When I asked “What makes your life better?”~no one gave the answer traffic congestion, touring a wastewater treatment facility, waiting in line at the post office during the Christmas season, or sitting barely dressed on top of a cold table in a proctologist’s office. The theme of what makes your life better, according to your answers, relates to moments of tranquility, inner peace, beauty, and love.

Here are your replies and some fun facts too.

Shianne: The BEACH

Beach Facts~A jellyfish has no heart or brain. A group of jellyfish swimming together is called a smack. I could find no reason in my research for the term smack. I recall getting stung by dead jellyfish washing ashore and feeling like I could smack anyone near me as I jumped and hollered and swung my arms around writhing in pain. But I don’t think that’s the reason for the term. Why do we call fish swimming together a school? Moving on to flower facts …

Leia: FLOWERS

Flower Facts~The fuchsia has no fragrance. It makes up for its deficiency with striking color that attracts hummingbirds and people in the Northwest looking for a great gift on Mother’s Day. The flower has the most misspelled name of any other in the botanical world. Is it Fusha? Fuchia? Fushia? Fushoowa? British musician Sting hopefully knows how to spell it since he named his daughter Fuchsia Katherine Sumner. By having a dad named Sting, Fuchsia fits right in. Might I suggest Honeycomb as a name for the next child?

The Titum Aram has a fragrance, but not one that will likely elevate your mood. Unless you get happy when you get a whiff of rotting flesh. The Titum Arum is the world’s largest flower, almost ten feet high and is better known as the corpse flower since it has the aroma of a dead body. Even so, people (including me) will happily stand in a long line at a display garden in Seattle for the opportunity to enter a greenhouse and gaze at the corpse flower while holding their nose. “Oh my, it does smell ba-aaaad,” we say, feeling our wait was well worth it.

Sherlyn: WINE

There is a word for people who hate wine…oenophobia. I don’t know who these people are. Do they attend a support group for their condition? Is there an Oenophobics Anonymous?

April and Sondra: MUSIC

Music Facts~The song Jingle Bells was originally written for Thanksgiving. Then the Salvation Army came along and started jingling bells in Santa suits in front of department stores. The song seemed more appropriate for Christmas. That’s my theory anyway.

Music reduces chronic pain by more than twenty percent and can alleviate depression by twenty-five percent. It depends on the pleasantness of the music for this to work. An elderly lady’s squeaky, high-pitched rendition of O Holy Night can give you a headache. I speak from experience.

Christy and Lisa: The FARM

Farm Animal Facts: Cows have a memory for about three years and are social animals who form bonds with each other. In a herd of cows, many will form cliques. This means if a cow is not included in a clique, after three years the cliquish cows forget who’s in their special group and the former excluded cows have a second chance of getting into the cool cow crowd.

Sondra: GOD directing her life

God Facts~When I googled Facts about GOD these words came up~eternal, omniscient, sovereign, gracious, faithful, true, good, merciful, holy, just, love, light.

Some celebrities who seek God’s direction for their life include: Bob Dylan, Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Alice Cooper, and Dave Mustaine of Metallica and Megadeth fame.

Lisa: HAWAII and her BEDROOM with CATS

 

Hawaii Facts~ Hawaii is one of four U.S. states that has outlawed billboards (the others states are Alaska, Maine, and Vermont). What do people in Hawaii do while driving if they don’t have billboards to read? How will they know the casino up ahead has a super seafood buffet or new homes at the next exit are selling in the low hundreds? Without billboards, people might drive on by and miss out on a great lunch.

Bedroom Facts~A person spends a third of their life sleeping. So if you’re ninety, you spent thirty years sleeping. What do you remember of those thirty years? The nightmare that woke you up screaming? The stumbling-in-the-dark trips to the bathroom? The drinks of water? Or that time your friends tapped on your window at three a.m. and you sleepily realized they had way too many sips of vodka? That’s your memories of those thirty years? That’s it?!

Another bedrom fact is this: the first coiled spring mattress was invented well over a century ago. Before that, people suffered back pain and marital disharmony since they didn’t own a Sleep Number bed.

Interesting Cat Facts: A cat has been mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska for fifteen years. His name is Stubbs. I have no idea how Mayor Stubbs has governed, but I bet every street corner has a scratching post and it’s against the law to own a dog. In whatever way Mayor Stubbs runs his community, it’s clear to me the citizens of Talkeetna realize a cat can do a better job than any human politican. Kudos to you Talkeetna.

If that fact isn’t mind-blowing enough, here’s another. Cat people are twenty-five percent more likely to pick George as their favorite Beatle. I have no idea why this is, but I think bird people prefer Ringo and walrus people prefer John.

Please reply to this post if you have something in your life that makes your world better and would like to share it with us. That’s all for now.