Say Cheese!

Daddy John:  It's time for that annual tradition, School Picture Day!

Our photographer, Mr. Anthony of Carpatina Photography, gets everything all set up...

Anthony: Tripod, check.  Spare cameras, check.  Backdrop, check.

Some of the Gregoropolis kids have already started to line up...

Pete Dakota: You see, Nicholas?  Nothing to stress over.  You sit on the stool, Anthony snaps your photo, and you're done!

Anthony: Pete Dakota!  You're in the shot!

Pete Dakota: Sorry, Anthony!  

Anthony: Say 'cheese', Benjamin Roy.

BR: Swiss!

Rhoda stuck to her promise to wear a skirt as long as it was her cowgirl outfit...

Anthony: Now, Holly Belle, please tilt your head --

Holly Belle: Oh, I think I know which is my best side, dear.

Anthony: Mikko, take that ridiculous thing off.

Mikko: What? This is my real hair!  Honest!

Tyler: Hey Tony!  Be sure to get my best side!  >Hee-Hee!<

Anthony: >SIGH<  I'm not getting paid enough for this.

They Call Me Lily of the Valley

Daddy Steve: The other day Barbara and Beatrix spied upon some recently arrived pinafore outfits by eBay seller Jadzia.

Barbara:  Ooooh, what do we have here?

Beatrix: Pretty new outfits!

They were really charmed by the lovely and unusual fabrics.

The girls decided to try them on...

Barbara: Do you think we should?

Beatrix: Well, no one else has claimed them yet.  I say 'you snooze, you lose.'

Barbara: I like your way of thinking.

Actually, the blouses and pants alone would make nice summertime outfits.

Beatrix: But it's too cold for them now.

Beatrix's pinafore is decorated with a variety of wetland flora & fauna: reeds, cattails, lily pads, herons, hummingbirds, dragonflies, and even some beavers.  It doesn't sounds like an ideal theme for a fabric design, it looks delightful!

Beatrix: >Giggle<  Maybe I should change my name to 'Marsha'?

Barbara: >Ha-ha!<  How droll!

Barbara's dress is decorated with lily of the valley, which got us very excited.  We happen to love that flower.  It has a beautiful fragrance when it blooms in the spring, and attractive foliage all summer long.  Although it looks dainty, the stuff is as tough as nails.  "As invasive as Genghis Khan" is how we've heard it described.  You see lots of fabric with roses, daisies, poppies, and violets; but this is the first lily of the valley I've ever seen.

Barbara: And maybe I should change my name to Lily!

Beatrix: >Hee-hee!<  We're so witty!

Since we're on the subject of both humor and lily of the valley, we leave you with this classic scene from the television show I Love Lucy (Vivian Vance was such an underappreciated talent!).

Vivian Vance - I Am Lily of the Valley  

(click for video)

What To Wear? and Wearing What!

Daddy John: School Picture Day is fast approaching, and most of the Gregoropolis kids are taking it in stride.  Two, however, are having very different reactions...

Nicholas: Oh dear, dear.  Whatever shall I wear for this 'Picture Day'?  I suppose I should don my official prince garb.  But the hat...!

Nicholas: Perhaps a sweater? A t-shirt?  A smart dress shirt?

Pete Dakota: Hey Nicholas, why are you so worried?  It's just Picture Day.

Nicholas: Oh, Peter, I've never had my photograph taken before!  When I lived in the palace, I had my portrait painted every year, but never a photograph.  I just don't know what to wear!

Nicholas: I'd best bring everything and then we'll have a nice selection.

Pete Dakota: Er, well, it's not like that.  The photographer will line us up, stand you in front of a background, >snap!<, and on to the next person.

Nicholas: Oh, that's smashing!  I'm so relieved...but which outfit?

Meanwhile...

Marta: Oh, Rhoda, you look lovely in that dress.  Doesn't she look lovely, Frederick? 

>cough, cough<

Frederick: What? Oh, yeah, a vision of loveliness!

Rhoda: I hate it!

Marta: But Daddy Steve would really appreciate it if you wore a dress for School Picture Day.

Rhoda: I don't like dresses.  I never have and never will!

Frederick: For Heaven's sake...you act like Daddy Steve is making you eat a bug.

Rhoda: I'd rather eat a bug!  If you think the dress is so great, you wear it!

Daddy Steve: While Rhoda may appear to be impossible to deal with, she's actually a shrewd negotiator.  Turns out she's perfectly willing to do 'girly', as long as it's 'cow-girly'...

Rhoda: Yee-haw!  I look just like Patsy Cline!

A Tale Of A Fateful Trip

Daddy Steve: On this day 55 years ago (September 26, 1964), the television sitcom           
Gilligan's Island premiered.

Depending on your individual philosophical televisual bent, it's a show that evokes fond memories or outright derision.

Frank: Skipper!

Robin: It's an excellent example of 'Theater of the Absurd.'

Patrick: I find it totally illogical.  If they could build all of that stuff, why didn't they just build a new boat and escape?

Mikko:  Sshh!  This is the one where Gilligan gets bitten by a bat and dreams he's a vampire!

Tyler: Cool!

Nathan: Who would take a whole wardrobe along for just a three hour boat tour?!?

Holly Belle: Actually, I would.

Nathan: But why?

Holly Belle: Well, obviously in case I got shipwrecked!

