You know that game “Telephone” where you take a message and pass it person to person and see how it changes along the way? Richard Lewis, whose passing we noted recently, said in his family it would start out with something like “Larry got into law school,” and by the end it was “They’re sure it’s a tumor?”
Too funny.
It’s St. Pat’s Day today. We had potatoes as part of breakfast (sauteed with onions and sprinkled with paprika) and Irish cheddar in our omelets. Wonderful, with good strong coffee.
Éirinn go Brách. You may be more familiar with the Anglicized version: Erin go Bragh. Either way the sentiment is Ireland Forever! As you can tell, we spare no expense in putting Owl Chatter together. So we sent Phil over to Galway to get this shot for us. Good work, buddy! Stirs the heart, for sure.
This poem called “Places to Return” is by Dana Gioia, and was in today’s Writer’s Almanac. It builds to such a beautiful, gentle finish.
There are landscapes one can own,
bright rooms which look out to the sea,
tall houses where beyond the window
day after day the same dark river
turns slowly through the hills, and there
are homesteads perched on mountaintops
whose cool white caps outlast the spring.
And there are other places which,
although we did not stay for long,
stick in the mind and call us back—
a valley visited one spring
where walking through an apple orchard
we breathed its blossoms with the air.
Return seems like a sacrament.
Then there are landscapes one has lost—
the brown hills circling a wide bay
I watched each afternoon one summer
talking to friends who now are dead.
I like to think I could go back again
and stand out on the balcony,
dizzy with a sense of déjà vu.
But coming up these steps to you
at just that moment when the moon,
magnificently full and bright
behind the lattice-work of clouds,
seems almost set upon the rooftops
it illuminates, how shall I
ever summon it again?
Let’s liven up the mood a bit with a SOCA tune shared by Rex. SOCA was in the puzzle today at 98A, “Caribbean music genre.” The music originated in Trinidad and Tobago, and the name derives from “the soul of calypso.” This song is “Ring De Bell” by Network Riddum Band. If it doesn’t get to you even a little, you might want to have that looked into.
Ring de bell for freedom. Ring de bell for justice.
Up for a sweet pet story? This was shared yesterday, by Rex commenter CDilly52. It was inspired by a clue/answer at 53A in yesterday’s puzzle: “Animal shelter slogan:” ADOPT DONT SHOP.
“I was legal counsel for the shelter that took such good care of my cats until they came to us on Valentine’s Day 2014. They were a pair. Poor OC had kitty PTSD from having her family and home blown away in the 2013 tornado that rilled [ripped?] through Moore, Oklahoma. She spent her brief shelter time in the hideouts available in the ‘Quiet Room’ the shelter provides for cats in her predicament. She didn’t interact with anyone – cat or human, and the staff was concerned about her adoption possibilities, so they went to work.
“My cat Pip came to the shelter about the same time, from a rural setting where she was not much, if any older than one year, full of parasites but with four kittens attached, and she protected them with what little strength she had. Alas, the shelter always has a waiting list for kittens, and at the earliest safe (according to the vet) moment, her kittens were adopted out and Pip (not her shelter name) went into a clinical depression. Neither OC nor Pip was doing well.
“Both beautiful girls had so much potential and the shelter wanted them to find happy, calm forever homes so they decided to try to introduce them. “They took OC’s favorite cat tree with its small hideout at the top and a soft bed for the ‘groundling,’ Pip, and put them in a well-lit store room with a tiny window and set them up with all the comforts a cat could want. It didn’t take long before they both felt safe enough to come out simultaneously. They got to know and like each other and after a while were reintroduced to the main cat room where they stayed to themselves. Until OC found my wonderful husband.
“We had been caring for our kids’ cats, Cassidy and Midnight, for over six months while they were busy in a regional theatre production. After they took them back, we were unexpectedly despondent. We’re not big Valentine’s Day people, but in 2014, it seemed like the thing to do to end our months of cat deprivation was to adopt a cat. “A cat” being the operative. Well, as many of you know, cats do what they do.
“We had been at the shelter sitting quietly for a while watching the cats wander around their domain. My husband noticed OC sticking her head out of her aerie watching him. The shelter worker was amazed and asked him please not to move toward the beautiful orange tabby because she had never come out of hiding for anyone other than the shelter folks. But she did.
“She came quietly down the carpeted post, tail down, stalking. She stared at Larry and jumped up on the bench next to him.
