13 Thursday Toasts
1. Overheard at our house after reading questions on Facebook about road conditions during last week’s snowstorm: “There are no roads to report road conditions from … only snow!
2. Two feet of snow fell in two days and had me singing this: Oh gee, Oh gee, It’s up to my knee, It’s up to my knee. Oh my, Oh my, It’s up to my thigh, It’s up to my thigh. Oh heck, oh heck …
3. I recently posted on Facebook about naming one of my chickens Dolly so I could sing Hello Dolly when I go out each morning to feed them, and someone left a comment revealing the best name to give a dog: Stella!
4. THIS guy plays with his food to everyone’s benefit.
5. My son used to play with his food and have battles between blueberries and grapes. The blueberries always lost because they were his favorite fruit and he ended up eating them first. 
6. I posted the picture above with the title “Valentines” on Facebook and it got over 95 likes.
7. The impromptu theme of Joe’s and my Valentine’s celebration this year was raspberry, right down to the raspberry beret I wore. We sipped raspberry beret wine that I got from Villa Appalaccia and Joe brought dark chocolate raspberries. We didn’t plan the raspberry theme or the cowboy hat that Joe wore. He put it on after it blew off the snowman I had made earlier in the day.
8. Meanwhile a friend on Facebook reported that her Valentine brought her a kale bouquet.
9. What will they think of next? A lingerie company in Japan has invented a bra that only comes unhooked if it senses you’re in love.
10. The It Takes Two Math Assignment: You compound my interest / I’m counting the ways / I’m finding the common denominator / of you and me / and adding the possibilities / I’m dividing my time / and multiplying my chances / I’m upping the ante / for winning your love.
11. I like Billy Collins’ poetry for the same reason I like Richard Brautigan’s poetry or the music of The Crash Test Dummies. It’s quirky, set to a good beat, and tends to have a surprise twist. Anybody who writes a poem titled “Taking off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes” and talks about dead people in glass bottom boats watching our heads gets my attention right of the bat. – More on Collins from a 2008 post titled Poetic Heretic HERE.
12. Toasting originated from the practice of putting a stale piece of bread in wine to soak up the acidity. Over centuries, the term slowly transformed to incorporate traditional libations and the honoring of people. In the early days of this connection, the person being honored often received the physical toast saturated with wine at the end.
13. Have you noticed that snowmen look like ghosts?
______________Thirteen Thursday
February 20th, 2014 1:22 am
Heh heh! I may use this one myself next time we get a foot of snow. “There are no roads to report road conditions from … only snow!” 😉
February 20th, 2014 10:16 am
Wow, wasn’t the recent snowfall amazing? I was on those snowed over roads and totally agree with the “only snow” report. Thanks for sharing.
http://otherworlddiner.blogspot.com/2014/02/introducing-fantabuluous-author-cj.html
February 20th, 2014 10:29 am
Hmmm… I hadn’t picked up on the snowmen/ghosts thing, but now that you mention it… 😉
And naming a dog “Stella”? That’s a stroke of genius, right there!
February 20th, 2014 10:53 am
I was thinking about you with every white weather report and hoping you were safe and warm. You guys really got your share of winter this year.
February 20th, 2014 11:06 am
Thanks to our neighbor with a plow! I can only remember three times in twenty some odd years that our driveway had to be plowed out (was too deep for a 4 wheel drive to crunch down) and this was one of them. We live off the Blue Ridge Parkway where they do not plow!
February 20th, 2014 11:35 am
5 no wonder he is healthy
February 20th, 2014 11:38 am
Love the Shel Silverstein reference – brings back memories, literally!
February 20th, 2014 12:10 pm
seeing and hearing about your raspberry beret has Prince singing his song rattling about in my head! not my first time here, but my first time for reading a 13 Thursdays post. fun!
February 20th, 2014 12:22 pm
#1. The snow is mostly gone here now, on the main roads at least, but now it’s the pothole capital of the US.
#2. Holy Moley, it’s up to my eyes I cries.
#3. Years ago, Beth had a Great Dane named Stella.
#4. I love popcorn and those popcorn photos too. I wish I had thought of that.
#5. We learned a lot via osmosis.
#6. I like it too.
#7. I’d say, a raspberry pie would have been nice.
#8. Oz got me a card. I forgot to get him anything 🙁
My grandkids weren’t forgotten though.
#9. Maybe they’ll name it, the “Have a heart” bra.
#10. I’m one-hundred % certain …
#11. I’m a bit “poetically challenged” myself but I too miss the cigarettes.
#12. Yuck.
#13. Snowmen are cuter.
February 20th, 2014 12:42 pm
Cigarettes?
I had forgotten that Shel Silverstein wrote Boa Constrictor, a classic!
I’m sure Prince’s song played in mind at sometime during our toasting, but the song wasn’t on the playlist we Happy Danced to later.
February 20th, 2014 1:02 pm
Yes, cigarettes.
Found on the link at another of your posts, where you posted about Billy Collins:
http://www.bcactionpoet.org/the%20best%20cigarette.html
February 20th, 2014 1:38 pm
Always love your stuff, CR, and this is no exception. Special thanks for turning us on to the sketch artist. very cool.
February 20th, 2014 1:51 pm
Oh, a link to a link on the older post. Just re-read The Best Cigarette and loved it again. It is a good example of his writing.
… Then I would be my own locomotive,
trailing behind me as I returned to work
little puffs of smoke,
indicators of progress,
signs of industry and thought,
the signal that told the nineteenth century
it was moving forward.
That was the best cigarette,
when I would steam into the study
full of vaporous hope
and stand there,
the big headlamp of my face
pointed down at all the words in parallel lines. http://www.bestcigarette.us/2004/09/the_best_cigare_1.html
February 20th, 2014 1:51 pm
I don’t think I’ve ever gotten 95 likes on anything. I’m impressed.
February 20th, 2014 7:51 pm
I know that boa constrictor song! I used to sing it when I was young.
February 20th, 2014 9:23 pm
Sounds like you guys got a lot of snow out of those storms. Compared to eastern states, we had barely a trace. I think I’d rather have snow than the winter mix we had today–rain, sleet, snow, hail–whatever it could throw at us, we got it. My post: Recently Viewed
February 21st, 2014 4:41 am
All that Snow!!! Poor Chickens out there waiting to be fed…..”Hello Dolly”…..lol!
You and Joe look so dear in your Purple Hats….
It sounds like you had a full week of weather….! Hoping you get a Snow Break, soon, my dear.