Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2018-19

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IN THIS ISSUE

• This Heroic Story is about practical help in desperate times
• Jean Sterling and Kate Brookfield send us letters
• Barbara Wear forwards a nine-question quiz
• Catherine Nesbitt sends the solution to a long marriage
• Kate Brookfield forwards explanations for nautical sayings
• Bruce Galway shares students´ answers to scientific quesions
• Tom Telfer suggests interesting websites

In this Heroic Story, Maida Landau-Bruck of Riverdale, New York writes about

FOOD FOR BODY AND SOUL

My husband, Alex, was diagnosed with leukemia in October 2000. When we received the news it felt as if the earth had opened and we were falling. Incredibly, my brother´s wife had been diagnosed with acute leukemia a few years before. Because of that we knew all too clearly the difficulties that lay ahead.

The doctor told me the diagnosis first, so we could tell Alex together. When Alex heard the news, he turned to me, took my hand, and said, "You´ll see, good things will come out of this." Neither of us could have imagined how true his words would be.

Our boys went to school outside of our local area. Both boys had wonderful friends in their third and sixth grade classes, but we didn´t feel as connected to the school community as some parents did. We could not imagine how the administrators, teachers and parents of the school would open their hearts to us. They made us part of their community, and cared for us with grace.

In particular, MaryPaul and her husband Benjamin took it upon themselves to help us. MaryPaul remembered a time years before when her family had had troubles. She had promised herself that if she saw another family in distress, she would do something about it. She contacted other parents via e-mail, and organized dinner and shopping for us. Every other day for the first six months of my husband´s illness, cooked food and "incidentals" were delivered to our door. Parents and teachers shopped, cooked, and delivered to us.

It´s hard to express how much these deliveries of dinners meant to us. They sustained us body and soul through long months. During most of that time, Alex was hospitalized. Each day when food arrived the boys and I were amazed again that we were thought of and helped. The food became an anchor, helping to set the pace of our days as well as providing stability. As you may imagine, stability was in short supply for those eight months, so it was doubly appreciated.

Although I told these wonderful parents and teachers several times that we were coping, the food didn´t stop until I firmly asked them to discontinue it. Even then, they told us that they would resume any time we needed it.

Many times in my life I´ve wished that I had done more in a given situation. The actions of MaryPaul, Benjamin, and the other parents and teachers overwhelmed us with their ability to translate caring into action.

In helping us, MaryPaul did something for the entire community - she gave others a vehicle by which they could contribute in a meaningful way. Many parents thanked me for allowing them to be part of a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts.

My boys and I had the extraordinary joy of seeing people at their best. I learned, and I hope they did too, not to underestimate the power of each individual act of kindness.

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CORRESPONDENCE

Jean Sterling, referring to the Heroic Story about the man who had to wear a "contraption" to lengthen his short leg to the same length as his other leg, writes:

This reminded me of a similar "contraption" I had, thanks to a broken wrist. I think the question I hated most was, "Does it hurt?" Of course it did, but I preferred not to think about it. The "contraption" was called an external fixator, and I still have it displayed with a few running trophies.

Kate Brookfield, who is home again after their spring vacation, writes: Would you please add a correction to the story in last week´s Spinner. The name of the city is Viana, not Vania.

Barbara Wear forwards this

NINE-QUESTION QUIZ

I got these right: 1, 2,4, 6, 7, and 9. Let´s see how you do.

This is a quiz for people who know everything! I found out in a hurry that I didn´t. These are not trick questions; they are straight questions with straight answers..

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.

2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?

3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?

4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn´t been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?

6. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters "dw" and they are all common words. Name two of them.

7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?

8. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.

9. Name six or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter "S."

Scroll down for the answers, and don´t cheat!

ANSWERS TO QUIZ

1.The one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends: Boxing.

2. North American landmark constantly moving backward: Niagara Falls. The rim is worn down about two and a half feet each year because of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it every minute.

3. Only two vegetables that can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons: Asparagus and rhubarb.

4. The fruit with its seeds on the outside: Strawberry.

5. How did the pear get inside the brandy bottle? It grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over pearbuds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the entire growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.

6. Three English words beginning with "dw": Dwarf, dwell, and dwindle.

7. Fourteen punctuation marks in English grammar: Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation mark, brackets, parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.

8. The only vegetable or fruit never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form but fresh: Lettuce.

9. Six or more things you can wear on your feet beginning with "S": Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, skates, snowshoes, stockings, stilts.

Today is National Mental Health Day. You can do your part by remembering to send this e-mail to at least one genius-challenged person.

Catherine Nesbitt sends this story:

THAT´S THE WAY!

At one Catholic Church in Perth, they have monthly marriage seminars for husbands.

At the last session, the priest asked Giuseppe, who said he was approaching his 50th wedding anniversary, to take a few minutes and share some insight into how he had managed to stay married to the same woman all these years.

Giuseppe spoke to the assembled husbands, "Well, I´ve tried to treat her nice, spenda money on her; but besta of all is, I took her to Italy for our fifth anniversary!"

