Beech Tree News Network

I HATE EVERYBODY AND YOU’RE NEXT.  That statement was stamped on the hat of my new neighbor, as he stood in his front yard next door.  This was several years ago.  I had walked over from my garden, which adjoined his property, to take him some tomatoes.  When I read it, I laughed.  He grinned.  I knew at once we would get along just fine.  Statements like that one have always made me laugh.  It isn’t just the boldness of the words, it’s the boldness of putting the words out there for everyone to see.
    This past Saturday, one of our customers at New Image had a decal on the back window of his jeep that depicted a jeep knocking stick figures out of the way as it drove along an imaginary road.  The stick figures were bouncing off the vehicle’s hood and being tossed to the left and right as the jeep made its way through.  The caption read: NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR STICK FAMILY.  The jab was at all the vehicles that have stick mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, dogs and cats representing their family members on their back windshields.  It takes a certain sense of humor to find that funny.  I have that particular brand.  I’ve often told my husband, Garey, if we’re ever at a place where we don’t own a business in this town, my car will be plastered with oddball statements.
     For a few years now, it has been in-vogue to put statements on the walls of your home.  Some of the popular ones are: LIVE LAUGH LOVE and ALL BECAUSE TWO PEOPLE FELL IN LOVE—that one is usually next to pictures of the home-owner’s family.  I, too, have become caught up in the trend.  I have BREATH…YOU’RE HOME on my kitchen wall and BE YOURSELF…EVERYONE ELSE IS TAKEN on my BBC room door.
    When a trend saturates popular culture like the words-on-walls has, you can be sure of a push-back.  One of my favorites is a picture of a simple tree.  Over the tree are the words WHAT MATTERS MOST IN LIFE ARE QUOTES AND STUFF THAT TELL YOU WHAT LIFE IS REALLY ABOUT…and Here’s a Picture of a Tree.  I wish I could afford to throw money away on that picture, I’d hang it right next to BREATHE…YOU’RE HOME in my kitchen.
    I have always been a fan of the well placed quote.  Words can be powerful as well as funny.  One of my favorite refrigerator magnets says: The person who says it can’t be done should stop interrupting the person who is doing it.  We have always teased my daughter, Natalie, about her cooking, so I got her a spoon rest that says: Many people have eaten my cooking and gone on to live normal lives.  Over my sink, hangs a bamboo cutting boards with the words: The Hughes Clan…Keeping the Fun in Dysfunctional Since 1975. 
    When I was much younger, I seemed to bristle at any untoward thing I heard or saw in print.  I don’t any more.  I laugh more times than not.  Maybe, I’m just beyond being shocked, and that’s okay.  I just don’t want to be beyond being surprised.  This week, I watched a video on Youtube where a little boy was told the family was going to visit a broccoli farm—they were really taking the little boy and his sister to the circus.  When they arrived, the father said, “You know what, Max, we’re not going to the broccoli farm, after all.  We’re at the circus!”  The little boy started to cry, “I wanted to go to the broccoli farm!”  He couldn’t get past his pre-conceived expectation.
    I think the reason I enjoy things like my neighbor’s hat and my customer’s decal and Natalie’s spoon rest is because they challenges my preconceived ideas.  They make me think.  They keep me awake.  Without them, I would have been lulled to sleep long ago.