It's raining for the third day in a row - no, make that 'the re-enactment of Noah's Ark, Day 3'. We had a tornado warning about an hour ago but all is well. I shielded the area and 'talked' to the storm (that's the only way I can explain it, although 'giving the storm sufficient warning as to what would happen if it did any damage' would also apply.)

I guess I got the tansy; painted daisy and white echinacea moved just in time - it began raining not 30 or 40 minutes later. It was a huge job to move that tansy, I tell you. It is a bunch that is 3 feet tall and about the same width round with lots, lots, did I mention LOTS of 'tansy - ettes' everywhere. Hopefully it will like it's new place where it can multiply to its heart's desire.

All this rain has reminded me of some of the strange and crazy things that I was told growing up...

• We used to live with my maternal grandmother and she used to refuse to let anyone use the bathroom every time a storm blew up. I remember she used to say, "Don't go in there and use that toilet! Lightning could come in and blow you off of it!" For many of my formative years, I was both amused and haunted by the imagery that presented.
• Every year during strawberry season, my uncle (the SOB that I've written about in previous entries) would get quite mad with me whenever he saw me eating a strawberry right out of the field. He'd say, "Don't ever eat a strawberry straight off the plant! They've got snake spit all over 'em! Don't you know any better?!" Never mind the fact that there are no spitting snakes in America - something I called him on numerous times - I think that snakes have better things to do than go through a strawberry field, hawking a big one on each and every berry.
• My paternal grandfather used to tell me the same thing - don't ever eat a strawberry before it's washed and cut up. His reasoning was that worms get into them and settle right into the middle of the berry. I guess it's possible but I've never come across it. I used to just smile at him and say, "Ummm, ummm! Extra protein!"
• My maternal grandmother also had another thing - whenever she had to buy a gift for one of her grandkids, or great grandkids for that matter, she would never buy toy appliances. I was with her one day while she was shopping for a gift (it was for my cousin, Donna, who was about 3 or 4 at the time) and I suggested a toy iron with a little 'bungie' cord and suction cup attached, so that one could pretend to plug it in. She very quickly (and almost horrified, I believe) said, "No! It might heat up!" I almost wanted to get the thing myself, just in case a miracle occurred.

Well, that's all that come to mind at the moment. I'm sure there's more - if nothing else, this ol' family of mine is good for a few laughs! Wouldn't change it for the world.