The priest responded, "Giuseppe, you are an inspiration to all the husbands here! Please tell us what you are planning for your wife for your 50th anniversary?"

Giuseppe proudly replied, "I gonna go pick her up."

Kate Brookfield sends these definitions of

NAUTICAL SAYINGS

1. Three sheets to the wind. This expression meant that one did not have control of the vessel because one had lost control of the sheets or lines. Today, the expression is used to refer to someone who is drunk or does not have control of himself.

2. Letting the Cat Out of the Bag. The term comes from the old naval punishment of whipping sailors with a cat o nine tails," a whip with nine leather thongs. The whip was kept in a leather bag. When the sailors did something that required punishment, they had let the cat out of the bag." Today, the term means someone has said something that was not meant to be told, a secret that could cause a hit or conflict. 3. As the Crow Flies. In early days, sailors took crows on board. It was well known that crows would always fly the shortest distance to land. They would release the crows to find the best route to land. Not sure if the term crows nest is derived from where they kept the crows? This story says nothing about rocky coastlines in the crows route!

4. Square meal. A proper or substantial meal. Comes from the shape of plates on board ship, which were square.

5. Pipe Down. This nautical term refers to the officers whistle denoting the end of the above-board shift, thereby giving permission to go below deck. Has come to mean be quiet or keep quiet.

6. Above Board. Pirates would hide many of their crew below the deck. Ships that displayed crew openly on deck were considered honest merchant ships known as "above board."

The later ones I did not copy as I didnt agree with them! Maybe others have more to add?

Bruce Galway forwards these answers, which are almost too good to be true:

QUOTES FROM 11-YEAR-OLDS´ SCIENCE EXAMS:

"Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water."

"When you breathe, you inspire. When you do not breathe, you expire."

"H20 is hot water, and CO2 is cold water."

"To collect fumes of sulphur, hold down a deacon over a flame in a test tube."

"When you smell an odorless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide."

"Nitrogen is not found in Ireland because it is not found in a free state."

"Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes, and caterpillars."

"Blood flows down one leg and up the other."

"Respiration is composed of two acts, first inspiration, and then expectoration."

"The moon is a planet just like the earth, only it is even deader."

"Artificial insemination is when the farmer does it to the cow instead of the bull."

"Dew is formed on leaves when the sun shines down on them and makes them perspire."

"A super-saturated solution is one that holds more than it can hold."

"Mushrooms always grow in damp places and so they look like umbrellas."

"The body consists of three parts - the brainium, the borax and the abominable cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abominable cavity contains the bowels, of which there are five a, e, i, o and u."

"Momentum: What you give a person when they are going away."

"Planet: A body of earth surrounded by sky."

"Rhubarb: a kind of celery gone bloodshot."

"Vacuum: A large, empty space where the pope lives."

"Before giving a blood transfusion, find out if the blood is affirmative or negative."

"To remove dust from the eye, pull the eye down over the nose."

"For a nosebleed: put the nose much lower than the body until the heart stops."

"For drowning: climb on top of the person and move up and down to make Artificial Perspiration."

"For Fainting: Rub the person´s chest, or if a lady, rub her arm above the hand instead. Or put the head between the knees of the nearest medical doctor."

"For dog bite: put the dog away for several days. If he has not recovered, then kill it.

"For asphyxiation: Apply artificial respiration until the patient is dead."

"To prevent contraception: wear a condominium."

"For head cold: Use an agonizer to spray the nose until it drops in your throat."

"To keep milk from turning sour: keep it in the cow."

"The pistol of a flower is its only protection against insects."

"The alimentary canal is located in the northern part of Indiana."

"The skeleton is what is left after the insides have been taken out and the outsides have been taken off. The purpose of the skeleton is something to hitch meat to."

"A permanent set of teeth consists of eight canines, eight cuspids, two molars,and eight cuspidors."

"The tides are a fight between the Earth and Moon. All water tends towards the moon, because there is no water in the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight."

"A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is."

"Germinate: To become a naturalized German."

"Liter: A nest of young puppies."

"Magnet: Something you find crawling all over a dead cat."

SUGGESTED SITES

Tom Telfer forwards this link to a video of Jules O´Dwyer and Matisse, who won the public vote with their semi-final routine:

Tom also sends the URL for a video of BBC´s James May test driving the GM Hy-Wire concept car. The car uses hydrogen fuel cell propulsion and drive "by-wire" technology:

Here is Carl Sagan´s "Pale Blue Dot" from the finale of "Cosmos: a Spacetime Odyssey" - and epic journey from Earth´s orbit to the edge of the solar system:

In this TED talk, Anna Lappe takes on the billion-dollar business of marketing junk food to children and teens. Diet related illnesses are alarmingly on the rise among children, and she talks about ways to combat this practice of selling junk to kids:

A father and son duet gets a golden buzzer award in Britain´s Got Talent:

In his quest to supply clean water to Africa, James Longcroft has created a single-use bottle that decomposes in three weeks:

Billionaire Manoj Bhargava, who produces 5-hour Energy, has big plans to address the world´s most pressing problems: