Now THIS is La de da!

I'm from Florida. I worked for a number of years in Palm Beach and a good many of the residents there truly believe their town is "La-de-da". Of course they do NOT say that or anything like it. But many surely do ACT that way. A good many others, residing in WEST Palm or environs, must cross the bridge from the mainland to the island to shop and THEY seem to think the island is truly La-de-da! I suppose, the truth be told, when I first moved to Palm Beach County, I too was of a similar belief. Even though such thoughts didn't last long I was once as guilty as anyone else.

BUT - no one knows what "La-de-da" really is until they've visited the town of Yachats, Oregon and attended their La-de-da Parade. First off; anyone reading this and silently pronouncing it "YAH-kits" isn't even close. It's much like the folks who mispronounce Amherst (in both New York and Massachusetts and probably many other states). Most everyone (including national television announcers) put the emphasis on the "herst" saying it "am-HURST" when all who live in any town spelled in the same fashion ALWAYS pronounce it "AM-erst." The H is silent and the emphasis is on the "HURST", not the "am." I can just imagine how the residents of Yachats must feel when some of us, nearing the town, stop and ask directions to "YA-kits". The man I asked, VERY kindly responded, "Oh, sure, ma'am, the center of 'ya-HOTS' is just 4 miles down the road." I had encountered my first of many true gentlemen in ya-HOTS. (Although I fully admit, that as many times as I have correctly pronounced it, I still READ it - to myself - as YAH-kits. I am either a REALLY slow-learner or was all but thoroughly brainwashed by the English teacher of my youth who taught nothing but phonetics.)

Sure enough, 4 miles down the road, we pulled into town and couldn't miss the wonderful flags hanging from lamp posts with a La-de-da logo brightly displayed. I had my trusty laptop with me, and googled "yahots". Remember, it was only 4 miles earlier that the gentleman had SAID the word and I am still entrenched in phonetics. Google totally understood me. The page came up and the first line of print was: "Did you mean: yachats? " Through one of the sites I discovered that each year's parade is announced as the 13th or 14th "Probably Annual La-de-da Parade" which has been held (apparently) every year since 1996 since the 2008 parade that I was so fortunate as to attend was billed as the "13th Probably Annual La-de-da Parade." Since I knew absolutely nothing about any of this, I also figured we'd really struck it rich when we just happened to pull into town on July 3rd and learned about all of this in time to extend our motor home site reservations for several more days and enjoy this town and it's celebration to the fullest.

If you haven't already guessed, I really loved this parade, the town and its people. The town and people couldn't have been more hospitable, witty and willing to display their sense of humor. There are a slew of ladies who comprise the Yachats Synchronized Umbrella Drill Team. They apparently do only a little practicing in order to pull off a wonderfully hysterical performance. There are animals of all sorts, including dogs, cats, goats and horses - all in costume. Nearly all participants are also costumed, many in patriotic colors and in 2008 there were at least 5 dressed as Uncle Sam. Whole neighborhoods rally 'round the idea as they carry large banners announcing their street name or affiliation. The only motorized vehicle allowed is the one carrying town officials and somewhere I read that this is one advantage that comes with power. I also recall reading on one announcement that there were no prizes and no winner announced because they had NO money and (funniest) "NO HONEST JUDGES".

I need to digress here. We in Palm Beach County should be so forthcoming. We currently have something like 4 or 5 local officials serving lengthy prison terms for their illegal actions while in office. And, another (a woman who served as a County Commissioner for nearly 20 years) will begin serving her term any day now as will her husband for his complicity in the whole thing!

So, lemme tell ya, I'll sound off about Ya-HOTS and their La-de-da Parade and I hope I can spend another Independence Day there before I'm tossed unceremoniously into a pine box. Do yourself a 5 minute favor, click on the photo below and visit my Picassa Web site to enjoy about two dozen pictures of the "13th Probably Annual La de da Parade. Now, THIS is truly what La de da is all about, and ya gotta love it!!

La De Da Parade; Yachats, Oregon July 4, 2008

Jan Karon's Books

I never did make it back to post yesterday as I was attempting to complete my profile. Trying to come up with a realistic list of my all-time favorite movies and books was not, for me, subject matter for lovable stuff. I think my search for perfection once again made the whole thing difficult. However, it did help me to realize another of my most lovable things: Jan Karon and her books known as "The Mitford Series."