“Within a few minutes, Larry had his hand next to her on the bench. She sniffed, tasted and then miracle of miracles, head butted him. We told the shelter worker “this one obviously wants at least one of us.”
“Before we could seal the deal, Pip came out of hiding. (She always let OC call the plays.) She sat just out of touching range and started saying “meep meep meep” in the softest voice. The shelter worker said please just sit still, these two are friends and they both have traumatic backgrounds.
“Of course we adopted them both. And they made our home much happier. OC stayed by Larry’s side to the end.
“Animals enrich our lives as we (I hope) enrich theirs. I truly believe that the best pets are shelter pets, so please ADOPT DON’T SHOP. And if you cannot adopt, please consider donating to or volunteering at a local no-kill shelter.”
As you may have noticed, in the above story I wasn’t sure if the writer intended to use the word “rilled” or if it was a typo for “ripped.” The tornado rilled through Oklahoma, or ripped through it? Rilled means to flow like a rill (a brook). That seems way too gentle for a tornado, so I think she meant ripped. The P and L are keyboard neighbors.
Richard Lewis, complaining about a restaurant attached to a cheap motel he stayed in: “On the menu, there were flies in the pictures they had of their dishes.”
Today’s puzzle was brilliant. I hope I can do it justice. It featured eight “attractions” in the U.S., e.g., LADY LIBERTY, OLD FAITHFUL, EVERGLADES, etc. Two were placed in each region of the grid, in accordance with their location in the country, i.e., Lady Liberty in the Northeast, the Everglades in the Southeast, etc. Then, amazingly, the clue for the central answer at 69A was “Locale of this puzzle’s attractions (really, all eight of them!)” and that answer could be all 4 regions: NORTHWEST, SOUTHWEST, NORTHEAST, SOUTHEAST, because the first letter worked as either N or S, the third letter as either U or R, the sixth letter as either W or E, and the seventh as either E or A. Get it?
The clue crossing the first letter was: “Division for a tennis match” which could either be NET or SET. NET would give you Northeast (or west), and SET would give you Southeast (or west). Similarly, the clue crossing the third letter was “Word before fly.” HOUSE gave you the U for South, and HORSE gave you the R for North.
The constructor was Simeon Seigel. Bravo!
There was some fun fill too. The clue at 9D was “Owners of an infamous cow?” Here’s Rex on it: “We’ve got the O’LEARYS as … a couple?? It’s Mrs. O’LEARY’S cow. O’LEARY’S, singular possessive. Since when did we start giving Mr. O’Leary a credit?” [Well, I say it’s about time the hubby stepped in and took his due, no? Why should the missus take all the heat?]
At 13D, the clue was “Comedian Jimmy with a self-described “schnozzola” and it was, of course, the wonderful Jimmy DURANTE. When was the last time he came to mind?
He said: “It dawned on me then that as long as I could laugh, I was safe from the world; and I have learned since that laughter keeps me safe from myself, too.”
Also in the grid at 81A was the actor JOSH GAD, clued as “Olaf’s voice in Frozen,” a role for which he won two “Annies,” awards for animated films.
His father, Sam (Shmuel) Gad was born to a Jewish family in Afghanistan and moved to Israel as a teenager. Gad believes his father is a descendant of the Tribe of Gad, one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. His mother was born in Germany to Holocaust survivors. Josh was born in Florida and is married to actress Ida Darvish, who is Catholic, and with whom he has two daughters. He describes himself as spiritual but not religious.
Here are the Gadfather, Gadmother, and the two Gadkids, responding appropriately to Phil’s antics, except for Mom, who has a damn good reason, I’d bet.
If you need proof that the puzzle can drive you nuts: Consider that the clue at 11D was “Person living in London.” It was a trick question because it had in mind London, Ontario and the answer was ONTARIAN. Here’s a comment by Anony-mouse:
“I was struggling so much with the ‘person living in London’ clue, trying to think of every possible word of British slang that I’ve ever come across. I eventually got it with a couple of crosses, but it took way too long considering that I live in London Ontario.”
D’oh!
At 47A, “I goofed, in slang,” was MYB — short for “my bad.” Andrew noted: MYB? Do we really need to shorten “my bad?” We’ve already gone from Okay to OK to K. Why are these kids in such a hurry?
Let’s end with 22A: “Bright pink shade” — HOT MAGENTA. Here’s Ms. Moretti from my tax class, modeling for us today. Phil! Where did you take her? Is that some kind of attic? No funny stuff — she’s a Hunter student!
See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 