Febrewary

As we bid farewell to the month of February I would like to offer a small (yet eloquent) tribute to this very unique month. First of all, no one quite knows how to pronounce it (perhaps it should be spelled "Febrewary"). It is also the shortest month of the year and the only month in which a day is added every four years. Although it may be fewer in days, there is much to be found throughout the month. We start off with humor and groundhog awareness on Groundhog Day (would anyone know what a groundhog is without this day?). We have a sense of history with it being Black History Month. Love and romance (or resentment) on Valentine's Day. Patriotism (more important, a national holiday) on Presidents' Day and two of our greatest presidents' birthdays. Oh, and speaking of birthdays, just in case anyone happened to miss it... Doggone it! I told myself repeatedly that this post was not going to contain any reference to my birthday which, coincidentally, also happens to fall on this month. Oh well, at least I saved the best for last!

A Husband's Plea For Help

I normally prefer not to publicly disclose matters of a personal nature (particularly on a new blog), but at this moment of family crisis I feel justified in asking you readers to please keep my wife in your thoughts and prayers. Since Sunday night my dear wife has not been able to eat, sleep nor perform any of her usual daily activities and is practically comatose. All she does is stare at the blank TV screen all day long. We have taken her to several specialists in the area and still have no answer for her unusual, sudden debilitating condition. I don't know if there is any connection or not but it seems that it all started immediately upon the conclusion of the season finale of Downton Abbey. If her condition does not begin to improve soon, then I will be forced to have her watch previous episodes of DA in hopes of at least partially reviving her until the new season begins. Oh, and for our neighbors, while she remains incapacitated, home cooked meals brought to our home would be much appreciated, but please no meat loaf or anything with olives or coconut in it with the exception of German Chocolate Cake.

My Earliest Recollection

Why do elephants have such good memory? The answer is fairly simple. What all do they have to remember? Where to put the peanut after it's in their trunk? Where the watering hole is? Well, regardless, my memory is definitely not Dumbo-like, however, my earliest recollection, no matter how many years pass, will never be forgotten.

A little over 54 years ago I was having a pretty good day. Just me and my thumb as usual when suddenly I felt this tremendous force start to pull on my head. "What in the womb is going on here?!" I thought to myself. Next thing I know I'm being thrown out or should I say pushed out of my tiny, yet comfortable home. Some stranger who I had never seen before then grabs my head and pulls me out into this blinding light and then proceeds to hold me by my ankles upside down and whacks me on my little purple bum! "What did I do?!" "Was I not supposed to come out?!" Obviously, I started crying as it hurt like hell, but I was confused more than anything. I saw him then start cutting my food tube and tried desperately to tell him that I needed that! I'm not only in a foreign world, but now I'm going to starve as well! Next, he sticks this thing into my nose and my mouth and all the while I'm thinking is it ever going to end? Well, thankfully, things got better after that as my mom, who did absolutely nothing to prevent all this, then cradled me in her arms as I slowly fell asleep thinking that whatever happens to me after this day will never be as bad, or, so I thought, but I won't even go there!!!

Prelude

Here, in front of me, is a beautiful snowy white page that I almost don't want to write on (reminds me of not wanting to step on newly fallen snow) but I guess I have to start somewhere. Why the title, "Odd Duck On An Even Keel"? Well, first of all, all the good blog titles have already been taken. That's one of the problems of living so late in the world's history in that nothing seems to be original anymore. Anyway, I wanted to find something that was somewhat original and that also reflected my personality. Of course, I googled the title (I swear Google can almost read my mind as it will display my search words before I even type them in) and lo, and behold, it did not come up! Could I possibly have thought of something original? Well, not exactly, as I just put two non-original terms together. Anyway, for me it's original. I have always thought of myself as just a little different. Not, in a negative sense, but in a way that sometimes I just couldn't relate to my peers. Maybe someday I will go in to that, but much too early and I don't want to scare away any potential readers. Let's just say that maybe I've got a couple of screws loose, but like I've always said, they were probably already too tight to begin with anyway.  Okay, that explains the "Odd Duck." Now, "On An Even Keel" suggests that in spite of my "differences" I have managed to find acceptance within myself and am actually okay with who I am which is a person who loves to create, whether it be with words, music or Christmas Centerpieces.