Mindless twaddle, or canny surrealist farce?  The world may never know.  Instead, we'll leave you with a more important question...

Ginger or Mary Ann?

The Equinox Rocks

Daddy Steve: While perusing the calendar, the boys discovered that the autumnal equinox takes place this coming Monday...

Frank: What the heck is an 'eek-wee-knocks' anyway?

Patrick: It's one of two times during the year when the hours of daylight and of darkness are equal.  The autumnal equinox marks the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

Duncan: Yeah, and then the daylight gets shorter, and the darkness gets longer, and it gets cold with nothing but snow and ice everywhere.

Ravi: Gosh, you're a cheerful soul.

Indeed, outside there are already signs of autumn's approach.  The leaves on the maple tree are beginning to turn color and fall to the ground.

For her part, Holly Belle is taking the change of seasons in stride.

Holly Belle: Now we can start wearing our fall fashions!

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Daddy Steve: Gotz sisters and best friends Barbara and Beatrix have established their own tradition here in Gregoropolis.  Every Friday evening they sit down together to enjoy pink lemonade and conversation.  It's usually only a glass or two, along with some cheese and a few other nibbles.

Barbara: This lemonade is so delicious; not too tart and not too sweet.

Beatrix: Very refreshing.  And such a lovely shade of pink!

Barbara: What a relaxing way to end the week.

Beatrix: Yes, I'm feeling very mellow right now.

This 'relaxed' and 'mellow' scene is soon replaced by lots and lots of chatty conversation -- and quite a bit of giggling, too!

Barbara: I think that Bowie is a bit of a hunk, although he's a bit full of himself at times.

Beatrix: Frank is cute too, in a clueless sort of way.

Both: Hee-hee-hee!

The conversation grows increasingly animated...

Barbara: Hee-hee...Holly Belle really keeps John Martin on the run!

Beatrix: The poor boy is really quite hen-pecked!  Hee-hee!

The girls are always inviting the others to join them in their lemonade party, and occasionally some do.  However, most everyone feels that this is their special time.

Paul: What's all the noise in the kitchen?

Oliver: It's just Barbara and Beatrix.

Paul: Oh, yeah, it's pink lemonade night.

As the evening progresses, the ladies share stories...

Barbara: ...then, the day I arrived, Daddy Steve snuck me upstairs in the laundry basket!  We went right past Daddy John and he didn't even see me!  Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Beatrix: And then of course once you're in with all the others, he never notices!

Both: Hee-hee-whoo-hoo-hee-hee!

Beatrix: Oh, such merriment!

Indeed, so much merriment that sometimes Daddy Steve wonders what, exactly, is in the pink lemonade, besides lemons.

Barbara: Why certainly you may have a glass of our lovely lemonade, Daddy Steve!

Beatrix: We're happy to share!  Have some crisps, too.

Every time I've had a glass, I've found it to be nothing more than lemonade.  Every single time.  

Very curious indeed...

Barbara: I suppose it's all in the power of positive thinking.  And lemons!

When Doom Meets Gloom

Daddy Steve: Alice is a very sweet little girl, but she can be a bit of a worrier.  The other day she was having tea conversation with Duncan, a.k.a. the resident Gloomy Gus of Gregoropolis.  He's probably not the ideal companion for someone of a fretful nature.

Duncan: ...and so that's the whole unfortunate story.

Alice: Oh, dear!  How dreadful for you!

Duncan: >sigh<  Well, I'm no stranger to adversity.

Later on in the day...

Alice: >worry worry worry worry worry<

Meghan: Oh, look.  She's fretting about something.

Nathan: How can you tell?

Meghan: See how she's fiddling with the hem on her dress?  She does that when she's worried.  We need to talk her out of that worried mood.

Nathan: What do we say?

Meghan: We'll think of something.

Meghan: Hello, Alice.  How are you?

Alice: Well, to be honest, I'm just a little worried.

Meghan: Whatever about?

Alice: I was talking to Duncan and...

Meghan: Oh, you shouldn't pay too much attention to him.

Nathan: Yeah, he's a real dismal Jimmy!

Alice: He was telling me about his hair loss.

Meghan: Oh, Sweetie, there's nothing for you to worry about.  You have very thick and beautiful blond hair.

Nathan: Yeah!  Besides, his hair isn't falling out.  Some mean kid just cut out a couple of chunks of it.  That's all.

Alice: >gasp<  Some hooligan running around with scissors!  Any one of us could be next!

Meghan: Oh, no, no.  That kid is long gone.  Right, Nathan?

Nathan: Oh, oh, yeah.  He, uh, he...got eaten!  Yeah, by a bear!

Alice: Good heavens!

Meghan: >whispering<  What are you doing?!?

Nathan: You said to think of something.

Meghan: I meant something clever, not something daft!

Alice: A ravenous bear is gobbling up little children!

Nathan: Oh! Um, we're safe enough.  Bears go after only the big, fat kids that can't run very fast.

Alice: But what if I gain weight and can't run fast enough to escape?!

Meghan: Now sweetie, you listen to me.  Remember what Daddy Steve always says: "The things you worry about the most are the least likely to happen."

Alice: I guess that does make sense.

Meghan: Of course it does.

Alice: So if I worry about EVERYTHING, then NOTHING will ever happen!

Meghan: >sigh<  Now I'm worried.

Nathan: Me too.