So much reading material today is heavy, depressing, or bordering on pornographic. Not so for Jan Karon's books. From the first in the series (At Home in Mitford) to the ninth and last (Light from Heaven) I delighted in the life and times of Father Timothy Kavanaugh, pastor of the Episcopal church in Mitford, North Carolina. Mitford is a fictitious town but, having spent some time in the general area, I could nearly swear that she fashioned it from Burnsville, which is about 35 miles NE of Asheville.

Through Father Tim, one gets to know his congregants in such an easy, light-hearted manner. Each one is unique and simply, the real thing. As the series opens he is a life-long bachelor. He eventually meets the woman who will become his wife after she moves in next door. Since they are both well beyond child-bearing years, there are no babies in the picture. But a child comes into their lives in the most interesting, but fully believable way.

I think about 5 of the 9 books were written at the time I started reading the first. I actually fell upon Ms Karon as an author when I was in a second-hand book shop while vacationing in Burnsville and the shop's owner suggested her series to me. I read them in order and by the third, I was purposely reading them as slowly as possible as I just wanted to relish each character and incident to the fullest extent possible.

When I had to return to Florida from North Carolina, reading the books helped me keep a piece of those beautiful mountains and the truly down to earth, real people who live there at the forefront of my being. I had the opportunity to spend varying lengths of time in Burnsville every summer from about 1994 when my husband and I first discovered it, until about 2003 when we were last there. Sometimes I spent entire summers there. On other occasions, perhaps only 3 or 4 weeks. It is without doubt, one of the loveliest, most unpretentious places to live or vacation. And Jan Karon captures the essence of it's countryside and it's people in the most delightful way.

I was terribly saddened when the last book in the series was published and I feared I would no longer have a way to continue my relationship with those wonderful characters. Then I learned that Karon would not abandon her readers. Before long, she began a another series. I own all of the Mitford books and now have the first in her next, the "Father Tim Series" entitled Home To Holly Springs. I can't wait to have some time to read it. I can sound off about Jan Karon forever!

Something New

Here I am. And here IT is: the fourth day I've been working on getting this blog started. Posting is something VERY new to me. Having a Blog is even newer. Admit it, ya gotta love it (and NO I'll not use text-speak on a regular basis). But, ya gotta love it when the ubiquitous "they" tell you it will only take 5 minutes to be up and running; or in this case posting. Or is it blogging?

I've been working 3 full days attempting to get this SIMPLEST of blog sites up and running - or even stumbling - along. I found a site that had some 650 or more templates and I THOUGHT I could easily use any of them on this lovablestuff.blogpost.com site. Wrong! Or at least, if it's possible, I've not figured out HOW yet. I think there were only about 20 or so templates that these blogpost people gave me for choices.

For now, however, I finally decided I would never break the ice and start writing or posting or "blogging" or whatever one most appropriately calls this if I didn't stop trying to perfect the page design. So, here I am about to start sounding off!

Don't we all complain about stuff that causes us frustration? Who hasn't left their lovable computer cursing at it? Yet, don't you really have to admit that ya love it? After all, when you're out to dinner with a spouse you've been married to for some 30 plus years, you've got something to bitch about to your heart's content for the entire meal.

Speaking of which, have you ever let your eyes wander through a restaurant and seen a couple of gray heads, slowing bringing forks to mouth, never looking up from their plates? If you are sitting near enough, you can literally hear forks hitting their teeth while not one word is spoken. I never want to have a meal like that.

With the economy being what it is, we aren't eating out as much any more. Oh, some explaining is in order: WE is my 2nd husband, Kevin and I who have been married for 32 plus years. So, when we were first married, I used to say we would NEVER be like that; and we rarely are. NOT because Kevin is a talker; far from it. I'M the talker. And honestly, a LOT of my talking has to do with things that have frustrated me. So, in the end I might as well embrace my frustrations. They keep me extraordinarily busy and give me a whole lot to talk about. Starting something new is usually frustrating to SOME degree. Ever try playing TENNIS? Now that's a horse of the same color but a topic for another post. Suffice it to say, starting this blog is brand new, it's been frustrating as hell and gave me an entire meal's worth of conversation last night at Applebee's. (That's still ANOTHER story for another day.)

So, for now, and my first post, I'm going to sign off rather than indulge in one of my bad habits: that being my tendency to be overly wordy. I'm going to stick with the idea that starting something new is definitely "stuff" (I love that word) to enjoy and sonething to sound off about.  No matter HOW much cynicism you may read into that nor how much I feel. The fact of the matter is that without starting new things life would be terribly b-o-r-i-n-g. Thus, my first post is written and NOW I shall return to something new: designing this blog page! More tomorrow.