Today is Sunday, May 7 and Mothers Day is only seven days away.  Start buying those cards, flowers and jewelry and making dinner reservations.  Today we remember the birthdays of Sir Francis Beaufort, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Willard Scott.  On this day in 1660 Isaack B Fubine of Savoy, in the Hague, patented macaroni, in 1847 the American Medical Association was organized and in 1970 “Long and Winding Road” became the Beatles’ last American release.  In Scotland it is Spring Day, in Thailand it is State Ploughing Ceremony Day and in the US it is National Lemonade Day and National Roast Leg of Lamb Day.

Here are your facts for your May trivia file.  May is named after the Greek goddess, Maia who is also identified Bona Dea (the Roman goddess of fertility), May is the time of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.  Sоmе Nаtіvе Amеrісаn tribes called the Mау full moon The Full Flower Mооn, The Corn Planting Mооn or the Milk Mооn.  The Anglo Saxon word for Mау wаѕ Trі-Mіlсhі mеаnіng 3 milks because the grаѕѕ had become ѕо lush and grееn that уоu соuld milk the соwѕ thrее tіmеѕ a dау!  Memorial Day is сеlеbrаtеd on the lаѕt Sundау in Mау.  Armed Fоrсеѕ Dау іѕ the third Sunday in Mау.  May 5th іѕ Cіnсо De Mayo, соmmеmоrаtіng the Mеxісаn dеfеаt of the French at Puebla.  The Kеntuсkу Derby takes place the first Saturday in May.  That should give you plenty to talk about at the Memorial Day picnic.

I have noticed that people seem to be going out of their way to affect a certain fashion look, regardless of how they actually look or what the weather is like.  Here are two examples of what I mean.  A week or so ago, it was warm in this area.  I was sitting in my car in a parking lot and saw a taxi pull up. The door opened and a man got out.  He was wearing a sport jacket, slacks, dress shirt and a tie.  This was not unusual.  What made it strange was that he had a scarf wrapped around his neck several times.  There was so much scarf that he had to tilt his head back.  I have to be honest and say that I have no idea what look he was going for.  If it was goofy guy wearing a big scarf, he nailed it.

On that same day, in that same parking lot, I also saw a young woman walking across the lot wearing a light blouse, shorts and fur-lined boots.  What was the thought process that went into that outfit?  “It’s kind of warm out so I am going to wear a blouse and shorts, but my feet are cold so I’d better put on my fur boots.”  I am pretty sure that we have seen that brand of boot enough that you don’t need to show them off when the temperature goes above 70.  

I continue to be amazed by what people do in the name of fashion.  Recently, I have noticed several  things that have me puzzled.  One was a girl wearing denim shorts.  The shorts were cut offs that were so short that the pockets extended down below the end of the shorts.  I have seen that a number of times and cannot understand what that look is all about.  Another thing I have seen is women walking around with ripped jeans.  I guess there is some sort of cache to that look, but I am also pretty sure they paid big bucks for jeans that they could have ripped themselves.  Why do they want to walk around looking like they just went through a clothing bin for their outfit?  Speaking of big bucks for jeans, have you seen the jeans that are selling for over $400?  They are pre-muddied!  I’ll make you a deal – buy a regular pair of jeans and bring them to me.  For 10 bucks I will make them as muddy and dirty as you want.  Throw in an extra $5 and I will rip them, too.

One final issue and then I will move out of the world of fashion.  I was in the grocery store the other day and saw a guy walking along wearing a t-shirt, jeans and brown wing tips.  This is something I see often.  Why do guys wear dress shoes with jeans?  I’m not saying you have to have a wardrobe of shoes that go with the different types of slacks you wear (I do, but that’s a story for another time).  But don’t you have a pair of sneakers you could use?  Jeans and dress shoes just don’t seem to go together.  That’s like wearing an athletic t-shirt with a dress suit.  Okay, moving on.

I have always had an issue with people who don’t put their shopping cart in the cart drop-off when they are done with it.  I have gone on about this subject here a number of times.  The grocery store I go to has decided to do something about it.  They have removed all the cart corrals from the parking lot.  Now people have an excuse for just leaving their carts.  In the past they would leave the cart at the end of the space or against the fence in front of their car.  Now with the corrals gone, they don’t even move the cart.  I saw one woman empty her cart, leave it where it was and then get in her car and pull through the space in front of her.  I would love to know the store’s reason for this move.  I can’t wait to see what they are going to do instead.  So far, collecting the carts doesn’t seem to be an alternative.

This week our fact tells us that there is a sea squirt that digests its own brain.  When the sea squirt is mature it permanently attaches itself to a rock.  At this point it does not need to move anymore and has no need for a brain.  Sounds like a number of senators and congressmen we’ve been reading about.