Do you ever have one of those mornings when dawn shatters at the sound of the alarm clock?
You literally fly out of bed, realizing that you only have a shred of time before an early phone appointment.
Leaving the blankets bunched at the foot of the bed, you lunge for the loo and end up tripping on a table leg.
Ouch!
Who put that nightstand there anyway?!
(We all know the answer to that one.)
So, there you are, holding your pummeled pinky toe and
shouting daggers,
when a lovely little lilac of a face peers through the doorway and coos,
“Good morning, Mommy! I love you!”
Ahhh …
The world melts at your feet (one of them still in your hand).
Your heart drizzles dreamily back into its proper place,
And, just like that,
the day sheds its dour demeanor
and begins to dance.
Can you guess what all of the bold phrases in this entry have in common?
So, ladies, are you in a hurry to hear the huff-and-puff that is soon to emanate from the hustings?
Huh?
Let me clarify.
At a political rally in Wonderland …
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland illustration by Jessie Wilcox Smith, Wikimedia
Our beguilingly befuddled heroine, Alice (who else?), was muddling her way through the hugger-mugger of a most unruly crowd of partisan expatriates.
She was feeling a tad topsy-turvy as a result of guzzling a gallon of green goo which had been labeled in a language of gobbledygook that she hadn’t even tried to decipher before drinking (a word to the wise: never wander into Wonderland thirsty).
While Alice fumbled amidst the fray of white rabbits slinging wristwatches at men primly dressed as playing cards, she struggled to …
I recently discovered that not everyone know pumpkins are green until they turn orange. Most of mine this year are already orange and BIG! I’m not sure the green pumpkins pictured here will make it in time.
Are you affected by the effect? I’m often guilty of this little one. I stumble on this every time it makes an appearance. My solution to this little problem of mine is remembering the first sentence of this paragraph. I am affected by the effect.
In other words, affect with an a is “to influence” and effect with an e is “a result.”
For instance …The electric fence really affected the cow. The effect was quite startling.
Or … I can’t believe that affected me so much … It has really had a profound effect on me.
And … New baby chicks affected our routines at the farm, but the effect of the baby chicks has been adorable!
Do you have any tricks for remembering context, spelling, meaning of words?
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
