Word of the Day - 3/14
I hope everyone had a most wonderful weekend! Before I get to the word of the day, I hope you'll all join me in welcoming TBurt back from vacation (and only a few bumps, bruises and scrapes worse for the wear--not too bad for a week of death-and-gravity-defying mayhem). I for one, am quite glad he's made it back safely--after all--he's the engine that keeps this train rolling!! (yes, that's right--you can blame him:)). So then, with TBurt back at the helm--let's get to today's entry:

Octogenarian: Octogenarian simply refers to someone in their eighties. I dunno, I imagine a good number of you already know this word--but I use it to tell a story about the picture. To me, the gourds in the picture look out of place (not that I'm a botanist, or know anything in particular about the vegetation of Venezuela). So then, I asked myself what this particular group might be doing in such a place. So here's the story: The gourd in the middle of the cart is an old man (note the wrinkled outer appearance and the way it seems to be lovingly and protectively surrounded by the other gourds--the large one on the left is the old man's son, to the right is his wife, and those smaller gourds are his grandkids). Anyway--the old man was born in Venezuela, but came to the U.S before he was old enough to remember his homeland. He had always dreamed of going back to visit the small family he left behind and the place where he was born but, as he turned eighty-seven (he's an octogenarian, after all), he began to sense that he'd never get back (particularly in light of the fact that he had just recently been admitted to the hospital). His family however, knowing his final wish, sprung him from the hospital with a variety of James Bond/Mission Impossible-type maneuvers and flew him in a private jet to his hometown where the old man'll spend his final few weeks carted around on a bed of palm leaves tasting umbrella drinks--not too bad, I say.

Have a great day everyone:)


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