Month: April 2020

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Not Ours, Dang It!

TIE O’ THE DAY is honored to introduce Bow Tie o’ the Day-wearin’ Daisy Corona Debenham. Daisy is Lollie Lyman Debenham’s newest member of the family. Brinkley’s passing was a hard pill to swallow for Lollie and her family, but Daisy looks to me like she’s up to the job of restoring dog joy throughout the Debenham home and family. Daisy is a lucky pup to have them as her people.

For those of you tblog readers who don’t know Lollie, let me assure you she’s a gem. The word “scamp” comes to mind, so she’s a fellow scamp to me. She is also a fellow Delta Rabbit. We were in elementary school when I learned Lollie was named after her mother, like I was named after mine. Lollie was the only other girl I knew who was named thus. But we were never called by our mothers’ names. I was always mystified by that. I was never called Helen, and she was never called Laura. Trust me—Helen Sr. and Laura Sr. were incredibly strong, gifted women. I wear Mom’s name with pride and reverence, and I think Laura Joy does the same.

Another kidhood thing I remember about Lollie has to do with a birthday gift she gave me. A herd of kids came to my birthday party at my house. I’m guessing I had turned 6 or 7. There were a million kids, and I got a million presents. I’m sure all the gifts were fun and appropriate and probably girly. However, I can remember only the present I got from Lollie. It was a plastic turtle. And it wasn’t even wrapped. Oh, how I loved that turtle. I played with it in the canal and out at the reservoir. I tied a rope around its neck and “walked” it up and down the sidewalk on my block. Once, when a bunch of us wanted to play football and I couldn’t find our football, the turtle stood in. To heck with pigskin—we used plastic turtleskin to play our football game. I have no doubt it substituted for many types of balls, since we had a neighbor who made it her job to pilfer any unaccompanied ball she saw anywhere on our block. I’m certain I named my turtle, but I don’t recall its name. It was a darn groovy birthday gift. Thanks, Laura Joy.

Anyhoo… I told Lollie TIE O’ THE DAY would make Daisy a bigly star. So let it be written, so let it be done.

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Signs In My Realm

I’m not out-and-about often these days, but when I am, I check out the pandemic signage. I wasn’t able to get a picture of my fave COVID-19-related sign cuz I was driving to an appointment. The sign was at TWISTED SUGAR in Centerville about three weeks ago, and it said they were giving away a free roll of toilet paper if you bought a dozen cookies. I decided to buy a dozen and get my roll of free toilet paper immediately after my appointment, just to say I did it. And I was going to snap a photo of TWISTED SUGAR’s sign, of course. By the time I got back to the cookie store about an hour later, the sign was already down. Apparently, they had sold out of cookies and tp. I was more upset about not getting the picture of the sign than not getting cookies and a free roll of toilet paper. I always have plenty of both of those things at home. But I was disappointed I couldn’t post a picture of the sign for y’all to see.

Anyhoo… Here are a couple of signs which painted wood Bow Tie o’ the Day and I came across near home as we committed errands today. We thought you’d appreciate them. Sorry, there’s no toilet paper involved in either one. Maybe next time.

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OMHeck!

My face—behind my face mask—when I saw this Tie/Bow Tie o’ the Day Sharpie in the store yesterday. Must. Buy. Them. All.

FYI The face you see in the photo was performed by the always gleeful Gracie, and was caused by Bishop Travis’ proud-father choreography. I assume Bishopette Collette was in charge of snapping shots.

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Another Photo For Stir Crazy, Nostalgic Delta Rabbits

Here’s the TRIANGLE—aka DHS yearbook—staff from 1979. I remember feeling like a real rebel rabbit standing on seats in the auditorium for this shot to be captured. I have no explanation for my weird, hippy pose. I look like I’m about to draw my gun in a gunfight. Fortunately for us all, Bow Tie o’ the Day covers up a lot.

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Name This Group

My Hogwarts School Bowtie o’ the Day and I cannot recall exactly what this fetching Delta High School gaggle o’ gals was up to. For this late 70’s yearbook picture, we were standing on the old DHS gym floor, while the photographer snapped us from the second floor. I have a vague memory of a DHS Rabbit “pep” organization called the Del-Teens, and I think that might be what this photo is capturing. Got some time to kill while hiding in your own home from COVID-19? Get off your isolating, social-distancing butt, and get out yer bigly Sherlock Holmes magnifying glass. Go forth, my Delta Rabbit pals, and see if you can name every dame pictured here.

