Power of Suggestion

by Jimmy Johnson

May 17, 2016


It’s been an uncommonly cool spring this year. I’m still wearing my wool socks every day. In years immediately past, we’ve become accustomed to full-blown summer weather by now. This year, however, the humidity is low and the temperatures during the day rarely reach 80 degrees. That’s about to change, the weathermen say, but I can’t complain; the recent weather has been a treat. But you know the best thing? Very few bugs, and almost no mosquitoes or flies, normally the bane of outside life beginning in March. I’m really going to miss not missing those flies.


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32 responses to “Power of Suggestion”

  1. Bob in Orland Park Avatar
    Bob in Orland Park

    The power of suggestion.

  2. TruckerRon Avatar

    Yesterday was the first day I’ve worn a short-sleeve shirt since last October… and it will be a few days more before it gets that warm again. It may be June before I’ll put the flannel shirts away at this rate!

  3. TruckerRon Avatar

    Yesterday was the first day this year I’ve worn a short-sleeve shirt… and I’ll be back into the long-sleeve shirts the rest of this week, maybe longer. That’s about a month later than usual here.

    1. TruckerRon Avatar

      I’ve learned my lesson… When a comment doesn’t show up immediately, don’t try it again for at least 20 minutes. It may yet make it!

      1. Ruth Anne in Winter Park Avatar
        Ruth Anne in Winter Park

        Thanks for the tip – my comment didn’t appear right away but it didn’t take that long either!

  4. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    It is supposed to be 70° on Thursday. We had a 70° day a couple of weeks ago. I’m looking forward to it.

  5. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    “Nightie night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs hide under your nightgown.”
    Ever wonder from where the expression “sleep tight” comes?

  6. MontanaPhil Avatar
    MontanaPhil

    I didn’t know people in The South even knew about wool socks.

  7. emb Avatar
    emb

    Next 2 nights are supposed to be frost-free. Last 2 weren’t.
    Peace,

  8. Bonnie from Gloucester MA Avatar
    Bonnie from Gloucester MA

    Truthfully, we had a mild winter. But…..A few days ago we had 2 hours of very light snow. And the always-present wind. We were wearing all our winter gear (except boots) to walk the pooch. Is this May?! What exactly is “spring” anyway? Along the coast we usually jump from winter to summer but this winter won’t back off.

    1. Ghost Avatar
      Ghost

      Which, I suppose, could also explain, “Listen, and listen tight, pilgrim.”

  9. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Which, I suppose, could also explain, “Listen, and listen tight, pilgrim.”

  10. Tom (formerly from the Front Range) Avatar
    Tom (formerly from the Front Range)

    Somewhere in Florida, twice a year, we have Love Bug season. Love bugs are two attached black fly like bugs that are drawn to exhaust fumes as the seem to congregate on roadways. The infestations are usually May and September and last about two weeks each. For commercial car washes this is their Black Friday. High School clubs will not hold their fund raising car washes during these weeks because no students would show up. The work would be much to difficult. Of course this May, not a problem.

    1. Ruth Anne in Winter Park Avatar
      Ruth Anne in Winter Park

      Have you tried the dryer sheet method* of removal? It’s the most efficient way we’ve found. Of course, having the car sitting in the driveway all the time will help too.
      * Wet the car, wipe off the bug remains with said sheet, rinse

    2. Ghost Avatar
      Ghost

      In 2005, Hurricane Katrina seemingly pushed every love bug on the Gulf Coast into our area. For about a week, they were probably the only thing that could have made us more miserable than the lack of electricity and sufficient food and water already had. They got EVERYWHERE. During that time, I had to attend a grave-side service with some members of my all-female staff, and I noticed one of them was getting more and more fidgety as the service progressed. When the service ended, I walked over to her and looked at her questioningly. She whispered, “I’ve got about six love bugs in my bra.”

    3. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
      curmudgeonly ex-professor

      Oh, do I remember those amorous insects! I think a paint scraper might work, but might also engrave the windshield.
      Another pest were various biting ants. Once, I was hosing off the family chariot in our carport. Water seeped between the concrete slabs into the sandy soil, wherein lived lots of ants. Their brains told them they were being flooded and ought to seek anything higher for safety. As it turned out, I was the something higher. They could crawl up my legs quite rapidly and did so until I noticed. Left the area so I could pick them off…took a while. Yes, I got bitten up. Glad I had shorts on, though, for their removal would have been harder otherwise. In retrospect, the ants were smarter than the love bugs.

  11. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Official Animal of the Coronavirus Pandemic: The Raccoon…he wears a mask and washes his hands.

    1. Nancy Kirk in AZ Avatar
      Nancy Kirk in AZ

      HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    2. Nancy Kirk in AZ Avatar
      Nancy Kirk in AZ

      I was trying to laugh at that, Ghost. Think it vanished because I didn’t do it right. Anyhow: HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

  12. emb Avatar
    emb

    Those goslings have a long, dangerous walk ahead. Minor distance for a flying, hunting parent, but long for infants that do their own foraging.
    https://explore.org/livecams/birds/charlo-montana-osprey-nest
    Peace,

  13. Nancy Kirk in AZ Avatar
    Nancy Kirk in AZ

    Huh. As was being said above, it looks like I should have waited a little longer before I repeated.

  14. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    Our days are repeating, why not the comments?

  15. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    And my comment has now entered the Twilight Zone, to reappear at a random time.

  16. Nancy Kirk in AZ Avatar
    Nancy Kirk in AZ

    I liked the meme that said “Today is March 97th.”

  17. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
    curmudgeonly ex-professor

    March 97th? From March 31st we add 30 days for April and (now) 13 for May. I make that out to be March 74th. [It isn’t February 97th, either].

    Yeah, I’ve been a number-checker since I was a kid, for better or worse.

    1. Ghost Avatar
      Ghost

      I’m 5 feet 14.25 inches tall, for what it’s worth.

      1. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
        curmudgeonly ex-professor

        I’m a bit taller than 4′ 26″ myself….

  18. Tom (formerly from the Front Range) Avatar
    Tom (formerly from the Front Range)

    I’m getting three weeks to the gallon!

  19. TruckerRon Avatar

    Have you ever heard of the Carrington Event of 1859? In May 1921 a very similar event occurred, sparking fires at telegraph stations and causing the Aurora Borealis to be visible as far south as Texas.
      
    THE GREAT GEOMAGNETIC STORM OF MAY 1921: 99 years ago this week, people around the world woke up to some unusual headlines.
     
    “Telegraph Service Prostrated, Comet Not to Blame” — declared the Los Angeles Times on May 15, 1921. “Electrical Disturbance is ‘Worst Ever Known’” — reported the Chicago Daily Tribune. “Sunspot credited with Rail Tie-up” — deadpanned the New York Times…

     
    https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=12&month=05&year=2020

  20. TruckerRon Avatar

    Make that date today’s, the 13th, and you’ll see the story. I don’t know how it got to the wrong day.

  21. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
    curmudgeonly ex-professor