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Silly Stuff

I like silly sayings, and I guess I remember them because I like them. Long ago I learned a poem called "Midnight on the Ocean". I don't know how or where I learned it, but I don't think I will ever forget it. If only I could remember important things as well as I remember silly things! The poem follows:

It was midnight on the ocean, not a streetcar was in sight,
The sun was shining brightly and it rained all day that night.
'Twas a summer day in winter, and the snowflakes fell like glass,
The barefoot boy with shoes on stood sitting in the grass.
While the organ peeled potatoes, it was echoed by the choir,
And the sexton rang the dishrag, someone's set the church on fire.
"Holy smokes", the preacher cried. In the rain he lost his hair.
Now his head resembles heaven, for there is no parting there.

I recently read that our minds are like garbage cans. When we empty a garbage can, the things on the top that are put in last, come out first. The things at the bottom that are put in first, come out last. So it is with me!

Other silly sayings I remember and have used on various occasions over the years follow.

O. I. C. U. R. M. T.

(This is read, Oh, I see you are empty.)

I put this sign in the refrigerator one day when I had to be gone. My husband came home from work and immediately went to the refrigerator to look for something to eat. He saw the sign, but there was no snack in sight. After deciphering it, he only needed to look a little longer and he found his snack.

Another trick using the same technique was:

2 Y'S U. R.
2 Y'S U. B.
I. C. U. R.
2 Y'S 4 ME.When deciphered, it reads

Too wise you are
Too wise you be,
I see you are
Too wise for me.

Then there is this one:

Seville, der dago
Tausen busis inaro
Noville dem iss trux
Votsinnims? Cousen dux.
When deciphered, it reads

See, Ville, der day go,
Tausen buses in a row
No, Ville, dem is trucks,
Vots in 'ems? Cows 'n ducks.

       M
 
E    O                 e

       W      W

The last of these is about a farmer and his pig. Farmer E lived on a farm farthest to the West. He had a pig in a pen. One day his pig got out of the pen and he decided to go and look for it. He went up the hill to the Northeast, and asked Farmer M if he had seen his pig. He hadn't, so Farmer E continued on to the East to Farmer (small) e, who also hadn't seen his pig. So Farmer E went down the hill to Farmer W and then on to the West to the other Farmer W. Neither one had seen his pig, so he decided to go on back home. To his surprise, when he reached home, his pig was there.

(As Farmer E goes around looking for his pig, draw a line as he goes from one farmer to the other, and you too will see the pig.)