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The Wearin’ O’ The Bell-bottoms

Bow Tie o’ the Day presents this yearbook photo from 1979—for the grand purpose of making people chuckle at my white bell-bottoms. Inducing laughter is about the best thing that bell-bottoms can do. They aren’t sexy. They effortlessly get caught in bike chains. They aren’t practical. But they consistently evoke laughter. I have no idea what made us think they looked spiffy back in the 70’s. Bad fashion trends can creep up on even the most stylish of us. Thank the heavens most of us wise up to crappy fashions sooner, rather than later. This photo is proof, however, that even someone as style-conscious as I am can be duped into attempting to wear clothing that is oh-so regrettable. Seriously, my white bell-bottom pant-legs are wide enough to be used as sails on a bigly sailboat.

BTW This photo of the Freshman class officers was taken on Delta’s infamous Main Street—in front of the long-gone movie theatre (across from Curley’s, to the south). I was the class president. The rest of the class officers: Tauna Louder, Brenda Lowder, and Janet Eliason.

Also housed in the theatre building was The Burger Box and The Spaghetti Place(?). I also seem to remember a gathering room where kids could play pool, air hockey, foosball, pinball, and similar games downstairs in the same building; but I can’t remember what that establishment was called. Note the marquee advertisement for the Desert Drive-In, which was located west of the overpass. All of the businesses I listed here were owned and run by the Jack and Irene Grayson family.

Unfortunately for all who saw me in those days, I probably often wore my white bell-bottoms when I patronized these places of business.🤡

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Amusing Myself While Stuck At Home

To create this photo, all I needed was a Bow Tie o’ the Day and a magnifying glass. I’ve got a froggy, toady vibe going on according to this picture’s essence. Although this is normal dinkin’ around for me, I know it’s odd for most people to engage in such fare. In light of our current excessive isolation, what weirdly amusing activities have you caught yourself doing that you wouldn’t ordinarily do?

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I Finally Found My ’81 Yearbook

Here’s another rare photo of me not wearing a tie of some sort. In my opinion, I do not resemble myself at all. A day without my wearing a Tie o’ the Day is like a day without wearing my soul. Fortunately, I don’t have neckwear-less days anymore. I also don’t go by my middle name anymore.

Anyhoo… This is my last yearbook photo of the Delta High School chapter o’ my life. I was a Junior (Class o’ 82) who would be graduating with that year’s Seniors (Class o’ 81). Does that mean I was a Jenior or a Sunior?

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Class o’ 81 And 82

Tassels o’ the Day!

Many folks are posting their high school Senior photos this spring, in honor of 2020 graduates who might not be able to participate in traditional graduation ceremonies because we are in the midst of COVID-19. I can’t produce my Senior picture because I never had one taken. I graduated from Delta High School after my Junior year. Although I stepped through the bigly “D” and officially graduated from DHS with the Class of 1981, I will forever belong to the DHS Class of 1982.

Or did I truly graduate? Soon after graduation, I heard a rumor that someone at DHS snooped through my school file (my permanent record?), only to “discover”—according to the burglar—that I hadn’t earned enough credits to have graduated. “Oh, really, my fine little criminal? Counting credits under the cover of office darkness is not your strong suit.” 😈

I suppose that qualifies as my first brush with “fake news” about what amounts to myself and my own beeswax. It was not, however, my last brush with other peoples’ real jealousy of my accomplishments—however teensy or bigly those accomplishments might be. 🤓

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Got Nose Crinkled?

After yesterday’s difficult post, I needed a few dollops of lightness and joy. After I posted, I went back to the Skitter/rubber chicken post photos of a couple of days ago—for a quick laugh. Then I checked out some pix o’ Gracie. Gracie’s smile is a perfect antidote to writing difficult posts. Her smile is also a remedy to pandemic stir craziness. Tie o’ the Day is pleased to present a cornucopia of some of Grace Anne Blackwelder’s squinty, nose-crinkled smiles. She puts her whole face into her joy. I, of course, see the resemblance we share in that regard.