2017

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Liberty and Laundry

From our Hodgepodge Hostess: "Happy July 4th Hodgepodgers! And if you're joining in from outside the US of A, then happy Tuesday! Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then jump back here tomorrow to share answers with all your friends and neighbors."

1. When and where were the best fireworks you've ever seen? Speaking of fireworks...do you know your hot buttons? The things people can say and/do to set you off? When was the last time someone pushed one of your hot buttons?


The best fireworks I ever saw were two years ago, in Toronto, at the end of the Pan-Am Games. The second-best were a few nights ago, for Canada's 150th Birthday, from our multiple-stories-up balcony. We could see fireworks all over the city, near and far, from little backyard displays to the mega-blastoff from the downtown city hall. There were fireworks here on Victoria Day too, but not like this.

OK. Hot buttons. How about just a mildly warm button? I got asked a couple of days ago if I wanted a senior's discount at a Salvation Army thrift store. Minimum age sixty. (Mr. Fixit's reaction: "I would have taken it." Thanks, sweetie.)

2. Have you hosted any outdoor summer parties this year? Attended any? What makes for a great outdoor party?


I was invited to a backyard reunion last month, but we got rained out; I'm hoping to make the rain date later this month.

3. What does freedom mean to you?


Freedom of thought, if it actually exists. Charlotte Mason said that we are not perfectly free to think or say exactly what we like, though, because our duties of love and justice override "freedom." Mrs. Lynde may be proud of speaking her mind, but if others have to pick up the broken pieces behind her, that's not freedom, it's encroachment. Committing to love someone or to treat them with respect means back-burnering your own freedoms: the freedom to be pushy, rude, mean, or negligent. Recognizing an authority means not exercising any right you have to act entirely on your own. Still, you have the liberty to make those choices.

4. July is National Cell Phone Courtesy month...what annoys you most about people's cell phone habits?


I don't have a phone, so I'm not a good one to judge. 

Probably the obvious things, like having loud conversations in public places.

5. What's your current summer anthem?


Not an anthem, but an earworm: Mr. Fixit is re-watching as many episodes of Hogan's Heroes as he can find (between all the other things he does), so that theme song has been playing nonstop.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.


Lydia is still looking for a summer job. It's not easy being a teenager and trying to slot yourself into employment, especially when it's only for a few weeks. The first summer job I had was at seventeen, when I was hired as a kitchen helper AND laundress at a summer camp for adults with special needs. The AND there was a big problem; multitasking between those two jobs would have kerfuffled anyone, much less a teenager trying to please the directors, the cook, the other kitchen staff, the counselors, and the middle-aged guest who was afraid to allow his prized rock-band t-shirt off his back and out of his sight. His intuition was probably justified, because every time I got a load of laundry in, I was called back to the kitchen to chop onions or wash more dishes. The unwashed and unsorted camper laundry got piled up so high that they finally gave up and let every cabin do its own for the rest of the summer.  I did get the rock-band shirt back to its owner, so I wasn't a complete laundry failure.

Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love what you said about freedom! Well stated and true.

Susan said...

Agree. Loved your answer to question 3!

Terra Heck said...

Best of luck to Lydia on getting that summer job. I love what you wrote about freedom.