My mom is full of silly little ditties she passes along to me from her childhood, high school years or college days.  I keep them stored in a special memory file on my computer and have been adding to the repertoire over these past months.  As I stay longer and longer in Marshall, with us going through boxes of memorabilia from the past, her memory is jogged in sharing more and more of these.

Here’s one that has been circulating around our house for quite some time but even more so now that the yard tulips are in bloom.

There are tulips in the garden.

There are tulips in the park.

But the best tulips of all,

Are the two lips in the dark.

We are told the freeze is coming tomorrow night.  The tulips blooming now are in good shape, not having to worry about buds or blossoms being frozen off.  As for those other two lips, they’ll certainly be coming in handy with the upcoming predicted  temperature dips. Pucker up, folks!

A few notes before closing:  The Jelly Bean Contest Continues

Here’s a reminder that the Jelly Bean contest is continuing onward.

I made an adjustment, deciding to separate USA folk from China folk.

At present, I have 22 entries from the USA, many having sent me their guesses via Facebook.

From the China end, I have currently 38 sent to me via WeChat!  That includes my colleagues, their children and also my students.  Everyone is so enthusiastic and excited about joining in.

I try my best not to steer them in the right direction and let them guess on their own but I will say that one entry, from Famer (his English name, taken from the word Fame), I couldn’t help but gently nudge him to think again.  Here’s what happened:

Famer:  Teacher Connie, my guess is 15.

Connie:  Hmmm.  Are you sure, Famer?  Look at the jar again.  Your guess is really low.

(Pause)

Famer:  OK.  I guess 1,001.

Oh, well.  That’s what I get for giving second chances!

From Marshall, here’s wishing you 平安 (ping ahn),Peace, for your day.